Emily

I felt my feet touch soft earth again and I let out the breath I had been holding.

I looked up at the sky, shielding my eyes from the sun and taking in a deep breath of fresh air. It was good to be back topside, the underground got dull without the sun constantly being there.

Looking at the sun, it appeared to be about midday. After glancing at my minimap, I saw I was far away from the Night-Mare, which was a relief.

There was just one small problem.

Layton was almost right next to the Night-Mare.

Oh, that wasn’t good.

I smacked my forehead. What was I thinking? Of course it wasn’t good. That was an understatement and then some.

I closed my minimap, looking around at my area more. What do I do now?

Shrugging, I sat down, finding myself face to face with a wand.

“Oh!” I had forgotten I was getting a temporary weapon, what a nice surprise. Humming to myself, I picked up the wand, sending a spark of magic through it.

(Elsewhere on the island)

“Oh Layton? Where have you gone? I just want to talk to you~” The Night-Mare said in an eerily soft tone, stopping and looking around.

Layton shivered. How had things gone so wrong? One second she was looking forward to reuniting with their party, the next, she was being attacked by the horrifying being known as Night-Mare.

She was currently hiding in the bushes a couple hundred feet from the boss monster, and she was doing her best to stay as quiet as she could.

“Layton, don’t worry, it will all be okay. All you have to do is come over here so we can have a little chat.” The demon said, fangs raised in a grin.

Layton covered her mouth, holding in a whimper. How was she going to get out of this deadly predicament?

The Night-Mare tsked, clicking its forked tongue at the empty air. “Now Layton, I don’t want to hurt you just yet, I have so many things I want to ask you.”

Layton wanted to scoff. Wouldn’t hurt me? Yeah right. It was a friggin DEMON! Like I would believe even a single word it said.

The Demon looked confused. “Is she not here? I placed a very high amount of Charm on those words, there is no way she could have resisted if she was within earshot.” It(?) muttered to itself.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Layton tilted her head trying to listen to it more closely. Wait! Wasn’t charm that I used on Plikt when I first met him? How odd.

The demon looked around one last time before snorting air and walking away.

It was a veeerry slow walk.

Layton grit her teeth, waiting perfectly silent as the Night-Mare slowly went away from her. As soon as she couldn’t see it anymore, she let out a breath of relief.

She was safe.

Layton stood up slowly, looking around to make sure that it wasn’t still lurking around somewhere.

Letting out another breath of relief, Layton turned to walk out- only to find herself face to face with the Night-Mare.

Layton let out a scream, jumping backwards to get as far as she could from the demonic being.

“Ah, there you are, Layton, I was getting worried when you were not responding to me.” The Night-Mare said, a toothy grin all but plastered onto its face. “You should of come out sooner, then we could have had a much nicer chat, none of this “running away” nonsense.”

Layton was too scared to think, looking for an exit anywhere. She would not die like this.

The demon took a step towards Layton, sending her scrambling away to keep the distance. The Night-Mares face took on a pout. “Do you really not like me at all, Layton? I thought we were friends, always playing such fun games together.”

Layton snorted, “yeah right, your’e just an arrogant jerk who also happens to be a creepy as heck demon.” She said, talking for the first time since she had teleported back onto the main island.

The demon looked confused. “How are you resisting my charm so easily? It should work on any opponent lower leveled than me and you most certainly are more lower in levels than me.” the Night-Mare said, musing to itself.

Layton just took a shaky stance. “Guess you're just too weak to even hurt one of the lesser members of the Nightmares from Earth.”

The demon openly scoffed at her. “You are pathetic, even if you can resist my charm,” It said, pausing slightly and taking a step towards her. “You still can stop this!”

It rushed her, going so fast it made her mind spin trying to watch it. In the blink of an eye, it was before her, taking its long clawed hand and plunging its hand into her side.

Layton screamed in pain, kicking out at the demon and jumping away.

The Night-Mare was hot on her heels, grabbing her arm and almost ripping it out of its socket. Layton didn’t even make a cry of pain this time, to focus on getting away from the demon.

The Night-Mare leaped in front of Layton, grabbing her arm and plunging its arm elbow deep in her stomach, hand going out the other side.

Layton screamed, collapsing on the ground as blood gushed from her open wound.

“Tsk, tsk, I thought you would put up a better fight than that Layton, you disappointed me.”

Layton took in a deep, shaky breath. “You won’t. Get to. Live that much. Longer.” Layton spoke in short bursts to avoid pain as much as she could.

“Oh? Why is that? Because of your sniveling little friends?”

Layton let out a bark of laughter, before wincing. “Once I die, their drive to kill you and grow stronger will increase ten-fold, when you end me, you are as good as dead.” She said confidently, fighting against the pain to speak normally.

The Night-Mare tilted its head in thought. “Is that so? Well then, I guess I might have to actually try to beat them. Sounds like it will be fun.”

Layton tried to speak but she didn’t have any air. Dang it. In the end, all of my power didn’t amount to anything. I wish that my power could be used for something greater.

In a flash of white light, Layton suddenly felt FAR weaker, but she was happy. She hoped her power would find someone worthy and help them on their way.

Layton died, accepting the stark emptiness of the void. Wondering what awaited her in the next life.