A field of black dandelions drifted soundlessly through the void.
Dago's consciousness suddenly surged up from a deep, dark sea, awakening within a dream.
"Rustle—swish—"
The richly textured sound of silk and satin rubbing together, accompanied by faint panting, completely dragged him out of his lingering drowsiness.
His eyelids felt heavy as he forced them open into a narrow slit.
The entire room was dimly lit, with thick, elaborate dark-purple velvet curtains tightly shutting out the glaring sunlight.
In the few strands of light that leaked through, tiny motes of dust danced silently in midair.
The air was thick with ambergris, intertwined with the lingering decadent scent of pleasure.
Bracing both hands against the bed, Dago slowly pushed himself halfway up from the soft bedding.
Following the sound, he looked toward the shadows at his front left.
A woman sat on the edge of the bed with her back to him.
She bent her alluring waist slightly as she slowly pulled a pair of black thigh-high stockings over her long, straight calves.
The room was deathly silent, with only the faint rustle of clothing audible.
Dago said nothing. His deep gaze rested quietly upon the woman's smooth, bare back.
At the center of that skin, white as snow, was a striking tattoo of a purple venomous snake coiled with its tongue flicking out, radiating an eerie, cruel chill.
The woman seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. After unhurriedly putting on the last piece of intimate clothing, she stopped moving.
She still did not turn around, but an extremely hoarse murmur, like sandpaper scraping together, came from her lips.
"I saw it again."
The woman tilted her head up slightly, her voice carrying a barely perceptible fervor and tremor. "In my dream... its massive body blotted out