Chapter 14 - The Nightmare Contract, Part 4
Throughout the rest of the night, the convoy camp dealt with the aftermath of the nightmares' ambush. Veil and the rest of the fighters got some much needed rest, while everyone else in the camp busied themselves with healing the injured, sorting out the dead, and repairing the damaged groundcars. Master Sef oversaw most of the work in his wife's stead, while Nuha made herself useful by assisting him however she could.
The presence of a still-living nightmare was a concern for some, but under Master Sef's orders, the creature was sedated and restrained. Once steps were taken to prevent the nightmare from causing any harm and everyone was assured that it would not outlive its usefulness to the convoy, few voices of dissent remained. Nuha still had a few concerns of her own about the monster that nearly killed her, but she kept them to herself as she waited for its interrogation.
Eventually, a few hours after the day-moon peeked over the horizon, Mistress Adelin recovered from her exhaustion. The moment Master Sef told her about the plan to interrogate the nightmare, her remaining fatigue seemed to melt away as she followed him to see it.
A short time later, a small group was gathered around the nightmare. House Tenebri's power users, as well as Nuha, Zahra, and a power user from House Ardeo stood in a circle around the creature. A few higher-ranking members of the other Houses stood around nearby, waiting to hear what the nightmare had to say. The nightmare itself glared daggers at the entire group.
Nuha could hardly believe the creature she was looking at was the same nightmare that threatened her life just a matter of hours ago. Once tall and imposing, it was now slumped on the ground in a pitiful position. Its durable metal body had been used against it, having been melted and cooled with powers to the point that its limbs had been fused together, rendering it immobile.
One of Mistress Adelin's shadow claws held the creature's mouth shut, preventing what was no doubt a storm of angry ranting from assailing the group. Without saying a word, the Mistress nodded to the House Ardeo member, and a red halo whirred into existence over his head.
"Answer Mistress Tenebri's questions. Speak only truth." The power user said, laying a hand on the nightmare's back.
When he finished speaking, a surge of energy flowed through the nightmare from the power user's hand. Seeing this, Mistress Adelin began to speak, canceling out her own power once she finished.
"Where is the den that you've been staging your raids from?"
The moment the shadow claw faded from its mouth, the nightmare let out a metallic laugh. "My raids? I am a warrior, you imbecilic Serapean bitch! I organized none of this!"
The Mistress sighed. "Where is the one who organizes your raids staging them from?"
"Grrr… Damnable compulsion… A cave in the mountains."
The power user rested his hand on the nightmare once again. "Answer the question with details we can use."
The nightmare snarled as the compulsion power pulsed through its body. "A mine, you insufferable Serapean shits! We've used many of the mountain's caves, but our latest den is in the depths of one of your old forgotten digging sites! We tell it apart from the other ones by the shining stones that line its walls!"
"I see. And what kinds of threats can we expect to face in this mine?"
"Ones that will-" the nightmare began before the power user sent another pulse of energy through it. "Void curse you… Far more of us than last night. All types and sizes, all eager to tear into your flesh! And, there's the one who organized it all… Proud and powerful, and a planner and schemer besides. He has laid his plans for millennia, and will outwit and overpower you for sure!"
"This nightmare… Does he have a name?" Zahra asked. "Might be that we've heard of him before."
"I don't have to answer you, idiotic whore of Serapis! I- …Void damn it all! Damnable power user… He calls himself Lord Kumarbi… A pompous bastard, too much like that damned Nabonidus… But he is powerful, and his plans are far-reaching…"
Nuha blinked. "Kumarbi? Could you tell us more about him? I don't think I've heard of any nightmare that goes by that name…"
"You wouldn't have! For years, he has schemed in the shadows! He himself has been part of only a few of his own raids! Always wants us to bring some Serapeans back alive… Probably gets a kick out of torturing them… Wherever he goes when he doesn't lead us…"
"Bringing them back alive? You mean kidnapping them…" Veil muttered.
Kamal clenched a fist. "Sounds like I've got some unfinished business with this Kumarbi bastard, then. Assuming that raid all that time ago was one of his… I'll teach him to steal slaves from House Tenebri…"
As Kamal kept muttering to himself, Mistress Adelin stared at the nightmare. "So, the rest of the nightmares are in an abandoned mine, in greater numbers than we've seen so far, and led by this 'Lord Kumarbi?' And this is the whole truth?"
