Everything around Rhyan was hidden in deep shadows. They twisted and turned, coming at him over and over, making him tumble and spin without any sense of direction. Ice clawed its way deep inside his bones as his heart raced. If air hadn't been out of reach, he would have screamed in agony.

In such a soul-shattering existence, all Rhyan could do was surrender to the shadows and repeat a few, well used words over and over in his mind.

It's just a dream...

He knew it was true, the shadows weren't real.

It's just a dream.

Yet they wouldn't let him wake up, nor sleep in peace. There was nothing he would've liked more than plain nothingness.

It's just a dream!

At last the shadows retreated enough to let air reach his screaming lungs. He steadied himself with hands and knees on the dark, wet ground. His whole body trembled with cold and fear.

"It's just a dream," he whispered to himself once more, refusing to look at the shadows around him. Instead he wrapped his thin arms around his wobbly knees and buried his black-haired head in his arms. His long, grey sweatpants clung to his legs, wet and cold.

"It's just a dream..." Rhyan closed his eyes.

"Yes. It is," a soft voice replied.

Rhyan looked up. His midnight blue eyes met a pair of hazel. A young woman with a tangled straw blond  braid over one shoulder stood before him. She wore a long, light blue nightgown patterned with small, yellow birds. She sat down in front of him. "You have nothing to fear, truly." Her warm smile thawed some of the ice from his bones.

"Are you real?" Rhyan replied in a thin voice.

"I think I am. But how can one be truly sure?" She stopped for a moment to ponder her statement. "Although I guess I'm as real now as awake. How about you, are you real?"

"Yes." He rose an eyebrow, offended.

The young woman smiled. "Lovely! You should come with me, this is a dark dream." She pulled him up and led him towards a grey stoned arch from which a bright light streamed.

"How can you be in my dream?" Rhyan asked.

"Your dream?" She let out a giggle. "Are you sure? I thought this was mine."

Rhyan wasn't sure, not about anything at that point. As they passed through the arch and emerged on the other side, all thoughts fled his mind. He stood at the end of a path laid with grey and white stones, warm and smooth under his feet. On one side grew violet crocuses and white poppies, surrounded by emerald grass. On the other side, behind a row of lavender, trees and bushes stood, twisted and shaped in ways no tree should be able to grow. None of them were able to agree on a season; some were clad in autumn colors, others stood in full bloom and a few were bearing fruit. Clear as glass, the park felt more real than the wake world as he heard cheerful melodies from all around.

"Do you like it?" The young woman looked at him with anticipation as they walked further down the path, towards a great fountain with crystal water glittering in the sunlight.

Rhyan couldn't find his voice, so he simply nodded.

The young woman's eyes lingered on him. "You look different. Where did all those muscles come from?"

She was right, Rhyan noticed as he looked at himself. Besides regaining his built, he had also grown enough to look the young woman in the eyes. Now he looked as he did when awake.

"Did you make this?" Rhyan gesticulated around himself, desperate to divert her attention from his bare torso. She nodded, shining with pride. "How?" he had to ask.

She laughed. "It's a dream. You can create whatever you want here." To prove her point she swept her hand and a couple of fallen leaves began to dance through the air and transform into fiery monarch butterflies.

As Rhyan saw them fly, his periphery began to lose focus. One by one the park surrendered its trees and flowers to thick, white fog. It swept towards him like a wave.

Rhyan tried to stay calm as he saw everything vanish, but his heart worked against him. "What the hell is happening?"

"Relax, we're only waking up." By then the young woman had lost her focus as well. "I hope we'll meet again." Even as the white fog embraced her, she kept her smile.

"Wait! What's your name?"

Rhyan's call echoed out to silence in his mind as his eyes fluttered open. With the park still fresh in his mind, he was in his bed, staring up at the ceiling in a room lit by the morning sun.

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A/N: Who do you think the young woman is?

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