Jamal's POV
I watched helplessly as she conjured a sword from thin air and plunged it into me. The pain was surreal, the dream mirroring the brutal reality of our confrontation. As I gasped for breath, my vision blurred, and I saw the Dark Witch transform before my eyes.
To my horror, she morphed into Xander.
I jolted awake, my body drenched in sweat. The dream lingered, the echoes of the twisted reality playing in my mind. The room felt suffocating, and for a moment, I questioned the nature of my pursuit. Was the staff worth this torment, this descent into the surreal?
But determination surged within me, a fiery resolve that refused to be extinguished. I couldn't let fear dictate my actions. The staff held the power I needed, and I couldn't afford to falter.
With a heavy sigh, I rose from my bed, leaving the haunting dreams behind. The morning sun cast a golden glow on the world outside, a stark contrast to the shadows that clung to my thoughts. Autumn and Summer still slept peacefully, unaware of the battles fought in the recesses of my mind.
I dressed silently, the weight of the previous night's dream settling on my shoulders. The promise I made to myself echoed in my mind—I would find that staff, no matter the cost.
Heading out once more, I made my way to the Watcher. The air felt charged with anticipation, a silent acknowledgment of the challenges that lay ahead. The Watcher looked up as I approached, his eyes betraying a depth of understanding.
"What troubles your dreams, Jamal?" he asked, his voice a whisper that resonated with ancient wisdom.
I recounted the dream, the throne room, the Dark Witch, and little fight, but leaving out the unsettling transformation into Xander. It wasn't important, there was no need to bother him with it.
The Watcher listened, his gaze unwavering.
"Dreams are but reflections of the soul," he mused.
I threw my head back, groaning, "There go the parables again man, can you just talk normally?"
He completely ignored me, droning on "They reveal the fears we bury deep within. But take heed, Jamal. Sometimes, they also unveil the truths we dare not acknowledge."
"I promise you, we will get along a lot more easily if you just simply didn't talk like an extra from a junior school rendition of Hamlet." I replied rolling my eyes.
The man instead smiled.
"What amuses you?" I asked, folding my hands and frowning, "What is so funny."
"A few days ago, you would have promised to break my neck." He replied slowly, "Now you make no such threats, I'd say we are getting along pretty well."
I stared at him trying to find a fitting rebuttal to his very clear argument, but I couldn't. The old man was right, he WAS growing on me.
I managed a small smile, "Fuck."
"Anyways," he said, setting a pot on fire, and filling it to the brim with water, "I would advise you watch out for more of these dreams, it might be yourself trying to tell you something, or warn you."
I scoffed, "I'd rather he told me the location of this freaking staff."
The Watcher shrugged, "You may never know."
I nodded, the weight of his words sinking in. The journey ahead seemed daunting, fraught with uncertainties and the shadows of my own subconscious. Yet, the determination burned brighter within me, fueled by the dream's chilling prophecy.
The Watcher prepared his magical tools, his eyes focused on the unseen threads of destiny. I decided to stand up and stretch, already bored by his silence. The instant I stood up, a flash of pain ran straight from my spine into my head and all of a sudden, everything went dark as I collapsed to the floor.
Something cold dribbled down my face, sending chills down my skin as I blinked open.
I found the Watcher staring down at me as I regained consciousness, his eyes gleaming at me with an otherworldly light.
"Well, that was interesting." He said thoughtfully. "I have never seen a grown man just lose consciousness like that, much less an Alpha."
I groaned as a splitting headache ripped through my skull, not even having time to be embarrassed. The pain was almost unbearable.
"Watcher, I had a vision."
He shook his head. "No, it's something else. There is something you aren't telling me, Alpha Jamal."
He walked up to his table and went back to the grinding, not saying another word.
I stumbled to my feet, still swaying, "About the dream I had yesterday, something happened in it. I didn't tell you because I didn't think it was important."
He didn't look up, just grinding at the spices, "Well that isn't news is it?"
"No, damn it, this was different, it felt, more real." I snapped, hating the smug way he spoke.
He paused, still staring at his little bowl.
"Well, that is good news."
"You haven't even heard the dream yet."
He looked up at me finally, his face dusty from the dust from the grinding. "The contents of the dream aren't what I am talking about Alpha Jamal." He said, with no hint of a smile in his face, he was dead serious. "But the fact that you are having them and you feel how strong they are. It's magic, it affects your psyche, your mind, makes these things stronger than they normally are."
Normally I would have rolled my eyes and made a smug remark about how he was full of shit, but not this time. Something told me he was absolutely right.
"Why now? Why is it stronger now?" I asked quietly.
"I think you know the answer to that question," he said, going back to his grinding. "Why do you... "
"Because I am getting closer to the staff."
It hit me like a train. That was why I was so fatigued everyday, that was why it was getting more and more difficult to focus, that was why it got increasingly difficult to step out of bed and go back to those sewers. All of it was connected, something didn't want me to get there, something was holding me back something desperately wanted to keep me away from the staff.
The Watcher stared at me silently, his cool blue eyes had a knowing gleam to it, I had the eery feeling he knew exactly what I was thinking "Exactly. You see it now don't you?"
I only nodded, speechless.
"The staff, or something close to it, is trying to resist your efforts to find it.". He repeated to my hearing, "Which means you are getting close, hence the good news."
He took the bowl, placing the pestle on the table and walking over to dump it's contents into the boiling pot before coming to sit across from me.
"You wanna tell me what you are cooking over there?" I asked, nodding at the pot.
"No." He said shortly as though that conversation was over. "Now, tell me what you saw in this dream of yours."