Nocturn Core (Abridged)

I was told to record this as I would any typical dream, so I will – but I must note that it took place on the boundary between falling asleep and standard “dreams,” so I’m not sure exactly when I fell asleep during this or if I did at all. Rather than making a judgment, I’ll just categorize it as a threshold experience for the time being.

As I went to sleep, I spoke telepathically to the dream itself – the core from which dreams arise – and asked it to help me better understand myself and my intentions. The dream replied; it said that it would show me again as it had the night before, but I would probably forget. It implied that we had this conversation several times in the past, and I always forgot it. That’s a little embarrassing given how well my dream recall usually works, but I confessed that I rarely remembered much of the threshold experience. Even now, I’m sure I forgot some of it, but I remember the parts that were emphasized (I think). Before continuing, the voice explained that I would learn much of what I wished to discover through dreams. I felt that this would begin immediately.

The speaking dream showed me various scenes of shadowy versions of myself holding swords. Like mine, the voice explained, these were false swords. None of us could understand Apheri because none of us had truly attempted to. I tried to draw Apheri to get a close look at her, but the hilt came up by itself. What the…? I asked why, and the voice said I wasn’t fit to hold her. I had ignored Tegatus and Phaedra’s request, it said, by treating Apheri like a normal sword. It took me back to the room in which I defeated Lusark Decidies recently in another dream. I saw my body move on its own, cutting through zombie-like people with brightly colored hair. It seemed only natural to me that I was using Apheri in this dream.

“Are you cutting with Apheri?” the voice asked, getting right to the heart of my thoughts. I replied with a general feeling of agreement. I was using the sword I always carried, wasn’t it? What else could it be? “You miss the point. Any sword can cut. In this world, you can also cut. These are empty cuts. When Apheri cuts, she understands. She feels the cut and acknowledges it. You just cut for the sake of cutting.” These words, if you’ll pardon the pun, cut me to the core – at least, what I perceived as me. I was beginning to sense that “me” was just another version of something more important… I tried drawing Apheri again. The scene became a cavern with sinewy bones in the walls. I pulled up the bladeless hilt again. Cripes.

“What do I have to do?” I asked.



“Understand her. First of all, she is not just a sword. Would you like to hear Apheri’s story?” The voice repeated its question when I didn’t answer right away. I thought I knew the story. She was created by Tegatus, wasn’t she? I agreed to hear it and was whisked away to a small planet. “Small enough that a thousand people would exhaust its resources,” the voice observed, commenting on my thoughts. The vegetation was lush, the oceans were an unmarred blue, and the night sky was alive with starlight. I saw Apheri floating in the air above a hill nearby. I tried to run to her, but a hand stopped me. When I looked at the man guiding me, I saw that he glowed intensely. I couldn’t discern what he looked like, but it wasn’t important. I watched Apheri as he told me of her talent at channeling the life energy of everything around her – not stealing it, but thriving on it. She began to spin, and then she glowed with the same white light as my storyteller’s dream body. She transformed into a long, black staff. I’ll just draw it and put a picture in… Basically, the Golden Hexagram is circumscribed within a circle at the top of the staff, and there are two handles jutting out below the base of the circle for a handhold. The bottom portion removes to reveal the blade. When I say long, I mean it – this blade was much longer than I ever imagined Apheri could be, and yet, I could sense that this form was more familiar. This was my Apheri! And yet, the voice laughed and called me a fool for going so long without realizing I knew nothing about her. I would forget again anyway, it laughed. Embarrassed again, I resolutely announced that I would not forget!

“You said that last night,” it said. I felt a little less confident, but I refocused my attention and listened. Apheri was always intended to be the life-bringer’s sword, the voice told me. I was justly accused of forgetting the deep meaning of my own name and the language from which it comes. A bunch of symbols appeared in the air as the scene faded to darkness. They were like Daedric letters, but different… I recognized them faintly. The voice told me I would have to obtain Apheri both in dreams and waking. I might have to craft her myself, the voice said. Obviously, I doubted my ability to do so – I’m an electrical engineering student, not a blacksmith. It suggested that I make arrangements with someone more talented. I wouldn’t regret the cost, it promised. Linking the two realities was extremely important. I thought of something Reece Jones said in a video a while ago about a similar concept. Then, too, I knew I had to find Apheri, but I didn’t pursue it very far. My eyes began to tear up as I wrote this in my pencil and paper dream journal. What I feel when I picture my sword now is incredible. I can’t imagine using such a long sword… How would I even hold that if not for dream physics? The voice spoke again, warning me to focus. I felt Nicole stir in bed beside me, and I woke up most of the way. The voice urged me to focus again as I closed my eyes. Sadly, I don’t remember anything after that.