K, Jestra, I rarely reply to comments so you're causing the end of the world here. The time gap between 'maren and Protectors is intended... Protectors are trying to fight off a race that's been kicking their butts for thousands of years, they have to develop a way to fight them. As for the 'maren, what they've been doing so far has kind of been working, why stop now? Wizeman/Nightmaren aren't the type to fiddle with technology anyway.
And yay, random crap thrown into a chapter.
Wizemans empty helm was in deep thought; there was quite an issue he now had to deal with. The Protectors were risking his entire mission for domination, even if they are unable to kill a god, they would render him powerless for some time. For that reason, he broke all connections between Nightopia and his lair, sealing himself away in a safe little bubble.
The door in the main hall was forever shut, the creations awaiting their masters orders as he hid himself away, leaving the 'maren to deal with the protectors. He could easily recreate his army, it would take a while, but he could do it. He'd been overthrown before, and he much preferred to lose all his 'maren than try to accumulate his power again.
And as strong as his 'maren were, they couldn't stand the constant attacks.
There weren't many Nightmaren compared to humans, for each tank destroyed there would be another, but for each exhausted, bloody, hurt 'maren that collapsed there would be none to take its place, the mass of the uncoordinated human army was overthrowing them.
While Wizeman decided on a new place to build a castle and recreate Nightmare, calmly in his lair, the 'maren were fighting and dying.
"We can't keep this up."
Jackle hissed; spreading his cape ahead of NiGHTS and reflecting a fiery blast, the collision knocking the two a fair distance back.
NiGHTS agreed, lifting herself a few metres higher in the air then nearly plummeting as exhaustion hit her, she was so very tired.
Reala was no better, he'd always been strong and persistent, but with the numerous wounds on his body, blood still dried on his face from being in the dungeons, he was terrible.
Makoa was neither strong nor fast, but he was quick in reaction and easily dodged most things, of course he was feeling the toll of this battle as well.
"Healer!" A 'maren called back, catching the attention of idle crystals. "Help!"
The healer blinked and flicked its hand forwards, a ring of golden energy striking the 'maren and sending him from the air, falling victim to paralysis.
Once that attack had been laid, all the healers turned, and the 'maren were now caught in the middle of the battle as the main target. To one side was the Protectors, the other the healers.
"We have to leave." Makoa said quickly, the remaining 'maren looking around in fear as they tried to think of what to do.
Reala bared his teeth in a hiss, staring at the blue jester with icy eyes. "We can't leave the master vulnerable to the humans."
"Wizeman can take care of himself."
"The master-"
"The master doesn't care for any of us! You, Reala, of all the 'maren, should know that!"
Reala shut his mouth, thinking bitter thoughts as NiGHTS rested her hand on his shoulder.
"Ree, I agree with Macky... We can't stay here, we'll all be killed."
And with brief hesitation, he followed her. Seeing the two leave the other 'maren followed, flying as fast as they could in the one direction that was clear.
The desert.
Wizeman had cursed the desert thousands of years ago to make it easier for 'maren to travel through and inhabit the place, his curse had decreased the temperature so that despite looking hot, the brown sand hills were actually quite pleasant.
But that had been a long time ago, and Wizemans curse had worn off, proven by the hot gust of wind that greeted the 'maren.
Their flight was only brief before the heat got the better of them all and forced them to land, the warmth burning the dust in their blood making it impossible for them to fly and harder to live. There was only about thirty 'maren in this little group, nothing like the population of Nightmare had previously been, but what interested NiGHTS was that the 'maren had chosen to follow her lead.
They walked for a long time, painfully and slowly with no refuge from the sun and the heat, none had high hopes.
"The 'maren fled."
The crystal construct was not pleased to hear this, proving so as he sent white energy into the computer screens. "What do you mean they fled?!"
"I-I mean..." The human struggled with his words, Astrals now-orangey coloured eyes glaring down at him.
"What Damian means is they ran." Trish growled, defending her husband.
"I gathered." The healer hissed, calming down slightly. "What of Wizeman? And NiGHTS?"
Damian, now afraid of Astral, quickly gave a report. "We blew through the door in the main hall, the one you said went to Wizemans lair but it didn't go anywhere, it was just stone behind it which crumbled too."
Astral crossed his crystal arms. "And NiGHTS?"
"Gone with all the others."
"Do you know where?"
"The canyon."
Obviously this wasn't a bad thing to Astral as he calmed down, plotting things in his crystal head.
