Commander Braghaman Larethian

Unsettling Dreams

It was a quiet night at the Larethian house. A breeze pushed through the trees outside and brushed up against the house, but the inside was warm and secure from the cool winds of the season. All the candles had been snuffed and shadows danced throughout the home. Only the sounds of sleep could be heard inside.

Deeper into the night, a grunt could be heard from the first floor. Soon another followed. And then another. Braghaman lay on his back, shifting a little from side to side. Suddenly, he grunted again as his head turned to the side and his arms flew into the air as if to ward off an attack. His eyes opened and then blinked several times as he tried to focus on the objects in the dark. Slowly he lowered his arms and brought his right hand to his face.

Beside the paladin, Niviene stirred slightly. Mumbling something, the priestess turned on her side to face Bragh and placed a comforting hand on his arm before she fell back to sleep. 

Bragh took a few moments to control his breathing. Calmer, he reached over and patted Niv’s hand. Satisfied, the priestess’ hand withdrew and she curled back up under the blankets. Bragh slid out from under the covers and off the side of the bed as cautiously as he could, so as not to wake Niv. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he moved around the bed and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Once out in the living room, Bragh sat down heavily on his chair and took a couple deep breaths. Slowly, almost mechanically, he reached up and untied the leather straps in his hair. He took a moment to run his fingers through the hair before putting it back into a pair of messy braids and tying them off again. That habit done, he looked at the table in front of him and the candle that sat on it. The paladin reached forward and pulled the matchbox free from the holder. Taking a match out, he struck it and lit the candle, then waved the match until it went out. Bragh placed the burnt match on the rim of the candle holder and then sat back in his chair.

The paladin stared at the flame of the candle. While his breathing had slowed, the look in the paladin’s eyes had not changed. He stared blankly at the dancing flame of the candle. Whatever he had seen in his sleep was slow to leave him.

“Dad?”

Braghaman’s head jerked as he looked to the hallway. Standing in the shadows of the house, young Banagan took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light of the candle. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, Banny then started walking into the living room.

“Are you okay, son?”

“I had a bad dream,” Banagan answered as he stepped over to his father’s chair. Without ceremony, he climbed up onto the Bragh’s lap and rested his head against paladin’s shoulder.

“Its okay now. Nothing can get you here.”

“There were people fighting. They were really angry.”

“Someone you know?”

“No,” Banny answered, but then paused. “There were skeletons everywhere. And they were angry, too.”

“Sounds like some dream,” Braghaman said calmly as he patted Banny’s shoulder.

“Could the skeletons outside ever get inside?”

“No son, we took precautions to make sure that wouldn’t happen.”

“What about the new house? When we move there? Will they get inside of there?”

“No. We’ll take the same precautions there, too.”

“Can we do more. Just to be sure?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Can we build a wall around it? Like the city has?”

“I’m not sure we can build a wall like Stormwind’s.”

“Maybe an armory, then? So if something gets inside we can fight back.”

“It may be a little late to put one of those into the constructions plans.”

“I just don’t want the skeletons getting in. They had armor and were scary looking.”

Braghaman looked down at his son, whose eyes were closed as he leaned against the paladin. Bragh watched his son for a few minutes more, taking in what the young man had said. A look of concern appeared on his face and almost as quickly disappeared. Patting his son’s shoulder again, Bragh let out a slow breath.

“It’ll be okay, son. Nothing is going to get in here. I promise.”