"Are you completely sure you haven't lost your mind?"
Nephis sighed, answering the same question for the third time. "Yes, I am."
Sunny narrowed his eyes, still doubting her mental health. "Then why do you think it's a good idea to build a boat, out of all things?! Don't you realize how dangerous it is? And why did you come up with it only now?"
"Because" Nephis shifted her glance to the only tall hill at the sight which looked as if it was made from ash. "I don't think it's safe for us to travel like this anymore. So far, we have been lucky, but one bad day and it will be an end for us. And that big tree gives off dangerous vibes. Don't forget that plants can be dangerous nightmare creatures too. Moreover, by boat, our pace would increase by severalfold."
The argument threw her companions into a dilemma. Both options were full of uncertainty and risk. On the one hand, the tree was clearly abnormal, but on the other, they had no idea what kind of danger could await them in the vast dark sea.
No matter what they would choose, it would be a gamble. Nephis could only thank to dead gods, that in this round they hadn't encountered any creature from the depths yet.
If that wasn't the case, then it would be nearly impossible to persuade them to sail away.
Eventually, they decided to trust Neph's judgment and go along with her proposal. After all, when it came to the Dream Realm, her knowledge vastly exceeded theirs.
"But do we even have the means to build a boat? In school they taught me basics, but we don't have suitable materials," Cassie inquired.
"We can hunt down and use a shell from a Carapace Centurion. If we get lucky, we will be able to finish it and head out in two days."
Sunny frowned. "If you want to get out of here so much, then we should start to prepare now."
From that fateful day in the Labyrinth, they grew much stronger and their teamwork got a lot better. As though motivated by his failures, Sunny started to train even more diligently, becoming a true ally.
Cassie meanwhile managed to adapt… well if not enough to help then at least good enough to not get in the way.
A great boon was also Sunny's new echo - a three-meter-long centipede type monster which they killed a two days ago.
In contrary to carapace scavengers, it was really fast and agile, but its offensive and defensive qualities weren't as great. But it had also a handy ability to produce corrosive oil which could melt even through Carapace Centurion Armor given enough time.
And so, though still dangerous, their opponents gradually became less difficult to face.
In the end it took them three days to make enough preparations for the departure. Their boat was also a lot smaller than the one created from the Demon's armor, but they had to settle with it.
Nephis didn't want to get anywhere near the tree and depend only on her luck again.
At least not while being only a scrawny dormant beast.
With Sunny's help she lowered the boat on the sea as soon as the artificial sun disappeared from the sky. Then, they helped Cassie to embark and set off.
Since Nephis didn't have the ability to see in the dark and Cassie didn't have ability to see, it was only on Sunny to guide their makeshift boat to the safety. Or at least to somewhere where it is safer than above the roots of a mind sucking tree.
None of them made a sound, as though afraid they would wake up something terrifying slumbering in the depths of the sea.
Even though everything went relatively well, Nephis still couldn't shake down bad premotion.
After some time, she soundlessly whispered. "Where are we?"
"We sctill sail along the tree island. It will take a while to pass it completely," hushed answer resounded behind her back.
Too slow.
She uncomfortably shifted.
There was nothing out of the ordinary to fear of, so why couldn't she shake off that unsettling feeling. This was nothing like her.
Trying to calm down her disruptive thoughts, she slowly closed her eyes and deeply inhaled.
Well, in the end, it doesn't matter. I will deal with anything what has enough nerve to try to mess with us.
Just as she finished her thought the boat swayed, as if responding to her mental challenge.
Sunny muffledly shrieked with panic in his voice.
"There is something under-" but he was interrupted in the middle of the sentence by the loud crash.
Everything what came after, felt like a feverish dream.
Nephis only remembered that she fell into the freezing sea and fought with wild currents.
But despite all her efforts, the raging waters toyed with her as if she was a rag doll, making her barely hold herself above the surface.
She was unable to tell how long it took her to blindly crawl out. She only knew that after some time of desperately holding out, the currents around her started gradually to quiet down and soon she found solid ground under the tips of her toes. After a while, she could comfortably stand on her feet without drowning and later, the water level didn't even reach her waist.
