Young Writers Society

The creature cocked its head at Vanya, seeming bemused.

"As good a name as any." Its voice was as harsh and guttural as it been always been, but Minra thought she heard a hint of amusement behind those words.

Something stirred in her as she looked again at the monster. The grotesque face and emaciated limbs seemed more sad than terrifying now that she knew what the creature actually was. How long had it- or they, been trapped here to lose their humanity and even forget their own name?

It struck Minra at that moment that she could never allow that to happen to her. She still had things to do, a life to live. Not only for herself, but for a daughter that depended on her.

Whatever it takes to escape this nightmare, I'll do it, she promised herself.

"Thank-you for helping us, Milly."

The creature's twisted smile faded. "It is too late for me. This place has warped me so much that even if the way were opened, I could not leave. But you four... You could escape."

"And I could not pass up the chance to defy him," the creature added. "The one that consumes us."

Abruptly, the dream-creature backed away and gestured once again at the path with a pale, spidery hand.

"There is... nothing else I can give you. The more time that passes, the more you reveal of yourselves. Your fears and weaknesses can be used against you. Move... swiftly."

Carter didn't need any more direction. He settled it in his mind: he was going to make it through this. He would not succumb to fear, and he would not have the same fate as "Milly," the sickeningly corrupted spider of a creature.

He marched ahead of the others towards the gate, following the creature's direction. He glanced back at the others. "Vanya, since you and I are the only ones armed in the event we run into anything hostile. One of us should lead and the other should hold up the back behind those two. If anyone spots anything, say so. Understood?"

She dipped her head, "You know how to use that sword of yours, yes?" She assumed he did, all the implications pointed toward it, after all, but the last time she'd relied on implications it had not gone well at all. It was better to have things said in the open.

She didn't glance back at the creature. It was hard not to imagine it. Becoming like that.

The great Vanya of Wen, beaten by a nightmare.

It was unthinkable to most people who knew her by reputation. Those who knew her personally would have the honor to mourn with understanding, at least.

Oh gods, Kivvien didn't know where she was. He wouldn't know what happened. How many spells would he create and waste trying to find her? Would he manage to magic his way into this place only to find her without really finding her? If she was one of those...things, after all, neither of them would recognize her.

It was a disturbing thought.

Carter only narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"Of course I do. I would not carry it if I didn't. Now, let's go," he said, taking the lead.

Second nodded at Commander's comment. He wasn't used to not being the leader in a situation like this. Hero was their leader by default most of the time, but Second was the one who led when they needed some kind of strategy. Still, he knew it was best not to fight. And he knew that they had to keep moving, even if he wanted to talk more with "Milly" and figure out a way to help them.

Second took his spot between Commander and Vanya. "I wish we could help Milly," he said, his voice quiet. It wasn't right; they shouldn't get to be the only ones to escape from this place.

Minra stood aside and watched as Carter took the lead of their little group. The man had called himself "Commander" and the truth of the title became evident in the way that he'd kept a level head in the face of everything that was happening. He issued orders with the authority of one accustomed to being obeyed and almost seemed to march as he moved forward.

Minra was happy to let him take the lead. She only hoped it didn't cause any conflict with the others. Vanya also held herself like a leader, confident and fearless. And though Second had initially looked like a follower to Minra, his acceptance of Carter's plan had seemed reluctant.

For now, at least, they agreed.

Minra joined Second in the middle of the group and caught his quiet comment. She turned to watch as "Milly" slunk away into the darkness and wondered what would become of the creature.

"Maybe by 'opening the way' we'll be able to help any others trapped here. If what Milly said is true, we five aren't the only ones."

Carter didn’t look back at Minra.

“Milly made it clear,” he said, still leading the way with confident steps, keeping his senses attentive to their surroundings. “Those who get stuck here are consumed by the darkness or swallowed by the fear they gave into past the point of return. If we end up saving people unintentionally, that’s great, but it doesn’t matter. We can’t fight their fight against fear for them if they’ve already lost. What we have to do is worry about ourselves and making it through this together.”

Vanya listened from her place at the back of the group. "I disagree," she said, "There is no one I've ever met who can truly face their fears alone. If fear is the enemy, then support will be invaluable to anyone here."

She thought about some of her fallen comrades. There were too many of them. Far, far too many. She knew that a great number of them died because they couldn't face their fears. They froze when the moment came and paid for it the way everyone paid for mistakes in times of war.

And it was always a time of war.

Second nodded in agreement.

"Maybe Milly just doesn't know," he suggested. There was a slight skip to his step; it wasn't meant to be a hopeful, optimistic one. It just ran the side effect of detracting from his serious, musing tone. "If no one has ever escaped from here before, how could Milly know what happens when they do?"

