Omega's Rebirth

"I asked you to leave?... Where?" Lord Starron asked.

"To..." Estelle began to respond but then she trailed off.

’When I had a nightmare before this... father would never have me recall it...’ Estelle thought to herself.

Ever since her mother’s passing, Estelle had often been plagued with nightmares that troubled her sleep.

Lord Starron knew this and he would always reassure Estelle that it was just a nightmare, rather than relive it, Lord Starron would ask her to ease her heart and let all the fears flit away.

Lord Starron would only ask what Estelle’s nightmare was about long after Estelle had regained her calm because Lord Starron did not want Estelle’s despair to be greater.

It was just a little difference, something most would consider insignificant even... perhaps Lord Starron just felt burdened today and acted unlike himself.

But Estelle knew better, her father’s actions had been consistent for over a decade... he would never enquire to know exact details of her nightmare since that would only terrify Estelle more.

Lord Starron would much rather do anything to distract Estelle’s mind from her nightmare, he would even tell silly jokes sometimes.

How could Estelle not consider this obvious different significant? How could Estelle not recognize her own father?

Estelle suddenly realized it... that it had not been a nightmare at all.

The Black Network, Jason, the disappearance of Fort Blazed...none of this had been a nightmare.

All that was happening around her right now could only be owed to sorcery, this right before her eyes was the nightmare.

"You’re not my father!" Estelle hissed as she pulled away sharply from whoever it was.

At that moment, an ear piercing shriek echoed all around Estelle and her hand shot up to cover her sensitive ears as she crumbled down to the ground.

Lord Starron’s study all around was suddenly encased in shadows, disappearing from Estelle’s view.

"Where is it?! Where is it?!" A raging voice roared furiously as Estelle’s surrounding was swallowed up in darkness and a clawed hand grasped her throat, cutting off her airway.

Estelle gasped for breath as she clawed at the hand formed from a mass of shadow but the grip was too tight and impossible to loosen.

Estelle could only gasp for breath while forcing her words out.

"Go...to...hell!" Estelle hissed right back in between gasps and the shrieks all around her grew even louder.

"I will find you! I will find you wherever you are!" The raging voice hissed just as Estelle’s consciousness was pulled back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Estelle’s eyes snapped open with a gasp and her hand shot up to her neck, grasping her throat as she coughed violently and gasped for breath.

The nightmare had been so real, Estelle could still feel the cold chill of the mass of shadow cutting off her airway.

As Estelle’s breathing calmed, a quiet groan escaped her lips and her hands lifted up to cradle her head where a pulsing ache shot across her temple.

’What in the world...’ Estelle thought as she struggled up to her feet, holding onto the nearest tree for support and balance.

The very first thing Estelle noticed was the chilling cold that seeped right into her bones, leaving her shivering visibly.

Estelle wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to preserve some warmth whilst shaking her head to clear her hazy vision.

’Where am I?’ Estelle wondered aloud as she glanced around the thick forest completely encased in shadows.

Had Estelle been fully human, she would not have been able to see even a step ahead of her and the only reason she still could was because of the dragon blood within her veins.

Estelle noticed this part of the forest was quite different than she last remembered before she fell asleep, but from the scents all around her, Estelle could tell it was still the same forest.

It was only that this was much deeper into the forest and they had strayed far away from their travel path.

The trees were much larger with long stretching branches and wide leaves that blocked out the light.

Not even the barest streams of light could get through the canopy of trees and Estelle frowned slightly, unsure as to how she had ended up here.

What was even more alarming to Estelle was the fact that Dante was nowhere in sight...he should have returned to her already but Estelle could only pick up the barest traces of his scent.

Estelle was about to take a step forward in search of Dante when she heard voices approaching from a distance that most definitely did not belong to Dante.

Estelle’s eyes widened slightly and she quickly hid herself behind a tree, waiting in silence to see just who it was.

It took a moment but a silhouette soon broke through the cover of trees and Estelle was immediately hit by the intense scent of flowers...it blended so perfectly with the scent of nature that it would be difficult to pick out.

Even so, Estelle could not tell exactly how she had not noticed this before but this was most definitely the smell of fairies.

Estelle’s eyes widened slightly, she had known the fae race occupied a vast territory in the Asvarian stronghold but she had not expected they would run into them.

Though the fae race was subdued by the dragons, they were still allowed to retain their territory and their monarchy, all the fae clans had their own territory and their forests.

It was only that the Asvarian stronghold now encompassed all these territories, yet at the same time, the dragons accorded the subdued races with respect and would not trespass their territory unannounced.

The fae were extremely territorial in nature and they did not favor trespassers at all...to have stumbled upon one of their forests like this, Estelle knew it was trouble.

Estelle quickly patted her back and breathed a sigh of relief to find her satchel and the item was still safely strapped to her back.

"You do not truly believe you can hide away from us, do you now? Come out... the clan leader summons you." One of the voices called to Estelle.