The cart disappeared into the darkness behind them, Oats not noticing his passengers jump off. Murphy was surrounded by flickering flames and ember, the forest seemingly absent of all other sounds. He watched the great leaves looming above, keeping an eye out for any movement at all. Nothing happened for some time, his breathing calmed as his suspicion grew. They must be up to something, he thought, so he remained silent in case of a sneak attack.

"Did you have to bring me along on your impulsive suicide?" Uundah complained.

"Shush, keep an ear out."

His opponents were clever. He'd counted at least four of them when they were on the cart, yet somehow they were disguising their presence well enough for him to feel alone in the dark. He felt himself calming slowly, considering that he may have scared them off. He started to relax, and look for a place to sit.

"I think they ran off" he thought to Uundah.

"I think you're an idiot" Uundah thought back.

He sat on a log near a burning bush, and started to warm his hands.

"What are you doing?" Uundah asked, annoyed at something.

"I'm just taking a minute is all, it's been a long day."

A gentle whistle faded in from the darkness. It was just pleasing tones at first, but soon it turned into a charming melody. He found himself enjoying the pleasing tune, going as far as to nestle into his spot and stretch. He felt something nagging through his comfort, so he tried to ignore it. The fire was warm, and his seat fit him perfectly. He didn't often get to rest his feet in proper comfort lately, so he took advantage and kicked off his boots. The nagging feeling returned, as if his subconscious was trying to remind him of something. Groaning internally, he decided to pay the small feeling some attention. What was he forgetting, he wondered. Perhaps Uundah would know what he had forgotten. He looked at the crystal on the staff.

"Murphy!" He heard the O'jin scream.

His eyes shot open, just in time to see the warped face smiling down at him. Wet stringy hairs tickled his cheeks as the monstrosity ran one extra long finger along the underneath of his chin. The creature noticed him wake, and its tiny eyes widened with rage, the pencil thin smile never faltering. It giggled like a child, and started to whistle. The tune was enchanting, though it was a mistake for the Dream Eater to try its trick so closely. Rather than being taken into slumber, Murphy focused on the aspect drifting from the things mouth. His reliable and intense curiosity of the colour was enough to distract him from the monster's spell. He was still holding Uundah, so he quickly reopened his mind and summoned a stoneball. The creature lifted from him as he blasted the spell into its gut. He made sure to push a healthy amount of his power into it, successfully sending the nightmare flying into the canopy.

Scurrying to his feet, he got a grasp on his surroundings. They were in the same place that he'd jumped from the cart, so he was confident the entire night hadn't been a dream. There were five Dream Eaters surrounding him, each one keeping their distance. They didn’t bother hiding, opting instead to stand in the open and smile at him. One of them giggled, and tilted its head. Another started to whistle, so Murphy chose him first. He wasn't sure if it was actually a him or not, but he wasn’t about to get caught up on semantics while the naked abominations intended to eat him.

He fired another stoneball, deciding that the blunt force route had been working well, and relying on the spell's invisible nature. The Dream Eater didn't react until its arm was blown clean off, confirming that they couldn't see the magic. It squealed like a stuck pig, and opened its mouth wide. In the next moment, all five of the horrors were closing in on them, still smiling wide.

"Time to run" He thought to Uundah, while he pointed the crystal at his feet. He braced himself, then blasted a ball of force at the forest floor. Since he'd tried the force jump in Lie-Dor, he realised the practical use of the idea. While on the ship, he'd designed a spell that in theory, would do the same thing, but with more grace. It was a ball of force, that would emphasise the opposite, in an equal and opposite reaction rule. When he fired the spell, all of the unspent force aspect was directed back towards him, sending him rocketing into the air. It was successful, and he managed to launch himself soaring above the head's of his assailants. He cast his floating spell before he hit the ground, granting him a cushion of magic for his fall.

It still hurt.

"I thought you wanted to fight them" Uundah teased.

