Chapter 1: HBA – Prologue – OM NOM NOM NOM

I believe I can FLY.

 

I believe I can reach for the Stars.

 

Before me, a vast skyline opens up.

 

Above me, only the blue sky shined in its breathtaking beauty. 

 

It painted the horizon as endless blueness. Only the occasional white cloud formation broke up its majesty. 

 

Below a vast forest painted the ground green. Only the occasional gap bestowed by the mountains showed the beauty and vibrancy of life. 

 

Maybe the rare bird that flew by me was impressed by my charm too.

 

With my arms and legs spread wide, I flew left and right, up and down. I had no idea how I was doing what I was doing, but who cared in the end.

 

Everyone always said that when something impossible happens, it must be a Dream, and after meeting that ugly thing, I immediately recognized I had to be in a Dream.

 

It just could not be anything else. As such, when the time came to escape, I believed. 

 

Now I can fly through the sky, and while it may not be graceful, flying is flying, even if I am imagining myself wearing a paraglider suit while catching thermals that enable it all.

 

Wait, what is a paraglider suit? Eh, who cares!

 

Angling my body slightly to the left, I switch currents. This one was a cold version, so it pointed down to the earth. 

 

In it, I flatten my extremities to the body. The air starts making whooshing sounds beside my ears as I begin my nosedive.

 

Weirdly, I have no trouble keeping my eyes open despite the air pressure against my face.

 

Why would I find this strange? It is a Dream, after all. 

 

Diving down and picking up speed, I spread my arms and legs to catch as much air as needed before I crash into the forest canopy, and with sheer belief, I find the right angle to keep my speed as I slowly glide above it. Periodically dodging trees that exceed the boundary of the forest canopy.

 

Switching left and right, up and down, I soon arrive before a mountain cliff.

 

Seeing the forest break with it, I desired to climb it and see what was beyond it.

 

Stretching my Dream senses, I feel for the currents around that mountain cliff and find the right one instantly.

 

Ignoring the occasional bird I passed by, I angle my body to the correct angle and switch currents. 

 

This one brought me up until it no longer went up and pointed down again. 

 

Multiple times, I switched currents to gain enough speed to attempt what I desired. On that last one, I began my flight up the cliffside with a swiftness that would boggle my waking self, without a doubt. 

 

Up and up I went until finally I reached the top and surpassed it. 

 

Instantly, before me, a vast and endless landscape of mountains, forests, and rivers expanded in my view.

 

It was breathtaking, no matter if I had to breathe or not, since all this was a Dream. 

 

“GET BACK HERE, YOU DAMNED GHOST!!” A shrieking cry came from behind me. 

 

It deafened the sky, only to remind me of IT.

 

Again I angled my body and flew towards that breathtaking horizon. With the intent to leave behind that cry and the bad feeling that it produced. 

 

I could not escape IT, no matter the currents I chose and the speeds I acquired. 

 

It always followed me. And deep down, I knew what it was.

 

It was the End of this breathtaking Dream. 

 

Unfortunately for IT, I Mir am not ready yet to go back to wakefulness.

 

*

 

Behind the slightly transparent flying human, there flew another figure.

 

This one was not transparent but of flesh and blood and feathers.

 

It was a massive golden feathered animal with a black crown of feathers on its head and black-colored tips of its wings. 

 

But this was not just any animal, at least not the usual kind seen in the sky. 

 

No, this one was special for a reason. 

 

Its head and legs carried the features of a bird of prey. 

 

Its body was that of a cat, specifically of a lion.

 

This griffon had a wingspan of ten meters from tip to tip, which was huge by human standards.

 

Still, as big and strong and beautiful as this griffon was, it was not the most significant part of this hunt. 

 

The most significant part would be the little humanoid girl on its back. 

 

The little girl looked about 12 in terms of human age. She had black hair and black eyes along with a sun-kissed complexion. 

 

What made the little girl special was the black eye tattoos on her forehead that signified her origin.

