The Nightmare
Author's Note: I have never played (any version of) Dungeons and Dragons before, be it tabletop or online. I have never played any video game based on D&D, including the Icewind Dale trilogy, Neverwinter Nights and, of course, Baldur's Gate 1 & 2. I have never played Divinity: Original Sin 1 or 2. My primary experience with D&D has been the voracious consumption of novels and books starting from my (impressionable) childhood.
As such, I am basing this solely on Early Access playthroughs on YouTube, with no preconceptions or expectations.
I have nightmares. Every gods-damned night.
They started after I made the pact. Should've read the fine print first. But when a mob of drunken sods get it in your head that you're the cultist responsible for the latest killing spree in the Lower City, and decide they'd rather deal with you themselves rather than wait for the next Flaming Fist patrol, you don't exactly have a lot of time for sober second thought. Besides, the woman making the offer was gorgeous. Tall, leggy, pale as the moon, hint of sapphire on the cheekbones, hair as dark as night. At least, until I signed on the line and she sprouted horns and wings.
There's another lesson for you: never trust a woman. Or a devil. They'll fuck you over every time.
I didn't realize that at the time, though. The devil woman was true to her word. She got me away from the mob and back to my room with a snap of her fingers. The next morning, I found out that I had succeeded in gaining the apprenticeship I'd sought as my chief competitor had mysteriously vanished... Before long, I was granted the rank of journeyman. Even then, word flew far and wide of the quality of my wares. It was whispered that I might become the youngest man ever to become a master of my guild. There was even talk of starting my very own business. Truly, I thought that Tymora was finally smiling down on me.
That was when the nightmares started. They were never the same. Each night promised new ways to torment me. The mob catching me and burning me at the stake. The mob chasing me during the full moon, turning into werewolves and eating me alive. The Watch catching me in the Upper City and executing me on the spot. The devils dragging me down to the Nine Hells and conscripting me into some kind of never-ending war. Or my personal favourite: my old man, gods rest his soul, clawing his way out of his grave and ripping my guts out with his clawed, bony hands.
Thing about nightmares is, they don't last forever. They seem to, at the time. They make you feel helpless. Powerless. But they don't last. They end. You wake up.
So when I found myself stuck in this… cocoon thing, not knowing how I got there, I tried to wake up. When that… that monster floated in, tentacles where its mouth should be, I tried to wake up. When it plucked that squirming tadpole from the pool, I tried to wake up. When the tadpole got a grip on my face with those tentacles, opened its mouth with all its teeth and forced itself into my eye, I tried to wake up.
Then it hit me.
Maybe I wasn't having a nightmare.
Maybe I was already awake.
The next few minutes were a blur, truth be told. I remember a lot of shaking. A few moments where my stomach churned and twisted, like I had one too many drinks and only realized that after an ogre was beating me to a pulp. In the distance, I saw something tear open the walls like they were made of parchment. Everything caught fire.
And then I found myself on the floor, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the floor and feeling like I had the worst hangover ever. Truly, my head was pounding so hard I swore I could hear it echo throughout my body. "My head," I groaned.
Slowly, I picked myself up. As my vision cleared and I looked around, I realized… I had no idea where I was. I wasn't at an inn. Or a tavern. Or an alley. Or… anywhere I had ever been before.
The floor, the walls… were not made of wood. Or stone. Or mud. They looked like—I bent down and ran my hand over it—they felt like… flesh. Dark, purple-grey flesh. As I watched, my vomit slowly shrank, soaking up into the floor. The rest of this room was made of flesh. It trembled and quivered, as if it was alive. As I listened, I could swear I heard a steady sound. It almost reminded me of one of those Neverwinter clocks, only deeper. Almost like someone—or something was breathing.
Then again, maybe it was a trick of the light. A reflection from the inferno that licked and crackled across half the room. Maybe I was still asleep. Yes, I decided. That was it. I was still dreaming. Or, more to the point, still having a nightmare.
Strange ribbed vessels, like the one that had held me, were evenly spaced around the chamber. In the centre, right in front of me, stood a shallow pool. The one holding gods know how many tadpoles, like the one the monster had plucked, the one that had slithered its way into my eye. I fearfully took a step forward, only to jump back, startled as it fell apart like an egg. As the liquid sloshed across the floor, I gave it—and the writhing mass of tadpoles—a wide berth.
