Every night while Cain slept, he would be tortured with reoccurring nightmares. Well, it was actually the same nightmare. For as long as he could remember, Cain would always have the same dream of standing over his twin brother's body. Through the static filled darkness he would slowly watch Abel bleed out, while he held a blood soaked spear. Surrounding the two there would always be an ever growing audience sitting in rows that seemed to extends higher than the pitch sky. Each seat of the audience was always taken by a shade of his brother from the nightmare before. Every night their collective screams would be louder than the last by a single voice, watching and judging Cain's fulfillment of his prophecy.

“Cain,” Rosalyn says, drawing him back to the present moment, “you're thinking of your nightmare again, aren't you?” The magical sword's realm of rolling hills and meadows was cloudy, with a chill wind that reflected Cain’s emotions. The air smelled like fruit left out for a day too long.

“Yeah I am,” he says, drawing in a deep breath. “It's hard not to, you know?”

The two stood near the only tree of the psychic realm, not really looking at each other but still enjoying one another's presence. Rosalyn chuckled as she stood to lean against the tree. “You've come a long way in your training, Cain. Our connection is becoming stronger by the day. That's why your dreams have been different. You can dream of whatever you desire when you come to visit me.”

Cain was only in Rosalyn’s realm because he was sleeping. When he first got the magic sword he could barely even hear her name when she tried to speak with him. He didn’t even know that the blade had a personality and psychic form. Her form reminded him of all the maternal figures he’d ever had all rolled into one.

With rigorous training the connection between paladin and blade was so strong now, that he was unlocking new powers with her by the day. The latest ability is a psychic connection that apparently allows him lucid dream.

“You can do whatever you want, in a dream,” she reassures while holding out a hand for Cain. He looks at the hand and slowly takes it. Her grip reminded him of crossing a hectic road with his mother when he was younger. “So, Cain, what do you want?”

There was a lot of ways to answer that question, and as Cain looked down with embarrassment she laughed. She did that a lot. Despite being completely different it somehow reminded him of how his godmother laughed.

“I've always wanted to have a nice dream,” he starts to explain, “like what other people talk about. I always heard people talk about crazy things happening in dreams like their teeth falling out. Or they’ll dream about flying through the sky.” He couldn’t help but to laugh at that. He stopped liking the feeling of flight when he crashed into a tree as a young boy. “And sometimes they have nice dreams about people they care about.”

Rosalyn nodded as he spoke. She listened intently even though she knew Cain was mostly speaking to himself at this point. Anything to figure out what he felt and help him through his emotions. It was like another one of her powers, empathy.

“You know about my prophecy, to kill Abel.”

“Yes, I do.”

“And you know how I've dreamt about it each night.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I think I want to show you how it all started.” He felt his throat go dry as the words slipped past his lips.

She cocked her head to the side, her locs resting on her armor. “You want to relive the past? That is most certainly a dream that would be considered normal, nice even. I think that would be a nice change of pace from a nightmare.”

Cain nodded. Standing at a nice 6’2 he felt small and vulnerable in the moment. He half expected to be coddled, but he never had been before when he was afraid of his prophecy. He shouldn’t expect that kind of care now.

“This may be my realm,” Rosayln explained, “but I am your blade. You will have to take control of your dream, not me.”

Cain could feel a small smile form in the corner of his mouth. “Of course, I can do that.”

 

He wasn't sure how, but the world around him started to fade away and reshape itself into something entirely new. The cool breeze inside Rosalyn’s psychic domain was replaced with the warmth of a blanket covering his whole body. The smell of spoiled fruit faded into breakfast being cooked in the kitchen. The kitchen of his home, which would be downstairs now, as Cain found himself in his childhood room. In his childhood body.

“You must have been super tired, Cain. You never sleep in that much!”

Whatever semblance of himself he had as an adult slipped away. Cain blinked and felt, for the first time in a very long time, happy to see his brother Abel. Just happy, no other emotions like guilt or worry mixed in.

“I was having a weird dream,” Cain shrugged as he quite literally jumped out of bed. “But I can’t remember any of it.”

Abel smiled, “Well that’s good, I’m glad you didn't have a nightmare again! Mom is almost done making breakfast, you should hurry up and get ready.”

Cain made his bed and went to their shared dresser, changing from his pajamas to his day clothes.

“That’s my shirt,” Abel said resting his chin on Cain’s shoulder.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s mine. It fits me perfectly after all.”

Abel rolled his eyes, “I guess that’s why there’s a stain on that one then.” The two twin brothers laughed as they went to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Each morning they would race to see who could clean their teeth the quickest.