The nightmare scoffed. "You forced nothing but the truth from me, you dense bitch! Why even question me about it!?"
"So we know everything we need to, right, Mistress?" Veil asked, her frills rising as her halo began to form. "Can I kill this thing now?"
"Kill me! HA! Only for a time! I am eternal, just as all of nightmare kind is! You could kill me now, but I will return to take my revenge!"
Veil glared at the nightmare. "If you do, we'll stop you. And whatever plans your Lord has, we'll stop them too."
"Ha ha ha! The audacity of this little bitch! If you think Lord Kumarbi's plans are so easily thwarted, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought! And even if you somehow stop him, there will always be others! All around you, the most clever of us nightmares are plotting your downfall!"
Veil's halo glowed brighter, and she let out a low hiss. Before she could make another move, Mistress Adelin lifted her wing and held it between Veil and the nightmare. "You say there are plots being orchestrated all around us? Tell me, what plans do you know of?"
With the sound of the Mistress's question, another pulse of energy was shot through the nightmare.
"Curse this compulsion! I swear to Lord Void, when I have my revenge, this power using little fucker's family will be the first-"
"Answer my question, nightmare."
"…Besides Lord Kumarbi's machinations in Serapeum, Nabonidus has been brewing schemes to take back his walled city. And in Bralgu, Lord Void's faithful have been weaving their own plans as well."
"Walled city? You mean Anduruna?" Evan asked.
Arc looked down. "Serapis… the nightmares are planning things there, too?"
Asma stared down at the nightmare. "If something's happening back home, I need to know. What's this Nabonidus guy planning, if you know so much about it?"
"More importantly, you mentioned Void's followers. They're planning something in Bralgu?"
Arc gave Zahra a look. "More importantly than Anduruna - like, the whole city - being taken over? Is that Void guy really that big of a deal?"
Zahra stared at Arc for a second before responding. "Void's… to the nightmares, he's kind of like what Serapis is to us. He brought the entire Dreamworld to its knees, according to some of the oldest stories we have about him. He's been gone for ages now, but anything that has to do with him means all kinds of trouble."
As Zahra was speaking, the compulsion power user sent another pulse of energy through the nightmare. With a snarl, the monster glared at the group before responding.
"I know little of Nabonidus's plans, and care even less! That traitorous usurper can rule over his own little kingdom for all I care! When the plans in Bralgu come to pass, it will hardly matter anyway…"
Master Sef grabbed the nightmare and looked into its eyes. "You still didn't answer the most important question. What are Void's followers planning in Bralgu?"
"What are they planning? What are they planning, indeed! They plan nothing less than our Lord's return! When He honors this pitiful world with His presence once more, we will lay waste to it, and then not even your precious Serapis, that traitorous bitch, will be able to save you! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Traitorous?" Mistress Adelin glared at the nightmare, then gave Veil a quick look. "Veil, you can kill it now."
Veil wasted no time obeying her Mistress's command. As her halo flared brightly over her head, a multitude of plasma balls homed in on the nightmare. In a matter of moments, its gloating laughter was replaced with the sound of its head melting into slag. Mistress Adelin spared the creature's metal husk a final glance before turning away.
"Traitorous… the raw audacity of it to suggest that Serapis… It's not important. Now we know where the nightmares are, as well as some measure of their plans. Everyone, we will be moving out in a few hours. Return to your duties before we depart. If we can end even one threat to Serapeum, this contract will have all been worth it."
With that, Mistress Adelin turned and left to manage the convoy's preparations. As everyone else started heading towards their own responsibilities, Nuha paused as she looked at the nightmare's corpse.
The nightmares… They've been planning things like that all this time? Taking over Anduruna, bringing Void back… Not to mention whatever that "Lord Kumarbi" is planning… Somehow, I don't think he's been kidnapping people just to torture them…
Also, what did the nightmare mean by calling Serapis "traitorous?" If Veil hadn't-
Nuha stopped herself before she could finish that thought. No, nightmares deserve to die, especially ones that blaspheme like that. And whatever they're planning, it needs to be stopped.
