You make me real.

They were in each other's arms, standing alone in the center of a darkness that seemed to stretch to infinite reaches beyond them. The trees were no longer in their presence, leaving them as the only two beings, the only two creations to exist within the planes of mortality. Her arms were about him; slender white limbs that held him so close. His cheek rested upon her soft hair, the pink strands obscuring his vision, as he returned her hold. The only light that shined was upon their skin, encircling the two as they held themselves forevermore. The moment lasted in its serenity, and warmth wrapped around them, the only feeling other than the found peace of a lonely heart.

The skin of her face moved across his cheek, and she lifted her head, lifted her eyes to meet his. She looked up to him, the auburn orbs glowing with a gentle, comforting smile. Slowly, her small hands slid from behind his back, moving down his arms. They came to rest upon his wrists, softly touching his skin, caressing.

But then, as if possessed, the touch suddenly became a grip, nails digging deeply into the flesh. They tightened painfully around his wrists, and he looked into her eyes. Hungry, orange flames had grown within them, her smile decaying into the desirous smirk of thin lips. Shadows were cast upon her face as it changed, and he was no longer in the arms of a girl, but a monster.

The ground beneath him fell away, and suddenly, his back was against the smooth covers of a bed. Long fingers were wrapped around his wrists, forcing them upon the sheets on either side of him. Tic gasped, shuddering in the terror that had struck his body, closing his eyes as if the man would disappear. He could still feel the warm breaths as the face came close to his, could feel the man's hand move across him. And he let out a cry, silenced as his lips became victim to another's kiss.

Tic's eyes snapped open, the dream shattering into a million pieces. He breathed, his vision focusing on the blurred outlines of tall, dark shapes ahead, the dim light of dawn drawn across their surfaces. A forest, he realized. He was lying in it, trying to remember how he'd gotten there, trying to decipher between the illusions of his mind and what was real. The ground was wet beneath him, the air crisp across his skin. He stared out to the limbs of the trees, becoming slowly aware that his head was resting on something much warmer than the cold around him.

Tic gasped, quickly raising himself off her lap, palms spread across the leaves. He stared at her for a moment, wondering if she was just an image from his dream. He didn't understand how it had happened, and didn't try to. Little of it remained in his memory, and seeing her made it seem unreal. Her ghost-like face returned his stare, and he looked down.

Had it all been a dream, he wouldn't have felt the pain. Memories of the castle were returning to him, and it stung sharper in his heart than the icy breaths of wind. If it had been a dream, he wouldn't have remembered what he had done, that he had betrayed an entire society. He turned his face to the trees behind him, seeing through their branches to the castle that lay beyond. The Shrike must still be alive, he thought, his plans of war still to be brought out.

He looked back to the ground beneath him.

"We've got to tell them," he whispered. "We've got to warn The Sink."