Standing on a weathered wooden dock over an impossibly vast lake, Kit found himself in a world he couldn’t fully grasp. He knew he was dreaming. Lucid dreaming was something he’d been experiencing his whole life.
Despite knowing his senses were all simulated within his own mind, he couldn’t help but feel intrigued by where he was. The water in front of him was littered with lily pads and flowers. A strange purple hue grew ever deeper in the water the farther from the coast his gaze grew.
Was it a lake? He couldn’t see the other side. Though he’d been to Lake Superior to know that view can be deceiving, he couldn't help but feel like he didn’t truly know. A warm breeze brushed his hair with a hint of algae and ozone tickling his nostrils.
Clouds towards the horizon line shifted like they were fluid, giving the appearance of a waterfall feeding into the vast body of water. To his left was a rocky shoreline with strange creatures swimming beneath the water.
Something felt incredibly off about staring at the water. It took Kit a moment to realize what it was. Stepping off the dock onto the shoreline, he tossed a stone towards a lily pad. The stone splashed and made minor ripples, but barely disturbed the pristinely flat surface.
A tree line so dense he couldn’t see ten feet into the forest lined the shore to his left. That usually meant the dream’s focus was not within the woods. Even he found it strange sometimes how he could predict and understand his dreams as they happened.
Reaching down to touch the water himself, he found it oddly energetic. Tingling shot up his hands and throughout his entire body, and he got the distinct feeling he was being watched.
This was slightly unsettling to him. That feeling isn’t something that he’s experienced while lucid dreaming before. Shaking the feeling off, he gazed towards the strange fish swimming beneath the surface.
Thankfully with lucid dreams he was generally more driven by curiosity. So without hesitation, Kit stepped down onto the water. He expected to sink in but found himself oddly standing atop the water as if it were a solid sheet of glass. But didn’t the stone sink?
That was certainly strange even for a lucid dream. Stepping closer to the lily pads just feet away, a rumbling came from the lake. Energy shot through his feet all the way to his head. Water began to shift and mound unfathomably far out.
Within an instant a massive blue worm burst through the water. Poising it’s oblong scaly mass directly at him, it bellowed a shrill screech in his direction through six open mandibles and sharp teeth lining it’s entire insides. Kit looked on at the worm with fascination. He was less scared and more interested at how his dreams could possibly create something so elaborate.
He’d never been much of a Dune fan, but he’d seen it. Typically things in his dreams were just things he’d already seen in his day to day life. He’d never seen a worm like this in any media he remembered seeing.
It held itself upright and poised to strike Kit at any moment. Kit didn’t flinch. As he studied it, it began to shift and change. The blue scales stayed, but it changed from a worm to a wyrm. A dragon without wings now stared him down with sapphire blue eyes.
Kit knew it didn’t pose him any real threat. Minutes passed with the two staring at each other and contemplating the interaction. Both were seemingly infatuated with what they were experiencing.
Aren’t you a fascinating one?
Despite hearing the words in his mind, Kit preferred to speak out loud.
“Me? What about you? I haven’t even played anything fantasy in a while. Been more into shooters really.”
A bellow escaped the beast and Kit felt a burst of laughter escape himself. Moving itself in slowly, Kit realized the size of this wyrm was almost impossible for his brain to grasp. It must have been bigger than a mountain, and that didn’t even feel adequate.
You know not with whom you speak?
Kit thought about it for a moment. He’d had a lot of influences in his life but that was kind of the problem. There were so many things that could elude to dragons or things of that sort. But a blue wyrm? That’s incredibly specific. Wait a minute, he knew this one.
“Jormungand?”
A nod and snort was it’s response.
“That doesn’t make sense though. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if you’re not chomping on your own tail then bad things are coming yes?”
Cocking an eye, he took a moment to gather his response.
Were this reality, yes.
Ah, the dream realm works a little different. But was he just dreaming all of this himself? Was Jormungand visiting him? Or did he somehow stumble upon his dream world?
A smile creeped onto the scaly wyrm’s mouth.
Astute one. You came to me little one.
Kit thought about that for a moment.
“How? Why? I just went to bed and woke up here.”
They both pondered it for a moment before Jormungand offered a thought.
The threads of fate are not ours to weave. You are here and you must discern why.
Kit’s mind was racing. On top of his mind was whether he was going to wake up feeling rested for operations the next day or not.
“Does there have to be some grand scheme reason? Couldn’t it just be a fluke?”
Jormungand bellowed a laugh yet again, this time shake the trees behind them.
None may enter my realm on accident.
“Ah. There’s that I guess then. So do you have any theories?”
Jormungand sat silently staring at Kit. He offered no explanation.
“So am I on my own on this one then?”
The wyrm nodded and smirked. He was enjoying watching Kit squirm.
“Well, I don’t know if there’s a time frame on this or not but uh, I got nothing for now.”
The smirk faded from the wyrm’s scaled maw.
It may take time, but you and I are entwined. A time will come when you will have need of powerful allies. That is where we shall meet again.
Kit cocked an eyebrow and sighed.
“Cryptic, my favorite.”
You said bad things are coming, which is true. But they do not come from me little one.
Before Kit could respond, he was yanked beneath the water by his feet. Desperately grasping at the water, he calmed himself and looked downward. There was a faint red hue in the water below, and the closer he got the more he got a pit in his stomach.
#####
Jerking in his bed violently, Kit woke in a fit. He had thrown his sheets around and apparently knocked the lamp off his end table. Sweating profusely and breathing heavy, he realized he couldn’t really call what he’d just done sleep.
Looking at the clock, it read three thirty eight in the morning. His alarm was set for six. Even if he could lie back down right now he’d get two hours at best.
Cursing under his breath, he laid his head back down on his pillow and tried to collect himself. Why was that dream so vivid? Was this really something important or just a bad night? It was hard to tell when he’d spent years lucid dreaming weird stuff.
He’d never experienced something like this.