Today Abel was the winner. As he celebrated his victory in the mirror Cain took the opportunity to slip out and run down the stairs. “I’m going to beat you to breakfast at least!”

“Hey, no fair Cain!” Abel called out while stumbling down from the step stool at the sink.

“CAIN, do NOT run down the stairs,” their mother yelled from downstairs. It was like he narrowly avoided a trap, and the rest of his steps were taken with care and precision.

“Thank you chickie,” their mom Karina said as she plated the table. “I don’t want you to end up falling down the stairs again. Let’s sit down now and eat before our food gets cold, yeah?” Karina tied her long chestnut hair into a quick braid before sitting down.

Cain sat at the table, and Abel followed soon after. Bacon, eggs, and toast were portioned out for two young lads and their mother.

As they ate Karina watched them both with a soft smile. The two boys were always polite at the table, making sure to use the proper utensils and to eat at a polite pace. “I was a bit disappointed you didn’t help cook breakfast today Cain. You usually love to help out, are you feeling okay?”

Chewing on a large piece of bacon, Cain swallowed before responding. “Oh, yeah sorry mom. I was just tired, that's all.” Last night the two boys had stayed up late telling each other jokes way past their bedtime after all.

“It’s okay chickie, I just know you love to help cook is all.” She watched as Cain continued to devour his plate. “You don’t seem that tired now,” she said with a soft laugh.

“Well yeah, we don’t have school today! We gotta hurry so we can go play.” Cain got up from the table to clean his plate.

“Ah yes of course, I do love chore day myself, “Karina said with a mischevious smile. The twins groaned in unison. “Now boys, the sooner we tidy up the house the sooner you can go enjoy the rest of your day.”

The two boys were only 5 years old. Any chore that was given to them was easy to manage. Something simple like wiping down the table or folding some clothes. It typically went by fast, If they focused.

All throughout the week, between lessons at school, the two boys would talk about how excited they were to start building a fort by the nearby creek. Any time one of the boys started to goof off while doing their household chores the other would quickly snap them back to reality, reminding them of their mission they’ve planned all week.

Years went by, as the slaved away brushing and mopping and scrubbing and polishing and-

“Well my little chickies,” Karina rustled the crown of their heads, “We cleaned up quick. I think that only took us fifteen minutes, a new record. I’m really proud of you both. Thank you for helping like always.”

Cain and Abel stood side by side as they looked up at their mom. They put on their best puppy eyes in anticipation of being told no.

“Mom, can we go play outside now?”

Karina raised an eyebrow. “Ah, I see. You wanted to leave as soon as possible. That’s why you both finished your chores so quickly today?”

They both nodded, almost bumping heads.

“And you did do your chores properly, right?”

Another nod. Something in the back of the room shifted from being hastily put away. It almost made Cain burst out in laughter, but he bit his cheek to suppress it.

“Alright boys, you can go play. Be sure you let the Strange siblings play with you as well, okay?” She was of course referring to the Tiefling boy Wes who lived a few streets away and his younger sister Cordelia. The two Strange siblings had been spending a lot more time over at their house as Karina assumed the position of their babysitter. The twins nodded in agreement and set out to the streets of Meadow’s Borough.

 

They lived on the outskirts of the town where the roads were still dirt and surrounded by wildflowers. The Strange family lived closer to the university at the heart of town, though it was close enough for two children to easily find their way.

Somewhere along the way their pace became a little quicker, and then a little more, until it had become a full on race. Abel was the one who took off first this time, and Cain was playing catch up.

The townsfolk knew better than to stand in the way of the rambunctious twins. Their giggling could be heard a few houses away, and any pedestrians nearby made an effort to move out of their way.

“Slow down, Cain!” an older man cried out, at Abel.

Cain was at his full stride, and had caught up to Abel at this point. At first they were having fun doing their race, but now there was a determination to not lose. Cain could feel his chest quickly rising and falling, his lungs starting to burn with each heavy footstep. He was so concentrated on catching up to Abel that he didn’t notice a rogue piece of rubbish, making him trip. By instinct he held out his arms to catch himself, causing him to take Abel down as well.

The two fell and skidded on the brick laid street. The burning feeling of trying to catch his breath was quickly overridden by the uncomfortable sting of scraped skin.

“Ow ow ow,” Cain sat up and looked at his palms, blinking back tears. The damage was pretty minor, but still unexpected. Slowly the wound started to softly glow and heal up, just as it always had for Cain. “Abel, are you okay?”

Abel was sitting too, looking at his own hands and rubbing out some dirt. “Yeah,” he said with a halfhearted voice. “It’s not fair, how come your boo boos always go away and mine don’t?” he showed Cain his hands, still raw with scraped skin.

