A rift tore open near him-- and from it stumbled Nyra, bloodied and barely standing. Dream ran to her immediately, catching her as she nearly collapsed.
"Nyra!" His voice cracked - fear creeping through his calm. " What happened?"
She smiled faintly seeing how her emperor cares, despite the blood on her lips.
" The Queen sent an arch demon," she breathed. " We need to leave. Now"
Dream blinked. " Leave?, what's hap.."
Then he felt it. A crushing pressure, so heavy it made his knees buckle. The void sky cracked like glass.
A voice followed through the air, deep and monstrous.
[ Void barrier has been destroyed]
" FOUND YOU."
Dream looked up to see Nyra ripping through the barrier - his massive form blazing like a meteor, eyes burning black. His arms now grown back already.
" System" Dream whispered, as he stared at the danger above. " Open a portal to anywhere but here". He knew if he stared here, he would die.
" Processing... Calibrating dimension gate ..." The system's voice flickered. " Destination: Earth."
A portal ignited behind them, a swirling circle of blue and white energy cutting through the crimson gloom.
Seeing this, Bram roared, charging.
Nyra's hand tightened around his. " Go," she whispered. " Don't look back, I'll hold him off"
" Yeah..., we're not doing that" Dream immediately carried her and they both entered the portal. Bram's claws slicing the air as the portal closed.
The portal sealed the instant they crossed, his strike gist empty space, shattering the ground crystal where they once stood.
Bram bellow echoed through the void- furious, endless.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Back in her throne room, the demon Queen smiled as she felt the faint link of her blessing falter.
" So... the flee," she whispered, her nails dragging slowly against her skin.
" But too where...?"
She laughed softly, eyes gleaming with hunger. " Oh, my dear Void king... you can run through worlds if you wish- but you were always mine to find."
>>>>
The world shifted.
Colors twisted into streaks of light as the portal tore open between realms, spitting two figures into existence. The night was still. The air was cold. And beneath the pale breath of the earth moon, Dream fell to one knee, clutching the woman in his arms.
Nyra's body was trembling, her once- brilliant crimson wings now shredded into trails of blood and smoke. The grass around them sizzled faintly from the demonic energy leaking from the wounds.
"Nyra's!" Dream's voice broke through the silence. Her head rested against his shoulder, her breathing faint.
" I'm ...fine," she whispered weakly, her lips barely moving. " Just...need time..."
But Dream could see the truth- she was dying, or something close to it.
He looked around. They had landed in what seemed to be an overgrown field, the earth littered with ash and fragments of concrete. In the distance, something like the skeleton of a city loomed- silent, rusted, forgotten. But nearby, half-hidden beneath vines, stood a small structure- an old cabin or shrine perhaps, barely standing.
He carried her inside.
The wooden floor creaked beneath his boots. Dust drifted in the moonlight that slipped through cracks in the roof. Dream laid her down gently, wiping the sweat and blood from her forehead.
"What do I do...?" He muttered under his breath. His hands trembled slightly.. an emotion he hadn't felt in what seemed like ages. Fear for losing a loved one. He didn't fully understand why.
Nyra's faint smile cut through. " You... don't have to do anything," she murmured. " I've survived worse wounds... during darker days. My blood knows how to mend itself."
Her confidence felt misplaced, yet there was something ancient in her tone- something that made him believe.
Dream sat beside her, exhaustion settling deep in his bones. His hands still stained crimson, curled into a fist " so that's the demons you were talking about"
She nodded slightly. Her breathing had steadiy, her body already pulsing with life again.
Then---
A familiar voice echoed.
[ System initializing.... Host recognized]
[ Realm detected: Earth]
[ Earths memory fragment will be restored]
Dream froze.
" Earth?" He said a little excited but then the pain came.
Sharp, burning pain.
He gritted his teeth as flashes of imagery ripped through his mind- blinding, violet, unstoppable. A war. Explosions. Screams.
He saw himself in a tattered soldier's uniform, blood and ash covering his face. He was running through fire, clutching a gun- no, not a gun, a weapon of crude human design. The sky burned red as missiles tore through clouds. Then.....
A white flash.
An explosion.
Silence.
Dream's eyes snapped open. He was back in the cabin, panting heavily. Sweat rolled down his temples as he pressed a hand on his chest. His heart was racing.
Nyra stirred slightly, sensing the sudden disturbance. " Dream..?"
He forced a weak smile. " Don't worry, Just... fragments. Memories."
Her eyes softened, a rare tenderness breaking through her usual sharpness. " What do you remember.."
" The world I remember was loud. Bright. Technological..."
" And..."
" War, between countries. I was in the military"
" I see, humans do that all the time so it's not crazy" she said not thinking too much about it. "Echo, location."
The system answered instantly:
[ Current location: isolated zone-- Hallow field outskirts, city U.]
Dream frowned. " City U? I don't remember any city with that name. I was a soldier here on earth, a high ranking one at that, i studied the maps of earth and even now I can remember them vividly well, city U is not a thing"
" Then perhaps," Nyra replied, stepping towards the broken window slowly, " this isn't the same earth you once knew."
He followed her gaze. The moon hung low, larger than he remembered. The stars pulsed faintly with strange colors, as though something unnatural stirred above.
" What do you mean?" Dream asked.
Nyra's crimson eyes narrowed. " Do you remember any magical beasts walking this earth before you die?"
Dream shook his head. " No. That ... wasn't real here."
Nyra's expression darkened. " This place reeks of mana"
The ground trembled.
Dream felt it before he heard it-- an ancient rumble that seemed to echo from the forest beyond. The wooden planks beneath their feet creaked as the vibration grew stronger.
Nyra's hand went instinctively to her side, her aura flaring. " Dream.." she said softly.
The rumble turned into a growl- deep and primal. Then came the snapping of trees, the crunch of shattered stone.
Dream's eyes glowed faintly crimson. " Something's coming.
[Reveal]
>>>>>>
To be continued