Finally on dry land, Nephis exhaustedly collapsed on her knees, coughing out salt water. She tried to stand up, but her legs refused to listen to her.
Despite trying to resist it with all her might, the fatigue quickly overcame her.
The situation was truly bad. Not only did they land in the place to which she wanted to avoid at all costs, but they also ended up there in the most inconvenient way she could imagine.
Well, maybe not the most, but it would certainly be in the top ten.
They were all scattered in absolute darkness, exhausted and without any plan. And as a bonus they were surrounded by an unknown horror from the sea and almost uncomfortably familiar demon-tree duo.
Wait, can Carapace Demon see in the dark?
Nephis somehow hoped not to find out.
After recuperating a little, she got up, supporting herself with her sword.
A sharp pain resonated in her right leg, but summoning flames in this situation would be akin to suicide.
She wanted to do something, anything, to help, but right now she was lost and powerless.
All she could do was to grit her teeth and wait either for aid or for doom. Not that she would go down easily if push came to shove.
I wonder if this is how Cassie always feels…
In the absolute darkness, as a freezing wind pierced into her face, a cacophony of sounds overwhelmed her.
Behind her, she could hear the raging sea and also the sound of something, which didn't feel like it belonged to this world.
She had to get as far as possible from its vicinity. By now, the Carapace Demon should have noticed the uninvited visitor and Nephis wasn't very thrilled by the idea of being cached between two abominations exchanging pleasantries.
Ignoring her aching leg, she limped along the shore with no goal set in her mind, using her sword as a cane.
Before she could walk even a hundred meters, something started silently rustling behind her, and it was quickly drawing closer. It sounded like an army of tiny creatures was marching towards her. There was no point in running, since her pursuers were a lot faster than her and clearly knew that she was there. Nephis vigilantly turned toward the sound, estimating her opponents.
Against numerous weak opponents, her flames held a great advantage, but she wanted to refrain from using them unless it was an absolute necessity.
As the little beings approached, Nephis noticed something odd. The sound of marching legs was too synchronized and also strangely familiar.
Then, the voice she wanted at that moment to hear the most resounded.
"For love of the dead gods, please don't shoot at us your flames Neph or you will kill us for good this time."
"Sunny! Are you ok? Where is Cassie?" she suppressed her excitement and lowered volumes in her voice to not alert their enemies.
"Except a few bruises I'm alright. Cassie is right here with me. But we don't have time to stall, so please stop pointing your sword at us and climb on."
Oh.
She hurriedly lowered her Dream Blade and let Sunny help her to mount onto the Echo while he himself jumped off.
Despite having many great uses, the Centipede monster wasn't strong as scavengers and was able to carry a lot less weight. To sustain reasonable speed of their advancement, it was more effective for them to let Sunny run along.
Even though she knew that this was the most practical solution, she still felt a little pang of regret about being the carried one.
But in the end her emotions didn't matter. She couldn't afford to be selfish if she wanted to achieve her goals. So, she just settled behind Cassie and turned her head towards the place where she presumed Sunny was.
"What's the exact situation?"
He answered with slight hesitation in his voice. "I'm not really sure either. Everything happened in such a hurry. I only saw something big flash by and in the next moment we were all drowning. I managed somehow to crawl out in one piece. Luckily, I landed near Cassie. Then we went searching for you."
Nephis furrowed her brows in puzzlement. "What about that thing?"
"That's the strange part. It destroyed our boat and scattered us, but it didn't pursue us. In fact, I haven't seen any part of it out of the sea. It only howls and swirls water."
"How big do you think is the possibility the boat survived?"
"Slight. But have you really gone crazy?" even though right now she was unable to see his face, Nephis could swear that he was looking at her with completely dumbfounded expression. "Do you really think that we have any chance now to get out of here by boat? There is no way! And-" he abruptly stopped.
"We have to run now."
Without any warning, the centipede hurriedly started moving away from shore.
Nephis wanted to protest, but before she managed to say a word, a spine-chilling roar resonated over the entire island.
A few moments later, she heard a strong splash and then a slight tremor spread through the ground. All around them echoes of dreadful howls could be heard. It seemed that the resident of this place finally decided to throw a proper welcoming party.
And Nephis didn't want to be anywhere near it.