Abel’s wounds never healed magically, not on their own. Cain felt bad about it. It wasn’t fair and he never knew what to say. “I’m sorry.”

His brother stood and wiped his hand on his shirt. He didn’t reply to Cain’s apology. Maybe Abel didn’t even know what Cain was apologizing for.

 

The rest of their trip they walked. The Strange house was only a few minutes away by now. They turned the corner to the purple home that sat between two willow trees. Sitting on the steps leading up to the front door was Wes, playing with his knotted hair while his red tail swished from side to side. He looked up and grinned at the twins.

“Hi Cain, hi Abel! Are we gonna go play now?” Wes sat up and grinned.

“Yeah! We’re gonna go start building a fort,” Cain replied. He started to imagine a fort built by the three of them, bigger than he thought of before thanks to the extra help of a third. The thought made his smile grow wider.

“That sounds really cool!”

“We were gonna make it out of some branches we found the other day,” Abel explained. “It’s going to have 27 bedrooms, I think.”

“Can I come too?” A soft voice came from the windowsill above, and all three of the boys looked up to see the younger Tiefling girl Cordelia listening to their conversation.

“Uhhhh,” Cain started to scratch the back of his head, “no girls allowed. Sorry.”

Cordelia looked down with her wide eyes, just studying the three boys who were chuckling amongst themselves. “Hm.” She disappeared into her bedroom.

Moments later the front door opened. Destiny, the mother of Wes and Cordelia, stood in the door frame with her hands behind her back. Her tail flicked behind her with annoyance as she looked at her son. Her daughter clung to her dress.

“Wesley Strange,” her voice was motherly, but in the opposite way that Karina’s voice was, “you WILL take Cordelia with you to play today. AND, Cain,” she looked down at the blonde child with crossed arms, “apologize to her for your unnecessarily rude behavior.”

Cain could feel his face burning. He probably looked more red than the Strange family did. He looked down at his Turbo The Hedgehog shoes to try and avoid her gaze. “I’m sorry, Cordelia.” He wasn’t too sorry, mostly sorry he got caught.

Destiny walked down with her daughter and knelt to kiss both of her children on the head. “You two will be good today, I know it. Mommy is going to work really late tonight gathering materials for her prophecies, so you’ll be eating with the Fowlers again for dinner.” Wes cheered while Cordelia groaned. Destiny shot a glare at her, “Weren’t you just begging to go along with them?”

Cordelia scowled as she looked down at the ground. “Okay mommy.” Cain was reminded how Cordelia disliked the way his mom made potatoes.

 

The three boys, with Cordelia walking a few paces behind them, made their way outside of the college town towards the wooded areas. Not too far from the Fowler household there was an impressive creek that would be the future waterfront property to the boys' fort. The water ran crystal clear and the rocks making the creek bed had become small and ovular with time. Surrounded by trees and meadows it was a favorite place for the local children of Meadow's Borough to go and play.

Even though Cordelia had asked to come along, she never seemed to enjoy herself. That’s what Cain thought as he gathered sticks and branches with his brother and friend. Every so often Cain would glance over at the young girl who would be playing with her hand in the water.

“Why don’t you go and play with some other girls?” Cain asked after throwing some sticks into the pile.

She shrugged, continuing to play in the water. After skipping a stone she stood and approached the growing pile of sticks. “Can I have one?” she pointed at a gnarled branch that kind of looked like it had a face. An ugly face.

“What, no way! We collected these, go get your own.” Cain crossed his arms at Cordelia.

She looked down at the pile, raised her hand towards it, and called on a budding power within her. The pile of sticks started to rumble. Clicking and scraping sounds of the moving sticks stuck out against the gentle sound of the creek. Then, rather quickly, the gnarled branch that she coveted flew into her hands (while conveniently hitting Cain in the head).

“Ow,” he said, rubbing the back of his head. She seemed satisfied with herself and walked away towards the wooded parts nearby. She sure was a Strange.

Cain shrugged it off and continued to gather materials. While Cain gathered the sticks, Abel planned and built the structure and Wes went back over the work to add “decorative flair.” Cain wasn’t quite sure what the word flair meant but figured it was one of the good words.

They had decided to build the fort in a grassy patch a good three second sprint from the creek’s bank. The distance was agreed upon so that when they eventually played tag nobody could accidentally fall in. A large tree shaded the area as well, providing additional coverage to the fort’s roof that may have been glossed over by three young boys without an engineering degree. The main thing was that the fort looked cool.