"This is how I fight" Murphy thought back. "I'm just getting started". He blindly fired a space bomb behind himself to emphasise his point. The satisfying crack was followed by a squeal, prompting him to send a feeling of self-righteousness Uundah’s way. He sent a thought of panic to his party, attempting to summon their aid, though he got no response. Hazarding a glance over his shoulder confirmed he was gaining distance from them, so he took the moment to turn briefly and dump a cloud of protection into their path. The creatures shouldn't be able to see the sneaky spell, he was hoping they would bolt at full speed into the invisible barrier. As much as he wanted to stay and see the outcome, he resigned to continuing his escape. Oats surely had to have realised they were gone by now, and he hoped the man and his donkey were feeling brave enough to turn around and get him. He ran for several minutes, and his pursuers drifted further back. "I think we're losing them" he boasted to Uundah. He was expecting a scathing response from the staff, but nothing came. "Alright then, be a sulk" he huffed.

The forest was fairly open on its floor, offering him no places to hide. He momentarily considered climbing one of the ferns, but decided against it when he remembered how easily the monsters seemed to move through the leaves. Panic started to set in as his ideas grew fewer in number at a rapid pace. "Fine, you're right and I'm an idiot. Do you have any ideas?" He thought to Uundah. Again, he found no response. "If you're going to be like that, I don’t want your help."

For the third time, he received no response. He rubbed his chin in contemplation, feeling fresh blood run onto his fingers. "Well that's no good" he muttered to himself. He eased his sprint into a jog, and looked around the forest. There was no sign of his foe, in fact, the night had grown dead silent. It was peaceful, so he risked stopping to take his environment in more keenly. The air smelled clean and comforting, sending a chill deep into his bones. He focused extra hard on sending a thought to his O'jin, emphasising the urgency in his attempt. "Where in the hells are you? You half drowned rat" he thought.

This time, he received a faint response. It was fear, utterly overwhelming in its subtleness. "I'm asleep again aren’t I?" He asked the empty forest. Unsurprisingly, he received no reply. Closing his eyes, he tried to force himself awake. He pictured Uundah, and Oats, and focused his mind on finding them. At first, he got nothing but blackened silence, though slowly, the sounds of fire crackling started to make their way into his mind. He focused on the sound, and soon enough could hear the tell tale but muffled sounds of a man yelling. He recognised the voice as Serril, and he opened his eyes the moment the voice was clear in his mind.

"...Until the ravens are feasting on your rotted carcass" the big man threatened. His first sight once he woke, was of the mangled face of a Dream Eater. The visage of the nightmare was promptly cleaned from its spot by a great black blade. Murphy scurried back against the base of a fern to try and take in his surroundings. They were still at camp, but the scene was remarkably more chaotic than when he had fallen asleep. That's when he realised he never remembered sleeping. The last thing he could remember was being on picket, then immediately being back home with his friends. The campfire was spread about, burning through the dried underbrush and chasing the sky along the great ferns. Movement in the darkness confirmed the ambush they were currently subjected to.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Get your wits about you wizard" Serril demanded. "Three fighters and three to guard" he declared, glancing at the O'jin by his side. "We'll be talking about him later."

Murphy pulled himself up, clutching at his stinging face. The creature had sliced a four inch cut from the underside of his chin and towards his left ear. If the Demai hadn't helped him when he did, the monster may have just taken his face. He felt weak, but forced himself to stand anyway. Uundah grabbed his hand, and shifted into his staff form.

"That's four to fight" Murphy corrected. "Uundah is more than just an ugly face."

"A blessing from your God then. Get ready to cast, Eseyfirr. The dreaming scourge are fast, you won't get a second shot on any of them". He twirled his blade to emphasise his point, never taking his eyes away from the darkness. "Could use some lights out there" he suggested.

Murphy took the hint readily, and fired off a bunch of lightballs into the gloom. It was another of the variations he'd made to the fireball rune, and it was proving as necessary as he thought it might. The lights shot into the darkness, and settled onto the first thing they hit. The effect showed a scurrying mass of fat leathery horrors, too many for him to count so quickly.

