Insomnia

49

Another bluebonnet spear rocketed through the air, catching the Knightmare in the chest. It shrieked before pulling out the petalblade and crushing it in a single gauntleted fist. Esme snarled in response before summoning more weapons into the air.

Here, in her own dream, Esme was at her most powerful, but also her most vulnerable. When she'd gone into the other nightmares, she was at least able to distance herself from the nature of the dream with the simple knowledge that it was not hers. No such luck here. If the Knightmare seized the advantage now, there would be little she could do to escape.

Esme couldn't give it an inch of breathing room. Although not human, the Knightmare still seemed reluctant to experience physical harm. She could use that. One by one, the razor sharp petal blades sprung up from the dirt to slash at the crystalline abomination. It roared in pain and flung out shields of rippling flame to ward them away. A few tried taking root in the cracks of its armor, but wilted at the touch.

A typical Psionic duel relied on either taking control of the opponent's reality, or forcing them to wake up. The latter was easier, but Esme wasn't convinced the Knightmare was even capable of waking.

One disadvantage made itself clear quickly. Esme could tire. As she hurled another earthen spear, she felt her mind weaken, and begin to falter. Her movements grew sluggish and less refined. Her bluebonnets lost their edge and flopped back into dullness. The clouds began to flicker. She felt the Knightmare seize the dream. This world's moon turned blood red as it fell from the sky, crashing into the earth below. It left flickering after-images of itself hanging between the stars.

Esme panicked, and turned the world into ocean. Urgent undersea currents carried her away to safety - where she might have a chance to rest and regain her strength. A forest of coral loomed ahead, and she directed the current to take her there. Nautilus changed color to mimic the calcified ocean flowerbed, providing camouflage.

Her breathing slowed. She tried to reset the rhythm of the dream - restore herself to strength. She extended a Psionic probe into the soft sands beneath her.

The Knightmare grabbed it and shredded it with will.

Esme screamed and shifted away a few feet, blending in with another patch of the coral maze. The Knightmare turned from side to side. It sniffed the air. Confusion radiated from its body. A ray of hope.

She breathed a silent prayer of thanks. Its Psionic abilities were augmented by immense computational resources, but it reacted poorly to new tactics. It was strong, but stupid. Esme was surprised how... disappointed, that made her feel.

A spear carved from whale bone flashed into her hands. Esme charged forward and planted it into the Knightmare's shoulder before shifting back into the dense reef. It howled in pain once again and probed the dream with Psionic power, desperate to find and punish her. Esme withdrew her Psionic probes, limiting them to the space around her body. That allowed the Knightmare almost unfettered control over the dream, but it would make it nearly impossible for it to find her.

They continued this game for some time. Esme landed nearly ten hits on the creature before it learned to anticipate her sneak attacks. On her last approach, it backhanded her with a tremendous swing, dusting Esme into the sand. It whipped a probe forward, trying to alter her character within the dream. She felt her sense of self tilt on its axis - if only for a moment. Victim eyes watered before Esme anchored herself and shifted away.

A new thought occurred to her. Like the phantom moons above, Esme littered the reef with illusory clones of her own mind, different perspectives of the dream. The process of severing pieces of herself from her core split her mind's eye - alternating between the views so quickly it felt as if she could see each simultaneously.

The Knightmare took the bait, seizing a replica and trying to unshape it. It unravelled upon contact and exploded with Psionic force - tendrils of thought erupting towards the Knightmare in a suicide rush. Something unnatural echoed between them. A voice echoed in her mind. It was not her own.

When I was born I only saw blood.

When I died I could only see darkness.

Esme reeled as sound crashed through her brain. The Knightmare shifted towards another fragment and slashed at it. Another thought rippled between them on contact.

Concept. Form. Feeling.

Are we just pieces of God's brain?

Esme screamed. This was wrong. It was taking her. Eating her mind whole. Severing the pieces of her mind only gave it smaller morsels to chew.

She shifted towards the last fragment, desperate to recover it. They reached it at the same time and their recoil exploded with light.

Esme's body melted. Into dust. Nothingness.