War Mantle (Dancing with Death part 3)

Shifting Goals

"How do we stop that thing?" Tyler stared at the ever growing storm cloud.

Phantasus glared at the black thundering mass. "My brothers and I must return to our duties. That should help hold him back, but he's grown too powerful. We can't contain him without..." his voice trailed off.

"Without what?" Ali pressed.

Morpheus answered her. "Without confronting him directly. Epialtes is a volatile spirit. He needs to be beaten into submission."

A shadow fell over Phobetor's face. He was shaking with the effort of holding his sanity together. "But we cannot do it." He faced the half-bloods. "We must return to our duties or he will grow beyond control."

"You mean," Tyler looked at Ali.

She met his gaze. "We have to do it."

Phantasus sighed regretfully. "There is no other way." He locked eyes with Ali. "I'm sorry my family issues have brought so much pain and danger into your life. Just know that if I could take your place, I would."

"That's a sweet sentiment." Ali smiled sadly. "But we both know I wasn't born to have an easy life; and I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone else."

He nodded somberly. "May the gods be with you, Aliana Breck."

Phobetor bowed his head. "And you, Tyler St. Cyr."

Morpheus rolled his eyes. "I've always hated heartfelt goodbyes." He looked at Ali with what almost looked like concern. "I don't care if you live or die. Just stop him."

She met his gaze and smirked. "You know I will."

With that, the brothers departed, walking towards the gates of dreams. Morpheus morphed into the shadowy entrance of the horned gate; and Phantasus and Phobetor disappeared into the swirling colors of the ivory gate

Ali turned towards the oncoming storm. "You ready for this?"

Tyler stood beside her, staring up at the intimidating thunderhead. "Definitely not." He met her determined gaze. "Let's go."
* * *
They trudged across the grassy lawn towards the cloud. The palace loomed up beside them, casting no shadow in the evenly diffused light of the Dream Realm.

Tyler glanced up at the storm. It was even more intimidating up close. The lightening flashing through the black vapor was tinged red and the cloud cast the only shadow in the entire realm.

"It would be pretty nice to have some divine help right about now." He noted.

Ali scaled the hill a bit to try and scout the path ahead. "I've survived this long without the gods' help. I'm not going to start begging for it now." She jogged back down to Tyler. "They wouldn't help us anyway." She started walking. "The path ahead goes dark. We're almost there."

Tyler jogged to catch up. "What do you mean it goes dark?"

"I mean, once we hit the shadow of that cloud," she pointed up at it. "Pitch black."

"Well, that's not at all terrifying." Tyler stammered sarcastically.

"It's the Valley of Nightmares." She said. "That's kind of the point."

At last, they rounded the hill and came face-to-face with a wall of thick shadows. The darkness reached for the palace ravenously, but something held it back.

Ali stared at the struggling tendrils of darkness. "Looks like the gods of dreams are doing their job... finally." She scanned the shrinking distance between the shadows and the hill. "If the shadows overtake the palace we're done for."

Tyler studied the slender gap. "Then we'd better hurry."

"My thoughts exactly." Ali's chest was tight and she struggled to swallow the rising lump in her throat.

Tyler grabbed her hand, which she hadn't noticed was shaking. "Don't let go. We do this together."

Ali met his gaze and nodded.

They each took a deep breath and strode into the darkness.
* * *
The shadows felt like thick sludge as they pushed through them. Ali clung to Tyler's hand as the darkness seemed to tug at her clothes and try to pull them apart.

Suddenly, they were standing in, what looked like, a post-apocalyptic version of the Realm of Dreams. The grass was black and withered. The only light came from the constant barrage of red lightening overhead. The air was so cold their breath plumed up in foggy clouds, but each breath felt like they were inhaling snake venom.

Tyler surveyed the horrific landscape, his breaths already labored, from the polluted air. "Welcome to the Valley of Nightmares."

A/N
Sorry, this one's a bit shorter, but I hope you still enjoyed it. 😁
Thanks for all the support guys.
-Cheshire