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The constant humming of eternal passing time is suddenly broken by an acute bursting noise. You wish you had a body so you could take your hands to your eardrums and stop that noise from getting inside your head. Or maybe you do have one, and that's exactly what you do.

Suddenly, the bursting explosion ends, and is replaced by a dying white light that consumes everything in your field of vision.

The deep evolving dark of the eternity is now a blindly pale whiteness.

But you feel something.

You do.

You are not imaging it.

Your eyelids. They are flickering over your eyes.

A deep burst of air suddenly inflates your chest. Your lungs ache.

Your eyes open.

You find yourself laying on a big bed covered on red sheets in the middle of a green grass field. An overcast sky radiates in dim but sparkling autumn colors.

A big white wolf lays on the same bed behind you. His big black eyes fixed on yours.

Just when I was about to give up, I felt my hands moving towards my ears to safe them from the intense noise and my eyes close to avoid getting hurt by the now extremely white light. That could only mean one thing: I had a body. Or at least I could feel it and, even more comforting, control it. 

I tried to concentrate the electric impulses of my body on the eyes. And I succedeed. They opened. Where am I? I was confused. Based on the bed where I was lying I could have thought someone had taken me to an inn to rest and recover. However, that bed with the red sheets was in the middle of nowhere. 

But...I was not alone. I could feel a presence. I turned my head to discover that whatever I was feeling was coming out a white wolf. I jumped at the image of it, reaching for my swords but not finding them. Where did it come from? The animal didn't move. It felt as if it was not an animal. Its eyes seemed human to me. 

- What are you? Where am I?- I asked, expecting no answer. In the end, it was no more than an animal. 

The magnificent stares back at you, its deep pale eyes fixed on yours. For the first time, you realize now about the pure perfection of the creature. Its fur is whiter than the first snow of the winter. Its eyes are fire yellow. Its pose is strong but tender, it lays resting, but it implies swiftness and agility as well.

The creature tilts his head a little at your words. A curious gaze you have seen many times in dogs when you talk to them. Like if it was trying to comprehend what you are trying to say but couldn't quite do so.

But contrary to all dogs you have encountered before in your life, the majestic White Wolf has understand you.

- For the first question, well, I am a wolf - he explains matter-of-factly - As for the second one - he turns his head for the first time to circle his gaze around the hazy emptiness that surrounds you - Well, that would be my bed - his eyes come back to yours while he ends the answer with the same amused tone as the first one, like if he had just explained you the two most obvious things he ever knew.

Why am I talking to a wolf as if it was human? I felt terribly stupid when those two questions came out of my mouth without me being able to stop them. The creature was there, looking tame as a dog. It even had the typical doggy head moves, tongue hanging to the side of its mouth. For some reason I thought I was gonna get some sort of answer other than a funny look. 

But then, to my astonishment, the wolf talked. It wasn't a bark of any kind. What was coming out of his lips was a human voice. And, worst of all, he was mocking me. That creature found my questions funny. Unbelievable. How was it even possible that it was speaking? That he even had a humanlike way of doing so?

- You talk.- That was not a question but merely a fact. - How? Aren't you suppossed to howl or something?- I couldn't believe I was talking to a wolf. Death must be a synonim of insanity. What's more, I wasn't even scared of it, although I would find it comforting to have my swords with me. But still, I had stopped shaking and I wasn't even trying to get away from the beast. - What do you mean your bed? Since when do wolves need a bed?- I looked around, maybe expecting to find a forest around us, something more likely to be the home of such a creature. No luck.- And what I meant was...what is this place?- I moved my arms away from my sides to imitate the broadness of that place. Where was the beginning? What about the end, the exit?- Is there a way out?

The White Wolf tilts his head once again while you speak. Your are not completely sure what does the gesture means, but if you'd have to bet, you'd say it would go towards genuine curiosity. Or something that sort.

- Oh I could howl... and bark of course - he answers to your first question. - But I have the feeling you wouldn't be able to understand me if I do so... thus I thought it could be easier for you if I'd speak your language - He nods slightly, almost with satisfaction at himself after the explanation.

Is he smiling? That's not possible. Wolves do not smile. Do they?

- And yes, this is indeed my bed. Where do you want me to sleep if I hadn't have a bed? - he seems dismayed at your implied proposition that wolves can and should sleep on the bare ground. Then he pauses for a second.

He is smiling now. For real. For sure. There is no doubt about it. Or is it?

- Ah, that's a different question altogether. A clever one - he is referring to your question about 'this' place. Whatever 'this' could mean in the vast emptiness you can see and feel all around you.

- Because you see, the question is not where are you, bur rather where am I - He pauses again raising his eyebrows while clearly enjoying the confusing effect his riddling words are having. Luckily, he goes on before you can start losing your nerves at this strange creature. - See because where I am, and my bed is, and this entire place is... well, is your dream. -

I could not help but laugh when I heard the white wolf's answer.- Yeah. I suppose you're right. I haven't learnt to bark yet. It's on my to-do's list. 

