More than Just a Dream (Private)
 

(For Saturn_Ringer, WiddleZetsu, and Atomisk the Pirate King)


The Nightmare watched with fiery eyes as Fear approached him. He lifted his hand from his throne, palm facing upward, and summoned a mass of shadows. "You are my most trusted servant, Fear..." He said in his deep and raspy voice, "I have another mission for you..." In the shadows above his hand appeared the faces of the reincarnations of the Legendary Warriors who had defeated him before. "Track them down... Make it impossible for them to defeat me... I don't care how... Kill them if you must..." The shadows above his hand disappeared as he clenched his dark fist.

Meanwhile...

Eve walked along the path in between Aliria and Aileen. She grew tired, for they had been traveling along the path most of the day. "Ok, I'm eighty percent positive that we're walking in circles..." She said. Her ears were drooping downwards.

fear on one knee says;''yes my lord will that be all my lord .for I live to serve you and your goel infact I have some energy I can use to make some humens be on are side if you wish my lord.''

Aileen sighed, shouldering her sword. She wasn't showing it, but she was tired too.

"I think you're right, Eve." She said, going over to a tree and checking it, before punching it in frustration when she saw a mark. "Something's leading us in circles...we're getting nowhere fast."

fear as hes talking to the nightmare is making the people that pose a threat walk in circles so he could mess with them once he has the right chance.

Eve sighed again, and hunched over. "Do you think we could set up camp for the night?" She asked, her silvery violet hair covering her face, "The sun is going to set in a few minutes... And you know how much I hate the dark..." She looked at the sun, almost fully behind the mountains in the distance.

The Nightmare pondered Fears question. He laughed. "Do what you wish with the humans... their lives mean nothing for me..." he said. "Now go... Find them... Make them suffer like I have..."

fear puts his arm to his chest and says;''yes my lord.''with that he vanished in a puff of smoke to the shadows of the lad close to where the heros are he stays in the shadow as he waits for his chance.

(piont I'm keeping it where he can sink into shadows)

Aliria had been set for making camp a long while ago, her hair of ivory silk settled about her shoulders, none the better for a rest.
"So we got ourselves a scaredy cat?" the girl teased, knowing the time for their break was at hand, spear leaning on her shoulder, it's butt now leaning into the ground. "I'm a bit tired myself... Camp sounds good."

"We're certainly not getting anywhere tonight." Aileen sighed. "Maybe we'll make some progress in the morning."

"Thank you!" Eve said, smiling. She stopped as they reached a clearing that they could swear they passed for the third time, took off the straps of her bag, and took out the large, folded up tent she was carrying. "Okie dokie. Let's set up camp." She said as she started to unfold the tent.

Aileen set down her sword and came over to help set up.

She wasn't happy about stopping for the night, but maybe the enchantment keeping them lost would run out if they did.

Aliria didn't worry much. She dropped the bundle for a tent off to the side, but she wasn't going to be setting it up. The night was far too nice for her to think of raindrops falling upon her. The spear set against a tree, the young woman didn't just leave it there. She stuck it in.
"Well, let's hope tomorrow is more fruitful?"

"Indeed." Aileen sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do if it's as bad as today."

"What do you think if we just burn down the entire location? I mean... How can we be going in circles, if there's nothing to circle?" Aliria inquired with a soft laugh. She was certain the rest of the group was as tired as she, but nonetheless, she had to maintain some type of front.

Eves ears drooped slightly, and she frowned. She knew Aliria was just joking, but still, she detested even the thought of burning down the forest. She shook her head. "No... I don't think we'll have to do that..." She said with a half-hearted laugh.

Meanwhile, Fear watched from the shadows. A message from The Nightmare rang in his head. "Do not attack them out in the open, Fear..." it said, "Invade the one place humanity truely feels safe... their dreams." Fear smirked.
"Yes, my liege..." He said in a voice as quiet as a moths wings, but nearly as sinister as the Nightmares.

"We'll find some way out after we get rest, whether the enchantment wears off or not..." Aileen sighed, sitting down and resting against her sword embedded in the ground.

"I dunno about you folks, but things are taking too long. Why can't this just be a quick run to town?" Aliria had to complain with a yawn, shifting against the tree again, "Speaking of... We better get to a town in the next couple of days. An inn sounds like heaven right now." The spear user wasn't fond of the situation, especially when she was one of the enchanted. Wandering sucked. Simple as that.

