Aru paused. When the others passed, she turned to him sharply. “What?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yawn—”
“I was scared, Shah,” said Aiden in a rush.
“Scared of what?” Her voice came out annoyingly fragile, and she wanted to shake herself.
“This…This thing…got into my head, and I chickened out after we, uh, you know, because I was just…terrified, I guess. And that terror made me say stuff I didn’t mean.”
Terror.
One moment, a flimsy hope lit a match in her soul. The next, it was as if the word terror had become a sentient being. Aru felt it like a shadow passing overhead.
Under any other circumstances, she’d be yelling, TIME OUT! AIDEN ACHARYA IS HAVING A MOMENT OF HONESTY!
But something was wrong.
The Halls juddered. Their soft breathing became a panting, slavering sound.
“Hold that thought,” said Aru, hating that she had to say those words to him. “Everyone, stop. Do you feel that?”
A few feet ahead, Rudy, Brynne, and Mini slowed down. Aiden touched his wrists together and his scimitars flashed out. Aru held still, watching a tremble work its way through the cloud floor. Tall blades of grass replaced the pillowy softness. Some of the dreamers vanished. Others looked trapped in the thicket, their foreheads wrinkling.
“What is that?” asked Brynne.
Around them, the Halls of Nidra expanded once more, transforming into a grassy plain. But instead of being green and bright, it was dark and bleak, crammed with shadows. The trees and daydream birds vanished. In the distance, the labyrinth entrance had been reduced to a spark of light miles away. Ten feet to their right, a building materialized. It was one story and long, with dozens of stalls.
“I don’t feel so good,” said Rudy woozily.
“Why is it so cold and dark now?” said Brynne.
Aru shivered. Was she imagining things, or was the ground trembling harder now? Pebbles bounced up and down in the grass.
“Something’s coming,” said Aiden. He moved to the front with Brynne, who immediately brought out her wind mace.
“What’s that sound?” asked Mini, edging closer to Aru.
A hundred feet away on their left, the dark mist began to harden into shapes—glossy flanks, serrated hair, flaring nostrils. Nightmares.
Night mares. Nothing at all like the nightmare hounds she’d met ages ago in the Dreaming Grove of Ratri. This was a different kind of creature entirely.
A dozen Otherworldly horses galloped out from the darkness of the dream world, towering nearly ten feet tall. Their black tails swished behind them, the ends dissipating into smoke. Blue flames burned in their eye sockets, and when they huffed in the air, Aru could smell fear burning off their bodies. It was acrid and salty, like a combination of metal and tears.
“Nice…horsies?” said Aru.
The night mares regarded them with their burning eyes. One of them took a step forward. Where its hoof met the ground, the blades of grass turned to ice.
“We’re just trying to go that way,” said Aru, pointing toward the door in the distance. “So, you know. We’ll go do that.”
I do not like this, said Brynne through the mind link. Maybe I should blast them—
No! said Mini. They’re probably frightened….
You mean frightening, right? said Aru.
Mini broke from the line, holding out her hand. “There’s nothing to be afraid of…see? We just need to pass.”
One of the mares snorted and stepped forward. Its muzzle was maybe less than a foot away from Mini’s outstretched hand.
“See?” said Mini, smiling.
Aru stared at her sister, amazed. Mini would refuse to put her hands on a kitchen counter if she suspected it wasn’t thoroughly disinfected, but give her a twisted living creature, and she’d cuddle it.
The blue infernos in the horse’s eyes began to dim. It angled its head down, huffing steam, when movement flared behind it.
“Watch out!” yelled Brynne.
Skeletal wings whooshed out from the night mare’s shoulder blades. Aru gasped. Brynne grabbed Mini’s arm, hauling her backward.
“No, wait!” said Mini.
The horse reared, towering above them, its hooves punching the air. The other night mares screamed. Around them, the air churned with shadows and wings.
Brynne raised her wind mace, aiming it at the line of creatures. A jet stream of air shot out, hitting a night mare square in the chest. The horse brayed, and the sound raised the hairs on Aru’s neck. It was an unearthly screech, and in the echoes of it Aru heard all her worst nightmares reflected at her….
The vision the Sleeper had showed her years ago, of her sisters turning away from her.
Her father’s smug voice ringing in her ears. You were never meant to be a hero.
Kara’s heartbroken face twisting into a superior grin. I’m the daughter they wanted. Not you.
The shock of these fears struck Aru like a punch to the gut. She staggered back, avoiding the night mare’s landing hooves by mere inches.
“Aru!” shouted Brynne, aiming Gogo again.
A jet of blue light struck the night mare in the forelock and the horse cried out, vanishing.
But only for a moment.
Smoke rushed in to fill the absence and the horse rematerialized moments later. It swung its head toward Brynne, baring its blackened teeth.
“You’re making it worse!” said Mini angrily.
The night mares’ manes bristled, and their blue eyes sprouted more flames. They opened their mouths, and their jaws unhinged as their terrifying screams were unleashed.
“They’re going to charge!” yelled Rudy. “We need to go, now!”
“I’ll hold them off,” said Brynne, gritting her teeth. She twirled the mace over her head and then sent out a blast of wind, creating a cyclone between the night mares and the Potatoes. The horses reared back, their hooves churning against the funnel.
“It won’t last forever….C’mon!” said Brynne. “We can regroup in that building.”
They raced across the field. The closer they got to the structure, the more its details came into focus. It was a stable! There were individual stalls for each night mare, and a nameplate hung from the top of each frame.
Aru thought the fancy horses from races like the Kentucky Derby had weird names, like Spectacular Bid, or California Chrome. But those were nothing compared to the names of the night mares—
THE THING THAT CHASES
CREEPY PARTY CLOWN
INEXPLICABLE NATURAL DISASTER
SLEPT LATE AND MISSED THE BIGGEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE
DON’T LOOK UNDER THE BED
BUGS IN YOUR HAIR
EVERYONE YOU LOVE MOCKS YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK
EVERYONE YOU LOVE IS DEAD
ENDLESS FALLING
TRAPPED
LOOSE TEETH
A GHOST IS RIGHT BEHIND YOU
“This one’s empty!” said Aiden, running into the stall at the end. It was huge and cavernous, more like a living room than a stable. Aru wrinkled her nose. Inside, it smelled like wet hay and horse sweat.
The moment the door swung shut behind them, plunging them into darkness, Mini spun toward Brynne. “How could you?” she said.
“What?” said Brynne.
“I totally had that under control!” said Mini. “You should’ve waited!”