I open my eyes and immediately feel it.

  A presence.

  “You’re conscious,” she says.

  My body refuses to respond. My legs won’t move. The air itself feels heavier, pressing down on my chest. Her presence is suffocating.

  “What… are you?” I manage, the words scraping out of my throat.

  “A being beyond human comprehension.”she says

  My breath catches

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  My heartbeat stutters, then accelerates—loud, frantic, out of control

  *What is this feeling like my insides are laid bare?*

  She tilts her head slightly

  “Why the hesitation”she says

  I don't respond unable to

  “Fear I see”she continues “I won’t harm you. You have nothing to fear from me.”

  I don't respond her words falling on deaf ears

  Nytheria takes a step towards me my body still refusing to move

  I feel Nytheria hand cup my chin and raise it to meet her gaze

  “Relax yourself zero*she says

  I take a slight step back

  “Why am I here?” I manage.

  “Why?” she echoes. “Because I willed it.”

  What does she want from me? It isn’t physical it has to be something abstract—

  “You’re correct,” she says.

  I didn’t even say it out loud. How did she—

  My heart rate spikes, climbing faster and faster.

  Calm yourself. There are only two

  outcomes: either I die, or I live.

  My heart rate slows.

  “What’s your motive?” I ask.

  “Catalyst,” she replies.

  Her fingers curl around mine for a fraction of a second. Before I can even process it, she pushes and the cold lake swallows me. My mind goes blank.

  I wake up immediately, my breathing fast, my chest aching from the effort.

  “That… was a dream,” I gasp.

  I look around. The infirmary is empty.

  I stand slowly, my body fully healed.

  Odd… how is my body healed so quickly? Was this Nytheria doing? I murmur.