It was a sleepless night and had been so for the past two nights. Scouring over books and scrolls, I feel as I have exhausted all means to understand an ancient text I had come across my travels. The words were clear but something about it felt as though it was fleeting, as if hiding a secret out in the open as if taunting me. I have lost how many hours I spent trying to understand it but to no avail and so, I lay in my chambers expecting another sleepless night.

At first, it was like all prior nights until finally...the night seemed to grant me slumber and as I closed my eyes, I felt like something rushed over my very being. It was like falling from a great height before plunging into the depths of a lake. But...there was no cliff and no water. When my eyes opened, it was as if I was floating in an endless black, Astral place. I was unsure of where I was but like a dream, something began to emerge from the darkness. At first there were two shadowy figures, darker than that of the endless void before colors began to emerge from the two and from these colors, I was able to witness these two beings.

On one side, there were shades of green flowing and forming like smoke and fire as the colors whipped about and within them, I saw a wolf. His fur was dark but had possessed a lighter furred underbelly or at least I assumed. His overall appearance seemed to suggest he was a warrior of some sort the way his hair was fashioned and I swore I could smell the leather of his armor. On the other side, shades of white and blue seemed to swirl and flow as if like a running stream. It was calm yet possessed great strength like the sea. And from it emerged what seemed to be like another wolf but...I was not sure. His features were quite unlike the other as his fur was brighter, softer and yet sleek. I swore I saw what seemed like fins upon his cheeks. From his back burst a pair of wings, composed of water itself as the wings ever changed and flowed. I was beside myself as I watched but as I did, something ignited.

As if unprovoked, the two figures began to fight as both seemed to duck and dodge one another's advances. The one figure of water seemed to fly, almost swimming through the air as he whipped water like they were swords and whips athe the darker wolf. I thought it an unfair battle until a shard of ice was hurled at the wolf. I saw it cut upon the man but in an instant, I saw green flames and smoke seeming to burst and billow. There was no hesitation as spectral hands appeared from the darkness as if to block and repel the one man's attacks. I witnessed a pair of spectral, skeletal hands catch a particularly large shard of ice before seeing them crushing it in their grasp.

I was unaware of what was taking place but considering the two, their looks and abilities and all, I think I was watching a battle of life and death. Not so much a battle that would end in the finality of one of the two...but a fight of literal representations of life and death. The way they battled one another...it was as if it were a battle of futility as one would be able to counter the other and vice versa. Neither could win but neither could lose. It was always a constant battle and for the duration of my slumber, I could do nothing but witness the battle for what felt like an eternity within that void.

Every if the fight itself could be viewed as eternal, the night was not. The rays of the morning sun began to break with one ray of light cascading into my room. The light hit my eyes and swore it reached deep into my dream as the two came clashing together in a mighty attack that flashed so brightly before my eyes. In an instant, I awoke as I lurched up from my bed. I gasped and took in deep breaths of air as if emerging from the depths of those dark waters. I felt as though my body was drenched but as I wiped my forehead, it must have been sweat. Was my dream that intense? I was not sure but...what I witnessed, it was like I was there first hand. But then my mind was beset by a sudden realization. Was my dream a result of those texts that bedeviled me? Was the answer within that unwinnable conflict? I felt elated with the realization that I sprung from my bed to write down this dream and for the first time in these last few days, I was eager to fall back asleep if it meant gaining a better understanding of this conflict. In the back of my head, I imagined they were waiting for my Astral consciousness to return as if eager to have an audience to their struggle.

This is a recent commission I finished for  migal featuring his necromancer wolf, Colin, and  HyuugaTakuto 's water elemental, Artemis, locked in combat. It's been a while since I done a piece like this and am glad with the end result