Chapter Two: Welcome to Dreamland, Land of Nightmares and Curses
Guren stretched, sitting up. The others were just starting to wake up around him. He looked around, recognizing the foggy land-scrape from the night before. Only this time, the moon in the sky was glowing crimson, creating a dull red glow in the fog.
Ceylan let out a loud yawn as he stood up, a sleepy expression on his face. "Well, looks like we found the right place."
"Yes, and our first priority is to find Beni!" Chooki said, eyes determined. Gen and Toxsa nodded in agreement. They searched for any landmarks in the fog, but none of the five were able to find anything. They all flinched as they heard a loud voice echo through-out the fog.
"Well, well, isn't it the Tenkai Knights! Came to play with me like the pink-haired one as well?"
Gen growled as he shouted into the thin air. "Nightsteed! Where are you! Show yourself!"
The five suddenly felt a strong burst of wind as the fog parted in front of them, Nightsteed appearing from it. "Now, now, there's no need to fight me now is there?!" She said, menace lacing her tone.
She suddenly ran forward, pulling out her scythe. Gen tried to dodge, but Nightsteed hit him in the chest with the end of the steel handle of the scythe, knocking him back. The Corrupted looked at the fallen knight slyly, smiling as he got up. Guren panicked, and remembered what Mr. White had said, "… powers to slightly manipulate the dream-space…"
Guren closed his eyes, and imagined a sword in his hand. He let out a yelp as a heavy sword was dropped into his hands. The boys looked at Guren with surprised looks as he got into a battle stance.
"How did you do that?!" Toxsa yelled, as Nightsteed glared at them grimly.
"I just thought of it being in my hands, and there it was!" Guren yelled back. The others nodded as they registered what he had said, and they summoned weapons of their own. Chooki summoned a pair of oversized ninja stars, Gen a slim katana, Toxsa a staff with a metal pike at the top, all mimicking what they used on Quarton, except for Ceylan, who, surprisingly, summoned a pair of daggers.
"HA! You think you can defeat me with those! Well then, bring it on!" Nightsteed laughed as she whistled loudly. A few seconds later, two monsters ran to her side, and the boys reeled back. One was a mash-up of a lizard and a dog, having the dog's body, and the lizard's tail, claws, and tongue. The second was a cat and a zebra, the large cat having black stripes, hooves, and what seemed to be a zebra mane.
"Wha? What are those things?!" Toxsa shouted, disgust in his voice.
"These are my Dreads," Nightsteed growled, "my loyal servants, now… attack!" The dog-lizard and the cat-zebra rushed into battle, the knights following suit. The dog-lizard leapt onto Toxsa's back, and the green-ette screamed as the dog bit into his shoulder. Chooki ran over to help his friend, throwing his stars at it. The cat-zebra had tackled Guren, who had Ceylan pulling it away from him. Gen was fighting Nightsteed, who was effortlessly dodging his attacks. The dog-lizard jumped off of Toxsa as Chooki tried to pull it off, causing the tow to hit each other, barreling into Ceylan, who had failed to pull the cat-zebra away, and the three landed in a heap on the ground. The cat-zebra roared as it smacked its hoof into Guren's side, sending him into the heap with the other three. Gen kept swiping at Nightsteed as she dodged, and she finally kicked him hard in the chest sending him into the heap.
She laughed as she glared at the fallen knights, the Dreads returning to her sides. The knights stood up, glaring at the Corrupted, ready to fight again.
"You guys would still fight me again? Well… that's actually impressive. But, I came here do do something, and I plan to do it… Now…" she said as she reached out her arm. "I need a volunteer.. how about… you!" She pointed pointed to Chooki, and a bright yellow light glowed underneath him.
The boys gasped, as Nightsteed's arm glowed a deep purple, and the same light glowed right over Chooki's heart. The ginger tried to move, but found himself paralyzed. Nightsteed smiled as she spoke. "Well, you sure are a nice one, I can see it in your heart Lydendor…"
"My heart?" Chooki said nervously.
"Yes… I can see into peoples' hearts, I can see those feelings that they try to hide… unsuccessfully for me…"
Guren felt nervous about this, and by the looks on the others faces, them as well. "Now… you sure are an interesting one… I can see that you are very brave, like a lion… but oh…. What is this? There is a part of you that you do try to hide… you don't like being restricted… you want to be free, like a bird… like an eagle."
Guren noticed the ginger flinch at that last bit, in fact, Guren himself was surprised. The hatred of being held down was something he expected from Gen, not Chooki!
"Now… time to to my work!" Nightsteed laughed. The yellow and purple lights disappeared, and Nightsteed's arm glowed a mix of a dark gold and a white as he pointed at Chooki, a ball of white and gold energy flying at him. The ginger's eyes widened, and Guren gasped as he saw Gen rush past him, the brunette jumping in front of Chooki.
They are gasped as the blast, that was originally meant for Chooki, hit Gen square in the chest. The brunette let out a cry of pain as the energy spread across his body, before disappearing, Gen falling to the floor on his knees, drawing deep and forced breaths. Ceylan, Toxsa, and Guren ran to their friend, Chooki still frozen in place, and Gen, who was coughing, breathing deeply and painfully.
"What did you do?!" Ceylan yelled at Nightsteed, rage and worry lacing his voice.
Nightstted smiled. "Why, I apologize, but I just haven't created any Dreads in a very long time… and Lydendor just seemed like such a great candidate! Besides, I haven't made a lion and eagle Dread before!"
"You mean he's going to turn into one of those things?!" Chooki yelled, now free of the paralyzation, pointing at the two Dreads by her side.
Nightsteed however, was already gone, the Dreads as well, leaving the knights with Gen, who they knew, was slowly going to turn into a monster.
Author's Note:
Me: DUNDUNDUN! Gen's going to become a Dread! Nothing much to say this chapter, so ROCK ON!
