The darkness of sleep didn't last for long. I opened my eyes to a sky that moved at an impossible speed, clouds flying past at ground level. I was standing in a forest of iridescent buildings that reflected the sun in unusual ways. It was surreal; I had never seen anything like it, even in all the books I had read in our personal library.
I was clearly dreaming, but it felt strange, more realistic than a dream usually felt. I tried to move my legs, and they moved exactly as I commanded them. I had never had a dream like this, where I was in control.
I didn't stop to think. On instinct, I found a route to follow and quickly scaled the unique architecture. The feeling of the building in my hands was cold and smooth. I couldn't begin to imagine what the buildings were made of.
From my new vantage point, the horizon opened, and I realised that the clouds weren't at ground level. The land itself was at cloud level. It was a floating city adrift in a sea of clouds. The outer edges were a mess of scorched earth and smoke. The occupants of the dream were nothing but shadows. Wisps of smoke, mere illusions of people with no distinguishing features.
The air was thinner than I was used to, and I had found it difficult to breathe. If this were a dream, why did I need to breathe?
Then came the sound. A rhythmic beat. Flap, Flap, Flap. A Monster the size of a city wall flew above my head, its scales reflecting like metal, its gaze fixed on me from its unnatural eyes. A voice resonated within my mind.
"Get up, little one"
I woke with a gasp, the world slowly coming back into place. For a moment, I was confused about where I was, then the forest canopy came into view, light filtering through like a stained-glass window. I remember everything from the last four days.
My whole body was tingling, and I could feel the stones on the forest floor against my back. The Elieve was working, which was a good thing. I tried to sit up, but my body resisted my efforts. My legs wouldn't budge. Not because they were numb, but they were being restrained. I felt the pressure on my legs, and I shifted my head so I could see them. They were wrapped from my ankles to my hips in white strands of thread. It was confusing at first until I realised it was webbing.
The sound reached me, only a few moments later. A dry clicking sound. I didn't want to look. I knew what was there, but I forced myself to look anyway. I turned my head towards the sound, and a monster emerged from the shadows of the tree. It was the size of an adult human. Its body was low and rounded, eight legs moving in sync with each other. Its two fangs were already wet with venom. There was a strange purple thread flowing around it.
I swallowed. Of course, it was a forest spider. I reached for the knife Old Nan had given me. I searched along the belt, and it was not where I had expected it to be. At first, I was worried I had lost it, but it had only shifted in my fall. My hand found the wooden handle, and I took guard just like my father had taught me.
The spider launched itself, aiming for my chest. My guard held, but the impact of the fang on metal rattled my wrist. The blade twisted in my hand, but the bite missed its mark and hit just left of my shoulder. The second bite was quicker. I had been able to twist my bound body to the side, using my knife and body weight, I pinned the spider head to the ground.
It leapt clear of the pin using a strength I couldn't match. As it began to creep around looking for a new angle of attack, my skin began to warm up. It was subtle at first, but it was growing in intensity and spreading across my body. It was strange. It was like the air itself was brushing against me and trying to find a way inside, but there wasn't even a breath of wind to be seen. It felt like pure energy.
My sibling used to describe something similar about magic when we were younger. They would speak of currents and pressure that came from within an inner pool. I remember them mocking me. Saying I would never understand the feeling of casting magic.
This felt similar to what they described, but also different. I felt pressure from outside of my body; they described a pressure from within.
It was common knowledge that halflings were unloved by the world. Thus, couldn't connect to the realm of magic. We were the only race without a magical aptitude. When I had shown no talent for magic, I had accepted that I was the same: slave-born and magicless.
Yet now, there was something in the air. I understood what they had been talking about. I didn't have time to process what was happening as the spider made its next move and launched itself from a branch, its body hurling towards my prone body. I held out the knife, not expecting to be able to take the impact but hoping I could redirect it.
I felt a surge as the energy and pressure surrounding me found an escape and was drawn into the knife. The knife warmed and started to glow with a shimmer of blue energy. There was a faint but perceivable transformation in the metal of the knife.
The spider fang drove into the waiting blade. There was a moment of resistance before the metal, reinforced by the energy it had absorbed, bit through armour fang like it was parchment. The force of its own fall carried it onto the knife. The momentum of the fall drove the blade deeper into the face of the spider, its many eyes reflecting the blade as it slid through the skull. I
The spider convulsed, and its legs curled inwards as the life left its body.