Myles awoke to the sun streaming down on him almost as soon as the smells of fresh bread and the sweet-savory scent of cooking candied bacon touched his nose. Stretching his arms, Myles scratched the back of his head as he looked around the garden environment that he’d come to call home. He took a moment as he stretched and scratched the back of his head but stopped mid-motion. He blinked looking around at the surrounding area, feeling out of sorts.

Hadn’t he done this before?

Of course, he had. It was his home after all.

The feeling passed, and Myles stretched one arm and then the other. He practically heard his muscles stretch and his joints pop and groan with pleasure as the bed released him from its gripping sheets.

It had only seemed like a moment ago he’d set his head down for a nap, but he felt as well-rested as if he’d slept for a week. Pantheon above, he loved that bed. It either was just that good sleeping with the new sheets and pillows or he was just bad at keeping an internal sense of timing while being blacked out.

Well, time to get going. She’d never forgive me...

Myles paused again in mid-thought as he looked down at himself. Something still didn’t feel right. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find out why. There was a gaping, glowing blue hole in his chest where his heart should have been, and his legs were little more than a pair of glowing blue, bloody stumps that were cut off at the knee.

Myles simply sighed.

Great, I forgot to put on my legs again.

From the bed, it only took him a moment to find where his pesky legs had gotten to. The missing limbs were propped up against the far side of his bed like a pair of boots that had been left with a puppy with just as much missing. They looked as bad as his lower thighs did but lacked the strange glow. The bloody sight of his legs, the coppery smell of congealed blood, and the glistening white bone fascinated him as he looked back at his stumps, and his thoughts responded in kind.

Huh, that’s different.

As he oriented himself stumps and all to that side, Myles reached out and took his gnawed legs, slipped the bones back into his thighs where they belonged like a well-fit shoe to a foot, and went looking for his missing organs.

They couldn’t have gone too far without his legs, could they?

Within the first few minutes of looking around his outdoor wonderland, Myles found his heart, and a few pieces of his spine under the bed, looking as worn and gnawed as his legs had been.

An increasing feeling of wrong began to gather as the beautiful amethyst sky began to darken with the distant rumble of thunder. The light began to dim ever so slowly as Myles took care and carefully wiped off the dirt from the organ and bones, repaired them the best he could, and put the pieces back where they needed to be. The sense of wrongness growing at the back of his mind only grew more pronounced as a wet squelch filled the air as his hand pushed into the glowing hole in his chest.

With the organ and bones back inside, the glow began to die. As it did, the flesh closed in on itself and knit shut around the hole. As the glowing died, Myles was whole once more. The wrongness began to fade as he touched his chest, and his back, and began to test his legs more properly. All was right with the world, and he began to feel slightly better about the whole situation.

The gray light was not exactly cold as the sky continued to darken, but Myles could feel the storm getting ready to break as he always did before the skies opened on a warm summer day. He’d have to find [] before then. She hated the rain, and the only place that they’d be dry was in the kitchen where all the wonderful smells were coming from. Besides, his stomach had its own warnings for him if he didn’t get some of that bacon.

As he made his way from the bedroom and onto the path, Myles stumbled for a moment as something wrapped itself around his waist with an iron grip. Looking down, the man smiled.

“Well. hello there, Squishy. I thought you’d be with your mother, silly girl.”

Around his waist, the hands gripping him tightened and a small face looked up to grin at him. Squishy, the silver-haired girl smiled, laughing as happily as a wind chime as she tilted her head playfully. Today, she was wearing a silver dress to match that hair and those rabbit ears of hers. and her eyes were wide pools of the night sky filled with stars of wonder and innocent love as she looked up at him.

Her grip didn’t get any looser.

Myles couldn’t help himself and reached down to ruffle her hair. Those ears of hers just wiggled at the action, and she laughed again.

“I have to get going, love. Don’t you want breakfast, too?”

A moment later, Squishy released him and looked around with the eyes only a toddler could as her long ears flopped and twitched like…

Like…

“Myles!”

The feeling vanished as he looked up and saw [] standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a perplexed look on her face as she brushed strands of white and brown hair from her face. With a hand on her hip and another holding a plate of breakfast, Myles got the distinct feeling he’d done something wrong as those loving eyes drilled into him.

Play it cool, Myles.

“Morning,” he called back as Squishy clutched at his hand harder- hard enough to hurt. His eyes turned from [] to his daughter and knelt. “What’s wrong, love?”

Squishy opened her mouth, but no words came. The mute girl couldn’t speak, but she was excellent at getting her intentions across all the same. This time, he got the distinct feeling of danger from his daughter, but the feeling seemed to vanish as [] approached.

“And who is this?”

Myles gave [] a strange look as he looked between his wife and the girl at his side.

“Our daughter….” Myles offered, confusion tinting his words as [] moved closer to examine her closely.

Then, she laughed and retreated a few steps.