Eve nodded. "Yeah... And with a soft bed this time. My back still hurts from the last inn's beds..." She said with a slight giggle as she finished setting up the large tent. She wiped some sweat droplets off of her forehead, and looked at Aliria. "Tent's all set up." She smiled.
As she removed the quiver of arrows strapped to her back and placed them near the tent entrance, she looked at the sunset behind the distant mountains of De'aliin (Day-Al-lean) The multicolored sky during sunset was brighter than ever. "I haven't seen a sunset this beautiful since we left home." She said, remembering the small nameless town they had all called home. The sunsets there looked so beautiful, it was as if the gods had painted the sky.

It was good to hear that the tent was up and all that, Aliria was already up again, swaying slightly. A testament of sorts to her actual level of exhaustion, but nonetheless, she was set to move if the trio had decided to do otherwise. The spear was dragged along with the girl, as she slipped it to the side of the tent, uprooting soil to submerge it ever so slightly. Not everyone had to keep their armaments available to be noticed.
"Always such a softie," the woman laughed a little, as she entered into the large tent. It was good that someone had to be the stern one, and that Eve had managed to remain compassionate, "Don't be too long. I want us moving at sunrise." However, what Aliria wanted wasn't necessarily what the group would do.

Aileen nodded, agreeing with Alira.

"We shouldn't sleep too long. The woods are dangerous places to rest, even for us." She said with a sigh. She looked around.

"There must be a village somewhere nearby...this isn't a very big forest..." She said.

There was some wishful thinking involved in this, but Aileen had to admit she was tired of resting against her sword's blade. She wanted a bed just as badly as the rest of them, but there had to be priority for the matter at hand.

Eve nodded as she watched the sunset. Before it fully disappeared, she took out her map, and checked their location. She placed her finger on the location of the forest they were in, and looked around the area.
"Hm... It looks like the closest populated area iiiiiiiiiis..." She moved her finger to another part of the map, and smiled. "A city that we should all know is the capital of the kingdom we are currently in, Halum."
Halum was a very famous city in history. Not only was it where the royal family lived, it was also where first three legends organized the rebellion against the Nightmare. And, it was the first city built by both humans and elves.
"Can't wait to see what it's like." Eve said with a yawn. As the sun finally set, she walked to the tent. "Well, I'm off to bed now." She opened the small flap that acted as a door to the tent. "Until Morning." She said, smiling as she walked through.

Halum, huh? Well, Aliria wasn't too excited for the rocky earth once more, as she settled herself within the tent, as close to the hidden spear as best she could.
"G'night to you all," the ivory haired woman would comment simply, as her head hit the bundle of clothing that she dared to use as a bedroll, and her eyes settled shut. She would be sleeping quite lightly, as she normally did. A habit for a warrior, no doubt.

"Sleep lightly, both of you..." Aileen muttered warningly, but yawned and closed her eyes.

A poorly-rested warrior was an ineffective one, but sleeping too deeply was asking for trouble. Aileen daily struggled to balance how deeply she slept to avoid weakening herself by lack of or excess of sleep.

A few hours passed as the trio slept, until it was all just complete darkness. Fear now saw his chance to act. He rematerialized out of the darkness of the night, and walked into the tent, making absolutely no sound that could be heard.
He looked at the three sleeping girls in front of him, and grinned. "Too easy..." He whispered so quietly that only he could even tell he was speaking. He extended his arms outward, and cast his spell. His entire body turned into a black fog, and entered into the dreams of the Reincarnations.

Eve's dream, which was of her mother, suddenly turned black. When the darkness cleared, she was in the arena of the Nightmare's palace in Jazere, standing next to Aliria and Aileen. She held in her hands her longbow, and a steel-tipped arrow. An entire quiver of one-hundred arrows was strapped on her back as well. She looked at Aliria and Aileen, who had also been taken from their dreams to the arena.
"Ok... This definately isn't the dream I was having just moments ago..." She said in a frightened tone. She looked around the Arena. They were the only ones there for the time being.

"I was fishing a second ago. What's going on?" Aileen asked, looking around suspiciously.

This felt real, but didn't all dreams? Were her companions figments and the arena a construction of her sleeping mind, or was something much more sinister going on?

