I looked around and found myself in the gray haze of the dream world, resembling the mist of the Baku’s domain. I also felt that I was no longer attached to the image of the boiler room where the 'death' of Freddy Krueger has been stored. You can say that if I was previously tied to a certain place, now I was a 'homeless horror'. But this was not the only change. I could feel better the images of the dream world. Also, a 'compass' was now working in my mind, indicating the direction in which my goal was located.

I moved in the required direction, piercing the gray dimension that swirled thoughtlessly and languidly around me. The world itself wanted to whirl me around in a quiet waltz, wrapping me in slumber and peace. I had to make some effort to resist this influence.

Gradually the fog dissipated, and I found myself wandering through a midnight forest filled with silence and mystery. Black gnarled trees heaved upwards, covering the sky with their distorted outlines. Twisting branches seemed to be trying to grab me and hold me in this endless nightmare. Indeed, the name 'Dreaming Forest' best described this place. Here every glade, every bush and root called to lie down, rest, and indulge in the eternal bliss of sleep.

Occasionally, the light of a single star broke through the canopy of the forest, illuminating a narrow path that wound through the trees, leading me into the thickest part of the forest. No matter how much look around, I couldn't see a single living leaf on these trees. Only the bare branches were pulling their shapeless paws, as if trying to capture the boundless sky and draw to the ground, so that it would fall asleep forever, stopping the endless shift for the night

I wandered among the gloomy trees for a long time, and when despair almost gripped me, a small clearing appeared from behind another tree, whose appearance filled me with primeval horror. People. Many people lay in front, shackled by eternal sleep. The branches of the trees wrapped them like ropes and shackles. Some of the prisoners were confined inside the trunks, so that only their faces and hands were visible. As an enchanted man, I walked among the captured souls, looking into their eyes. But all I saw was an empty, meaningless gaze, directed, it seemed, into the very Void that sucked their soul.

But when I came to another clearing, I found something unusual. Another prisoner hung between the thick trunks of black trees, crucified like on a rack. Branches and vines braided him, piercing him with thorns and not allowing him to move a finger. But most importantly, this man was in conscious. In his strong-willed face, his eyes burned with a bright blue fire, whose inner strength said that this man had not given up and was still trying to resist the irresistible influence of this place.

"Who are you?" - I heard his hoarse voice.

His whisper was faint and hoarse, but to me it sounded like a Church bell, breaking the spell of the forest and awakening my Will from sleep. Without answering, I focused on my inner power, which made me the center of this world, the Supreme Law and source of all things. The power of Order surged through my veins and spilled out, spreading the radiance of my power and glory. Now, I was like a burning torch that dispelled the gloom of this place, causing slumber and laziness with a dissatisfied hiss to recoil back to hide behind the roots and trunks of trees, waiting for the moment when I would relax again, lulled by the insidious power of the Dreaming Forest.

"Call me Freddy Krueger." - I answered the question of the prisoner of the forest. "This name is no worse than any other.”

"Are you also lost in this forest?" - Prisoner asked, squinting from the bright light that came from me.

"That's not quite true. I was just thinking a little while I was walking. And who are you?” - I shifted the arrows from an inconvenient topic. - "How did you get into this situation?"

"It's a long story.” - The prisoner winced. He tried to move, but the tenacious vines kept him safe in his captivity.

"I'm not in a hurry.” - I answered with a chuckle. With a stroke of my hand, I created a golden throne, on which I sat down, radiating strength and greatness with all my appearance. – “Tell me your story.” - This time my voice was filled with the right to give orders, so the prisoner accepted my dominance and began his story.

The man in front of me was called Keldrun when he was alive. He lived in the Northern forests, where the summer lasted only three months of the year, and the rest of the time was raging snowstorms and frosty fog. The main trade in his lost village was fishing, but he was a hereditary hunter who learned the secrets of the family business from an early age.

Once in the cold winter season, ice bound the coast, making fishing impossible. In such times, the clan depended on fishing hunters and Keldrun went to the mountains to shoot some prey. But no matter how much he walked on the steep slopes and mountain valleys, his only catch was the snow that tried to cover him, burying him under its white blanket.

And so, on the third day, a very desperate hunter found traces of a deer. After only an hour, he was able to track it down and then shoot it with an arrow. But the wound was not fatal, and the deer ran away, leaving a trail of blood on the snow. Keldrun picked up his bow, slung it over his back, and pointed his skis at the fleeing deer.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Unfortunately, neither an hour nor two later he could not catch up with the deer. Deer did not stop, still running away at the approach of the hunter. A short winter day gave way to heavy twilight, when Keldrun was able to climb over the next ridge. Then he saw a limping deer, but that was not the main thing. On the other side of the valley was a ruined castle shining with ghostly blue light. The hunter had often heard stories about a Ghost Castle that was inhabited by ghosts. Everyone who dared to approach is will be cursed.

