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End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Koi-Wish
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End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

Nocven watches as the fragment of the heart turns to tiny shards and drops from his clenched fingers to the ground. His breath releases, a deep sigh escapes.

“It is done, what is will be no more.” his voice cracks the sudden silence.

Remnants of dreamers being torn from the Dream fade about his vision. He watches them each in turn, not needing to lift a finger as they vanish into nothingness.
Moments pass and absolute silence and darkness creeps over his surroundings like a warm velvet blanket.

He takes a stroll, fully able to see in the dark, casually passing dropped items of dreamers whom vanished without a moment notice, he kicks a few just to hear the brief crunch as the items smack against a wall. His tour takes him up mountains, across plains and through valleys, occasionally passing one of the silly strongholds these inhabitants called home. The mares still remain, scurrying from his path out of fear and in a quick flurry. They increase in numbers as he comes across the Umbric, he pauses and chuckles a bit at the scene before him. More of these chaotic fuel cells then ever litter this plane, he finds what is left of the canon and whispers to it, “Nice try, but thanks for ordering in”, and with that he snatches two Agoknight’s, one in each hand. He smashes their heads together and they burst into a gooey paste, a single eyes runs down a river of blood along his arm and he laps it up, biting it firmly causing it to explode in a burst of pus and blood. He sits casually munching on his dinner, watching as two more Agoknights slip from the chaos onto the plane. He merely shakes his head and continues eating, the Agoknights bare down on him, but with a glance they scurry away like rats from a bright light.

As he squeezes an Agoknight tail over his head allowing the blood to flow across his face and down his neck, for the first time in a long time, he smiles.

“Vengeance is mine.” he almost purrs.

He takes out the two essences of WishBringer and Braelynn and sets them beside each other on the ground. With a brief sigh, he spits on each of them in turn, watching his blood thickened saliva slide down the nose of WishBringer’s essence getting caught up on his lips. Braelynn essence now splattered with spittle falls over and the sticky goo drips from her cheeks.

Nocven stands up suddenly and stomps down on them, twisting his ankle and grinding the essences into the ground. “Good riddens.” he says with barely a huff.

He turns and walks out a portal, the sun quickly dries the blood, the essences absorb into the soil and all that remains are a brown splotch and the shapes of a male and female essence.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Hours turned into days and Nocven fed exclusively alone. Laying on a bed of dreamer essences, house primes and trinkets he gathered over the days, he twirled his finger haphazardly in bowl of deep red blood. Carcasses of mares of all types lay about the room. This spot he decided would work well for his devouring this day. A room that connected all the pathetic houses of this dream world together. He lay upon the table and looked about; crests of the various buildings lined the walls around the corner from their corresponding portals. He crushed and crumpled up mare parts and pieces into fist size balls and through them at the crests chuckling to himself as the skin and meat stuck to the surface.

And that’s when he first saw her. That despicable woman, how is she here… how could she? She was completely ghostly white and nearly completely see-thru. She walked in and picked up after him, parts of mares, the bowl of blood and then throwing them in a large leather waste bag. He tries to grab her arm, but his hand passes right through. He looks on oddly, she seems unaware of his presence and continues to work. He throws one of the mare ball clumps at her, it passes thru her form and just as it goes through the other side she reaches up and grabs it and tosses it in her bag.

“How is this possible?” he growls, swiping at her form with his claws and gnashing at her with his teeth. His face goes deep crimson as his anger spills over.

“This is not possible!” he rages.

The woman continues to clean up the room, sweeping and mopping until all is well again, never stopping once to even look in his direction. He tried grabbing the bag but to no avail, the broom and the mop his hands passed thru as if nothing but air.

Defeated he slumps against a wall as she finishes, his lip curled in a snarl his chest heaving from anger and anguish all at once.

When she finishes, she evokes a fireball on the bag and it burns quickly to a crisp, leaving nothing but a ghostly smoke. He roars again in her general direction, but she appears oblivious.
Finally, she turns and lays an item on the table and heads back out through the portal from whence she came, for a moment he considers giving chase, but intrigue stops him in his tracks and he heads over to the table.

His eyes fall upon the item, and he inhales deeply and lunges towards the portal after her ghostly apparition.

The room falls silent and bare, save for the table where upon sits a single Night Rose.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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The city lay scorched and desolate as Nocven rampaged alone and furious leaving a trail of anger and hatred in his wake. The woman was gone, lost to him in this maze of a city. What was more upsetting, is there was no signs of her anywhere. He had hoped to draw her out, but she didn’t clean up after the devastation and destruction he left behind as she had so casually done before.

Soon the others would come, thousands of his kind to feed and bathe in the chaos. He will not allow himself to look incompetent. No, he must find her and rid her of this place like he got rid of everyone else. He stands at the base of Illapse looking at the field of Night Roses and an evil smirk falls over his face as he ransacks by kicking, pulling and ripping the flowers from the earth. He stomps and spits on them as he breaks their steams and removes their petals one by one. After several minutes the threshway of Illapse is covered in tattered petals, stems and soil, with nothing left to smash or focus his anger upon. Nocven breathes heavily, satisfied with his destruction he slips out through a portal unsure of where to go next to find her.

As the portal swallows him up leaving behind the the evidence of his anger, the threshway falls silent. From the shadows a ghostly form steps forward. He surveys the area with a saddened expression.

