Broken Shields

The darkness shifted and stirred. The fog rolled in but the sun came out and burnt the darkness and fog away. I was standing in a empty space – void of all things. It was more like floating except I felt the ground underneath my feet. Around me was nothing and everything. I felt the heat and the cold on my legs. I could feel the breeze on my skin and the earth beneath my feet but I saw nothing.

The light flickered, the world brightened a moment and then I saw things I should be able to see. Standing in front of me was Dev as beautiful as he was. He didn’t have the beauty of a girl, with long flowing locks and perfect curves. No, he was beautiful in other ways. The color of his baby blue eyes were brighter here. His skin gave a soft glow that was otherworldly. He smiled at me and I felt like I would melt. “Look around you.”

His voice wasn’t quite real. It echoed in the nothingness of the space. Just a bunch of bubbles.

Dev grinned at me and as he reached out a pink bubble floated towards him, or we floated to it. I saw a bunch of lines and wires connecting the bubbles. This pink one was thick and opaque, you couldn’t see inside. “This is Dee. Her dreams, her shield, her light. I found her like this. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get inside, I couldn’t see past the wall. So I found her. We have been together ever since. I still can’t get in. But I know her better for it. I can’t read her like I read you. Hell, I can’t read anyone like I read you.” Dev sounded exasperated at me.

I frowned. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled and pulled me close, “It’s not your fault. I like it, it’s just odd.”

Dev reached for another bubble, it was covered with electric blue, it sparked when Dev’s hand touched it. It looked like it could hurt, but it didn’t. “This is Sage. His power protects him. And it tries to expand to others close by.” He brought it close to Dees and the electricity curled around it like a creepy electronic ooze.” He smiled at me. “That’s what happens every night with you. Sage’s shield protects you.”

Dev pulled two more orbs towards us and he frowned, “This is yours.” The one in his hand looked so much different than the others. I could see the black veins in it, like frozen water in a sidewalk, pushing at it until it crumbles. “Sage is keeping covering the holes that let it in through the black veins. I don’t know what it is. I’m not sure I want to find out.” Dev said as he held it out to me. “Take it.”

He held his own clear orb. It shimmered in the light – perfect, untouched, clear and but I could tell it was more than a thin bubble for every insecurity I had, Dev had his own and I could see them in the thickness of the wall he had. I gave him a shy smile as I took my representation from him. It was heavier than it looked. And the sheild was rough with abuse. It reminded me of my back – scared and broken.

Dev put his hand on the small of my back and I felt electricity course through my body. “Sage will protect you, Dee will give me strength. Let me help you rebuild your shield. We need to break this one first. It’ll hurt.” Dev held me close as he whispered the next part. “If we are quick enough we can build the wall before the veins attack again.”

I nodded. I didn’t know what to say. “We need to sit down then.”

Dev complied and pulled me into his arms as I joined him on the invisible ground. It was surreal floating in nothingness and yet I wasn’t afraid. I felt the earth below me even though it wasn’t there. There was a fleeting moment of panic before Dev wrapped his arm around my waist. “We have to be quick. Crush it and build the wall. Sage will protect us. Dee with give us the strength.”

I took a deep breath and pressed my hands together around the broken orb. I could feel the brittle piece of nothing crumble between my fingers as I closed my hands together. The sheild drifted into the breeze and I felt Dev push me mentally, pulling my walls around me. I closed my eyes, found that place that centered me and built the walls. I felt Dee giving us strength. I felt the static charge of Sage all around me. Dev’s arms tight around my body as we built the wall. There was a high pitched echo in the emptiness of our space.

The darkness started to creep into our emptiness like a fog in the day. It rolled towards us and when the last edges of the bubble sealed it screamed and then winked out, leaving us in the warm yet cool sunlight of this dream plane.

And then a short shrill scream followed by a growl periced my sleep.

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