“Oh, no. That’s not our daughter. I would know if we had a daughter,” [] offered with a loving smile that quickly turned mischievous. There was something else there for just a moment, but it was hard to read as the plate reappeared and her tone went from playful to more serious. “Myles Chase, did you adopt a child without discussing it with me first?”

Squishy’s grip became tighter, stronger than the little frame should have been able to produce. The feeling of fear and danger grew. As it did, Myles stood back up and pulled the girl closer to his side on instinct.

“Are you sure?” Myles defended, looking between the two of them. “I think I’d remember doing that, []. There’s a lot of paperwork for adoption.”

“Something that you hate,” she reminded him.

Well, that much was true. Ever since he’d signed up for the Seventh Run…

The scratching at the back of his mind returned as [] walked closer. It was on the tip of his tongue now, just at the edge of his thoughts. Something wasn’t right. It wasn’t just an ethereal thing now. He was hurting now. The feeling was like nails digging into his mind as instinct held the girl to his side.

“Myles,” [] said coyly. “How about we go discuss this at the table? I’m sure we can find something to keep her occupied until we can find her real family. We can put her up in the spare room until then.”

They had a spare room…

Right, they’d been talking about a family. He didn’t have a daughter yet.

A feeling of disappointment came from the girl at his side so powerful that Myles doubted himself, but she held firm to the hem of his shirt.

It couldn’t be true. If he didn’t have a daughter, why did she feel so close?

Myles nearly abandoned the line of thinking until she looked back at []. In that instant, the feeling of impending danger returned, sparking the pain again. Myles rubbed at his temples, trying to clear it away. Before he had even realized it, Myles was clutching his head in both hands.

[] drew closer, smiling as she almost always did.

“Myles…” she cooed, drawing the syllables out with each step she took.

His head swam as he tried to focus, and a new voice joined in with the sounds of clashing metal and endless waves.

“Myles!”

The steps slowed, and the pain receded for a moment as the smells of salt and sea surrounded him. [] looked around, fear painted on her face for a moment before she looked back to him.

“Come on, Myles.” The voice was discordant as each word seemed spoken by a new voice, each more different than the last.

[] continued her approach, and his daughter moved between them, stopping the advance. Squishy chimed quickly, the voice like steel against steel as she stood fast. It swelled Myles’s heart, but the thoughts from earlier still lingered.

He didn’t have a daughter. He knew that now. But, there was more, something else that was too important to be forgotten. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

[] snorted softly, something Myles barely caught as her mouth opened, but it wasn’t words that followed but an assault of sound and fury. His ears nearly bled as the clatter of breaking glass and pain ripped at his eardrums and down to his very soul.

The sound of a wind chime in a hurricane followed clear as a newborn day.

Squishy’s hair stood on end like an angry quillbeast ready to strike, each of the countless hairs needle-thin and poised to strike with all the force the small form could produce. More of the chimes followed as the hairs twitched, but [] simply laughed.

it wasn’t the warmth he’d remembered from her. The sound was like nails on the slate of his mind, digging and pulling for what it could from him. The sound left him feeling empty as it scoured his soul, and the darkness began pressing in from all sides. In that noise, in the darkness came another truth.

This wasn’t his wife.

The sound grew direr as the standing hairs and even her rabbit ears lunged for []. The woman’s body contorted strangely as the first volley came, but there were just too many as the thin strands sunk into flesh and bones. [] screamed and black, oily blood ran freely as [] was driven against the crusty soil.

Pinned against the ground, the pain ebbed, but Squishy didn’t relent. Her hair bound back and struck like a snake again, and again, and again. With each strike, with each drop of blood, Myles stood and made his demand.

“Where is she!”

Each time, he was met with a laugh like broken glass until his temper fled.

“Where is…”

He paused searching for a name, panic gripping his mind in a vice as he tried to remember his wife’s name. How could he have forgotten? Did that thing take it? Wipe his memory so she could take her place?

He grew angrier as he looked down at her laughing mess of a form. Her beauty was familiar, like something out of a dream he’d forgotten long ago. Only then did it click, his mind ringing with the realization.

He didn’t have a wife, did he?

He couldn’t remember her name because she never existed.

His face must have said enough, and the mimicry of life simply grinned despite the open wounds and her impaled form. As her smile stretched unnaturally wide and split her lips, her nails followed suit, growing long enough to pass for daggers.

“None of this is real. Is it?”

Floor Two Milestone has been reached.

Lucidity has been achieved.

“Oh, it is real. Real enough for me to do this!”

Pushing the spears of metal deeper, [] lept from the ground, poised to strike the lethal blow once and for all, and time seemed to slow. Squishy chimed loud as a warning bell, but Myles didn’t so much as move as another message appeared in his interface.

[Monster Tamer] Skills have been Unlocked.

[Succulent Magician] Skills have been Unlocked.

Monster Lore Unlocked!

Dream Ripper information obtained!

Dream Ripper

Astral Creature - Nightmare Manifestation

Rank ? Threat Level

Best trait - ?