“She will not be happy when she see’s this.” the figure says whilst shaking his head.

He bends and picks up any petals he can find that still hold their shape, he gathers them methodically and carefully. His ghostly cheeks stream tears that look nothing more than a shadow of moisture running down his pale skin. Content he has collected the remaining petals he once again surveys the scene. A soft whimper escapes his lips as sadness consumes his form, he shakes softly. He slumps against the mountain wall, holding the petals in his hand as if they were small living creatures he cradled carefully. Tears continue to streak his cheeks and he lowers his head and begins to sob. After a few long minutes, he sniffles and tries to regain his composure. He stands and lets out a deep sigh, shaking off his emotions and again looking at the wreckage before him.

“This is where I waited for you once,” he says with conviction, “I miss you my love of loves.”

He takes the petals and turns towards the portal Nocven passed through, he takes another look over his shoulder.

“I love you, Braelynn” he says firmly, “We will find a way.”

And with that he steps through the portal.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Weeks passed. The city lay in smoldering ashes and chaos. The halls and pathways littered with Darkmare and Nightmare parts and pieces. Quivering bits of flesh and dried blood nearly everywhere one’s eyes rested. The sounds of roars and bones crunching echoed across the dreamscape like a haunting horror. Laughter and squeals of pain mix to create a chorus of death and doom.

An emphant steps through the chaos, unknowing its fate, its starts roaming the threshway of Umbric looking for a victim. Before it can even make a corner, a figure lunges at it from unseen shadows. It hardly makes eye contact before its head is removed from its shoulders and it feels itself being rolled along the ground. It comes to rest on its side, looking back at it’s own body which is being hefted over the face of a Nightstalker. The emphant’s eyes peel back in horror as it watches its own entrails and blood gushing from its body into the waiting mouth of the stalker. The Nightstalker already bathed in dried blood from previous kills, has a fresh layer of thick red blood run down from its mouth over its naked form. As it shakes the remaining bits into its mouth its dark eyes turn and peer into the eyes of the emphant and it steps forward. As everything fades to black the emphant looks out at its now emptied body, its eyes stay glued upon it even as it feels the bones in its skull begin to crack.

The Nightstalker crunches and chews, and then suddenly cocks his head to its side listening intently. It’s bloodied teeth suddenly peer through its mouth as it grins hearing yet another chaotic creature in the near distance, it tosses the emphant skull to the side and races off. The umbric threshway falls silent again, before a moment later another emphant steps through the chaos.

Elsewhere, Nocven surveys the Dark Awakening, a flood of his brethren stand about feeding on bits and pieces of the chaos creatures.

“Success”, he nods to himself.

More Nightstalkers swarm in, racing through the portals in search of something to consume. Nocven, eye’s his brother, Morpheus as he chews on the remains of a Shamblix. It seemed only yesterday he was rescued from his imprisonment within the expanse. Morpheus hadn’t been the same since, but his hunger was surely as strong as ever.

A sudden clamoring and disturbance grabs his attention from his brother as he turns to see Nightstalkers fumbling over themselves to get back into the room from a nearby portal. Nocven steps passed them and through the portal himself to see what caused them to scramble away in fear.

He surveys the room, a plethora of unidentifiable remains cover the floor as if blasted apart from a central spot. Bewildered his eyes fall upon one of his brothers standing completely still in the center of the room. Suddenly the body of this nightstalker begins to swell and shrink, each time getting larger and shrinking back to normal. Nocven tilts his head in bewilderment and shock as he races to the stalkers side, but before he can make it to him, an explosion causes him to launch into the air backwards and onto his back, his face littered with the remains of the stalker’s body. As he wipes the blood and fragments of bone from his eyes, he looks back where the stalker once stood.

She now stands in the stalkers place, her own body glistening with the nightstalkers blood, her Night dress running with bits and pieces of its remains. Her body heaves as she breathes in and out deeply, her face is seething.

“You!”, Nocven screams at her, “You are dead, I saw you die!”

Braelynn turns her eyes upon Nocven, they peer into him as she takes a step forward. Her lip curled and her voice hissing, she picks up her pace.

Nocven covers his face with his arm as she bares down on him. But the impact never comes, he moves his arm away from covering his face and looks about the room.
Nothing, nothing but the remains of the chaos that moments ago had ensued.

He scrambles to his feet and races back towards the portal from whence he came.

“Morpheus!” he shouts as he runs, his eyes panic stricken as he passes through.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Days before…

The ice on the Palace walls glistened brilliantly as always and ever before. The air was crisp and cool but filled with an incredibly loud silence. Nothing stirred, a stillness lay over everything like a timeless photographic image captured forever. The tub once steaming and full of crystal-clear water, now sat empty and spotless, as if nothing more than a large bowl forgotten and left. The royal table still had plates, glorious etched silverware and fine goblets that looked to be made from ice adorning the place mats across its oak surface.

As she sat, her glorious Night Dress flowed from her frame as if she was poured into it. Her arms sat crossed, her breath soft and quiet as she sat upon the windowsill looking out across the Basin. She felt so alone without him. Her rock. Her life. Her very soul. She wiped a lone tear as it slowly streamed down her cheek. The Nightstalkers would be arriving in mass numbers any day, perhaps any moment now. The City was mostly empty now, a few stragglers of dreamers hid in the Lost Caves and dared not make their presence known, but most were gone. All of them, friends.... family. Even that damned bird. She missed their interaction, a City with life. Even those few left, she couldn’t interact with, caught somewhere between the City and someplace else. Dreamstruck by Nocven, the monster Nightstalker just days before he shattered the Heart of the City in his hands, and everything went dark. When the light finally returned to the City, they were all gone. Mostly though, he was gone, the Bringer of Wishes, her “Love of Loves” as he called her. She was trapped now, alone, without him, without anyone for that matter. She sighed deeply breaking the silence and stillness that engulphed her.

