Page 25 of Precipitous Nightmare's Valentine Dream

Sudden pieces of the puzzle snapped ito place in her mind as the words they’d spoken to wach other rose to the surface of Lumi’s mind.

Frightening.

Dream.

Nightmare.

Luminous slowly stood.

Realization began to seep in. Of what must have happened. Of who had gone into their sleeping minds and left dreams of loss.

Terrifying, horrific dreams that made two silly mortals realize how much the other meant.

“Oh, you foolish Night Terror,” she whispered as she pulled the threads of the Shadow Roads around herself. “What have you done?”

It felt as though an hourglass dripped sand more quickly than she could hold it. And so Lumi ran up the Shadow Roads to the one piece of Nightmare she knew how to find.

In moments, Luminous tumbled headlong into the Dread Forest. Branches surrounded her, blocking the way back. Slow, seething things dripped from the foliage as long thorns sprouted to tear at the fabric of her dress. Luminous suddenly did not care at all if she ever made it out, so long as she found the person she sought.

“You’ve come to the Nightmare Realm alone. ‘Tis a dangerous thing for a DayDream to do.”

The sonorous voice echoed through the trees, shook the ground.

Luminous carefully stood, bringing herself to her maximum 5‘4“ height and straightening her spine. Long locks of shimmering moonlight hair rippled down her back, and her skin gently glowed in the dim gloom of the forest. Her wings unfurled, delicate and fragile in the darkness of this place.

“I’m looking for a Nightmare.”

The response, when it came, held a hint of haughty amusement.

“Plenty of those here to give you the worst of dreams.”

“A specific Nightmare,” she clarified. “Precipitous Nightmare.”

“This way, then, little Dream.”

The trees shifted and bent, twisting to make a tunnel. The way looked ominous, but Luminous steeled herself and stepped forward. She had no choice, after all. Precipitous had broken all the rules for her, and she couldn’t let him suffer alone.

But when she stepped into the tunnel, Luminous didn’t find herself in a place of perpetual horror. Instead, she stood in what seemed to be an ornate throne room.

Tapestries lined the walls, interspersed with expansive floor-to-ceiling windows giving a view of a peaceful starlit countryside. Giant sconces flanked each window, their golden flames flickering in the cool breeze along with the shimmering fire of 10,000 candles in tiered chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.

A giant bed stood in the center of a dark tile floor and a vaguely familiar young man lounged upon the gilded throne behind it, watching her.

Luminous ignored the man and ran to the bed.

Precipitous slept on, unaware of her presence, tossing and turning as he shifted forms in a wild, uncontrolled succession. Man. Monster. That strange hybrid of the two. And again, back to man. The silken sheet beneath him dripped with sweat as his breath came flowing heavy and rapid in harsh gasps that tore at his lips. Whatever clothing he’d once worn had been shredded in the shifting.

“He’s been like this since he returned,” said the man Lumi presumed must be the King of Nightmares. “He’s become tangled in his own dream creations. Subsumed by thoughts of being loved and left behind.”

The king gave Luminous a significant look.

“Help him,” Luminous begged, turning to the Nightmare King.

“Alas, I cannot,” said the king, and he looked truly unhappy about the fact. “It’s more complex than you think, the fear of losing someone, the heartache that lasts forever, betrayal and damage… I can’t fix those things. I can’t give him a Dream, only Nightmares.”

“Please. I’ll do anything. Give anything. He can be mortal. I’ll try to be mortal, too. Wherever he goes, I want to be there. I… I love him.”

The realization swept over her like the experience of waking. Like the first rays of sunrise spreading across a horizon.

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