This dream was cold. So cold. Too cold. Why cold?! The sudden chill had interrupted a rather pleasant reverie of sunshine and warmth and turned it into a freezing nightmarish void. As if stabbed back to consciousness, the dreamer’s crusty eyes pried themselves open onto a blurry image of the world. Gradually vision became more clean revealing what appeared to be the towering statue of a young goddess. ...a goddess?

[color=gray][i]Have I died?[/i][/color]

A low groan vibrated the man’s large chest, but as he commanded himself to move, his body remained still and unchanging--stuck in a heavy paralysis. Hm, so death was cruel. At least the sweet goddess above was there to guard and guide his soul into the next realm. With a comforted sigh and smile, his eyes shifted sideways to catch the glimpse of a second looming statue not too far off. Straining under sheer willpower created the slightest alteration in his positioning to gain a better view. The new scene was unsettling and immediately awoke the warrior sense inside his gut as he knew he needed his body back.

Trembling at first try, the second attempt was fruitful and Fyair roared to action in a mixture of adrenaline and pain. He rose up like a titan, easily surpassing the height of the presumed gods and barely missed the edge of the nearly invisible sharp blade he was unaware he had been lying beneath. With a mighty inhale, the giant stretched his arms above his head to loosen his stiff, achy muscles before releasing a greater exhale and dropping his hands against his chest. For a moment he glanced left and right, left and right, left and right, until his groggy brain could build its own story to the struggle he stood betwixt and between.

Fyair reacted on impulse as he lit up and gave himself to fighting habit as he seized the small girl nearest him and the saber she held in one fluid movement. Facing her forward, the tiny miss fit without trouble under his mountainous arm while his free hand managed to fumble with the sword until it pointed straight ahead on the opposing deity. In comparison, the weapon looked more like a feeble stick in the man’s massive hand, but he held it stern and strong regardless.

[color=gray]”Little goddess, tell me what we’re fighting for. Can you explain this?”[/color]

The warrior’s focus never left the other woman even as his head tilted down to speak to the girl within his clutch. At the same time, his right foot slid backwards and he took a defensive stance against his opponent. The motion alerted him to the rocks and grasses beneath his boots, forcing his instinct to take a quick combatant's survey of his surrounds. The woods. Unknown woods. Clearly not the old shack he had fallen asleep in maybe an hour before or did time still exist? Furrowing his brow, he shook the notion from his mind and concentrated again on the task standing ahead. Waiting for an order from his fragile goddess.

[@drewccapp]