Dreams & Those who 'Dream'

~One Month Later~

It has been a month since Ryker's and Iris' union, and roughly 8 months since Ryker came to this world.

During this one month time, some good news graced the residents of the Einzbern castle.

Iris had managed to get pregnant.

Due to Iris' sensitivity and understanding of her own body, it didn't take long for her to pick up the signs and she brought the topic up to Ryker one day before bed.

Ryker then proceeded to check on her body and sure enough, she was pregnant.

It was still too soon to be able to tell the gender, but Ryker had managed to confirm that it was a singular baby and not twins or anything of that manner.

Ryker and Iris to say the least, were ecstatic and for the following month the two hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.

Iris' training had continued despite the pregnancy.

At first Ryker had adamantly refused attempting to get her to just rest in bed, but surprisingly it was Iris, the lazy angel herself, who refused and said that she wanted to become as strong as she could, and adapt to as much of her strength as possible before the pregnancy so that way no problems accrued later on due to lack of control.

Ryker was forced to agree and they had continued their training.

It wasn't as bad as Ryker was making it out to be, as with Iris' newfound dragon bloodline, she also happened to gain a rather unique reproductive track associated with childbirth functions.

The two had assumed it was due to some innate ability that female dragons possessed, which allowed them to protect their eggs during the fertilization process before they were expelled.

Iris abdomen, waist, and lower back just above her tail, all now had smooth white scales covering them. Forming some kind of outer protective barrier around where the baby would develop inside of her womb.

Speaking of her womb, while checking to see if she was pregnant, Ryker had noticed that the insides of Iris body also seemed to be changing in order to better protect the baby during infancy.

It looked as if a thin 'film' like layer had surrounded her womb, and although it looked rather delicate Ryker had a feeling that it was anything but easy to puncture.

Despite all of these things assuring the safety of the baby, Ryker couldn't help but grow mildly paranoid. He attempted to not let it show, but who was Iris? She had easily been able to pick up on his worries and had to spend many days soothing his worries before he finally relented, and didn't harp over her safety so much.

He personally would still make sure she was safe, but he wouldn't stop her from living her life just because of his unfounded worries.

It was at times like these that Ryker question who truly was the mature one, as in normal day to day life it was usually he who acted as the voice or reason and the adult yet when truly important things happened Iris was always the one who managed to keep a clear head and evaluate the situation before finding a solution.

Realizing that there was still a lot of things he needed to mature on, Ryker spent the month training with Iris while also thinking about his own life and how to better himself as a person so that way when his child was born he would be able to raise them properly.

Since he never knew his parents, he wanted to be a good father to Illya and his unborn child.

It was this thought that lead Ryker down a path which he had not expected.

~Present Day~

Ryker woke up with a start, as he quickly took in his surroundings.

Discovering that he was on the bed with Iris, and that it was currently the middle of the night, Ryker calmed down his rampant emotions.

He had been having nightmares as of late.

The dreams he was being forced to have over and over again had been slowly wearing down at his mental fortitude, but he hadn't mentioned it to Iris yet.

He knew that it wouldn't be long before she picked up on his declining mental health, and the only reason she hadn't yet was due to him being able to work things out before she awoke in the morning.

The dreams he was having were that of a dark future.

One where either he himself, or his loved ones were met with a cruel fate.

Whether that be death, torture, separation, the most reoccurring one was being eaten alive by some manner of beast.

He had a feeling, he didn't know where that feeling came from exactly, but he knew somehow that it wasn't an actual future per say. They seemed more like the personification of his negative emotions that took shape in a dream, more then anything. Although they were just figments of his imagination and his worry over his future children, he couldn't help but become anxious about the future.

For even though he knew the dreams were fake, he still sensed some reality to them, as if a warning.

It unnerved him.

Climbing out of bed, Ryker made sure Iris was tucked in, before vanishing from the room.

He needed to get some fresh air.

Arriving at the rooftop garden of the castle Ryker noticed that he wasn't alone in his nightly escapade.

Noticing Saber who was sitting on the ledge overlooking the surrounding forest from up high, Ryker decided to join her as he walked towards her, making sure to make some noise so she wouldn't be surprised by him visit.

"Hm? What brings you're here at this time of night? Shouldn't you be with lady Iris?" Saber said noticing Ryker's approach.

Reaching the ledge Ryker sat down to her right before saying, "I couldn't sleep, what about you, why are you up here in the middle of the night?"

Giggling softly Saber turned her attention once more to overlooking the forest, "I had a dream, I remembered that last battle the brought my country to ruin. Deciding I had enough rest I decided to come up here."

"Hmm, you know Saber. I'm starting to think we have more in common then either of us realize." Stated Ryker as he sent her a brief look of mock humor.

"Dream?" She asked simply.

With a smile on his face Ryker said softly, "Aye. A rather brutal one this time."

Releasing her gaze from the horizon, Saber turned to look Ryker in the eyes before saying, "You share yours and I'll share mine?" She didn't know why but every time she talked to Ryker, she felt like she could share everything with him. Although they may disagree on matters she felt true companionship from him, something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

Ryker mused over his own thoughts for a second before replying, "Sure but you start."

"Hehe sure…I dreamt of the past. The actions I took as king which lead to the final battle, and if there had been some way to prevent it. I have the same dream quite often as it is the very core regret which forms my existence as a heroic spirit. Without this regret, I may have never walked down this path, yet I will continue to walk down It until I can right my wrongs as king.

