IABD 31: End of the Nightmare

Red light burned on the back of Bregindoure’s left hand, pulsing in time with the radiance of the Rune of the Berserker on his right one. The Rune that served as this nightmare world’s sun shifted in shape, warping in the blackness of the sky.

Matthias raised his arm, blocking the blazing light.

The blood-bog boiled.

Hot wind gusted through the darkness, ichor and skulls surged in red sprays.

“How dare you!” Nightmare-Matthias shouted. “You have become much too uppity, beast! What, do you really think this simpering display makes you a man?”

“You’re nothing but a monster of rage!” Nightmare-Dagma cried. “Brother, you are nothing more than a hindrance to us! Don’t pretend that you are anything else!”

The red light from Bregindoure’s hands blazed so brightly that Matthias could only make out his silhouette. It was shrinking, changing its shape.

Bestial features were falling away.

“You’re just a violent monster!” Nightmare-Matthias shrieked. “A beast!”

The wind howled, tearing away the cage, leaving Matthias standing in a whirlpool of ichor. Brandishing their weapons, both Nightmare-knights circled the brothers like vultures, snarling at Matthias even as they cringed away from Bregindoure’s light.

Around them, the nightmare world quaked down to its foundations.

Bregindoure’s form continued to shift.

“Fight us!” Nightmare-Matthias demanded.

“No, your battle is with me!” the true Matthias snarled at him. “Touch my brother and I will slay you a thousand times!”

The two Nightmare-knights laughed as one.

“You do not belong here.” Nightmare-Matthias sneered. “I will see to it that—”

“Silence.” Bregindoure’s voice boomed out.

The word struck the world like a smith’s hammer; the nightmare shook from the weight of its impact. 

Both Nightmare-knights gasped.

“Why would my brother fight you?” Bregindoure asked evenly.

The light was dimming.

Bregindoure’s form solidified.

At last, Matthias could see his brother’s true form in the dream-world.

He towered above Matthias and the knights: a pillar of strength, will and loyalty. His blue eyes were clear and his beard billowed in the hot wind on his youthful face. Broad shoulders blotted out the light of the collapsing rune in the sky, and his expression, as he looked upon the pair of nightmares, was not one of either wrath nor hate.

Instead, it was one of utter disinterest.

He raised his left hand, still blazing with crimson light.

“Why would anyone fight you?” he asked. “I see you clearly now. You are not my brother and sister. You are nothing. You are less than nothing, mere remnants of dying fears. Neither me nor my brother will be troubled by you anymore.”

Bregindoure’s jaw tensed.

“Begone.”

The two Nightmare-knights wavered, their faces twisting, slowly fading, becoming transparent. Their expressions shifted, turning peaceful.

“To the warrior goes the victory,” Nightmare-Dagma said, her voice fading with her form. “Glory to you, rune-marked.”

She vanished.

Nightmare-Matthias bowed as he faded. “To the victorious go the spoils. The Rune of Clarity will suit you. You will become a warrior both terrific and terrible. Glory to you, rune-marked.”

He vanished.

The Nightmare-world crumbled.

Blood-bogs boiled, spewing red mist.

Skull islands fragmented to dust.

Spears of light lanced the blackness of the sky, as at last, it all faded away.

Matthias then found himself in a familiar place: standing at the top of his brother’s tower.

Inside Bregindoure’s lifelong prison.

Gentle sounds greeted him; a warm summer wind stirred outside, chirping birds swooped from tree to tree. The scent of wildflowers drifted through the window.

“Of course we would be here,” Bregindoure looked around, standing in his cell. Both runes on the back of each hand blazed so brightly, their radiance obscured their shape. “What else would I dream of when my nightmare has ended? I’ve lived in this prison for as far back as I can remember.”

Matthias took a deep breath, his mind reeling. So much had happened so quickly that his thoughts could barely keep up. 

The nightmare world was gone as though it never was.

No more blood. No skulls. No darkness. No gallows. 

No lingering horrors.

Yet, despite their efforts, Matthias’ heart fell.

“Why did we have to end up here,” he said. “You deserve to be fr—”

He paused, watching his brother on the other side of the tower surrounded by his books, his desk and his bed. The Way of Stone plaque was still fixed to the wall.

But something was different. Something had changed.

Something big…

Bregindoure was looking around the cell, a melancholy expression on his face, not acknowledging the change.

“Breg…” Matthias murmured. “There aren’t any bars.”

“Hm?” Bregindoure looked at him sharply. “What do you…”

His words trailed off, fading into silence. He suddenly recognised what was different about his tower, what was missing: it was the same as in the real world in every way but one, the bars were gone.

No bars on his window.

No bars along the centre of the tower, dividing it in two.

Nothing to keep him trapped.

