1. The dream that knew her
891 Words
A girl stood in a hall filled with warm, golden light.
The air felt gentle, familiar, as if it welcomed her. Tall pillars lined the space on either side, carved with symbols she did not understand yet somehow recognized. The stone floor beneath her feet was cool and solid.
She knew she was dreaming.
Nothing about it felt unreal.
Someone walked beside her.
She turned her head slowly.
It was him.
The man from the shadows—only here, there were no shadows clinging to him. His face was calm, handsome in a way that did not demand attention. His eyes were steady, almost kind. Dark royal clothes fit him perfectly, as if he belonged in this place.
“You always walk like you’re listening,” he said lightly. “Even when no one is speaking.”
His voice carried familiarity.
Not forced.
Not questioned.
She didn’t answer.
She rarely spoke unless she had to.
He smiled, as if he expected that.
They walked forward together, their footsteps echoing softly through the hall. He talked easily—about places she didn’t know, about
skies she had never seen. He spoke as though they shared a past, as though this conversation had happened before.
She watched him from the corner of her eye.
What unsettled her was not his presence.
It was how natural it felt.
Then the light began to change.
The warmth drained from the air, slowly at first, then all at once. The golden glow faded into gray. Shadows stretched long across the floor.
They stopped walking.
Someone stood ahead of them.
A woman.
Her back was turned.
chest tightened.
The woman turned around.
It was her.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same stillness.
The woman’s lips moved, trying to speak. No sound came out. Her eyes were wide—not with fear, but urgency. She was trying to warn her. Trying to say something important.
She stepped forward.
The man moved faster.
In one smooth motion, he raised his hand.
There was no anger in his expression.
No hesitation.
He struck.
The woman fell.
Blood spread across the stone floor, dark against the dying light.
Agnishka’s breath caught.
“No—”
The word never formed.
__________________
She woke up.
Her body jerked upright, breath sharp and uneven. Her heart slammed against her chest, loud in the silence of the chamber.
The room was dark.
Unchanged.
Her face showed nothing.
But inside her mind, everything fractured.
She sat still, waiting for her breathing to slow. It did—slowly, reluctantly.
“That wasn’t just a dream,” she whispered.
The words felt heavy.
She stood and crossed the room, stopping near the window. Outside, the forest lay quiet beneath the night sky. Nothing moved.
Nothing felt wrong.
Yet her hands trembled slightly.
The man’s face lingered in her thoughts. His smile. His voice. The ease with which he had spoken to her—as if he knew her deeply.
And the woman.
The woman who looked exactly like her.
Her fingers curled slowly.
Was that me?
The thought unsettled her more than the violence.
She returned to the bed and sat, then lay back, staring at the ceiling. Sleep did not come. Her mind replayed fragments of the dream, breaking them apart, reshaping them.
Warmth.
Blood.
Silence.
Hours passed.
She didn’t remember leaving the bed.
Only that midnight had already claimed her.
_____________________________________
The forest wrapped around her.
She walked alone, without a lamp, her steps steady. Darkness should have swallowed the path—but it didn’t. She could see clearly.
Every root, every stone, every curl of mist near the river.
Her eyes glowed red.
She didn’t know that
.
The sound of water reached her first—the hidden waterfall, steady and calm. The river ahead shimmered faintly, as if light lived beneath its surface.
She stopped near the water.
The forest went silent.
Then the shadows moved.
They gathered behind her, folding into one another until a shape formed—tall, patient, watching.
“You shouldn’t be alone,” a voice said softly.
She turned.
The figure stood a few steps away. Not rushing. Not attacking.
Studying her.
“You don’t remember me,” he said. “But you were never good at forgetting.”
She said nothing.
The shadows struck without warning.
Cold wrapped around her arm, sharp and heavy. She staggered half a step.
Something inside her answered.
Not memory.
Not thought.
Her eyes burned brighter red.
“Stop.”
The word left her mouth without permission.
The shadows shattered, thrown back by an unseen force. The ground trembled lightly beneath her feet.
The figure stumbled.
For the first time, he looked surprised.
“…So it’s still there,” he whispered.
He smiled.
“We’ll speak again.”
Then he vanished.
The forest breathed again.
Agnishka stood by the river, face calm, mind stunned beyond words.
That wasn’t normal.
That wasn’t human.
She turned and walked back toward the kingdom.
_______________________
Far away, in a cave untouched by time, an old man opened his eyes.
At that exact moment, Agnishka felt something shift inside her chest.
Not fear.i re
Recognition.
Something ancient had awakened.
And the night was far from over.
_________________
So friends this is my first novel let me know in coment section do you like it or not.
- Writer
