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Visions of the End:

Destruction, fire, and hazy heat distorted visages of red surrounded Jenny as

far as she could see. Screams pierced through the roar of the flames as large whale-

like beings etched with strange and unfamiliar runes descended from the sky, cutting

skyscrapers in half with their colossal fins as if they were mere paper. The enormous

beings long drawn out melodies seemed utterly out of place.

Jenny stumbled back as the ground rumbled under her feet and split open

releasing more monsters. As soon as she regained her footing she looked up again

only for a strange cryptid creature, more akin to a decaying demon than to any living

being, barrel into her. The scream died in her throat as she was knocked onto the

ground and the beast’s teeth met with her neck.

The loud incessant beeping of Jenny’s alarm caused her eyes to snap open

with her heart racing. She groped for her phone in the darkness and turned the

offending sound off.

Just a nightmare, again. They were getting more and more vivid.

Jenny rubbed her hand along her runny nose as she was shaking and turned

on the light. To her shock her hand was smeared with blood. It took her a few

panicked moments to realize that it was just a bloody nose, and not something

worse. She stumbled out of bed and into her bathroom to clean up, holding her hand

under her nose.

With her clean hand Jenny flicked on the light, squinting in the sudden

brightness as she fumbled for the box of tissues on the counter. She caught a

glimpse of her bloodied image in the mirror and frowned. Her pillow had to be a

mess she thought with an exasperated sigh as she looked in the mirror. Even her

blonde hair was speckled and smeared with blood.

Annoyed she stuck rolled tissue scraps up her nose and went to shower. After

all, she had to get ready for work. By the time she was clean, dressed, and out the

door, the scare of the nightmare was all but forgotten.

“Jennifer, are you listening?”

The words of Dr. Tomah, Jenny’s therapist, snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Ah, yes, sorry. I’m just really tired...” Jenny sighed in response, rubbing

under her eyes to try and wake up a bit more. The nightmares had gotten more vivid

and intense, along with the nose bleeds.

“Nightmares still, huh?” Dr. Tomah asked jotting down notes when Jenny

nodded absentmindedly.

“Yeah, they’re getting worse. Always a sea of destruction, strange whale like

creatures diving from the sky and mowing down the buildings, screams, fire... the

whole shebang.”

“May I try and interpret the dreams for you?” Jenny’s therapist asked pushing

her glasses up on her face. It took most of Jenny’s willpower not to roll her eyes. She

hated the attempt at deciphering her dreams.

“Sure, but you know what I think of that,” Jenny sighed propping her elbows

on her knees. Dr. Tomah gave an understanding smile and scribbled some more

notes in the notepad perched upon her lap.

“I know, but reoccurring dreams are more than just ‘night time entertainment’

as you like to call it. Either way, I think the dreams relate to the stress in your life,

feeling trapped in a less than ideal situation...” Jenny zoned out slowly as her

therapist went on trying to break down the different aspects of her nightmares. Her

eyes unfocused as she listened to Dr. Tomah’s voice.

Soon Jenny found herself standing in the wreckage of what could only be

described as an apocalypse. The heat of the fires that devoured the drywall made

her sweat and she stumbled out of the remains of the building she was in. The sight

on the street wasn’t much better. Debry littered the torn-up pavement, turned over

cars with the unfortunate no longer breathing victims still trapped within, and lifeless

bodies as far as her eyes could see littered the ground.

The ground beneath Jenny’s feet shook from an unearthly screech coming

from above. Jenny covered her ears as she stumbled, the sound piercing through

her eardrums. She looked up just as an enormous flying beast cut through the

building she’d just been in, collapsing it into dust and rubble.

With a scream Jenny sought cover with some other survivors, darting from

wall to wall as the buildings crumbled around them. The screams of a child caught

Jenny’s attention. It took her a few moments to find the source of the wails,

discovering it to be an overturned car.

With only a split second of hesitation, Jenny raced to the car. The driver was

dead already, and the child was trapped under the vehicle and debris.

“H-Hold on sweetie, I’ll get you out,” Jenny breathed through gritted teeth as

she threw the rubble off of the crying child, cutting herself on broken glass and

jagged metal scraps. The child grabbed onto her arm and suddenly everything fell

dead silent.