Suddenly the sound of a portal being passed through rang through the Palace and she jumped from the ledge, startled out of her near-trance and peering intently for whom had dared enter her place of sanctuary and solace.

He walked into the room and looked her directly in the eyes, this startled her as much as his presence alone. He grinned a bit as he caught her expression.

“Don’t be so surprised, Braelynn”, he said with a chuckle.

“How?” she managed to say her, body starting shake with a level of excitement.

“Really?”, he replied. “I have always been able to pass between here and there, from City to City, though the chaos and back again. Like my father before me.”

“But you can see me, here and now?” she asked, with still a level of uncertainty.

“Of course, Braelynn, you are not dead. You are merely phasing between the Ambience and reality. Nocven may think your dead, odd for someone immortal, but you were spared” he stated matter of factly.

She considered this and then looked up, “But, what of WishBringer, where is he?” she said with a bit of urgency to her voice.

“It is the same for him, though the Ambience does not often share, there will be times you can see and hear him, and the same for him to you. You just simply must figure out how to find one another. But I can help you.” He said, eyeing her as she took in this information.

“Yes, please!”, her voice full of desperation, her eyes pleading.

He pulls out a crystal and hold it out to her, its glows and pulsates as if alive and breathing all of its own.

“The Ambience Crystal, Braelynn, it will help you control phasing in and out of reality.” He says with a pause, “Be careful, however, when you phase in, if you choose to use it in in a spot where a creature, or say,” again he pauses, tilting his head and looking her firmly in the face, “a Nightstalker is, you will expand out and explode them from within.”

A single eyebrow arches, her eyes nearly twinkling. “Oh really” she says her mind already contemplating.

“Yes indeed,” he says, “A wonderous device made by Silk Nuvas. I used it quite often in my more scrupulous days. The phasing in and out will help you signal to Wish where you are. You just need to find him. And when you do, I will return for the both of you and show you the path to the clone City we managed to spin off just moments before the darkness settled in on this City with Nocven’s fateful squeeze.”

“A new City?” Braelynn asks incredulously, “Is this where everyone else is now?”

“Well, yes, and no. Its damaged, the time and space it exists in are a challenge, but soon must will be able to achieve the awakening within it.” He replied.

She breathed in deeply, releasing a heavy sigh of relief, “Oh my, this is wonderful. I will find him. She immediately looks out the window again, surveying the horizon. I will find you love, again, I swear it.”

She looks down at the glowing crystal in her hands, her face suddenly brimming with vengeance, “Though first, its time for a little murder face.” She lets out a short, wicked cackle.

“Well then, I shall return” the giver of the crystal says with a quick chuckle. And with that he twirls a club and places it upon on his shoulder and slips out.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Is this it?

WishBringer contemplated the status of everything as he paced around the fields of Trinities. “Is this the rest of my dreams?” he wondered out loud this time. He took a deep breath and sighed, looking around his eyes not focusing in on anything.

A nightstalker barrels through a side portal, its form grotesque and covered with the remains of creatures unidentifiable. WishBringer doesn’t even notice, doesn’t flinch nor turn his eyes as the nighstalker fumbles about the room searching and looking for something unseen. Moments later, two more bound into the same room, and then half a dozen more, soon the room is nearly overwhelmed with the stench of rotting flesh and hissing and scratching of nails as the nighstalkers parade around the room, darting this way and that seemingly intent on locating a mystery. They pass through his form completely unaware of his existence. WishBringer glances about casually, without a care at the nightstalkers, his expression doesn’t change nor does curiosity reach him on what they are doing. His eyes briefly flare when Nocven with his brother, Morpheus at his side strides into the room looking over the nightstalkers.

“She is here, find her!” he bellows.

WishBringer tilts his head, “Can’t be her they are looking for” he says with hardly a squint. He watches them as they move through the next portal leaving him alone again. He sighs and looks down at his feet, he lifts one and places it in front of the other, he repeats the action, and the pure motion of doing this keeps his attention for some time as if he never walked a day in his life before. Hours pass it seems in reality, but his face remains expressionless his direction uncertain as he wanders carelessly still staring at his feet. He stops suddenly as if something grabs him out of his trance, he looks up and takes in a deep breath. Before him are the towers of the Sable Moon and just beyond them, the bridge that leads to the place he called home. His breath chokes up, not just his home, he exhales weakly, their home. As he starts to pass over the bridge, he glances at where her Night Rose garden once stood, nothing but distraught soil and dried crushed petal fragments remain. He chokes back a soft sob and continues over the bridge and ascends the façade to the portals and passes through. Memories slam over him, flooding him with her smile, her dress, the twinkle in her eyes, the softness that could be seen in her very lips. Struck with sadness he races away, fumbles down the façade and across the bridge, his face wrecked with havoc of fear and sadness, he screams out no discernible words and slams through portals on his way to nowhere. His travels at last bring him to the threshold of the Moon, where he stops to regain his breath, panting he looks around the room, memories flooding him again. This is where he met her decades before, his face nearly cracks a smile as he recalls a night of “Truth or Dare” amongst the dreamers in this very room. He remembers the moment as if it was yesterday, she was younger then but her eyes lit up with the same fire when she slid into the room for the first time. His heart nearly skipped a beat, he almost forgot to breath as he laid eyes upon her the first time all those years ago. They interacted briefly during the game, but a seed planted that day that would last for so many years within him.

