The Conclave of Nightmares (Closed, Rae'vyn Shanicra)

[Lunerith]

A small ray of light hit the monotony of her sleep. Rae'vyn awoke, but not to a pleasant brightening. Indeed, the swirling dust, the dark shadows and the cold stone walls told her a different story. She could feel the humidity in the air. The smell of the place was old, besides being dusty, old and rancid. There was so little light here, she could barely see. It looked like a prison cell of somekind, but even prison cells had to be better than this. There was only that tiny opening for the light - No gate, no bars, no door, nothing. That was clearly a problem and one not easily solved, for while there was no exit, there was another person in the room.

"Look out the window" He asked, for by his voice, Rae'vyn could tell it was a he. "It should be rather interesting. By the time you... should I say we?" There was silence as the contemplation was carried out with the grinding of teeth in the background, digging at Rae'vyn's nerves. "Yes, by the time we get out of here, we will be the same, as what is out..." Silence followed, as some dust was swirled around by moving hands and arms. Motions in the dark. "...There!"

The light peering in was enticing her to look out. Finally, the man finished his speaking. "Why don't you take a look? Because I am never getting out of here, so I might as well stay. It might make you realize where you are or maybe you'll realize that you know absolutely Nothing!" His voice rose to a yell and the heat of it spread throughout the cold room. Settling down again, Rae'vyn could feel the dullness seep slowly and surely back into the room.

A whistling noise outside, like that of something falling at great speed, broke the silence. The light continued to shine in.

In a desperate voice, the man pleaded "Why don't you take a look, pretty lass?"

[Rae'vyn Kaldres]

This was certainly not where she had fallen asleep. Blinking slowly, the human woman tried to make sense of her surroundings, if there was no door, how did she get in. Then that sense of something close made the little hairs on the back of her neck rise. Then a voice.

Turning to where it came from, Rae’vyn tried to see it in the light, a deep frown was on her face. She said nothing in reply to his questionings, but attempted to pull herself up onto her feet. Turning toward the origin of the light, she peeked through the opening, the noise eerily similar to those all across the Empire. Perhaps she was wrong and this was all a regular nightmare.

[Lunerith]

Outside, from where little light came, Rae'vyn saw a barren landscape. Red and ochre dust everywhere in a very dry landscape. The ground seemed cracked up from what she could see. The dark blue sky was lit up by a sun on the horizon, but there was no cloud for miles and miles. None whatsoever upon the sky, within her sight. The land was flat too, no hills, no spires, no mountains and no trees. No vegetation, no animals and especially no life. Not even small insects. This whole place was so negative that even the frightening whistling sound of something falling was, unfortunately, a lone meteorite in the landscape.

Rae'vyn had peered out at an ufortunate time. She had managed to see everything in a very short amount of time, but her reactions were not fast enough to avoid the massive wave of dust that was suddenly blasted towards the little opening, by the striking of the ground performed by the meteorite. Small rocks and dust particles were slung at her and instinctively, her eyes closed. Whilst she could presume no damage, it certainly stung at her and the air had been filled with dust, putting her at risk to inhale it with every breath.

Whoever had been in the other end of the room stood up, at the edge of sanity. He moved slightly towards her, still avoiding the light and appearing like a darker shadow on a background of darkness. "You see how lifeless it is out there? What kind of things happen here? Anything happens here... Anything..." His voice trailed off into a whisper of mutterings and Rae'vyn could see that whoever it was had turned their back to her, despite her eyes stinging from the dust.

[Rae'vyn Kaldres]

Dropping to a crouch as the dust blew into her eyes, she inhaled a hiss, choking as she did. Using the inside hem of her dress, she wiped her streaming eyes as best she could. No doubt she was now a strange shade of orange. Spluttering as the figure lumbered about the cell, Rae’vyn listened to his words with a slight chuckle in her mind.

“For being so lifeless, it sure does kick at the stomach. Only lifelessness out there is your negativity.” Becoming a mother had put a hardness in her mind that dealt with the all night crying and need for attention. Resting her back against the window wall, she tried to clear her throat some more. “Where is this place anyway?”

[Lunerith]

"Your fears. Your past. Your most horrible nightmares. All gathered into a vial of utter... negativity." He emphasized using her own words. "As for me." He began whispering, ending in a coarse tone "I am that vial, all bottled up, ready to exert my excruciating influence upon all..." he was starting to yell again, being the maniac he was, swinging from mood to mood "...all! All that dare cross the border! My border, my home..." And once again, his mood switched back to dark, musty and tome-like "...my sanctuary." Finally, Rae'vyn could see the man's face. In the light, he was the mere shadow of a person with few distinguishable features. Then, in an accusing tone, he lifted his shadowy arm and pointed his shaded finger towards her.

