The Fifth World

Cynric: I stir in my sleep. I do not think I will ever understand the purpose of dreams but then again, maybe dreams have no purpose, maybe they exist only to emphasize how fantastic the human brain is. They could probably show you what you want even though you never realised before... and sometimes they scare you. My latest dream, tonight, was just of Bo and I. We were sitting in her room back in the Average Human World. We were just talking and the both of us just looked... so happy. The way I saw her smile, the rosiness in her cheeks, she's perfect.
My fingers take hold of some of the hay that covers the ground. I breathe in and out whilst still hearing her voice in my mind. Am I still dreaming when I smell something out of the ordinary? Am I still dreaming when I begin to hear murmurs belonging to other people? I can smell smoke... something is burning.
My eyes open almost immediately and I up on my feet before I can even grasp what my body is doing. I shake off the dizziness and temporary blindness from getting up too quickly and I look back towards the entrance of the cave or stables. Smoke is beginning to float to the top of the cave. Flames are growing, higher and higher... in seconds the majority of the cave will be on fire. How the hell did this happen?

I feel my face turn hard and I open my mouth and yell, "everyone up!"

There is one explanation for how this happened... I let my hand fall into my satchel that has been sitting around my shoulders ever since last night. I pull out my Angelican dagger, feel its coldness between my fingers and launch myself, running or sprinting, across the cave towards the flames. Bodies begin to sit up, some are already up trying to haul water from the animal's wells towards the flames.

Felcity is at my side in a second. We are trying to separate much of the hay in the fire's path to the rest of the cave. I take her wrist in my fingers, "where is Bo?"

Felicity looks up at me, her red hair even more vibrant today, she looks tired but I can tell that she is determined to find out what is going on, maybe even more than me, "I don't know."

We keep pushing the hay forward back towards the cave. I feel my breath catching, can taste the smoke in my mouth. Sweat drips from my forehead. God, it's getting hot in here. There's no time. Parents are huddled with their children behind them. There's no time to move the hay or try and prevent everyone in this place from cooking. We have to get out. That's it. That's all we can do. I spot Caine and signal him to come to me. He jumps right in front of me. His hair is messy, even more messy than usual and I can see from the rings around his eyes he is stressed.

"Get everyone out, Caine, assemble the Seabrooke guardians!" I command him.

God, I feel like I am someone important or part of government or something... where the hell is Wendel or anybody else who can do his job?! Caine vanishes and as I try to push the hay further into the cave, separating it from the flames path I look up and hear Caine announcing for everyone to remain calm but to exit the cave as quickly as possible before the fires makes it impossible. Time Jumpers are disappearing quickly, Thornes are trying to take care of the Angelicans and Shape Shifters by moving them out. I am relieved that people are actually helping one another and not just doing what they can for themselves. I am inhaling a lot of smoke and give up on trying to move the hay. It can only buy us seconds... I just have to get everyone out. I run towards the back of the caves where a mother and father are trying to take their child towards the front of the cave. The child is screaming. With an impatient grunt the father takes the child in his arms and runs. His wife is on his trail. I go deeper into the cave and spot Wendell and his wife Luka. They are covering Isabelle's body with hay. Luka is distressed, her long hair is a mess, it is frizzy and her eyes are red.

"Wendell!" I yell and run towards them, he turns to me and appears to be a bit calmer than what he was last night, "we must leave now!"

Luka turns to me, a tear rolls down her cheek, "Isabelle," she whispers.

I shake my head, I can't carry her and neither can they. There's too much smoke in the cave now, the majority of people are outside. Isabelle has to stay here. "It's too late. Please," I hold out my hand to her, "we must go." Wendell looks at his wife. I can tell by the expression on his face that he knows... he knows that right now his people need him more than ever and he has no choice but to step up. Yes, his wonderful daughter, Isabelle, has been killed and we are all upset... but if we don't want more lives to be cruelly taken than we have to go. Now. "Please," I whisper. Luka holds her hand to mine and she unwillingly takes grasp of me. I pull her before she can even process what I am doing. I begin to run through the cave, Wendell is beside me, running with me, side by side. We sprint, and as we go we run through the darkest clouds of smoke I have ever seen up close, I inhale and it hurts so much. My eyes dart around, they begin to tear up from the burning of the smoke, I search for anybody in sight. I am thankful to see nobody... but then again, who knows if anyone remains hidden in this big cave?
I am sorry to say that it is too late for the animals.

"We are trapped!" Luka hisses loudly. We reach the entrance of the cave which is now blocked off by a wall of fire. Hay is being set alight quickly. I cough loudly and bring Luka with me as we search for another way. I can hear the screams of the people outside. I am so glad they are out safely.

"Cynric!" Wendell yells at me, I look towards him as my fingers tighten around his wife's hand, "your dagger!"

Of course. Maybe it is the panic that has gotten hold of me. I almost forgot about my Angelican dagger. The fire roars, the sounds are huge and amazing. It is something that you wouldn't imagine to be so close to. I feel my head spin a little and know that at any moment I could collapse. I'm breathing in too much smoke. I shake my head at Wendell as I know that I barely have the energy to keep standing. He pulls his Angelican dagger from his pocket and holds it up towards the fire. His beautiful words almost lose me, they echo in my mind... those ancient Angelican words...
Amazingly, the fire parts as if it is the Red Sea. The flames crash here and there but do not move in our way. A large pathway appears for us through the fire and ash. Wendell looks at me and I run through it pulling Luka with me. He is right behind us.
The colours of red, orange, yellow and black disappear. I see the blue sky and breathe in the biggest breath of air I have ever taken. A sea of green sits in the distance; the forest and the mountains beyond. I can hear the chattering and yelling of the population of Seabrooke... the worries for us. Bo fills my mind, her voice, her laugh, the same vision I saw of her minutes ago in my dream... my sweaty hand lets go of Luka and I fall to the ground.