He raised a hand up to finger the necklace dangling over his chest. He wished he wasn't the only one of his friends here. Darkness didn't sound half as scary when he could wield it, or when he had Lorcan to help guide him through it.

Carter sighed. Neither of them understood what he meant. Sure, saving others if they succeeded was a noble thing, but they didn't know anything besides what "Milly" told them. Meaningless hypothesizing was useless. They needed to focus on getting out of this as quickly as possible. Had they not understood the urgency of Milly's words? The longer they stayed, the less likely they were to get out. Sure, they could "help each other face their fears" but it wasn't like they were going to go on a hunt for other people lost in this maze of sickly trees.

"You're right," he said, still marching forward. "We don't know enough to say. But we'll find out soon enough."

Vanya nodded and turned her attention to the surrounding trees. They reminded her of her trip to the Fae Underworld. The trip had not been pleasant, but that could be blamed on a few things. Namely the lack of Kivvien. The fool of a wizard had managed to get himself captured at the time. Something about creating a spell to raise the dead. Vanya didn't really remember what they wanted him for, but regardless it was pointless. Kivvien wasn't a necromancer and Vanya couldn't hold a conversation with anyone else. Bad days for everyone.

She did feel bad for whoever was in charge of keeping an eye on him though.

She shook her head and considered the group around her. Her crew, for now.

Minra, the woman, practically screamed civilian from her every aspect. She was brave enough, though, when prompted to be, so Vanya felt she could trust her not to do any of the dumb things that typically made civilians a nightmare to have around on these sorts of quests.

Second seemed the most like the types of people she typically adventured with. Optimistic, energetic, a leader, or aspiring leader at least. She had no idea what he would be like in battle, though, or how clever he was. It was hard to tell if she could trust him, though. He showed no signs of general incompetence, and neither did he appear to be particularly fragile, but she couldn't be sure about him. That uncertainty was what worried her.

The general was the one who worried her most, though. He was exactly the kind of person who often got in her way when she was doing her job. It wasn't that she thought he was incompetent, it was that she worried they wouldn't be able to get along well enough to keep each other alive.

As a group, she wasn't sure how things would pan out. She hoped for the best and kept her eyes scanning their surroundings.

Minra walked behind Carter and next to Second. The path they followed was wide in some places and so narrow they had to form a single-file line in others, but had little variation otherwise. The trees were unchanging, dark and still, and there was no end in sight to the path. She felt glad for the lantern, as there were few of the glowing flowers now that they were deeper in the forest.

The passage of time felt realistic, another odd detail of the dreamscape. She wondered if they would feel the need to eat or sleep too, if they were able to tire from walking. Something else the dream-creature had said still nagged at her thoughts, and she spoke it aloud.

"Milly said that we came from different worlds. I wasn't aware there was more than one until now. Are none of you from Earth?"

It made sense, considering the strange names and appearances of her companions, but the thought made her uneasy. That there were multiple worlds and she could suddenly find herself trapped in a different one. If it was true, everything Minra had thought she'd known was thrown into doubt.

Vanya looked her over. Definately a civilian. 'Civilian' had come to mean something else in Vanya's eyes. Something more akin to 'ignorant' or 'bystander'. Someone who was unaware of the universes' oddities and strangenesses.

"I'm from a version of Earth, initially," Vanya spoke up, "but I've been to several others. The worlds beyond the Earths tend to breed more heroes such that I am not needed, so I don't get summoned unless someone is looking for me specifically."

She guessed the Earth Minra was from was one without magic. The woman just struck her as the type. One who was absorbed in different sorts of tragedies and different sorts of adventures. Whichever Earth, it must be nice not to have the threat of annihilation hanged over the planet every time some cocky know-it-all found a shiny rock, tome, sword or whatever it was that would give them the power to make everyone else's lives thousands of times more miserable. What a thought.

He had never heard of multiple versions of Earth, but it made sense. Minra and Vanya felt like they weren't from the same kind of world as Charlotte was. He couldn't quite explain why, but it was just something he knew had to be true.

"I'm not originally from Earth," he said. His gaze momentarily fell to his hand; he couldn't help but stare at it and think about how deceptive it was. He knew he looked like he should have been from it. That was the whole point of how they used it lately. "I'm from Minecraftia. I ended up on Earth after going through a portal with my friends."

If Carter hadn't been so focused on escaping this nightmare he might've found more interest in the others' conversation. But as it stood, he did not feel it beneficial for his focus to consider the existence of other worlds, realities, or whatever else beyond a very superficial level.

He decided to accept it now, and think on it later. When he woke up from all this, he would see if he felt differently. But for the sake of the overall group morale he decided to participate minimally in the discussion.

"I'm from Nye." The only real world he cared about. "I don't imagine it's like any place you are from."