I just… I just hope that Kumarbi's plans will be as easy to undo as the Mistress thinks they are…
Nuha turned away from the dead nightmare. As she tried to ignore all of the questions it had left her with, she returned to her duties, fighting to put the memory of the interrogation behind her.
—
The convoy headed out a few hours later, on Adelin's command. Now that the nature of the nightmares' den was known to the group, the following days of travel were focused on making their way to the mountains. With no further need for scouting missions, the convoy only stopped to rest and prepare for the remainder of the journey.
Among the preparations when the convoy made camp was a renewal of the sparring sessions from earlier in the contract. All of the group's fighters took part, with a renewed sense of duty spurring them to give their all in training.
Now that Asma had been blessed with a power, she expanded her training regimen to get the most out of learning how to use it. Since the power was triggered by her hands making contact with objects and opponents, she didn't have to change her fighting style very much to accommodate it, a fact for which she was privately grateful.
Her energy shields proved to be sturdy and durable so long as the webs that generated them remained intact. During a sparring match with Veil, Asma found this out the hard way as Veil managed to break out from a shield by burning the web away with her plasma balls.
Fortunately, Asma was able to weather Veil's counterattack well. A quick use of her new gift from Serapis formed a barrier in front of her which absorbed the impact of her opponent's plasma balls with little trouble.
Asma wasn't the only one getting involved in new training. Something seemed to awaken in Arc following the nightmares' ambush, and he joined in on the sparring sessions to work on using his power in combat. Since temperature changes were even more intense when he felt them in his wind form, he spent a lot of his sparring sessions with Chanda and Kamal in an effort to remedy that weakness.
Their respective powers allowed Arc to push himself in both hot and cold conditions, and he regularly made use of them as opponents to improve his endurance. Even as he left each of those sparring sessions barely able to stand afterwards, he felt the difference in every other session going forward.
Adelin and Zahra worked on improving their synergy with other fighters. Adelin focused on making the most of her power even surrounded by allies with powers that generated light. Zahra on the other hand focused on helping her allies adjust to how her power worked, so that she could disorient her opponents without doing the same to her comrades.
Nightmares occasionally attacked the convoy as it approached the den, but with the increase in training combined with more attention paid to security, they were quickly taken care of. And with each felled party of nightmares, the group felt more and more sure that Serapis was in fact watching over them.
In time, the convoy arrived at the western edge of the Kirmigi Desert and moved into the rocky foothills of the mountains. The uneven terrain slowed the groundcars' progress, even as the convoy took ancient paths that would eventually lead to the mines dug by the Serapeans' ancestors.
On the final night of the journey, the convoy headed in the direction of a faint glow in the mountainside. Once they arrived at the source of the glow, it was clear they had found the nightmares' den. True to the metal nightmare's words, the walls of the ancient cave were lined with stones that each seemed to glow with a light of their own.
Adelin frowned as she looked out from her groundcar into the mine shaft. "That Lord Kumarbi… I wonder if he chose this place to counter my power specifically…"
"I wouldn't put the idea past him," Sef said. "With your power, any other cave would be a death sentence to his entire legion of nightmares."
"Indeed. It makes me wonder, though… Given that this is only their most recent den… I'm sure that we managed to kill every nightmare that approached the convoy. So unless we somehow missed any of them…"
"You think he knew about the contract?"
"It horrifies me to think that he could have, but I see no other reason why he would choose such a specific den otherwise. Any of the other caves in this mountain would have surely been better hiding places…"
Sef gave Adelin a quick hug. "Regardless of his intentions, this is where the nightmares have been hiding. Now, there is only one thing left for us to do."
"You're absolutely right, my love. Whatever Kumarbi is planning, we will end it right here and now."
Adelin gave her husband a kiss and stepped out of the groundcar with him. Already, many of the others had left their own groundcars and had gathered in front of the den. Many of them had their powers active, keeping watch over the mine's entrance for any sign of nightmare activity.
Almost immediately, Adelin spotted Veil and the other members of House Tenebri among the gathering crowd. In addition, she saw large numbers of House Safak and House Mut members staring into the mine, eager to rush in and start killing nightmares. Just to the side, a group of House Ardeo members led by Chanda carried a large golden statue of Serapis with them, chanting a reverent mantra as they approached the center of the group.
