The Enemy Revealed

The dream was always the same. Jason had been having the same dream at least once a week since he was a baby. He knew this but it never stopped the dream from taking him over. Even knowing it was a dream, he could feel it pulling him in. He resisted, of course; no one would go willingly into this dream, but as always, his resistance was futile and the dream swallowed him whole.

Jason found himself standing in darkness, a long, black tunnel opening before him. He could not see it with his eyes, but he could sense it somehow. With those same senses, he knew it curved up ahead and slanted down too. He had been here before; he knew that, maybe more than once, but he could not explain how he knew that either. The knowledge of this place was inscribed in his very bones, it seemed. And it knew him too. The darkness seemed almost alive, beckoning and repulsive at the same time. He did not want to go into that tunnel; he would rather have done anything else, but his feet started to move by themselves.

The tunnel was pitch black, and Jason stumbled more than he walked. He wished for light and was not surprised when he saw a soft glow begin just in front of him. A staff appeared in his hand, though he knew it had not been there seconds before. He did not question it, for this was the way of dreams. He studied the staff by the faint light. It was nearly six feet tall and intricately carved with figures and symbols he could not recognize. The wood was not something he could recognize either; it was knotted and polished with age. At the top was a curled European-style silver dragon. The wings were spread and the tail was wrapped around the body. It was so detailed that he could make out the individual scales on the creature’s head. In the dragon’s front claws was a pale blue crystal sphere. The crystal seemed to be the source of the faint light. As if that thought was the key, the light grew much brighter.

He glanced down at himself. He was wearing some sort of odd looking robe, mostly white but with stripes of alternating red, blue, brown, and green at the sleeves and hem. It had obviously seen better days. It was torn in several places, with dirt and soot streaks all over. It struck him as strange and yet familiar at the same time. Lifting one leg to look at the hem, he noticed he was wearing jeans underneath the robe and his familiar battered sneakers on his feet. There was a sword belted around his waist too. In any other setting, this would have struck him as funny, but nothing seemed funny here.

He started walking again, the light throwing odd reflections off the walls. Things scurried away from his feet. They were pale and sick-looking creatures that seemed more afraid of the glow than of the strange intruder in their midst. In fact, judging by the flash of fangs in more than one mouth, Jason expected they would have liked to see what he tasted like if the dreaded light would just go out. Jason clutched the staff tighter and continued on around the first curve.

The light held, but the circle it illuminated decreased. The tunnel started a steep decline and the sound of wood on stone changed. The floor below his feet sounded almost hollow to his ears. A chattering noise started, and he could see the creatures crowding right to the edge of the light. But he continued, on pulled by unseen forces. Once again he tried to stop his feet, but it did not work. He could no more halt his progress than he could kill a lion with his teeth.

And suddenly he was there. Jason did not know where “there” was exactly, but he could feel it when he arrived. It was obviously a huge cave. The light did not touch the ceiling or any of the walls. Beyond the feeble glow of his staff was a black so deep it almost seemed alive. And then it moved. A horrific shape, all teeth and claws blacker than even the cave around it uncoiled and made straight for him. That’s when Jason woke up.

Or not, he knew somewhere deep in his mind that he should have woken up, but he remained asleep. In his sudden panic, he forgot all about the staff, and the light flickered and went out. The creature seemed almost as startled as he was. But it recovered much quicker and howled in triumph. “Little wizard, now you are mine!” The voice seemed to come from everywhere. It bypassed his ears and sank deep into his brain, feeling oily and foul. It reached out and seized Jason around the middle with a black appendage.