Luxiana SommerisThe moment I screamed, Anton froze mid-step. Slowly, he turned to look at me, and when our eyes finally met, a strange expression crossed his face—like he’d just snapped out of a trance.“Luxiana?” he called, his voice uncertain. There was a flicker in his eyes, as if my presence had shaken him back to reality.I rushed over without hesitation, glancing at the man slumped in his arms. I have no idea where Anton is planning to take him, but the guy didn’t look good. “What’s going on with him?”Anton parted his lips to speak, but hesitated. “He’s not feeling well. I was going to take him to my place.”I frowned before tilting slightly towards him, “Do you have a doctor at your house, Anton?”He squinted slightly, then shook his head. “Then don’t take him there,” I insisted. “We need to go to the hospital.”Without waiting for his response, I hailed a cab. Once inside, I urged Anton to take the front seat while I helped the unconscious man lie down across the back, gentl
Luxiana SommerisI managed to slip into the depths of his subconscious, my soul treading lightly through the I managed to slip past the veil of reality, tapping gently into the depths of his subconscious.It was a slow descent, like falling through thick fog, my soul wading into the quiet, hidden places of Elijah’s mind. The further I sank, the heavier everything became—my limbs, my thoughts, even the very air around me. It was dark—so dark that it felt as though I were moving through a world drained of color and light. And with that darkness came a gnawing sense of dread that curled in my chest. Something about this place felt… off. Not just distant, but bruised, like a memory that had been hurt too many times.Still, I pressed forward. I had to. And yet, no matter how deep I went, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from drifting to Anton. He had been acting strange lately—distant, distracted, like he was only half-present. There was a tightness to his smiles, a shadow behind his eyes tha
Luxiana SommerisThe moment Elijah was taken, reality snapped back into focus like a slap to the face. I staggered, nearly collapsing into the chair behind me, but I managed to catch myself by gripping the backrest with trembling fingers.My chest rose and fell with heavy, uneven breaths. Tears welled in my eyes as the memory of what just happened to Elijah resurfaced—vivid, raw, and terrifying. And then there was Anton. What the hell was wrong with him?I turned my gaze to Elijah’s still form. A wave of determination washed over me as I stepped closer and reached for his hand, wrapping my fingers tightly around his. I didn’t know him well—not personally, but as an Oneiromancer in this realm, I could do something. Something that might help.“I hope you find your way back to your body,” I whispered, voice soft but resolute. “You’re stronger than you think. I saw that in your dreams.”Closing my eyes, I focused, channeling my energy toward him, trying to guide him back through the threa
Luxiana SommerisI didn’t go home. Not until Elijah opened his eyes. Something was unsettling about watching someone lie unconscious in a hospital bed—so still, so silent, the steady beeping of machines the only confirmation that life still lingered within them. I stayed by his side, curled into the stiff hospital chair, watching the way his chest rose and fell. I listened to the sterile hum of the fluorescent lights and counted the cracks on the tiled ceiling just to keep myself grounded. I refused to leave. I refused to let him wake up alone.When he finally did, it was slow—his eyes fluttering open like he wasn’t sure if the nightmare had truly ended. And when his gaze landed on me, the dam broke. Tears welled up in his eyes, spilling down his cheeks as he reached for me like a drowning man catching hold of a lifeline.“You brought me back,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and shaky. “I was trapped… and it was your voice, your presence… that pulled me out. I came back because of y
Luxiana Sommeris“W-What happened to you?” I asked, my voice trembling as my eyes scanned him from head to toe. Something about him seemed… incomplete—like pieces were missing, pieces that shouldn't be.Damien caught the way I stared and tried to lighten the atmosphere between us. “Oh, this?” he said casually, gesturing to his arm or what remained of it. “I lost an arm… and a few fingers. But don’t worry, I’m working on growing them back.”“W-What?” I stammered, struggling to wrap my head around his words. “Why would you—was it because you went to the waking realm?” My voice dropped as I slowly began to walk toward him, heart pounding.My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I took in the rest of him. His fingers—some of them were gone. And his limbs… it was like they had only just begun to regenerate, raw and unfinished. My chest ached, and before I knew it, hot tears were streaming down my face without warning or permission.He didn’t say a word. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled
