Martha held her family close.

Afraid they would slip from her grasp.

That she would wake up.

And realize this was all a dream.

Because Martha lived in the world long enough to know that it was cruel.

It was cold, uncaring and painful to live in.

She heard the tales.

Everytime Finn visited after a long caravan, he always had something new to tell Marie.

And Martha heard.

Jealous maidens that used curses to destroy marriages. 

Families that were destroyed in their entireties during the Beast Tides.

Children that were kidnapped and experimented on.

And though it sounded cold, Martha didn't care.

That is what happens when you live in a cold world for as long as Martha has.

You become numb.

Numb to the pain and suffering of others.

And sometimes yourself, as well.

She didn't care for the injustices as long as she had her family.

But now.

Martha didn't know how to feel. 

Because as much as she hated to give up hope, Martha knew, somewhere deep down, that she would likely never see her husband and daughter again.

People died everyday.

And it would only be nothing but a statistic. Another commoner who lost her family. Just like the rest. Just like back then. 

Another tale.

Another pointless story. 

Furthermore, Finn had informed her that the boy and his friends had not returned in a week. 

Worried, he and some girl called Rosalina gathered some people to go out looking for the party. 

Martha found it hypocritical.

All this could've been avoided had they just taken action earlier. And now, she had likely doomed a young man and his friends to an early, painful death out there on the Eve of all the possible nights.  

Tonight was December 23rd. Being out in the Wilds during the Eve was suicide. 

The Eve of Eternal Slumber.

It is said, Edward the Mad King saw a vision of the Moon on this very night when he was left out to die by his would-be assassin. 

He said he saw her. 

Resting her head.

Never again to awaken.

How fitting. 

Because Martha now wished the same fate onto herself.

She just didn't want to wake up. Not in a world where her Henry couldn't try to get a laugh out of her, only for Marie to succeed where he failed by tripping over thin air or something with her clumsy nature.

She couldn't.

She just couldn't.

Not without them. 

Martha knew it wasn't right. She knew she still had Finn. She knew she still had family. 

But. 

It just wasn't the same. Martha didn't think she could handle losing her family a second time. 

And this time she couldn't even throw herself into raising her stupid younger brother like she did the last time. 

Just, please.

Please!! 

She lived a long and painful life.

Martha just wanted to rest.

And maybe.

Just maybe.

She could see her family again in the afterlife. 

But. 

Sadly. 

Martha woke up the next day.

Tired and plagued by a night filled by old nightmares. And new ones as well. Of her father and mother. Of her friends and Finn. Of Henry and Marie. And of Al and his friends. 

Turning to the window, she saw a large group of people quickly making their way to the city.

Her eyes were fixed to the group. Could it be!? 

She didn't believe it.

She couldn't believe it.

Martha ran.

Faster than she had in years.

For the gates.

For a chance. 

She struggled against people with an aggressiveness that no lady in her 50s had any right having. 

And in that mass of completely displaced people, she saw them.

Henry, the tattered tunic he wore that day he went looking for Marie looking worse for wear, but still having that bright smile Martha fell in love with all those years ago.

And Marie.

Her brown eyes (just like Martha's) shining once she spotted her mother in the crowd.

Marie pointed out to her and she and Henry started making their way to Martha.

But were almost immediately stopped in their tracks as Marie's muddied dress got stuck on something, whatever it was, causing her to slip and fall. 

Martha continued running. She didn't stop even when she was directly in front of them. She only stopped when she tackled them with enough force that she could likely put world famous athletes to shame. 

Martha embraced them.

And she knew they were real.

She felt their warmth.

Melting the cold that had settled in her heart for the longest time.

Martha cried.

And cried. 

And cried.

And cried.

And stopped.

She looked into each of their eyes, looking back into hers and felt her worries, her anger and her bitterness melt away. In it's place, love.

Love and Gratitude.

___________________________________________________

Al and the rest had left the village in a hurry after the defeat of the bandits. This is because, if he was fast enough, they might be able to catch up to the herd of Dreams.

Dreams were Magic Beasts. Specifically, they were Fae. They resembled whales with large, beautiful wings that migrated Northwards after the Ghost Storm towards the Northern Lands.

There, they would watch over their young before travelling to the Spirit Realm during the Spring. 

And Al wanted to hitch a ride to the capital. Or as close to the capital as the Dreams could get him at least. 

Apparently, the Forest Elder was grateful to them. In order to power the Storm Shielder, the enemy mage had taken to abducting the local spirits and using their life force as a means of charging the shielder.

She achieved this by creating a Cesspool, a high stage spirit technique, within the cave where Lily found the shielder in the first place.

She also created a spirit barrier, reinforced with on two sides by a salt barrier, that the spirits could not cross, thus preventing their interference.

