It took Lucian a long time to finally fall asleep, and as soon as he did he was awoken by a loud explosion.

He shot up and rolled off the bed onto all fours… threes, actually. He immediately glanced at his father, who was still laying down but had opened his eyes.

“That doesn’t sound good,” John lamented tiredly. He sat up and stretched his arms. “It’s hard getting up at my age.”

There was another explosion. Through the window in their room they saw a flash of orange light. Frantic screams started to fill the air.

“That’s not good,” John said calmly while rubbing his eyes.

“Dad,” Lucian called seriously.

“What? You’re up already? Damn, son, you got ready quick.” John yawned and stood up, grabbing his spear.

Lucian slept with his sword next to him and all his clothes on, so all he had to do was grab his vest and throw on his boots.

He opened the window of the room and stuck half his body outside. The northern gates, towards the swamp, were blown into pieces. Smoke and dust filled the air as the guards frantically ran around the area.

A few spell users approached the cloud of dust and started to use earth magic. A wall of earth started to grow out of the ground where the breach was.

“How’s it look?” John asked.

“They’re quick. Probably had procedures.”

“Do you feel something with that ‘special sense’ of yours?”

Lucian took a deep breath. The energy of the town was rampant and all over the place. Everyone in the town was awake and confused, making the air hectic. He expanded his range towards the swamp. He could sense presence in the swamp. There was excitement and anger but also fear - immense fear.

The fear was directed towards… nothing?

No, not nothing, but nothingness. It was hard for him to describe something he had never, ever, felt before in all his years. He liked his sensing to a sixth sense that could read not only the miniscule signs of living like breathing and heat, but also intent and emotions.

Something was approaching. He could feel something, but there was no intent of life. If his sixth sense was like a radar, then there was just a black fog of emptiness. A dead zone.

He stared at the wall and racked his memories for any similar instance. He couldn’t. Each time he died his memories of older lives got foggier, but he couldn’t remember any instance of ‘nothing’ from his days as a monster hunter. Even ghosts had intent.

The earth wall shattered. The screams escalated. Through the dust came… a thing.

Lucian’s breath left him. His eyes widened.

Lucian was looking at a creature he had never seen before. It was something that even the wildest of imaginations could not possibly create.

The creature towered over everything in its path, its body a grotesque amalgamation of twisted limbs and mangled flesh. Its four legs were like gnarled trees, covered in thick, wiry fur that seemed to shift and writhe of its own accord. The stubby, misshapen limbs barely seemed able to support its massive bulk, and the whole body was covered in a writhing mass of barbed tentacles that seemed to reach out hungrily towards anything within their reach.

The creature's head was the most horrific part of its form, a long and serpentine neck that rose high into the air, leading up to a bulbous head that was nearly as big as its entire body. The neck and head seemed to be made up of a mass of writhing tendrils, twisting and thrashing wildly in every direction.

The nightmare's face was a twisted mask of horror, with eyes that were empty holes filled with darkness, and a gaping maw of razor-sharp teeth and multiple tongues. Its skin was slick and oily, as if coated in a layer of slimy, viscous fluid that seemed to seep out from every pore.

As the nightmare moved, its entire form seemed to warp and shift, twisting and contorting in fashion that just didn’t resemble anything Lucian had ever seen.

It was his first time seeing one, but he knew it was.

In the books he read when he was young it was taboo to mention nightmares. Fiction writers tended to stay away from these creatures, since writing about them might desensitize people from how dangerous they really are.

“Dad,” he said weakly, a strange feeling in his chest.

He was never the type to be scared, but the creature in front of him unnerved him in a way nothing had before. In his third life he had seen warped, horrific creatures before, but the lack of life, the nothingness that emanated from the nightmare, went against his very perception of reality.

The beast lashed out at the cowering, shellshocked guards. Its neck swung like a wrecking ball and destroyed the earth magic users. The tentacles on its body shot out and extended to unreal lengths and started grabbing people, whipping them around and throwing them into the ground.

But there was no intent to kill. No malicious energy came from the nightmare. It was so empty. It had no desire to kill - no reason. He felt no hunger to feed, or even breathing, from it.

Why did it kill? He didn’t understand. What was it?

