Nightmare: Part 2

"Now take your places," Nightmare said as they floated over Lilu.

"What if we refuse to give Lilu bad dreams!?" Ahmond asked, standing defiantly up to the seven foot tall horse.

Her wings puffed out, and Nightmare said, "There are various punishments to those who defy me."

Ahmond bit down on her leg, but Nightmare raised a hoof off. "Unfortunately for you, DEAR, I'm not very sensitive." She waved her leg around, and knocked Ahmond away. "Most riders have problems riding me."

Baynana said, "Can someone just make a saddle?"

Nightmare said, "Wights prevent someone from controlling their own dream, which is why they can't just summon a weapon and attack the wights."

Well Ahmond didn't know a spell to do that, so she figured it had to be other wights who caused those issues. Unless that was just a passive effect.

"Okay," Ahmond asked, "is everyone supposed to ride you bare, on your back?"

Nightmare shrugged. "Most species can't even climb onto me, really. My goal is to make sure no one falls off of my back, and that I don't get attacked by wights. My own, or others."

"You mean there are more wights?" Baynana asked.

"I actually interfere with all kinds of bad dreams," Nightmare said. "Even without wights, there are some bad dreams with zombies or other things. Anyway, enough talking about this. For your first punishment, Ahmond, you are going to be killed during this dream, depending on how it goes."

"Depending on how it goes?" Ahmond asked.

Nightmare said, "I don't have full control of the dream either. Sometimes I can't anticipate the environments or anything, I just have to not get hurt."

She jumped into Lilu's head, and Ahmond and Baynana followed.

The world was black, and Nightmare said, "Great, her dream hasn't started yet. She needs to hit REM sleep before the dream kicks on."

Hills generated in the distance, being the first landscape feature, as more and more things came to fill the void.

Some planks of wood fell before them. Nightmare said, "Begin building."

"Build what?" Ahmond asked.

"Her house," Nightmare said, "before she's in this dream. It's still getting made."

Ahmond had never built a dream before, much less a bad dream. Baynana arranged the boards and began hammering the nails, while Ahmond tried to remember how her house looked. It ended with them placing the forbidden book in the bathroom, which was where Lilu might go first, after she woke up.

"The dream begins," the Nightmare said.

Lilu would awaken in her own bed, but Ahmond in skeletal form came out to her. Lilu's eyes widened, but Ahmond said, "Wait, I need to tell you something, it's me, Ahmond!"

Before Ahmond could finish her explanation, a giant horse appeared behind her, and raised her horn before...

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They had left that dream early, since Ahmond ruined the entire thing. Nightmare said, as they flew in the air, "I figured I didn't have to tell you not to do that."

"Well you can't do anything to me while I'm asleep!" Ahmond said. "And you're just a spirit, how are you going to do anything to us, if we're not physical? You've already turned me into a wight." Ahmond kept on talking.

The Nightmare wasn't going to listen much further as she bit down on Ahmond's neck. Ahmond screamed from the pain, but Nightmare put Ahmond over a rock. She turned around, and bucked Ahmond in the bottom.

Ahmond went flying, and skidded on the ground.

Nightmare said, "A bite and a buck for every time you mess up."

Baynana frowned, more afraid of getting a bite and buck. "She'll listen from now on, we swear!"

Nightmare told her, "Good. You'd best both listen or else you'll surely be up for more beatings."

Ahmond's rear end still had the hoof prints. A horse's kick was hard enough to shatter a diamond, and Ahmond felt like she wasn't going to walk easily anytime soon.

Their next dream was of Margar the violat. A violat being a spindly limbed, purple reptile with a pickaxe shaped head. Actually, almost horse-shaped as Ahmond compared the two head shapes.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Nightmare said, "I want this dream to be extra scary. I want him quivering in his boots tomorrow."

"He wears no boots," Ahmond pointed out, and Baynana nodded.

Nightmare felt a sudden urge to bite and buck again. Luckily, the two brats floated into his head again.

Margar was working at a counter, mopping the floor, when Ahmond and Baynana appeared from within the bucket. Margar's eyes widened, but Ahmond slid on the wet floor, and hit the wall.

Baynana asked Ahmond, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, never better," Ahmond said as she scrambled up.

Margar said, "I don't know what you things are doing in my dreams, but get out."

Next dream, it was Rosod's. Ahmond knew what would scare Rosod.

As Rosod woke up into the dream world, she saw Ahmond dressed up with a clown nose.

"Looking good," Rosod said as she put her hands on the back of her head, and fell asleep.

"Thanks," Ahmond said.

Baynana asked, "Should we call on Nightmare? Rosod just fell asleep in her own dream. This can't be normal, right?"

Ahmond nodded, and said, "Nightmare, Nightmare, Nightmare!"

The horse appeared. "Yes?" she asked excited. Her eyes fluttered as she waited for them to say they had caught someone.

"Er, she fell asleep," Ahmond said.

"Wait, a dream within a dream?" Nightmare asked.