"You, you have invaded my sanctuary. For that, you will pay."

The finger remained poised at her and he moved forward with a fog-like movement, his body trailing behind him, hurrying to catch up. Leaving this foggy shadow behind him as he approached Rae'vyn, he came closer and closer. Rae'vyn found herself cornered by this abnormal human beast, this twisted soul that had suffered some strange fate not meant for any man or beast. There was little time to worry about her orange features, as of that exact moment in time, she was being threatened by what could only be described as a shadow of a person. A shade.

[Rae'vyn Kaldres]

Pressing herself against the wall, Rae’vyn tried to back away from the deranged shadow. Never before had she encountered anything like this. Eyes widening, Rae’vyn shrank back as the finger was pointed and the awful face came to light.

As it shrank back, she regained some of her confidence and leaned away from the cold wall.
“I have no idea how I crossed your boundary, nor how to leave it. I can I be certain you did not bring me here?” Probably not the best of moves, but it made her feel better.

Turning away she folded her wigs about her shoulders a little better and tried t wipe some of the grime from her face.

[Lunerith]

"Lies, lies, lies!" He called out, his words echoing in the small cell all of a sudden. "You, you knew how to get in here. You came to torment my captivity! I will make you pay. You won't leave until I am done with you!" Her hands became stained, though her face was cleaned. The shadow of a person moved closer "For eras, patterns... all eternity!" There was a silence as the echo of eternity went from one side of the room to the other, slowly escaping through the small opening "...I've been trapped here and you think I will believe that you do not know of a way out of this living aeternia?" He floated closer to her.

"If you will not tell me a way out, I shall feed on your life, your happiness... until you do tell me!" His incorporeal hands reached out and went effortlessly through her chest. Rae'vyn could not back up any further; She was up against the wall already. As his cold, ghastly hand passed through her, she could feel the energy being sapped from her body. The only thoughts that began to remain in her mind were those of the times she had fallen down and hurt herself. The times when people she had cared about had left. She couldn't recall how people had tended her after her accidents or how people had returned to love her tenfold when they did leave. All she seemed to be able to recall, as time went by, was how things were utterly horrible in her life and how everything never went her way.

He pulled out his hand, slowly floating away backwardly into his corner. He was grinning, she could tell. "Life. A lie in a place like this, but a lie that'll keep you alive." He was finally not being gloomy or yelling, but Rae'vyn was feeling like it. The good was slowly returning to her again, but she felt weakened. "You want to escape this place? Then you will tell me how and only then will I let you." He was assuming a commanding voice. He seemed more confident.

"Otherwise, I might just have to..." He breathed life into some embers that Rae'vyn had only just noticed, causing a small fire and revealing an iron rod "...get somewhat more physical with your pain and anguish." He was starting to sound sadistic and was getting closer to the gloomy part again, but for Rae'vyn, whilst she was recovering and regaining her positive memories and thoughts, she would take a bit longer to recover.

"Are you going to tell me the truth or will you continue to tell me lies?"

[Rae'vyn Kaldres]

Slumping down against the wall, all thoughts of happiness and escape were drained from her. Her father’s rejection and his lies, the times in Prime when she was left alone with her deformity, the time in the Malice jail where she was used as a beaten rag doll or when her husband up and vanished. Tears formed in her eyes as that huge weight came crashing back down as the shadow babbled on.

Eyes rolled over to the embers and back to the crazy shadow. With a sigh, her shoulders seemed to drop that much more.
“I told you, I was sleeping in my bed and found myself here.” This life she had lived felt she had little of the goodness left. The memories of smiles and laughter seemed overpowered by the glowing fire and the memories of past meetings with such and object. Ice blue eyes flicked back to the shade.

[Lunerith]

"Sleeping in your bed? Does this look like your bed to you? Tell me, how did you get here?" The shadow of a man was restraining himself from approaching. "Or perhaps, we should conduct a short test, see how you respond and act accordingly." He was sounding all technical. Dangerously so. "I shall begin... with a tale!" And it had turned into literary mastery.

"You're wandering out there, in a red barren desert of falling rocks and dry weather. You happen upon a tortoise... a turtle..." He slowed his pace of speaking and looked at her hard and long "You approach it and flip it over." He looked at her with a dramatic pause "It's lying there, on its back. You're not helping." He continued to stare at her, with eyes that spoke of a former life.

"Why are you not helping!?" He shouted at her, waving the hot iron rod dangerously close to her face. She could feel the heat and beads of sweat involuntarily formed themselves on her forehead. "Why are you not helping?" He seethed, with a furious display of anger apparant in his form. His shadowy body seemed to burn and flare.