Lucian felt a hand grab him by the collar and pull him back. He stumbled back and looked at his father who had taken his place at the window.

“Fuck,” was John’s initial reaction. “That’s a big one. They’re gonna need me.”

“What? We’re going to fight that?” Lucian asked incredulously.

“They’re freaky, but they’re dumb as rocks. If we get everyone organized we can take it out. Damn, I wish your mom was here.”

With that, John jumped out the window and into the street. Gritting his teeth, Lucian cursed the weakness he was feeling and followed his father. Landing and being just halfway down the street from the beast, Lucian took a deep breath.

Adventurers of all kinds started to filter into the street, watching the fight with hardened eyes. Dwayne ran towards them, his face stone cold.

“Guards! Fall back! Don’t get close! Use earth magic on its leg! Fire users! Burn it!” the sheriff barked out orders. He then turned to the gathering crowd. “Adventurers! We will graciously compensate everyone who helps us kill this wretched beast!”

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A few seasoned warriors stepped forward.

Dwayne turned towards John and Lucian. “John,” he said, his voice desperate.

“I got it,” John said calmly, pulling his spear out. The silver spear extended, doubling its length. John started to walk towards the nightmare. He turned to face Lucian. “Lucian, stay back and learn,” he told his son, who nodded hesitantly.

He charged at the beast with a few adventurers in tow. Tentacles extended and shot towards him, but John was unfazed. He changed his direction quickly and precisely, weaving around the tentacles and jumping towards the creature's right flank.

John retracted his extended spear and holstered it on his back, deciding that it wasn’t the tool he needed. He drew the sword hanging on his hip as another batch of tentacles rushed at him.

He effortlessly sidestepped the onslaught and slashed at each appendage with razor sharp precision.

After bisecting the flurry of tentacles, he rushed towards the broken chunks of the earth wall. John brought his foot back and kicked the destroyed section of the wall. The huge, car sized boulder flew right into the head of the nightmare, who lost its balance and careened to the side.

“Pitfall!” he yelled to the adventurers.

They got the message and a burly warrior placed both his hands on the ground. The earth under the creature’s left legs recessed, forming a pit. The nightmare lost even more balance and could no longer stay upright. It crashed into a building, failing as its misshapen body prevented it from getting up.

“Let’s see how well it handles fire,” John called to the adventurers, who nodded and started to cast fire magic.

In less than a minute the tides were turned. It was far from over, but the nightmare was nowhere near as dangerous flopping on the ground.

Lucian marveled at his father’s precision, above all things. His superhuman speed and strength was the result of extremely powerful magic reinforcement and strengthening, but to be able to move so fluidly with the strengthening was beyond impressive. Usually when people reinforced, the ground around them shattered and they were engulfed in aura, but none of that happened with John.

It was fluid and natural. He even calculated how much force he needed to kick the boulder without shattering it and augmented his strength.

Was his abilities the result of just experience and practice? Or was there a technique? Lucian wanted to do that badly.

He felt a spark of intent from the other side of town. He could feel distress…

Animals were distressed. A lot of them.

His eyes widened. The distress was coming from the only farm in town, Erik’s farm.

Lucian shot into the air and landed on top of a building. It only took a few minutes for Lucian to rush to the edge of town and run towards the stables.

The barn was on fire. Luckily the animals had been freed but they were running everywhere in a panic. The chaos was overwhelming his enhanced senses, so Lucian had no choice but to let go of his sixth sense and run towards the chaos blindly.

A masked man flew around the corner and roughly rolled across the ground. Erik emerged from the corner, a plow in hand, and swung it at the downed figure.

The figure rolled away and tried stabbing Erik’s midsection, but the farmer brought his plow up and quickly parried.

Another masked figure stumbled towards them, limping and clearly discombobulated. He had a crossbow that he shakily tried to aim at Erik.

Lucian pounced. His shadowsteel blade warped the light of the moon and fire, making his blade a dark shadow that plunged into the midsection of the enemy.

The man who had just been stabbed froze, not realizing what happened. He brought his eyes down and saw the tip of Lucian’s blade protruding out of his chest. He gasped and then screamed in horror.

Erik and the other figure froze, not knowing what to do. The other masked figure charged into Erik, knocking him off balance and then ran towards his dying ally.