Following an instinctual bow towards the effigy, Adelin turned to address the group. Every last one of them had followed her this far to see the will of Serapis carried out, a fact which she kept at the forefront of her mind as she addressed the crowd.
"Everyone! After weeks of travelling, we have finally found the nightmares' den! As I'm sure many of you have been made aware, the fiends inside are led by a nightmare known as Lord Kumarbi! This nightmare has apparently orchestrated many attacks on Serapeum through his existence! But now, we stand ready to turn the fight back on him!"
The crowd cheered, and Adelin smiled. A brief glance to the House Ardeo members showed her that their preparations were nearing completion. As they continued setting up the effigy of Serapis, Adelin continued to speak.
"It is due to the blessings of Serapis that we have been able to come this far! Despite what losses we have incurred getting here, we remain strong and ready to carry out Her will! Tonight, we shall honor the glory of All-Mother Serapis, and upon the first light of tomorrow morning, we will show Her the depths of our devotion by slaying every nightmare in this mine!"
Following another cheer from the crowd, Adelin turned to the statue of Serapis. She beckoned for Chanda to come forward, and gave her a gentle smile before speaking one final time.
"Now, everyone! House Ardeo has prepared a special vigil of worship for us to petition Our Goddess for success in this coming endeavor! Hand Ardeo Chanda will now lead us through this vigil! Add your voices to hers, and our combined song of worship will surely please Serapis!"
Adelin turned to face the statue of Serapis and prostrated herself before it. As she heard the entirety of the crowd follow her example, she smiled as she began to hear Chanda's voice singing a hymn that extolled the glory of the One True Goddess. Flames from the devout Hand's power carried the song through the air, brightening the ground around the congregation and amplifying the entrancing effect of her singing.
Staring up at the statue, Adelin added her voice to Chanda's hymn along with the rest of the group. All the while, she kept the ultimate goal of their worship in mind.
Serapis… We will carry out your Holy Will… Kumarbi and all of the nightmares that follow him will perish under the might of our devotion to you…
—
The vigil of worship continued for a few hours into the night, followed by the group resting before the raid truly began. All the while, alternating shifts of power users stood guard before the mine's entrance, ready to make an example of any nightmare that dared to approach from the depths of the mine.
Eventually, day broke, and with it, the first wave of fighters began swarming into the mine. House Mut members rushed in at the forefront of the assault, eager to claim glory for Serapis and their House. Many of House Safak's members followed behind them, just as eager for a fight.
Highly mobile power users moved out with the different waves of fighters, ready to extract the injured before the worst could befall them. Just outside of the mine, a base camp of healers stood at the ready to rejuvenate any injured fighters and send them back into the depths for another round of killing nightmares.
Veil and the other House Tenebri power users, along with Zahra, Chanda, and Priya's group were among the last waves to enter the mine. Zahra and Chanda had joined the smaller group in the interest of helping Veil, while Priya insisted on joining the group to be with Kamal.
The group spent some time considering the advantages of having House Mut's slave trainer joining them. While the extra numbers of Priya's slave army did a lot to bolster the House's low numbers, it was clear that most of the group only tolerated her at best. In fact, only Kamal seemed to have taken a liking to her, and he was the only one who had even vouched for her place in the group. Ultimately, however, the decision to have strength in numbers won out, and the group headed into the mine.
For her part, Nuha was a noncombatant, so she had little choice but to stay behind and help the healers. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that there was little for her to do that could actually support them. The monotonous task of fetching whatever the healers needed to ply their trade strained Nuha's patience, and eventually she stopped trying to help.
While the power users applied their gifts from Serapis to attend to the injured, Nuha sulked on the sidelines wondering why the Goddess hadn't blessed her with anything she could use to be of any real help. As she continued to stew in her own thoughts, Nuha's mind took her back to the interrogation that led the group to this point.
Serapis… I'll admit, Her Precepts haven't always made a lot of sense to me… But what that nightmare said… Could She have really betrayed them somehow? But if She did… What would She gain from siding with the nightmares to begin with…?
I think… there might be much more to Serapis than we know…
If only Veil didn't kill that nightmare… If only Mistress Adelin hadn't told her to…
There's only one way I can find out the truth now…
I need to know…
Nuha didn't even notice as thoughts that weren't entirely her own entered her mind. In half a daze, she started heading towards the mine's entrance.
