Phoenix Flames
How quiet he's been. How sneaky. A surprise attack, as the Dreamer is blocked, and the Black Owl slides into his brother's place, delivering a darker dream...
We see Varos, an old haunt for the weak and broken, magma boiling over a recent wound, where stations and starships collided into the moon's crust. A great hole marks its center, where a massive creature stirs inside. His head rises from the lava, his burning wings stretching after a long nap, yellow eyes glowing brighter than the flames. Rastelviri licks his lips, letting the energies of the universe pass through him.
The dream fast forwards, passing over several days, as Rastelviri sits as still as a statue. No creature is brave enough to come near him, and so only the appearance of Bretheda passes the time -- a startling blue to constrast the Varos red. As the hours slide by, you feel your mind relax, your shoulders softening as all potential for horror fades...
A Skinny Man presses his face right up against our vision's lens, his featureless maw sticking to the glass. A tongue slides from the nowhere of his skull, leaving an ooze along our eyes, and then the nightmare peels away.
When we see Rastelviri again, he is no longer on Varos. He glides in space, flame billowing from between his teeth, his wings caught on magic instead of wind. His destination rotates into view as he turns. A blue and green gem, shining so brightly in the harshness of the Vast, where monsters roam and hunters scheme. A great miasma surrounds the planet, but Rastelviri pays it no heed, as a Skinny Man rides on his neck, and pushes the field aside.
A worm crawls beneath the covers, and the nightmare slaps us awake.
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