He had lost his composure, Lucian noted as he deftly parried the man’s wide swing and drove his gladius into his throat.

The warrior's eyes filled with disbelief as he collapsed onto the ground clutching at throat.

Lucian stepped over him and towards Erik.

“Are you alright?” Lucian asked.

“You… you killed them,” Erik said, his eyes wide with shock.

“They weren’t trying to tickle you with those swords, Erik. You were lucky I made it on time,” Lucian replied, slowly placing his hand still on Erik's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“We could have subdued them,” Erik replied meekly, his eyes darting to the ground.

Lucian rolled his eyes. “Perhaps, but this way was the most certain. We can’t deal with all the animals and watch them,” he explained, gesturing to the scattered animals around them. “Also, what about your dad? Where is he?”

“Oh god, pops!” Erik’s labored breathing started to become frantic, he collapsed onto his knees. “I don’t know where he is,” he said in a panic, his hands shaking. “There were so many people! And the fire and the animals… I told him to get the sheriff but he wanted to stay. He has to be okay, right?”

“I think he’s fine,” Lucian said with uncertainty, his eyes scanning the area. “Those two are the only people I saw, so the others must have fled into the swamp.” He squeezed Erik's shoulder gently, trying to stop the impending panic attack. “Your father needs you to be strong, you know?”

“Yeah,” Erik agreed shakily, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “Yeah… he does.” He got onto his feet, wiping away the tears that had started to form in his eyes. “There were so many, but they were so focused on taking the animals. Only a few wanted to fight, so odds are pops is okay somewhere.”

The two started to search the area, looking for any sign of Erik's father. The barn was nothing but ashes, and the animals were scattered in every direction.

“They probably took him,” Lucian said, trying to contemplate what the motive was. “Any ideas?”

“I don’t know. They were stealing animals and taking them into the swamp. What do they need ‘em for? Maybe for food, but the horses? Why take horses when cows have so much more meat?” Erik was puzzled, his brow furrowed in thought.

“Horses?” Lucian questioned, his eyes widening in realization. “What are the odds they took Cranberry and Radish?”

“I heard the explosion and went to check up on the animals since they get scared, and when I did…” Erik trailed off, his eyes downcast in shame, “they were taking Cranberry.”

Lucian let out a deep sigh, his hand rubbing at his forehead. “Of course they did,” he muttered, disappointed. “It can never be simple.”

“Let’s go get 'em,” Erik suggested boldly, his fists clenched with determination.

“Right now?” Lucian asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Yeah. They have your horse and they have pops,” Erik replied, his voice filled with urgency. “All the more reason to attack before they hurt either one of them.”

Erik started to march towards the swamp, but Lucian stopped him, grabbing his wrist. He could see the fury and anxiety permeating in Erik’s gaze, and he knew that he wasn't thinking straight.

“Two things,” Lucian started, his tone firm. “One, it’s the middle of the night, we don’t know the swamp and there’s nightmares going around. Two, I don’t like your chances against a group of bandits.”

“Isn’t that more than two things?” Erik asked innocently.

"Okay sure, whatever," Lucian quickly replied, his voice dripping with exasperation. "But my message still stands. I can't kill everyone and keep an eye on you. You'll only hold me back."

Erik refused to back down. "I can hold my own," he insisted, his voice rising in frustration. "I knocked out two of the four people that attacked. You got the other two, so basically I'm just as effective as you are!"

Lucian shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to process what he just heard. "Wow, that is just..." he trailed off, struggling to find the words to express his disbelief. "Amazing logic right there, congrats."

Erik seemed oblivious to Lucian's growing annoyance, his face lighting up with pride. "Thank you! I know division just fine!"

Lucian realized that trying to reason with Erik was a lost cause, so he changed tactics. "Where are the two people you knocked out? We can question them," he suggested.

Erik nodded eagerly. "Oh, they shouldn't be too far away from the other two," he said, leading the way back to the remains of the barn.

As they approached the scene of the fight, Lucian's heart sank. There was no sign of the two bandits that Erik had taken down, nor any trace of the bodies of the ones he had killed. "Damn it," he muttered, frustration clear in his voice.

Erik looked at him apologetically. "I really thought when you knocked someone out they’d be asleep for longer," he said, his tone sheepish.