One of my largest regrets in life, is Mordred, a large factor behind my countries downfall. Being the next in line to the throne, I needed to produce an heir. Yet due to me pretending to be a male at the time, in order to keep the trust of my country and my men, I need to somehow produce an heir as the 'father' yet as a women myself it was impossible.

So Merlin, my court magus, used magecraft to turn me into a pseudo-male capable of producing an heir, for a period of time. During the time I was transformed however, my sister Morgan le Fay, enchanted me using magic and ended up later on giving birth to Mordred. I had no clue that she was even born up until I claimed my heritage and the right to the throne.

Once I did so, I was told that Mordred was my daughter, yet how could I possible accept that? A daughter I didn't even know I had. One birthed through the schemes and deceit of my own sister? I rejected her, I let me personal feelings rule over my actions.

It's true that I didn't need to accept her as an heir, especially with the conspiracies surrounding her birth. Yet she who was not at fault for her own birth, and who had worked so hard to join the round table and serve her country, was rejected by me, her king.

Sometimes I look back and wonder, if I had accepter her back then would things have ended differently? I the King of Knights, and her the Knight of Treachery. Could the paths we walked in life, have been changed for the better?" Saber asked herself as she gazed out at the horizon with a vacant expression.

Ryker had heard some of the legend of King Arthur back in his old world, but hearing it straight from the person in question, shed new light on the once famous tale.

Giving her a moment to herself, Ryker remained silent until he noticed she had calmed down. "As I thought we are more similar then you may think."

Saber who had gotten out of her reprieve looked questionable at Ryker before hearing him continue.

"Every night for the past month or so, I've been having these 'dreams'. There are some things that are consistent in each of them…there's me, Iris, an older version of Illya, and a faceless child. Over time, I've come to realize that the faceless child is in fact my unborn child. It always starts peacefully and it always ends poorly. The last consistency is a strange man whos cloaked in shadows. He appears before me, deceased, every time the mood shifts between peaceful and chaotic.

The first dream I had, was the four of us as mention before. We were walking through a town, or maybe a city of some sorts. The buildings had almost know features to them, same with the people we were walking past. It was peaceful, yet as if to shatter the happiness I had found, a dead man was lying on the sidewalk in front of us, the same man from every dream, and immediately afterwards a dark shadowy creature suddenly came down from the clouds.

The 'creature' changes every time, an earthquake, fire, flood, some form of animal or beast. No matter whether I run, hide, fight back, kill myself, I can never escape the thing which wants to take the peace away. I believe that the 'dreams' are my own negative emotions, putting me through some form of test.

Yet, something in my subconscious mind is telling me that their visions, and that I'm being warned about something. I still haven't been able to understand them, their purpose. Yet I feel like I need to do something." Ryker took a page out of Saber's book and looked towards the forest within the bounded field of the Einzbern castle, as he ruminated over his thoughts.

After thinking things through, Ryker couldn't help but smile.

Saber seeing the smile was confused, "Why do you smile?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Well whatever my dreams are about, it stems from something involving me clearly. Whether that be my mental or physical strength being to weak, or even my understanding of things being the factor, it all boils down to my personal weakness. I need to improve myself before whatever 'it' is, becomes known to me." Ryker said slowly with a determined expression.

Saber hearing his words thought about what he had said earlier, 'We are alike…huh…' she couldn't help but think about what he meant when he said that, before deciding to ask him "Ryker, when you said we were alike earlier what did you mean?"

Ryker hearing her words, turned to look her in the eyes before smiling, "Saber, as I said that previous night on the rooftop, I believe you're weak. Not in terms of physical strength, or even the strength of the heart, but rather mental strength.

Just like I am lacking, so to are you.

You punish yourself, locking your true self away and putting on this 'image' of what you believe others want you to be. Yet you have never stopped to realize that despite you believing that you have 'failed' Britain, the truth is that Britain viewed you, the women named Artoria Pendragon, as a capable and respectable king.

They may not have known you were a women, yet it matters not because at the end of the day, that's just what you are. Why must you deny that part of you? You are allowed to be happy as a woman. You will always be a King before a women, this is true, but you're a women all the same. This is your weakness"

Ryker closed while looking at Saber with a serious expression on his face before he relaxed and released a chuckle "If only my own weakness was so easy to find, hehe." Hopping up, Ryker decided to return to bed, at the place where his loved ones were.

Saber who was lost in thought, noticed him start to leave. Calling out towards his back she said, "Ryker!", yet he did not stop his movements, but she could sense that he was listening so she said softly, "Thank you…"

Before he slowly faded out of sight, and away from the darkness of the night. Returning to the warmth he felt at the side of the women he loved.

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(Author's Note: I know that this chapter was an almost complete 180 from the last one and it was intended to be that way. For when the light shines brightest, the darkness grows larger. Ryker has tasted his first sense of 'conflict' during the chapter and trust me it wont be a pretty one. The 'beast' wont rear its ugly head for a while but when it does...

Also with this the mini mass release is done, sorry I was only able to get 3 chapters done, writing is hard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, I may release one more tonight I'm not sure no promises. For those who aren't aware, ill be spending most of tonight and tomorrow doing edits for my other book Watcher of Reality in an attempt to improve the writing quality as it was written for my own fancy and not meant to be really anything grand but I want to try to improve it for you guys and get it up to at the very least, this books quality. My third book will be going through a re-write in around a month, once I get these two books in good spots. There will still be one chapter a day, don't worry I'm not going anywhere!)