Blink and You will Miss Her

Blink is a relatively recent creation. I touched on her origins in my blog about dreams a few days ago, and this should build on that theme just a little bit before I post the first part of her story. Last year I had a dream about a girl who came from another world. I don't remember much, but the basic idea stuck with me and eventually became the character Blink. I remember two things from the dream, that she could teleport and that her name came from the phrase "Blink and you will miss her."

Blink stared up at the sky in confusion. The city she knew was gone, replaced by a city of towering stone and thick smoke that blotted out thick swaths of nighttime stars. Strange rumbles filled the air, blending with the sound of people laughing and talking all around her. The windows were lit with a steady light, brighter than the torches and lanterns that the half-elven girl remembered. She was still wearing the strange garb of the reapers and could feel the dark chill of their hands. Her gear and weapons were gone, though one of their long, single edged blades rested on the stone beside her. The severed arm of its owner still dripped blood next to it. Her head ached abominably and she screwed her eyes shut, pressing her scraped palms to her temples as she pulled the leather and metal of the reaper hood low over her eyes. The headache faded and she lay still for several long minutes before she realized that she could still see, as clearly as day, in spite the eyeless mask and the growing night.

The girl noticed two things at nearly the same time. First, there was only one moon in the sky. Luna, the home of the celestials, was gone. Second, there was a window looking out on her ledge and a man was staring at her, his face frozen in shock. She started to rise, but the ill fitted mask slipped from her head and the headache returned with such force that she collapsed, falling away into comfortable darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, the mask was firmly over her eyes, blocking out the agonizing pain. She was in a small room on a wide, cushioned couch near a fireplace. The man she had seen watching from the window sat nearby, a strange look on his bearded face.

“I saw you in my dreams…” he said softly, his voice gentle and melodious. “You were being attacked… and then I woke up and you were outside.”

Blink tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse and raw. “Reapers… where are they?”

The man stood quickly, pressing her back down on the couch as she tried to rise. “Lie still,” he said gently. “I don’t know what reapers are, but there aren’t any here. Let me get you some water.”

He vanished and Blink lay still, looking blankly around the room as she tried to remember what had happened. The oddities in the room distracted her however, and the hazy memories continued to elude her. The fireplace held no wood, instead it was a simple metal grate with blue and orange flames rising from holes in a short metal tube. There were lamps on the walls spouting the same fire, though Blink couldn’t see the oil reservoirs. Candles, the only truly familiar light sources, lined a desk that was littered with parchment and scrolls. Leatherbound tomes filled shelves on either side of the desk and strange fireplace. She heard a lever crank, followed by the sound of running water. The stranger reappeared with a cup.

“Easy,” he said as he helped her to sip the cool liquid. “Easy… take it slow.”

“Where am I?” she asked. “Wh… who are you?”