I stumbled to the far side of the room, up a ramp that looked like a spread of webbed sinews. As I reached the top, the wall spiralled open, like a dark flower blossoming before my eyes. Tentatively, I stepped through and entered the next room.
It was made of the same fleshy substance, only larger. Indeed, it seemed more like a chamber or hall than a mere room. Strange patterns ran across the floor and up the walls like rigid, wrinkled skin. There was more light here: some from pits that glowed with a strange red light, some from the occasional fire that smouldered and some from the enormous gash that had tore open the far wall from the outside.
It was that light that let me see the little creatures strewn on the floor. They were small, red-skinned with horns and bat-like wings. "Devilkin," I mused. "Am I in the hells?"
*We are here*
"Who said that," I cried out, whipping my head back and forth.
*Help us*
It sounded like a child. Only I couldn't see him—her? Only hear him—her? In my head.
Somehow, I found myself walking towards a spindly structure, like a twisted tree with cobwebs stretching from branch to branch. Instinctively, I lifted my hand and waved it in front of my face. With a jolt, the floor behind me shifted and I felt myself rising. I realized that part of the floor beneath my feet was moving upward, like the flying carpet in the chapbooks I read in my youth.
The platform soon shuddered to a stop on some kind of upper balcony and I slowly stepped off.
*We are trapped*
The voice came from the centre of the balcony, which was lit up in that strange red light. I could see several ovoid chests rising from small stands like tiny tables. There were several pods holding fleshy… things in some kind of fluid. All of this was in a half-circle around a chair.
And in that chair lay an elven male, wearing nothing but a pair of breeches. His hands dangling by his sides. His eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling. I took a step forward. Then another. And another.
The elf twitched.
I froze, heart pounding. The elf did nothing. Said nothing. He just sat there. "Um… well met?" I tried.
*Yes! You've come to save us from this place. From this place you'll free us!*
Strange. The elf looked far too old to have such a young voice. And why did he whisper one moment and positively shout the next?
I took one last step. And then I saw.
The top of the elf's head had been… removed. I could see his brain, exposed. It quivered, as if in expectation.
*Please. Before they return! They return.*
"Who am I talking to?" I asked in confusion. "A man? Or a brain?"
*A newborn. Born new from this husk.*
Gods help me. I realized that it was the brain that had been speaking. In my head. All this time. This… this thing, this creature, was more brain than person. Normally, I would have run screaming from the room. Probably to the closest tavern where I'd drink until I ran out of coin. But obviously this was a nightmare, so all I could think of was this creature sounded… scared. "You sound afraid," I said. "Why?"
*The enemy*, the brain whispered. *So many enemies.*
On that, we could agree. "I think your husk is past the point of saving," I told the brain. "Tell me what to do."
*Remove us. From this body! From this case, free us. Please.*
I inspected the exposed brain. It looked like it was straining against the skull. Like a hermit crab, it had grown too large for its shell. It needed to be freed.
*Please, the creature said again. Before they return! They return.*
There were no tools that could have helped extract the creature, nor were there any gloves to put on. Of course there weren't, I reminded myself. This was a nightmare. Since I couldn't wake up, I reached out and got a firm hold on the brain. I grimaced as I felt its warm, moist folds against the palms of my hands. Taking a deep breath, I pulled. After some effort, I managed to lift it out of the skull. As I held it in my hands, I noticed an opportunity. I could cripple the strange creature, make it more subservient. More compliant.
Perhaps I should have. This… creature… was as alien as the monsters that'd abducted me and put that tadpole in my brain. If I disabled this thing, it would be less of a threat. Surely that would be the prudent thing to do.
But it sounded so young. So confused. So scared. Was this right? To hurt a newborn while it was so helpless?
While I stood there, thinking, the brain vibrated, shaking from side to side. Suddenly, it leapt out of my hands and down to the floor. It bulged and stretched, as if something was pushing from the inside. As I watched, a slender tendril burst forth from the brain. Then another. Then another. Soon, five tentacles were waving around the brain. Then it tilted to its side as a stubby, clawed leg emerged from its belly.
Before I knew it, I was looking at an overgrown brain with five tentacles and four legs. Like a little wrinkled puppy, only without fur or skin or face. Clearly, I was going mad. Or in the throes of another nightmare. Yes, that was it. I was having yet another nightmare.
