Chapter 2: The Dream Keeper
Hundreds of golden and shiny butterflies made it impossible for the beast to move, fixing themselves on its body until they held it as if they were all together in a net that imprisoned the monster. They seemed to be possessed by an invisible force that made them face the horrible monster. I felt as if I had seen these beings of splendorous brightness that illuminated the entire rooftop; it was as if I had a strange connection with them.
"What is this?" I wondered, not believing what was happening. Is someone manipulating them? I wondered as more of these butterflies appeared until I could see where they were coming from; about 5 centimeters from my hands, there were two perfect circles taking shape with a web-like weave in their center; they were two dreamcatchers illuminated by a golden light very similar to the one that Remina had given me years ago; the butterflies of these two symbols emerge as a swarm of these two symbols shining with intensity, and it was there that I could make surmises.
"Am I the one summoning them?" I wondered as I watched all of this become more and more fanciful, "Maybe this is all a bad dream, and I just have to wake up right now." That was what was naively going on in my head.
I went from fear to amazement as I noticed something else in the environment, and it was the sudden appearance of another person. As I looked around, I saw that he had jumped from the front building to the rooftop of where I lived without the greatest of efforts, causing me to back up a few steps until I saw him step on the ground. The guy unsheathed a sword from what seemed to be more like a lamp with a blue flame protruding from the side, and as he drew the blade of the weapon, it instantly ignited with a glowing fire from that mysterious object. He stood in front of me as if trying to protect me, making me realize that he was wearing a jacket with a hood like that guy in my dreams. When I realized that detail, I realized that he was the person I had dreamed about, and more when he uncovered his head, revealing that dark hair. But he didn't turn his eyes towards me; his gaze remained fixed on the creature bent by the butterflies.
"Had he become real too?" I thought at that moment, "Am I still in a dream?" "Why can't I wake up?" The questions were again rumbling in my head.
Only after realizing what was going on did the stranger look at me for a few moments, as if trying to figure out what was going on, before returning to the monster, who was still struggling to get free.
"I apologize for not having found you before this beast appeared. "I apologize for not having found you before this beast appeared," said the mysterious man, boldly wielding his flaming sword. "I would have prevented you from going through this horrible moment." He concluded by saying
That was the first time I had heard him speak; in my dreams he never uttered a word. From the moment he appeared until the combat with the beasts was over, he always remained in a funerary silence.
"Who... who are you?" I stammered as I tried to speak to him. "What is that horrible monster?" "What the hell is all that's going on here?"
I threw my questions without avoiding them to show the terror and confusion I had. All this seemed like a crazy nightmare, and I wanted to wake up.
"My name is Zeylan Levi, and I am a guardian of dreams," he answered, observing the beast without lowering his guard. The creature growled desperately, giving me a scare, and my heart began to accelerate and beat in a hurry. "The beast you are seeing is a Noctophagus, a nightmare escaped from the mind of a dreamer. It will not hesitate to devour us once we wake up in the Midnight Realm.
"So... I'm not dreaming?" "Is this real?" I asked, puzzled by his answer, feeling my heart beat fast and the coldness run down my spine again.
"No, this is not the reality you perceive with your unawakened senses." Once you awaken in the Midnight Kingdom, this world and yours merge into one.
I was surprised and dismayed by all that revelation, and I questioned myself if, during all that time in which the nightmares became recurrent, "I was traveling between my reality and the reality where those monsters existed." "Would all this be possible?" My mind refused to accept that what I thought was real was only a fraction of what it truly is; there was another reality like the one I was living, one in which a creature would devour me for knowing of its existence.Then a doubt crossed my mind, making me tremble and increasing my fear even more.
"If... I die at this moment, will I also die in my reality?" I asked when I saw the monster struggling against the butterfly prison.
"There is a possibility that you would become a Nóctal, a being consumed by nightmares and darkness, but you need not worry; my duty is to protect those dreamers who awaken from wakefulness like you." said the black-haired boy.
The boy went to where the Noctophage was. He raised his weapon in front of him in the direction of the beast and wielded it with great force, making his terrible adversary roar with more fury than the previous times. Until that insane noise echoed in my head, I covered my ears with my hands, and I could see how the luminous symbol that summoned the golden butterflies disappeared little by little, leaving the place in darkness where only the flames of the guardian's sword and the moon illuminated the place of the encounter.
"I was the one who had made them appear!" He had convinced me, and I noticed that the drawings in my hands were disappearing in a few seconds.
The guardian of dreams watched the monster defiantly between what he could see with the light of the fire and the darkness that enveloped us. His gaze seemed to speak for itself; he was not afraid of it at all.
"Now it's my turn to act!" he exclaimed as he lunged at the beast in an impressive leap.
He made a quick swing of his sword, directing a slash at the monster, but it nimbly dodged it. It reared up on its hind legs and launched a few swift swipes at him, which he quickly parried with his sword.When the monster left its flank uncovered, the guard made a slash at the beast's right side, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the side, grunting in pain.
"You should go back to the hole from whence you came, spawn of darkness," he exclaimed as he saw the beast rise again.
The Noctophage roared in fury, moving into an attack position, reminding me of the move it made to attack me from the balcony in my apartment.
"Zeylan, look out!" I screamed in fright when I saw the monster lunging towards him, extending its claws in his direction at incredible speed.
He reacted immediately by interposing his sword against its claws. The momentum threw him against the meshes that bordered the rooftop, keeping him a few meters away from the beast. I stood at the back of the beast, which was preparing to lunge at the boy with a lethal claw that could end his life. Again, I slowly watched as the beast launched its attack with all its might against the guardian, who had let his guard down because of the impact against the fence.
