Lir sat up on his bed in the darkness. His mouth was dry and his skin was wet. The Dream had changed. For the first time in 6 years the dream had changed. Just melted away, never to return he hoped. He slowly slid out of the bed the cold hard floor shocking his feet for a brief moment. Slowly in the dark he fumbled around to find his tunic and cloak then walked out through his home and into the night. Looking up into the sky he could see the stars, bright as ever looking down at him. William had told him they were the ancestors watching over us in the darkness. A reassuring thought. Drawing his cloak around him he walked slowly up towards the top of the walls. Talking each step in his slow and steady stride. The people doing Watch for the night knew him well at this point. He had come here most nights after the dream woke him.
He tried to remember the dream. The one that had been with him since 6 years previous. That had haunted and tortured him for all this time. Funny it had been with him for so long and yet he struggled to remember even a scrap of it. Slowly he started to piece it back together.
6 summers previous he remembered, Cara Caradawc's daughter, Searbhan Aonghus's Son, Percival youngest of the group and probably the most dangerous in combat, he had a sword arm like no other, Bres the young fiery warrior who joined them only recently, Caer the joker of the group she could always make everybody crack a smile, Taranis probably the best of them all with a bow, Anu like everyone else here she had a kinship with the woodlands and loved to scout, Sadb a large patch covering one eye that was lost in a training incident, Nessa the quietest and most reserved of the group and then of course there was him as he used to be, carefree and reckless at the best of times, Constantly smiling and joking with the rest of them. He remembered the excitement they had all felt going outside the walls for the first time ever with their teachers Caradawc and Aonghus.
Everything that happened after that was just a blur and too hard for Lir to piece together try as he might. Next thing he remembered was the fear he felt as the Caleb charged them. Ten Children against twenty Caleb. Anu was the first to fall, a Caleb arrow through her chest. Lir remembered the rest of the fight, but it seemed to move slowly in his mind. Before any could even draw a weapon the Caleb were among them, They slew any who stood in their path. Taranis had his skull crushed as a caleb hammer impacted against it, Nessa managed to dodge the first two shots of a Caleb's sword but hadn't the chance to dodge the dagger put in her back by his friend. Another friend lost along the way he thought. Caer was the next to fall, her endless joking looked like it would never be heard again. Before he could even attack Lir felt a hand on his shoulder and was being dragged away along with Bres, Percival and Sadb by their Teachers, the others dead or dying. As the Caleb gave chase the teachers killed any that got too close.
Yes that was it, that was the dream, The Nightmare that haunted him for so long. He wondered why it had stopped so suddenly and faded away. His head dropped slowly to the stone of the walls and he wept for the fallen. The same thing he had done every other night he woke from the dream. The patrols knew well enough to leave him alone when he did this. He hoped William was right and the Ancestors were watching over him. Who else could in this world? Slowly he slipped away again from the walls and made his way back home before the sun rose in the sky.
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