 

“Damia, let me ask you something. How is it feasible for the ‘Lord of the Sky’ to still be slower than a God's damned GHOST while flying?” Shouted the little girl. 

 

“Zak’Si, I do not know.” Came the voice from the griffon's beak. Its sound contained a bird-like quality as it spoke.

 

“Damn it.” Cursed the little girl. “Can you fly faster?”

 

“I am already spending all the Mana I can to keep up with it.” Replied the griffon. 

 

“Damn it.” Cursed the little girl again as she realized that if it continued like this, she would have no choice but to deploy a specific item. And if she did, she would not be able to keep this incident quiet.

 

“Zak’Si, do you mind telling me what this is about? What is so special about that Ghost aside from its flying speed?” Questioned the griffon. It had not seen its master so anxious in quite a long time. 

 

Indeed not after she received the beating the last time it happened.

 

“Grr, I borrowed Daddy's fishing rod. OK, it's not such a big deal, you know?” Replied the little girl. 

 

Hearing that, the griffon rolled its eyes. “Are we thinking of the same Fishing Rod here? If so, then it's not that big of a deal if it's you. For others, it would be a torture sentence. Still, it does not explain why you are so anxious to catch that Ghost?”

 

“Gah, Fine. I will tell you.” Anxious and annoyed, the little girl began retelling her tail. “I was bored, so I paid a visit to Daddy’s workshop while he was away on a meeting. I spun my own Divine Silk and used it as a fishing line. When I did that, I cast the string into the Nether Hole that Daddy set up. At first, when I felt the pull on it, I thought it would be my afternoon snack, but what came out was that Ghost. Only it did not look like a Ghost at that time. It was closer to a tiny ball of something.“ 

 

“So it transformed into a Ghost later?” Now curious, the griffon asked in its female voice. 

 

“Yes.“ Admitted the little girl. “I tried to see what it was, but when it showed no response, I positively shoved it into a cage, you know, just like Daddy does all the time. After that, I cast out my line and had no luck for a few moments. But when I did catch something, it was a big, big Nether Black Rockfish. You know how I like those, even without cooking them. It's got just the right amount of Nether fat, and when it's grilled to ‘Perfection’, the taste is simply delicious.“ 

 

“That I do.” Murmured the griffon and quickly switched the topic before the little girl forgot the goal. “Then what happened?”

 

“I was just so hungry, so I took a bite from it.” A smile appeared on her young face as she remembered the taste before realizing what came after it. 

 

Her happiness vanished in seconds. “I was so enamored with it that I did not notice the little ball changing into the Ghost. When I did and placed my attention on it, I saw it pass through the cage. As if the cage had been assembled out of ordinary metal, and not Divine touched Skri metal engraved with Divine Runes.”

 

“Oh.” Echoed out the griffon's beak as it realized how things stood. “Then how do you plan on catching it? Unless… damn, girl, you took your father's net too, did you not?”

 

“Yea, if nothing works, I will use Daddy’s Si Spider Silk Net.” The little girl said. 

 

Her voice pronounced pride as once caught within it, none escaped. 

 

All of them captured, without a doubt, be they Gods of Demons.

 

Hearing the pride in her voice, the griffon had no choice but to agree. There was a reason why the Lords of the Sky were under the Si Pantheon. 

 

It was created by the Si Spider Gods and woven into runes that formed a net. Once caught in, there was no way to escape. 

 

“But if I use it, Daddy will know. And once he knows, he will know of my failure too. I can't have that.” Shouted the little girl. “That is why Damia, I need you to go faster.”

 

“Look Zak’Si, I am doing all I can.” Repeated the griffon. “Every shred of my Mana is spent on this. I simply can't go faster.”

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“Damn.” The little girl swore again. “I don't understand how it flies like that? Damia, you're the flier here. Can you explain it?”