Preferred Method of Attack - Slashing

Special Attack: Psionic Damage

Breeding Groups: Astral

Special Ability: Transformation, Body manipulation

Dream Rippers are creatures of the astral realm of Somniums, the land of dreams. This rare form of nightmare latches on to its host and turns their deepest desires against them until their mind cracks like an egg. When this occurs, the Dream Ripper feasts and then moves on to the strongest target from within the victim’s memories. How their targets are originally chosen or how they move between realms is still an area lacking in the study.

“Real enough for me to do this,” Myles repeated as he focused his will against the dream ripper and felt the familiar Skill trigger. “Work with me.”

Essence Bond has been activated!

The ripper stopped mid-leap as surely as it’d slammed into a wall as she looked at the offer before her. Rage danced across her already mysterious features, then pounced again, only to find her leg wrapped by Squishy’s metallic hair.

“I refuse!”

Features began to change as it struggled, shedding its humanoid form and taking on a more sleek visage. The brow and white streaked hair grew down its back as its face seemed to melt into a single, monstrous eye. Its hands lost their flesh, becoming claws worthy of its name. Its feet simply shed away in a slosh of gore and ichor, leaving a hovering, worm-like, half-human creature in its wake as ethereal wings bloomed into being.

All of that heading for Myles as he pushed his will against the ripper’s rebuke.

He was a [Monster Tamer], after all.

“That wasn’t an option.”

Due to his lucid state, Myles Chase gains an advantage.

Due to its determination, the dream ripper gains an advantage.

Due to the exposed nature of the Dream Ripper’s true nature in the dreamscape, the dream ripper is hindered.

Challenge in progress:

Myles Chase (Will 24+4) Versus Dream Ripper (Will 30-2)

Myles Chase’s Will push is in conflict.

Myles felt a wall raise itself against him, obscuring the power of his Essence Bond. There was a smugness in the wall, something so obviously superior to him that it made him sick. He was a weapon stopped by a shield, but it was a tenuous thing, teetering the more he pushed. So, Myles did what he did best and kept pushing. He poured his authority into his challenge as he beat against the other creature’s will. Astral or not, dreaming or not, he was a [Monster Tamer], and she… it had tried to kill him. No matter what it said, what its nature was, or what it felt about him, it had crossed a line using his dreams against him.

So he kept pushing against that wall, against that smugness, against the intruder in his realm. The sword of his will sharpened against the whetstone of the dream ripper’s wall, and he pushed.

As he did, the wall crumbled into nothing like a perfectly cooked butter cookie.

Myles Chase’s Will push has succeeded.

Soul Layer One - Surpassed

As he felt the first layer of will crumble, he felt a wash of annoyance, surprise, and fear at his attempt to subdue the dream ripper. He could feel everything it wanted, everything was pressing back against Myles, but it had nothing left to use, nothing that he didn’t already know was an illusion.

So he kept pushing.

Due to his lucid state, Myles Chase gains an advantage.

Due to determination, Myles Chase gains an advantage.

Due to its determination, Dream Ripper has gained an advantage.

Due to the exposed nature of the Dream Ripper’s true nature in the dreamscape, the dream ripper is hindered.

Challenge in progress:

Myles Chase (Influence 22+8) Versus Dream Ripper (Influence 20-2)

As Myles pushed further past the dust of the dream ripper’s resistance, the world changed as the two faced each other now on a new playing field.

Myles stood as a towering figure in the ripper’s mind as his will and influence pushed past its barriers and entered into its mind’s eye. The Runner looked down at it as his presence crushed the illusions the creature had built up, finding more than a few surprising things as he did. His memories looked back at him in shimmering mirrors of dream and crystal around the naked form of the astral creature- his first date with his first love, Sellia Tallis, his father’s baking recipes for cinnamon rolls, cake pops, and bon-bons, his kiss with Kendra against Shardking, and even the destructive union between Ashra and Squishy. All those things were connected to the ripper and seemed to be feeding it, giving it something it needed, more than likely what it needed to attack him.

One by one, he removed the memories, ripping them from the world before him and shattering the crystal enclosure they lived within, letting them return to wherever they’d come from.

With each removal, the creature lost more of its form, more of its power. His first date removed the remains of whatever beauty he saw in the creature, which surprised him that he thought there was beauty left at all in that grotesque form. The recipes removed the alluring smells that always seemed to linger around it. The memory of the kiss removed the rest of its physical form, its eye, face, flesh, and hair. As he removed the last of the memory, the union, the claws and the physical sheen of its form vanished, leaving the creature truly revealed for what it was, little more than an ethereal, human-shape cut from the night sky, a creature that lacked the will and influence to affect his dreamscape and resist his call.

Soul Layer Two - Surpassed

Essence Bonding has Succeeded.

New information has been added to your interface.

Squishy radiated pride as Myles stared as the creature floated to the ground and made an attempt to kneel, radiating its submission to its new master as Myles felt its power connect to his own.

Despite the new connection and the power it bought, Myles dragged a hand down his face and went back to the bed to rest.

This was not how his nap was supposed to go.