“That reminds me.” Dyllan held his shield at the ready with one hand, and called forth a longsword made of hard light in the other. “Now that we’ve figured out a way for me to use weapons, do you mind if I take this one?”

“I was just about to suggest that.” Andie bounced back and away from the Nightmare. “A shield like yours seems borderline mandatory to fight this thing.”

Dyllan grinned. “True.” He charged the nightmare, sliding underneath its first attack. Dyllan wasn’t quite as used to being on the front lines as Andie, and he didn’t have any experience fighting Nightmares offensively. However, Dyllan was every bit as physically gifted as Andie was, and a solid decade of formal martial arts training had etched the basics of close quarters combat into his very soul. The Nightmare didn’t stand a chance at taking Dyllan down…

…but that didn’t stop it from trying. The monster swung its clawed and bony hand down at Dyllan, its strike stopped by a rippling red glow that covered his shield. “Stand your ground, my Loyalty!” The glow expanded up, down, and out to the sides - digging into the ground as it grew into a proper forcefield. Leaning forward, Dyllan put the full weight of his body up against his shield as he struggled to push it forward. The stubbornness of the forcefield and the size of the Nightmare worked to keep the shield locked firmly in place, but Dyllan was determined. Slowly and surely, he pushed the monster of shadowy hate up against a wall - a tactic he’d used many times before, usually to pin the beast in place before Andie tried to finish it off.

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This time, though, Dyllan didn’t need someone to finish what he’d started. He pulled back his blade of hard light, but froze in place when the Nightmare spoke with a terrified, begging tone. “Puh-PuhLEEze… stahp… Nuo mor…”

After twenty seconds of silence, tears began to stream down Dyllan’s face. He stumbled back and curled up into a ball while muttering a borderline incoherent stream of apologies, doing nothing as his shield dissipated and the Nightmare scrabbled away to escape.

“Nononono - Goddammit!” Cedric rushed over to his downed friend. “Of all the things to say, and all the times to say it! Why that? Why now? C’mon Dyllan, buddy. It’s okay. That’s a nightmare, not a person. Calm down.”