Imagine #1: A Dream...

Chapter 26: Defeat

DIANA HAYLDEN

Sunday, June 28, 2020 - 2080 RC

Nightmare disappeared and took the dim light with her. We were standing in complete darkness, surrounded by swirling clouds and howling wind. The plan we had so carefully created had pretty much collapsed, leaving us to fight the Darkness on our own.

"Sylvia." I reached out towards her. She grabbed my hand quickly, not wanting to get separated when the chances of finding each other again was so little in the dark.

"I'm here," She answered from beside me. She held her other hand ahead of us, creating a small candle from our magic, trying to light up the area around us. A small, soft, flame appeared in her hand, but only stayed for a second before disappearing. She winced. "I'm sorry. I just can't risk it going out of control right now."

I shook my head. "Why would you lose control? We've been training for a while now. We know how to use our magic. Just keep trusting yourself."

"I can't. I'm afraid and I can't think of a way to stop Darkness this powerful. How can I be positive in a time like this? And if you don't remember, the last time this happened, my magic nearly killed us." She argued hopelessly.

I didn't know what to say to make her feel better. I wouldn't admit it now, not when Sylvia had more valid reasons than I did, but I was scared too. I was scared of Nightmare, a little scared of our magic, scared of what happened to our friends, and scared of failing and letting the Darkness take over the planet.

I took a deep breath, trying to rationalize my fears and get rid of them. "We have to think of a positive emotion. What do you feel right now, besides fear or nerves?"

Sylvia paused, thinking. "Nothing, I don't know," She struggled for words. "Protective, I guess? I want to save this planet, this realm, and I want to make sure you don't get hurt doing it either." She offered.

"Then focus on that. You don't have to fight the Darkness, you have to protect me and the realm. That's your goal right now. Protection, defense. Not attacking, not offense. Do what you can. I know you're strong enough to help defeat the Nightmares like this too," I encouraged, working out a plan in my head.

"And what about you?" She questioned.

"I'll try to take down the Darkness," I said with finality, summoning all the positive emotion I could muster. The feeling of friendship from all these new people we had met, the wonder of seeing the planets for the first time, the deepening connection I felt with the realm. If I wanted to protect it, I had to defeat the Darkness.

I felt a glow from behind me. I glanced behind to see Sylvia lit up with the glow of a hundred butterflies, the number only increasing. Each butterfly was made of pure white light, fluttering over the dead grass beneath our feet. Every time one brushed the ground, the grass came back to life, vivid and green once again.

It's working. But Nightmare won't let the Darkness stay idle for long, I thought. I had to start my powers as well.

I created a huge light projection dragon, larger than anything I had ever created before. It swooped the perimeter of the cloud surrounding us, the clouds getting a little lighter in color with every time they were lit up. In a few seconds, the Darkness was getting brighter, glowing butterflies filling every corner of the sky and ground, and a huge dragon making laps around us.

Nightmare apparently wasn't ready to lose yet, though. Bands of dark clouds that still remained wrapped around my dragon like chains, and the light it emitted was fading quickly. My fists were clenched from the stress as I tried to keep my emotions high and sustain the dragon. The Darkness itself seemed to drain you of anything happy in the world, but when Nightmare attacked, everything got worse.

"Hey," Sylvia said from my side. She held out a hand, and I grasped it quickly. "You helped me, are still helping me, so much. I'm here to help you too,"

She moved a few butterflies over to weaken the black bands of light, and I used the distraction to free my dragon and send it higher up the mass of clouds, trying to open up the top of the funnel as well.

Nightmare didn't wait for us to start winning before launching another attack. The beams of Darkness swirled lower, closer towards us. Every time one brushed past me, I felt like I had just run a marathon, getting more tired every second, ready to collapse. I knew that we could keep fighting for long. The magic was draining to use extensively, even with all the practice we had done.

Sylvia used her other hand to return the butterflies closer to us, forming a protective dome around us using them. I dissolved my dragon into a swarm of fireflies, combining them with the butterflies to block the Darkness around us. The Darkness seemed to be closing in, crushing inward towards our dome.

"I can't hold this much longer," Sylvia warned, glancing towards me.

"Neither can I," I replied, scanning the clouds around us. "On my count, then, release everything you've got." She nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. I did the same, channeling my magic from inside me, dredging up every positive emotion I could think of. "One... Two... Three!"

In an explosion of light, I sent everything out of my body, all the emotion into a powerful form of Dreamer magic. There was a loud BOOM, then howling wind descended towards us from all around. I didn't dare let go yet, but imagined a sweeping wave of light cleaning out every last sliver of Darkness off the planet, dissolving it all and letting it disappear.

Only when I felt Sylvia's grip on my hand loosen did I let my magic relax. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, then looked up at last. The sun was out. The vibrant colors had returned. I could almost cry in relief. The Darkness was gone. We had done it.