"Come on, Mera, do something, or that boy will lose his life!" I said to myself, trying to think of something I could do without messing everything up.
My hands began to light up little by little, reminding me of what I had done before; it seemed as if my body was giving me the signal I needed. I remembered that I had made that dream catcher appear next to the butterflies to hold the beast back. If I did it again, I would avoid the attack, and he could counterattack later.
Without hesitation, I raised my hands in the direction of the beast, seeing how at once the golden symbol reappeared in the air. Something in my subconscious was telling me what I should do, but I was not entirely sure where this power came from; it was as if, within this reality, my will became real and determined, and looking at the Noctophage full of courage, I began to wish with my heart that the monster would stop, and I saw how the huge circle obeyed what my mind dictated until it was fixed just behind the monster.
"Appear!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, letting my subconscious take over.
From the symbol of the dreamcatcher appeared huge chains that entangled the animal's paw, stopping it almost at the moment it would impact the boy's neck. I saw the image of a human-like being of considerable height with a naked torso; he had a helmet adorned with ivory-colored horns, and from where his shiny hair stood out and its color was similar to the sun, in his arms he had the chains that held the beast.
The guardian reacted after a few seconds of admiring what he had achieved, wielding with fury the flaming sword of blue flames and beginning to impact hundreds of cuts at high speed. This time he had hit all the cuts against his enemy while he roared with every wound inflicted by the weapon until he writhed in pain.
"Disappear in the confines of wakefulness, dark spawn!" he shouted, glaring at it and sheathing his sword without taking his eyes off it.
I saw how the monster began to divide into slashes at the same time that the blue fire enveloped it and calcined it until it fell and scattered its ashes on the ground. The being that had left that symbol in the air disappeared at the moment when the horrible creature was destroyed. The boy, making sure not to find traces of his enemy, kept looking at me until I remained motionless before his gentle gaze. I immediately turned back to convince myself that there was not another monster behind me ready to attack me at once.
He walked towards me, lowering his hood and allowing me to see his features in more detail with each step: a firm chin, stylish brown hair, and blue eyes. When he was in front of me, a silence reigned between us as our eyes stared at each other and the glow of the dreamcatcher illuminated us. Then, understanding that the danger was no longer around us, Zeylan took my hands, observed them, and then lowered them.
"What is your name?" he asked me suddenly.
I did not know how to start talking to him; everything was so unreal that I could not ignore the fact that I could be in a lucid dream.
"I'm Mera Albaceleste," I said hesitantly.
"Mera, you don't have to be afraid anymore," he said, fixing his blue eyes on mine. "You have been very brave tonight." And with all the danger you have risked, you'd better try to forget everything that has happened. For your sake and for the sake of those around you, forget this happened.
"How could I do such a thing?" It was the first time something like that had happened to me while I was in a nightmare, and I thought I saw a gesture of concern in his gaze. But when I tried to give him an answer, I began to feel dizzy; my strength faded, and my eyes were closing. The last thing I remember was lying in his strong arms and seeing how he held me silently as if he expected me to fall into that state.
"It was a great effort you made to perform that summoning... It was beautiful to see a "dreamcatcher power" like yours, Mera.
That was the last thing I heard him say. I closed my eyes and began to have visions that confused me. In front of me was a girl who looked about my own age with pale skin, blonde hair, and equally pale lips, and her cold gaze was set on me. She didn't look well; she seemed worried.
"Be strong, face them!" Protect your own, your allies, and yourself. "The darkness of the night will pursue you; they will not rest until they find you; they know who you are and how useful you can be to them; they will not give up until they can express themselves to you... just like they did to me," she said before I could ask her a question.
I noticed that something had grabbed her and dragged her into the darkness; the girl reached out her hand, waiting for me to hold her, but the threshold around her did not allow it.
"How can I save others if I don't know how to save myself?" I shouted at her from a distance, feeling helpless and wanting to cry.
"Trust in the young man who guards your dreams," he said, with half of his body fading into darkness. - Only then will they be able to save everyone from the eternal night.
Seeing that his face was lost in the darkness, I tried again to pass through the threshold. Jumping with all my strength towards it, I felt myself falling into the immense darkness as if it were an endless precipice, until I could see the four glowing eyes of the noctophage that emerged from the bottom of the abyss. The beast opened a huge mouth to swallow me as it made a piercing scream.
"Aaahhh!" I screamed loudly and was terrified.
I felt someone shake me by the shoulders, while in the distance some voices called me, making me regain consciousness.
"Mera, wake up! Come on, Mera!" That feminine voice was calling me desperately.
I was short of air, I was sweating, and I could feel my heart beating fast. I tried to open my eyes, fearing to find myself again in another horrible, insane spectacle.
"Calm down, mana, it was just a nightmare," said another female voice.
Those voices were familiar to me, and I realized almost immediately that they were my two friends and roommates, Remina and Anetta. I opened my eyes just as one of my friends turned on the light. They looked at me worriedly, each one of them placing themselves on the bed. They hugged me, trying to comfort me, which was what I wanted most at that moment.
I looked at the room and each of the pieces of furniture that the monster had destroyed without being able to believe my eyes; everything was as before—the window, the curtains, the bed, the door of my room—were they intact? It seemed as if nothing had happened. A glow attracted my attention almost immediately. I looked at my hands and felt my heart stop for a few short seconds. There were the symbols of the dreamcatcher, glowing almost invisible and disappearing in those moments, preventing my friends from seeing them.
"It was not a dream..." I whispered without believing what I was seeing.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone