Squinting, a hand held up to shield her eyes, Korin stepped through the small opening in the door.
The world was no longer bathed in the dimming orange light of dusk, but was bright. A sky bluer than the one she knew held more clouds, similar to those on the other side of the doors, chugging across the air.
A deep wail echoed around her and she braced herself for the world to roll, but it remained still.
Scanning her surroundings for the source of the sound, her mouth made a faint 'o' in amazement when a pod of giant whale-like creatures sailed into sight.
Her hair whipped around in the winds they kicked up diving in and out of the cottony swaths. Swimming through air. Marbled in light pinks and blues that shimmered in the light of the unseen sun, stood out in the sky, beautiful and majestic. Echoing wails looped around them as they spoke in a language only they understood.
"Amazing, right?" A gentle voice said. "The great sky entities have always enjoyed these regions."
It was the voice of a stranger, yet it was familiar. Like how everything in this strange place had been.
Korin's eyes trailed from the sky to the world beneath it and found it never ending. There was no land, only a marble walkway that led from the door to a terrace, miraculously floating in an endless blue space. In the furthest corner of the terrace, underneath an ornate pavilion with a sunken pit, was a man surrounded by piles of books and scrolls.
He was clothed in robes of pale pinks and greens from a time and place she didn't know. Their fabric swam around him in thick pools. Small white flowers decorated his entire body, artfully placed in his hair and between the folds of his garments.
Lustrous brown hair and a kind expressive face to match watched her with a gentle smile.
"Would you like to join me for some tea?"
Korin forgot to breathe. He was lovely in a way she never thought another individual could be. Talis and Mikhail were two of the most beautiful people she knew, but this man was ethereal. All soft features and colors mixing together, like a fairy from the old legends. The corner of his eyes crinkled and a set of dimples indented his cheeks.
Korin, dumbfounded by such a genuine smile, only nodded as her feet carried her to the marble pavilion. She passed potted plants, and lounge chairs and benches all strewn in cushions and pillows until she was stepping under the awning and into the sunken sitting area.
The pale floor of the pit was obscured by books and scrolls written in languages with strange writing. A thick ashenwood short legged table was placed in the midst of the literary chaos. Leaves carved into the wood and large silky pillows lay strewn all about. The man flourished a hand and she bent down to sit across from him.
In front of them various jars of herbs, flowers, and leaves circled a tea set made of pink milky glass. A boiling kettle lightly whistled atop a small clay stove.
The man pinched and spooned bits of various substances into an empty pot while Korin watched in a comfortable silence. His movements were gracefully practiced in the way he allotted the perfect amount of each ingredient, then gently poured hot water over them. Korin wondered how much rehearsal had gone into such refined movement. Soon enough a steaming cup, matching the teapot, was placed in front of her.
Gently taking the stained porcelain into her hands she took a small sip. It singed at her tongue, a brief shock followed by hints of floral sweetness and spices. A carefully balanced mixture cleared the airways and cooled her stomach despite its steaming heat.
"What is this place?" She finally spoke. From the rolling grassy plain, the rustling vegetation, whimsical forest, the giant door, and the endless sky with its wailing pod, she was entirely perplexed by her surroundings.
The man mirrored her, taking a sip from his cup before speaking. "Oh yes, This is your first time here isn't it."
"Hmm." Korin thought about the familiarity of everything. "...I think so" She replied, uncertain.
"This is the Astral Plane. It is where beings go when they dream." The man explained.
The astral plane. She knew of dreams, and had limited knowledge of them. She knew her father had bad ones, kicking and muttering in his sleep. She knew novels spoke of them in various contexts and styles. But thus far, when she slept it was not her life fed back to her or surreal happenings, it had always been the void. Sleep was simply a time Korin shut off.
Until now she supposed.
She took another sip of her tea. It was delicious and she felt eager to drink it before it cooled, enjoying the little singe every sip gave her tongue.
"I believe this is your first time here." The man said, mirroring her sip once more.
"How do you know that?" Words floated from her mouth in the odd dream space, sounds almost becoming substance.
"Well, I've been waiting for you." He was hesitant, his gentle voice becoming shaky.
"Waiting for me?" She cupped her tea in both her hands. A more elegant and mannered tea drinker may have criticized her for holding it in such a manner. But she had never thought herself refined, so it didn't matter much.
The man's face fell for a fraction of a second, his eyes became momentarily distant and swept across something unseen. "Yes, I've been waiting for a long time."
"..Why?"
The man set his cup down in its saucer before fidgeting his fingers in his lap. The nervous movement concealed by the silky sleeves of his robes. "To guide you I suppose"
An almost unnoticeable surrealness seemed to be unfolding around Korin. The saturation of a reality not quite right and the odd weight of the man's words plucked at her heart. There was an ebb in her awareness that these things weren't…
"Are we going somewhere?"
"…in a way…" He looked around them, across books and scrolls that he wasn't sure held the knowledge he needed anymore.
Though his face still seemed pleasant, Korins sensed a nervousness in the air around him.
"You don't seem very confident for a guide."
.
His eyes shot up then to look at the woman. The way she viewed him so directly and how it was as if she could see right through him. She reminded him of an old friend and his forthright way of speaking. He wanted to smile but the knot in his stomach wouldn't allow him. This isn't right. He thought. Something had gone wrong and he was suddenly at a loss of what he should do.
.
Korin thought perhaps she was making him uncomfortable.
She didn't know if it was the way the dream seemed to hold so much more than air and bodies, but guilt of his discomfort bloomed inside of her.
Never had she held herself responsible for the resent or fear of the villagers. She had refused to face such depressing responsibility. But the man in front of her nearly had her choking on her tea.
She stared at her reflection, placid and hollow eyed, contemplating what to do.