*We are free, the creature exclaimed. Our freedom is ours! Friend!*
The creature paused, listening. Something behind my eye seized in recognition. The tadpole and this thing were connected.
*We must go to the helm. At the helm, we are needed.*
Of course we did. I didn't know why. None of this made sense. But that's how nightmares worked, after all. "What's at the helm?" I wanted to know.
The brain tensed, as though querying an unseen advisor. *Do you not hear it?* it replied. *We will not survive here. We are needed to navigate. We are needed to leave this realm.*
"Very well," I said slowly. "What am I to call you?"
*Us. We are us.*
"All right… 'Us'. Let's go."
*To the helm we go!* the creature cheered. In a less excited tone, it added *We are going to the helm.*
Yes. I guess we were.
We didn't go to the helm immediately.
Since there was no one around aside from dead imps—for surely that was what the tiny devilkin were—and 'Us,' I opted to search for loot. A bad habit I'd fallen into during the early days of my apprenticeship, one that hadn't been beaten out of me. And a good thing, too, considering what I found amidst the bodies and inside various compartments. Gold and lots of it. Strange fleshy things filled with acidic bile—which I discovered when I accidentally dropped one. Bottles of grease, alchemist's fire and other concoctions.
The best treasure of all was the scrolls. Each filled with arcane script, as if they were written by wizards or other magic-users. Somehow, I thought I might be able to use them. If not, I could definitely get a considerable amount of coin for them at the market. Assuming I could get out of this place.
Eventually, I had looted everything I could. Without further ado, the brain and I moved towards the large gash in the wall. I gingerly stepped through, taking care to avoid the flames. The brain merrily hopped through without a second's thought.
I came to a halt and stared.
'Us' had said we were going to the helm. I had mistakenly thought we were on a ship, drifting through some distant sea. But we were not drifting.
We were flying.
In the distance, I could see a glimpse of tall mountains, obscured by an opaque haze. Light shone through the clouds, enough to illuminate the ground below. I felt an oppressive heat, suffocating in its intensity. There was a waft of sulfur and brimstone in the air. I took that all in before daring to look down.
We seemed to be flying through some desolate wasteland, one that stretched on as far as the eye could see. A strange din reached my ears. After some time, I recognized it as metal clashing against metal. Like sword against sword. This was combat. No—if I could hear it even from this height, this was no mere battle. This was war.
That or the most elaborate nightmare I had ever had. I turned to the brain, who was still scampering behind me. It came to a stop at my feet. Then I felt something—the brain, perhaps?—reach into my mind. Its thoughts rattled against my own. Again, something inside me squirmed in recognition.
*Friend. We will go to the helm now.*
It seemed so strange that a creature so bizarre could have a voice that sounded so innocent. Two things were clear, though: it bore me no ill will and it seemed to have access to a certain amount of knowledge. Maybe it could give me some of the answers I needed. "Why was I forced onto this ship?" I demanded. "What did you want?"
*To know you. To love you. To give you our gift!*
I'd leave 'knowing' me for the philosophers to ponder. As for love, well, a good romp in the sheets with the tavern wench was probably close enough. But nothing I'd experienced thus far was remotely close to knowing or loving. "Something was put in my eye. Something that looked like a tadpole. What was it?"
*A gift. A gift to make you as we are. Soon you will be so beautiful. So powerful.*
One of those answers I liked much, much more than the others. "Can you tell me where we are?"
*In a realm where we have fled. We have fled to a realm called Avernus. First of the Nine Hells. We are escaping a great evil.*
Avernus. The Nine Hells. In a flash, I remembered the priests droning on and on. They always preached about how if we weren't good boys and girls, our souls would be sucked down to the Nine Hells. Avernus was the first level of the Hells: a barren wasteland of ashen plains and dark basalt mountains, where devils and demons waged an eternal war. The Blood War, they called it.
And I was flying through hell. I was in hell. Well, one of them. Yet another sign that I was having a nightmare. "Wonderful," I said sourly.
'Us' just sat there, wordlessly waving its tentacles at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a great shape swoop by. I didn't turn around in time to see it, but I did see a swarm of imps soar through the air, cackling to each other in some infernal tongue.
"Very well," I sighed. "Let us carry on."
*We are going to the helm!*
"Huzzah," I said dully.
*My friend and I are going to the helm.*
"Yes, yes. Quite."