I need to know…
The voice of one of the healers crying out hardly even registered to her as she ran into the mine. As her thoughts continued to haunt her, she barely even noticed the scintillating light from the rocks embedded in the mine's walls.
I need to know…
Nuha travelled through the tunnels, avoiding the many clashing parties of nightmares and dreamkeepers as she navigated through the mine's depths. The confused looks of the few of her allies who happened to see her did nothing to deter her from her path.
I need to know… Lord Kumarbi can tell me…
A headache began to make it harder for Nuha to think the deeper she delved into the depths. She did her best to ignore it as she continued on her own personal mission into the mine.
I need to know… Lord Kumarbi knows the truth… The truth about the nightmares' plans… The truth about Serapis's betrayal…
"Nuha!? Serapis, Nuha, what are you doing down here?"
A familiar voice broke Nuha from her thoughts. As she turned to see its source, she doubled over from a sudden intense feeling of pain assailing her head.
"Ah… AAAHHH!"
"…'s okay, I've got y…"
"…il? Wha…"
"…vant Nu…"
"…ell's she doi…"
"…ght be a nigh…"
"…ure, Zah…"
"…me of them c…"
"…ou mea…"
"…ah. It's prob…"
"Lord Kumarbi. I must say, it is a pleasure to welcome you to my den."
With the sound of a voice that rang clearer to her than all of the others, the pain in Nuha's head slowly went away. As she came to her senses, she could see she had made her way into a large chamber in the mine. Turning to look at the source of the last voice, she could hardly believe what she was seeing.
The nightmare floating in the middle of the room, apparently Kumarbi himself, had a spindly and tall masculine body that was practically folded over with his arms and legs dangling toward the ground. His bestial face, much like the rest of his body, was lean and pallid, save for multiple beady red eyes that burned with a strange and otherworldly hunger as he fixed his gaze on the group.
But Kumarbi's most notable feature was his back, which appeared to be flayed and torn open. A crimson, slightly translucent blood-like substance poured out from the gaping wound. As it flowed out, it took the shape of several wings that flapped as if they held him aloft in the air despite being devoid of feathers or even a membrane to move the air with.
Nuha could only stare at Kumarbi as she recovered from the aching sensation in her head. As she strained to gain her bearings again, Nuha paled as a realization slowly settled in.
Veil shouted at the nightmare just as Nuha was able to make the connection. "You… You're the… the THING that took my mother from me!"
Without any warning, Veil launched a salvo of plasma balls towards Kumarbi. His main body didn't react in the slightest, but a number of his wings moved to intercept the attack. The moment the plasma balls hit the wings, they were immediately consumed in the liquid that formed them.
"The little slave girl, whose mother became one of my finest prizes that day… Yes… I remember you…" Kumarbi said in a voice that seemed as dry as his main body was. "A shame you ended up awakening… You could have been a wonderful prize yourself…"
Veil glared at Kumarbi and launched another volley of plasma balls at him. He continued to speak as his wings effortlessly blocked the attack.
"I also see there are others here from that day… The farm's Walker, still as stern as ever… And the little Servant girl… Powerless yet curious… You've become quite the prize in those years, girl. If only I had the foresight to have taken you back then…"
Kamal glared at Kumarbi as he addressed him. Nuha could only blink in response to the nightmare's assessment of her.
"Ten years ago… All those slaves you cost the House… I'll get you back for that, you nightmare bastard!"
Kamal's halo flared as he sent a blast of frozen winds toward Kumarbi. Once again, the nightmare's wings moved to defend him, this time expanding a fine membrane out between them to cover his main body from the effects of the frigid storm.
As Kamal's attack petered out, Kumarbi let out a low rumbling laugh as his wings shed the parts that had frozen over. In moments, he appeared no less hurt than he had when the fight began.
"Your memory seems to be failing you… Even all those years ago, your power was no match for me… In fact, I am beyond all of your attempts at fighting me…"
Kumarbi's bloody wings speared down at the ground just in front of him, and Zahra could be seen canceling her power out as she barely dodged out of the way.
"That… How did you…"
"As I said, I am beyond your attempts. But that should be clear enough… A god's might is far beyond the scope of mortals after all…"
"You… You're no god! You're just another nightmare to be killed!"
