She clutches her head in anguish, and her breaths come in ragged gasps as she forces herself to remain conscious. Within her trembling arms, a young girl clings to her tightly.
"Ann?..." Valoria's voice can just barely be heard over the sound of the rain, but simply saying the name is too much for her. Pain lances through her skull once more, as if this name was forbidden to her.
But Valoria refuses to be silenced by this filter; she would not allow herself to forget Ann again.
Her eyes lock onto the ethereal form of the girl, and she wills the words of apology to take shape.
"I'm...so sorry." Valoria manages to force the words out, but it feels like she was tearing open a thousand year old wound.
Inky tears stream down Valoria's cheeks, and she chokes back more as she tries to steady herself. The longer she looks at Ann, the more vivid the memories become. They play out before her over and over, and she understands just what it is that she has lost now.
For every child who had smiled at her, laughed with her, or marveled at the life she had breathed into the forest, countless others had perished at the hands of her kin. Their souls forever lost to the Withered Dreads.
"Ann," Valoria chokes out, her voice laced with sorrow, "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"Valor...why are you sad?" Ann's spirit seems to shimmer as she speaks.
Valoria's hearts clenches as she hears Ann's voice, and she tries her best to fight off more tears.
"Valor, I want to go home," Ann murmurs into Valoria's shoulder.
"Right, of course. I'll get you home safe and sound." Valoria forces herself to stand. With trembling arms, she scoops up the girl and holds her close, feeling the warmth of the child's spirit against her own frigid skin.
"Valor, when did you get so big?" Ann asks, gazing up at Valoria with innocent curiosity.
"Well, you know dryads are like trees. A lot of time has passed, so I had lots and lots of time to grow." Valoria's voice is somber, reflecting on the short millenia that had passed her by.
"A lot of time? What do you mean?"
Valoria forces a weak smile. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing."
They trudge deeper into the muddy labyrinth. The oppressive gloom seems like it can swallow them whole at any moment, yet Ann's presence offers a flicker of light in this horrible nightmare.
"I always knew you were a girl…"
"And why is that?"
"Because I just knew! And...you're pretty!" Ann declares, her eyes shining with conviction.
"You think so?"
"Mhm! I know so!" Ann's certainty acts a balm to Valoria's tortured soul, and for the first time in countless centuries, she feels something akin to a genuine smile tug at the corners of her mouth.
The two emerge from the labyrinth into a clearing dominated by a Grand Tree. Standing before the tree is none other than Clara Crowsong, her form is an eerie fusion of human and spirit. Ethereal limbs of condensed mana replace those she had lost in the dream prior, and an endless wellspring of power seems to be flowing off of her frame, all at her disposal.
Valoria sets Ann down gently and approaches Clara.
Clara looks her over, smirking as she speaks. "Twenty-six percent left," she laughs, "you couldn’t have done worse if you tried!"
"Is it all true?" Valoria asks , her eyes flicking back to Ann, who stands a good ways away.
Clara shrugs, her expression unreadable. "Who… gives a shit?"
In a moment, Clara is upon Valoria, her foot slamming into the Twisted Guardian's midsection with brutal force. Valoria is sent hurtling through the air, sprawling across the labyrinth's floor as thick, black blood spills from her mouth. Her breath comes in ragged gasps, each inhalation a desperate fight for survival.
Clara hovers above Valoria once more, five blades of pure mana surrounding her in the air. She grabs one of these swords, and brings it down upon Valoria's trembling form in less than a heartbeat.
Just before the lethal strike lands, a young girl steps between them, arms outstretched.
"Don't hurt Valor!" It’s Ann, her voice quivering, but resolute.
Valoria lurches forward, grabbing hold of Ann as she turns away, prepared to shield her with her own body.
The blade scrapes against Valoria’s back, its magic dissipating just short of delivering the killing blow. Clara glares down at the pair, her teeth bared in a snarl.
"What are you doing?" Clara barks, barely contained fury simmering just beneath the surface.
Gathering what little strength she has left, Valoria nudges Ann out of her grasp and turns to face Clara, before getting on her hands and knees.
"Please, don't hurt her. I…I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all. You can do anything you want to me, plea-"
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"Not you! The girl."
With a dismissive flick of her wrist, a blue wall of mana hits Valoria hard enough to send her flying into the distance, leaving Ann alone and vulnerable.
The young girl’s chest heaves with frightened breaths, but she stands her ground, refusing to cower before the vengeful necromancer.
Clara fixes her icy glare on Ann and squats down, eye level with the child now.
"Ann, come here."
Though clearly terrified, the girl obeys, inching closer until Clara rests a hand on her head.
"We talked about this… That thing? It isn’t your friend. It killed you," Clara says, shoving a finger into Ann's chest. "You're dead because of that thing over there. Everyone here is dead because of that thing. Can’t you see that things a bad guy?"
Valoria strains to rise, her body aching and battered, but all she can do is collapse under her own weight as her body fails her. She claws at the ground now, desperation fueling her. Dragging herself forward, Valoria calls out, "Don't listen to her, Ann! I'll get us out of here! Don't worry, Valor will protect you! V-Valor will keep you safe this time, I swear!"
But Ann doesn’t look at Valoria. Instead, she stares down at the muddy earth beneath her feet, her voice barely audible as she whispers, "I know that already."
The words strike Valoria like no physical blow could.