We continued walking along the outside of this 'ship,'—this flying, fleshy, ship—taking care to stay away from the edge. One wrong step and… well, it would mean our end. I was so concerned about my footing beneath me that I did not pause to look above me.
Which was why I was startled when the woman dropped down, landing mere feet before me. She wore ornate armour, silvery steel with small red gems. Her ears were pointed, like an elf. Her nose, narrow and pointed. Her skin a strange, mustard yellow. Dark markings swept underneath her eyes, accompanied by a further smattering of dots like a mask of freckles. Either she was an ugly elf whose liver was going, a skinny and freckled orc or something I had never seen before.
My eyes were suddenly drawn to the sword hilt rising from her back and the hate in her eyes. "Abomination," she hissed. "This is your end."
Before I could say anything, my head throbbed. My skin tingled. I saw a vision—no. Glimpses. Flashes rushing in front of my eyes. A dragon's wing. A silver sword. A flash of my face seen through the strange woman's eyes. I clutched my head in pain.
The woman did the same. "My head," she groaned. "What is this—ugh!"
With an effort, she straightened herself. Comprehension dawned in her eyes. "Tsk'va," she breathed. "You are no thrall—Vlaakith blesses me this day! Together, we might survive."
I had no idea who this 'Vlaakith' was, but this woman seemed considerably less hostile. As far as I was concerned, that was all that mattered.
"Imps block the path forward. You will assist me in destroying them—we must reach the helm before we transform."
"'Transform'," I repeated. "What do you mean? Transform into what?"
"We carry mind flayer parasites. Unless we escape—unless we are cleansed—our bodies and minds will be tainted and twisted."
A nightmare. This was clearly a nightmare.
"Within days, we will be ghaik."
"'Ghaik'," I said blankly. "What is that? My apologies. I'm afraid I don't speak Elven."
The woman looked irritated. Perhaps she was not an elf. "Mind flayers," she said.
My eyes bulged. Even I'd heard of mind flayers. Unfathomable monsters that lurked in the shadows and manipulated the weak-minded. "Mind flayers?" I gasped. "We are turning into mind flayers? There must be something we can do!"
"We can do nothing until we escape—that must be our priority."
"And the helm? Is that our way out of here?"
"It is where we might gain control of the gh'ath."
"I don't speak Orcish," I said.
Now she glared at me as if I were simple. Perhaps she was not an orc, either. "The ship," she said. "We must gain control of the ship. Once in command, we will deal with our ghaik captors."
"You seem to know so much about our captors," I said. "Who are you?"
"Who am I? Your only chance of survival. And you're mine, though it pains me to say it."
Clearly, this was a woman of mystery—and condescension. Still, she seemed more confident and knowledgeable about these matters than I was. And I was still well out of my depth. "Onward, then," I waved.
"First, we exterminate the imps. Then we find the helm and take control of the ship."
*My friends and I are going to the helm.*
I had almost forgotten about 'Us.' The woman had heard its words too. "As for that thing," she spat, "it will remain tame as long as it believes we are thralls. It may be of use in the fight to come."
Ah. No wonder it was so… friendly. I knew there must be a reason.
Just like there was a reason why I had to go into battle with a mysterious angry woman and a walking, talking brain. I wasn't sure what it was, but there must have been a reason.
That's how these things work, you see.
We had only travelled a short distance before we were forced back inside the ship. There, right in front of us, was a large stack of crates. Around it were numerous fires. And a trio of imps.
They were too busy arguing amongst themselves, so we were able to catch them off guard. Not the most chivalrous thing to do, perhaps, but clearly none of us were paladins. And since we weren't those stalwart paragons of justice, we elected to ambush those little buggers.
The brain—much easier than saying 'Us' all the time—scampered forward. Not to be outdone, the woman unsheathed her sword, let out a battle cry and charged. Alas, the brain was closer and faster. It pounced on one of the imps, who sprung into the air with a squawk.
I found myself wondering what the hells—no pun intended—was I supposed to do. All I had was a dagger. Should I attack? Throw it? Wave it around menacingly?
Then I remembered the scrolls. They contained magic, didn't they? Perhaps one of the scrolls would prove useful. Granted, I had never cast a spell from a scroll before, but neither had I laid my hands on one. What did I have to lose?
