A girl sat on the rooftop of her crumbling apartment complex, her knees drawn to her chest. Below her the muffled sounds of a city reached her ears sirens, distant screams, and the roar of a military patrol vehicles And gun fire. But her mind was far from the noise of her surroundings. It was consumed by one thought: becoming a Dream Hunter.
She had watched them fight from a distance, those heroes who go into the Dreamworld and returned victorious. They were the last line of defense, the ones everyone looked up to. She had dreamt of standing alongside them, cutting down the living horrors that plagued their world, ever since her nightmares had taken everything from her.
It had been two years since her parents were killed by the Nightmares. They were one of the first families to experience a major manifestation when the Shattering happened. The Nightmare had come suddenly. a grotesque figure with multiple arms and teeth. tearing through her family she had been the only one to survive. She had watched as the Dream Hunters arrived too late, Fighting the creature back into the Dreamworld but failing to save her family. Ever since, she had been consumed by the need to stop it from happening to others.
But becoming a Dream Hunter wasn't easy. The selection process was very difficult. Only a handful were chosen each year, and each candidate had to possess something special a unique connection to the Dreamworld. Most of the chosen were older, battle hardened, and experienced in controlling their dreams. But she had something they didn't. She had raw, untapped potential, something that had awake the night her family was taken.
A sudden flash of light from the street below jolted her from her thoughts. She leaned over the rooftop's edge, look down into the street. A figure was running no, fleeing down the narrow alleyway, their terrified screams echoing in the silence of the city. Behind them, a mass of swirling darkness and glowing eyes slithered forward. A Nightmare.
Her heart raced, and without thinking, she jumped to her feet. Her instincts screamed at her to run back inside, to hide, like the rest of the city's citizens, but something stronger pulled her forward. She couldn't stand by and do nothing. Not again.
She run down the fire escape, her mind racing. There wouldn't be time to call for help. By the time the Dream Hunters arrived, it could already be too late. Her feet hit the ground just as the creature reached the fleeing person a boy, no older than seventeen his eyes wide with terror. The Nightmare wrapped its tendrils around him, a grotesque, shadowy mass with a thousand shifting faces, each one a twisted version of the boy's worst fear.
Her's breath caught in her throat. This was her chance. She didn't have the training, but she had to act.
"Let him go!" she shouted, her voice nervous but filled with determination.
The Nightmare twisted, its eyes too many to count focused on her now. The boy was thrown aside, discarded like a broken toy as the creature lunged toward her. She felt the fear creeping up her spine, threatening to paralyze her. But she couldn't give in. Not now.
She closed her eyes and focused on the feeling she had every night in her dreams the power to shape the world around her. The tendrils of the Nightmare closed in, but something within her a flicker of light in the dark. In her mind, she reached for it, grasping at the raw energy that had been waiting for a moment like this.
The air around her crackled, and suddenly, a barrier of light burst forth from her body, forcing the Nightmare back. The creature screeched, recoiling as the light burned through its shadowy form. Her eyes snapped open, wide with surprise. She had done it. Somehow, she had pushed the Nightmare away.
But the creature wasn't finished. It regrouped, twist itself tighter, more focused. She knew she had to act quickly, before it gathered enough strength to attack again.
"Come on," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes once more and reaching for that same power.
This time, the light didn't just form a barrier. It shaped itself into something more solid. She could feel it taking the form of a weapon in her hand, a blade of pure energy. When she opened her eyes, she saw it, glowing brightly in her grasp. A Mindblade.
The Nightmare screeched again, charging at her. But she didn't back down. She gripped the Mindblade tighter and swung with all her might, slicing through the creature's tendrils. The Nightmare makes a high pitched sound, its form dissolving into smoke.
For a moment, there was silence. The boy, trembling, stared at her with wide eyes, but She focus was elsewhere. Her heart pounded in her chest as the Mindblade flickered out of existence. She had done it. She had fought a Nightmare and survived.
Before she could process what had just happened, the sound of footsteps echoed down the alleyway. She turned to see two figures approaching Dream Hunters, their uniforms marked with the glowing insignia of their order.
The taller of the two, a man with dark hair and an air of authority, stopped in front of her, his gaze sharp. "You just fought a Nightmare," he said, his tone more of a statement than a question.
She nodded, still catching her breath. "I... I had to."
The man exchanged a glance with the other Dream Hunter, a woman with striking silver hair. "What's your name?" the woman asked.
Rose
The man studied her for a moment, then nodded. You've got potential, Rose. Come with us.
Her heart skipped a beat. This was it. Her chance. She had proven herself, and now the Dream Hunters were giving her the opportunity she had been waiting for.
As she followed them down the alley, her mind raced. She wasn't just going to be a spectator anymore. She was going to become a Dream Hunter.
And nothing, not even the Nightmares, could stop her.
End of Chapter 0