He slumps against the wall, and shakes as his body sobs without tears. He didn’t even realize it but the locket he had, which held so much meaning for them long before was in his hands.
He fidgeted with it looking it over, a coldness settled upon the room when the portal suddenly opened and someone began to pass through.

--- Story continued by Braelynn in her post ---> Braelynn's Mist Story
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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As she sat whimpering , Braelynn fondles a key hanging around her neck.

“He was right here” she sobs. She looks around the room again wondering had it been real? Or had all the events that had taken place finally made her go crazy? She stood up firmly and shook her head. “No. No. No! He was here! I know it, I felt it! I felt him.” She runs through the stronghold and searches diligently for her love. Through the sand tunnels, up the towers, around the maze, to the vaults and various meeting rooms. Nearly defeated she finds herself on the façade looking out over the entrance to the fortress, she was about to head back inside when her eyes caught movement out towards where her garden once was.
Her eyes widen as she see’s Night Roses start to pop out of the ground. They bloom and brighten and reach for the sun. She runs towards them tears streaming her face, she gasps out of pure joy, her hand over her mouth as she falls to her knees before the suddenly blooming garden. The scent of lavender fills her senses and she is overly stricken with joy and sadness all at once.
Her eyes look around the entire façade, searching for him. “Love! I know you are here” she shouts looking frantically. And then her eyes flare open as she reaches into her bag and pulls out the Ambience Crystal. She looks at it, turning it this way and that, when suddenly it begins to glow more brightly from her touch, and the whole room shimmers as a wave of light blue washes over everything at once. And then she hears him before she sees him and she turns quickly to the garden.

There he was, planting another flower.

“I am so sorry, my love”, he says placing the roots of the flower into the soil, “Once you took the nothing I gave you and I lost you, and now he has taken the everything I gave you and left me with nothing” he sighs sharply, “I deserve this” he whimpers. He lowers his head and looks at the flowers. “I will miss you always” he exhales and slumps.

Tears stream down Braelynn’s face as she takes a few steps towards WishBringer, her heart begins to race and she her skin begins to catch fire as she closes the distance. She reaches out her hand to place on his shoulder as he sits weeping. She sniffles in and takes a breath, she whispers down to him, “You are still my everything.” He tilts his head momentarily, as if not believing the touch upon his shoulder and sound of her voice in his ear. “Yes, love of loves, it’s me” she says more urgently and firmly. He turns his head and leaps to his feet, his eyes widening, her name barely escapes his lips as he suffocates to breathe, “Brae!” he throws his arms around her. They shake and cry and whimper soft words of love to one another as they embrace. WishBringer tilts his back and places his hands on both of her cheeks and looks her deeply in the eyes “I had thought I lost you forever sweetheart” and with that he places a kiss upon her that steals her breath and reinvigorates her very soul.

They hold each other and embrace for what seems like eternity, neither wishing to release the other from their grip.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

She runs her hand through his hair and traces a finger over his facial features. “The Ambience Crystal” she speaks softly, “Eldryck gave it to me, but didn’t exactly explain how to use it” she says matter of factly, “Though I did figure out how to destroy a few nightstalkers with it”, she says with a gleam in her eyes. WishBringer chuckles a bit, “Still pulling off murder face I see” he smiles down at her. They stare into each other eyes, melting in the moment.

His voice barely startled them from gazing at each other.

“If you two are ready, we need to get to the Hollows, the entrance to the real City is there, we must leave this one behind, Nocven and the Nightstalkers own it now” Eldryck looks down at them. “And much work must be done to prevent them from making it there” he pauses, “Ever.”

WishBringer looks at Braelynn, “I know we just found each other, but I don’t want to take a chance around him anymore, even with that crystal, we need to go” he looks at her “You ready love?” as he takes her hand and helps her to her feet, she smiles warmly, “Yes dear” and with that they follow Eldryck down the Trinities. She looks down at their hands clasped together as WishBringer leads her on, she swallows firmly as she realizes she thought she would never hold his hand again. She looks back up at his face, his features she can catch as he keeps an eyes out for Nightstalkers on his way to trailing Eldryck. “I love you” she softly whispers, not intending for him to hear. She smiles and follows him happily.

As they pass a small ravine, a nightstalker hiding in the shadows sneers but stays hidden and watches them pass. Once they are clear from the room, he races off. He is about to pass through the portal from whence they originally came, when suddenly a form appears before him, teleporting and blocking his path. He only catches a glimpse of the dreamers face before a club smashes down on his head making the entire room go black.

WisBringer and Braelynn come running back to find the nightstalker’s limp form falling to the ground. They look at Eldryck as he stands over the lifeless body. He grins as they eye him confused. He twirls his club and sets it upon on his shoulder. He taps it with his other hand, “Upgrades” he says with a chuckle. “Now let’s continue on”

Braelynn and WishBringer pause a moment, looking down at the nightstalkers body which begins to fade to dust, they look at each other and then turn toward Eldryck as he heads down trinities. Braelynn stifles a laugh, “Looks like I’m not the only one who is going to take out Nightstalkers if they get in our way”. WishBringer still watching Eldryck says, “No, I bet not, if they do come after us, there’s going to be hell to pay” and with that he tugs her hand and they follow the one the dream calls Venym.