I pulled one of them out. It would let me cast a bolt of fire, apparently. Or was that ice? Honestly, I wasn't sure. It seemed like a lot of arcane gibberish to me. And the words kept blurring and moving around on the parchment. I concentrated on the words, silently willing them to slow down.
As I concentrated, I thought about what I wanted to do. I wanted to hit the imps with magic. To blast them. To hurt them. And as I focused, I felt something… pulling at me. Something that was somehow incredibly light and impossibly heavy at the same time. I felt my blood boil within me. I felt a dark thrumming in my chest. I felt this… this power stirring to life, coursing through my veins and reaching out to… here. To the Hells. It was there, waiting. All I had to reach out and take it.
I reached out.
I seized the power.
A ball of scintillating light burst into my life, hovering inches above the palm of my hand. Instinctively, I reached out, and the ball became a lance, shooting across the room and slamming into the farthest imp. It had just enough time to let out a screech before dropping to the floor, where it lay very, very still.
I stared at the imp. Then back at my hand. I had killed it. With magic—but not from any scroll or wand. I had summoned magic. I had cast magic. I had cast magic! By the gods, I had cast magic! THIS WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!
The screeches from the imps reminded me that the fight wasn't over yet. The brain pounced at the imp again, but missed. The woman slashed at the other imp, dealing it a grievous wound. In retaliation, the imps dove down and threw a bolt of fire at my strange comrades. Both of them cried out in pain.
Again, I thrust my hand forward. Again, I felt that power channeling through me and blasting outwards in a stream of eldritch light. It didn't feel quite as powerful as the first blast, but it was sufficient to kill another imp.
Now the odds had shifted in our favour. The brain leapt at the imp, tearing at one of its wings. As the imp spiralled out of the way, the woman dipped her sword in the fire and swung. The now-fiery blade cleaved the little beast in two.
"We did it!" I said excitedly.
"Indeed," the woman nodded. "You prove surprisingly adequate in battle."
Hardly the praise I felt was my due, after killing two of the three imps. For a brief moment, I pondered what this strange magic would do to the woman. I quickly squelched that impulse. We were still in danger, after all.
"Now, to the helm." The woman marched across the room towards a flight of stairs, followed by the friendly brain. I quickly patted down the imps, pocketing some gold and a spell scroll, before following her.
We emerged on what might have been the bow of the ship. It was engulfed in flames. Bodies—some imps, some humans—lay everywhere. The cause quickly became clear: a dragon, scales red as blood, dove towards us. It opened its maw, showing row after row of sharp teeth—each as long as I was tall—before a fireball burst forth. I fell on my ass in horror. The brain hopped back.
The woman simply crouched down and narrowed her eyes. She stood back up and gestured for us to keep moving. "A moment," I said, shaking my head. "We should check the bodies. They may have something valuable."
An odd choice, I know, given the dangers around us. But considering my only allies were a woman with a sword and a walking brain, I figured I needed all the tools I could find. I'd done well so far with a dagger, the small collection of spell scrolls I'd amassed and the strange power I'd discovered within me, but I could do better.
Cognizant to the ever-present threat, I quickly patted down the closest bodies. All I found was a few gold pieces and a shortbow. The third body, a man in a baker's garb, twitched to life.
"Gods!" I cursed, jumping back.
"Lend a hand, won't you, love?" he slurred. "There's a rat in the kitchen. Ten red rats. And they're flying and they're clawing…" He trailed off as I stared in confusion. Red rats that could fly and had claws… was he referring to the imps?
"The mind flayers have already enthralled him," the woman realized, "Leave them, or we will share his fate. They are beyond our aid."
She was probably right. Certainly he was in no shape to stand or move, and we couldn't afford to take him with us. He'd just slow us down. Or worse, if he was as far gone as the woman claimed.
Certainly, the brain seemed to agree. *To the helm. You are needed. To survive.*
"Very well," I sighed.
*Do not delay! Do not delay.*
Turning around, we saw another flight of stairs going upwards. Seeing how the alternative was to walk towards the bow and into the raging inferno, we chose to go up. As we ascended, we saw a human farmer lying on the steps next to another dead imp. She kept muttering out loud as we passed her. "Bull got me… got me… got me… right in the gut. Tell the babes I'll be all right."
