The Hero of Dreams

by Resurgence

The Calling

My, my, my. Please sit down and hear the story about to be told. I am Ignatious the Bard; I carry tales across the lands. Some are true, some are mere myth. You decide how you shall interpret my next tale.

It all started with a young man named Siriel. He was a stout young man apprenticed to the craft of the fighter. He prayed to the Gods, that he would one day become a great warrior. He lived with only his mother, he had never known his father, but was always told he had died an honorable death for his people. Siriel was nearing his 17th birthday, the night he would have the first dream.

He quickly fell asleep, his mind and body swirled about a land he had never seen before. Out in the distance a woman's voice called his name, yelling louder and louder. He awoke startled, and vowed to tell no one about his dream.

Siriel went through the day as he normally would and soon it was time for him to go to bed and sleep once again. His mind and body journeyed deeper within the world this night, but he saw nothing. He opened his eyes feeling disappointed at not having another dream, yet once he had time to take in his surroundings discovered he had no idea where he was.

I will take a short leave from the story to explain a little of the situation Siriel has found himself in. He is now awake in the realm of Anti-Reality. His body has been replaced by his soul, and his spirit is now his mind. He must defend his soul for all his life, for if he looses it he dies, not only in this realm, but in the Material Realm as well. Anyway, back to the story..

As you could probably guess, Siriel is quite confused by all that has happened. He realized a beautiful woman is standing beside him, and turning to her looked deep into her eyes and could tell she means absolutely no harm at all.

"Where am I?" Siriel gasped. The lady smiled as she walked to a tree stump and took a seat "You Siriel, are in the realm of Anti-Reality." Siriel stood up and asked with a frown "Why am I here? How did I get here? Who are you?"

"I am Lady Juskin, call me Esmerelda. As to why you are here, allow me to explain. You are the chosen Warrior of Dreams. You have been sent here to save all peoples in the Material Realms. Your world is soon to be invaded by Ragnok and his armies. Creatures of your world stand no chance against him."

"Why?" asked Siriel.

"Siriel, creatures that live in this realm are not bound by reality, there are no rules to how one may be in our realm."

Esmerelda closed her eyes and within seconds she was walking upside down across the air and had sprouted two more arms. Siriel laughed at the sight.

She regained her natural form and grinned, "I told you. We are what dreams are made of. We are your fantasies and your nightmares, Ragnok and his armies make your nightmares. They will go to your realm as all of your people's greatest fears; they will bow before him. Unless you stop him first!"

"I must leave now, though before I go, know this. In our realm you are invincible, in a dream you cannot be hurt and you are in a dream. Use that to your advantage. Goodbye now Siriel, we shall meet once again."

Siriel reached out for her, but by the time he had reached she was gone, leaving a piece of parchment floating to the ground. "I know what I must do," he murmured to himself.

The Plot of Evil

"Grand Commander Ragnok, preparations are almost complete for the crossover." A deep voice came from a figured shrouded in a blanket of darkness and replied "Good…alert all armies of this and prepare them for entrance into the Material Realm." "Yes, Sir!" The Captain left the room. Just then a woman's voice spoke "We have a bit of a problem" Ragnok grunted "What is it, Himasho?" "The Warrior of dreams has arrived already! He is headed for Kazmatine." Ragnok laughed "Once I am across he cannot stop me. Forget about that fool. He will perish along with all the others."

Help from Others

Well as you would guess, Siriel still had quite a few questions about all this, but the parchment Esmerelda had left him depicted a map with a settlement called Kazmatine circled upon on it. He set out towards it.

"At last, here it is, Kazmatine." Siriel had come into a small town, dominated by a large palace, one so grand you could only find in a dream. Large ivory spires circled upwards to the top of the building. It was truly the only noticeable thing about the whole place. He walks towards and soon stood before a couple of guards at the main gates. "I need audience with the king" Siriel demanded.

The guard seemed as though not to notice him "Only Siriel is allowed in."

