Considering how far she has pushed herself beyond the limits she’d known previously, and that she had come through the ambush with her life, something two of their force couldn’t also say, the sorceress was very pleased to wake cold, aching, and exhausted on the floor of her study. Finding her feet, a smile testing her lips despite the pain that wracked her body and mind with every movement, she carefully made her way down the hall to her quarters where she nestled deep within the soft covers in search of restorative sleep.
The time she had spent unconscious on her study floor had been productive in allowing her body time to start its recuperation, but had done little to give her the depth and scope of the rest she actually needed. Her vision swam away from her as she clumsily stumbled and fumbled towards the land of dreams. Warm color reached for her and she slipped comfortably into its embrace.
Intangibles swirled around her, floating in drifts, and she made no attempt to understand the loving caress of the visions. She had learned in her training, long ago, that not only was it futile to attempt to control dreams, but trying to could keep her from relaxing deeply enough for her body to repair itself and her magically well to refill. So, the images splashed on and she drank them in as they came. Some were terrifying and others were uplifting and she took them all in stride.
The dragon appeared prominently in splotches of red, only to be replaced by the wizard dripping in yellow, and then the black etchings of the dead. Behind them all the warmth of orange and purple pulsed in time to her heart and eventually those two colors devoured the rest until all her mind hummed in vibrant hues of green. The tall grasses of the river’s fields swayed in a gentle breeze running down from the mountain passes above. It was beautiful and serene and the sorceress’s mind finally relaxed to the point it needed.
Then a fire sparked by a lightning strike on the highest peak, turned to an inferno by the previously gentle breeze, leapt from the mountains to eat of the lush grasses, and she felt the fire within her soul burn anew. Recharged, her eyes opened wide and she sat upright in her bed.
She knew it was foolish to take meaning from her dreams, but she knew she had received a glimpse of truth and clarity. Fire was her salvation. Closing her eyes, she settled back into sleep, knowing she would need to be fully rested for her road ahead, to go call upon the dragon again.
The Matticus Kingdom 