PORTAL BEAST SLAYER

She stared at her husband's floating body and wondered if she should do something, maybe tie him to the bed so he wouldn't float away. Though that wasn't possible since he was inside their bedroom, and not outside the house. But his powers had proven to be unstable lately, and that was what made her move from the bed. Better to be safe than sorry.

She tied a part of the sheets to her arm, and tied the other end to Alrik's arm, and lay back down, just watching him. He didn't move from that same position though, and several minutes later, she fell asleep.

"What the fuck was that about? Alrik snapped after he had finally absorbed enough energy to take on a physical form in his dreams.

"I didn't realise how depleted your energy truly was, and that allowed those terrible dream Jinns to get a hold of you. You were so close to releasing them to the physical world, and causing a new set of disasters. It's a good thing Eliza managed to bring you back, though I have no idea how she knew you needed her." Zee replied.

"We'll talk about Eliza later. For now, explain what those Jinns are."

"There are myths of them in your world, and they're known as mischievous spirits whose only purpose is to wreak as much havoc as possible. Someone must have trapped them in this inbetween realm to stop them from causing trouble. It must have taken a lot of power to do that."

"No one but you in this world has the power to do something like that though. Magic doesn't exist in this world unless it's connected to you or to the portals in some way. So who trapped them here? Could there be another being from your world that managed to cross over here and is still alive?"

"If crossing over was possible, then Jaeryn or his descendants would be the first ones over. They've tried for so long, and I doubt one of them would do something like this. Instead, they would make the Jinns serve them, and cause chaos. I do agree that it's suspicious though. Unfortunately, you've already absorbed their essence, so technically, they no longer exist. They're the only ones who could have possibly told us who imprisoned them here and why?"

Alrik sighed, and then looked around. At first, everywhere he looked was an endlessly vast, but empty space. Then it slowly began to take form, and then he saw himself standing in the gardens in his backyard. And it was winter time here, so snow was falling in thick clumps but Alrik didn't feel the cold.

"This is a dream."

"Yes. We are in the world of dreams. Like I told you, dreams can take any form or shape, but mostly, they follow human desires, and emotions. You hated the empty space and desired it to be replaced by a warm scene, and this dream was born."

Alrik chuckled. "No offence, but there's nothing warm about a cold winter night, even if I can't feel the cold right now."

"Look."

Alrik did so, and through the patio doors, he could see into the house. There he was, another version of him, drinking hot chocolate with Eliza by his side, and a smile on his face as he stared at her. He smiled, then gasped as Eliza stood, and he saw that her belly was round. She was pregnant, and bundled up in a soft sweater.

He blinked and the image was gone, replaced by another dream of himself chasing a little girl across a field filled with flowers. Now it was spring, and when the little girl turned, his heart ached to see a smaller version of Eliza, but with his eyes.

"Now that there is no imminent danger, let's explore. There is so much to see and learn about the dream realm. Imagine the Dream Realm as one big castle. But within the castle, there are many rooms for guests to stay. Each room is part of the castle, yet still separate. Each room belongs to a different person, and within their rooms, they do what they want, but they can never leave that particular room. Only those with access to the castle key can move around the halls, and visit other rooms. The key is Mana. The energy you harnessed and drew within yourself."

"Does this castle have a king, or an owner? Usually you need permission to trespass on another's territory, and I'd rather avoid any unnecessary conflicts."

"The Dream realm has no ruler. But within each room, each guest is the master of their own fate, knowingly or unknowingly. Most have no idea they could control their dreams. They aren't aware they're even doing so because those dreams were influenced by their desires and emotions. So, they let the dreams have free will, and take on whatever form they please. A dream out of control usually becomes a nightmare, but not always. Humans are so easily moved to fear, or hate. Negative emotions birth nightmares."

"This might sound strange, but can humans die in dreams?" He asked. "After all I've experienced for some time now, I no longer think anything is impossible."

"Usually no. Any death that occurs within a human's dreams, to themselves or others, never happen in reality, unless that person is among the very few with the gift of premonition, and they're dreaming of the near future. But there are ways to cause death, without spilling blood. You have the key, Alrik. You can visit others in their dreams, you can make them see what you wish. You can torment them with their worst nightmares till they wish for death, and maybe even decide to take their lives. But just like Phasing, killing someone directly through the dream realm requires a lot of energy, and if you attempt it when you're not strong enough, forget being drained, you will perish."

"Don't worry. I have no intention of trying to murder people through dreams."

"You never know. Human emotion can be very fickle. But I trust your word, for now. Later, you can learn to visit anyone whose dreams you wish to visit by summoning them. For now, let us visit the closest dreamer. Remember, each guest has its own room, but all rooms are still a part of the castle. You can't move from one room to another through the walls, but for each room to be connected, there has to be a hallway, right? A place that connects the entrance to the different rooms."

Alrik began to imagine it as Zee explained in an analogy that was easy to understand. He moved around, and instead of feeling with his hands which he knew would be useless, he pushed out tendrils of his energy. Everywhere he turned felt solid, like a barrier. He assumed it was the walls of the room, like Zee said. Several seconds passed as he moved around, and then he paused. There. It felt like a gap, but when he tried to pass through, he discovered it wasn't wide enough to fit him.

"The hall is too small."

Zee sighed, and Alrik felt his hair move. When he turned, he yelped and stumbled away as he saw a woman behind him.

"It's just me, Alrik." Zee chuckled.

But Alrik was still wary because when Zee had told him her history, he had seen what she looked like. This person in front of him was not her. Was this another mind trick of Jinns?

"I appreciate the fact that you're being more cautious, but I'm doing this to remind you of the lesson I just taught you a few minutes ago. This is the Dream Realm. Dreams can take…"

"Any form or shape." He completed her sentence just as the woman in front of him became a man.

"All you need is a strong will to direct the flow of Mana, and just like the Winter with hot chocolate, what you desire will be formed." Zee said as she turned back into a female, her original self. "This is the only place where I can be me, and not a sword." She smiled.

Just in case, Alrik extended his energy towards her, and felt her essence. It was really Zee, so he relaxed. Then he turned to the gap he had found in the barrier, and stretched his hand towards it. In an instant, he shrinked along with Zee and they were able to pass through the gap.

Zee laughed as they came out on the other side. "You could have made the gap bigger, instead of making us smaller."

"I'm still learning, cut me some slack." Alrik said and looked around.

He smiled when he realised whose dreams he had walked into. Since he was distracted, Zee made them go back to their normal size, and they watched Eliza as she walked through a field of flowers with a child on her hip. A boy this time, one that looked like a smaller version of Alrik.

"So she wants a boy that looks like you as your first child, and you want a girl that looks like her as a first child. I wonder whose dream will come true."