"Eight targets" Serril said with a slight smirk, once Murphy had finished lighting the area. "You three cripple, and I'll mame. May, go to work."

Murphy was taken back by the number. Not the size of it, but the fact that the warrior had managed a count at all. May didn’t seem phased, she instead sprung effortlessly into the leaves above, disappearing without a sound. He levelled Uundah towards the outer camp, and gestured for Oats to get behind them. Wordlessly, and with the look of terror in his eyes, Oats led Sausage to their point of stand.

"I hope you have a plan here carrot man" Oats whispered from behind him. "I was supposed to be safe on a ship for this."

"I'm sorry friend, but we'll get you out of this. You have my word" Murphy responded kindly.

Serril sniffed. "Don't make promises too soon wizard. I'd take our wyvern any day over these bastards."

"Always so serious, aren't you big man?" The Warlock joked.

Serril shook his head and laughed gently. "The inexperience of youth. I envy your optimism Eseyfirr, perhaps you can fight them off with good intentions."

Murphy was about to respond with words, but the rapid crunching of leaves drew his attention to the front of them. A Dream Eater was darting in their direction with its hands held out, grasping excitedly at the open air. It started to hum a whistle, so he wasted no more time. Within the first second of seeing the thing, he managed to fire a stoneball from his hand. Uundah must have been equally startled, since the O'jin fired a fireball of his own at the same time. The monster ducked beneath the fireball, but had its legs taken out by the invisible aspect of stone, causing it to faceplant into the dirt with force. In the next second, two arrows entered from the darkness, pinning its warty legs to the forest floor. Serril immediately rushed the thing, and bought his blade upwards, cleaving its face in two. The corpse slapped against the ground, splattering sickly and hot yellow blood over all that were present.

Before they had a chance to celebrate, another noise came from behind. Oats yelped as the creature's hand wrapped around his ankle. He was dragged several feet by the giggling beast, before an arrow struck its wrist and loosened its grip. Murphy launched a stoneball at the head of the horror while it recovered. Being so close, the spell cracked against its skull, sending the back of its head flipping violently into the ground. It slumped, but started to move rather soon after. Another two arrows brought the beast to an end as they struck its neck with scary precision.

The battle had begun, and Dream Eaters started sprinting at them from all directions. He blasted off stoneballs to two of their targets, not noticing the third at his right. Moments before the third got to him, Uundah released a cloud of protection, hoping to stop the monster in its tracks. To their displeasure though, the protection did nothing to stop the charging foe. It barged him with immense strength, cracking one of his ribs with a noticeable pop. The force sent him writhing across the clearing to land on his backside, forcing him into a backwards roll to regain his footing. He looked up in time to see the monster's head jerk sideways from the force of an arrow. There was a sudden eruption of aspect, bowing off one of its eyes, along with a heavy portion of its cheek. The beast didn't stop its charge though, until Serril cut its legs away from beneath. Oats called for his attention, pointing frantically at another charging enemy. Both he and Serril fell on the thing in an instant. Murphy fired a reliable stoneball, and the Demai took the opportunity to take its intestines from their home. The giggles from the darkness intensified, informing them of the backup they were about to meet.

"I count thirteen" May thought to them from the ferns. "Make that twelve" she punctuated, sounding pleased with herself.

"I have an idea" Murphy said to Serril. "If May can mark their spot, I can show them my chaos fire". His suggestion was a legitimate one, though he couldn’t deny he wanted to show off in front of the warrior beside him.

"Don't tell me, tell her" Serril chastised.

Murphy groaned, he wasn’t a fan of their psychic methods of communication. "Ugly fuckers, mark a group, steamed sprouts" he thought to the party.

"What does he want now?" May thought back in a hurry.

