"Wake up, murderer."
Velpam said.
The voice did not echo.
It did not rise above the wind.
And yet it pierced through the fog of unconsciousness with surgical precision.
Caspian's eyes snapped open.
Rain struck his face like cold needles. Wind howled across the endless ocean, tearing at his bare skin. For a moment, he did not move. He simply breathed.
In.
Out.
The sky above remained starless — an oppressive, lightless abyss. The ocean stretched in every direction, black and restless. No moon.
Still no moon.
His body felt heavy. Bruised. Every muscle ached from the impact against the crimson stone. When he shifted slightly, pain lanced through his ribs.
Alive.
That alone was something.
Then it hit him.
The thirst.
It was worse than before.
Not the sharp hunger of battle.
Not the disciplined restraint he had cultivated in the First Nightmare.
This was deeper.
Primal.
Violent.
His throat burned. His fangs ached against his gums. His vision sharpened unnaturally as his senses hunted for the rhythm of blood.
It was not the same night.
He was certain of it.
How long had he been unconscious?
A day?
More?
It didn't matter.
He needed to stabilize himself.
Caspian exhaled slowly and summoned the Blood Pond. The dark vessel materialized in his hand, cool and heavy.
He poured a cup of ascended blood.
And he gulp it down.
The effect was immediate.
The burning receded. The savage edge dulled. Power flowed through his veins like liquid fire — controlled, potent, intoxicating.
The monster within him quieted.
Not silenced.
Never silenced.
But obedient.
For now.
Only then did he allow himself to acknowledge the rest of his body.
Normal thirst scratched at his throat.
He tilted his head back and drank directly from the falling rain. It was cold, clean, almost painfully so. It grounded him.
He was naked.
The wind made sure he did not forget that fact.
With a faint sigh, he summoned the Moonlight Crown. Pale radiance gathered above his brow, descending like a veil of silver mist. Armor formed across his body — sleek and protective, yet elegant. Dark fabric wove itself beneath plated segments, becoming both clothing and defense.
The sensation was familiar.
Comforting.
He rose carefully to his feet atop the crimson stone.
The ocean still raged, but less violently now. The colossal heartbeat from the abyss was gone. No tremor disturbed the waters.
He waited.
If there was one lesson he had learned — both in the First Nightmare and after awakening from it — it was patience.
Recklessness killed.
Preparation endured.
So he waited for sunrise.
Time passed slowly in that infinite darkness. Rain came and went. The wind shifted directions. The thirst remained contained.
Then—
The horizon changed.
It was subtle at first.
A faint paling.
The ocean began to recede, like avoiding the light.
The black waters drained toward the horizon until they vanished entirely, leaving behind something wholly different.
A labyrinth.
Crimson coral stretched as far as he could see.
Towering formations twisted upward like petrified forests. Narrow pathways wound through jagged walls. The ground was slick with mud, glistening faintly.
It was beautiful.
And deeply unsettling.
Caspian inhaled.
No salt.
No ocean.
Only the mineral scent of coral and damp earth.
He summoned Stargaze from the armor's chest plate. The arrow-shaped Memory rested cool in his hand, faintly humming.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Where should he go?
The arrow shifted.
Then pointed.
Not rigidly.
It trembled.
Adjusted.
Pointed again.
As if correcting itself.
That way.
Caspian stepped down from the crimson stone and into the mud. It squelched softly beneath armored boots. Each step was deliberate.
The arrow began to move more erratically the deeper he ventured.
Not wildly.
But cautiously.
Avoiding something. The faint sound of heartbeats confirming that the Stargaze was avoiding creatures.
He slowed.
Then—
He heard them.
More faint heartbeats.
Many of them.
Layered atop one another.
Some steady.
Some frantic.
Some fading.
Battle.
He moved with greater care now, using the towering coral structures as cover. The labyrinth amplified distant sounds — metal striking chitin, wet tearing noises, war cries that were not human.
When he finally reached an opening in the coral walls, he saw it.
War.
Not a skirmish.
Not chaos.
War.
Hundreds of meters ahead, Nightmare Creatures clashed in brutal violence.
One side was losing.
Badly.
The first faction resembled grotesque hybrids.
Massive crab-like bodies scuttled across the mud, their shells thick and ridged. But where their crab faces should have been rose humanoid torsos — twisted mockeries of human anatomy. Their heads retained crustacean features, eyestalks twitching, mandibles snapping. Their arms ended in enormous pincers.
There was at least a dozen of them.
Relentless.
But the other side—
The other side did not looked like they belonged there.
How to express it? Their vibes did not matched the local scenary as well as the crabs.
Five figures formed a shield wall at the front.
Humanoid turtles.
Massive tower shields braced together, absorbing the relentless strikes of the crab creatures. Their shells were thick, old-looking. Their stance unwavering.
Behind them stood six slender figures.
Humanoid cats.
Graceful.
Precise.
Long spears darted between the openings in the shield wall, piercing joints and exposed flesh with surgical efficiency. Each thrust was clean. Disciplined.
Further back—
Two tall humanoid rabbits stood with swords drawn, movements swift and strangely elegant. They guarded the flanks of a towering figure at the center.
A lion.
Humanoid.
Regal.
Massive.
Golden mane flowing despite the lack of wind.
But—
Did it have two heads?
Caspian narrowed his eyes.
No, it didn't, there was something on his mane.
Meanwhile.
The crabs fell in numbers.
Shells cracked.
Mud turned another colour with azure blood.
The Stargaze trembled violently in his hand.
Not pointing at the battlefield.
Not at the lion.
Not at the crabs.
It pointed slightly above the lion's shoulder.
Caspian focused.
There.
Hidden within the flowing mane of the lion—
A small figure.
Protected.
Concealed.
Black hair caught faint light.
Eyes wide but calculating.
Alice.
Protected by an army that resembled a grotesque parody of a children's parade.
Wonderland, like the ancient children's book.
The name formed naturally in his mind.
It was a Wonderland Parade.
The lion roared. The turtle shield wall advanced a single synchronized step. The cats thrust forward. The rabbits remained at his side
The crab creatures began to collapse under the pressure.
Caspian remained hidden.
Observing.
Assessing.
Why was she here?
Did they ended up in the same zone of all the Dream Realm?
Such a coincidence indeed.
The crabs died, the lion took Alice with his hands and placed her in the ground, she had an algae women dress, it looked like she was good with her hands, which were still covered in bandages.
He placed her hand on one of the crabs corpses, the one that looked the most well preserved, and with a faint light, it dissapeared.
What did she do? Caspian asked himself.
Alice remained still for a minute, after that, she summoned something, a crab warrior, it looked more human than the beasts, and it had a mase resembling a piercer.
That was her aspect? It was awesome.