Siriel grinned "I AM Siriel"

The guard jumped to attention and screamed loudly "Lower main gates, the warrior is here!" The gates were lowered and Siriel was escorted to the king throne by a guard.

The throne room was small and in the throne sat a small dwarf. He smiled "I am King Tyrus, you must be Siriel. I haven't much time so listen closely. Ragnok is preparing to leave for your world now! You must take the dream armor and prepare for battle immediately!"

Siriel frowned and asked, "Dream armor?"

Within seconds a guard ha brought a large suit of sparkling silver armor. King Tyrus was pleased "Platinum and diamond alloy. It will do you much good. Put it on."

Siriel was soon equipped with the armor "I feel it power running through me…It amazing!" he exclaimed.

A guard now brought out a large axe. King Tyrus himself looked awestruck upon sight of it "The axe of dreams, made for the dream warrior. Use it well, for it is the most powerful weapon many have ever heard of, never-the-less actually seen."

Siriel held the weapon in his hands, and his whole body shook. "This is the ultimate weapon."

King Tyrus seemed pleased and warned once again "Now be steadfast! You must hurry…catch Ragnok at his palace before he crosses over. I'll circle it on your map" As King Tyrus scribbled on his map the guards prepared a bag of things for Siriel. He was rushed from the palace and quickly on his way.

Siriel was turning out to truly be the warrior of dreams after all. He traveled across many lands and was soon at Ragnoks homeland, Hishogama. He suddenly began thinking about all that had happened to him so far. With Lady Juskin, King Tyrus, all of this had happened so fast yet he still barely understood what it all meant. He was ready for some answers. Siriel prayed desperately that night as he camped, he prayed to know what was happening and to have Esmerelda back with him. He found it strange he could not sleep within this strange world and knew it had something to do with the fact that he was in a dream himself. He felt that he was drifting along. The very thought scared him a bit. He drifted awake for hours till in the very middle of night he sprang from his bed, only to find ten soldiers standing around him, all of them black as the night itself. They had come to take him to Ragnok.

Ragnoks dark voice rang in Siriels ears "So you are the fabled 'Warrior of Dreams. I see your powers are quite unimaginable." He laughed evilly and took a seat on a large throne. "I know I cannot do anything to you here, but you will crossover with us and then you will feel my most awesome wrath opon you. As will ALL of the people of the Material Realm! It is my destiny to destroy you all!"

Siriel looked hard at Ragnok "And it is my destiny to destroy you!"

Ragnok laughed harder then before "You fool! Don't you get it? Once you are across into your realm as our prisoner we can do with you as we like."

Siriel closed his eyes tightly and began wishing once again that Esmerelda were here.

Ragnok laughed "Drift well tonight Siriel, you will never have the chance to again!"

A Saving Grace

Siriel jumped from the strange drifiting not-sleep abruptly the next morning. He thought it was all a dream, but alas it was not. He was in a small prison cell and was clasped in chains. Suddenly from nowhere Esmerelda appeared. She looked the same as she did before and stared hard at Siriel."

"You got caught, but don't worry it is all part of my plan."

Siriel rejoiced opon seeing her. He heard her words and looked curiously at her "Your plan?"

"Yes, my plan. Go back to your world with them. I shall meet you there, and then I shall continue. Ragnok is more vulnerable there then here."

She left without another word. Siriel was once again very upset.

Ragnok served Siriel his breakfast himself and then had him thrown into a large crate. "You are our cargo for the trip. I hope you aren't planning on going anywhere."

Siriel watched through a small hole, as he was loaded onto a large wagon. He heard Ragnok yell "Is everything ready yet?"

"Yes, Sir…All loaded prepared to depart"

"Then lets move!"

Siriel was soon swirling around once again, the colors flashed before him as in his dream. They arrived back in his realm. He was not in a crate anymore though; he was awakening from his own bed.

Esmerelda came from nowhere "Yes! It worked; you reappeared where you had started your journey. Your material body does not move!"

Siriel jumped out of bed, but his armor was all gone. "Where's my armor?"

Esmerelda frowned "Sacrifice that for your life."