They pass through the threshways of the planes until they cross onto the Umbric planes, mares overrun the umbric and they find themselves in small skirmishes as they make their way to the sewers. Just before passing into the reservoir they hear the sound of chanting off in the distance, like hundreds of nightstalkers lifting their voices at once. Eldryck glances back towards the portal, he looks at Braelynn and WishBringer “We need to hurry, we can’t possibly handle that many” and with urgency he leads them into the Hollows.

Eldryck scrambles on, as they pass through the dark rooms and tunnels of the Hollows.

Finally he stops and says, “You two ready?”

Nodding enthusiastically, WishBringer and Braelynn watch him with anticipation.

Eldryck presses his club firmly against a wall, and suddenly a portal the likes of which neither of them had ever seen appears. He smiles back at them, and passes through.

Braelynn and WishBringer take a few steps, before Braelynn tugs at WishBringer arm, he turns to her and she says, “I love you, Bringer of Wishes” and she stands on her tip toes and kisses him passionately, she leans back her eyes closed a moment as she “Mmms”. After a short moment she opens them and says, “Ok, let’s go.” and then they pass through the portal to the City of Dreams.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

"Striker." He sighs.

"Monster!" He breaths in deeply yet again.

His mind dashes back and forth filled with dreamers with twisted agonized faces pointing and shouting at him. He blinks and shakes it off remembering where he is.

Eldryck Venym stands at the cusp of of the swirling pool of darkness. He twirls his club and holds it straight out in front of him. He looks at it intently his eyes scouring the landscape of the carved wood almost as if looking at it for the first time. Sabriela tilts her head and looks back at him, "What are we doing here?" she inquires her face displaying a level of confusion and concern at once.

He doesn’t turn to look at her but speaks quietly, “I may have found a way to get them back” he says matter of factly still glaring at his club, the corners of his eyes lightly welling up with tears.

“Whom?” her lip quivers already knowing the answer.

“Our lives” he pauses and follows with, "Our children."

Sabriela grabs his arm, her eyes looking up at him nearly pleading. “Whatever it is, whatever the choice, choose it!” she says with conviction.

He pulls in another large breath and sighs again, he looks over his shoulder at the portal away from this moment, out to the rest of the City of Dreams. His mind seeing the ugly faces of those whom would call him names. Friend turn their backs and others lunge at him with gritted teeth to attack him.

He shakes the images away again, and looks back at the spinning pool of madness and steps forward, he grabs Sabriela by her hand and before she can resist – they both descend as if slowly being pulled down into a whirlpool. Eldryck’s face is relaxed, firm and calm and the woman at the end of his arm panics as she feels herself sinking lower and lower into the thick sparkling blackness.

Moments later they stand together just outside of the Caves. Insects and furry things that scurry dart this way and that, the air is putrid and full of foul odors unidentifiable.
Sabriela looks up at Eldryck as he simply stands still, his chest rising and lowering as his eyes patiently stare at a lone portal. She catches his gaze, holds it herself and stands at his side and waits.
Moments later, a dark hooded figure breaches the portal and moves towards them. Sabriela starts to panic as a feeling of gloom washes over her. She looks up at her husband and he continues to stand firmly, waiting patiently as the figure draws close.

“It is time then?” the hooded figure draws back his hood and looks at them. The face is covered in blood and bits of flesh, the now bared teeth jagged and black, the eyes bloodshot with deep black pupils.

Eldryck stares back into the dark eyes of the Nightstalker, “Yes, Nocven, it is.”
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

A dreamer sits on a blanket alone on the lagoon deep in the Basin of the Stars. A wicker basket with fruits and delicacies sets open and off to his side. A lone mouse creeps along the baskets shadows, its whiskers twitching, its eyes darting about looking for any signs of danger. The little mouse lifts its nose and deeply inhales the contents of the air attempting to determine the potential bounty inside the basket.

The dreamer oblivious sits and casually stares at the lagoon, a partially eaten apple is enclosed in his right hand while a small pebble is pinched between two fingers in his left. He tosses the pebble at the lagoon and watches the tiny colorful fish scatter as the pebble weebles and wobbles to the depths below. He takes a bite from the apple as he roots around in the grass for another pebble to throw. The Basin sun shines brightly down on the lagoon causing it to cast rays of swirling snake-like lights on the sand and rock clusters below the surface. A curious catfish chases the streams of light, nibbling at the light sources reflection on the sand and catching nothing. The sudden presence of a new pebble causes the catfish to slash through the water and swallow it up before immediately spitting it back out and yet still curiously following it to the sandy bottom. The dreamer chuckles at the catfish and earnestly looks around for yet another small stone to toss. In his attempts, the apple falls from his other hand and rolls hapzardly towards the lagoon, he watches it roll away and shrugs after a moment before returning to his pebble hunt.

A shadow casts over him, and he turns to look up to see a thick single dark cloud moving in front of the sun nearly blotting out the light source completely.

