Taming the Demon - Book 1 (Completed)

Chapter 24 - Jane

What a day.

I’m glad to be home. The meeting went well. My lawyer had contacted everyone for me. Bea’s apartment is paid for two more months, in order to give me time to go through and clean it as soon as I have control of her estate. The lawyers are just finalizing everything and I should have access soon. The insurance check is set to go through this week as well. I called my boss and told him that I will not be returning. He seemed sympathetic, but he did warn me that my pay could be held due to the fact I didn’t give two weeks notice. And since I just started my semester, I was able to drop my classes. I lose my deposit on them, but I honestly don’t think I could handle school right now. Though when I dropped my classes, I re-enrolled for the winter term.

I see Kadis is gone. He didn’t leave a note or text so I assume he isn’t going to be long. His books are neatly stacked on the table. I go over and look at the one he said was called The Book of Fae. The writing is really weird, it’s made up of lines, arrows, and dots. Putting The Book of Fae aside, I grab the next one. I compare the titles, but I can’t make out what it says. I think it starts with ‘The’ because those (symbols?) look the same. But the rest are way different.

I make myself a snack and as I’m eating, I flip through the book. It’s jam packed, top to bottom, with writing. I absently fan the pages and catch a glimpse of a drawing. I skip back through and when I find it, I’m greeted with a full page drawing of a beautiful woman stabbing a beautiful man in the chest with a flaming sword.

What!!!

It looks exactly like the scene from my dream. The drawing is super detailed, I can almost imagine it moving. Even the people in the drawing look like the people in my dream. Or am I just thinking they look the same? Pressure in my head starts to build. I can’t look away. The drawing starts to melt together as my eyes water and blur. Just when I think I can’t take the pressure anymore, I see something in the drawing. A drawing within the drawing. A symbol that is hidden in the lines of the original piece.

Overcome with the urge to run my fingers along the lines, I reach my hand out and before I even know what’s happening my fingertip touches the page. Electricity tingles up my arm as my fingers trace the symbol. I can’t pull away. I watch the lines disappear as my hand moves on its own accord. The pressure in my head is lessening, but now it’s building in my chest. Again, just when I think I can’t take anymore, my hand finishes tracing the rune. I’m finally able to take control of my arm and pull away. I close my eyes and when I open them, the picture is just a picture.

What the hell just happened?!

The pressure in my head and chest is gone. The book looks normal. My hand feels normal. Did I just have a panic attack or something? I close the book and put it back on the pile. All of a sudden my apartment seems very quiet and still. Like a calm before the storm. No people talking, no dogs barking, no traffic running outside. I don’t even hear the creaking of the building. I feel light, like I’m going to float off without warning. I head to my room feeling like I’m moving in slow-mo and drop onto the bed. Maybe I’m just tired. I shiver and goosebumps appear on my arms. Wrapping myself in the blanket, I fall asleep almost immediately.

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I’m dreaming, I have to be. I’m holding a vicious looking sword and my arms are covered in gore. The sun is shining and I lift my hand to shield my eyes. I can see things (birds?) fighting in the sky. But they look way too big to be birds. A couple of them crash into the ground near me. I can’t make out what they are, but I can see wings, arms, and legs in the pile. Nothing is moving. I'm standing in a field filled with the sounds of metal crashing. Figures carrying swords and shields run past me. I can see them clashing with another group just ahead of me. In the distance, I see the woman from the picture (dream?) stab the man through the chest. She pulls the fire sword out and screams into the sky.

Her cry is heartbreaking and she falls to her knees. Another man approaches her from behind with his weapon drawn. I don’t think she can hear him, because she just sits there, staring at the man she killed. I can’t seem to call out to warn her. I see the dead man’s form shimmer in front of her and her expression changes from one of grief to one of rage. I watch in horror as the man behind her swings his sword at her back.

Before I can see the end result, the world shifts and I’m thrown into another battle. I’m watching this one from above. I feel pressure and movement behind me. I try to turn and discover that I have wings growing out of my back! I lose control and tumble towards the ground. Luckily I wasn’t very high when I fell. I try to stand but my wings are heavy and I tumble to my hands and knees. I hear a sound to my left, kind of like mewling kittens, and see the bark-skinned man standing in front of a bunch of creatures. He’s holding his staff up against a huge monster with red scales and horns. I sense power building in the staff as a flash of light explodes from the top of it, throwing the monster back. The (man?) comes over to me and says something, but his voice is muffled. I can see the confusion on his face.

Another shift happens, and now I’m holding two very thick chains in my hands. The chains are connected to two huge inky, black horses with flaming manes. I’m beyond confusion and fear at this point, after all it’s just a dream. The chariot I’m driving is heading straight for a tangle of bodies in the midst of battle. Hauling back on the left chain, the horses turn sharply, missing the fray. Ahead I see one of the bird-people point in my direction and suddenly the sky is darkened by thousands of arrows. Before I’m impaled by them, I shift.

I shift through battle after battle. Sometimes I’m human, sometimes I’m not. It also seems that I shift through all sides of the fight. Some scenes I recognize from my earlier dream and some are new. Over and over, I am thrust into new bodies.

This last one I’m stuck in the body of some small forest being. My skin has a light green tint to it and the backs of my arms are covered in a soft down of silken hair. I shift into her as she is running through a forest. I keep running as I can hear a crash in the brush behind me. I don’t know what I am running from, but I know that I can’t let it catch me. I hear another crash right behind me and suddenly I am hit hard from behind. Sprawling face down, a foot steps onto my back pinning me to the ground. Terror runs through me even though I know this is a dream. I wiggle and scratch at the dirt. I manage to get out from the boot holding me down and scrambling away I manage to make it to my feet. 

Free!

I just get my legs under me when my hair is yanked back and I’m thrown to the ground. A sickening laughter fills my ears. I flip over and start scooting away from whoever it is. My green hair is in my eyes and I feel my back hit a tree. This may only be a dream, but I refuse to die like this. I grab the tree and haul myself up to my feet. Pulling my hair out of my face, I turn and stare defiantly into my attackers eyes.

Kadis’ eyes. His cruel laughter mocks me as he rips my tunic off my shoulders and roughly backhands me. The weight of his blow stuns me and his laughter sounds once again as he forces me to the ground, tearing more of my clothing off and pinning me with his weight. The forest creature’s screams fill my head as I shift to nothingness.