The night of the ninth day

After a busy day spent in the safety and comfort of Vinor's house, Lim felt tired, but also surprisingly calm.

He was lying in a soft bed, listening to the quiet whisper of the wind outside the window and, inhaling the smell of fresh wood, he felt his eyelids heavy.

He remembered how he was once tormented by nightmares, how he woke up in a cold sweat from terrible images, but today, for the first time in a long time, he was not disturbed by fear or pain. He felt warm and protected, and this confidence allowed him to fall asleep.

And so, when he fell into a deep sleep, he had a strange dream. He stood in the dark, and something appeared in front of him, like a ghostly figure.

It was a tall figure wrapped in a white robe, and her face was hidden in the shadows. A dim circle of light shone above her head, and three crosses moved away from it, which looked as if they were drawn with charcoal.

Lim felt fear covering him, but he couldn't look away. The figure looked at him with her dark eyes, and although her face was hidden, Lim understood that she was watching him closely.

The figure opened her mouth, and sounds poured out of there, incomprehensible words in an unfamiliar language. Lim didn't understand what she was saying, but his heart was pounding with anxiety, as if something was telling him about trouble.

It was like a whisper, distant, but at the same time close and frightening.

This whisper seemed to be something ancient and sinister, and Lim could feel the cold permeating him. He couldn't understand what this dream meant, what this figure wanted, but he felt that it was something important, something that would change his life.

The dream continued, and the figure did not stop whispering, her echo-like voice filled his mind and penetrated his soul.

Lim tried to wake up, tried to get out of this dream, but he couldn't move.

Finally, the dream receded, and Lim woke up in a cold sweat, his heart was pounding wildly in his chest.

He looked into the darkness of the room, and the image of the figure was still in front of his eyes, like a print on the retina of his eyes. He didn't know what kind of dream it was, but he knew that this dream was not accidental.

After that nightmare, the dream seemed to be removed by hand. Lim tossed in bed, and the images from the dream did not leave his mind. The figure in a white robe, her whisper, her gaze - all this made him afraid and anxious.

He understood that he would no longer be able to sleep, at least today.

Quietly getting out of bed, he slowly went down the stairs, trying not to make noise. He didn't know what time it was, but it was quiet in the house, only occasionally you could hear the cracking of a tree in the fireplace.

Downstairs, at the table, Vinor sat, and the light from the fire gently illuminated his face. Lim didn't expect anyone to be awake, and he froze in place, not knowing what to do. Vinor raised his head and, noticing Lim, smiled softly.

- Can't sleep, kid? - Vinor asked, his voice was calm and kind. - Come here, you'll keep me company.

Lim approached the table and sat down opposite Vinor, feeling a little more confident. Vinor poured him a cup of warm milk and moved a plate of cookies, inviting him to eat.

Lim looked at Vinor and smiled slightly, he was grateful to him for being so kind to him, knowing that Lim could not answer with words.

- You're so quiet, - said Vinor, - It's like you keep a lot of secrets. Do you want me to tell you something interesting?

Lim nodded, his eyes lit up with curiosity. He liked to listen to stories, especially about places he had never been.

Vinor smiled and started his story.

- I traveled a lot, - Vinor began, his voice full of memories, - I saw mountains that go into the sky, and lakes that shine like precious stones. I fought monsters that no one had ever seen, and I saw that there were forces that stood above us. I'll tell you about three great gods.

Vinor paused, as if gathering his thoughts.

- There is Elkar, the god of the sun, - Vinor continued, - he gives life and warmth to all living things. Without his light, there would be nothing. But there is also Eide, the god of death, he takes lives when their time comes. He's not evil, he's just doing his duty, because without death there would be no new life. But there is also Favlis, the goddess of life and nature, she gives us fertility, forests and animals. She watches the world, and she gives him harmony.

Vinor fell silent and looked at Lim, his eyes became darker.

- But this world was not always like that, - Vinor continued, - Once upon a time, even before I was born, there was a world where the sun shone, where there were no monsters. But something happened, and Elkar left us, leaving our world in the dark. This darkness gave birth to monsters, which we call the creatures of darkness, and they are the ones who inhabit this world. They thirst for our pain, our blood, and they will continue to attack us until Elkar returns.

Vinor sighed and continued, telling Lim about the rare monsters he had to fight and from which he had to run away. He talked about creatures that breathed fire, and about those that floated in the air, about creatures that looked like people, but had wings like birds.

Lim listened to him with bated breath, his imagination painted bright pictures, and he forgot about his nightmare for a while.

Vinor told so fascinatingly that he seemed to plunge into another world. Lim heard about battles, travels and how he lost his eye. All this was so interesting that he couldn't tear himself away from these stories.

Vinor talked about how he was leaving death, how he survived in the most unthinkable conditions, how he found his daughters and why he decided to give up his adventures and stay in this house.

Lim was completely absorbed in Vinor's stories, and he felt that there was some kind of connection between them, that Vinor understood him despite his silence.