The destruction all faded away as sudden as it had appeared, and all Jenny

could see was the child standing across from her glowing gold, no longer covered in

injuries and neither was Jenny. The child motioned for Jenny to come closer. With

her heart in her throat, Jenny kneeled down to be eye level with the child.

“Find me, save me. Time is running out,” the golden child whispered in

Jenny’s ear and then kissed her forehead. Pain shot from the spot down her body,

making Jenny jerk back.

“Jennifer!?”

Dr. Tomah’s panicked shrill scream of her name caused Jenny to return to

reality. Blood was dripping from her nose and she had a wicked migraine.

“W-What?” Jenny replied fumbling to grab one of her therapist’s tissues from

the box sitting on the desk between them. She stuffed the tissue up her nostrils and

tried to clean up. The images of the nightmare still flickered in the back of her mind.

“Are you alright, do you want me to call an ambulance?” Dr. Tomah asked

with panic still shaking her voice.

“Huh? Ah... no, I’m fine... I-It’s been happening a lot,” Jenny insisted feeling

warm sweat run down her forehead from the stabbing headache. She

absentmindedly wiped it away with a fresh tissue and startled finding it stained red

with her own blood.

“I’m going to call an ambulance, try to lay down,” Dr. Tomah insisted reaching

for her phone. Jenny barely heard her as she felt her forehead finding a strange

wound along it. As soon as she touched it her whole body tingled again, and her

vision fuzzed back to the nightmarish conditions from only moments before.

“Find me... time is running out... quick!”

The voice of the child echoed in her mind and Jenny bolted up, nearly falling

over as nausea washed through her body.

“Jennifer? Don’t try to stand, just lay down. You need to be looked at,” Dr.

Tomah told her with the fear barely suppressed in her voice. She went over to Jenny

to try and make her sit down again.

“I-I can’t stay... I gotta go! I h-have to find the golden child!” Jenny blurted out

breathlessly as she staggered towards the door. Dr. Tomah grabbed her by the

shoulders to keep her from falling over when she stumbled. Everything distorted in

Jenny’s vision; she just saw destruction, fire, and decay.

Dr. Tomah recoiled with a shriek and Jenny fell against the door, vomiting

blood upon the floor. She glanced at her therapist panting with wild eyes as she

fumbled for the door handle. Dr. Tomah was shaking from shock and slowly blood

dripped from her nose.

“W-What was that...?” Dr. Tomah asked breathlessly stumbling back from

Jenny. Jenny gritted her teeth and shook her head, finally getting a hold of the door

handle and stumbling into the hallway.

“Jennifer!!” her therapist called after Jenny as she sprinted towards the exit

with urgency. She shoved people out of the way at the door, making them scream

when they caught sight of her bloodied face.

She had to get out.

She couldn’t stay.

The golden child needed her.

Jenny finally burst through the doors out onto the street, the pain in her head

pulsing from the wound along her forehead. She wiped the blood out of her eyes as

she squinted in the brightness of the sun. The tall buildings around her kept flickering

between reality and the apocalyptic vision she had just moments before and she

tightly closed her eyes.

“Miss, do you need help?” a voice from beside her snapped her eyes back

open. Jenny recoiled when the person shimmered between green, blue, and what

could only be reality.

“Easy! Just sit down Miss, I’ll call an ambulance. Please, I just want to help,”

the woman continued holding her phone. Jenny gritted her teeth and shook her head

before bolting away. “Miss?!” the woman called after her, but Jenny had pushed

through the crowd already, having shoved people out of the way left and right.

Jenny’s heart was pounding within her chest as her eyes darted from side to

side, taking in her shifting surroundings. Any time she blinked, her visions switched

between the destruction from before and reality.

The laughter of a child caught her attention and she saw a flicker of gold.

The golden child.

She had found him.

She watched frozen in place as the small child of no more than five years of

age played with a ball.

Shaking with unknown dread, Jenny stared as the ball bounced over the

fence and the child scrambled through the gate after it. The child flickered and

shimmered gold as he chased the ball down the sidewalk towards the busy street.