Veil shouted defiance at Kumarbi as she launched another volley of plasma balls. At the same time, the rest of the group started moving in to attack. Chanda spoke flames into existence, all of which mixed in with Veil's projectiles as they soared through the air towards the nightmare.
Master Sef teleported near Kumarbi and started moving to attack his body. Mistress Adelin summoned claws from the few shadows she could cast, and moved in to attack as well.
Arc used his power to move Evan behind Kumarbi, and Evan followed up by swinging his ball and chain at the nightmare's body.
Asma's halo flared, and she approached the nightmare. With a quick use of her power, her shield was covered in a web that created a barrier of energy around it. Zahra disappeared once again, and Asma seemed to vanish as well shortly after.
As Kamal regained his energy, he shot even more blasts of cold at the nightmare. Seeing Kamal attacking, Priya shook herself out of a daze and let out a whistle, only to react in shock as her slaves appeared to be just as listless as Nuha was.
Meanwhile, Kumarbi reacted to all of the attempted attacks with a single action. Rather than striking back, he pulled all of his wings in around himself, and the mass of red liquid gathered into a sphere that surrounded him.
Veil and Chanda's projectiles, as well as Kamal's blasts of cold collided harmlessly with the sphere. The moment Evan's ball and chain pierced the sphere's surface, the chain fell to the ground with the ball seemingly burned away.
Asma and Zahra reappeared, just as confused as House Tenebri's leading members as to how they could even face what Kumarbi was doing.
The nightmare let out a low chuckle that reverberated from the sphere of blood-like liquid it was submerged in. "Did you retain none of what I said? I am like unto a god compared to you all. But I have been distracted by you for long enough. There is a worthy prize standing before me, and I shall have her now…"
As Kumarbi's voice echoed through the room, he began to rush towards Nuha. Before she even had a chance to react, she doubled over as she began to feel a pain in her head once again.
"Nuha!"
Veil screamed and turned to rush towards Nuha. Just as she got close enough to push her out of the way of the approaching nightmare, Kumarbi stopped mere feet away from the two Servants.
"Wh-what? When di- Gah!"
Kumarbi let out a cry of pain, and Nuha's senses returned to her. As she looked around, she tried to figure out just what had stopped the nightmare's attack. All around her, everyone seemed to be just as shocked as she was. Veil, Kamal, Priya and her slaves, the Andurunans, Zahra, Chanda, Mistress Adelin, and…
Master Sef was nowhere to be seen. Before Nuha even had a chance to wonder why, the reason became evident once she took another look at Kumarbi.
The seemingly unassailable nightmare's liquid shield had been pouring onto the ground, revealing Master Sef grabbing onto and assaulting his body. The Master's own body was covered in chemical burns, but his halo burned brightly as he defiantly landed blow after blow on Kumarbi's main body.
"You… will not… hurt them!" Master Sef grunted out as he slammed his fist into Kumarbi's chest over and over again.
Kumarbi let out a groan of pain as he continued to endure the Master's assault. "Urrgh… Such impudence…"
In an instant, the liquid that had fallen off of Kumarbi began rushing back towards him in the form of several absurdly sharp spears. Before anyone had a chance to warn him, Master Sef was pierced straight through multiple times. With a final punch landing weakly on the nightmare's body, the Master lost his grip and fell to the ground.
"You… you dared to hurt me… me, a god among you mortals… DIE!"
Kumarbi's liquid gathered just above Master Sef's head. The group could only look on as the very next instant seemed to take an eternity. Mistress Adelin could barely choke out a scream as the liquid turned into a spear that shot down and pierced straight through her husband's skull.
"S- SEF!"
The room went silent save for the sound of Mistress Adelin's halo flaring even more intensely. As she turned a glare of pure hatred towards Kumarbi, a mass of shadow claws burst out from the few shadows in the room, all of which began reaching towards the nightmare.
Kumarbi reacted with all the speed his injured body could muster, gathering the crimson liquid around himself once again. The few shadow claws that managed to make contact with him were soon lost in the bubble of liquid and faded away as they were destroyed.
"This… is not over… But for my plans… I… I must…"
The nightmare rushed out of the room, tearing through the few other shadow claws that Mistress Adelin had created. Once Kumarbi had departed, only the sound of the Mistress's sobbing could be heard in the room.