Visionary

I told you once that I have visions. Sometimes they appear as dreams, while I slumber. Other times, they hit me while I'm awake. Blindside me, more like.

We've been on the road, my companions & I, ever since memories of Father Wolfsbane came into my mind.

Today started out like so many others have as of late...early to rise, after a night of uneasy sleep taken in shifts. Road dust on my tongue & sleep heavy in my eyes. Tired feet & restless companions.

They think I'm leading them the wrong way, but don't seem to have a better alternative. Except Tony, who thinks I'm going to save his soul. Yeah--right after I save myself....

We trek onward, & without warning--the road ahead of me is gone. I rub at my eyes, but it doesn't help--I know what's happening.

Candlight flickers & dances in the dimness of a small, dank room. I can smell burning wax & leaves, among other, more subtle things.

I see aged, weathered hands...wrinkled skin, soft like paper. I can't see his face, only an old man's hands....He stirs a pot, & the aroma wafting from it is slightly ...metallic.

The man settles down, & lights another candle; it's already been half burned, & white wax has caked around the sides in uneven ripples. His hands begin to lay cards down on the table before him...cards of fortune.

He lays three cards before him, face down. The back sides feature a rounded, twisted symbol, with three dragons entwined through it. Slowly, the hands flip over the first card. It features a pale blue dragon, dancing beneath a full moon.

The elderly hands pause for a moment, & then turn the next card. Two dark dragons, war at the base of a crumbling tower. The sky behind them is fractured by lightning & blackened by smoke & storm clouds. I hear a gasp, & the hands begin to shake.

The man turns the last card face up. It depicts a white dragon, shedding blackened skin...& screaming. Roaring. Crawling from the ashes.

"Death..." A voice whispers in my mind. "Transformation..."

The candles flicker & burn out. & my eyes are forced to acclimate to the sunlight & the ashy, dusty road before us.

Strong hands pull me to my feet. Justin. Justin has questions in his eyes.

-"We're on the right path." I tell him.

-"What about him, Tor? Is he on the right path too?" Justin asks me.

He gestures to Tony, who is shaking.

-"Did you see him, too? It's okay--we're on the right path." I tell him. "I think it's just Father Wolfsbane. We're supposed to find him."

-"I didn't see Father Wolfsbane, Torrent." He opens his hands to me, palms gouged & torn from jagged fingernails. Crimson blood trickles down his outstretched fingers.

-"I didn't see Father Wolfsbane. Torrent, I don't wanna see anymore. Make me not see anymore..."