 

“I have wondered the same.” Replied the griffon as she corrected her course to best catch the air currents. “From its motions, I can infer that it is using something to move, but I sensed no Mana from it, much less the something that it is using to move. It is not using the currents in the Air that I do. If it did, I could have caught up to it.”

 

“Damn it.” Cursed the little girl again. “Fine, for now, follow it as best as you can. Maybe the Ghost will get tired soon or something?”

 

“Alright.” Agreed, the griffon to the command.

 

With no other choice within their grasp, they pursued the slightly transparent Ghost over forests, mountains, and even one sea.

 

Only after they noticed another landmass approach did Zak’Si, the little girl riding a griffon, understand that she was out of options. She twirled her hands and in her right hand appeared a silken net so fine in craftsmanship that its very presence proclaimed its purpose.

 

“Damn it.” Cursed the little girl again. “Better I catch it and have Daddy be angry with me, then lose it, and he still finds out, somehow.” 

 

With that said, she spread the net and threw it into the air, like a fisherman fishing for fish.

 

In moments the net vanished from sight, but to the little girl, it still was present as the very hands that had thrown the net. 

 

Zak’Si felt and saw how it encapsulated the sky with its presence. It solidified a weight and tightness over the Veil that none could escape.

 

The slightly transparent Ghost felt no such thing, only an ever-growing dread that it would soon find its Dream ending. 

 

When the net finally finished enveloping the horizon, the Ghost hit an invisible wall head and face first.

 

Not having expected such a thing, it displayed no disorientation. 

 

If it had an actual body and had been cruising at the speeds that it did, it would have turned into mush when it hit the invisible wall.

 

Shaking its head left and right, it tried to dislodge its disorientation and recover its senses. 

 

When it did, it started touching the invisible wall in wonder. “Why is there an invisible wall? Here in the middle of the sky? Eh, who cares! It is a Dream, and in Dreams, everything is possible. After all, am I not standing in the middle of the very same sky.”

 

Nodding to that realization, the Ghost moved and placed its slightly transparent legs on the invisible wall and started running on it sideways, all the while shouting. “Woohoo. This is so cool!  I am a freaking ninja!”

 

As the Ghost went on a wall run, behind him, the griffon and the little girl riding it stared at the Ghost, flabbergasted. 

 

“How is it not sticking to the net?” Questioned the little girl.

 

“You can question it later, Zak’Si.” The griffon said urgently as a reminder. “Collapse the net before it does something unexpected like escaping.”

 

For a moment, the little girl wanted to remark that it was impossible, but then she remembered that the Ghost should not have been able to escape in the first place. 

 

She took the advice.  “Ok.” 

 

Immediately the net started shrinking from all sides. 

 

On the other hand, the Ghost noticed the invisible wall he was running on sideways, losing its straightness and how it began to curve more and more. As if he was running up an incline.

 

The Ghost ran and ran, but there was no way to escape just by running. 

 

With that realization, it wondered if its Dream was coming to an end. But, as it felt the ending reaching it, its desire to have the Dream continued to increase instead.

 

It took a few moments before the Ghost realized another thing. “Why am I just running on the invisible wall? I am in a Dream. I can just pass through it.”

 

Immediately the Ghost stopped, placed its hand on the invisible wall, and pushed at it. 

 

When it did, it noticed that the invisible wall was giving in, if only slightly.

 

Zak’Si, on the other hand, felt the feedback from the net and the Ghost's attempt. She knew it would be impossible, yet somehow the Ghost kept surprising her. 

 

With urgency, she had the net collapse faster. 

 

When it was close to a fifth of its collapse, feedback from the net told her something else. The right hand of the Ghost had passed through the net.

 

“Haha, I knew it. There is nothing that I can't do in a Dream.” Shouted the Ghost with glee.

 

Trying her best to collapse the net as fast as possible, the little girl began to sweat from the exertion. The possibility of the ghost escaping added to the stress that she was experiencing. 

 

Next moment another hand passed through, and then its head. Then its torso and only the legs were left behind when the little girl cried out. 

