No no no! The real world – his world, outside of her dream – was dragging at him, pulling him away. But he’d fucked up and now…now she didn’t look charmed by his presence. She looked afraid, and alarmed, and he knew he’d done worse than confuse her.
The snowfall outside had increased to a blizzard, aggressively drumming the window beside him, revealing flashes of the dark lodge and the shadowed faces of the ritual members.
“You’re right…you’re right…I’m sorry, Svea. This is not how this was supposed to go.” his words were strained as the drugs took effect, designed specifically to prevent what he was trying to do – designed specifically to jerk him out of the dream, in the event he tried to stay. His free hand gripped his middle, as if that could somehow contain the awful burning. “Gylfi and Nils…you’re…you’re their sister?” Eskel managed to look up at her then, over his shoulder, his face twisting from pain and disbelief. She had looked so familiar, her name had sounded so familiar…now he knew why. He laughed a little in his surprise, and then winced. “Yes, I’ll tell them that. Maybe that’s why I was sent to you. So I could tell them…”
His words cut off abruptly, as if the breath had been knocked out of his lungs. He slid down the wall, bracing himself with one bent knee. “I’m sorry I scared you,” he managed to whisper, before he was yanked from her dream and found himself crumpled on the blistering earthen floor.
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