Luxiana SommerisThe first thing I felt was the cool caress of air against my skin, followed by the soft, familiar texture of sheets beneath my fingertips. My head was heavy, my limbs sluggish, as though I had been pulled from the depths of an ocean, weighed down by something unseen. My breath came slow, shallow, as the remnants of a dream clung to me like mist, refusing to let go.I forced my eyes open, my vision hazy before the world sharpened into focus. The dim glow of my bedside lamp bathed the room in warm light. My room. The waking world. I was back.For a fleeting moment, dread settled in my chest like a stone. Had I failed? Had I woken up alone, everything I had fought for slipping through my fingers like sand? My pulse pounded in my ears, an unbearable silence stretching between the seconds. But then, I heard breathing.Deep, steady, but it was not mine. My body went rigid. I turned my head, my heartbeat slamming against my ribs.And there he was. Damien lay beside me, his
Luxiana SommerisWhen I woke up the following day, my entire body ached in ways I had never experienced before. A deep soreness settled into my muscles, making even the simple act of shifting beneath the sheets feel challenging. It was as if every fiber of my being remembered Damien’s touch, his kisses, the way his hands had explored me so thoroughly that now, even the ghost of his touch made me shiver.I blinked a few times, my vision adjusting to the soft morning light filtering through the curtains. A quiet, heavy stillness surrounded me, one that immediately told me something was missing. My eyes roamed the room, taking in the familiar details—the books stacked haphazardly on my nightstand, the thin trail of moonlight still lingering from the early hours of dawn, the faint imprint on the pillow beside me.But he was gone. A strange hollowness settled in my chest. I had known, logically, that he wouldn’t be able to stay forever. My power had limits, after all. No matter how bad
Luxiana Sommeris“So, this is where you work?” Damien mused as we came to a stop outside the city library. His stormy blue eyes scanned the grand structure before us, his lips curving into an intrigued smile. “It’s huge.”I followed his gaze, taking in the towering stone building I had come to know so well. The carved pillars, the intricate arched windows, and the massive double doors leading inside stood proudly, a testament to the history within. The early morning light bathed the library in a golden hue, and a soft breeze rustled the trees lining the sidewalk, carrying the faint scent of old books and fresh ink.“Yeah, this is the city library,” I said, my voice laced with fondness. “We have one of the largest collections in the country—almost every book you could imagine.” I inhaled deeply, already able to picture the familiar rows of bookshelves, the worn wooden tables, and the quiet rustle of pages turning.Damien tilted his head slightly, amused. “You really love this place.”
Luxiana SommerisThe streets buzzed with life, a mixture of hurried footsteps, distant chatter, and the occasional car honk filling the air. The sun was warm against my skin, casting golden hues over the city buildings, making the windows glisten like scattered diamonds.Damien walked beside me unhurriedly, his fingers still loosely laced with mine. He didn’t seem overwhelmed by the liveliness of the city, but rather, fascinated by it. His gaze flickered from storefronts to passing pedestrians, his lips occasionally parting as if he wanted to ask something but decided against it.I watched him from the corner of my eye, curiosity gnawing at me. He looked at everything with quiet awe—that reminded me of how different we were.“What do you think about the city? Do you like it?” I finally asked, nudging him slightly with my shoulder.He hummed, a thoughtful sound. “It’s lively,” he admitted. “There’s a certain… warmth to it.”I let out a soft laugh before pulling him toward a street ve
Luxiana SommerisThe moment we reached a safe place—a dimly lit café in a quiet alleyway—I finally let out the breath I had been holding. My heart still pounded in my chest, the encounter replaying in my mind like a feverish dream. I placed a cold bottle of water in front of Damien, watching as his hands trembled slightly when he reached for it. “So that was a grim reaper?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. For a grim reaper, he looks painfully normal.Damien ran a hand through his dark, tousled hair, frantically massaging his scalp as if trying to rub away the tension building inside him. His jaw was set tight, and a crease had formed between his brows, making him look more troubled than I had ever seen him before.“Yes,” he exhaled, gripping the bottle but making no move to drink from it. “As I told you, there are risks in bringing me here.”The weight of his words pressed against my chest, but before I could speak, he continued. “We can’t bring death into the waking worl
Luxiana SommerisI trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. The words felt heavy, like they didn’t belong to me. How could I say them with a straight face? Lying to Margaret had been difficult enough, but spinning an entire backstory? That was something else entirely.Margaret wasn’t just my friend—she was my second mother after my grandmother died. She was the one who had taken care of me when grief had threatened to swallow me whole. The one who made sure I ate, who listened to my worries, who reminded me that I wasn’t alone in the world. I owed her honesty. I wanted to tell her the truth. But what truth could I possibly offer?That I met Damien in a dream? That he wasn’t just a man, but an incubus, a creature of the night who existed in the space between reality and slumber?No. That would only confuse her. It would sound absurd—impossible. I pressed my lips together, my fingers tightening around my cup.“Before we knew it, we started looking forward to speaking to each other
