Once again, Belladonna found herself standing beneath the colossal and impossible corpse, whose legs could crush mountains and yet who could still be supported atop the tips of trees and barely bend them.

She didn’t try to look upon the face of this corpse this time, as it was an impossible task. Her body would reject any attempts with all of its might, as if it knew that a single glance was all it would take to be her end. Yet even out of the corner of her eye, Belladonna could see no features. They were completely blurred and impossible to decipher.

No... that was wrong. Now that she actually looked at it, she could see something. This impossible figure, had three eyes. What colour they were, where these eyes were looking or even how they were orientated upon their face. None of that she could figure out.

And yet she knew that there were three. It was just a fact that she knew as certain as the number of her own eyes, but she couldn’t figure out how. More confusing was the fact that some detail of that discovery made Belladonna sick to her stomach.

Not that the discovery itself was sickening, but a detail behind it repulsed her. A detail that she did not know, nor could place. Yet even still she was sick, as if she was offended to the highest order on behalf of the colossal corpse.

Moving her attention away from the corpse, Belladonna focused on the five figures. They were the same as last time, three men and two women standing below the corpse and gazing up at it, before the woman in front knelt and scooped up the blood that trickled from the corpse.

She lifted it to her lips, sipping at the blood, before whipping her head around to stare at Belladonna directly. That was where the dream had ended last time, but it was not this time.

Instead the dream glitched, and suddenly the corpse was gone. She was still stood in the forest, with golden blood still trickling down the tree tops. But there was no source for this blood anymore.

The five figures remained, but all of them were facing Belladonna as they stood in a semi-circle.

Four of them stood with their heads bowed, shrouding their faces in an impenetrable darkness, as they had their hands cupped in front of them. Each of these four had something different in their hands.

The rightmost man held a skull in his hands, one that notably had three eye sockets. The man to his left held a heart. The heart was not bleeding, but it was still pumping. Beating slowly in its hands despite it not having a body to supply blood to, nor any blood to supply.

Next to the left was the only other woman, who held something truly strange. Wisps of white smoke curled around in her cupped palms. It moved as if it was alive, constantly pushing against the invisible walls created by the cupped hands, as its form shifted and changed as air was prone to do.

But no matter what, it could not escape from the invisible confines.

Lastly, there was the final man, who held not something physical much like the woman next to him. In his hands, he held a ball of pure light. The light was not harsh nor blinding. It was instead soft and peaceful, like the light of a radiant full moon peering through the clouds.

In the middle of these four stood the blood drinking woman, who was the only one who held nothing and was not shrouded in shadows either. An elegant, form fitting black dress was draped over her bombshell body, contrasting perfectly against her snow white skin.

Her face was absolutely beautiful, to the point that if this woman were real then every modelling agency in existence would fight in the world’s largest Corpo War, just for the chance of signing her.

But Belladonna did not admire her body or her elegant evening wear, nor even her world shattering beauty. All she could focus on was the crimson eyes, identical to her own except for the sclera, that were staring directly at her.

The dream glitched again. The other four disappeared, leaving only the elegant woman standing directly in front of Belladonna.

It was only now that she could appreciate how tall this woman was, easily reaching 6’4, as Belladonna was forced to crane her neck to look upon her divine beauty.

The woman frowned softly, causing a crease between her brows that seemed like sacrilege itself but was only counteracted by the heart melting pout of her full lips. Belladonna was enraptured by the swirling chaos of emotions hidden within the crimson depths of those eyes.

Fear, doubt, confusion, hope, joy, caution.

As these emotions filled the woman, she slowly raised her hand. She reached towards Belladonna’s check, flinching slightly just before she touched her and hesitating for a few moments, before moving again.

Belladonna’s heart fluttered at the woman’s touch, before she was suddenly ripped from the dream and thrust back into reality.

Belladonna gasped as she shot up from her relaxed sitting position, her heart thundering in her chest as her breath trembled. Neither of which disturbed the adorable black cat that sat in her lap.

"Mrew?"

Beans asked, tilting his head, before standing up on his back legs and pressing his paw against Belladonna’s cheek, right where the woman had touched her.

She wrapped her hands around Beans, twisting him around before hugging him tight against her chest like a teddy bear, as her body trembled and slowly calmed down from her strange dream. She cast her eyes around the camp, noticing a few of the guards were glancing at her in boredom or confusion, while others were snoring away loudly at her post.

Pulling her eyes away from them, and mindlessly stroking Beans, Belladonna looked out into the forest where something bright caught her eye. Her heart leapt into her throat as she noticed a pair of crimson eyes staring at her from within the darkness.

But these were not the eyes from her dream. There was no warmth, no beauty, and no storm of emotions to draw her in. These were the eyes of a predator that had found its prey.

Eyes that Belladonna assumed must have belonged to another Barghest, as they were accompanied by the distant sound of rattling chains.