Jenny felt another stinging pulse of pain from the wound along her forehead and she

pressed a hand to it with a hiss of pain.

Suddenly everything was engulfed in flames once again, sirens blaring,

terrified screams piercing through the air as the building across the street collapsed

from a colossal beast’s fin that flew through the air.

“GO!! SAVE ME BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!” The golden child’s voice

shrieked through her mind. That’s all it took for Jenny to take off at a sprint towards

the child.

The ball bounced into the middle of the street and the young child followed it

just as a car sped through the stop sign and hurtled towards him.

Jenny leapt towards the child, shoving him back onto the sidewalk a split

second before the car hit her full force. She rolled over the hood, the suddenness of

the impact killed the scream within her throat.

The car came to a screeching halt and Jenny dropped off of it onto the

pavement. Her whole body was ablaze with pain and her vision kept swimming in

and out of focus. The cries of the child pierced through her ears and with what

strength she could muster she turned her head to look for him. He had some scrapes

and bruises, but otherwise he looked fine as his mom ran down the sidewalk to

console him. Jenny couldn’t make out what was being said around her.

Moving set her body aflame with pain.

Her ragged breath stuck in her throat.

People hovered around her as shadows in her blurred vision as everything

began to get darker.

Jenny closed her eyes for longer and longer as the wails of the child faded to

sweet laughter

Her eyes snapped open again, this time the vision was no longer one of

destruction, but of a field of flowers and clear skies. Before her stood the golden

child bearing no injuries, but with a smile along his face.

He kneeled down beside Jenny and leaned down giving her forehead a kiss.

Her whole body sang with relief and she took a shaky breath.

“Thank you...” the golden child spoke and tenderly stroked over Jenny’s hair.

She took one last breath and exhaled slowly as her eyes closed for the last time,

giving in to the peaceful darkness.

“...farewell...”