However, Lily was an elf, as such, she had a high resistance to the spiritual arts together with a high affinity towards spirits in general.

Her attempts at reaching out to the Forest Elder drew his attention and he was able to manifest himself through use of Lily as a proxy, thus completely bypassing the barrier, freeing the captive spirits.

Sadly, the mysterious woman was able to escape. However, in return for her help, the Forest Elder would grant Lily any feasible request before returning to dormancy.

Lily immediately asked for a way to get Al to the capital in time for him to register for the Exam.

Which led them to their current predicament.

Standing at the tip of the 'Cliff with Two Peaks' as the Elder had instructed, the group waited for the sun to set.

Dreams were nocturnal and travelled only in the night.

The sun had set.

And as the Stars began to twinkle and shine.

As the Moon began to slowly rise in the horizon.

As the world fell into the deep silence that enveloped the night.

The first of them arrived. 

Gracefully swimming in the air from what appeared to be a tear in the sky, they slowly descended. 

The night, not yet illuminated by the still rising Moon, lit up a dark shade of glowing blue as the second, third, fourth and fifth of the Dreams began to swim across the sky.

And then.

Two of them slipped through the seams. 

And they were massive.

Seeming to block out a massive portion of the skyline and the mountain range, these two were clearly the leaders of the herd.

But judging by the way the other Dreams seemed to swim around the two, in loops and manuevers that were astounding for something of their size, they might just be the parents of the herd.

Al took a step forward.

And presented the token the Elder had given them. A single leaf from what was probably an ancient tree.

It glowed green.

Before rising into the sky.

A young Dream separated from the herd, swimming through the sky towards the leaf, before eating it.

Looking rather pleased, it descended towards the cliff where Al and the rest were.

With it being so close, Al felt tiny in comparison. It easily dwarfed him, possibly 70-80 metres long.

But he didn't feel fear.

He felt awe.

At it's beauty.

At it's magnificence.

He could see a spark of curiosity in the young Dreams eye.

It moved closer to him. Now, it was barely inches away from him.

Waiting expectantly. 

He looked to the others.

Lily was giving him the go-ahead while it looked as though Kianna was trying very hard to stop herself from petting it herself.

Hesitating slightly due to his own history with Beasts, he placed his hand on the Dream's face before giving it a good rub.

The Dream definitely was pleased. If the way it's tail fin wagged from side to side was any indicator. Desecrating part of the mountain range and blowing away quite the significant portion of the vegetation with the storm it had produced in the process. 

Emboldened, Al wanted to try giving it a good scratch when he heard an earth-shattering bellow from the sky. 

It seemed it was time to leave.

He turned to his.. are they friends now?.... and gave an awkward wave. Al was always bad with goodbyes.

Lily gave him a very long hug before pulling away.

Surprisingly, Kianna gave him one as well. She whispered something into his ear then pulled away.

He turned to Dianna and held his arms out open.

"Yeah, I don't do hugs." She said matter-of-factly. 

Al lowered his arms.

Lily coughed.

Dianna huffed, before pulling Al into a one-armed hug. 

"You sure you don't wanna stick with us. Much better then some boring school in my opinion?" Dianna asked, maybe a bit hopefully.

Al paused to think for a bit.

But this was a matter he did not need think too hardly on. 

He smiled contently.

He pulled Dianna's head down and whispered something into her ear.

Her eyes widened. 

Dianna was honestly surprised by the answer.

She smirked at the boy. 

"You better watch your back out there.

You're a good kid so don't do something stupid, okay?

And you better write to Lily.

Or else.

Okay. 

Now. 

Good luck with the Academy Entrance Exam. 

We'll make sure the people at the bandit camp find their way back home.

Who knows? Maybe we could all get a promotion if we can hand in that crystal thingie."

With that, Al stepped forward. The young Dream allowed Al onto it's head before departing with the rest of the herd. Al in tow. Waving goodbye to his friends.

_____________________________________

"You told him, right Kianna?" Dianna asked her sister. 

Kianna nodded.

"Good, better he is aware of it now than to discover it later when it could cause him trouble."

Again Kianna nodded.

Silence enveloped them.

Kianna spoke up though:

"What did he say to you?"

Dianna paused.

Then she turned to her sister and said:

"He said: Hope you enjoy the parting gift I left you?"

Dianna did not want to find out what he left her though. She wasn't dumb enough to fall for that.

That's why she had Lily go open it.

However, the resulting scream the two lycanthropes with heightened hearing had to endure made her really, really regret her decision. 

"There's slime everywhere!!" 

That night.

The mortified screams of an elven woman reverberated around the once silent caverns of the mountain range. 

And the silent whimpers of the two sisters went unheard.