A Breeding Darkness (Complete)

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Joon, now a raven and carrying Lucy, circled in the air above Koshmar, and for a moment Lucy thought they would be safe. Joon could fly them into the dark forest and then return to human form and make them a lantern. There was no way that Koshmar would be able to find them if they could just lose him this once.

But that was a short lived joy.

As Lucy looked down from their height, she saw Koshmar standing still and watching them back. And then, just as easily as Joon did, he created something from nothing. He hunched and then black wings, exactly like the ones that lifted Joon, spread from his back. While the rest of him never changed into a massive bird, he still still flexed the winds and launched into the air. 

Koshmar flew close, whizzing by them before Lucy even realized what was going on. She felt the wind stir her curls as he passed by, and a tug on her clothing. She looked down at her shoulder to see he had sliced the fabric of her dress with his blade along the front of her shoulder, but thankfully had missed her skin. She couldn't afford to wake up and leave Joon here alone with Koshmar.

As he prepared for another attack, Lucy leaned down to get as close to where she thought Joon's ears might be as a bird. She screwed her eyes shut, and gripped his feathers in some hope he could maybe at least sense her urgency if he couldn't understand her words. "He's going to kill us, Joon. You have to get us out of here."

Just as she finished saying this, Koshmar turned and prepared for another diving attack. He was above them and to one side, his legs dangling down as his wings supported his upper body. Like an avenging angel, his eyes locked on Lucy. She realized with a start that he was going to attack her first. He wanted her to wake up. If he even nicked her skin at all, he would send her back to the real world and Joon would be at his mercy with no help and no comfort. 

Before she could say anything more to Joon, Koshmar dove. Joon kept flying in the same direction, seemingly not noticing the imminent danger. Koshmar dove and spun, heading directly toward her, his blade glinting in the sunlight. He was right by her, inches away, and she closed her eyes, readying for the pain that would send her back to Krov Korol.

But instead, she felt her stomach drop out and air across her face. She opened her eyes to see that Joon had spread his wings to create a lift, and was now a few feet above Koshmar, who struggled to right himself and face the correct direction. With his prey now underneath him, Joon dove down, his talons digging into Koshmar's shoulders and stomach. Koshmar yelled out in pain, struggling to free himself, but unable to do much against the strength of the giant creature.

With the added weight of Koshmar, Joon wasn't able to fly any longer, and they plummeted toward the earth. Lucy screamed, clutching Joon's feathers until they pulled away in her hands. Tears filled her eyes from the force of the air streaming past her, and she thought for sure they'd splatter across the ground as it rushed to meet them. But at the last moment, Joon spread his wings again, dropping Koshmar with just enough time to slow their decent. While Koshmar went spinning away on the ground in a cloud of dust and sticks, Joon slid to a stop on his belly. 

Still, Lucy couldn't hold on forever. With the force of Joon's decent, she went flying over the top of his head, landing in a pile of leaves a few feet away from him. Thankfully, she hadn't been injured enough to send her back home, and she got to her feet more shaken by the fall than by the landing. 

Dusting herself off, she looked around for Joon and spotted him a few yards away. He'd located Koshmar and now stood over him, his talons digging in deep to the dream master's shoulders. Though he had the advantage of size and position, Joon struggled to keep him down as Koshmar attempted to get his dream blade high enough to stab Joon.

Lucy gathered her wits, forcing her legs to stop shaking as she ran toward the two. She grabbed a branch from the ground and swung it at Koshmar's head as she reached their side. His skull rang out as his head snapped backward, but he merely groaned in pain. All these injuries were not sending him back, even though they would have made a Dreamwalker leave long ago. His position of the master of dreams must mean he could come and go as he pleased, without worrying about accidentally waking himself.  At any rate, he was still stunned, moaning and clutching the side of his head where blood now trickled down from his temple. 

It was a brief respite, and Lucy was determined to take advantage of it. She grabbed one of Joon's wings, using it to pull herself close to him. He screeched, that unnerving and shattering sound, his head whipping around so he could keep Koshmar in his sights. But they didn't have time.

"Joon, come back," she said, watching as Koshmar writhed on the ground and clutched his head. Though it would be easier to fly Joon to escape, she couldn't risk keeping him in this form for much longer. His red eyes looked more vacant than she'd ever seen them. He was becoming more raven than human, and she didn't even want to think about how much the darkness had spread in his veins even from this brief transformation. He had to change back now, or else she was afraid she might lose him forever. 

Under her touch,Joon shuddered and crumpled. His long beak parted to screech once again, his fiery red eyes spinning as his skin and feathers twitched and rippled. A moment later, his raven cawing turned to human screaming, and the form of the bird shrunk and twisted until he stood before her as a young man once again. 

He swayed on his feet, the black veins much further along his skin than before. Lucy ran to his side, propping him up as he glared at Koshmar with an intensity Lucy had never seen before.

"Joon, we have to leave or find some way to send him back," Lucy whispered, trying to break his gaze. She grabbed his chin, attempting to get him to look at her, but he kept his gaze locked on the dream master who still writhed on the ground, sliding along on his belly. 

It was silent for a moment, and then a familiar voice broke through from nowhere and everywhere.

"Heartsore One."

Lucy spun, spotting the strange Denizen from before, standing a few feet away. Its glowing white eyes burned into her vision, its long arms trailing on the ground. Its mouth was turned down, its shoulders slumped. It looked defeated. Tired. Dying.

"Can you help us?" Lucy shouted out.

"I tried," the creature said, and as it spoke, the strange echoing around its voice melted away until it was just a female voice, scared and broken. "I held on as much as I could, to try and tell you to look beyond. To see beyond the darkness. I wanted you to release me from his Heart."

Lucy drew in a slow breath.

The creature shuddered, its eyes flashing. "I do not want to be the darkness any longer. I don't want to be the master's guilt or the dream druid's anger. I want to be free."

"Tell us how to do that," Lucy said. She held her hand out. "Let us help you, Mechta. You don't have to be strong anymore. We can help."

The creature's head shook, faster and faster. It looked up, the glowing eyes burning. When it spoke, the voice was back to the echoing voices that masked the female one. "I'm sorry, walker. It is up to you now."

"No! Wait!" Lucy lunged forward, but the creature was already dissolving back into the darkness.

Lucy spun around just in time to see Joon stalking toward Koshmar with a heavy gaze. He brought his hands together, and from the air an object slowly materialized into his palms. It was another blade, identical to the one Koshmar held.

Without a pause, Joon launched forward, plunging the blade deep into the space between Koshmar's shoulder blades. The other man roared in pain and anger, his wings dissolving into nothing. Joon pulled back, but left the blade behind. Koshmar still roared in anger, trying to push himself to his feet. He kept losing his footing, but had enough control to turn and face Lucy and Joon, his own blade pointing at them.

Lucy's eyes swept toward Joon, wondering what he had thought stabbing Koshmar would do when his talons had done nothing before. But then she saw the way Koshmar's edges seemed to blur and bleed. His grimace hardened as his body slowly dissolved around him. "You won't escape me," he said, black oozing from his lips as he faded to just a voice. "I am the master of all dreams. You won't be able to hide while you're here. I'll be back."

And then he was gone.