The Reality of Make-Belief 

Book 1: The Old Man & Little Girl 

By Warden of the Grey 

Prologue Faces. So many faces. They come one by one to give their condolences and sympathies. My replies to them are non-committal. I do not recognise these faces, it has been a long time since I left and those I once knew have long returned to the earth. These are their descendants I presume, unsure of how many generations have passed. My wife was the last to leave, today is her funeral. The ceremony has ended, and everyone has left, only I remain, on the same spot that I have remained for the last few hours. My wife’s lifespan had reached the point where it could not be extended artificially, heavenly treasures no longer had an effect. I who had reached the highest point of cultivation watched as she was being taken from me. For the first time since I became a cultivator, I truly felt helpless. Cultivation is the unending path of defying the heavens, to steal from it and transcend the boundaries of life and death. My wife had however reached the limit of her potential, no longer able to cultivate any further even though her cultivation base was only second to mine. It makes me wonder when my time will come, when will I be able to join my wife’s side, to once again fly with her through the cosmos, discovering the unknown like yesteryears. Together we had discovered legacies of ancient races, fought against demonic gods and prevented heavenly calamities. We had been together since we were children all those millennia’s ago, experiencing love, loss and the vicissitudes of life side by side. However, when her time came closer to the end, I was not by her side. I chose to run, to flee and enter closed door cultivation in hopes of a break through, in hopes of anything that could give me strength to change fate and at the end, all I received was failure. Instead of spending the very little time I had left with her, I had squandered it all and she was left to die alone. Now I stand here, on the same spot that I have remained for the last few hours, also left alone to die. First Memoir I do not know how much time has passed, I’ve long since stopped cultivating. My body grows old – my hair whitened, my skin wrinkled, and my joints creak. My cultivation base continues to decline. I follow the same routine every day, wake up, get dressed and sit outside on the same moulding rattan chair. I watch the animals scurry about; the mixing fragrance of newly blossomed plants and old wood ever present. It is quiet here, with only the sound of crickets and dripping of morning dew to accompany. I stay in this chair until the long hours of the night and go back to bed. Not knowing if I will wake up the next day. I came to this place a long time ago, I came here to die. Chapter 1 – The Little Girl It was early morning; the sun dispelled the cold frost of the previous night; the villagers of forestborder village had begun to prepare for the long day of labour ahead. The village was aptly named due to the adjacent forest. The village itself was quite large - a population of 500 people with capacity to hold more. However recent times of war, famine and shortage of jobs meant that migration into the village was non-existent. In the east of the village, that neared the local mountain, there was a little 6-7-year-old girl who was currently in the middle of a grand operation to escape her chores and go out to play. She had large doe eyes and shoulder length hair. She was short for her age and had a fair complexion that had begun to tan from all the time spent outside, one could have easily mistaken her for a porcelain doll. “Where are you going?!” Violet grimaced as she heard her mother’s voice from the kitchen, it seems that her attempt in tip toeing out of the house had failed. “I’m going out to play!” She replied as she dashed out of the door, enacting plan B. Violet could hear her mother’s shouts and exclamations. She knew she’d be in big trouble once she was back, but she still did not hesitate nor look back for there was a whole world out there to discover and she was on a mission to find the unknown. Of course, Violet was only a young girl and her definition of the world was limited to the scope of the village and the surrounding fields but that did not stop her from showing the vigour of a seasoned explorer about to descend into a primordial ruin for riches and fame! She first started by running to Shepherd Jo’s field, northwest of the village to obtain her loyal steed Dog, the fastest mare in the west. No self-proclaiming adventurer could be without there trusty animal companion, and Violet was no exception. In truth, Dog was as his name sake stated, a dog. He was a shepherd dog, but last month Shepherd Jo’s flock of sheep were completely “requisitioned” by the local bandits of Mountain Creek. Now without a purpose, Shepherd Jo let Dog go on walks with Violet and accompany her as she played. “Come Dog, we’re gonna find and catch the Bird-Beast!” Violet couldn’t help but jump in excitement and clap her hands, a wide grin constantly on her face as she ran towards the edge of Shepherd Jo’s field. “WOOF” Dog acknowledge and ran ahead of her, showing off his advantage of having four-legs. Violet, not wanting to lose, sped up using the advantage of her longer legs to match Dog’s pace. A mixture of barks and giggles could be heard in the distance, Shepherd Jo did not even have a chance to get a word in before those two had already left. “I hope she remembers to stay away from the forest” Shepherd Jo murmured to himself before ultimately dismissing his worries and returning to his house. Second Memoir Sometimes I think of our disciples and child. They were not there for her funeral, I do not blame them, they did not know. After they had reached adulthood, my wife and I left them to move forward on their own path of cultivation, our son had gone off to travel the cosmos while the two disciples of ours established a sect in the Old World. They would visit us occasionally, when the barriers between worlds were weak and they were nearby. However, when my wife’s time arrived they could not be found. I often wonder what they will think once they go our home only to find one of us dead and the other missing. I dare not wonder for too long. Chapter 2 – Make Belief Violet and Dog were in