The fall was colder this time. No light greeted them, no meadow, no warmth. The heroes landed hard on stone slick with moisture, their breaths turning to frost as shadows coiled in every direction.
The air smelled of rot.
Carlos pushed himself up, blinking against the dark. They were inside a cavern—vast, endless, its walls moving like breathing flesh. A distant drip echoed, steady and cruel, as if marking time.
"Where… are we now?" Lys whispered, her voice barely audible.
The Helm's reply filled the cavern, whispering in a thousand tones at once:"The Realm of Nightmares. Here, you do not fight me—you fight yourselves."
A sickly red glow spread across the cavern floor, and from the shadows shapes began to emerge. Not phantoms. Not doubles. Something worse.
Lys's Fear
The first shape belonged to Lys. Her sister stepped forward again—but this time, her body was broken, charred, her eyes hollow. The corpse raised its bow with rotting hands, arrow aimed at Lys's throat.
"You left me," it croaked. "You saved yourself."
Lys dropped to her knees, hands trembling, tears spilling down her cheeks. "No… no, I didn't—"
The corpse loosed. The arrow flew. Lys barely dodged, her scream echoing as she raised her own bow in defense.
Rina's Fear
From another corner, Rina's nightmare arrived as every face she had ever betrayed. Her guild leader, with the dagger she'd plunged into his back. A friend, her throat slit by Rina's own hand. Children she had abandoned to slaughter.
They surrounded her, whispering in unison:"Join us, betrayer."
Her daggers slipped from her hands, and she fell back against the cavern wall, her breath shattering. "Not again… I can't—"
The shadows pressed closer.
Thalor's Fear
A thunderous crash shook the cavern. Thalor's brothers appeared, but not as he remembered. They were corpses, armor rusted, eyes gouged out, dragging their broken bodies across the floor.
"You let us die. You live while we rot."
The knight raised his shield instinctively, but his arm quivered. For the first time, his strength abandoned him.
Maren's Fear
A roar of flame burst from the cavern ceiling, and Maren's nightmare stepped forth: herself, towering, engulfed in fire, every part of her consumed by her power.
The fiery giant's voice thundered: "This is what you are. Fire. Destruction. The death of everyone who follows you."
Maren stumbled back, clutching her staff, unable to breathe as the heat scorched her lungs.
Carlos's Fear
And then Carlos's nightmare revealed itself.
The Helm floated before him, its surface cracked, glowing with endless blue fire. Slowly it turned, and he saw himself inside it—wearing it, eyes hollow, mouth twisted in madness.
The Helm-bearing Carlos grinned."I told you before. You are me. This is how it ends."
The reflection raised the Blade of Ascension, dripping with blood that hadn't yet been spilled.
The cavern erupted into chaos. Screams, clashes, whispers—all blending into a cacophony of despair. Each of them fought not only shadows, but the truth of their own broken hearts.
Lys's arrows shattered against her sister's corpse, which kept rising, kept shooting.Rina's daggers cut into the crowd of betrayed faces, but more replaced them, endless.Thalor swung his blade, cleaving corpses, but guilt weakened every strike.Maren unleashed storm and fire, only to watch the giant of flame absorb it, mocking her.Carlos's reflection fought with precision he couldn't match, every move familiar, every strike a mirror of his own.
They were losing.
Carlos hit the ground hard, his reflection's blade pressing against his throat. He could see the others faltering, their screams echoing in the cavern. The Helm's voices surged, triumphant:"This is who you are. Weak. Guilty. Broken. You will never escape me."
Carlos's vision blurred. For a moment, he believed it.
But then—Rina's voice cut through the darkness, raw and desperate.
"I am not betrayal!" she shouted, striking her dagger through her nightmare's chest with a cry that shook the cavern. The faces vanished into smoke.
Her defiance sparked something in the others.
Thalor roared, raising his shield higher. "I live for them! Their sacrifice is my strength!" His dead brothers dissolved in light, their accusing faces softening to pride before fading.
Maren screamed, thrusting her staff forward. "I am fire—but I choose how it burns!" Her flaming double shattered into cinders, vanishing into the cavern walls.
Lys raised her bow one final time, her tears falling freely. "I didn't leave you. I fight because of you!" Her arrow pierced her sister's corpse, which collapsed into dust.
The cavern pulsed, the Helm's voice faltering.
Carlos surged upward, locking blades with his reflection. His voice was hoarse, but steady. "You're right. I could become you. But I won't—because I don't fight alone."
The others rallied behind him, their nightmares gone, their strength renewed. Together, they struck—not with blades alone, but with defiance, conviction, unity.
Carlos's reflection screamed as the Blade of Ascension pierced its chest. The nightmare dissolved in an explosion of light, consuming the cavern.
The heroes stood in silence as the Realm of Nightmares collapsed, leaving only the sound of their ragged breaths.
The Helm whispered, faint but lingering:"Still you resist. But every realm takes more of you. How much remains?"
And once again, the ground fell away.