Inside a hollowed coral mound, two teenage girls huddled near a cold fireplace, its embers long extinguished.
Nephis sat quietly, her short silver hair falling in silky waves around her face. Her clear grey eyes reflected the fading hues of sunset. The crude outfit she wore was fashioned from black seaweed, revealing fair skin and an athletic build, hardened by years of legacy training.
Beside her, a smaller figure lay asleep—Cassie. Delicate, fragile-looking, with soft blond hair. She wore a simple tunic, leather sandals on her feet, and a sea-colored cloak draped loosely over her shoulders.
Then, without warning, Cassie screamed awake.
Nephis moved instantly. She crossed the short space and knelt by her, arms wrapping gently around the shivering girl. Cassie clung to her, trembling, her expression painted with fear and cold.
This was the second time Nephis had seen her like this. The first had been when she found her here, in this very coral mound, lost in the suffocating darkness. Fortunately, they had been summoned at a high enough elevation to avoid being drowned by the dark ocean when the Dream Realm first pulled them in.
"Cass…" Nephis whispered.
"Nephis… I—I had a vision," Cassie stammered, slowly regaining her composure.
"Tell me," Nephis said, her voice steady.
Cassie opened her eyes, cloudy, cerulean, and unfocused. She raised a hand and pointed toward a direction where the sky had darkened, the last traces of light devoured by the night.
"That's… the way out," she said slowly. "A statue… a tree… a castle… and a towering spire."
"A way out…" Nephis echoed.
She followed the line of Cassie's finger, her gaze narrowing toward the shadowed horizon. A moment passed. Then, a small, subtle smile touched the corners of her lips.
"You did great, Cass," she said softly. "That's where I saw the bright light."
***
An entire week had passed as Nephis and Cassie made their way toward their destination. Cassie's prophetic vision gave them direction, but it didn't make navigating the terrain any easier. Each day, their progress was cut short by the returning flood, forcing them to retreat to the same coral mound for shelter.
Suspiciously, Nephis had yet to encounter any enemies. But she had her theories.
On the night they first arrived—when that distant bright light had flared across the horizon—a heavy storm had swept in, and with it came the chilling echoes of screams and battle from the boundless dark. That single observation had kept her cautious, avoiding the use of her Aspect at night.
It had likely saved their lives.
During the day, she often spotted bones rising from beneath the mud, and tracks—signs of other beings moving through the strange landscape. Life. Or death. It was everywhere.
Yet she hadn't crossed paths with any of them.
Better that way.
Still… unsettling.
But at last, they arrived.
Just as Cassie had envisioned: a massive, time-worn statue rising from the coral-choked terrain. And far above, barely visible through the towering canopy of red coral, was smoke, faint, but unmistakable.
Someone had made a fire.
And it had helped guide her during the day.
"Why did you stop, Neph?" Cassie's voice came from behind. She held a wooden staff in her right hand, while her left wrist was bound by a golden rope, the other end tied to Nephis's hand.
"Have we arrived?"
Nephis gave the rope a gentle tug, guiding her forward.
"No. Now we climb," she said.
***
The statue loomed above them, its massive form turning the climb into a vertical maze, and for Nephis and Cassie, the ascent was slow and grueling. Nephis had to carefully find footholds along its seams, narrow ledges, cracks, and protrusions, places where Cassie could hold on. Only once Cassie was secured would Nephis climb higher and help pull her up.
During the climb, Nephis noticed subtle signs—faint traces that someone had passed through recently. But she didn't lower her guard. Not until she was certain. The Dream Realm was full of the unexpected.
Finally, they were close.
Nephis caught the faint scent of something cooking. She could hear humming—soft, casual—and the clatter of tools, like someone busy with a task. Below her, Cassie held on carefully, her blind eyes turned upward. She had noticed the same things; her heightened senses picked up more than most. A hopeful smile had formed on her lips.
"Cass," Nephis whispered. "I'll make sure it's safe. Wait."
Cassie nodded, wrapping her arms around herself for balance, careful not to slip.
They had reached the statue's neck, a jagged cliff-like surface. Nephis continued climbing, and the sounds above grew louder—closer. One careful hold at a time, she reached a ledge.
Her silver longsword was already in her left hand—a dormant Memory from her first Nightmare Trial. As she pulled herself up, her weapon was raised and ready, prepared for whatever or whoever was waiting.
Her sharp gaze quickly assessed the scene.
The flat surface she stood on was where the statue's head had likely once been. It had been turned into a proper makeshift camp, far more developed than the one she and Cassie had built. Structures built from bones, nightmare chitin, and scavenged debris. Scattered around were tools, shards, and remnants of used resources. A chimney made from carved bone let out a steady plume of smoke—the source of the rich, mouthwatering scent in the air.
The casual humming stopped. So did everything else.
A moment later, a curtain made of stitched seaweed was pulled aside.
A young man stepped out, around her age, with dark hair and deep brown eyes. His face was striking, healthy, and confident. He wore clothing—or armor—fashioned from the same materials as the camp.
"Oh? If it isn't the strongest Sleeper of the batch," he said with a smile and an easy, optimistic tone.