Vessel

A Last Ditch Effort

We had to hurry. There was still a nightmare left in the world. Where? The abyss. Because why not be extremely far away. Unfortunately I had to tell Hornet that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. "Hmm. I suspected as much. Let's make haste then."

And we were off. We didn't stop to camp. Hornet was the only one of us that actually needed sleep apparently. As the days passed, Hornet grew increasingly tired. And it was increasingly obvious. Yet she did her best, and was able to keep up with me and Curth.

Eventually, after a four day walk, we arrived at the door to the abyss. Turning to Hornet, I wrote that she should probably stay here. Reluctantly, Hornet agreed, so at least we wouldn't have to deal with Hornet collapsing off the side of one of the many floating platforms.

This left me in charge of Curth. Looking at the friendly vessel, I tried to convey that we would have to be extremely careful not to fall. Curth actually seemed to understand, much to my surprise. We approached the edge of the abyss. Curth tripped and tumbled off the platform. Luckily, they made it to another, lower platform.

Hopping down next to them, I revised my earlier statement to Curth. Luckily, they seemed to understand when I tried to convey to just wait there. I would continue on my own. Well, Dave was still there, but otherwise, I was alone again.

Toward the bottom of the abyss, the nightmare appeared. It wasted no time and got to work, and I did the same. The nightmare spun its torch in its hand, before stabbing at me with the pointed end. I sidestepped, swinging my nail in the process. The nightmare blocked my swing with their torch. Sparks flew as my nail scraped away for another attack. This nightmare wielded a purely metal torch.

I launched into a furious offensive. Strike after strike were hurled at the Nightmare. It kept its poise, deflecting each attack with ease. Suddenly, it turned the tide, launching its own offensive. The flurry of blows was incredibly quick. I was able to keep up, but barely. Soon, I was backed up against the platform's edge. It was still close to the bottom, but it was a good drop, possibly fatal. The nightmare spun its torch once again, preparing for its final push.

Something fell from the sky and slammed into the Nightmare's head. The Nightmare stumbled back and I lunged forward to finish it off. Dave swooped in as I turned to investigate what had fallen. It was Curth. They were ok, just a little dizzy. If nothing else, Curth was an absolute damage sponge.

We eventually managed to make it to the top of the abyss. Hornet, still incredibly tired, was there waiting for us. It was time to go back to Dirtmouth. Hornet was definitely struggling to stay awake. Eventually, we arrived in Dirtmouth. As we approached the tent, Hornet collapsed. She had fallen asleep.

There was no other option. I grabbed the dreamnail and thought to myself, "Sorry Hornet." I slashed and collapsed.

I was in Hornet's personal nightmare. I was in a ring of red fire, with Hornet on the ground nearby. She looked like she had been in a fight with something ten times her size. And it didn't look like she had won. Herrah stood outside the ring. Slowly, she walked through the flames, and approached Hornet. "You failed, Hornet. You failed me when I needed you most." She punched her daughter and walked away.

This was Hornet's nightmare. Every single time she believed she had failed, all played back to her before a more physical attack. The ring of fire was slowly closing in.

I reached out my hand to Hornet. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes. I wanted to speak, to tell her that it would be ok, that she hadn't failed. But being a vessel, I couldn't. And I didn't have my notepad. Odd. I had it in my pocket when I entered the nightmare.

"Perhaps you don't understand, my friend. This isn't your realm. It is mine!" Grimm appeared. Only now, he had transformed into a much larger threat. The nightmare king continued his speech. "Perhaps I should show you personally." He snapped and I froze in place.
He walked over and picked Hornet up by her throat. "Your time, is up. And since you're here, you get to watch." He started to squeeze.

There had to be something I could do to get out of this. He couldn't possibly hold that much power. Suddenly, a realization hit me. This is a dream. If I focus hard enough, I may be able to shape it. I started to focus, thinking solely about my desired change. I didn't want to be frozen anymore. I wanted to be able to move. I would be able to move. "It's a nice sentiment, but you're getting nowhere." The nightmare king mocked.

I hated to admit it, but he was right. I wasn't getting anywhere. I needed a new plan. There had to be some way to escape this. There had to be something more powerful than the Nightmare Heart. Then I realized that there was something far more powerful; void.

I lurched into a shadow dash, catching the nightmare king by surprise. As I came out of the dash, I kicked him and drew my nail. Hornet was free of his grip. But with no weapons of her own, I was alone in this fight. The nightmare king charged at me.

I ducked under his claw and slashed at him. Grimm leapt backwards shooting bats at me. As I continued to run a circle, he continued to shoot bats. I turned and ran toward him. I leapt over a bat and shadow dashed through another. I swung my nail as the nightmare king soared into the sky. He started throwing fireballs. I managed to barely duck and dodge the attacks before he came in for a landing, directly where I had been standing a second ago.

He lunged and grabbed onto my horn. "Let's take this somewhere more... personal..." The scenery shifted slowly and Hornet faded away. Maybe she had woken up. Maybe we were somewhere else. It was hard to say. The scene was incredibly familiar. It was my school again. Only this time, it seemed to be in session.

As we fought through the halls, my former classmates stood by the doors to their classes, watching the duel in front of them. As the nightmare king dodged my nail, he slid under it and kicked me. I hit the floor halfway down the hall and slid into the back wall.

The nightmare king lunged toward me. I managed to roll aside as his fist soared straight through the wall. I slashed at him as he tried to free himself. He was able to dodge the attack before kicking me again and freeing his arm.

He swiped at my legs, forcing me to jump. I swung my nail midair only to connect with his still metallic claws. I kicked him, causing him to stumble slightly as I brought down my nail. Sidestepping the strike, the nightmare king grabbed my horn again.

The scene shifted. We were somewhere I had hoped he would avoid. We were in my home. The door to my room opened to reveal my mother. She looked at the scene before her in horror. She had no way of knowing what was going on. The nightmare king seemed to know that she was my mother. He cackled an evil laugh and swung at her. I blocked him with my nail, locking blades.

He kicked me, pinning me to the ground with his foot. I couldn't move. I couldn't even turn my head. My nail had been flung aside. Desperately, I searched for the nail. Any attempt to survive this. He raised his clawed hand, ready to strike me down. My hand found the hilt of a nail. I swung it with all of my might. The nightmare king looked at me. "You've no idea what you've just unleashed. See you soon." He then slowly dissolved from existence. Looking down, I realized I had drawn not my combat nail, but the dream nail. There was no telling what I may have done.

That's it for this chapter! This was a pretty long one, but I'm happy with how it turned out. It's been a long time coming, but the Grimm storyline is coming to a close in the next chapter. Once that's been released, I'll drop some more info on my new project. Until then, I'll see you in the next chapter!