Once upon a time, there was a family of fairies. They were living in a beautiful meadow overlooking a human city built on a set of hills. The princess fairy (a.k.a. me) was bored of the fairy ways and dreamed of mingling with the humans, but her kind was adamant: You must never, ever go through the fairy portal to the human city. So, she lived her days attaching glitter glue to the tops of the hills with her fairy magic from far away (seriously).
Until one day she did it. She went through the shiny, oval portal and wondered into the human city; and she loved it. She met a human boy there, and it was love at first sight. But soon she figured out that there was another, more sinister reason than just humans, why fairies never went to the human city. A clan of dark witches and warlocks had infiltrated the city and had been waiting for her. As the heir of the fairy throne, her magic was very potent. The girl and the boy barely escaped with her lives, thanks to her fairy powers, but that also blew her cover with the boy; he now knew what she was. They went through the portal, and it closed behind them just in time for the evil ones to be left behind. But they now knew where the portal was, and they’d be waiting.
Her father was unhappy she had disobeyed, bringing a human back on top of anything else, but he was an understanding king. He kept the boy safe, and thought for a few days what would be best for everyone. He finally sat both of them down and gave them their options. Once a year until she came of age the fairy had to go through the portal for her magic to remain, but at least he could create a place for them, hidden by magic, where nobody would be able to find them the rest of the time. They’d hide there, until she would come of age and would be able to take the throne, and after that moment the dark ones wouldn’t be able to harm anyone in the fairy land. But the boy was in danger, so he’d have to decide if he wanted to go with her, and the two sisters of the fairy would go with them as additional protect them, as well.
They all agreed quite enthusiastically, and they went into hiding. And that was how the following years passed, they lived happily together somewhere safe, and once a year they raced to the portal. The evil ones were always there, but never managed to get them in time, and the fairies would just laugh and stick their tongues out to them through the portal that was closing between them.
A little before the fairy came of age, sad news came to them. A good fairy friend had died, Cinderella (roll your eyes with me). The sisters had to pay their homage, so, as the fairy custom was, went outside her house and sat down in the garden, silently communicating with the remnants of the deceased fairy’s magic.
And, out of nowhere, a black diamond the size of a basketball came hurling in the air and hit the one sister, who was rooted to the spot, unable to move. I (yes, I have to change POV now, because it’s a dream and sometimes you watch from the outside and sometimes from the inside :P ) whirled around in time to dodge another black diamond that shuttered into millions pieces on the ground next to me. I saw the attacker, a witch dressed in a majestic black lace dress, walking towards us and speaking the language of magic while readying another diamond. I dodged that, too, but it hit my other sister and at that moment I heard a voice yell “Run to me!”
A white which was advancing behind the dark one, and I sprinted toward her. Black diamond after black diamond came flying my way, but one by one were met and crashed by white ones midair, white and black shreds of glass flying everywhere and cutting my arms and face. The dark witch roared with anger, but I was already out of her reach. As I levelled up with her, the white witch shouted at me: “Hide in the city, we’ll find you later!”
I nodded as I run past her, a panicked expression on my face and a retched fear gripping my insides. Would she be alright? Would my sisters, the fairy land be alright? But there was no time to think, so I just kept running, until I couldn’t breathe. I cowered behind a truck full of debris, thinking which way to go, but something felt terribly off.
And then I heard it; a deep rumble, the most horrifying groan, worse than any spell or monster. It was coming from deep beneath me feet. And before I could react, the ground started to shake violently. Stuck between a truck and an abandoned building, I looked up and saw to my terror parts of the building falling apart and flying towards me. I ran between the truck and the building, heart pounding frantically, evading bricks and rocks and glass, waiting for the inevitable impact. I made it round the end of the truck, only to be met with dust and bits of concrete dancing off its back, and as I finally made it to the open street, the sight made my heart clench painfully.
An avalanche of debris was coming down the street, taking cars and bits of the buildings with it, like a solid tsunami. I was trying to avoid things and find a safe passage to higher ground, when, inconceivably, something even more terrifying happened. With a loud groan, a huge piece of the ground behind me, ten yards in diameter, sank into the Earth. The chasm that it left behind was so deep I could not see a bottom. Terrified beyond words, I struggled towards the other direction, ignoring the things still flying at me. A blow to the head was far more welcome than getting sucked into the void.
Suddenly, the ground stopped moving and things settled down. Then I heard a narrator’s voice in my head: “And then the ground stopped shaking, but she kept running, wishing to get as far away as possible from that cursed place, not daring to hope she was finally safe”. And all of that was true; I could feel the hope, unwelcome, rise inside of me. Maybe it’s over! And as I tried to work my way up a pile of debris to get to the other side of the street, the narrator continued: “But then the ground opened up again”.
I tensed up and, sure enough, another big chunk of ground right next to me gave way and disappeared from sight. Waves of renewed panic arose in me, but I’ve barely made it a few strides before the narrator gave his final prophecy: “And , again, she thought she was spared, but…” And that comment froze me still. I gave up, my shoulders hunched, and I knew what was going to happen. It was pointless.
And the ground caved in beneath my feet and I was free falling into nothingness. The pit of my stomach dropped, like when you miss a step going downstairs, but it was ongoing and petrifying. I wished I would just lose consciousness, but I kept falling and falling, and surely I would die. From far away, I could hear the narrator: “She was scared, but didn’t realize that it was not the end, but only a test to take her to the next level of magic”.
But I didn’t care, I needed it to stop. I had to wake up, because the falling was torturous and terrifying. I tried to create a floor with my mind, something to crush onto, die, and wake up. But even though I made one, I went right through it. I started to cry and knew I’d lose my mind if I didn’t wake up soon. I closed my eyes and concentrated really hard. I wasn’t falling. I wasn’t there. The dream wasn't real; the dread was not real; I was asleep and about to wake up. I heard the narrator sigh in disappointed disapproval… and I woke up with a start, panting and sweating and positively freaked out.