Somehow I felt kind of chilled out in the company of that wild-but surprisingly tamed- animal. Almost as if it had been me the one who had chosen to be there in that place at that specific time. Had I? I didn't recall anything else than the light, the sudden darkness and the following explosion. 

- Well...I don't know. Where do wolves sleep? In the ground, near a nice tree?- I said, trying to picture the big beast inside the silky red bed linens. it definitely didn't fit in - Anyway, why am I speaking to you about beds?- I asked, as the animal began to answer the most important question. 

- My dream...- that was completely unexpected. How could IT be my dream?- Does that mean I'm alive? Dead people cannot dream, can they?- I said with a spark of hope lighting inside me. - I need to wake up.- I said, with the sudden instinct of pinching my arm. Nothing happened. I was stilll there, in the room with the wolf, although I had gotten to my feet and started wandering around.I suppose it was just another myth, a trick that didn't actually work. 

The White Wolf nodes slowly and... is he smiling again?

- Well yes. I would say you are still alive. - he pauses for a second to reconsider - Mind me, As live as any mortal can by, of course - he clarifies.

All of the sudden, he jumps from the bed and starts circling gracefully around the bed.

- And yes, soon you will wake up, so no need to keep on doing that - he tilts his head to indicate you should stop pinching yourself.

- See, this is your dream, true, but I am here as well, so those tricks are not going to work anyway. - he stops for a second to look at you, then keeps walking around - You might be asking yourself again about who am I and why should that matter for you to be able to wake up. As I said, I am a wolf. Yes. And yes, you called me here to your dream. But... - he looks for the words - It is not just that. Is difficult to put in words you can understand since... - he pauses again and now - well, since you can't bark - he chuckles. Jokes? You think. Seriously? - See, I am not just a wolf. Some people know me as The White Wolf. They... how to say it... worship me, however that means for you mortals. And even though this is your dream, you called me here with your last breath of life. And I came... because we didn't want you to cross the veil yet. It wasn't your time. So yes, it is your dream but - he pauses and raises an eyebrow - I guess we had something to do with it as well. Else... well, else you wouldn't be here and you would be dead. -

He stops and sniffs the air

- But yes... soon you will wake up -

Hearing the white animal saying that I indeed was alive was quite conforting, reassuring. Had I been in a different situation I would have taken that feeling as a sign of insanity. But, in the end, it was my dream. People can do whatever they want in their dreams: flying, jumping from very tall buildings without any damage, speaking to animals...and that didn't mean they were crazy. I was not. I hoped. 

- Soon. I wonder what your concept of soon is...- I murmured, not looking at the wolf at all. For me, I had been in that dream for quite too long already. - How will I know it's time? What do I need to do?

But even before I finished asking the question, he had already started answering it. He was important, decisive. - Why don't you quit the riddles and start giving some straight answers?- My request seemed to have some kind of effect since the white beast continued talking a bit more.- So...that makes you some kind of god, doesn't it? A deity...But, I'm still a bit confused. How is it possible that I summoned you if I didn't even know you existed? And who is "we"? Why do you guys get to choose about my life? What makes you so important?

As I was asking that last question, the animal sniffed the air. Was it that? A smell was going to tell me when the time had come for me to return to the world of the living.?

The White Wolf tilts its head once again, somehow looking pleased at your questions. Almost amused.

- Ah my dear - he answers happily - But it is not what makes us so important the real question, but rather what makes you so important -

Quickly he turns his head and sniffs at something in the distance.

- But enough for today. Now... now you have to wake up. -

With this last sentence, all the world that surrounds you starts vanishing, like a painted washed with a wet mop.

You feel like falling once again in a consuming darkness. But unlike the previous time, this one seems more... natural, more normal. It is also gradually accompanied by a very common feeling. Pain. You start feeling pain in your chest and arm, like if they had been badly wounded and were currently being treated by a physician...

And indeed, they are...

You open your eyes to a blurry familiar image.

The easy elvish features of the inn keeper gradually gain focus.

- Oh you are awake. Good. Good... - he says while putting a warm and reassuring hand in your forehead to keep you lying down while his other keeps changing the bandages in your chest and arm.

- You got us all worried, my dear. Thought you didn't make it - He smiles at you, and his smile is sweet and gentle.

"But it is not what makes us so important the real question, but rather what makes you so important"

With those last words echoing in my head, making me wonder why I should feel special, I woke up to a familiar face. That of the elvish owner of the Inn where we were once accommodated before our quest started. 

- How did I get here?- I asked, letting a grunt scape, suddenly aware of the pain in my chest and arm. Trying to sit up I looked straight into de man's eyes- that way I'd be able to tell if he was lying.- Us? - He had implied that he was not the only one worried about her well-being.- Are the others ok? Did they make it back here with the Scriptures?- By my tone, the man would not be able to tell if what I was worried about was the money we had been promised or what had happened to the rest of the group.