Kingdom of Aetheria

Lilian felt her comfortable bed turning into solid rock beneath her, so she opened her eyes. When she looked above her, she didn't see the ceiling of her room as usual, but instead saw the sky looking like a carpet full of glowing spots, for it was filled with many stars, each one shining in a different color like the spectrum of a rainbow; some were fading red, deep blue, and emerald green. Lilian smiled, thinking all this was just a dream. She moved her body to turn over, but strangely, she felt pain when her hand struck the edge of a rock, making her realize that all this was real. Lilian opened her eyes wide after being on the verge of closing them and returning to sleep again. She sat up on the ground, feeling the cold breezes of air, and moved her head watching her surroundings; she was sitting in front of a small, clear pond, with tall bushes whose fruits emitted a strong glow that made them look like lamps. Lilian raised her hand and began rubbing her eyes to confirm she wasn't dreaming, and when she actually felt pain from the intensity of the rubbing, she was sure she wasn't dreaming and that all of this was real. Lilian stood up, looking at what surrounded her, and when she took her first step forward, everything disappeared in a place where nothing existed; no bushes, no sky, no pond, nothing but the cold breeze she could still feel. Lilian began looking around, wondering what had happened to the place she was in. Wasn't it a beautiful place just a moment ago? Why had it become a place of intense darkness? The silence was absolute and terrifying, so Lilian raised her hands and began feeling around her, but there was nothing, so she asked herself: "What happened to this place?" While she was thinking about what had happened and where exactly she was, she was surprised by a red thread cutting through the darkness, heading toward her. She was frightened and tried to escape from the path of this thread, but it wrapped around her pinky finger and tightened intensely. Despite feeling the warmth of the thread as it wound around her finger, she tried to pull the red thread away from her finger, but in vain. She puffed in annoyance at what was happening to her, then began following the thread that started pulling her, because she realized there was no other option before her. The thread was pulling her gently as if guiding her through this darkness, until a large red beam began to shine for her from afar. She was happy and thought she had found an escape from this strange place, but when she continued walking, she was surprised to find herself standing in front of a giant gate from which the red color radiated intensely. She raised her hand to understand what these strange symbols on the gate were. The door opened its gates slowly, and Lilian entered slowly, closing her eyes due to the intense light emanating from the gate, feeling afraid of everything happening around her. She opened her eyes when the light disappeared and quickly looked behind her to see if the gate had vanished or not, but she felt some relief when she found it had become a door of light. When she looked at the place she was in, she found herself in a truly terrifying place; she moved her head, unable to comprehend what she saw. She was in a place where everything was red; even the sky, the earth, and the moon, which was split into two halves. As she contemplated this horrifying scene, she thought: Is this the end of the world? She heard a sound like the crunching of bones as in horror films, and the growl of a monster, so she moved her foot knowing this was danger, but her curiosity was strengthening her. When she approached the source of the sound, her feet were paralyzed by the shock of what she saw; a massive monster covered in scales and crusts was standing a few steps away from her. Its eyes were glowing in the darkness, and around it were many human bodies torn in a gruesome way. When she looked closely at this monster, she was shocked to find it devouring the body of a small child who hadn't even completed six years of age. She felt an intense urge to vomit, and her tears began to fall from sheer fear. She was certain she would also die at the hands of this monster. Her heartbeats raced from this terrifying reality, so she moved her feet, trying to retreat to where the gate she had entered from was. She accidentally stepped on dry bones while retreating backward because she hadn't taken her eyes off the monster, so the bones broke and made a sound. As a result, the monster raised its head toward her, and her body trembled violently from fear as she saw the monster raising its gaze to see her clearly. The monster smiled when it saw her, opening its mouth wide until its face split from its mouth until it reached its ears, revealing sharp fangs. The monster growled powerfully, preparing to attack her. Lilian let her feet loose and began running with all her might, her tears falling abundantly on her face from sheer fear, trying to remember the location of the gate she had entered from so she could escape this terrifying place. When she saw the gate in front of her, she felt some hope, so she headed toward it while running. When she looked behind her, she saw the monster running toward her, but its steps were slow. Lilian approached the gate, panting from exhaustion, and when she was in front of the gate, she was amazed that the light coming out of the gate was pulling her as if it wanted to help her. When she exited the gate, she felt some safety, so she caught her breath in exhaustion while watching the same place she had been in just a moment ago. But all her thoughts of being safe evaporated when she saw the monster emerging from behind her through the same gate. Lilian screamed as she ran in exhaustion, but her scream didn't come out of her throat because it had become dry from the intensity of the screaming, and her heartbeats from the intensity of the pulse were about to burst from her chest from sheer fear. Due to the darkness of the place, she was running without seeing what was around her, and suddenly, while running, she collided forcefully with someone's body due to her fast running. She was on the verge of falling, but this person pulled her toward him, so she fell onto his chest. She tried to get away from him, but she felt her body shiver when this person wrapped his arms around her as if embracing her. She felt afraid, thinking this person would throw her to the monster to be eaten, or perhaps he himself was another type of monster. She began hitting his chest forcefully to make him release her, trying to get away from him, her tears falling from fear. Strangely, when this person saw her tears, her eyes transformed from their white color to an intense red, and he embraced her more forcefully as if he wanted to hide her from the world. At this moment, the monster arrived, baring its fangs and moving its body, ready to attack them both. This person raised his head when the monster arrived; he had been lowering his head and contemplating Lilian, and when he realized that the reason for her crying was her fear of this monster, he looked at it with his red eyes and raised one of his arms that was embracing her. When the monster saw this person's features, it felt intense terror and began retreating backward to escape, but it was too late. The person raised his hand in the air toward the monster and snapped his fingers, so the monster exploded into pieces. Lilian couldn't see anything because the person was embracing her forcefully within his chest. When Lilian felt that the place had become safe and that this person hadn't harmed her, she raised her head to know him, but she couldn't see his features due to the intense darkness around her. However, she clearly saw his red eyes, and she was shocked when she felt this person gently wiping her tears. His eyes were drawing closer to her as he lowered his head toward her, looking at her in a strange way and saying: "Don't be afraid, I am always with you." Here, Lilian spoke: "Who are you?" The person looked at her with disapproval as if she had said something strange. He approached her face until almost nothing separated them and said: "I am your husband." After that, he gently tapped her forehead, and Lilian woke up sweating heavily, her heart still beating strongly. She looked around and found herself in her room, so she said: "It was a dream.. no, no, no, it was a terrifying nightmare." Lilian calmed down from her fright and reached her hand under her pillow, grabbing her diary book, then grabbed a pen from the table next to her bed, and opened her diary to a new page. "Today, I found myself in a new place, with the same new person... He said I am his wife." She blushed with embarrassment as she remembered his words that she was his wife, but this blush faded as she felt annoyed by this strange dream that had been happening to her for about a month. She was wiping the drops of sweat that fell from her face onto the pages. When she felt this wasn't helping, she went to wash her face. At this moment, when Lilian got up from the bed, a black book suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fell on the bed in the place where Lilian had been sitting. Something resembling blood began to bleed from its cover due to its intense red color, and it gathered until it formed the words "The Demon King."