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On the next day of our journey, we come across one of the groups that were coming back from their delve. Though considering the defeated and tormented air about them, far different from the typical optimism that an Epic ranked team should have after a Divine delve. Alex calls for the Mu’Reign to go on ahead while we discuss things with our fellow adventurers.

Once we have some privacy with the despondent team Alex finishes her last bit of cleansing on them, “Azure? Talk to me, what happened. I don’t see any big injuries on your team, so why do you all look so…”

My once vibrant rival, her cold auras being a natural counter to my early tempests of unfocused flames, has to make a few attempts to even speak, “The guild wasn’t satisfied when none of the Awoken teams managing to reach Life.”

Her voice dry and raspy, despite the drinks, but as she continues she seems to come back to herself a little, “So, because they knew that the moratorium on your delving was ticking ever closer to expiration, they tasked us with reaching Life… no matter the cost. They gave us plenty of potions and even purification charms.”

Finally, she stops staring at the ground or into the middle distance and she meets Alex’s gaze, “They also sent along pair of upper Epics as well. To better catalogue the experience,” suddenly, she lunges and grabs onto Alex’s breastplate. Azure’s hands shaking and her knuckles white with how tightly she’s holding onto her, while her voice dips into a hoarse whisper, “It wasn’t our fault… They wouldn’t listen. You have to believe me.”

At the display, one of her teammates pulls her into an embrace and their healer, a man named Amber, while just as wretched as the rest continues their tale, “It started much the same as your report, nothing we couldn’t handle. Swarms and spawner puzzles, with the occasional larger creature incorporated into the encounter, or wandering between larger set pieces. Standard, engaging Challenges for a Divine dungeon.”

With Azure now both comforting and being comforted by the rest of her team, Amber goes on, “We encountered a prior team as they were exiting before we made our delve. They were only newly Awoken and so I was able to heal and cleanse them for a report about their experience.” Having gathered a sort of momentum, his voice strengthens to a more familiar cadence, “Based on their experience, I can say that the dungeon is able to adapt its path to better suite a variety of Challengers, as ours quickly outscaled what they were facing.”

He offers a wane smile, “The trouble didn’t start until near the end of the delve…” He glances over at his party, “Lucky picked something up with his Treasure Sense when we only a couple of encounters away from Life. All of us could feel the pull towards the Core that Life held, but Lucky mentioned there was something outstanding in another direction.”

Lucky looks over at us and when he meets my eyes, the pain and guilt in them are a familiar memory, like looking into a mirror years ago. So, I hold his gaze and give him the broken smile I hope he’ll be able to see. I remember going through the Crucible of life and not even the agony of Thing’s held a candle to what put Lucky’s look into my much younger eyes.

Amber takes a deep gasping breath and barks a gallows’ laugh before he keeps going, “We all decided to check it out. A secret area with special loot? Seemed like a great idea at the time. The encounters we faced as we stepped off the path to Life were substantially out of scale with our earlier progression. There weren’t any puzzles, just a tide of violence, but we were able to push through, even without relying on the guild’s surplus. It was the first sign that we ignored.”

Amber blanches and goes silent for a while when Azure pulls him back. Having regained her composure and with a rime of frost gathered on her skin her more natural voice speaks, “We came across a ring of trees, much like those around Life. Even before we spotted the first of them marking the location, Lucky’s Danger Sense had overpowered his Treasure Sense and he advised us all to let it go. But we had just triumphed against a great Challenge and had plenty of reserves we could dip into if we needed it, so I made the decision to press forward.”

She rubs at Lucky’s back when he breaks his gaze with mine before continuing. Putting some distance between herself and her team she draws deeper on her ice as she speech becomes clipped and her tone unpleasantly neutral, “It was an Arena. Within it was a Tree. A visage of pure horror and dread. Upon seeing it, my team all agreed we weren’t going to pursue whatever treasure it was guarding.”

Her eyes dart between each of us, “The guild scouts disagreed. They called us weak to allow a Challenge to intimidate us, and that if we weren’t going to participate, then we wouldn’t get a split of the rewards.”

The intensity of the cold wrapped around her wisps as a breeze across us all, “When they stepped foot into the Arena, a revolting wave of suffocating stench erupted from the tree. It was strong enough to cause all of us to gag for at least a moment. We told them to turn back. After they recovered enough to speak, they once again called us cowards and walked forward.”

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Lucky speaks up from where the group sat huddled backs to back, “The Tree moved with such horrid grace. It picked up Garnet with a group of branches and started pulling him apart.”

Andalu, their tank speaks next, “I rushed in when the limbs grabbed him. I roared out my Taunt, axe at the ready with my shield charging forward. Next thing I felt was myself vomiting up a pile of tar and the agony of a broken arm as Amber knelt healing my shattered spine from where I was thrown out of the ring into a tree.”