A brief yawn would escape from Aliria's lips, rubbing her eyes.
"Ah damn... I was just starting to get comfortable in that bed," the younger of the human duo would complain slightly, gripping the haft of her lance tightly. The setting of the quaint and humble room that had been hers back in the village had been decimated. In favor of an empty arena... With the exception of her traveling companions. Then of course, came the statements from them. They'd been torn away as well?
"Who the hell wants to bother me now, of all times?" the thick headed girl called, knowing someone had to show some sort of defiance. No matter what had done this to them.

As their statements were spoken, an eerily familiar cackle filled the arena. "Welcome to the worst nightmare you'll ever have, Travelers" the voice called out. It was strange... It sounded so familiar, yet none of them could find anyone in their memories who sounded anything like this.

Eve readied her arrow, though her hands were trembling. "Who's there?" She called out. The cackles of the person filled the Arena once more as a black fog covered the floor. Out of the dark mist, a man about seven feet tall made out of pure darkness appeared, carrying a battle axe in one hand, and a short sword in the other, both releasing the same black fog that covered the arena.

"Come now... Don't you remember me?" He asked in a sinister tone. He started to walk slowly to the girls' right, examining them closely. He looked at each of them, sneering while he walked. "Aileen Harrows... age Nineteen..." He turned his head to Eve, "Eve Saminil... Age Seventeen..." he turned his head to Aliria, and stopped in his tracks. He was almost right in front of them. "And Aliria Kristnim... Age eighteen... I thought you three would look a little... oh... I don't know... STRONGER?" He cackled.

What was this odd feeling. One of some twisted nostalgia, upon witnessing the fog that was enveloping the entirety The axe and sword seemed to irritate Aliria a little more than she could have believed. Then of course, the bastard had to go and do something odd. Reveal general information. The fact that he knew their names meant something, she was certain, but the fact that he was so close, taunting them. She had no intention of just letting him get away with it.
"You got something to say, then say it," the girl snapped as her arm lunged forth, throwing what minimal weight she had into the thrust, hoping to silence the figure.

As Aliria drew closer, the dark man grinned. Just when she was within stabbing range of him, he vanished, as if her were never there at all.
Then, there was a loud clang as something flat, cold, and black smashed into the side of Aliria's face, sending her flying into the wall of the arena. "You aren't going to get too far with a full frontal attack..." said the familiar voice of the man. He stood there, right beside where Aliria was. It was as if he had teleported somehow.
He glanced over at Aileen and Eve, sneering. "Well then... I guess you don't recognize me..." He said as he turned to them, "But then again... It HAS been one-hundred years since you imprisoned me in that dreaded orb of light with my master..."

Eve looked at Aileen, then turned her head to Aliria. She was more frightened than ever before. When the man finished, her ears stuck almost straight up in the air. "Wait... do you mean to say that..."

The man suddenly appeared in front of Eve, and shut her lips with his fingers. "I'm saying that you three are the Reincarnations..." He stopped, and grinned, "And I... I am here to serve the Nightmare's wishes..." Eve stood there, frozen in fear by his touch. "You may call me Fear... But don't expect to be able to speak for that long" He let go of her lips, and jumped backwards.

Reincarnations? Sealed with his master? Did he mean to say that they were all some sort of heroes brought back in new bodies for the sake of repeating history? His mockery was quickly becoming more and more irritating.
"Would you just shut the hell up?" she snapped, Aliria's spear swung to the side merely hitting air. He wasn't there anymore. This Fear character was standing before Eve. Touching her... Defiling her. It sickened Aliria.
"Step away," she screamed, lunging through the air, moving to pierce the man at an angle. Such irritation that this man seemed to spark.

Aileen had been ignoring the creature's taunts and words to try and analyze the situation without becoming angry, but her attempts to discern any weak points in what was obviously an enemy failed. Her temper finally broke through when the thing touched Eve.

Springing to her comrade's defense, Aileen swung her large blade at Fear at the same time Alira attacked.

Its taunts and the cryptic note about reincarnation were not important. This thing had probably brought them here and threatened them, and it had to be destroyed.

As Fear jumped back into the line of sight of the oncoming attackers, Eve shook herself back into reality. She looked at Fear and readied her steel-tipped arrow, pulling the bowstring back as far as it would go.

Fear chuckled as he caught the weapons of both girls when they came near. "I was hoping you wouldn't be this stupid..." he said as he held onto their weapons as if they weighed nothing. "It's too bad... I was also hoping to actually have to put up some effort..." Dark energy formed orbs by his fists, and his chest.
As the two melee fighters of the group struggled to free their weapons from Fear's grip, and as Eve fired her arrow at him, the orbs shot out in a blast of shadows that knocked the trio down, and somehow, paralyzed them. The arrow that was fired had been disintegrated.