Luxiana SommerisThe wind outside had begun to howl, curling against the windows in long, eerie sighs, as though the very air sensed what was coming. It whispered secrets I wasn’t ready to hear, murmuring truths only the night could carry.The remnants of my dream clung to me like a second skin—cold, damp, and far too real. No warmth in the waking world could chase away the chill it left behind. Damien stood quietly at the edge of the room, his broad shoulders tense, his jaw tight. He didn’t have to say anything for me to know he felt it too—that strange pull in the atmosphere, the subtle shift that warned of danger ahead.“You’re sure about this?” he asked again, his voice a low rumble, edged with dread.“I have to be,” I murmured, fingers tightening around the heavy cloak wrapped around my shoulders. It was more for comfort than protection. “No one else can do this.”“She wants me for a reason,” I continued, moistening my lower lip with the edge of my tongue. “I’ll use that. I’ll u
Luxiana Sommeris“I have to allow them to do things to him,” Lilith said, her voice quiet but steady, as if trying to cushion the blow about to land. “It’s part of my duty, as queen of this faction.”“But… I thought it was because he crossed into the waking realm that they came to us,” I murmured, the fragments of understanding inside my mind colliding, sharp and disjointed, refusing to fall into place.“That’s part of it,” she acknowledged with a faint nod, her gaze unreadable. “But the truth is—they’ve been watching him for quite some time now. Watching both of you.” She paused then, as if weighing her next words with great care. When she spoke again, each syllable dropped like a stone. “Someday, you two will have to part. Do you think you’ll be able to accept that?”We... have to?The question lodged in my chest like a thorn, buried deep and aching, unmoving. I parted my lips, trying to form words, trying to respond, but nothing came out. My voice had abandoned me.I couldn’t say
Luxiana SommerisOne of the Dream Walkers disintegrated on the spot, its form unraveling like strands of shadow torn from the edges of a nightmare. The others lunged forward, clawing at the space between us with silent screams, their mouths gaping in distorted fury.I barely dodged in time—one claw scraped across my shoulder, a sudden, searing sting that made the vision in my right eye blur and flicker. But I didn’t hesitate. I countered with another incantation, this one more intricate and delicate, like tracing a sigil into the very air with trembling fingers and unshaken will.The second Walker halted, frozen mid-motion, trapped in a loop of its own making. It began to unravel from within, consumed by the very nightmare it had once fed upon. Its form collapsed inward, swallowed by an echo of its creation.But the last one came faster and smarter.It didn’t strike with claws or fangs. Instead, it reached for my mind, dragging me into a conjured illusion so vivid it felt like reali
Luxiana SommerisDays passed—maybe even a week—and still, Damien hadn’t returned. The worry that settled in my chest grew heavier each moment he was gone, and when I finally tried to teleport to find him, a strange, foreign energy pushed back against me, blocking my path and leaving me more anxious than before.I hadn’t gone to see Margaret either, to check on her or ask if she’d heard anything, though deep down, I could sense she was alright. The energies that lingered around me whispered comfort, gently assuring me that she was safe.Damien was right all along—I truly had unlocked my full potential as a Oneiromancer. I could feel it pulsing within me like a tide that had finally reached the shore. There was so much more for me to uncover, to understand, to master, and even though I had come a long way, I was certain this was only the beginning of a much larger journey.Right now, I was trying to see if there was any way for me to reach Damien or anyone from the faction, to create a
Luxiana Sommeris“Do you think he’ll be alright?” I asked softly, my voice barely louder than the wind as we stood there, watching what had just unfolded between him and Mira.It broke my heart to see them like that — two people once so close, now carrying wounds that words could barely heal. Still, a part of me felt relieved, even grateful, that they had found the strength to finally talk. Maybe not everything was resolved, but enough was said to ease the heaviest part of their burden.Damien’s arms were loosely wrapped around me, his weight leaning on mine. I held onto him carefully, helping him stay balanced, mindful of the injuries he had suffered earlier when he hurt his feet during the chaos.“He will be fine, he has survived a lot of things that no normal human would,” Damien stated as a fact.Even now, standing here with him, I still find it hard to believe that we have defeated Morpheus. After everything he put us through, after all the nights filled with fear and fighting,
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