They were moving as fast as they could, while trying to make as little noise as possible.
"Where are we going?" Nephis whispered toward Sunny.
"Isn't it obvious. Towards the tree."
"We can try to find some other way."
"I don't know why you are so reluctant to approach that tree, but right now it is our only hope to survive the next day. You didn't see the thing what lives under it and if that monster comes back, we don't have anywhere else to hide," he silently retorted, with a hidden irritation in his voice.
She wanted to argue back, but Cassie suddenly broke into the conversation.
"I think Sunny is right this time. We don't have an idea what will happen next, but I think by hiding in the tree we have the best chance of survival."
Nephis remained silent. Of course, from their perspective the suggestion was perfectly logical, and Nephis was the one who was acting unreasonably. Their boat was lost and on the edge of the island two terrible creatures were fighting till the last breath. The tree indeed posed tempting shelter. But they didn't know what she did.
Yet no matter how hard she tried to deny it, they had truly no other feasible options. In the end she had no choice but to give up.
"Fine but we will be leaving with the next sunset."
Though she doubted that after today's disaster her friends were quite content with sailing once again, they didn't bring out any remarks anymore.
They managed to get to the tree without any more troubles, but the real challenge began from now on.
Before they climbed on, Nephis stopped them.
"Wait. Before we go up, remember that no matter what'll happen, don't fall asleep. It could be the end for us."
After slight hesitation, she briefly touched her friends and sent a healing flame into their wounds. Then she cured her own injured leg.
She was contemplating the chances of being spotted, but in the end, she decided that the risk was now low enough. Most importantly, they had to be fit enough to be able to face tomorrow's challenges.
Sunny dismissed the Echo and helped them climb the tree. Then they hid on the lower part of the branches, where they planned to spend the night.
In the best-case scenario, the horror from the sea would injure the demon enough for them to being able to kill it in the morning. Then they would spend the next day building another ship from its carapace. Then they could-
Wait, what could we to do?
Nephis shat her eyes firmly while faint flames started dancing on her arm.
Get out of this island by the next night, Changing Star. You can never forget your goals.
The tree started to make weak attempts to control their mind already. The influence was still easy to shake off, but with more time they lingered here it would be harder and harder to get rid of the mental hex.
She instinctually turned her gaze to the place where she knew Sunny was.
Should she tell him?
It was him after all who saved them from its claws last time they ended up here. But how could she explain where she got all this information? On the other hand, if she stayed silent now, there would be no guarantee that she would be able to remember for enough time.
Before she could decide what to do, something changed.
"N-no way," she heard Sunny gasp in horror.
"What's happening?"
"That mad… We have to climb higher. Quickly."
This time Nephis didn't argue back. She knew Sunny well enough to recognize when the situation was truly serious.
Thanks to Sunny's navigation, they somehow managed to thread the way through the branches, to upper parts of the tree.
But then a terrible blow resounded somewhere from behind them, followed by a quake strong enough to make Nephis nearly lose her balance.
"Shit, we have to go even higher, or we will die from the impact!" Sunny firmly grasped their hands and increased their pacing even more, not bothering to describe the situation a little better.
By then Nephis had already decided. She had to tell him now when there was still a chance.
"Sunny," she took a quiet breath to calm herself down. "This tree is extremely strong and dangerous mind-controlling nightmare creature. It will slowly suck out our brain and we will unknowingly become its slaves. Our only chance is to build another boat and get out of here immediately after sunset. Do not ever fall asleep on this island. Use sharp pain to keep your thoughts intact instead."
She stopped for a bit. Sunny didn't interrupt her, seemingly processing the flood of new information she dumped at him.
Now she got to the part she feared the most.
"Also never forget your true name. It's an anchor to oneself and with repeating it will be harder for you to lose yourself."
The hand holding her shook.
"How?"
She guiltily lowered her gaze. "Now isn't time."
Sunny didn't react to her revelation anyhow, but she knew that he was in turmoil on the inside.
For a few minutes they walked without saying anything, but then, another especially strong shake resonated through the tree.
Nephis tried to hold herself, but a small branch broke under her feet.
The last thing she managed to do was to let go of Sunny's hand to not to drag him and Cassie down with her.