Luxiana SommerisThe soft crunch of gravel beneath our shoes was the only sound accompanying us as we strolled back home, ice cream cones in hand. The air was warm, carrying the faint scent of rain from earlier in the afternoon, and I found myself humming a lighthearted tune, trying to shake off the remnants of our earlier conversation. The sweetness of the vanilla on my tongue was comforting, melting slowly as I licked at it absentmindedly. Damien walked beside me, quiet but present, the way he always was when he sensed I needed space to think.Just as I turned the corner leading to my house, I caught sight of someone sitting on the porch. The dim glow of the streetlight above barely illuminated their figure, but the familiarity of it made me pause.“Someone’s there…” Damien murmured beside me, his voice low, cautious. I squinted, my steps slowing. My heart gave a small, surprised lurch when I recognized the person. “Anton?” My voice came out barely above a whisper. My grip on my
Luxiana SommerisA lot has happened today. The weight of it pressed down on us, thick and unrelenting, even as we sought solace in the small comforts of routine. The warm water of the bath soothed aching muscles, yet my mind remained restless, submerged in the whirlpool of unspoken fears and unanswered questions.I should be thinking about them—the souls lost in their nightmares, the ones I could save if only I tried harder. But all I could think about was him.Damien.The thought of him made my chest tighten with something dangerously close to guilt. Not because I had done something wrong, but because I knew—deep down—that I was being selfish. My abilities weren’t meant for just one person. I could pull countless souls from the brink and bring light to those drowning in darkness.I had done so little for the people of this world. A few saved lives weren’t enough. Not when I had the power to do more. Not when I could be so much more. But how could I give pieces of myself away when,
AntonAt first, she couldn’t bring herself to meet my eyes. She stared down, her fingers trembling slightly against mine. But after a long, weighted pause, she finally smiled — a soft, bittersweet curve of her lips — and tightened her grip on my hands.“I have feelings for you,” she whispered, her voice barely above the breeze, “but it wasn’t allowed in the faction...so I forced myself to forget.”She gave a short, breathy laugh that sounded like she was trying to make light of something that hurt far too much.“I slept with others in their dreams,” she admitted, her eyes clouding with memories, “but no matter what I did, I couldn’t forget you. I couldn’t forget the way we opened up to each other so easily... the way we were so gentle, yet so passionate together.”I swallowed hard, feeling the familiar ache rise in my chest, and found myself confessing before I could stop myself.“I felt the same,” I said, my voice thick. “I tried...I slept with others, too, but it never worked. I eve
Luxiana Sommeris“My walkers… they can’t fully possess the people in either the waking world or the dream realm—what did you do?” Morpheus screamed, his voice sharp and accusing, echoing like a crack of thunder through the heavy air, forcing me to leave Damien’s side and step forward until I stood directly in front of him, unflinching.“What I did,” I began, my breath shaky but my voice steady, “was use everything I am as an Oneiromancer to stop whatever it is you’re trying to tip out of balance.” I exhaled sharply, the pressure of it all catching up to me. “You really think I came all this way just to fight you without a reason, don’t you?”“We know what you've been doing,” I continued, my fists clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms, “I swear I won’t let you get away with it.”“Maybe you escaped the consequences before—I don’t know how or why—but this time, I’m here to make sure it ends.” “I might be the last of my kind,” I said with a quiet strength that came from something
Anton“Y-You saw it? B-But how?” I asked, my voice almost breaking.“It doesn’t matter how. I want to see it and take it from you, so let’s go back, okay?” Mira said as she held my hands.“O-Okay,” I replied, the word trembling from my lips, but it was enough to make them both smile, and for a moment, that warmth was all I could feel.“There’s still time,” Mira said again with the authority of someone who had walked through too many endings to be afraid of one more. “But we have to act now. Morpheus still has his grip on you, and if we wait, he’ll pull you too deep—we might never reach you again.”I looked at them—at Luxiana’s steady eyes and Mira’s unshakable calm—and for the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself believe that maybe I wasn’t lost after all. That the darkness hadn’t consumed everything, that the flicker of light I thought was long gone had survived because they had come before the dream collapsed.“I don’t know if I’m strong enough,” I whispered, the trut