"Oh no" he says to himself with a sigh, "Another picnic ruined by an oncoming storm." He snatches up the basket, unaware of the mouse as it scurries off into the grass, he stuffs the blanket into the basket and closes the lid before running off away from the lagoon.

The mouse watches the dreamer from his hiding place disappear around the bend, and then races out to the spot where the blanket once laid. Its whiskers twitch and its nostrils lift and drop searching for anything left behind. Its hunt leads it upon a scent trail towards the lagoon where it comes upon the partial remains of an apple. It quickly tears into the apple ripping a piece away before setting on its back feet and holding the bit of apple in its front little hands and begins to nibble and eat quietly.

A moment later a large dark clawed hand reaches up and out from the lagoon coming down forcefully and abruptly upon the mouse. The hand balls up into a fist with only a small tail slipping between the blackened fingers. The clenched fist then begins to drag back towards the now shadow covered water .... a small trail of blood and a bit of apple remain behind as it disappears back into the lagoon.

Minutes later the sun reappears and the black cloud fades to nothingness. The grass begins to sway and bend revealing a small nest of baby mice. A hawk circles above casting its own shadow on the little nest. The hawk begins to dive down, its shadow now causing the little mice to scurry around, their tiny voices begin to chirp and call out for a mother whom never comes home.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

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Nocven sits quietly eyeing the dreamers from the top of Mount Illapse. His brow furrowed and his face contorted as he peers down at the crowd of dreamers seemingly searching.

He pauses. His lip curls up and his eye brow arches. His clawed fingers twitch and his breathing increases, its everything he can to not lunge forth. The dreamer wanders off on his own and Nocven slips off his ledge and like a shadow moves quietly and purposefully to follow.

His lip quivers revealing his blackened teeth as he slips from portal to portal and behind rocks and trees keeping his eye on the dreamer.

The dreamer pauses and looks back, Nocven slips hurriedly into a side portal and pauses, listening, his face pressed to the protal. Hearing nothing he passes back through and looks for the tracks of the dreamers passing. His eyes flare open slightly as he see's the imprint of grass from the dreamer.

He follows the track as it winds, an emphant blocks his path and he contemplates slipping by but his thirst for the chaos within overpowers him and he tears the emphants head from its body, lapping and slurping on the fountain of foamy red blood that sprays forth. He tosses the carcass aside and wipes his lips with the back of his wrist, he lets out a low guttural moan and sighs happily before once again eyeing the trail in front of him.

He turns a corner and comes across a structure the dreamer's trail leads to. He flies up and sits across from the building and waits, his eyes firmly upon the portal patiently watching.

The sun fades and he slips down from his perching place and creeps up to the portal, he pauses a moment before passing through.

The night air has a small breeze but also picks up a slight chill as it blows over the Palace of Ice.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

In the ethereal gloom of the back halls of Underlight, where the subconscious fears of sleepers morph into tangible dread, the nightstalker known as Nocven Oneirsom prowled with a grace that belied his savage nature. His form, an unsettling echo of humanity, moved through the mist-shrouded city—a labyrinthine sprawl born from the collective unconscious of the dreamers who had found a precarious sanctuary within.

Nocven’s red eyes, gleaming like coals smoldering in the dark, scanned the winding alleys and decrepit buildings of Underlight for the creatures that lurked in its forsaken corners. The bogroms, emphants, and shamblix: entities spun from the raw stuff of nightmares, grotesque parodies of fears and phobias. To the young dreamers, they were the architects of terror, to the elders merely a nuisance. To Nocven, they were prey.

With talons that could carve through the very fabric of the dreamscape, Nocven dispatched these horrors in a display of violence that was as much a part of him as the beat of a heart is to the living. He tore into the bogroms, bestial figures full of needle-like teeth, that roared and attempted to blast his immortal form just before he rendered them apart in a spray of shadowy ichor. The emphants, with their hulking, wing lizard-like bodies and mournful cries, fell silent as he sliced through their thick hide, their ephemeral blood a stark contrast against the cobblestones of the Underlight.

But it was the horron, angry and ever-evoking, that provided Nocven with the true spectacle of carnage. He clawed at them with a fervor, their shrieks echoing off the walls, their shapes shifting desperately to escape his relentless onslaught. Their innards, a miasma of fears given form, spilled out into the darkness, only to evaporate into the nightmarish ether from which they were spawned.

As he fed, the Nightstalker was careful to remain hidden from the dreamers. He lurked in the penumbral spaces, his form blending into the murk. He understood that to them, he was yet another monster, albeit one not of their own making. Yet, he was different. Nocven was an immortal, a constant in this ever-fluctuating realm of dreams, a devourer of the monsters that the dreamers themselves had inadvertently birthed.

Nocven held a festering resentment towards the dreamers. Their presence in Underlight was a blight, an infestation in his domain that curtailed the purity of the terror he craved to consume. He longed for the day when he would no longer need to skulk in the shadows, when the city would be overrun with his brethren, the nightstalkers once again, and the dreamers would be but a distant memory.

But that time was not yet upon him. For now, he was the silent guardian of a city that did not want him, a custodian of a peace that was not his own. He moved with lethal intent, ever watchful, always hungering for the monstrosities that spawned from the minds of the unaware.

As the eternal night of Underlight continued to unfurl, Nocven Oneirsom awaited his moment, biding his time in the darkness. One day, he would rise, and the City of Underlight would tremble before the true horror of the nightstalkers. Until then, he remained the unsung sentinel of nightmare, the eater of fears, the beast in the shadow, his red eyes watching, always watching.