the middle of their quest, currently interrogating a rabbit they had cornered. “Alright, you Bunny-beast, where’s your boss the Bird-beast?” “WOOF?” Both Violet and Dog took turns in asking the questions. The poor ‘Bunny-beast’ was shivering on the spot, not sure what this human and dog wanted from it. After another round of questioning, the ‘Bunny-beast’ let out a squeal. “AHA, SO HE’S AT THE CASTLE BY DEMON’S BROOK!” “WOOF!” Violet and Dog looked at one another, nodded and headed off to ‘Demon’s Brook’, otherwise known as The Village River if asking anyone else. The poor ‘Bunny-beast’ was left to his own devices wondering what just happened before he scurried away, swearing to never return here again. Once Violet and Dog reached ‘Devil’s Brook’ they were surprised to see the castle had disappeared! “He must have found out we were hot on his tail, packed up his castle and left!” “Woof!” Violet and Dog discussed and then proceeded to look around for clues. “Dog look at this!” Violet could not hold in her excitement, she had found a rotten shoe that must have been carried down by the Brook. But to Violet this wasn’t a mere washed up shoe. “This is the Bird-Beast’s left shoe! He must not have been able to walk far with only one shoe!” “Woof?” The only problem for Violet now was to determine which direction the Bird-beast went, using the left shoe they found. She looked at Dog and gave a knowing smile, placing the shoe by Dog’s nose she encouraged him to find the Bird-Beast’s scent. Dog was at a loss, he started thinking to himself why would a bird need shoes if they can fly? In fact, why would they need shoes to walk? Do I need shoes to walk? Unsure of what to do, he decided to play along, after taking a good long whiff of the shoe, Dog rushed off into the distance. Violet followed closely behind, poised and ready to jump at the BirdBeast once it was found. As they ran passed a nearby tree, Dog came to a sudden halt, causing Violet to trip over him and fall flat on her face. She looked up, the first thing to grace her vision was Dog’s overly proud look, as he circled her waiting for praise, if Dog could speak her language, he would be saying: “Aren’t I good? Aren’t I mighty? What can’t I, the alpha, find? Come pet me!” It’s a shame, Violet didn’t reciprocate, instead her face turned uglier and uglier, as she looked pass Dog. “Dumb dog, that is clearly a Tree-beast, do you see any feathers on it!” Violet shouted as she pointed at the squirrel who prior to the shout was happily gathering acorns, but then scampered up the tree. Dog on the other hand became confused and a little outraged, not only was this girl not petting him, but she was even telling him off? “Tree-Beast? Bird-Beast? You should be thanking me that I could find anything from a shoe!” Violet was animated, the longer they take, the further the Bird-Beast can get away! What was she to do? Suddenly, Violet froze on the spot, she could hear a voice nearby. Any other voice wouldn’t cause her to react like this, but she knew this voice well, it was her mother’s! Did Mother come here to lecture me? But how did she know I would be here? Did something happen? With these questions in mind, she decided to investigate further, she got on all fours and started crawling towards the voice. Now she was no longer an adventurer anymore, her nemesis the BirdBeast could wait. She was Violet the master detective and there was mystery to solve! Violet’s sudden actions greatly confused Dog further – Why was his human friend pretending to be a dog now? “Hmph, you think you can outshine the splendour of this Alpha?” Dog thought to himself and started to follow alongside her howling, with his head held up high displaying the majesty of a king. “Be quiet dumb dog and follow along” Violet slapped Dog on his head, causing Dog’s mannerism to turn a total 180o , holding his head low to the ground and whimper in a subservient manner. Now a loyal servant instead of a majestic king. Together, the master detective and loyal servant crawled forward. As they got closer, they noticed there was another voice in addition to Violet’s mother. Two outlines could be made out, they were at a secluded area that use to be the location of the Old Mill. The place was seldom used since the time it caught fire. Violet and Dog crawled closer and crouched in a bush near the two people. “She’s with another guy again….” Violet’s eyes quivered and she bit her lower lip. Dog beside her, looked at Violet sensing something was off, moved even closer towards her. Allowing Violet to wrap her arms around him. Tears started to form in Violet’s eyes as she watched her mother being overly familiar, with another man, as she would with Violet’s father. “Handso-….” “Work-…” “Tonight?” Violet couldn’t entirely understand the conversation they were having, or maybe it was more accurate to say she didn’t want to, proceeding to cover her ears in frustration. It wasn’t long later that Violet’s mother and the man went their separate ways, leaving the area surrounding the Old Mill empty. But still Violet didn’t make a sound or move, she stayed rooted to where she was hidden in the bush, arms wrapped around Dog. Tears continuing to flow down her cheeks as dusk begun to arrive. “Dad…, when are you coming back?” Third Memoir I never knew my parents, my mother died during child birth and my father soon followed by taking his own life. They called me a cursed child, an ill omen, no relations wanted to take me in. It was a then 5-year-old girl who lived right next door to the ill-fortuned family who cried and begged her parents until they adopted me. Although I have no memory of it, I know this to be true. It was told to me, when I was 10, in a spat of anger by the girl’s father after I had pushed the girl into a river. She hit the river bank first leaving a permanent scar on her left cheek. I asked my wife once, now that we had become powerful cultivators, why she still hadn’t removed that scar. She laughed and then asked me if I remembered what I did after she hit the bank and fell into the river. I did. I jumped in afterwards to save her forgetting I couldn’t swim. Chapter 3 – Reality The sky had been eclipsed by darkness, rain was falling heavily and hitting the ground at a constant cadence. Most of the villagers had returned home after a long day&rsquo