There were more dead bodies on the upper deck. A pair of imps was rifling through their pockets, but leapt into the air when they saw us. Instinctively, I thrust my hand forward and fired an eldritch blast, dropping one of the imps right out of the sky. The imp flew forward, dodging the brain's attack and whipped its tail at the woman. She rolled out of the way, came to her feet and slashed down with her sword. The imp fluttered aside, not realizing it was now in my sights. Another eldritch blast knocked it back towards the woman, who promptly finished it off.
Deciding the bodies here had little in the way of valuables, and recognizing that time was of the essence; we wordlessly decided to head back inside the ship. We entered a long segmented tunnel, walls made of giant bands of muscle. Partway through, we reached some kind of webbing or membrane, dripping with fetid mucus. The woman tore it open with her sword and we proceeded on our way.
Eventually, we reached another portal, which spiralled open rather than swinging aside like a proper door. We found ourselves in another large room constructed of flesh. I started to wonder if this room, this ship, had been grown rather than built. Anything was possible, I supposed.
"Istik!" the woman warned. "Back!" she repeated in Common. "Touch nothing without knowing its purpose."
Honestly, there wasn't much here I wanted to touch. Not the floor. Not the wall. Not the tall pillar hovering over a hole in the centre of the room, the one built of bone and flesh with a supporting web of sinews keeping it from falling down. I was about to leave the room when I heard a noise.
It came from another pod, like the one I had been trapped in. There was another woman inside, banging on the glass—or whatever transparent thing the pod had. "You!" she shouted. "Get me out of this damn thing!"
"We have no time for stragglers," the woman admonished.
On some level, I agreed. That was why I had left those enthralled souls back on the deck to their fate. But this one seemed more aware. A possible ally. And I needed all the allies I could get.
Alas, the construction was too alien, like everything else in this ship. Nothing looked familiar. I tried to see if the strange power I had recently discovered could provide the answers, only to sense that the configuration of the pod's magic was well beyond my novice skills. The more I tried to make sense of it, the more I felt nauseous.
"The ship is crashing," the woman reminded me. "Do you intend to die for a stranger?"
*We must go,* the brain agreed. *To the helm we must go!*
"Come on," the prisoner cried out, "there's got to be a way to open it!"
"The pod's stuck fast," I told her. "I can't free you."
"Wait!" the prisoner said frantically. "That can't be. There has to be another way. Please!"
"It cannot be helped," the woman said impatiently. "Come."
She marched towards the door without looking back. The brain followed, then scampered back when it saw I hadn't moved. *Safe if she stays. Safe if we go.*
Right. The prisoner would be fine in the pod. Once we seized control of the ship, we could figure out a way to free her at our leisure.
At least, that's what I told myself.
The three of us hurried down another dark, fleshy corridor. We shared an unspoken urgency, as if we somehow knew we were approaching our destination and that time was of the essence. It wasn't long before we emerged into an enormous chamber, larger than any room we had previously explored.
I saw at least one dead monster with tentacles where the mouth should be—the mind flayer, I realized. There were also a smattering of dead brain things and imps. But our attention was immediately drawn away to the battle that was being waged.
A tall devil—judging by the large horns protruding from his head and the webbed wings unfurling from his back—was pursuing another mind flayer with his fiery sword. The mind flayer floated away in retreat, effortlessly dodging the devil's attacks. As they passed by, we saw another devil looking around. He was about to take flight when a third mind flayer attacked him from behind. Tentacles wrapped around the devil's neck as if to secure their grip while more tentacles burrowed their way into his nostrils and ears. Within seconds, the devil collapsed to the ground.
Any victory that mind flayer had earned was short-lived. Imps began to dive-bomb the eldritch horror from every side, leaving deep wounds in their wake. Their attacks reminded me of a pack of wolves working together to take down their prey. Just like the wolves, the imps were ultimately victorious.
That left one mind flayer alive. It knocked its infernal adversary prone with a blast of energy from its mind before turning towards us. *Thrall,* it said, reaching out with its mind. *Connect the nerves of the transponder. We must escape. Now.*
The mind flayer pointed at the far side of the room. There, in front of a large window, stood some kind of lectern. Tentacles sprouted from its surface, waving back and forth lazily. There was a similar structure protruding from the ceiling, looking like some bizarre imitation of a chandelier.
I looked at the woman in hesitation. "Do it," she nodded. "We will deal with the ghaik after we escape."
*Connect the nerves.* the brain chimed in. *Nerves! We will connect them.* And with that, it darted forward.