Braelynn and WishBringer, souls intertwined by fate and fear, found sanctuary among the spires and spiraling streets of Underlight, the remnants of their harrowing escape etched into their very essence. They had been prisoners to the whims of Nocven Oneirsom, ensnared in the chaotic expanse that hemmed in the city’s subconscious sprawl. It was Eldryck Venym, an enigmatic figure with eyes that had seen beyond the veils of reality, who had offered them a guiding hand through the tempest.

Eldryck was no more immune to the dangers of Underlight than any dreamer who sought refuge within its borders. Yet, it was his knowledge, the arcane lore gleaned from a lifetime of traversing the dreamscape, that had been their salvation. He had vanished as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving Braelynn and WishBringer to fend for themselves against the nocturnal predations of the nightstalkers should they rise again.

Nocven’s form was a shadow among shadows, his presence a silent malevolence that lingered on the fringes of their perception. He watched the duo with a hunter’s patience, a specter in the mist, his red eyes a malefic glint in the dark. They were the ones who had eluded him, a blemish on his otherwise unyielding existence. While they could not harm him—none could lay low that which was immortal—they represented a defiance that gnawed at his essence.

He observed as Braelynn’s hands wove signs in the air, evoking the protective arts, as she sought to bolster the defenses of herself and her lover. WishBringer stood vigilant, his name a testament to the power of belief and will, a beacon for those who dared to dream of a life beyond the nightmare. Together, they had ignited a spark of rebellion in Underlight, a beacon of hope that irked the nightstalker’s timeless heart.

Nocven tracked them, a predator to their light, analyzing their movements, their patterns, the protections they weaved out of desperation and false hopes. They had knowledge he lacked, secrets gleaned from Eldryck’s whispered wisdom. The nightstalker knew that to unravel Braelynn and WishBringer, he must unravel the enigma of Eldryck Venym himself. In the riddles and relics of Underlight, the key to their undoing would be found.

It was during the endless passing of time that Nocven found his opportunity to get closer and observe more diligently. Braelynn and WishBringer, ever vigilant, had grown less afraid, his own story lost to their lips and the ears of most dreamers still wandering the City. Their defenses waned, not from lack of strength, but from the sheer lack of signs or fear the nighstalkers would ever return.

Nocven slithered through the dark, a mere breath away from the corporeal plane. He did not need to engage dreamers physically; there were other means to fray the edges of reality. With a whisper of his eldritch power, he now was able to command the lesser nightmares, the skittering and creeping things that shunned the light, to test the boundaries of their sanctuary.

The air grew thick, the wind a sibilant hiss through the desolate architecture of Underlight, carrying with it the promise of terror. Nocven's true intent was not to assault, but to observe—observe and learn the secret of their escape, their survival, and, in time, their inevitable downfall. For in the grand tapestry of the dreamscape, even the tiniest thread could unravel the whole.

Sitting together in the Palace of Ice, Braelynn felt the change in the air, a chill that seeped into her bones. WishBringer's hand went to the hilt of a blade that gleamed with dream-forged steel, a small comfort against the intangible. They stood back-to-back, their resolve a tangible force, as the first of the shadows began to emerge from the gloom. Nocven watched, waited, and wove his dark designs. The game was afoot, and he was ever the master of the hunt, the time had come.

Braelynn shook, her hand reached behind her, clasping WishBringer's in her own. Her shaking became more of body jolts, tears streaked her face as fear took her… as silently as she could... she wept.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

In the hauntingly beautiful Palace of Ice, amidst the ethereal cityscape of Underlight, Braelynn's tears glittered like spectral jewels against the pervasive gloom. Beside her, WishBringer stood firm, his hand clasping the hilt of his dream-forged blade, a symbol of defiance in the face of encroaching darkness. The shadows outside the palace thickened, heralding the approach of Nocven Oneirsom's minions.

From the shadows, Nocven, the nightstalker, watched with malevolent anticipation. He sent forth a lesser nightstalker, a shadowy underling, to confront Braelynn and WishBringer. This being, a faint echo of Nocven's own formidable power, moved with a stealth that belied its lethal intent.

Aware of the approaching danger yet understanding the creature's immunity to harm unless it attacked first, Braelynn stood ready. Her hands were poised to weave her disorienting arts, a silent challenge to their unassailable foe.

The air tensed as the nightstalker hovered at the edge of striking distance, its form a blur of darkness. It was a standoff, charged with unspoken threats, until Eldryck Venym suddenly appeared, his club wielded high. "Follow me now!" With a sense of urgency, he guided them through Underlight's labyrinthine passageways, leading them away from immediate danger.

Nocven, observing from a distance, summoned more of his minions, this time instructing them to initiate an attack, rendering themselves vulnerable but more dangerous. The chase led the trio to a chamber, ancient and pulsating with the dormant power of forgotten runes.

As Nocven's underlings swarmed the entrance, one of them, emboldened by his master's command, lunged at WishBringer. Braelynn, seizing the opportunity, unleashed her art of Firestorm. A swirling inferno erupted, consuming the now-vulnerable creature in a blaze of flames.

As the battle raged, Nocven prepared to strike. But before he could act, the runes on the chamber walls flared to life, creating a protective barrier. In that critical moment, a dazzling light burst from the chamber's core and a portal spun to life.