 

“Nooooooo.That should not be possible at all. Stop doing that, you stupid Ghost.” Her cry of despair echoed. 

 

The cry reached the Ghost. It looked at the girl for a moment, but unlike what ordinary people would see, it did not see a panicked little girl twelve years of age but a giant spider. To the Ghost, the giant spider only had two eyes, due to some strange logic that made no sense, instead of the eight a spider should have had.

 

In truth, the image of the said spider biting into a giant black-scaled fish was what scared him so hard that he decided to escape from the Nightmare and back into the happy Dreams. 

 

Shrugging its slightly transparent shoulders, it pushed harder to free its legs, and with a pop, it was free of the invisible wall.

 

Moments later, the net finished its collapse. When it felt nothing inside, it reverted to its initial shape and returned to the little girl. Only the little girl stared at the net in question, as her entire world had been torn apart, for the simple reason that the Si Spider Silk Net was the very thing that had propelled and held the Si Spider Gods in Power, at least as far as she knew.

 

The Ghost looked at the spider riding the griffon and spoke. It cared not if the spider could or could not understand. 

 

“Ugly spider, stop chasing me! I don't want to wake up just yet.” The Ghost proclaimed.

 

With that said, the Ghost made a motion in the air. As if trying to plunge back into a river in the middle of the sky, it somehow jumped into what it thought was a current of air and began to fly again.

 

Meanwhile, with the little girl's worldview shattered, she closed her eyes and began to cry. Not only had the net her Daddy made not worked, but she had also been called Ugly by a Ghost.

 

A ghost out of everything possible called me Ugly. Zak’Si’s mind echoed.

 

“Zak'Si, let's chase it again.” Said the griffon, trying its best to console the little girl. “Look, its size has changed. That must mean that however it had done that, it must have cost it a lot.”

 

“Sniff, Sniff. Really.” The girl opened her eyes and watched the Ghost in question. 

 

Seeing it to be true, she agreed with a nod. 

 

With that agreed, the griffon began to chase after it. Still, the initial problem did not vanish, as it nevertheless could not catch up to it. 

 

When they finally passed the sea and reached land, an uneasy brew in the griffon's heart. 

 

“Zak’Si, do we want to continue chasing it? We have reached the Li’On’s territory.”

 

With dried tears, the little girl realized that the chase had finally reached its end. 

 

She took a deep breath and shouted to the sky to clear away her emotions. 

 

“DAMNED GHOST!!!”

 

“Damia, turn around.” Ordered the little girl, and the griffon obeyed. “It's too late now. Let us return. I need to tell Daddy of everything that happened. This… changes a lot of things.”

 

As the distance between the Ghost and the little girl increased, the dreaded End, he had felt all this time vanished. 

 

The Ghost congratulated itself by not stopping and enjoying the Dream, for as long as it lasted. 

 

It flew above the land when a dessert appeared. It flew above the desert when a savannah appeared. 

 

Having no fear of the Dream ending, it slowed down and landed on the ground. 

 

It was then that the Ghost noticed how big everything else was.  It nodded its head a few times as if that's how Dreams should be, big and exciting.

 

The Ghost walked here and there, enjoying the strangely more significant sight when a shadow enveloped it. 

 

It noticed something different about this shape as it looked more like an elongated head.

 

The Ghost turned its head around and saw a giant maw with teeth and black nostrils above it. On its surface, it was covered with black fur on the sides and white on top. 

 

Above its maw, the Ghost noticed its beady eyes as they stared at it in curiosity. Its nostrils flared as it sniffed on it a few times. 

 

“ Ah, shoot. Guess the Gods of the Dreamworld decided my time was up. ” Said the Ghost with resignation, as the maw opened and bit on the Ghost.

 

OM NOM NOM NOM  

 

GULP followed right after. 

 

A tongue licked the lips and teeth of the maw that ate the strange snack and the Beast, done with its strange snack, continued its quest for more food.

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