Siriel nodded a bit in agreement "Shall we start our mission now?

Esmerelda nodded "Yes we must hurry, Ragnok has already began to terrorize people. He also, I am sad to say, has killed your mother. He saw you were not with them and he slaughtered her first, to say, test his power and take revenge."

Siriel looked as though her were going to cry and explode at the same times. "I will avenge her death!"

Esmerelda nodded "Yes, Let's start now! He hasn't found us yet, so we still can find him first."

"How do I beat him here? He has an army and can destroy me here." Siriel asked in confusion.

Esmerelda nodded "Yes, But without your soul, he still only has you in your Material form."

Siriel soon began to understand. He stood up and smiled at Esmerelda "I hope you know where to go."

Esmerelda smiled "Yes. I do"

The Beginning of the End

Esmerelda and Siriel had been walking for quite a while now. They knew they would soon find Ragnok. All about them were people going insane from seeing their worst fears realized. Siriel's mother was dead, now all he saw as he walked was images in his mind of her. They had followed the army soon enough to find a large camp and barracks, it was Ragnok. He was slaying more people as they walked on. They stopped behind a large tent to devise a plan.

"What are we gonna do, just attack with nothing?"

Esmerelda laughed with joy "Yes! He shall kill your material being; your spirit still lives! You shall use your spirit to defeat him!"

Siriel wasn't convinced "How will I do that, its still in the cage."

"I'll disguise as a soldier and free you, then you shall use your armor to deafeat him." She answered.

Siriel knew it was his destiny.

The Betrayal

Siriel mustered up all his courage and stepped out before Ragnok who was not merciful. He utterly destroyed every trace of Siriels material being. He was gone.

Ragnok laughed in triumph "I have no one to stop me now! All material beings will now perish!"

Siriel soon awoke into his spirit. He looked about and was stuck in the cage like before. He waited for Esmerelda and soon heard a voice from outside. It was Esmerelda, here as she had said. She opened the cage and pulled Siriel into a hug."

"You're free to destroy him now! Go fulfill your destiny."

Esmerelda lead him to where Ragnok was and soon a fierce battle raged. All throughout the material world the battle could be heard, all that had not yet perished felt it in their souls. They knew the end was near. Siriel and Ragnok were quite evenly matched, and as the battle wore on, no one had any clue as to who would prevail. After days of battling Ragnok finally began to fail. He pleaded on his knees for forgiveness, but Siriel was going to fulfill his destiny. He swung his axe at Ragnok and all was over.

As a bard, I would like to say the land rejoiced and everyone lived happily ever after, but I'm afraid that isn't the case…

Esmerelda appeared to Siriel after the battle.

"Finally Ragnok is out of the way."

Siriel was surprised at her comment. "What are you talking about?"

Esmerelda grinned evilly and transformed into a large woman, adorned in a witch's dark apparel. "You are a fool! Your destiny? HAH! This was my destiny. It was my destiny to use you to destroy Ragnok, and now it is my destiny to destroy you and the Material Realm!"

Siriel took up his fighting stance "Not if I can help it!"

Another fierce battle raged, if you were watching it yourself you would have said that Siriel stood not a chance against her. Those with heart know though, that love triumphs over all. Constantly as he fought Siriel saw his mother standing with him, guiding him to victory over this deceitful evil. The battle continued as was expected. Siriel triumphed over the witch with one final blow.

Esmerelda gasped "You have proven your worth. Join me boy, I will lead you to the perfect world."

Siriel stared hard at her "You killed my mother!"

Siriel delivered to her a blow to the chest and she took her final breath.

A Better Place for All

Some still say that Siriels material being is around somewhere, wandering around soulless and spiritless searching for his mother. Others say he as gone with his spirit to the Anti-Reality realm, but all believe one thing. Siriel was the warrior of dreams and if you look closely, when you close your eyes at night, you can still see him watching over you, clad in his glittering dream armor, and carrying his mighty axe. As with all good stories however it does not end here, although I think the rest is for another day..