 

A few hours passed and the fort was really starting to take shape. They had to rebuild the main room a few times before it was stable. Then when it seemed stable enough, they had to rebuild it again when Wes’s newly grown horns accidentally knocked it down when he crawled in. After the fifth time they were finally able to relax inside. It was a bit cramped but it would do for now until the rest of the rooms were built.

Sitting with his knees to his chest, Wes was making a leaf pile to the left of him. “I think Cordelia would like this seat I made for her. Speaking of, where is she?”

Abel and Cain looked up at Wes and shrugged.

“I was building the fort the whole time,” Abel said.

“I think she went into the forest.” Wes and Abel looked at Cain.

“Oh, she did? I should probably go check on her. Where did she go exactly?” Wes looked a bit nervous for his sister. If she was gone no doubt he would take the most blame for her disappearance as the older brother.

“I’ll go get her,” Cain said while crawling out of the fort. He wanted to hurry back so he could play again, but he also didn’t want Wes to get upset with him.

 

The afternoon sun made the breeze warm. Its rays occasionally obscured by light white clouds above in the bright blue sky. Each time the sun was hidden away the wind felt a bit chillier and the forest itself looked a bit more scary.

“Cordelia!” Cain shouted with cupped hands walking around the wooded areas near the creek. He tried to follow where he thought Cordelia may have wandered off to. While looking for Wes’s sister he found some other kids playing house in the middle of a grove. They were a mix of kids his age and some that were a few years older as well.

“Get out of here Cain!” One of the human girls squealed, throwing a cup at him. She was a girl he had in class that one time, accidentally, he ate her cookie that was handed out during snack time. She never seemed to let it go.

“Sorry! I’m just looking for Cordelia!” Another cup fell short of hitting him in the foot by a couple inches.

“Amelia stop throwing my cups, you’re getting them dirty!” Another girl went over to Amelia and took away another cup that was about to be thrown. This other girl must have been older since Cain was unfamiliar with her and her few inches she had on Amelia’s height. “No tea for you!”

Whether they had seen Cordelia or not, Cain never found out. He continued to look for her away from the bickering children that he accidentally stumbled upon. They weren’t exactly the kind of company that Cordelia would seek out anyways.

 

The afternoon light became slowly engulfed by the canopy of the trees as Cain continued to wander through the woods. He made sure to travel close enough to the creek so he could hear it and keep track of where he was. At any moment he could turn around and follow it back to the new fort. The trees became taller and closer together with each step. He could easily get lost at any moment in the evolving maze of the forest if he acted reckless.

Even the scent of the air was changing to become more sinister. The breeze wasn’t as warm before but the scent itself felt warm in the nose. It clung with a sweet, yet strange, smell that reminded Cain of rotting fruit. He looked around at the trees and recognized what they were.

“Witchwood,” Cain muttered to himself as he stopped walking. The rowan trees were taller than his house. Some had clumps of red berries that looked inviting, but he knew from experience were downright awful in taste. Another thing he knew was that these trees weren’t anywhere near his house.

“Cordelia,” he whispered one last time as he did a final scan. He had been looking for almost half an hour, and it was time to go back to the fort. He didn’t want Abel or Wes to come looking for him and get lost.

Turning back around he bumped into someone that was not there before. Falling to the ground he saw a tall Tiefling woman scraping bark off one of the rowan trees.

“Um, Destiny?” He muttered, questioning her presence more so than greeting her. The Strange mother slowly turned her head towards Cain, her locs swaying in the wind that was starting to pick up. Her eyes were hollow, ravenous, and glowing with eerie light much like the moon.

When she spoke, her voice echoed and harmonized with itself. “Cain. Cain Fowler.” Clouds covered the sun, and in the deep forest, it was nearly as dark as night.

Cain knew he should respond to her. It was disrespectful to ignore an elder when they addressed you directly. His chest was pounding and his lungs felt like they were on fire as if he had been running for miles. Perhaps he should have been, running. He couldn’t muster up a response.

She held out her hand and the carved out bark from the witchwood trees lit on fire with her simple incantation. The smoke, white and pure, coalesced into a ball on her palm. It looked just like the crystal balls she had told Cain about when he visited the Strange home. She used her crystal balls to see the future and look at untold prophecies.

“Cain,” her voice was almost foreign now, “you are a child touched by fate. You are fated, and bound to prophecy.”

He tried to get up, he really did, but his legs felt like jelly. No matter how hard he tried to stand he couldn’t support his weight. No matter how deep his hands clawed into the earth he couldn’t find his balance or sense of being.

The orb of smoke began to glow. Figures of shadow appeared within the makeshift orb, so alike they could be twins. One was standing, holding a spear. The other lay on the ground. The only color within the orb was red. Spilling from the body on the ground.

Cain couldn’t breathe.