Lucky chuckles darkly, “I think it learned from that though. When it brushed the rest of us aside, it didn’t injure us nearly as severely. It just disabled or disarmed us before tossing us out of the ring.”

Azure’s frosted voice, “We all tried our best, and nothing we did had any impact. We were made to watch as Garnet was disassembled, each joint separated from the last, skin ruptured and torn, insides brought outside. Examined. His screaming seemed to never end…”

Andalu spoke into the silence, “Beryl was crushed into ball. But I believe that neither of them was truly forced to endure the torment as long as it seemed. Long past an Epic’s endurance their screaming continued. When the ‘displays’ were completed and the remains released, I noticed a pair of crows among the branches. They continued ‘speaking’ with Garnet and Beryl’s voices, telling us to flee, to save them, to make the pain stop-“

Amber grips his shoulder silencing the larger man, “After I healed us enough to walk, we made our way out, but found ourselves soon arriving before Life. We weren’t in a proper state to be composed. When we demanded answers, even as we were ‘rewarded’ for reaching the Core. Life told us-“

Azure cuts him off, and recites Life’s words, mimicking his speech perfectly, “~What more warning should we give that it is off limits? The place is crafted with the fear, disgust, and horror of your own perspectives. It was surrounded by a well-defined ring, and then a final warning given in a wave of death. A {Nightmare Hollow} does not speak nor write, but if it could, what speech or sign would be enough if all of that was already ignored?~”

Having finally spoken through their trauma, Azure’s gaze is fixed on Alex and with a near snarl, “Now, I’ve watched you react to our tale. You’ve been there too, but That wasn’t in your report. Explain yourself!” Her hands gripping her own forearms and shaking with the competing need both to hold a weapon and also to not draw upon her fellow adventurer. The hostility in her voice easy to understand and simple to forgive considering her physical restraint.

Alex speaks clearly, “That was Thing’s Arena. He’s the Scion that guards a Crucible reward to be given to those that complete a secret quest. The rewards and the quests themselves are doled out by DNA himself. We did not know that Thing could be encountered if you weren’t chosen.”

Nothing more is said for a while. As the quiet goes on and I think we’re just going to part ways, Sid speaks up with a question I hadn’t thought of, “When was the Blessing forfeited?”

The silence after his question was much deeper and full of dread. While listening to their story, I guess it didn’t really hit me till then. This wasn’t just a horror show they sat through. One where the outsiders got messed up and then broke with the group. That’s how they actually died.

Lucky answers, “After the last tide of monsters before the arena. As we were recovering from the fight, it began weakening then which is why my Danger Sense went haywire. I don’t remember ever seeing it fall off completely, but I’m an archer.”

Amber follows up, “The Blessing collapsed for everyone that crossed the threshold. Even me when I ran across to triage Andalu when he was swatted across the field. I yelled for everyone to fall back when I saw that. But ultimately, it was Thing that chose to let us live. As Lucky said before, after hitting Andalu that hard, they started pulling their punches. When we couldn’t really put up more of a fight, we were tossed out of the zone.”

Andalu adds, “Thing was toying with them, but not really. After Amber healed my spine, he went back into the battle to help the others, because I wasn’t going to be able to rejoin a fight like that. But I watched and saw; they were learning from us. How we fight, how hard they can hit us, but it was strange. None of our tricks or strategies worked on them at all. It was like they always knew what we were going to do, but they simply hadn’t ever actually fought before.”

The discussion seemed to be bringing the team out of the depression they were sunken into, and Lucky says, “Yeah. They always struck blind spots. I even thought I was safer outside, but a root snagged a leg as I was repositioning and then just bit into me. I only managed one extra shot before I couldn’t move or even think straight beyond voiding myself. Barely managed to fall on my side to avoid drowning in my own waste.”

Afterwards, there’s another few minutes of small talk and reminiscing about old jobs we’ve completed or competed on. Once the other group seems like they’ve got their eyes open and focused again, we part ways. Azure grips forearms with Alex, “You’ve managed to get your team a step ahead this time Alex. But I’m still here.”

Alex just smiles and nods, “Don’t fall too far behind. We aren’t going to wait for you to catch up,” making Azure grin at having her own words used against her.

Azure gives their hands another shake and squeeze before letting go, “Stay safe.”

“Or get strong,” we all call out in response.

We catch back up to the Mu’Reign after parting ways with a few minutes of running. None of us having much to really discuss about the situation they went through. Our prior encounters with Thing and Life already showed us how their perspective differs from our own.

Part of me wonders if we should have mentioned Thing or their Crucible in our report. But the longer I ruminate on it, the better this way may be. Assuming the lethality hasn’t changed for the Awoken and our own delve goes well, the guild is likely to just post a warning.

As we’re hiking the last leg alongside our temporary companions a thought strikes me of what the guild might say: Don’t seek out Nightmares while in the Forest of Dreams.