Cain stood at the edge of the Dark realm and a horde of Nightmares stepped into Ever Realm right behind him.
“Bastard!”
Curses were shouted at Cain and Scarlett glanced behind her to find Dreamers and Dreammares forming a wall.
Cher faced her people and lifted her head. She ignited her sword with her power and raised it to the sky.
“Dreamers and Dreammares as one! Ever Realm is our home and we will not let the Dark Realm smite us. We will not be defeated!” Her shouts blended in as the people below let out their battle cries.
Scarlett moved close to her mother as she turned to face the oncoming battle. She gripped Cher’s hand and squeezed it. “For dad. For Ever Realm.”
A fierceness overcame Scarlett and Cher as they faced the biggest wave of Nightmares they’d ever seen.
The nightmares began charging and the Dreamers on the ground broke out into a sprint while others flew.
Scarlett unleashed her power and let it flame around her.
It was now or never.
A wide row of archers rose above the crowd and shot their first line at the oncoming horde of Nightmares. Some fell, but thousands of them rushed in their place. Cain walked in the middle of it all as they ran around him. His armor was ragged and housed more ugly scars. Scarlett noticed that it wasn’t the pitch black it normally was, instead, a dark gray. She narrowed her eyes and lifted her hands as she drew forth a wave of black tendrils upon the nightmares. The running Dreamers finally clashed with the onslaught of nightmares creating the merge of the Realms.
They would not go down without a fight.
The nightmare’s dust quickly filled the air and muck splattered on everybody’s armor. Scarlett fought and caught a glimpse of the others. Jayden was high in the air with the archers while Jasper and Chad fought alongside Scarlett. Where the Dreamers could not finish, the Dreammares followed right behind with their burst of tendrils. Screams, snarls, and cries filled the air as everyone fought with their lives.
Scarlett threw darts at a nightmare that was reaching up for Jayden and hadn’t seen the one crawling behind. She turned in time to see Jasper jump in front of her and slash at it with his sword, but not before a spike pierced his shoulder.
“JASPER!” Scarlett pushed her power until it covered him in a protective dome. She snapped her eyes to Jayden whose sight was already on them. She dove and landed right beside Jasper.
“Jasper, open your fucking eyes! Don’t you dare fall asleep!” Jayden shouted as she grabbed his head.
Purple lightning flowed from her palms and wrapped around his shoulder. Jasper had quickly paled and his eyelids bounced as he tried to keep them open. Scarlett fought off the nightmare that neared when something wrapped around her body and pulled her into the air. She saw the circle of nightmares close in on Jayden and Jasper and her heart plummeted.
“NO!”
She opened her palms and released a web of her power at the limbs when they threw her. Scarlett got wrapped by another set of limbs that constricted her arms to her body. She twisted in time to see the nightmare that’d grabbed her explode into muck.
Scarlett was about to give the nightmare holding her a similar fate when it hissed into her ear.
“Our King requests your presence as he’s in a meeting with your lovely mother.”
Scarlett inwardly cringed as her chest tightened at the nightmare’s slithered words and stopped fighting.
“Take me to them.”
Not hesitating for a second, the nightmare flew Scarlett towards the Ever Realm Center.
‘They have my mother.’ It was the only thought that went through Scarlett’s mind as they entered the building.
The nightmare roughly landed and nearby Nightmare’s with hands instead of hooks or wings grabbed a hold of Scarlett. They dragged her to their meeting and she was pushed to her knees while they held her arms behind her back.
Cain stood at the head of the round table with High Nightmares by his side. Cher was in front of him on her knees as red tendrils coiled tightly around her. Scarlett could feel the death emanating from them.
“Ah, Scarlett welcome.” Cain spread his arm out to his sides. “Please do join us.”
His theatrics turned Scarlett’s stomach and she glared at Cain while he sported a wide Cheshire cat grin.
“Why are you doing this?”
Cain raised a perfectly done eyebrow. “Isn’t it obvious? We want to finish what my father started. You see, my father was the most dangerous kind of Nightmare there was. Think… Freddy Krueger!” He snapped his fingers at his ‘ah-ha’ moment.
“Unlike the other Nightmares, my father could kill and wasn’t limited to people’s minds. However, he was alone and wanted to share the joy with his disciples. So he sought out a way to do just that.” He beckoned to someone behind Scarlett and their struggle reached her ears. The arms holding her down didn’t allow her to turn around.
Someone was pushed to their knees beside Scarlett as she glanced out the corner of her eye. A man had his head covered by a plain helmet and was stripped of their armor. Their bare body was covered in black and purple from enormous bruises. Web-like burn marks emerged from the bruises and Scarlett knew it was the work of a Dreammare’s power. Fear clawed through Scarlett as anxiety swirled around it.
“You see, my father discovered that a powerful mind was needed to make a hole in between the realms. He experimented with Dreamers and not one worked. Instead, he decided to try something new. Dreamers grabbed their power from a universal source, the light.” Cain lightly shook his head. “Dreammares on the other hand, each have their power within themselves. Making them, well, special. But sadly, they’re incredibly hard to find and I hadn’t been able to test this out.”
Cain made his way around the table towards Scarlett and her body tensed. Her mother struggled against the bindings, but to no avail, they held her in place. He moved until he was in front of the person beside Scarlett and ripped the helmet off.
The color drained from Scarlett’s face as she met the swollen eyes of Liam. His face was discolored and his jaw unhinged as it dropped to the side. Scarlett recoiled and tears fled from her eyes.
“Liam,” Scarlett softly cried. “I’m so, so sorry. What have they done to you?”
Liam’s eyes shone with suffering and emptiness that struck Scarlett’s bleeding heart. He’s not fighting back anymore. He was already broken in.
Scarlett wanted to shout but instead swallowed the need to lash out.
‘I have to do something.’
“I’m the one you want.” She caught Cain’s attention and her heart skipped a beat at the tiny glimmer of hope that flourished. “You need me as I’m the one with the mark. With my mind, you’d be able to come and go as you wish. His mind isn’t powerful enough. I will willingly give you what you want in exchange for the safety of my people. ”
Cher was screaming through her muffled mouth and it took everything in Scarlett to not glance her way. Cain kept his eyes trained on her and went over her proposition.
“Tempting offer, but I simply cannot risk losing your powerful mind if this doesn’t work.” Cain glanced down at Liam. “He is merely a demonstration to see if my father’s words were true. Then I will use your mind as I please.”
A smile overcame Cain’s face as he placed a finger under Liam’s chin and lifted his head.