[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial...]
Sky. A gray, empty sky was the first thing I saw.
Not long after, I heard another person inhale. No... two of them. I flew up to my feet in a panic.
"Who, who are you-" The words died in my throat.
Kneeling before me was a woman with fiery red hair and sharp features, right beside her was a gaunt man with black hair and green eyes.
"Keira? Julian?" I had no Idea why and how I knew their names.
Keira, the red-haired woman, stood to her feet.
"Took ya long enough, Daniel, this nightmare better have things to fight!"
The gaunt man, Julian, gasped slightly, still on his knees.
"No, don't tell me..." He looked around cautiously, scanning the surroundings warily. He was trembling slightly, eyes widened in what I presumed was fear.
Instinctively, I checked my runes. And I was shell shocked.
***
Names: Daniel, Keira, Julian.
True name: -
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul core: Dormant.
Memories: -
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Hard to kill], [Combined mental capacity]
Aspect [The Fractal Soul]
Aspect description: [Your singular soul is not one, but a collective of many. Your soul hosts multiple consciousnesses of shared power.]
I just stared at it. Almost fainting. Until Keira waved her hands in front of my face.
"Daniel! Wake up!"
Julian recoiled slightly and hissed. "Shut up, Keira! You will attract something!"
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
"So you two... are just me?" I posed a question I already knew the answer to.
"Well, duh," Keira responded almost instantly.
Julian took a moment to think. I felt him think. And then he responded, voice cracking slightly under the tension.
"If we share thoughts, memories, and instincts… then yes. We're you. All of us. God help us."
I recoiled slightly. "God help us? There are three of us in a single nightmare, isn't that good?"
He shook his head, almost frenzied.
"No... what if the nightmare is 3 times harder? What are we going to do!?"
I flinched slightly, paling under the thought. Keira's voice cut through the tension.
"Hey! Why don't you two calm down and figure something out? Stop being so useless."
I forced myself to calm down. Julian was still shaking, though.
"Hey, Julian. Focus, calm down. We are definitely going to die if you don't compose yourself soon."
His face contorted slightly. Julian took a few deep breaths and looked at me.
"Y-yeah. Keira and I will explore the immediate surroundings. Thoroughly check the aspect, don't miss a detail."
Keira was already on the task, Julian pushed himself to his feet and timidly trailed behind, gaze trained on the surroundings like a hawk. I stand for a moment before looking at my attributes.
Attributes: [Fated], [Hard to kill]
[Fated]: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn to your presence. Some are blessed, and some are cursed... but rarely both."
[Combined Mental Capacity]: "Your minds are many, but your thoughts are one. Each self processes information independently. Each can send information and intent directly to the other. Information overload is impossible, your soul was made to divide and endure."
[Hard to kill]: "Death is not the end for you. As long as even one aspect of your soul endures, you will rise again. To truly die, all of you must fall."
I was shocked yet again. I turned to tell the others, but they already knew. Not only were we three people, but we also couldn't completely die unless all of us died.
'Where are you?' The mental transmission came naturally. Like breathing or eating. Only a moment passed before the information appeared in my mind.
'Follow the path, and turn left. A dormant nightmare beast spotted. I knew who it was. It was Julian. Almost instantly, an image was transmitted, a hairless dog like beast. It wasn't too big, roughly the size of a large coyote.
Without a second thought, I followed the directions Julian had given me. And sure enough, crouched behind a rock leaning on a decaying wooden house, was Julian. Keira was standing right behind him, not bothering to hide herself behind the rock. She was holding a worn mace.
"Daniel. The beast is around the corner, in a small valley. Roughly 20 or so meters in a straight line." He greeted me.
I nodded in response.
"Come on! Can't we kill that thing already?"
She almost whined.
Julian snapped at her, "Damn it, Keira! Let's find a weapon for the rest of us! And stop being so damn inauspicious!"
I cut in their squabble, "Keira, where did you find that mace?"
She shrugged, "I dunno. In that building?"
She transmitted some basic directions and small sensory details.
Julian interrupted, "I checked Daniel, it was a weapon shop. The mace was the only thing left."
I paused and then shrugged. "Why not just use rocks as a weapon?"
He looked at me. "Hold on, you want to fight a nightmare beast with rocks?"
I shrugged again, "If there are three of us, one with a weapon, we just need to distract it. Throw rocks, make sounds, whatever. She could ambush it and then retreat immediately."
He shook his head, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but that could work. At least to probe it."
I nod, picking up a relatively large rock.
Perfectly coordinated, Julian picked up a few of his own, and Keira bounced on her feet, a predatory grin spreading on her face.
I nod to them, a small strategy transmitted between us. I would go for a direct line of sight. Simple. Exposed. The bait.
Julian would stay behind the broken wall to my left, a perfect spot to throw from cover. I could already feel his mental checklist clicking through terrain features and probability trees.
Keira's route was clear. Flank wide right through the collapsed market stalls, stay out of sight until I give the signal, a mental signal.
I picked up big, jagged, and sharp rocks to throw. I felt the weight in my palm. Julian nodded once. Keira grinned like a wolf off leash.
I stepped forward into the open, heart pounding.