Universal

Chapter 8

The road to Judson's recovery was a hard one, both on himself and Troy. Weeks passed and Troy continued to work with little sleep. The dreams had made his mind their permanent home. For a while, the dreams repeated themselves; never changing, but always haunting. Now, the fiery halo of light recognized that Troy was there. It had begun mocking any attempt that he made to save Judson from the darkness. 

  Troy worked now, the hours passing him by until he settled on a bale of hay in the small horse barn for a rest. The sky was black as pitch outside and even the horses had settled for their nightly rest. He drank from a bucket of clean water then leaned his head back against the pillow of hay. He just needed to rest his eyes, he decided. What he actually needed was sleep. As his eyes closed, sleep immediately found him, and with it came the dreaded darkness. He entered the dark room of his mind expecting to find Judson, again, frightened by the fiery flight. What he found sent shivers down his sleeping body. Judson was gone, but the ring of fire remained and this time it was headed his way. 

"You come here," A voice said through the flames, "time after time. You try to save the stupid human and you always fail. When will you learn that you are even weaker than him?"

The voice was mocking him, and Troy decided to fight back. He was tired of being tired! He decided in that moment to fight this evil that had stolen his sleep from him. He knew that if he continued on the way that he was, his body would eventually give out on him. He had to reclaim his rest. He had to stop being frightened of a silly bad dream. The notion that this was all just in his head, and not real at all, gave him the confidence he needed to fight back. 

"I'm a lot of things." Troy called out to the fire, "but weak isn't one of them." On his last word he charged into the darkness in the middle of the fiery ring, ready to grab whatever stood beyond and beat it until it left him alone. What he found on the other side was not what he expected. 

The Dark Lord was standing with his long, grey fingered hands out to his side. He wore black robes with flames around the rims. His bald head was tilted back and through those black pointing teeth he laughed as if to say, "come and get it."

Troy staggered back, but only for a second.  "This isn't real!" He reminded himself, and charged at the being with all of the energy his dream body could muster. He hit the monster head first in the stomach and wrapping his arms around the Evil One's legs he took him to the ground. This startled the Dark Lord, but only for a second. When Troy looked to see the being under him he found the space empty. He quickly stood finding the evil monster standing a few feet away. 

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"Humans are so dumb, no matter what planet they come from." The Evil One laughed.

Troy was confused, and frightened. He tried to gain the courage and strength to charge the beast again, but there was no time. Before he could take even one step forward the Evil One flicked his hand and bound Troy by the wrists and ankles with chains made of fire. He lifted his finger, raising Troy into the sky. 

"You will never defeat me!" He hissed while using the fire that came from his fingers to burn Troy across his chest. 

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Troy was screaming now, in his dream and in real life. His body, lying limp on on the bed of hay, was burning with fever. Burns were forming on his wrists, ankles and body. Every time the Evil One struck him, a new mark formed on his physical body. 

Judson heard the screams coming from the barn. His body was still sore, but the pain seemed to vanish as he bolted from his place in bed and out the front door. When he made it to the barn, the scene he found disturbed him. He could smell the flesh burning on Troy's body and watched for a moment as new marks formed. He tried calling out Troy's name in hopes that he would wake up, but it didn't work. He had to do something fast! The boy was dying! Quickly he surveyed the barn, looking for something that might help. When he spotted the bucket of drinking water by Troy's feet he picked it up and prayed as he poured it over the young man. 

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The burns were excruciating! Troy cried out in agony each time the Evil One marked him with his fiery touch. He couldn't hold on much longer. He could feel the life draining from his body. Closing his eyes tightly he willed his mind to take him to the field of flowers. If he was going to die, he wanted to be there. The place had confused him, but he always found peace. Maybe the voice in the sky could wake him from this nightmare. 

Slowly, he pulled his mind there. When he opened his eyes, he was surrounded by wild flowers. For a moment, he wanted to stay there, soaking in the sights, sounds and smells of the beauty around him; but there wasn't time. He called out beyond the clouds to the voice that always answered him. 

"Are you there?" He cried.

"I am always here." The voice said back. 

"I need your help. I need for the dreams to stop. I can't take it anymore! Whatever that thing is that haunts me in the dark....I'm sure it wants me dead!" He was pleading now.

The Creator spoke again through the sky. "Your purpose is much too great to die."

"Then save me!" Troy begged. "I can't hold on much longer. I can feel the darkness pulling me back!" He was on his knees now, and the flowers that were once blooming and erect now were drooping and dry. The darkness was pulling him back. He felt fire lick a streak across his back and again, he called out in pain. "Help me!" His eyes closed again. He was sure he was going back to the dark room of captivity. He was sure his death would be soon. But...when he opened his eyes again he wasn't in the dark cell of his own mind, but in the barn, soaking wet, looking back at a worried Judson.