The night was silent.
After spending the entire day carrying that undefined feeling, I thought it would take me longer to fall asleep. But the accumulated exhaustion pulled me under faster than I imagined. I lay down alert, as if I still needed to watch over something invisible.
Sleep came in layers.
First light.
Then deep.
And then, the darkness changed.
It wasn't like a normal dream. There was no constructed scenery. There was no ground, no sky, no horizon. Just an empty space, vast and absolute.
I was standing.
Alone.
No weapon in my hand.
No presence around me.
The silence there was not natural. It was dense.
I tried to expand my perception, like I do in the real world.
Nothing responded.
Then I felt it.
Pressure.
Not physical.
Existential.
As if the space itself was compressing around me.
A presence began to form ahead. It did not appear by walking. It did not emerge gradually. It simply manifested.
The silhouette was tall, defined, wrapped in something that was neither shadow nor light. A humanoid figure, but distant from what I would call human.
There was no clear face.
But there were eyes.
And they were fixed on me.
I did not feel fear.
But I felt the difference.
It was superior to what I faced in the dungeon.
Far above.
The voice came without echo.
Directly into my mind.
"You defeated those weak ones."
The sentence carried no emotion. It was a cold observation.
I maintained my posture.
"If you have something to say, say it."
The presence tilted its head slightly.
"You advanced beyond what was expected."
The nonexistent air around us seemed to grow heavier.
"But I am not weak."
The pressure increased suddenly.
My body was not truly there, but the sensation was clear. As if every part of my existence was being measured.
It was not an attack.
It was an evaluation.
I tried to move.
I managed.
With effort.
"Who are you?"
Silence for a second that felt longer.
"One of the four."
The information crossed my mind like a seal being pressed into it.
Four.
General.
The word was not spoken, but I understood.
It was not a subordinate.
It was command.
The presence took a step forward.
The space seemed to distort around it.
"You destroyed lesser pieces."
Pieces.
"That drew attention."
I remained firm.
"So you came personally?"
"Not yet."
The pressure became crushing.
For a moment, I felt the equivalent of standing before something that could erase me easily.
But it did not.
"Prepare yourself."
The sentence was simple.
No explicit threat.
No detailed promise.
Only certainty.
"I will come to you."
The presence began to dissolve, but before it disappeared completely, I felt something touch my chest.
Not physically.
Energetically.
A mark.
Not visible.
But real.
Then everything went completely dark.
I woke up.
The room was silent.
My heart was racing.
I sat up immediately.
My breathing was controlled, but heavy.
I looked around.
Liriel slept nearby, calm.
Rai'kanna was turned to the side, her expression relaxed.
Lyannis kept the closed book beside the bed, as she always did.
Elara breathed softly.
Vespera was still, but she did not wake.
The moon still partially illuminated the room.
I touched my own chest.
The sensation was there.
Not pain.
Not burning.
But presence.
I focused my perception.
There was something different.
Like a newly imprinted energetic signature.
He was not physically there.
But he had reached me.
I stood carefully and went to the window.
The city remained silent.
Nothing on the horizon indicated invasion or rupture.
But now I knew.
It was not diffuse instability.
It was direction.
He knows.
And I was marked.
I took a deep breath.
The pressure from the dream was not imagination.
It was contact.
One of the four.
That means there are three others.
And it means that what we have faced so far was only the surface layer.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Analyzed internally.
There was no weakening.
There was no damage.
But there was a connection established.
He can find me.
Or perhaps he is already closer than I imagine.
I heard a slight movement behind me.
Liriel had woken up.
She approached in silence.
"You felt it."
It was not a question.
"Yes."
She stopped beside me.
"Did it happen?"
"Yes."
She did not show panic.
"Did he speak?"
"He did."
A short pause.
"He is coming."
She took a deep breath but remained firm.
"Then we will go too."
That simplicity was enough to stabilize my mind.
Rai'kanna moved in the bed.
"You two are awake far too early."
Elara slowly opened her eyes.
Lyannis sat up with an attentive expression.
Vespera raised her head.
"They sensed energetic variation."
I turned to all of them.
"Not yet."
Absolute silence.
"But it's confirmed."
Rai'kanna stood up.
"How strong?"
"More than anything we have faced."
Lyannis adjusted her posture.
"Identity?"
"One of the four generals."
None of them fell into despair.
None stepped back.
Elara simply asked:
"When?"
"He didn't say."
Vespera concluded:
"The mark has been established."
"Yes."
Rai'kanna smiled to the side.
"So someone finally showed up who is worth it."
Liriel touched my arm.
"Are you afraid?"
I thought before answering.
"No."
And it was the truth.
I was not afraid.
I was alert.
And determined.
I looked at each of them.
They were here.
Steady.
Without doubt.
The complete calm had ended.
The strange feeling had taken form.
And now the next step had been declared.
I returned to the window and watched the sky beginning to brighten.
The new day was being born.
But this time, it was not just another dawn.
It was the beginning of something greater.
I touched my chest again, feeling the invisible mark.
He told me to prepare.
So I will prepare.
Not alone.
Never alone again.
The arc of consecration ended with recognition.
But the real trial begins now.
And as the first ray of sunlight crossed the horizon, a certainty settled inside me.
If he comes to me,
I will face him.
And this time,
There will be no warning.