Within her dream, Dorothy sat at her desk, nodding in satisfaction at the spell she had just pieced together. Though it was cobbled together with bits and pieces, she figured it might just work.
"Whatever, let’s give it a shot. It’s just a dream, after all," she thought.
She stood in the room, cleared her throat, and recited the incantation.
“In the name of Akatosh, I shall grow wings. With force , I will soar to the heavens; with balance , I shall pass through storms.”
As the words left her lips, the transformation began.
An intense orange-yellow gas materialized around Dorothy, enveloping her completely before erupting into a blazing sphere of fire.
From within the fireball, massive bones emerged, growing outward rapidly to fill the room and burst through its confines.
With a deafening explosion, the roof of the apartment on Southern Sunflower Street in her dream-realm shattered. Debris scattered everywhere, raining down in a chaotic cascade.
On the now-exposed rooftop crouched an enormous skeletal dragon. Flames of searing orange-yellow spread across its body, forming rugged, stone-like scales.
The dragon, nearly ten meters long, was clad in ashen-gray scales, with powerful wings, a spiked tail, twisted horns, and a ferocious, majestic presence.Dream Mimicry—Dragon.
"Holy crap! It worked!"
Dorothy marveled at her new body, twisting her long neck to inspect it. To her delight and astonishment, the spell she’d haphazardly assembled had actually succeeded.
And not only that—it hadn’t turned her into a mere bird but a dragon!
"Dragons are way cooler than birds," she thought, feeling a giddy excitement.
But this was just the beginning. The real task lay ahead. Mimicry was merely the first step—successfully transforming within her dream allowed her access to the Dreamscape.
A shared space of dreams for all sentient beings.
Raising her head, Dorothy let out a thunderous roar.
The sound rippled through the air, and the space before her trembled before splitting open like shattered glass. Without hesitation, the dragon-mimicked Dorothy spread her wings, soared upward, and dove into the fissure in the dreamscape.
…
The Dreamscape.
This was a vast and shadowy space.
Gigantic trees, dozens of meters thick and hundreds of meters tall, stretched endlessly, their dense canopies blocking out the sky. Faint blue light filtered through, casting a gentle glow in the darkness. Beneath the trees lay sprawling fields of bluish-purple grass, dotted with flowers of blue, green, and purple hues, all glowing with an ethereal luminescence.
Creatures roamed among the grasses—deer, birds, lizards, insects. Though their shapes resembled ordinary animals, they glimmered faintly and bore intricate, otherworldly patterns.
Suspended from the massive tree branches were countless white cocoons, gently swaying in the breeze. These cocoons stretched into the distance, beyond the edge of sight. As they swayed, tiny orbs of glowing dust scattered, drifting throughout the space.
The scene was surreal—dreamlike.
No, this was a dream.
Suddenly, one of the cocoons trembled.
A crack formed on its surface, and a deep, resonant roar echoed from within.
At the sound, all the creatures in the forest panicked, scattering in terror. The crack widened until, finally, a gray-black dragon emerged from the cocoon.
Dorothy unfurled her wings and soared above the forest of massive trees, marveling at the fantastical scenery around her.
"So this is the Dreamscape... or rather, one layer of it—the Forest," she mused.
According to The Dream Seeker’s Chronicles, the Dreamscape consisted of multiple layers, the vastest of which was the Forest—its core layer.
The book described the Dreamscape as a space where all sentient beings’ dreams existed, each one protected within a "Dream Cocoon." When a being slept, their dream would unfold within their cocoon.
"So, these things hanging from the trees are Dream Cocoons?"
Dorothy gazed at the dangling white cocoons, understanding that each represented a dream. Every person’s dream could be found here. For those with mystical abilities, it was possible to emerge from their cocoon through mimicry and roam the expansive Dreamscape.
"If I entered someone else’s cocoon, would I step into their dream?"
The idea intrigued her.
But now wasn’t the time for curiosity. She had work to do.
Dorothy had entered the Dreamscape in search of mystical knowledge. According to The Dream Seeker’s Chronicles, fragments of information floated throughout the Dreamscape—some held incredible secrets. However, Grayhill’s warning echoed in her mind: the Dreamscape was filled with both boundless opportunities and untold dangers.
With this in mind, Dorothy flew onward, her sharp eyes noticing small orbs of light floating amidst the trees.
She approached one, brushed against it, and it dissolved into her body in a halo of light.
Instantly, a thought appeared in her mind.
"I really want to confess to Domia... I really want to confess to Domia... I really want to..."
Dorothy broke into a cold sweat, then moved on to the next orb.
"That bastard William! He’ll pay for this tomorrow!"
Dorothy paused, glancing around. She realized the orbs were fragments from various Dream Cocoons, most of them ordinary, trivial musings.
Finding meaningful information in this vast forest seemed like searching for a needle in a haystack.
"Sigh... Well, at least I have a method. If I don’t find anything tonight, there’s always tomorrow."
Determined, she continued flying through the shadowy Forest.
…
Elsewhere in the Dreamscape’s Forest.
Among the massive trees and glowing grasses, a nimble figure darted through the fields—a snow-white fox radiating a faint glow.
Hot on its heels were three or four ferocious black hyenas, relentlessly pursuing it.
What seemed like a simple hunt was far more sinister.
One of the hyenas spoke in the common tongue mid-chase.
"She’s slowing down—she won’t last much longer. Push harder. Tonight’s prey is ours."
"In this Forest, no one escapes the Black Dream Hunting Pack..."