Luxiana Sommeris“How can we reach him?” Mira asked, her voice low but laced with worry, the concern lingering in her eyes despite her valiant effort to mask it.A sudden surge of hope rose within me, a warmth that spread through my chest like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. I was just about to tell her what to do, to explain the next step, when a sound tore through the stillness—a scream, raw and anguished, that shattered the moment.Damien was down on one knee, his flames sputtering like a candle on the verge of going out, his breath ragged and uneven. Across from him stood Morpheus, towering and bloodied, yet crackling with the vicious energy of victory, his form coiled and ready to deliver the final strike. Time stretched unbearably thin in that instant, as if the world held its breath with me, one heartbeat, one second suspended in the space between what was and what could still be.“Damien! No!” The words ripped from my throat like a bolt of lightning, sharp and despe
Luxiana SommerisFor a fleeting moment, I saw fear flicker across Morpheus’ face—a brief crack in his mask of arrogance—but he quickly smirked, recovering his composure. I had been told before that he never liked Damien, and now I understood why. It was the white flames. Something about them, something pure and ancient, unsettled him.“You’re making this even harder,” Morpheus sneered, rising slowly from where Damien had brought him to his knees. He dusted himself off as if the attack was nothing more than a minor inconvenience, but I could see the tightness around his eyes, the tremor in his voice. “Do you really think the two of you can be together?”Damien took a cautious step forward, eyes narrowed in disbelief. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Morpheus to recover so quickly—not after being consumed by white flames, the same flames that had once been powerful enough to destroy entire darkness.Despite Morpheus’s attempt to appear unshaken, I could tell the damage was real. He was hur
Luxiana Sommeris“Where’s Anton? If you hurt him, I will end you.” I clenched my fists, which made him chuckle.He didn’t say anything, but he moved forward. I didn’t flinch—not when the shadow moved like a living creature, snarling without a mouth, nor when Morpheus hovered a little closer, like he was trying to study me, savor me, as if I were a guest of honor at some twisted performance he’d been rehearsing for centuries. My fists clenched at my sides, and though my heart thudded hard against my ribs, I refused to let him see fear. Not now. Not when I had come all this way.“What kind of show are you planning to put on this time?” I asked, my voice firm, even as the chill of his presence settled into my bones. “Another nightmare? Another illusion to trap me in?”He tilted his head, his expression between amusement and curiosity, like a child toying with a fragile toy, waiting to see how easily it would break.“Oh, this one’s going to be special,” he said softly, almost sweetly, as
Luxiana SommerisUntil I reached a clearing—something that might once have been a beautiful place. A forest, frozen in twilight.The trees were twisted now, unmoving, but not dead. The air hung heavy with silence that pressed against my skin, sharp enough to hurt.And then I saw him. Anton stood at the center, his back to me. He was still—too still. His shoulders were stiff, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, and his head was tilted slightly, as if listening to something only he could hear.But I could feel the wrongness in the air. His energy wasn’t right. It vibrated dark and low, coiled and waiting like a snake beneath the surface.“Anton,” I said, almost tearing up, my voice piercing the silence like a blade. He didn’t move or answer.“Anton, I know you’re in there. I know what Morpheus is doing. But I also know you’re still fighting.” I called out again.A gentle but biting wind passed through the trees. When it stopped, it became extremely cold, so when Anton laughed, I
Luxiana SommerisAfter drinking from the cool, rushing river, a wave of exhaustion washed over me so heavily that I decided to set up camp nearby, letting the gentle murmur of the water soothe my weary senses. As I sat alone beneath the twilight sky, the fire crackling softly beside me, my thoughts spiraled into a restless haze, each clinging to the next as I tried desperately to anchor myself in some semblance of calm.If Morpheus had taken Damien, I was certain I would have felt it—some thread between us tugging, snapping, crying out—but the silence was deafening. Could it be that those who took him were not of Morpheus’ kind at all? What if... the grim reapers had come for him instead?The thought struck me with a cold, paralyzing dread. Lying within the thin walls of my makeshift tent, I stared at the fabric ceiling, my heart pounding louder than the night sounds beyond. Damien could hold his own against nearly anyone, but when it came to the reapers... it was a different game e
Luxiana SommerisAfter the incubus delivered his cryptic message, he vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but unsettling silence. I stood there, rooted in place, unsure of how to process what he had said—unsure of what I was supposed to feel.“For some reason… I don’t want to continue this journey anymore,” Damien murmured with a bitter laugh that held no real amusement. His voice pulled my attention upward, and I found him looking off into the distance, his expression tight with worry.“We don’t have that luxury, Damien,” I replied, my voice steady and resolute despite the turmoil churning inside me. “I have a responsibility to protect both the dream realm and the waking world. I’m the only one who can.”His eyes met mine then, dark and stormy with concern. “But going back there means risking your life,” he said, each word heavy with truth. “If Morpheus really wants you, he’ll find a way to take you. He’s done it before, and now… now he’s stronger, more prepared. You know that.”