"The Nightmaren will die in the desert; they are susceptible to heat, let them wander."
The being uncrossed his arms and stood idle, posing in the usual healer manner. "But NiGHTS is still to be brought to me."
"Alright... I'll send some helicopters in the desert to search for the 'maren."
Astral gave no thank you; instead he just stood and stared forwards, the humans now knowing that this indicated the end of the conversation.
Trish grabbed her husband's arm and quickly pulled him from the room, whispering angry words that he missed in the movement.
"You can't let him hurt NiGHTS."
Damian blinked, pulling Trish's hand off his ear and giving her a strange look.
"But... She's a Nightmaren...?"
"It doesn't matter; you have to leave her alone."
"But-"
"No buts!"
The human blinked and his charisma quickly came back, he straightened up, frowned, and started giving Trish bad looks.
"Trish you know that the whole reason we're here is to kill the 'maren, the fact that you befriended one means nothing, I can't just spare her like that!"
"You have to!"
"Why?!"
The girl sighed, whatever anger there was on her end disappeared. "For me."
Damian's emotion changed to match and he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Trish, I said already, I can't."
"Damian, all the people here are your friends, not mine, I'm all alone."
"Then you can go back to the waking world."
"I don't want to!" She whined, tears gathering in her eyes. "I want you to leave my friend alone!"
"Trish..." He sighed, trying to pull her into a hug but getting knocked away. "I'm afraid there are things that have to happen."
Damian didn't quite grasp Trish's reaction the ordeal; he simply saw it as a child with a sick pet, knowing that it needed to be put down but still fighting.
With one last, angry, tear-filled look at her husband, Trish ran off.
Astral was not pleased. At all.
He had wanted NiGHTS as a prisoner, how he hated her, he didn't need a reason for that. He just hated her.
And that's why he wanted her brought to him, to make her suffer, to ease his bitter feelings, harming the 'maren became more and more appealing as she continued to agitate him, even if was out of defence.
She'd thwarted his plan and injured him, that was enough of a reason.
As he looked over the concrete balcony of the building all he saw was Bellbridge, dotted with shiny crystal forms.
Healers, his army had come to join him; just as they planned they'd all turned on the 'maren.
The humans were afraid but curious of the creatures, he could see them all gathering around the healers and speaking to each other quietly, discussing and questioning, but not going near the healers themselves.
They reminded Astral of Nightmaren.
The healers held no interest in the humans; they simply hovered in place as the other creatures mumbled quietly. And once Astral had the 'maren out of the way, the humans would be next.
He didn't care to keep his race safe, they were expendable, even if he lacked the ability to create more, Wizeman had locked himself from the world, he wouldn't know what was happening above him until he resurfaced. And, Astral planned, the god would see the only remaining race to be the healers, under his lead, Astral would finally gain power.
His laugh began to echo across the town as he thought of what he'd do with this power, things he wouldn't be able to do as a simple healer.
Of course he couldn't help but wonder how the 'maren were faring in the desert.
The Nightmaren had gotten a good distance before most of them began to collapse, forcing the rest of the group to stop where they were. Jackle was being used as a large sun-shield for the more exhausted 'maren, NiGHTS was laying in the warm sand with her hand blocking the sun from her eyes, Makoa was sitting near her quietly mumbling the words to a song whilst Reala glared at him.
The 'maren had been forced from the castle an hour or so after dawn, so the day had yet to reach its peak temperature, all the 'maren were dreading that moment.
Makoa had an idea, but nearly the moment he opened his mouth Reala would threaten him into shutting it again, and it was getting on NiGHTS nerves.
She'd separated the two, Reala standing to one side and Makoa sitting in the sand at her other, and they had yet to bicker again.
Makoas glossy green eyes opened as he decided to join reality again.
"Can I speak now?"
NiGHTS shrugged and simply looked at Reala, who hissed and turned his attention away. The few 'maren that were still awake had little interest in the other three; they were too distracted by how sick they felt and how tired they were.
Makoa decided that Realas silence was as good a reply as any.
"I was lost in the desert once before, mind you it was a lot cooler then... But one of my human friends told me that in the waking world, some reptiles will burrow to escape the heat..."
"And?" Reala hissed, eyes narrowing.
"I tried it, the ground is awfully cool."
One of the other 'marens sat up quickly, staring at Makoa. "Why didn't you say that before!"
Makoa simply pointed at the red jester.
