Bani woke up slowly, as if someone had pulled her out from a deep place and then left her to breathe on her own. She did not open her eyes immediately. She stayed still for a moment, listening.

  There was nothing… only heavy silence, the smell of old wood, and a faint breathing sound she could not tell whether it was hers or someone else’s.

  She finally opened her eyes.

  The ceiling was the same …cracked wooden boards, and the small window still letting in weak light. But it was not morning light.

  It was darkness.

  A continuing darkness, as if the night had not ended, or as if time itself had not moved since everything had closed around them.

  She lifted her head slightly, then sat up, feeling heaviness in her arms and legs. She looked toward Sora.

  He was lying near the door, still. His chest rose and fell, but his face was tense even in sleep, as if the dream had not left him.

  She moved closer slowly, reached out her hand, and shook his shoulder.

  “Sora… wake up.”

  He did not respond.

  She shook him again, a little harder.

  “Sora, please…”

  He finally moved. He opened his eyes with difficulty, then lifted his head as if he did not know where he was. He blinked several times, then looked around quickly.

  “We’re… still here?”

  he said in a low voice. It did not sound relieved. It sounded more like fear than confirmation.

  Bani swallowed.

  “Yes… but look.”

  She pointed toward the window.

  Sora walked toward it slowly and looked outside. There were no clear stars and no moon, but the darkness was strong, and the air beyond the glass looked heavy.

  “Did we sleep for long?” he asked, tightening his jaw.

  Bani shook her head.

  “I don’t know. But… if it was a short sleep, something should have changed. There should be light.”

  They were silent for a moment. Then Sora spoke again, as if escaping from the thought of time to something else.

  “I saw something… while I was asleep.”

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  Bani did not immediately say, “Me too.” The words did not come out that easily. She looked at the floor for a moment, then slowly raised her eyes to him.

  “What did you see?”

  Sora took a deep breath,

  “I saw fire… and war. I saw a large dragon fighting… it was bleeding. Its wings were torn. Then it fell in front of me.”

  His fingers tightened as he remembered.

  “I don’t know why… but when it fell, I felt like something inside me broke.”

  Bani looked at him without laughing or showing surprise. She could see something real in his eyes, a pain that did not feel imagined.

  “I… saw a child,” she said quietly.

  He turned to her immediately.

  “A child?”

  Bani nodded.

  “She was laughing… and she was holding me in her hands. I couldn’t move. I was just there between her palms. She told me, ‘You are beautiful.’ Then… she screamed, and everything was swallowed by darkness.”

  She was silent for a moment, then added in a weaker voice:

  “I felt like I was left behind.”

  Sora said nothing. He only looked at her, trying to understand what her words meant.

  Then he said hesitantly,

  “Does that mean… you’re connected to this place?”

  She answered quickly, as if the question bothered her because she had no answer.

  “I don’t know!”

  She paused, then pointed at herself awkwardly.

  “I don’t even know what I am.”

  Sora raised his hand slightly, as if trying to calm her.

  “No… I mean… your dream is strange. But mine is strange too. It feels like we’re not dreaming from imagination… it feels like we’re remembering something, even if we don’t remember it clearly.”

  Before Bani could say anything, a faint sound was heard.

  A knock on the door.

  Bani froze in place.

  Sora stood up immediately, as if his body moved before he thought.

  A second knock.

  This time clearer. Closer, as if someone was standing right behind the door.

  Sora walked toward it slowly. He placed his hand on the handle, then looked back at Bani.

  She was staring at him with wide eyes.

  “Who’s there?” Sora asked quietly.

  No answer.

  Silence.

  Then… a third knock, slightly stronger.

  Sora tightened his grip on the handle and opened the door carefully.

  There was no one there.

  Only darkness outside… trees, cold air, and emptiness.

  He stood there for a moment, looking, then turned his head right and left. No movement.

  He closed the door slowly and turned back to Bani.

  “There’s nothing… but we heard it.”

  Bani whispered,

  “Yes. I heard it.”

  Sora tried to calm himself, but his shoulders remained tense. He stepped back inside.

  “Maybe… the wind?”

  Bani said it without believing it herself.

  “The wind doesn’t knock,” Sora replied.

  They fell silent again.

  Then suddenly, the door shook.

  Not knocking this time.

  A strong push.

  The door burst open violently, and cold air rushed inside like a whip, throwing dust into their faces and putting out the last feeling of safety inside the cabin.

  Bani stepped back while Sora raised his arm in front of his face.

  Then a large shape appeared at the entrance.

  It was not a dragon, and not something human.

  The creature was tall and hunched. It was so big that it filled most of the doorway, leaving almost no space to pass. Even the window behind them was no longer an escape. There was no way they could run past it in time. Its skin was cracked, as if parts of it had been lost and returned incorrectly. Its limbs were thick, and old wounds covered its body — some hardened, others as if they had never healed.

  It took one step forward.

  The wood groaned under its weight.

  Its foot sank slightly into the wooden floor, and cracks spread from where it stood.

  “Hel… p me…” it said in a rough, broken voice, as if air barely passed through its throat.

  Sora stared at it without moving.

  The creature tilted its head slightly, as if smelling them.

  “I… am hungry…”