“By…by the gods. By the ancestors!” Bregindoure cried. “This means my mind has accepted it!” He raised his left hand, examining the rune that glowed on the back of it. “With this dream…the nightmare’s over. I have the Rune of Clarity now!” His eyes drifted to Matthias. “You are my brother, aren’t you? I mean, my true brother and you’re here with me.”

Matthias was beaming at Bregindoure, a tremor going through his body. “I am, brother. I am.”

“Then, you freed me. I could hear you singing my favourite song. I could see my reflection in your mirror. You freed me!” Bregindoure shouted, a smile taking over his bearded face.

He walked toward the middle of the chamber, pausing where bars once split the space in two, keeping him contained, keeping him away from everyone else.

He laughed and took a deep breath.

Then stepped over the threshold.

Matthias screamed, rushing at him, hugging his brother. “You did it! You did it, Bregindoure! You have the rune!”

“We did it, Matthie!” Bregindoure picked up his towering brother as though he weighed nothing, lifting him high. “We did it!”

Their cheering spread through the world of dreams, echoing through forests and nearby mountains.

“Hold on! Put me down!” Matthias cried.

Bregindoure responded by spinning his younger brother above his head like a staff.

In spite of himself, Matthias collapsed into helpless, relieved laughter. There might even have been a few tears as well. More than he’d care to admit. “Breeeeg! Put me down!”

“Oh, fine!” His older brother laughed, setting him down on his feet. He patted Matthias’ head with a glowing hand.

Matthias pulled away, blushing. “You shouldn’t be patting me either! I’m a hero! I helped save you!”

“Heroes deserve headpats!” Bregindoure was all smiles, slapping his brother’s back. “So, what’s on your mind, Matthie?”

“Well, you’re not actually free,” Matthias reminded him. “In the waking world, you’re still being held in Eklund’s dungeon.”

Bregindoure’s smile was warm. “You know, that barely matters to me at this moment. This is the first dream I’ve had that wasn’t a nightmare since…since…” His eyes grew distant. “I cannot remember since when, brother.”

“You’ll have a lot more good dreams to look forward to,” Matthias promised, gesturing around the tower. “And you’ll never dream about this place again if I have anything to say about it. We’re going to fill your head with so many wonderful memories that your dreams will overflow with them, crowding out the bad ones. No more nightmares and prisons for you!”

“I hope you’re right, brother.” Bregindoure looked around the tower. His eyes fell on the door to the staircase. “You know, for most of my life I would see you, Dagma, mother, Altaizar and the guards enter and leave through that door…I can’t count how many times I’ve fantasized about walking through it myself.”

“Then, why don’t you?” Matthias clapped his brother on the back, nodding to the door. “This is your dream. Nothing’s stopping you.”

Bregindoure looked down at him, then back to the door. Tears sprang up in his eyes.

He crossed the room, pausing at the door to the staircase. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his hand along the door then opened it, he gasped.

Matthias did too.

On the other side of the door, where a staircase should have been, there was none.

Instead, the clearing around the tower waited there, greeting them: thick green grass dotted with wildflowers and tall trees swayed, lush and inviting. The trees were the kind that one might climb endlessly, summer after summer.

Standing tall in the centre of the clearing was a fruit tree…with a ripe hornunaeppling fruit hanging from it, just like the one Bregindoure had shown his siblings on his birthday.

The eldest of the Stonebreaker children paused in the doorway, bathing in the sunlight.

He smiled at his younger brother. “I think I’m about to wake up. Something tells me I will when I step through the door. So, I’ll see you in the morning, Matthie.”

Standing taller than Matthias had even seen him stand, Bregindoure bent beneath the door frame…

…and stepped outside.

“It’s so beautiful!” he shouted.

The dream was flooded with summer sunlight, then abruptly ended.

Matthias found himself back in the Realm in Dream, with the red falls of Blood’s Drop thundering nearby. For a moment, he stayed perfectly still, sitting on the stones, utterly speechless. His eyes were drawn to the sky. “We did it…we actually did it.”

He let out a whoop of laughter, leaping high in the air, pumping his fists. His cheers echoed through the mountains.

“I don’t know which deities I’m cultivating, and I don’t care if you think I’m stealing from you! But I thank you!” His shouts reached the skies of mist and shadow. “Thank you! Without you, and the Realm in Dream I would have never been able to free my brother! Thank you! Thank you!”

As he continued his celebration, his dream world grew warmer around him.

So lost was he in his joy, that something slipped past his notice.

Many somethings.

Presences watched him from beyond the mists of the realm.

Presences that had escaped his notice for days as he’d focused on his brother.

Presences that had come to be…right after he’d slain the gnoles and the demonic-beast tiger.

###

Author's Note

So we have the first of a few Arc-ending chapters. I'll comment more after the arc is finished.

Originally RR launch was supposed to be today but I need some more time, so I'll be launching it on Thursday.

5xweek updates will start in earnest next week!

Cya Wednesday!