"We should try it."
The remaining 'maren all agreed, actually daring to leave the safety of Jackles cape.
They all gathered around, not entirely sure of what to be doing until Makoa started to dig, and they all joined in.
Reala was not happy, at all, NiGHTS had noticed but not asked, nor did he want her to. He didn't like Makoa, he was older than both him and NiGHTS, he was a traitor whose head was filled with bad thoughts, what if he tried to influence NiGHTS? What if he tried to hurt or take advantage of NiGHTS? She was young, naïve, rather stupid in his opinion, he thought she could be easily tricked, what if he tried to trick her?
Then Reala would protect her.
But was his service needed already? Was this 'maren already trying to steal NiGHTS away?
Reala growled, baring his fangs in Makoas direction, the blue jester caught site and just gave him a confused look.
Reala thought he was being taunted, that Makoa was playing stupid in order to mock him, and he took that as an invite.
Without a second thought Reala dived, knocking Makoa off balance with his curved horns, and within moments Makoa had accepted the battle and the two were slashing at each other.
Usually, when a fight breaks out in Nightmare, the 'maren would cheer and howl in excitement, this time they just stared as the two fought, it was only when NiGHTS stepped in that they broke.
"Reala! Makoa! Stop it!"
She hissed, pulling the two off of each other and nearly getting hurt for doing so, Makoa raised his hands in defence and bowed his head, saying with movement that he was the victim in this fight.
"Reala." She had the two by the collars and quickly dropped them, advancing on the red jester. "What in Wizemans name are you doing?!"
"I..." he cursed himself, trying to think of a way to word this.
"You attacked him!"
"For a reason!"
"And what would that be!"
"If you paid more attention to what happened around you, NiGHTS, you would see!"
"Paid more attention?" She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Reala, what's gotten into you?"
"I don't like him." Was Realas childish reply, Makoa laughed quietly under his breath and received a very dark look from NiGHTS for doing so.
"That doesn't mean you attack him."
That brief lecture was enough to annoy Reala.
"Stop acting so righteous, NiGHTS, just because you view something wrong doesn't mean it is!"
"Well what you view as right is completely wrong!"
"You sound like an idiot!"
"Back to the old insults?" She hissed, tearing the bracelet from her wrist. "Back to your old ways? Becoming the old Reala again? The one I'd hated since I was little? The one that made my life a living hell?"
"I think I'd prefer to be my old self again, at least things were good then! Back before I'd so much as spoke to you!"
"Fine! If you want things to change, then leave! You won't have to deal with me while you wander through the desert! Go away, Reala!"
With that she threw her bracelet away, having it collide with and shatter on a conveniently placed rock.
Reala said nothing as he turned, just gave a sharp hiss before he used the last of his energy to fly into the distance.
The 'maren all stood in silence, all watching NiGHTS carefully, she didn't say anything, she didn't even look back at the group.
Heat had no effect on healers, and Astral was carefully flying over the desert, scouring the land for 'maren, he knew they were here somewhere, but he was unaware that he'd already flown over their carefully constructed little burrow. The longer he flew, the more impatient he would get, after a long time searching he finally stopped in mid-air, let out a howl of anger and sent a blast of white energy in a nova around him.
Then something caught his eye, in the middle of the canyon was a strange object, a building, but not one belonging to the protectors, after careful inspection he recognised the dark place to be a 'marens lair, if the Nightmaren were still alive, they would've hidden away in there.
However Astral wasn't the only one that'd noticed the lair, night had fallen a long time ago but some of the 'maren were still too tired to leave their safe sand home, but NiGHTS kept accidentally breathing whilst underground and would cop a mouthful of sand. 'Maren don't need to breath, eat, sleep, anything that a usual creature needs, but they still do it, and NiGHTS was in too much of a habit so she eventually dug her way back to the surface and went walking.
She'd never seen the evil theme-park style lair before, but as she walked closer she found that it belonged to Lord Reala himself, she was still angry with him, but a 'marens lair was supposed to mirror its owner, and NiGHTS couldn't help but feel curious.
She'd always thought Reala to be a rather calmly angry, self controlled 'maren, but his lair proved that wrong, it was crazy. It was very much a theme park, rides and rollercoaster's everywhere, and it was truly frightening here.
NiGHTS was able to see both the 'maren and the dreamers view of the lair, but they were both the same, frightening.