Serril growled. "Dammit Eseyfirr" he barked out loud. "Light on the target, now" he demanded mentally.

An arrow lit up in the ferns, and zipped towards a place in the darkness. There was a squeal, then the light filtered out to reveal it had stuck a Dream Eater, standing in a group of four. He fired three space bombs at the area, making sure to cover a wide range, leaving them nowhere to run to. They still tried to their credit, but they were too distracted by the arrow to make their escape in time. The sound of metal through flesh drew his attention away from the chaos he'd created, when Serril lopped the arm off an Eater that had stuck up on them. Murphy finished it off quickly with a stoneball. His head spun with the last spell, and his fingertips grew noticeably colder. Whatever the Dream Eaters had done to him, was taking its toll on his strength, along with the rapid casting he was forced to do. It wasn’t often that he experienced that particular fatigue, but some of the books he'd read had emphasised the dangers surrounding 'Daion Fatigue'. Missing his sword, he resigned to attempting to be a little more practical with his casting. His hopes for taking it easy were quickly dashed, when three of the monsters came from the frey at once. He was too close for another space bomb, so he released an unrelenting torrent of force at his opponents. The effect launched the monsters into the woods, and brought him to one knee.

"Hold yourself wizard" Serril ordered. "You can get tired later, right now you fight". He pulled a black dagger from his boot, and sent the blade across the clearing to be buried in the neck of a recovering Eater. Murphy used Uundah to help himself stand, and nodded with a false confidence to his commander. A quick check with Uundah confirmed that he was also weakened, since the two of them shared Murphy’s power for the most part, he wasn't surprised. He knew what he had to do, though he dreaded the idea of parting with one of his treasures. Before he had a chance to get to the cart for his bag, he had to fire another spell at the monster running by it. The spell was pitiful in its strength, only serving to knock the thing from its feet. With the last of his power, he coated the beast in the aspect of nearly glide, with an extra serving of the colour that made it so volatile. His hope was that the effect would take place sooner that way. The beast must have recognised that it had been enchanted, since it stopped for a moment to check itself over. That split second gave him time to dive into the cart and grab his bag. The beast fell upon him, it's clawed fingers outstretched and grasping. He held it at bay with Uundah while he desperately rifled through his satchel. When his hand met its target, he gritted his teeth and smiled at the monster. "Say hello you your buddies for me" he quipped, right before releasing a stoneball point blank into its chest. The Daions surged from the wolf's eye, and passed through his body and into Uundah, before exploding the horror into slimy and steaming chunks of flesh. Having an unfamiliar source of Daions course through his body had the effect of extreme nausea, causing him to cough vomit onto his own chest. As much as he wanted to ride out the wave of sickness, he knew he didn't have time. Pulling himself from the cart, he committed himself to the fight. He held the crystal eye firmly in one hand, and drained an unchecked amount of its power with each spell. The camp became quickly littered with gore. Blood both yellow and red coated their tents as they tore through the beast's into the long night. At one point, one of the carcasses started flying around randomly, granting them a brief reprieve thanks to their attackers confusion. Several times, they had to retrieve an acquired Oats from his doom, and by the end of it the man was struck dumb by his trauma. The morning light peeked through the leaves as they felled the last of the Dream Eaters. One tenacious horror had eluded them for the most of the fight, yet it too was brought to a violent end by three arrows to the spine and a swift decapitation.

~~

Serril silently walked their camp, ordering them to be silent until he was sure they were safe. When May joined them again, she too was covered in gore. Apparently the creature's were all too aware of her presence, but somehow the quiet archer had held strong against the onslaught. Once Serril had declared their victory, Murphy fell back to his knees. Determined to end a fight conscious, he wrestled against his fatigue. With all of his strength gone, he released his grasp on the eye, and let the blackened and drained treasure fall to the dirt.

The shadow of Serril blocked the morning light, and he looked up to see a look of disappointment shrouding his face. "Don't rest too easy, Eseyfirr. We need to have a chat."