PORTAL BEAST SLAYER

Dreams are made of mana, and generate mana. Sometimes they remain pleasant, other times they take on the form of nightmares but their source remains the same.

Alrik heard the words, but they seemed to come from faraway. He felt like he was floating, yet it wasn't the kind of feeling he experienced in the soul plane.

Alrik. Focus. Dreams are distracting and can take on any shape or form with no one to tame them. You're being led away from the reason you're back here. Don't let them tame you, or the nightmares will take over.

He also heard this, but it still sounded too far away. And the sound felt like it was coming from a tunnel, echoing around, yet seeming to come from one point.

"Where am I? Who am I?" He asked into the void, and tried to open his eyes, but even with his eyes open, it still remained dark.

This darkness was unlike what he had ever felt. Then he began to see images, hear voices. But it seemed more like a memory.

…"Vaida, you know I love you, but your brother committed a crime. And the punishment for his crimes is being sent to the war camp, you know that. No one else can serve his sentence for him." He said to her.

"I thought you said you love me, Alrik? How can you say you love me and refuse to fulfill this one request that I ask of you? Just one year of service at the front lines. That's all. You know Vance is sick, and you're stronger than him. One year is nothing to you. I promise, as soon as your service is over, I will marry you. We can finally start our own family." She replied…

He could remember this. He loved this Vaida once, or maybe he only felt like he should love her. Whatever he felt for her didn't compare to his wife. His wife. Something itched at the edge of his mind, but every time he tried to hold on to the thought, it just floated farther away.

"Do I have a wife? Who is she?"

"Alrik! Fight it. Your energy was more depleted than I thought, and it's giving them easy access to your mind. Don't let them…"

"Do not listen to the echo, Alrik. It is nothing but a nuisance. You want to know who you are, right? You want to find out about your life as well. I can help you do that. I can do whatever you want, you just have to wish for it. I am your friend. That nuisance wants to take you away." This voice that whispered to Alrik seemed to come from deep in his own mind, and it was feminine.

He didn't understand why or how he could hear it. But it felt like a warm caress, and it soothed all his confusion.

"Where am I? Who are you?" He asked this new voice, and blocked out that echo.

"You are right where you need to be. Your energy is delicious, Chosen one, even if it's not at its peak. You can call me Jinn." The voice replied.

"Chosen one. Is that my name?"

"No. But you were chosen for a reason." Jinn replied.

"Chosen for what?"

"For me. Why else? We're friends, and you're here to help me escape this prison that I've been bound in for just a tiny prank.

"And to free me too." A second voice that sounded like a teen replied.

"And me." A third masculine voice replied right after.

"Who…"

"These are also friends. We are all called Jinn." Lady Jinn replied.

"Why do you answer one name?" Alrik asked.

"Because we are one being, split into three consciousnesses. And for this reason, we must share the same fate. You were chosen, so you must help us." Male Jinn spoke.

For several seconds, Alrik floated off in oblivion, and then his mind seemed to fracture.

"Where am I? Who are you? Eliza! Where is my wife."

Thinking about her seemed to awaken him a bit more, but the Jinns quickly surrounded him and sank into his mind. The next seconds, he was sucked into a memory that felt wrong.

It felt like it never happened, but to his mind it appeared real.

"That woman is not your wife. She betrayed you." Teen Jinn said.

He went back to the time he was disgraced and thrown out of war camp after being accused of stealing something precious that seemed to evade his mind. His first thought after returning home was that he needed to see the love of his life. But when he stepped into his family estate, his life was turned upside down. His plan was to go to his room and change before going to see Eliza, his wife. He remembered the moment they got married and she pledged to be his for life. He heard a moan that sounded like hers, and then another man's voice.

He shook his head, and scoffed internally. No way. He must just be hearing things. He was about to walk away when he heard her voice this time, much louder and clearer.

"Oh Kalen. I love you. Please, don't stop."

He froze, and grabbed the door handle. His heart was beating so fast that it felt like it would escape his rib cage, and his palms instantly became sweaty. He forced himself to open the door, and his bag dropped from his hand loudly.

"Eliza!"

The two people on the bed were startled by Alrik's presence, and rushed to cover themselves up.

"Alrik! What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be back so soon." She yelled.

He stared at her face, even as he called her Eliza, but the name felt wrong. Everything about this felt wrong, and not just the fact that he just found his wife cheating on him.

"How dare you barge into this room without permission!" Kalen snapped.

"So this is why you stopped talking to me. You were too busy cheating on me with my cousin.' Alrik scoffed in disbelief with tears in his eyes.

Eliza just rolled her eyes. Their plan to get Alrik disgraced worked, so she no longer had any reason to pretend to be in love with him.

"Why would I want to keep in contact with a lowly soldier?"

"Have you forgotten that I went to war camp for your sake? Because I love you, I decided to give a year of my life fighting battles against portal beasts just to save your brother's life. And this is how you repay me? After promising me that we would get married."

"Oh don't be so dramatic, Alrik. You went to war instead of my brother, and so what? I didn't force you, did I? And no one dragged you there. You went with your own two legs. It's not my fault that you're too stupid not to realise when you're being used."

"So you see it with your own eyes, Chosen one. That woman is disloyal." Lady Jinn whispered in Alrik's mind as the memory faded.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Eliza lay beside Alrik who was fast asleep. But his temperature was higher than normal. Now she understood why Zee had said they should sleep with less clothing on. Eliza turned up the air conditioning in the room, and watched her husband to make sure he was alright.

Despite knowing this was normal due to Alrik's ability, she still worried about this. He looked like he was running a fever, and his brow was scrunched like he was either in pain or having a bad dream. She couldn't do anything to help him internally, so she did what she could for him from the outside. She soaked a small towel in cold water and cleaned his face. Then she kissed him, and stroked his hair. She began to hum a lullaby, hoping it would take away his bad dreams.

In his dreams, Alrik began to hear a strange tune. It didn't come from his mind this time, and it felt faint. But his heart seemed to recognise the song, and the voice.

"NO! Don't listen to that! She's a witch that was sent to distract you." Lady Jinn snapped, and the Jinns all tried to infiltrate his mind again, but it didn't work this time.

He began to hum the tune, and his mind began to clear even more.

"You're doing it, Alrik. Focus. Let Eliza lead you back to me."

Zee?

Alrik gasped as a zing went through his mind, and he could separate his memory from the Jinn's mind tricks. He then realised he had been dreaming all along, and then he reached out to reconnect with Zee.

"Now pull the energy around you. Draw on it and refill."

Following Zee's instruction, even the Jinns could not escape as he drained the energy around him.

Eliza gasped as Alrik's whole body began to glow faintly, and then he levitated off the bed by a few inches.