Warning

Somewhere, deep inside, she knew she was dreaming, but it didn't keep all of this from feeling real…

~~~~

She stood silently on a cliff, surrounded by a thick fog that chilled her to the bone; heavy, constricting, urging her forward and she moved to follow.

The creaking of a rope bridge...

The fog cleared to show her the bridge stretching across a vast ravine. Dark shapes rose up on the other side, shifting, shapeless and without sound, but she knew what they were.

The home that she desired, the walls tall and solid and strong; safe.

Her friends and children, well-fed and happy, dancing wild and free.

Her mate; powerful, honorable, loyal; respecting and cherishing her, needing her, as much as she did him.

The bridge creaked again, taunting. It was there, waiting for her. All she had to do was cross.

The wood planks creaked beneath her feet, the ropes whining in protest and warning.

She could feel the thing far below her, rousing from its sleep in the bowls of the ravine. It could taste her, and somehow she knew that it wanted her.

She had to hurry. It was coming for her.

The ropes twisted, fibers snapping as the planks splintered under her feet.

She had to hurry.

The darkness rose from below, the bridge shattering completely.

The rousing thing salivated, its ravenous maw gaping open to consume her as she fell.

~~~~

Kintsuke jerked awake, heart racing, her breath ragged. Her servant flinched and pulled away from dabbing her face with a cool cloth, letting her mistress orient herself. Kintsuke's mind continued to race, trying to make sense of where she was, what she'd seen.

'What… what the hell was that about?'

"My lady, are...you well?" Her servant asked meekly, still keeping her distance.

Slowly, Kintsuke sat up. She was in her room, in her bed, cleaned and dressed in her bedclothes. It had been a dream, every bit of it; her home, her family and friends, her mate; the thing…

'Why? I've never had nightmares like this before... Why now?'

"...My lady?" Her servant ventured again.

Kintsuke didn't bother looking at her, her voice soft as she closed her eyes to reinforce her tenuous calm.

"Tea, please, Xia Li."

The woman nodded and left.

For some reason, she felt the sudden solitude more keenly than before, and she pulled her knees up to her chest as she glanced around her empty room. She wanted to reach out, to pull close to her someone, anyone, to tell her everything was okay, but there was no one.

She lay her forehead on her knees, letting her hair so matted with sweat fall in curtains of ivory to hide her and the ignoble sight of her silent sobbing, her entire body trembling with a sudden chill.

Her mind was empty, still falling into that ravine. Over and over she saw it, watched herself tumble down into the darkness. Was it a warning? Was it her own fear from knowing that no matter how strong she became, there would always be something more powerful out there? She took up the comb she kept at her bedside and picked through a lock of hair as she focused on breathing. The simple task was somehow comforting to her, and slowly her body calmed its trembling.

***

Kintsuke listened absently as her grandfather assessed her progress. The dream had left her with a disturbing sense of unease, though it wasn't something she would talk about. It would be seen as a weakness, and that was not something she could afford right now.

She chewed lightly on the soft fish-like meat that was their dinner as he continued, the conversation slowly morphing back around to the second part of the deal she'd made with him. She had made significant progress with her fire by this point, enough that her grandfather was willing to finally allow her to venture away from the castle to seek out a breeding female for him; with an escort of course.

Kintsuke was more than happy to finally be able to leave this place. Even for a demon, ten years was enough to give someone cabin fever. As she pulled her equipment from where it had been tucked away, she found the feel of her dragon skin suit just as amazing as the first day she'd received it from the castle smiths so long ago. She did her best to push the lingering unease from her dream away as she strapped on her armor once again, taking a moment to familiarize herself with her tonfa before slipping into her hanfu again and going to meet her party.

At the bottom of the grand staircase, her grandfather waited to see her off. As she bade him farewell, he smiled. "I wish you fortune in your endeavor, Kintsuke. Do not stay away too long."

"Of course, grandfather."

His face twisted into a smirk as he leaned to whisper in her ear. It twitched from the proximity, her unease growing. "None may know my name whom I have not personally told. To share it is to consign yourself to death; you understand this, yes?"

She nodded again, silent as he whispered his name to her and stepped away, waving her off to her traveling detail and departed.

'Zheng, huh?' For some reason, just the sound of it made her uncomfortable.