Ved had figured it out, everyti they recite the rhy her power grows to match whatever was recited.
It started with her being able to appear behind them like a silent shadow and disappear right after.
Then when she recited the part of the forest stretching, the forest stretched and now she had just recited the next part.
Through the mist they saw two swirling orbs of pure darkness, " Land and forest of mine, obey my commands and bend to my will."
They heard a terrifying raspy voice that sounded like it ca from the depth of deepest darkness. Before they could react the ground shifted.
It beca soft and bounced like a water bed, they almost lost their footing. Then they felt themselves sinking into the ground as if it was devouring them.
" Stop reciting the rhy." He growled, the girl closed her mouth tightly with her hand. Her entire body was shaking with fear.
The forest around them bent and twisted like a mirage, the world itself was folding around them.
He grabbed both of them and kicked the soft ground as hard as he could. Using the last of his dream mist he created boots.
Unfortunately he was only able to create three. Not enough for all of them, he gave a pair to Naledi and took the last boot.
When creating them he imagined boots that can stand on this quicksand like world without sinking.
He put the boot on and balanced himself on one foot. Fighting with only one leg and arm would be impossible against their toes so he left fighting to Naledi.
He carried the woman on his shoulder and ran. Her eyes turned blank and she started talking.
He closed her mouth, then knocked her out, he realised the herald in the form of red riding hood was getting in her head.
It was trying to have her recite the last part of the rhy but if she did, then everything would end.
He couldn’t allow that, no matter what. Naledi covered their back while he was running.
His left foot kept sinking on the ground when he ran making him slow. He turned and realised he hadn’t made much distance.
Naledi was doing her best but she was struggling against the two of them. Then the head of Red riding hood grinned.
The body put it back on her neck, when she did, the shadows stretched like claws but he didn’t mind them.
He knew this was only a mind trick to scare him. Mist blew past and she disappeared, he realised his mistake imdiately.
His back was unguarded, the next thing he felt was a mind numbing pain, he looked down and saw a terrifying hand with black claws through his chest.
He coughed up blood, Naledi roared, she kicked the wolf on the face and used it to launch herself at them.
Ved threw the girl at her, grabbed the hand with all of his might. Red riding hood tried to pull it back but he held the hand even tighter.
Naledi grabbed the unconscious woman mid air and landed on the ground, the mont she did she spun and slid behind the two of them.
Flas blazed on her eyes, they spread and covered her dagger. Red riding hood struggled causing more blood to spill out of his chest.
Naledi stabbed her in the head with a dagger burning with blue flas. But of course her divine fla was not hot, it was cold instead.
Red riding hood scread and dissolved into black sludge that seeped into the ground and disappeared.
The wolf suffered the sa fate. " Is it..over?" Naledi asked skeptically, he looked around and shook his head.
"Doubt it, but that move must’ve hurt her so we should be fine for a while." He sighed, the forest turned to normal.
It was no longer wobbly, he put the girl down and sat next to her. " Okay, tell everything you know about this creature." Naledi said with a stern voice.
He raised his head and looked at her, " That is the herald of nightmares, that is all I know about it."
" The Naless of Nightmares power is dreams as the na implies. The sa goes for those under his domain.
They use the mories of their target to create nightmares for them, also, stop wishing the dream guard will show up.
Everyti the Naless of Nightmares or those under his domain take action, dream guards are always the first beings they deal with."
’ How do we defeat it then?’ he heard Manas sigh. " There’s no universal way to do that, it depends on each nightmare, but there is a way to survive through the nightmare."
He waited for her to continue but she said nothing. ’ That is?’" Survive through the nightmare, live until the sun rises and you’ll be safe."
He sighed, " How would I even know how far away morning is?" He whispered. " What?". Naledi asked.
" Nothing, just thinking." He replied and shook his head. No matter how he thought about it, this herald was troubleso to deal with.
" If you want to defeat it, search through the nightmare, it will have the weaknesses of whatever form it assud."
He thought about it and realised a chilling truth, in the rhy, Red riding hood had no weaknesses or none was ever ntioned.
" Baba Yaga." He whispered. " What?" Naledi asked. " Baba Yaga, Red riding hood is Baba Yaga.
Do you rember any weaknesses of Baba Yaga?" He asked, she shook her head. " You know I had no interest in myths and fairytales like you did."
He nodded, " Right right, if I rember correctly, she can’t go into a natural body of water and she’s vulnerable to fire."
" So does that an we’ve defeated her, I did stab her with a burning dagger." He looked at her.
" Yes and no, she can’t die but according to folk lore, when defeated she slumbers for hundreds of thousands of years."
Naledi frowned, " Ti flows differently here, a hundred years is nothing." She was right, they’ve spent what felt like thousands of years here.
" Let think, this is based on red riding hood’s rhy and in the original rhy, she wins and the wolf dies, so that would an we die?"
That didn’t sound very good to him, " You’re not the wolf Ved, the two of you should not even exist in the story."
’ Wait if we’re not the wolf, then.’ he looked at the girl. ’ By Hera’s skirt.’
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