Awakening

The chimera drew closer, it's grin revealing the sharp fangs in it's mouth. Once again, Oliver was helpless. He couldn't call out to Nicholai, he wasn't even sure that Nicholai was still alive. This beast had completely cut him off from the outside world and Oliver had no idea how he had done it. How could this thing affect him when his physical body was just a sword? The only logical explination was that the thing was directly invading his mind. What was a sword supposed to do against something like that, even if it was a soul sword?

He found himself thinking about the woman on the hill. He couldn't understand why he was thinking about some dream under such dire circumstances. Then he felt it. It was small at first, like a match in a field of darkness but something was there. He thought of the woman's smile and felt power surge through him.

'How is this possible? It's too soon!' the chimera screamed at him. He seemed smaller somehow. Whatever this power was this beast was afraid of it. 'No matter, I'll have your physical form soon enough.' With a hiss the chimera was gone. Oliver was once again alone.

'Nicholai! Nicholai, are you there?' Oliver called out to his partner. He could feel himself being swung around frantically.

"Not now!" Nicholai practically screamed.

Slowly Oliver's senses began to return. He could feel several footsteps around them. After a moment he was able to identify the members of the party from the weight of their footsteps. They were surrounded by several small creatures. Something was odd, before the chimera blocked his mind the party was going to the city and Oliver only sensed one thing there. Where did these other things come from? Was it possible that they were hidden inside the creature's aura? It seemed unlikely, but Oliver couldn't know for sure.

As he pondered this Oliver suddenly felt a new sensation. It felt like he was wet, but there was a kind of resistance too. Almost as quickly as it had come it disappeared and reappeared again. Each time it came he could felt like he was getting a little stronger, almost like a famished person slowly drinking soup. Judging by the circumstances Nicholai found himself in, Oliver could easily guess that the sensation was coming from stabbing whatever the party was currently fighting.

The stabbing sensation must have come and gone thirty times, though it was hard to count while trying to keep track of where everyone was by focusing on vibrations. Finally the chaos slowed and Oliver could feel the party huddle close to each other, not too far away from them he could also feel the menacing aura of he chimera drawing towards them.

The chimera stopped in front of the party. pst pst pst. Oliver couldn't make out what it was saying, but it couldn't be anything good. The party was still surrounded by a number of smaller things.

"Sorry Oliver..." Nicholai said after some time. "I don't think we can beat this thing and all these goblins. He says he'll let us go if we hand you over...it's the only chance we've got." Oliver could feel the uncertainty in his voice and his thoughts went back to the smiling woman from his dream.

'It's fine Nicholai. I understand.' He replied to his friend. 'Just do me a favor and throw me at it as hard as you can, if I'm lucky I'll take it out with me.'

"Haha." Nicholai chuckled. "Yeah, I can do that." He said, Oliver felt him adjust his grip around him. "It's the least I can do." He took a couple of steps in the direction of the chimera. Oliver could feel himself being lifted up. Time seemed to stand still for a moment as Nicholai launched Oliver with all of his might towards the beast.

Oliver could no longer feel the vibrations around him as he flew through the air. 'Well, I guess this is it.' He thought to himself, thinking it was a mistake for whatever decided to stick him in this sword in the first place.

Suddenly there was a flash of light. Oliver found himself staring at a group of people in what appeared to be a burning town. They were surrounded by short, lanky, ugly looking creatures with grey skin and nasty teeth. A wave of searing pain washed over him. He looked down to the source of the pain and found something metallic protruding from his chest. He slowly looked back towards the people and noticed one was standing in front of the others. He had short platinum blonde hair and wore expensive looking clothes.

"Nicholai?" Oliver asked in a raspy voice that was not his own as he fell to the ground, noticing the creatures that were surrounding them starting to blink out of existence as his vision faded back to darkness.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oliver awoke on a grassy hill, in the shade of a tall oak tree. He smiled softly as the birds began chirping. He slowly sat up and stretched his arms and legs. It felt like he hadn't done that in forever. He glanced up in the tree and realized that this place was familiar. It was the one from his dream. He quickly stood and frantically looked around for the woman who was here before. Perhaps if he found her he could finally get some answers. It didn't take him long to notice that the woman wasn't here this time, instead he only found a large group of children and a man who was watching over them as they played. Oliver slowly approached them, perhaps they could lead him to answers.