…
She observed the table between them, littered with dishes and jars and then up to the glowing man in front of her. Her mind came to the tea, so artfully displayed and craftily mixed.
"This tea is lovely." She delivered a compliment making an effort to soften her voice. "I've never had anyone prepare me a cup with such skill and grace before. Thank you." It was a genuine compliment and something she thought the man may value about himself. A lesson in connecting, learnt attempting to subvert the ill intentions of a villager years prior. It seemed odd to use the unpleasant memories, all bloody kneed and scuffed up, to interact with the angelic man. The dichotomy she created twisted more in her gut but it was all she could pull from. Hard lessons and appeasing advice from her father.
He blushed, lips tilting into another lovely smile. "No, thank you. I've had a long time to perfect it."
His smile brought on a sense of relief that washed away the awkward and uncomfortable memories. Never before had she craved sincerity from an individual. No less a stranger at that.
Her next words were her name, "Korin. My name is Korin, by the way," said in a clumsily eager introduction.
"Dear me! I forgot to introduce myself!" He slapped at his knees, smile stretched into a full grin. Pink cheeks deepening with embarrassment.
He brought his hands up to his chest, pressed his fists together, bent his head forward pressing it to his joined fists and closed his eyes. It seemed to be a respectful gesture of greeting Korin had never seen before.
"My name is Era. I am beyond pleased to finally meet you, Korin."
Era. An undistinguished period of time. An epoch, an age, an eon. The perfect name for him, in his pastel and foreign robes with his strange greeting and kind spirits. He was timeless.
Korin played the name in her mind.
And he was pleased to meet her. Such revelation had her giddy with excitement and she wasn't entirely sure why. Why was she so thrilled to converse with him, the stranger named Era whom she hadn't even questioned an invite to share tea with? He could have poisoned her and she would have happily drank it down.
.
Era stared at the woman who now looked to be lost in thought. So far her face had remained statuesque but now a fever had taken over her eyes and the smallest of smiles twitched at the corner of her lips. It was odd and amusing. Amusing because it seemed so unnatural to her character. Odd because it was unnatural for a statue to smile. It was paradoxically adorable and terrifying to behold.
Finally words broke from her lips releasing him from her spell, "I feel like I know you...."
The end of her sentence trailed off into a whisper as her eyes focused on the sky behind him.
In the distance a star burning ferocious and red was growing larger and it caught all of her attention.
Standing alone in the sky, like a lone performer desperate for the cheers of an audience, it shone drunk on ego. An ominous sound began to emanate from it, echoing through the dream world.
"Eeeeeeee."
"Korin, you're bleeding." Thin rivulets of crimson began to snake their way down her face cascading over her cheeks to spatter on her folded legs.
Era had gone pale and his words were barely a whisper to her ears. When she did not reply, he looked over his shoulder, searching for what had taken her attention. "Oh, no," he breathed.
Everything was all wrong.
"eeeeeeeEEEEEEE." The sound was growing into a high pitched squeal.
The star approached burning through the atmosphere and became a mass of smoldering mist; retched in its color, violent in its race toward them.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Its shriek was now a constant clash of lightning that assaulted Korin's ears.
The head of the mist bulged and twisted, folding in on itself. Bulbous glaring eyes and jagged teeth that never assembled into a jaw waved and collapsed into the head, continually devouring itself. A horror had filled her and the memory of screaming played behind her eyes. A desperate shrill scream and the feeling of her body on fire. Ragged pants dragging air into her lungs in her terrified howls. Fragments of memories that had lay deep in hibernation. They played on repeat, skipping and stuttering as she silently watched while the mist plowed its way towards her.
"Korin."
"Korin."
Warm hands cupped her cheeks and her eyes finally focused on the man who had been calling her. Era.
"Hey." He cooed. Despite the worry that filled him, he fought the unconscious urges to share his panic. His expression was schooled into the warm and pleasant face he favored. He smiled, her blood dripping over the fingers that lightly cupped her cheeks. "You need to wake up, Korin."
"Wake up?" Her expression remained clouded. Snip-its of memories shuttering in the haze of her mind.
"Yes. This is a dream, remember? You have to wake up now."
"A dream?"
Behind him the mist neared, its horrendous face lost in its mass. A long string solidified, whipping back like an arm cocked for assault.
Era angled his body above hers so all she could see was him. His billowing robes cupped them in silken folds while white flowers rained around them.
The things vapor arm poised to strike from its gigantic body that stained and occupied the sky.
"Remember, Korin. It's only a dream." Sheets of wind hit them in oscillating forces. Books fluttered, pages escaping their binding, scroll carried away into the endless expanse. And then the wind stilled, a momentary pause pregnant with promise. Era's fingers tightened, her eyes finally seeing him, seeing his pleasant smile and the angelic and heroic way he shielded her. "None of this is real."
Her stomach sank as she met his sparkling eyes. He'd been trying so hard to keep his anxiety hidden from her this entire time. Even now with the monster crowding over them.
The tiniest smile broke out across her lips, eyes crescenting sweetly. "It was so wonderful to meet you, Era."
And then the pregnant pause broke giving birth to a wave of red that whipped at the two with a wretched scream and tremendous wrath.
The mist smacked Era with such tremendous force that he blurred and disappeared. His body flew too fast to track, smashing into the giant door of which Korin had come from. Wood splintered, metal crumbled, and bolts and rivets shot forward as the door let out a loud scream.
Porcelain cracked and shattered, herbs and leaves exploded like confetti, while books and scrolls shredded themselves in a whirlwind of paper and ink.
A crack shot down the walkway, splitting the terrace. Weakened, it crumbled under the weight of the amorphous mist perched upon its ledge.
And Korin was plummeting down through the infinite sky, the thing diving after her, screaming out for Era as she fell.