"Split these intruders open!" the devil shouted at its imp companions. "Avernus is ours!" Getting back to his feet, he thrust forward and scored a solid wound on the mind flayer's shoulders. One of the imps immediately complied, trying to claw at the brain. Thankfully for us, it missed. The woman charged forward as well. Then she paused, considering the battlefield before her. Evidently, she decided that waving a sword against flying foes would have limited effect, as she pulled out a shortbow and fired.
Meanwhile, the mind flayer seemed satisfied that we would obey its commands, as it returned its attention to the devil. It seemed like they would keep each other occupied. That left the three of us to get past—I quickly did a head count—three imps to reach this transponder. I'd reserve the question of how to connect the nerves for a more appropriate time. Running forward, I summoned more eldritch energy and hurled it at the closest imp. Sadly, my momentum threw off my aim and I barely clipped the beast. Still, that was better than the other imps, both of whom failed to hit us.
The brain leapt upwards, bringing the first imp to attack down and tearing it to shreds. That drew the attention of the other imps, allowing us to strike with impunity. Stunned, one of the imps tried to retreat, only to be disemboweled by the brain. The remaining imp was so shocked, it didn't notice the woman charging until her sword took its head clean off its neck.
The mind flayer and the devil were still merrily blasting and hacking at each other. I considered lending a hand, but decided I didn't really know which one was the lesser evil. Besides, this ship was in bad shape. For all I knew, it could fall out of the sky at any moment. And if it hit the ground, we'd probably be dead.
"Ignore the devil," the woman urged. "We must take the transponder." Putting her words into action, she ran forwards. Another imp dove towards her with a shriek. I realized that it was up to me. As the woman engaged the imp in battle, I shook my head and ran to the transponder.
Somehow—by instinct or from the thing inside my head—I knew to reach out and grab one of the writhing tentacles. Reaching out with my other hand, I grabbed another and pulled the two close. Small, slender blue tendrils emerged from either end, latched on each other and stretched.
Then a shadow swept over me. I looked up.
There, perched on the window, was a dragon. Instinctively, I froze. I mean, this was a dragon. A gods-damned dragon! Its scales as red as blood, its teeth as long as I was tall. I stared into its golden, reptilian eyes. A moment passed.
Then it opened its mouth, took a deep breath, and spat out a torrent of flame. I dove out of the way just in time, flinching as the intense heat of the fire burned against my skin. Tymora had smiled upon me again. Somehow, I didn't think she would grace me with her blessing a third time. I watched as the dragon turned its head towards me.
And then the dragon—and everything outside the ship—vanished. The sky itself suddenly turned into a whirling morass of lights and colours. The ship shook violently. Without warning, I found myself flying back, as if up and down, front and back, had been shaken about. I hit the wall with such force that the air was driven out of my lungs.
The cacophony of colours shifted again to a dark, stormy grey sky. Again, the ship shook. Again, I was pulled from my feet and was catapulted by an unseen force towards the window. Desperately, I swung my arms trying to grab something, anything. My hand clapped on something.
It was the transponder. I hung on for dear life.
*Pluck the nerves*
Was that the creature squirming behind my eye? The mind flayer? Or something else? I didn't know and, right at this moment, I didn't care. Summoning my last ounce of strength, I pulled myself up, got a grip on the tentacles—the nerves—I had bound together and pulled.
The world outside again shifted. Now I could see a beautiful sky, blue like a bird's egg. I saw a waft of light, fluffy clouds. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face.
I stumbled as the ship shook again, rocking from side to side as if it was caught in a terrible storm. Lurching forward, I slammed into the front wall. One of the devils—blood and ichor dripping from its eyes and nostrils—flew past me, hit the window with a thunderous crash and continued right through. Then I realized the ship was falling. We were falling.
Right out of the sky.
Turning my head, I saw the mind flayer, the one who had… spoken… to me. Despite its strange, alien nature, I saw—I felt—nothing but resignation. For all its power, it was as helpless as I was.
And then something hit me. I didn't even have time to cry before I slipped sideways, through the window, and out of the ship.
I was falling.
It seemed so strange. So surreal. To be falling to my doom.
Wake up.
This was the point where it should all be over.
Wake up.
This was where the nightmare should end.
Wake up.
Unless…
Unless…
…unless I was awake. Unless I had been awake all this time…
…
Oh, gods.