Just as the trio approached the portal, a lurking nightstalker found its mark with a clawed arm, tearing into Braelynn's back ripping flesh from bone. Her scream, a piercing echo of pain and shock, filled the chamber as she stumbled through the portal. WishBringer, his eyes wide with horror, supported her, glancing back at the advancing shadows with a look of desperate defiance.

Nocven's tilts his head and grins wickedly listening to the sounds of Braelynn's screams of agony as she fades through the portal.

Smirk turns to anger as Nocven's roar of frustration reverberates through the halls of Underlight. The portal now flickering eratically begins to fade away itself, leaving behind a small pool of blood where it once spun.
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Re: End of Dreams - The Reign of Nightstalkers

Post by Koi-Wish »

In the aftermath of Braelynn's harrowing injury and their abrupt escape, the portal's remnants—a fading swirl of light and the haunting pool of blood—stood as a testament to the nightstalker's near triumph and the dreamers' desperate resilience. The air in Underlight, still charged with the echoes of the struggle, began to settle into a deceptive calm.

Nocven Oneirsom, his wrath a tempest in the shadows, seethed with anger. The portal, a remnant of ancient dream magic, was beyond his understanding, a frustrating barrier in his dominion. The nightstalker's fury was not just for the escaped prey but for the reminder of his own limitations within the intricate weave of the dreamscape.

Somewhere in another time but still within the City of UnderLight, Braelynn and WishBringer emerged from the portal in a place unfamiliar, yet oddly comforting—a hidden alcove within the dreamscape, shielded by the same ancient runes that had protected them from Nocven's onslaught. The sanctuary, lit by a soft, ethereal glow, was adorned with relics and symbols of forgotten lore, a refuge untouched by the chaos of Underlight.

Braelynn, gravely injured, lay in WishBringer's arms. Her breaths were shallow, each one a struggle against the pain. WishBringer, his face etched with concern and determination, knew that time was of the essence. He gently laid her down, scanning the alcove for anything that could aid in her healing.

Amidst the relics, he found an ancient tome, its pages filled with arcane knowledge and healing incantations. With trembling hands, he began to recite the words, a soft light emanating from his fingertips as he traced the symbols in the air above Braelynn. Slowly, the wound on her back began to close, the flesh knitting together as if guided by an unseen hand.

As Braelynn's breathing steadied, a sense of relief washed over WishBringer. They were safe, for now, but the threat of Nocven loomed ever-present. He knew they couldn't stay hidden forever. They needed to find a way to end Nocven's reign in Underlight, to bring peace to the dreamers who lived in constant fear of the nightstalkers.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the sewers within Underlight, Nocven convened with his council of nightstalkers, a gathering of the most powerful and cunning among them. "The dreamers have discovered secrets beyond our grasp," he hissed, his red eyes burning with a malevolent light. "We must uncover the source of their power, the knowledge that Eldryck Venym has passed to them. It is the key to our domination over the dreamscape."

The council murmured in agreement, each nightstalker eager to prove their worth in the quest for supremacy. Nocven, his mind a whirlwind of schemes, plotted their next move. The nightstalkers would delve into the ancient lore of the dreamscape, seeking out the forgotten secrets and relics that could tip the balance in their favor. The nightstalker whom tore into Braelynn's flesh presents itself to Nocven, a mischievious look upon its face, blood stained clawed hands Nocven a dark alteror, its contents empty save for a glowing emerald green remnants along its edge. Nocven tilts his head and breathes in the scent of the substance, his eyes suddenly aglow a sinister laughter erupts from the dark shadows around his sudden grin.

In their hidden sanctuary, Braelynn and WishBringer began to plan their own strategy. They pored over the ancient tome, uncovering lost knowledge and powerful arts that could aid them in their fight. They knew that their journey ahead would be fraught with peril, but together, they held onto the belief that even in the darkest of nightmares, hope could find a way to shine through.

As the dreamscape of Underlight continued to pulse with the undercurrents of an unseen war, Braelynn and WishBringer, healed and renewed, prepared to face the nightstalkers once more. The battle for the soul of the dreamscape was just beginning, and they would be at the heart of it, champions of the dreamers against the darkness of Nocven Oneirsom and his legion of nightstalkers.

Braelynn paused, her body heavy with exhaustion from their relentless search among the ancient relics. Her gaze drifted towards WishBringer, her heart swelling with a mix of love and admiration for this valiant protector, her companion in this nightmarish realm. "We must prevail," she whispered to herself, a silent vow of determination. Her eyes, seeking a moment's respite, caught a glimpse of her reflection in a tarnished mirror-like relic lying at her feet. A chill crept up her spine as she saw her eyes, which should have been familiar and comforting, now glowing an unnatural emerald hue. The reflection wavered, as if reality itself was bending, distorting her image into something sinister. Her heart pounded in terror as she watched her mouth twist into a grotesque smile, revealing teeth that had become jagged and broken, like the maw of a nightmarish beast.

Panic surged within her as she tried to scream, to warn WishBringer, but her voice was a hollow void, smothered by an unseen force. With a sense of horror that eclipsed all reason, her body moved against her will. Her eyes, now pools of malevolent green, fixed on WishBringer. She blinked once, and in that brief darkness, her humanity slipped away. With a feral, unrecognizable agility like a puppet to some unspeakable horror that had taken residence within her very being, she lunges towards him.
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