Page 22 of Veil of Dreams

Gorthak's eyes meet mine for a brief moment before he pushes them out of the window. His expression is fierce, determined, and filled with an intensity that takes my breath away. He falls with them, his body crashing through the glass and sending shards flying in every direction.

I scream in agony, my knees buckling beneath me as I watch him plummet towards the jagged rocks below. The undead dark elves follow him, their bodies disintegrating as they hit the water. My heart feels like it's being ripped out of my chest.

"Gorthak!" I cry out, the sound nearly splitting my own eardrums.

I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see the Master approaching, his eyes glowing with dark magic. "You foolish girl," he sneers. "You think you can defeat me with brute force? I am the Master of this realm, and I will not be defeated so easily."

I look around the room, seeing the carnage, taking it all in. The orcs that came in with Gorthak look nearly as defeated as I am, brought to their knees.

Gorthak… my love, my future…

The Master's grip on my arm tightens as he yanks me to my feet. "You should have known better than to defy me, Cassia," he hisses, his voice low and menacing. "I can forgive you if you return to your cage and stop fighting against this."

I stare up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. I know what he's saying is true. I should have known better. But I can't go back to that cage. I won't let him put me in a cage again.

My eyes flicker to the side, and I see one of the orcs lying on the ground. His hair is dark and cut short, and there's a dagger sticking out of the meat of his side. Without thinking, I lunge forward and grab the knife.

The Master's eyes widen in shock as I turn back to him, the blade glinting in my hand. "No, Cassia!" he cries out, but it's too late. I plunge the knife into my stomach, feeling a searing pain as it slices through my flesh.

I fall to the floor, my vision blurring as I close my eyes. I can hear the Master screaming, but it sounds far away, like he's underwater. I hope that I'll be able to find Gorthak in the Abyss.

I hope that he'll be waiting for me.

19

GORTHAK

Ifeel her soft body stirring in my arms, and I look down to see Cassia's eyes fluttering open. She looks around, confused, and then her gaze settles on me. "Are we...dead?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

I can't help but chuckle at the thought. "No, my love. We are very much alive." I stroke her cheek gently, marveling at her beauty.

She looks up at me with a mixture of confusion and relief. "But...how? I saw you...you fell out the window with those creatures."

I nod, remembering the moment I made the decision to save her. "When I looked at you, I remembered something I had been told. 'You will find her. And when you do, you will know what you must do.' I knew that to save you, I would have to force those creatures out of the window. But what I didn't realize was that I would wake up in what I previously thought was the dream world."

Cassia's eyes widen in understanding. "So this...this is the dream world?"

I shake my head. "No. This is the real world. And I am real. And you are real." I pull her closer to me.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the rage that's building inside of me. "When I woke up, I was back in that damn locked room. I knew that bastard dark elf sorcerer had something to do with it."

"What happened next?"

"I managed to break out of the room and make my way to the basement. That's where I found you, unconscious in your cage, surrounded by those vile dark elves who were trying to buy you like cattle."

"Like from my dream," she whispers.

"I wish it had been a dream," I say, my voice filled with anger. "But it was all too real. The elves had been using their servant, who you know as the Master, to keep prisoners in their manor in a semi-conscious state. Some were trophies, some weapons, others slaves… and those like you were used for entertainment and bedsport."

Cassia's face pales at the revelation.

Just remembering it makes me livid all over again.

"I killed every last one of those bastards," I growl, my hands clenched into fists at the memory. "And I set the prisoners free, including my crewmates. Many of them I thought were dead."

Because I killed them for trying to keep us apart, but that is far from the point.

She sits up, her eyes meeting mine. "But...what we thought was the dream world...it was actually reality?"

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