In Her Dreams by Bolryder, Terry (the reader ebook .txt) 📕

I take Joey in my arms and move away from Adam until my back hits the edge of the dome.

“You’re going to pay, whoever you are, wherever you’re from,” Reve says.

Adam laughs. “Oh, going to banish me? I already had the pleasure of that millennia ago.”

“By the time I’m done with you, there will be nothing left to banish.” With a flick of Reve’s hand, his whip rises into the air with an electric snap that sends teal sparks flying around Adam’s feet.

Suddenly, I hear something pounding behind me, and my whole body jumps as I turn to see Lorien, Tess, and Jerrek separated from us by the purple dome surrounding us.

“Jen, Joey! Are you okay?” Tess asks. “I’ll get you out.” I see her draw her long yellow whip, but as she raises her arm to strike, Lorien stops her.

“Wait, love, we don’t know what sorcery this is. Jerrek, can you get us inside?” He commands quickly, turning to his friend.

Jerrek, who is also in his armor, his long red hair flowing over his shoulder, nods resolutely. “I will try.” He approaches a section a few feet from me, and when he opens his palm, a glowing red orb of energy appears, which he directs at the wall.

“Just hold on.” Lorien reassures me, and I turn to look back to see Adam and Reve, who are now facing off in the middle of the empty street.

Adam, the nightmare, is in armor now too, black and rusted and dripping with oily ooze that dissipates before it hits the ground. He extends his arm, and a long metallic whip unravels like a snake onto the ground, covered from end to end with barbs and thorns and metallic spikes that make goose bumps ripple up my arms just looking at it.

Instead, I look at Reve, whose expression softens as he sees me. Then, with a nod, I see bright-teal wings explode upward and outward from his back, extending dozens of feet in every direction.

So magnificent.

My Reve.

I’m so glad I decided to be with him.

After this, I don’t know if I care where we go so long as I can be by his side with Joey.

Reve snaps his whip forward, and the air cracks again as Adam dodges to the side, narrowly avoiding it. Adam then attacks, his heavy, spiked whip making a horrible crunching sound as it flails in a long arc, but Reve ducks under it, moving forward with utter confidence.

“How does that guy have a whip? I thought whips were supposed to be a show of our love,” I hear Tess asking behind me.

“When it’s a love duel, yes,” Lorien replies. “But when nightmares fight, they draw from a different source to defend themselves. Hate, envy, rage, malice, all of the dark things that fuel their innermost desires.”

I want to listen further, but I can’t take my eyes off Reve as I see him sidestep another swing. Even as he moves, he continues to move his whip from side to side before snapping it forward deftly and catching Adam in the shoulder.

Dark armor flies off and onto the ground, and Adam cries out in rage as he attacks and nearly catches Reve across the chest. Instead, he hits the armor on Reve’s arm, and to my dismay, the bright plating is wrenched off with the horrible sound of metal on metal before it disappears too.

In my arms, I feel Joey stir, mumbling something, and I keep him tight against me, hoping that either Reve will win or Jerrek will make a way inside before the worst happens.

Reve’s wings unfurl farther, and with a soundless beat, they push him off the ground, far above Adam, and he slashes downward, his whip making a sizzling whoosh sound. The nightmare tries to block, but he’s knocked off his feet from the blow and lands on his side, seemingly unconscious. Reve, seeing the opening, charges downward in a slash of light, my eyes barely able to follow the movement.

To my horror, Adam’s eyes fly open and he swings his whip upward, and I hear the metallic scrape of the jagged whip across Reve’s chest and pray he isn’t hurt. But Reve doesn’t veer off. Instead, he crashes right into the nightmare, and I can hear the sound of a loud punch being thrown and watch as Adam flies backward, slamming into the wall of the dome.

When I look again, I can see dark purple-black swirling nothingness on Adam’s cheek and neck. Like his human suit is wearing down to reveal whatever nightmares are really made of beneath.

Just the sight of it makes my skin crawl. The sheer inhumanness of it.

Reve, his chest now bare and only a few pieces of armor left on him, snaps his whip again and again, tearing whatever armor is still left on the nightmare. Adam tries to strike back, but for every blow he lands on Reve, Reve lands three more on him.

“Update?” Lorien calls to Jerrek, sounding more worried than his calm demeanor would imply.

“Working on it.” Jerrek’s face strains as the red energy in his hand gets brighter and hums louder, and I can see a small hole start to form in the dome.

“Why doesn’t he just magic armor back on? Reve’s totally exposed to that whip,” Tess says.

“Our armor is our magical resistance. Our ability to withstand damage and the influence of chaos. Reve’s energy is being sapped by that nightmare’s attack, but instead of protecting himself, Reve’s putting everything into his whip.”

As if on cue, I watch as Reve looks at the last bits of metal plating on his legs and one arm and shakes his head. With a blink, they disappear, leaving him just in leather pants and heavy boots.

In the same moment, his whip thrums and goes brighter than ever before, so bright it’s difficult to look at now and even longer than it was at the start.

Every time he said he’d give his life