The Man in the Nightmare

Most nights for princess Rain Attor were horrific. And for the next nights to come, she relived the same fear.

The thought of those nightmares scared her terribly that she dreaded the thoughts of sleeping.

It had been long she had them, but as she wasn't sure when they would suddenly return like it always did, she had a foreboding every night.

Rain tried to distract her thoughts. She pondered on her fate in the great city of Eragon instead. The prince. This castle. Her strange gifts.

Somehow, she had to find a way to protect herself.

The prince seemed already displeased with her and was probably contemplating how to bridle her.

Besides her, it puzzled her that the prince left such a familiar impression yet she was certain she had never met him.

She barely left the palace grounds of Cradya. But her spirit had never perceived wrong either.

As the night got darker, the lady under the bed covers drifted to sleep. Her tensed face had relaxed and her breathing had evened.

However, pasr midnight, she suddenly let out a yelp and jerked from her bed.

The windows of the chamber were shut close, yet once her blue eyes flipped open, a gush of wind swept across the room from nowhere. The burning lamps were instantly blown off and the heavy curtains along the walls swayed.

Beads of perspiration hung from Rain's frightened face. Panting, she glared blankly into the dark room.

She recalled where she had seen the prince of Eragon. The reason why he felt familiar.

In her nightmares! He was in her nightmares.

He'd always been.

***

A beast conjured from the smokes of black magic, with dark horns and red fiery eyes, haunted a girl through a dark forest.

It ran after her, growling angrily and at times calling out her name fondly.

The young frail and battered girl was Rain.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry, stumbling over tree roots and soil mounds. She bled profusely from deep cuts she failed to remember ever happened.

Once she hid_ behind tree trunks and caves, the hideous beast would suddenly transform into a striking man in majestic robes.

This man was none other than the prince.

He plead in the most euphonic voice and passionate words, that she would reveal herself and come to him.

In the end, when her legs foolishly stepped out from her hiding place, she was stuck to the ground.

Then the angelic man would transform back into the beast and come after her once again.

When she cried, it monster didn't care for her cries.

It rashly dug its sharp claws into her chest and ripped out her beating heart.

After she had been devoid of life and soaked in the pool of her own blood, it once again molded into the prince.

As he gathered her body into his arms, he cried deeply. His cries were heavily melancholic and heartbreaking.

It carried strong emotions that were difficult to describe and bear.