Imagine #1: A Dream...

Chapter 22: Distract

HAZEL OREN

Sunday, June 28, 2020 - 2080 RC

The Darkness today was different. It wasn't like the other times we had fought. I didn't like it, and it was throwing off our plans. Aiden had suspected that the Nightmares had realized that we were catching on, that our battles tended to play out like a pattern. He had thought that they might shake things up to catch us off-guard. And he was right.

Nightmare was nowhere to be found. The cloud above us had been slowly growing in size as we had waited and kept watch, but Nightmare herself seemed to be hiding somewhere beyond the clearing. I had felt confident, but I was getting nervous. What if the Nightmares are just trying to trick us? I worried, but tried to keep my focus on what was happening, not what might happen.

In a flash, after a good chunk of waiting and silence, a swirling funnel of dark clouds stretched down from the mass of clouds above us, creating a whirling tornado that only seemed to grow as time passed. The Darkness was here. But still no Nightmare.

Our job was to carry out Phase 1 of the plan: distraction. When Nightmare appeared, we were supposed to stall her as long as we could, to save time for Diana and Sylvia to help with the evacuation before they tried to get rid of the Darkness with their powers. No Nightmare meant no phase 1, and the Darkness would just keep on spreading.

"What are we supposed to do without someone to distract? We can't just wait around doing nothing," I said, turning to Vex.

She nodded. "We could try to put shields around the funnel, try to block it from moving, maybe?" She glanced forward, and her aqua-blue eyes widened. "Or, we could fight them," Vex suggested, pointing forward with her sword.

I turned to see what was there. Eight soldiers, judging by the style of their clothing, had suddenly appeared in front of the Darkness, but it wasn't engulfing them. The soldiers were wearing dark gray armor, with dark blue, purple, and red as accents. They had a different emblem on their clothing too, similar to the Dream Realm's, but not quite. They had to be Nightmares.

I looked at Vex, shocked. "Now what?" I asked.

She shrugged, finishing a message on her DreamWatch. "Improvise," She offered, then charged towards the Nightmares.

I followed suit, with a little less confidence than she had. I scanned the group of soldiers making their way towards us. All of them were older than me, stronger than me, and probably knew how to use a sword far better than I did. I was nervous about fighting just one person, and now I had to fend off at least four.

I took a deep breath. You can do this, I told myself. The soldier in front of me made the first move. He sliced downward, bringing his sword down towards my face. I threw a hand over my face and created a shield, his sword bouncing off of the surface.

He looked a little surprised, but kept attacking. I guess the Nightmares aren't used to fighting us either, I thought. Their magic must be different. If they don't have shields, what do they have? I wondered.

I tried to parry the strikes as best as I could, swinging my sword wildly from opponent to opponent, trying to keep a shield protecting me from behind. After a few minutes, I realized how close I had gotten to the Darkness. Were they trying to push me in? I had to make some room.

I swept my sword in a large arc, trying to clear some room so I could move away, but the Nightmares weren't having it. One of them, from a little further away, made a motion with his hand as if he were throwing something at me, but he wasn't holding anything. Out of nowhere, faster than I could throw up a shield, a dark red beam of light flew towards me.

It didn't behave like light though. It collided with me and knocked me over, pushing me just a few feet away from the Darkness. It felt like I had been hit in the chest with a cannon ball, rather than a beam of light. The magic wasn't all unfamiliar. It seemed to work kind-of like... Vex's magic.

I didn't have time to ponder this sudden revelation. I had to get away from the Darkness or—

I couldn't move fast enough. In a sudden movement, the dark mass of clouds surged forward, swallowing me in inky black. I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to see through the clouds, but it was impossible. The light was so little, I couldn't see where the edge of the Darkness was. How could I escape?

More than my sight, I couldn't even move my body. I felt sluggish and tired, each part of me felt heavy and immovable. I tried to get up, but I was just SO tired, I could just lie here and fall asleep...

NO! I had to help Vex! She needed me out there, they all did. But the Darkness had a stronger effect on me than it did before, almost like Forestical behaved when we had seen it darkened. I was exhausted, my eyes wouldn't stay open. I struggled to wake up, but I couldn't do it. I closed my eyes, and let the darkness consume me.