Eve lay sprawled out on the ground, dark energy pulsing through her veins. "It... feels like... my insides... are burning..." She managed to say as she gasped for breath. She tried to look over at Aliria and Aileen, who had it just as bad, if not worse.

Fear laughed at the helplessness of the trio. "Well... I guess I'll just fulfill my orders and leave..." He said as he crossed his hands out in front of him. Something inaudible came out of his mouth, and a bright blue light surrounded the girls.

"Agh!" Aileen was knocked over in surprise as her attack was parried effortlessly, holding her stomach in pain.

"Shit! A curse?!" She muttered, seeing the light and trying her best to see waht was happening to the others.

Aliria was stuck., He'd stepped from her line and ceased the momentum quite quickly. Unfortunately for the girl, that was a bad thing, considering her momentum through the air. The jerking motion rattled her for more than a moment, and finally, she was sent back into the air. The agonizing feeling seemed to envelope her, and she was certain that everyone else was feeling the same thing. It was so hard to tell if this was the light, or if it was the aspect of her being being jarred so furiously. The most Aliria could muster was a slight groan of agony.

Soon Fear's inaudible words ceased, and the blue light engulfed the girls completely. They stopped feeling pain for a few seconds as it did, but soon they felt more agony than ever before. The blue light started to rush into them through their skin. It felt as if their entire bodies had been set alight in an oil fire. The pain had been so intense that it should've made them black out. But they did not pass out... They suffered until all of the light had entered them, and the burning had stopped.

'Heh heh... pleasant dreams...' was the last thing Eve could remember Fear saying as she shot straight up from her spot. She grabbed at her heart, gasping for breath. It was the exact time of sunrise, from what she observed. When she saw she was still in the tent, she was shocked. "wha...what was that?" She asked herself, "It seemed so... so real..."

Aileen jerked awake, the reassuring coolness of her swordblade at her back let her know she was awake, in the same place and position she'd drifted off from.

She put a hand over her chest, catching her breath.

"Was that all a dream, then...? Or can they even attack us in our sleep?" Aileen muttered to herself.

Even if it was just a dream, one so vivid and painful was an ill omen. Aileen cared not one bit for this development.

Eve looked over as Aileen awoke. She was close to tears just from the memory of the dream. "Aileen?" She said, "Did...did you have that dream as well?" she sounded as if she were choking on the words.
She looked over at Aliria, the last one asleep, even though she was a light sleeper. "Did we all have the same dream..?" She asked. She remembered Fear's cold touch that brought her worst nightmare up before her eyes.

"Eve?" Aileen came over to her friend's side, concern on her face as she realized she was near tears. Instinctively, she hugged Eve, trying to help her calm down.

"I-I think we all had the dream...but what did it mean?" She muttered.

All the while that Aliria had been resting, she had been peaceable in appearance. A facade that she usually managed to pull off for the most part, but as was everyone else's issue, the girl snapped to attention. She struggled to fight back the tears as she dragged the spear through the base of the tent, it's haft soothing her so.
"What a bastard..." the girl mumbled, in an attempt to seem strong, while the other two recovered, but there was an issue with that bit. She just couldn't put her finger upon it.

Eve looked over to Aliria when she had risen from her sleep. Her words confirmed Eve's suspicion. That dream, the pain it had brought, and the man made of darkness, were real.

Her eyes grew wide as she suddenly felt a burning sensation all over her body, like the burning that the blue light had inflicted on the group. She writhed around in agony in Aileen's arms, starting to cry. "Aaaaagh! My skin... it feels like it's on fire..!" She said weakly as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Every few seconds she jerked her head around from the pain.

Eve's clothing seemed to be getting looser on her, and Aileen could feel and see that Eve was getting smaller and smaller in between her arms. The curse that Fear had cast was finally working.

"Eve?! EVE!!" Aileen looked down in horror as she felt her friend grow smaller in her arms.

No. This can't be happening! What do I do?!

"ALIRIA!" Aileen shouted desperately, turning to Aliria.

"We've been cursed! She's getting smaller!" Aileen, normally calm and looking for a solution quietly, was on the verge of breakdown.

"What do we do?!"