"All things seem but," Baynana said.

Nightmare growled, and said, "Well, I guess it's possible to dream within a dream, but we'd have to do a next level in that dream." Nightmare paused. "Someone else is calling me. Go within the dream, and make sure I get summoned."

They both saluted her, as they went in further.

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The girls went deeper into the dream, only to find themselves atop a roof. Ahmond said, "Well, let's see if Rosod's nearby."

Ahmond peered over the roof, only to fall down. She gave out a scream, while Baynana's eyes widened, and soon there was a loud smack as she hit the ground. Unfortunately, Rosod's dream contained a bunch of endless drops.

Water quickly filled up the pit Ahmond found herself in. "Water? Do wights drown?"

"I don't know anything about wights!" Baynana said. The roof was a black surface. "Where's the water coming from?"

"I don't know, maybe a pipe?" Ahmond said as she swam around. "I know how to swim, at the very least, so it shouldn't be that bad."

Baynana turned around, only to see Rosod.

"So, apparently, I found out that if someone hijacks your dream," Rosod said, "You just dream again. Good night." Rosod dropped down into slumber land.

Baynana jumped in after her, only to end up falling into lava. It burned for real.

"Hot hot hot hot!" Baynana said as she danced around in the flames, while Rosod sat on a stone in the middle of the volcano.

"Wanna go a fourth level?" Rosod said. "A dream within a dream within a dream within a dream?"

"No!" Baynana said. "Ow, Nightmare Nightmare Nightmare!"

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Nightmare rushed into the newest dream, a dream from the darkest depths, from a glowing jackal.

The jackal ran in the woods, and Nightmare appeared. She had been a little confused about where the danger was, but did hear the jackal call her name. Very well. The Nightmare was meant to rescue someone from bad dreams, whether wight caused or not, and so she ran alongside the jackal.

The jackal jumped onto Nightmare's back, as Nightmare galloped. Problem was, Nightmare was very insensitive by being a ghost, and didn't know when to stop, as she rampaged past the trees.

In panic, the jackal tugged on Nightmare's mane and leaned into her back, and Nightmare gradually slowed, gradually as not to end up throwing the rider over. She came to a halt, and the jackal took several heaving breaths.

Nightmare scanned around for any potential threats, like some kind of zombies, or a ghoul, or a ghost. Instead, she saw a wolf, a bright white wolf.

"Why won't you ever leave me alone!?" the jackal asked as she stared at the wolf, before using a sword to slash the wolf apart.

Nightmare's raised an eyebrow. A sword normally didn't go into dreams, but this wasn't an ordinary sword, she had some kind of special sword. She was about to inquire how the jackal got it, but Nightmare understood all languages, she didn't speak all languages.

While fascinated, a new bright light came up, and Nightmare knew she had to dine and dash. She'd get to work on eating the jackal's dream, before running off towards the bright light.

She ended up finding her two new minions causing a ruckus again, whether getting butts burned by lava, or getting drowned.

Nightmare snorted, and flew down, before bucking Ahmond, and then Baynana out of Rosod's dreams.

"We have to thank you for saving us again," Ahmond said. "So, guess that's one more down, and we've already gotten about six, right? We're doing pretty good."

"Yeah," Baynana said. "I don't like the work we're doing, but we're doing good at it for something we'll do forever."

Forever?

Nightmare quivered at the thought of these two, being on rides with her, as wraiths, forever.

"Uh, it's not actually forever," Nightmare said. "In fact, it's not even for all that long, really, I swear." And Nightmare grunted. "I guess you two really aren't going to be cut out for this at all. Very well."

"Are you going to free us then?" Baynana asked.

"Yes, now, close your eyes."

Both did, and Nightmare got prepared. She promptly bucked them so hard they woke up, and still felt the migraine.

"Ow," Ahmond said. "How hard are her kicks?"

Baynana stared at herself, and said, "Do you think she's going to avoid us from now on? Are we in the clear?"

Ahmond grinned. "Yep, all according to plan, I would say."

Baynana blinked. "Plan?"

Ahmond shrugged, and stared at the outside sunshine. "Sometimes, you have to annoy someone to get far, as after all, if you annoy someone, they're not going to stay with you."

Baynana realized Ahmond may have plotted all their failures, and tried to remember what happened prior. Was Ahmond just pulling her leg? Or did Ahmond secretly know what was going on, and knew how to play the Nightmare?

"We still have wights that were sucking on us," Baynana said. "Do you think it had to do with the forbidden book."

"Don't know, don't care," Ahmond said, as she grabbed the book.

Baynana asked, "What are you doing with that book? You're not going to read it again, are you?"

"Even better." Ahmond hurled it over the window, and it landed out in the field. She jumped out through the window, and this time managed a perfect landing.

Baynana saw Ahmond get to work at digging, until only her rear was sticking out into the air. Ahmond pawed dirt back over the book.

It had been buried, as was necessary, for the rest of their lives.