The nightmare's form rippled like smoke bound by invisible threads, every movement accompanied by a low hiss that vibrated through the ground. Hope braced herself, power surging like lightning beneath her skin. She'd fought monsters before. She'd survived Malivore. She could do this. she had to do this.
But when the creature's void-like face turned toward her, the world tilted. For an instant, the trees bled into nothingness, the ground dissolved into fog, and she was standing in a different place entirely.
The cemetery.
Landon's grave.
Her knees nearly buckled. Her breath came shallow, the old wound in her chest tearing wide open.
"Don't look at it!" Selene's voice cut sharp through the illusion. A hand clamped around Hope's shoulder, grounding her, dragging her back to the clearing. "It feeds on what you fear most. Don't let it see you."
Hope gritted her teeth, forcing herself to focus, her magic flaring like fire in her veins. "Easy for you to say!"
The creature screeched, a sound that clawed at bone, and lunged. Hope thrust her hand forward, releasing a blast of energy. Flames erupted, searing through the mist, but the nightmare only staggered, reforming almost instantly, its edges bending back into place.
Selene stepped forward, her silver eyes blazing. "You can't burn smoke. You have to smother it."
Before Hope could ask what she meant, Selene closed her eyes. The air thickened, a pulse of something unseen spreading outward like ripples on water. Shadows gathered around her feet, twisting upward, and the forest seemed to shudder as if caught between two worlds.
The nightmare faltered, its form flickering.
Hope's breath caught. The clearing itself changed the ground beneath them shifting to sand, the sky above dissolving into endless dark. Stars blinked faintly in the void, but the air was heavy, suffocating.
"This is my realm," Selene whispered, her voice echoing as though carried by a thousand whispers. "The place between sleep and waking. Here, it doesn't get to choose the rules."
The nightmare howled, thrashing violently, its shape unraveling under the weight of Selene's power.
Hope turned to her, alarm and awe tangled in her chest. "You dragged us into a dream?"
Selene didn't answer. Her focus was razor-sharp, her entire frame trembling with the effort of holding the creature within her domain. Her hands lifted, threads of silver weaving into a net around the monster. For a moment, it seemed contained.
Then the nightmare's eyes glowed brighter, a sickly crimson, and it surged against the bonds. The net strained, snapping threads one by one. Selene gasped, her body shuddering as though the fight were ripping her apart from the inside.
"Help me!" she cried.
Hope didn't hesitate. She hurled her magic into the threads, flames intertwining with Selene's silver, fire and dream-stuff merging into something stronger. The net flared, tightening around the nightmare, forcing it to its knees.
The creature let out one final, bone-shaking scream. The stars overhead shattered into fragments of light and everything went dark.
When Hope's vision cleared, she was back in the forest, gasping, sweat slick on her skin. Selene knelt a few feet away, her shoulders heaving, her face pale. The nightmare was gone, for now, but the silence it left behind was worse than its presence.
Hope swallowed hard, still trembling from the echo of its illusions. She looked at Selene, who raised her head slowly, silver eyes dim but defiant.
"That," Selene rasped, her voice hoarse, "was only a shadow of what's coming."
The words dropped like stones into Hope's chest. She hated the chill that followed them, hated the truth buried inside.
For the first time in years, Hope Mikaelson wasn't sure if she was ready for the nightmare to come.