In the direct middle of the park was a large, gothic style building, the inside painted red and black with a checker pattern covering the floors, and in the middle of that was a spiked throne.
She froze quickly as she saw Reala sitting on the throne, his legs crossed on the arm of the throne as he rubbed his head, deep in thought, luckily he hadn't noticed her.
"I know you're there..."
Obviously, she'd thought wrong.
"I've never seen your lair before." She said quietly, hovering to the tall throne.
"I've never seen yours, either."
"Nor can you, the protectors took it over."
"Ah." He sighed, sitting straight in his chair. They looked at each other for a moment, then NiGHTS spoke.
"How can we fight so easily?"
The other 'maren bowed his head.
"We're 'maren, it's natural."
"But it shouldn't be, for us at least." She crept onto the throne beside him, nuzzling into his shoulder. "I love you Reala, I don't want to fight with you."
He nodded slowly and rested his head on hers, opening his claws to reveal what he had in his grasp.
A sparkly, purple bracelet, decorated with gold.
There were several chunks out of it; some of the gold was scratched away.
Reala held it out to her, her eyes watering when she saw it and she hugged his side tightly.
"I tried to fix it."
He placed it in her hands, stroking the back of her palm.
"It's still pretty broken; I couldn't find all the pieces either."
"Oh Ree..." She whimpered and kissed him, tears beginning to fall down her face. He said nothing when the kiss broke and simply hugged her.
"Cute."
A single, dark voice interrupted, catching both the 'marens attention and they looked down to see a crystal creature staring at them.
"A-astral...?" NiGHTS whimpered, tensing as Reala broke his grip on her to take a defence stance. "You're supposed to be dead! I killed you!"
"The attack of some useless Nightmaren is not enough to overthrow me, you may have disabled me for a while, but I can rebuild my own energy."
"But!" She clawed at Reala for safety, terrified that this creature could come back from the dead. "I destroyed your Ideya, you can't live without it!"
"Nightmaren and humans cannot, I do not require it."
He lifted his three crystal fingers ahead of him, energy gathering. "Now, my dear, I have something for you."
Neither 'maren waited to see what would happen, Reala wrapped his arms around NiGHTS waist and launched off the throne, they were designed for rough landings and he landed flat on his feet, holding her carefully.
But the moment he had, Astral was prepared and struck the two with a bolt of energy, NiGHTS was thrown to the ground, the attack knocking her out, Reala landed beside her, barely able to move.
"NiGHTS..." Astral hissed her name out, his claws reaching for the 'maren, he ran the tips down her face, drawing blood and leaving thin cuts before taking hold of her collar.
Reala pulled himself shakily to his knees, struggling and aching, and Astral quickly noticed and backhanded him across the face, sending him to the ground again.
"Leave her..." Reala gasped, trying to get up again. Astral laughed quietly and turned back to the unconscious 'maren.
He managed to hook his claws onto Astrals thin crystal tail, and he pulled the healer to the ground. The crystals clawed as Reala slipped one arm around Astrals chest, and in one quick movement he pulled the beaked head off and threw it across the room, watching it shatter into a million tiny, glittery shards.
He dropped the rest of the healers' body, which without the head was now completely limp, and he was quickly at NiGHTS side. He was still aching and slow from the attack, but managed to pull her into his arms, leaving just as the crystal shards started to creep towards each other as they began to fuse.
"Green!" Makoa howled excitedly, pointing from the top of a sand dune, the 'maren all rushed to his side to see what he could, and sure enough, shadowed by the large cheesy moon, was the border between the desert and a lush forest.
NiGHTS sighed with relief and leant against Reala as the 'maren all started to cheer, playing around happily in their good mood. Reala, however, had noticed something strange.
"What's that?" His hooked claw pointed and the group all looked, seeing a dark concrete shape in the valley below, and the rest of the 'maren confirmed Realas thoughts. It was a protector's base.
"We can fly past." Jackle smiled, looking back at the group and trying to raise their moral again. "We can fly that distance easily!"
"No." A 'maren with yellow markings shook its head, being the third to point out a detail. "Look."
NiGHTS sighed again as she saw what the 'maren was pointing to. "Sky traps."
A wave of unease went through the group, they hated sky traps. The giant magnets were designed to pull 'maren into the metal, which exploded on contact. Recently the protectors had rigged them to generators to stop the sky trap from being destroyed as well, and now they literally fried a 'maren with electricity. Some of the traps didn't quite work though, they would still catch the 'maren, but they were forced to wait until a Nightmaren or a protector found them, or they'd have to endure the suns heat before they eventually died.
