The night is said to bring peace. It is the time for people to rest and let their minds wander through countless thoughts. Some that make sense and some that can't be explained with words. Either way, it's supposed to be peaceful… but as of late… it hasn't.
"Keep moving!"
Lisa panted as she ran through the maze, carrying a young child in her arms, a few other older kids following after her.
"Maria! How's it looking behind us?" she asked.
"I wouldn't look back if I were you! There's a lot of them!" Maria answered, growling a bit. "It just never ends."
"It usually isn't this bad." Tomoe said as she threw some knives behind them at what was chasing them. "What on Earth and Dreams is going on around here?"
"Wish I could tell you… But only King Night and Queen Day will probably be able to tell us."
They saw their goal at the end of the path. A shining light that was coming from an entrance.
"FULL SPEED AHEAD!"
They all dived for the entrance. Soon as they were in it closed. The three women along with the children sighed in relief.
"That was too close…" Maria panted. "How are the kids looking Tomoe…?"
Tomoe was looking some of them over before looking to Maria.
"They're all pretty shook up, they were being plagued with night terrors non stop."
Maria growled. "Nightmare Trolls… They're all the same. Just like making others miserable so they have something to feed off of."
"It's just how the cycle works and how the world works."
Maria looked to her other companion.
"Yeah yeah we know Lisa… everything has a counter balance so there is balance… but this is just crazy."
"I know…. this is not balance… Reason it brings concern." Lisa lowered her head. "I just don't understand why this is all happening now. Nightmare Trolls are generally more discreet than this."
"They're Dream World Trolls regardless."
The three looked to see Dreamster along with her fellow trolls, Illuis and Mirage, right beside her.
"And?" Lisa asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You know how we are, we're unpredictable." Dreamster replied, crossing her arms. "This is probably something they're just doing on a whim."
"Which is just awful." Mirage sighed. "It's for fun. This is not fun."
"For us it isn't, for them is it." said Illuis. "Nightmares are their bread and butter, for Night's sake it's part of their name."
"Have you spoken with the majesties yet, Dreamster? I know you have close connections with them."
Dreamster shook her head. "No, but they are aware of what's going on, they're in the middle of trying to help all the other Dream Runners get kids to the sanctuary like you guys are while keeping them safe too."
"Think there's any way to fix or least get this to not be so bad?"
Dreamster narrowed her eyes. "That I'm not sure of… like you guys said, Nightmare Trolls are generally more discreet and again, they're probably only doing this now on a whim… but then it's matter of how they're doing all this. This is something that's got Night and Day's hands tied. They got something that's making this all possible. If they didn't they'd probably still be going the discreet route…. Oh Night I think they're showing off that they can do this."
"Greeeat." Maria groaned. "Show offs… Just what we needed!"
"We'll just have to keep trying…" Tomoe sighed. "Giving up is not the path of honor."
Lisa nodded, looking to the resting child in her arms.
"And we need to figure this out fast before mass hysteria really starts to set in."
Maria gave a look. "I thought it already has."
"Before it gets worse. We already know they're going after kids, let's make sure OURs aren't targets…"
Dreamster looked up the sky.
"Hm… It's still night hour… though I think no more maze running for the three of you. You got some pretty nice battle wounds on ya."
Lisa looked at herself, wincing when she realized she had cuts on her arms and that there was some blood coming off her cheeks.
"Oh this is gonna be nice to wake up to." she grumbled.
"Look on the bright side…" Maria muttered, looking at her own injuries. "Your husband isn't there to wonder what the heck you did to sprain your wrist while you were SLEEPING."
Tomoe lowered her gaze.
"Erhuard is going to be worried sick seeing these lovely cuts on my shoulders… Be thankful you're single Lisa."
Lisa cringed. "Yeah…"
Tomoe gasped, giving an apologetic look. "Oh I didn't mean it like-"
"It's okay Tomoe… we're all tired." Lisa gave a small smile. "We've been running all night."
Maria nodded. "Yeah… I think it's time we got some rest of our own… Drop these kids off at the sanctuary then check in on the real world… Be sure my husband isn't freaking out over me."
"And knowing my husband and my two kids they're probably gonna try waking me up soon. They're aware of what's going on… and well… they have rights to be worried about what I'm doing when I'm asleep."
"And I'll be going on a walk." Lisa said getting up. "Can't seem to rest after running."
Maria nodded. "Take care of yourself… Get some treatment for those will ya?"
Lisa nodded, chuckling a little.
"Green may go with red, but red is definitely not my color."
"More like blood isn't your color." Tomoe smiled a little. "You look good in red actually."
"Yeah… You know in some places red's the color of wedding dresses instead of white… It can be a good color… Just not when it's gushing down your face and arms." Maria agreed smiling a bit. "Just… take care of yourself… Joshua doesn't need to freak out a second time... Or a third…"
"I know. I promise to stop by a clinic to get these treated." Lisa pulled a set of dog tags from her shirt collar. "On my Dream Tracker's honor."
"Good. Let's move."
Lisa sighed, leading the way.
And it just goes on… and on… on...
