More often than not, Xunatar would find the strangest yet alluring of dreams while he slept. His mind would be wrapped as though it was embraced by silky sheets yet at other times he would be flung into episodes of pain and torment. The worse of which was what he had to endure in his youth- a ritual that could hardly be called such. To him, pure torture seemed to be a far better phase for it. Being flayed mentally and physically for what seemed to feel like years took its toll, though he masked it well beneath his facades. Tonight was no different, and for such reasons he rested only when his body could not go on. Many knew him to be fearless but that was just a lie. Even he had his own personal demons to deal with, and for such a long time he forced himself through it all. Weakness was not in his vocabulary nor would it be tolerated, lest he would end his own life on the day he would.
Laying in bed, he had already consumed tea with very potent herbs that was to help with his slumber and slowly he allowed for it to overshadow him. Within moments, the devil found himself laying down, staring upon the bright sun that loomed over him. The salty air hit his nose and he tiled his head to the right to be greeted by that of the sea. His turned to the left; there was nothing more than deep blue to greet him, save for clouds around him. It wasn’t long before he realized he was hovering in midair and rose to his feet. The sun kissed his skin and the serenity gave him an odd feeling. There was no fear amongst him for he knew that this was a dream, but how long before the nightmare would come in its place?
He glided himself along, looking for any trace of something or someone. The further he traveled, the more the world around him stayed the same. Xunatar couldn’t help but to be baffled; perhaps the tea had indeed helped him greater than expected. Though after some time, he would not have to wait any longer as his hands were forced behind him and met together by some invisible force. He tried to pry them away, but they felt bounded as if tied by chains. His feet met together in similar fashion and suddenly his body felt like weights had been placed onto him as he fell from the heavens and into the blue of the ocean. He crashed against it as he continued to plunge deeper into the abyss, the rays of lights of the surface growing dimmer and dimmer. He struggled to break free, vainly struggled to swim back up. As he did so, he heard laughter. It echoed around him and something in his mind reached to him that it was familiar. The laughter melded into pathetic attempts of sobbing before the two were one and the same. His heart raced as the situation felt too real to be a dream, yet he knew that had to be. The pain from his crest felt too legitimate but it didn’t make any sense. No, I’m dreaming. I can not be awake!”, he reasoned as his body fell into the dark. The laughter continued as he could feel himself slipping away. It was them, the demons that had him go through the trials long ago. Those that he had slayed afterwards. They knew him to be a prince before facing their demise and they believed that he would not be grander than that.
“No, not like this. I will not fade like them.” Xunatar gave one last attempt at survival before he faded to black. “No…” His heart let out a painful thump before ceasing and with that, the lord could feel the coldness creeping.
But the tale doesn’t end there.
The moment he felt that it was all over, a pair of hands reached onto him, basking him in a strange radiance before slipping away in time for his eyes to stir and open. The laughter too had stopped and all was quiet among the ocean. That was until the rumbling begun; soft at first, the magnitude soon took off and the world felt like it was shaking. From the black depths, a large section of land was surfacing all the way from the bottom. It surfaced and continued its climb with Xunatar being carried off with it. It climbed towards the heavens he had been on earlier and was joined by more rumblings and more lands. These islands soon ascended around the first one, forming an ever moving circle. The demon slowly rose to his knees and marveled over the glorious sight. Those hands, the very ones that saved him… he swore that he could feel their embrace still basking him. Xunatar looked to his own, stumped at what was going on. Running a nail along his other hand, he nicked it and felt the skin sliced and a tiny stream of crimson started to run down. It wasn’t a dream; somehow this was the reality he was in now.
Xunatar thought for a moment before the puzzled look upon him transformed itself. It started with a smile that widened the more the realization had hit him. He could feel raw power within him and with but a thought, he looked behind him and started to use the newfound strength to construct a home for him. The land erupted with mountains from the terran and soon out of nothingness, a citadel that would make even the most powerful of kings grow envious came. Again he made sure that this was all real, and once again he was proven correct. That only made the grin grow far more across his face. There was once again laughter that rung in those parts, but not of his naysayers.
No, this time it was that of the God’s.