Bones of 'maren, 'pians, all kinds of creatures littered the areas around the traps, which was enough of a sign to stay away.
"We'll have to walk." The 'maren didn't argue with NiGHTS, they preferred to risk being caught by a protector than a sky trap.
With that the group started to walk, trying to shelter behind whatever they could as they moved in order to avoid the protectors, and it was all going well until they reached the middle of the field.
A sudden gust of wind brought an incredible heat in the 'marens direction, forcing them all to fall, the desert hadn't been that hot before, and it was freezing at night time, NiGHTS needed to know where that heat had come from.
And she rather regretted looking.
Just as they're vulnerable to heat, 'marens can't stand strong light, and NiGHTS only caught a glimpse at the protectors base before she had to turn away or risk being blinded, there was a fierce red light emitting from the middle of the base, forcing all the 'maren to look away and giving off a tremendous heat.
Then suddenly, it stopped, the doors to the protectors base shutting quickly.
"The hell was that!" Reala hissed, rubbing his eyes as his vision tried to refocus.
"I saw it." NiGHTS whimpered, doing the same as Reala but the effect persisting. "It was just a giant red orb, directly in the middle of the base."
"In the middle of their base?" Makoa blinked off the last of the temporary blindness, helping NiGHTS stand as hers had yet to wear off. "That big hot thing was in the middle of a Protector base?"
"Yeah."
"What would they be doing with it?"
Jackle was the one that came to the conclusion, NiGHTS and Reala had previously told the group of Astrals aid to the Protectors, and he figured out just what the humans would be using a fiery hot orb for.
"They're developing weapons."
"What?"
"Think about it! If Astral really is working with them, he would've told them our weakness! They've got a ball of heat that they can control! What if they could use it against us?"
"We'd be screwed." NiGHTS whimpered, her arms crossed.
The 'maren all stood silently, at least until gunfire ripped through the silence, wounding an awful lot of the 'maren.
Those wounded 'maren blinked, looked down at the bullet holes, looked at each other, then to the human that'd attacked them. One single human stood with gun pointed, half-hiding behind a rock, and he was quickly mangled with large pearly horns.
The problem with drill diving is it involves flying, and the problem with flying is that it attracts the attention of a programmed machine.
"No one. Move." Makoa spoke slowly, looking up at something behind the group.
Of course the 'maren needed to know what it was that was threatening them, and very slowly and carefully they turned, only to be greeted by a large circular magnet that'd been buried underground until its radar detected something and it'd pulled itself from the dirt.
And, no 'maren moved, all tense as they watched the magnet moving from left to right as it lazily scanned. It was only flying that attracted the sky trap, but none of them wanted to risk anything.
It restarted its scan, the 'maren not daring to move or break their gaze, then with the loud noise of rusting metal the machine pulled itself back underground, resting there until the day it discovered another signal.
The 'maren still stood frozen, then in complete unison they all burst into maniac laughter and ran as fast as they could towards the forest, falling through a thick canopy nearly the moment they touched the green.
The group bounced and rolled down the steep hill, before collecting in a massive pile of laughing 'maren at the bottom. NiGHTS was giggling, having half-fallen down the back of a rock, her legs on the rock, her back against the side of it, and her head and arms on the ground.
Reala couldn't help but laugh as he crawled to the edge, looking down from between NiGHTS boots.
"Well, this is nice."
She blushed madly and hissed from the mock as the tips of the yellow claws traced along the groove of the bone in her knee, the other 'maren all started whispering with big smiles on their faces and had to be ushered away by Makoa, who disappeared in the green shrubs along with the others.
"Ree." She narrowed her eyes, looking at his entertained smile. "What are you planning in that sick head of yours?"
"Oh." He shrugged. "Nothing."
"Tell me!"
He considered for a moment, then spoke.
"Well... I was thinking, we've yet to do anything truly sexual, I got a bit carried away with my thoughts."
"Oh." NiGHTS mad blush returned, her own thoughts turning to the same topic. "Well... I guess with the others gone we could... I don't know... Play?"
Reala smirked. "Only play?"
"I could deny you anything!"
He pouted, resting his cheek against her calf.
"Only play." She repeated, glaring at him. He simply chuckled and began to trace the claw of his index finger from her knee and further up her thigh.
She whimpered, feeling her cheeks burn. "Only play..."
