Kristia was having that nightmare again. Details changed every night but the foundation of the dream was always the same. The Spiraling Dragon, Masvita, and her. Three players in a different game each time. Tonight was probably one of the worst. Already inside the great walls of the Dragon, smoke was billowing out through the windows and pieces of the tower's frame and items inside were crashing down around her. The tower was collapsing itself, trying to crush the people within. Hand covering her eyes, Kristia was pushing her way inwards, struggling for breath and fighting for more steps.
"Kristia."
The voice echoed throughout the entire house, like a scream. The Dhampire whipped around to face the owner of the voice, stumbling backwards as lamp shattered at her feet. Glass exploded, some pieces flying at her exposed legs and slicing through the flesh. She cringed but kept her eyes upwards, trying to find the voice. Then she saw Masvita, past the doorway and standing outside the Dragon. What's she doing out there while I'm in here looking for her? A loud, thunderous crack swallowed the building's sound as a private storm began brewing at the very pinnacle of the tower. Everything was becoming hazy. Smoke, debris, and the chaos inside was making it hard for Kristia to keep her balance and sanity. Dropping her hand downwards, she started to tear through the wreckage and make way for the door. She didn't move, instead things got tossed around and no distance was gained. Things did get smaller. And smaller. And closer. The walls of the Dragon were collapsing in on her.
"Massy. Help me. Masvita.. "
Reaching a tired arm out towards Masvita, the other woman made no attempts to move. Masvita's face was furiously bright, offset by the stringy white strands of hair that caked her cheeks. Mas's mouth didn't move, but her voice came out strong through the walls of the Dragon.
"You left me here. Now it's your turn, Kristia. Your turn to die."
Dreams always moved in a strange time frame. Like a snap of the fingers, Masvita's form was suddenly gone and the Dragon's walls had gone from feet, to inches from her. Kristia drove her hands and feet back against the wall, trying to fight off the amazing force of the living stone. Gripping so hard that the continual push of the walls splintered her very finger nails. Pain surged and Kristia buckled down into a ball on the floor, squinting her eyes shut. Time to die. Time to think. I didn't leave her. She lost it in this place. I tried to help. I tried to .. Didn't I?
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Another morning of waking covered in sweat. However, instead of waking up on a luxurious mattress and snuggling with a feather down comforter, Kris woke up on the floor of her living room. Since Capizio's stay, all her nice things had pretty much been completely destroyed. So she'd been sleeping on a makeshift bed of tattered pillows. Sitting upwards on the uncomfortable padding, she instantly raised one hand to her face to wipe away the sleep. Her cheeks were damp and turning to look downwards at the pillow, it was confirmed that she'd been crying through that dream. Kristia snorted to herself. Dream. F*cking nightmare. Reaching aside for her combat boots, she swung her legs around and stuck the black heels on, lacing them up with a look around.
"Saint?" She whistled. "Come on, buddy. Let's take a walk."
She wanted to be out of there before Capizio took notice of her movement. Full of all these unpleasant, icky feelings from her dream, she didn't want to deal with any crap this early on. Best way to shake it off? Run with the dog. And in comes the triumphant Saint Bernard, a huge four-legged furry mass of auburn, white, and drool. The canine plodded over to his owner with an affectionate nuzzle to her arm as she lifted onto her feet. Out the front door and into the streets, Kristia didn't really stop to think about her clothing. Black combat boots stopped at the middle of her calf, which left the remainder of her long legs exposed until caught by the edge of a black and pink plaid skirt. Don't ask, it was laundry day. And a white tank top. And here she was, jogging at six in the morning, looking like some scrubby punk kid. Oh well.
Almost an hour into her run and things were starting to get better. The pictures from her dream had faded and Kristia was focused in on the here and the now. The Market Place was bustling with early vendors setting up shop for the morning crowd, some who she waved to, others got dirty looks. She took a short break at the end stations of the Markets, letting the dog steal a quick drink from a puddle in the cobblestone.
"I'll do it if you do it." "Nah, shut up. He's not going in." "I hear it'll eat your face off!" "Shhh!"
That conversation belonged to a flock of kids approaching, all seemingly overwhelmed with the topic of their discussion. One sandy-haired boy clapped and pointed off into the distance.
"You suckers. Did you see Ewan's face? Dude, really, you looked like you were about to piss yourself."
Another boy, who was presumed to be Ewan, shook his head violently and sputtered back, "Screw you." Kristia quirked one brow as she listened mostly concerned about the language of these kids. They must have been about eight or nine. Back in her day...
"Seriously! That story is such a crock of shit. Who's ever heard of a -alive- house that ate people. Puh-leaaaze."
"Okay then, smarty pants. How else do you explain a tower that's building itself? Have you seen anybody working on it?"
'Pssh. They probably did it at night.. This is stupid."
"Yeah, okay.. Hey! Wanna go see if Katie got her mechanical gopher?"
A resounding echo of, "Yes!" followed and the gaggle of gossiping children ran off from sight. Kristia hadn't moved, instead frozen in thought or fear. Saint bobbed his head upwards with a pool of drool dripping down from his muzzle which he wiped onto Kristia's leg. It was enough to distract her eyes downwards, rubbing her leg back against the dog's fur.
"Oh, Saint. That's gross." The distraction didn't last long enough. Looking upwards again, she could start to feel the thumping of her heart in her chest. "There's just.. no way. It's impossible." Kristia knew better then that. Anything was possible in Rhydin and that had been proven time and time again. This was just not something she ever considered. Every fiber of her being screamed for her to turn around and run elsewhere, to not even think twice on it.
"Think we should check it out?" She asked the dog. Saint looked up with a dopey expression and tail wagging. Kristia morphed that into the answer she wanted and nodded. "Yeah. Just to be sure." The old spot where the Tower wasn't really far from here.. maybe a couple miles out from the edges of town. So that was the direction Kristia and her furry companion took. She spent the entire time convincing herself that this had to be some other house. It was simply some odd coincidence that those kids had been discussing something similar to the Spiraling Dragon. That was it. Yes. Pure coincidence.
Three hundred feet away. No way. It's not the tower. This is silly. Should have turned away.
Two hundred feet away. Look. I don't see it from here. This is ridiculious. All this way because I'm a nervous freak. Turn around, Kris.
One hundred feet away.
The impressive tower sat upon the same hill that she'd last seen it as shambles on. Kristia made the motion to speak but instead a low, guttural noise choked out. Naturally pale from her undead existence, her face could have blended perfectly with a clump of snow, white as ever. Green eyes stood out like never before, bright and wide-eyed as she starred at the Spiraling Dragon. Unbelievable.