Valoria holds a hand over her face. She wishes she could disappear, she wishes she could go back and change it all, she wishes she could claw her eyes out, she wishes she could be anywhere else in the world but here.
"Then you know she's not your friend! You could have lived a long life if it wasn't for her. She abandoned you. She-"
"She is my friend! Valor is my friend! Valor was tricked by the bad hooded-man. And so what if she was scared? I get scared too! I would have run away too if I could have, I don’t blame her! Grandpa tells me not to hold grudges because they’re bad. Valor is...my friend... She always visits our house, she stays the night, and she helps grandpa with the garden. Valor is someone who cares about everyone. Valor loves to make things grow, and she loves every living thing ever! Valor is brave, and caring, and she…she’s nothing like you!"
Clara winces at the young girl's words, a flicker of doubt crossing her face before she withdraws her hand.
Ann rushes back to Valoria, shielding her weakened form with her tiny body.
Valoria reaches up, a single arm wrapping itself around Ann’s body as she aims to protect her in return.
Clara clicks her tongue in frustration as she utters a single word.
"Release."
With that, Ann disappears.
Valoria's ashen hair hangs limply around her face as she stares in bewilderment at the empty space where Ann once stood.
"Where…where is she?... Where is Ann?... What did you do to Ann?..." Valoria mutters, grasping at the empty air with all her strength.
"I sent her back before you killed yourself trying to hug her again. Seriously, I didn’t think you’d be holding something that siphons your soul… You just had to go and ruin the game, didn't you?" Clara groans, and disappears from sight. She reappears next to the grand tree a moment later.
"Go on then, get lost," Clara sneers from across the clearing, leaning against the ancient tree with her arms crossed.
Valoria drags herself towards the tree, her body limbs shaking all the while. It's exasperating, and takes far longer than it should, but she eventually reaches it. Pressing a hand against the tree's rough bark, she tries to infuse it with mana, but nothing happens.
"Seriously, you can't even use magic anymore? How pathetic… Fine, I guess I'll help you out. Not that you're a threat to me anymore. With just under twenty percent of your soul left, you'll be weak enough that even I’ll be able to kill you in the waking world."
"I won't fight you, I promise. I-I just want to see Ann again..." The desperation in Valoria's eyes is almost enough to make Clara feel bad for her.
"Oh yeah?" Clara raises her brows. "What about my two marks? You just gonna forget about those? I saw what happened when a child got one. You could barely contain yourself!"
"No! No, I...I don't want to be a Denizen of Darkness anymore. I'll revoke it." Valoria's resolve seems to strengthen with these words, and she forces herself to stand, at least as much as her broken form will allow her.
"Can you do that?" Clara's tone is skeptical, but a hint of curiosity can be heard in it.
"I will do it."
"Alright, best end this dream then." Clara shrugs, and places her palm against the tree trunk. A large surge of mana flows into it, and Valoria watches in awe as the edges of the dream begin to dissipate, the Nightmare Labyrinth is drawing to a close.
"That final spell of yours, Soulburn, was it? It is an esoteric technique, one long since forgotten by time."
"It wasn’t easy to come by. Why do you ask? Are you thinking of attacking me the moment this dream ends?"
Valoria shakes her head vehemently, wilted leaves falling from her hair as she looks up at Clara.
"No! I won't! It's just... Even in this dream, it mimics how the real world should act. So that begs the question, just how long should a soul burn for?" Valoria is no expert on the matter, but she knows well enough that something is gravely wrong here.
She looks up to the sky to see thousands upon thousands of blue shimmering swords. No soul could possibly burn bright enough to create such power. If Valoria had gone through the labyrinth differently, if she had refused to play the game, if Clara didn’t like the way things ended up, then it’s likely the entire labyrinth would have been destroyed in an instant by a hail of swords.
The game was rigged from the start.
Clara seems genuinely surprised by this question. "Now that you mention it, I think your dream tree's just broken."
"Who was that person I saw before? The one that told you my fears... She read my mind, she knew that I hated losing the forest. That’s why you terraformed it, isn’t it? To get under my skin…"
"You remember that? It took a while to prepare this place for you, and she visited me often to tell me about your fears. For you it was just a few minutes, but for me? It was years. I had to collect each and every soul personally, convince them to play along, and train them in advance, it was a lot of work. Never did learn who that insider was though. She told me what to say, what to do, and when you finally arrived? She was on her merry way."
"And you just listened to everything she said?"
"Dunno, seemed trustworthy at the time. You know her?"
The labyrinth is falling apart, and fast. All that remains is the clearing they two of them are in, and the Grand Tree.
"She reminds me of someone I know, that’s all. Did she…say anything strange to you? Did she mention-"
The ground beneath Valoria gives way as the nightmare has finally fallen apart. Valoria finds herself plunging back into darkness, looking up at the image of Clara.
"Now that you mention it, she did! She told me the current me is just a what-if, a maybe, a what could have been. Doesn’t matter anymore though, right?" Clara's voice can be heard even in this darkness, but she soon fades away, and Valoria is left alone with her thoughts.
Clara Crowsong, Dreams of the Whispering Forest knows no mistake.
"No, the more likely answer is that you are, in fact, more of a monster than I am. To burn this long? There is no other explanation… Two marks? Two hundred wouldn't be enough to get me to fight against the likes of you again."
? Dark fantasy/Body horror– Click to Reveal