"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Each one that arrives is a thrill to her heart - with their help, they will find a way to fix what has been wronged.
Only, she just wished there was another way forward. She frets for these heroes as they each give up a nightmare in order to pass through the storm. Their fears coat her like another skin, flashes of them passing through her mind and she does feel genuine pain.
Because whatever relief they may feel at having given up those nightmares will only be temporary.
Inside of the storm that they’ve just entered is every nightmare anyone in Beqanna has ever had. The fee for entry allows them to blend in, distracting the storm enough to allow the solid bodies to pass through unharmed. There is no helping them once the clouds reform. And no retreating either - those who try will discover that the clouds are now as impenetrable as stone.
Forward then, to the heart of the storm. There, the Cloud Fairy tells them, there they will find the secret to save Beqanna from the mess it’s gotten into. Though she does not know what it might be - a key, a piece of knowledge, a spell - it must be powerful if there's to be such a defence built around it.
To get there, though, they will need to make it through the nightmares. Some are just images projected onto the clouds around them, some manifest in more solid ways. Everything is illuminated by that same, eerie lightning - causing the images and figures to jump and flicker as they are revealed.
The Cloud Fairy hovers anxiously outside of the storm - nothing to offer by way of help except her faith. It's unlikely any of them can be physically harmed by the nightmares, though she really only has her best guess.
The Cloud Fairy believes the answer is being hidden, protected, at the eye of the storm. The catch? To get there, they need to pass through a minefield of a collection that is every nightmare anyone in Beqanna has ever had. These nightmares can be projections or physical manifestations (or a combo!). You won't know who the nightmare belongs to but there's certainly the possibility of seeing some familiar faces.
This round will end (approximately) in a week, June 24 at midnight EST but you'll have until I get the next round up to put in your post. There will be one more round after this one.