Keldrun knew, that now he is the only hope of his clan, and without the meat of the deer they don't survive the harsh winter. Therefore, he did not hesitate for a second to rush forward, overtaking the deer. Just under the walls of the castle, he managed to shoot the prey once more, then drag the already cooling carcass away from the glittering ruins.

After cutting up the deer, Keldrun loaded his prey onto a sleigh and headed towards the village. On the morning of the next day, he reached his home, gave loot to his wife, and then immediately fell asleep. In his dream, the hunter saw the Ghost Castle again. As he walked toward it, he met ghosts in armor with long swords who tried to grab him and lead him to their lair. But Keldrun was able to turn the dream into a lucid dream, dodge and escape from the sluggish pursuers, whose armors was poorly suited to move through the deep snow.

When the hunter awoke the next day, he did not give any importance to his dream. But the next night the dream was repeated. This time, he immediately headed straight away from the castle, feeling the evil eyes of the ghosts boring into his back. Every night, Keldrun saw a Ghost Castle. And each night his sleep grew longer and deeper. After a week, he would wake up once every two days, after which an irresistible slumber would make him fall asleep again just a few hours later. And when the warm west wind blew and the sea cleared from the ice, Keldrun fell asleep forever

But by this time, he had learned to control his dreams, so he did not go to the afterlife, but remained wandering in the world of dreams. Several times he encountered familiar ghosts, glowing with the blue light of the sky, but each time he managed to escape. One day he was able to get into the dream of his wife, from whom he learned that he had died and was buried in the family crypt. After that, for almost a month, he appeared in dreams to his ten-year-old son, sharing with him the experience of their ancestors, thanks to which their family had always been the best hunters of the clan.

But in one of days, in his wanderings through the world of dreams, Keldrun wandered into a strange dark forest. He followed it for a long time, until he came to a clearing filled with sleeping human souls. Terrified, he ran away from the place, but at that moment the clawed branches of the trees seized him and crucified him in this clearing. Here the forest tried to put its prey into an eternal sleep, so as to suck the energy of existence out of him, but the Keldrun already knew about this trap, and therefore resisted to sleep with all his might. He spent many years in captivity, until I came across him.

After listening his heartwarming story, I nodded, wiping away tears of pity, then got up from the throne and walked away.

“Thank you for interesting story.” - I waved a hand to Keldrun. - "But I've got work to do."

"Hey, wait.” - He shouted. - "Get me out of here."

"Why?" - I was surprised. - "This world is filled with nightmares and demons, so on one day someone will eat you anyway. And believe me, eternal sleep in this forest is not the most terrible fate.”

"But I helped you." - He tried to appeal to my heart. Alas, only my laziness could answer to this call.

"Thank you, of course, but I would have coped myself." - I replied, continuing on my way. – “Bye-bye.”

But the forest, it seems, had other plans on my account. I purposely didn't help the hunter to find out if the forest would try to hold me back if I decided to just leave. As it turned out, it will. The branches of the trees reached out to me, trying to grab me, wrap me, and immobilize me. But now I was at the peak of my powers. Just by deploying my aura, I destroyed all the surrounding trees, turning them into dust. Unfortunately, it didn't help much. New branches shot up from the stumps, trying to grab me again.

"Hey, Forest.” - I shouted to the world around me. - "If you persist in your heresy, I will not only break out of here, but I will take all your loot with me." - The answer was a wild creaking and scraping of dead trees. - "Well, you chose your fate.”

The next wave of force destroyed the surrounding trees along with their roots, leaving no trace of them. The forest howled and growled and raged, but it couldn't even touch me. I went to the Keldrun and freed him from his bonds, scattering them into dust. The hunter fell to the ground, but after a few seconds was able to collect himself and get to his feet.

"Follow me." - I said, not paying much attention to him.

I went to the next victim and pulled her out of the tree, but even after the release, the soul never came to its senses, remaining a lifeless phantom. Having made sure that I could not restore consciousness to this victim, I banally pierced it with blades of my glove. Although the original sacrificial circle had been stolen by the Chaos demons, the small sacrificial circle still remained connected to the blade of glove. And as soon as it came into contact with the victim's body, her soul was immediately yanked into the world of demons.

Seeing this, the forest began to creak and squeal twice as loud. But I ignored it as I went to the next prisoner. Unfortunately, no one else was able to recover, so I just sacrificed the prisoners one by one, depriving the forest of fuel.

After the twentieth 'death', the forest suddenly fell silent, and not far from me there was a whole road leading away.

"Are you ready to just let me go?" - I asked mockingly, addressing to the forest. A faint creak answered me. - "Okay, I got you. I don't have time to mess with you here.”

I turned and start walking through the road, which, oddly enough, went in the direction I wanted. About half an hour later, I noticed that the road was now slightly angled in the right direction. It seems that the forest has not yet given up trying to detain me. Angrily spreading my aura, I went straight to my goal, just turning to dust all trees that dared to stand in my way. Keldrun followed me as a quiet shadow whole time, not daring to distract me with talking.