Ella looked at Nely'na. "Not again." Ella whispered, thinking fast she grabbed her katanas. She looked at the shadows as they closed the girls in. They surrounded them with darkness. It felt like a sinking feeling. Ella, and the other girls were curled up. Away from each other. Each in there own nightmare.

"NOO!!!" Ella screamed falling from a tall building. It was a never ending fall. She embraced it. Closing her eyes as if it were real. She saw the ground. She braced herself for her death. It all stopped. Ella was on the ground. Safe untouched. She looked around the forest. "Ella" A voice called. "Ellaaaa!" The voice was closer. Behind her, whispering to her. Controlling her. "This is what you came for!" A bright object. The sun. Shown high and mighty in the sky shining over the land with warmth and light. "It's beautiful." Ella whispered to herself. "You can have it, you can share it with everyone in your town! If you do one think" Ella looked at the light staring at its light and beauty. "What do I have to do?" She asked wanting to do anything, but everything to get the sun back. "Kill your friends." Ella looked at the sun like in a sort of trance. She snapped out of it. "No. No. I won't. We will defeat you. You don't have power over me!" Ella yelled. It turned black.

Ella was back to reality.

Nely'na woke up surrounded by dead leaves. The trees were gnarled and twisted--burnt, even. There were remnants of a camp, though those, too, looked like they had been burned down. No...
She ran around the surrounding forest, calling out for her friends. There was no answer.
Suddenly, she looked up. The sun was hidden behind clouds...but it was there. The sun was there, visible.
Did we win? But how? The young healer wondered.
What was going on?
There was a voice calling to her, faintly at first, but grew in volume.
Destiny appeared from beyond the corpses of the trees, calling her name.
"What's going on...where are we?" Nely'na asked.
"I was hoping you could answer that," she answered.
She felt like someone was shaking her, and Nely'na looked around. She knew that Destiny did not do it...so then, who?
Destiny lunged at her, and Ella soon followed. Then, Nely'na realized the truth. This wasn't real.
As soon as the realization hit her, the scene fell away, to be replaced by darkness. She opened her eyes.

Destiny saw her mother standing outside a house. it was beautiful. but, the sun was up. "m-mom?! is that really you?" "of corse it is, Desti! i missed you so much. come meet your little sissy." "i-i don't have a sister."Destiny had a quick chat to her mother before everything turned black and she heard her mother's shrill screech. "DESTINY!" "MOM!" but Destiny didn't hear anything accept a faint scream. "save Hope." the last words she heard from her mother in her dream. she grabbed the baby and ran with it. she noticed it was furry. she looked down, "oh god! it's a werewolf!"Destiny screamed as she heard laughter from behind. it was the shades. she ran but it got her and it killed her. ""hope"" watched and gave an eerie smile as it grew fully and laughed with Destiny's last sight.

then she awoke, terrified. was it a sign saying that the girl's couldn't stand a chance? Destiny didn't know. she went back to sleep and the nightmares were no longer there.

Khaliana walked through the ruins of the city she had once called home. Everything had been destroyed by the shadow creatures.

Khali knew she couldn't face them alone. As much as she loved her home, she knew that it was gone. There was nothing left. As she turned to sift through the rubble for a way out, she heard something.

"Khali!"

It came from the darkness. Khali knew that it was a trap, but she had to go investigate.

It turned out that the call came from Khali's sister, who was not dead, but had become one of the shadow creatures. Khali got ready to fight her sister once more...

-----

Khali woke up. She couldn't believe her dream - could the shadow creatures really change people into them? Could they?

(Sorry for being away so long, my computer had to be fixed and I wasn't on for so long that I forgot my password. I had to make another account, but I'll still be keeping up with everything)

(Meh, it's not like we can expect you to live solely on this forum...)

(*cricket noise*...so...the story's kinda left at an awkward position :P...who wants to try and move it along...?)

((I don't know...I was waiting for someone else to post. It would feel weird for me to post two RP posts in a row.))

Ella shook her head getting onto her knees screaming. She could still hear the voice, still feel it's presence. "It's still there.............. IT'S STILL THERE!!!!!!!!!" She fell backwards curling into a ball with tears rolling down her face. She looked up seeing only bright lights. "The sun...?" She was only hallucinating. It wasn't the sun, it was yet another trick. Another unsatisfying trick by the thief. "He stole it! He stole it!" With those last words she blacked out on the ground her hands cuffing her ears.

Around Nely'na, her companions were writhing in agony. The others they were sheltering looked on in horror, unsure of what to do.
"Get out of here! It wold not do if these monsters took any of you, too!" she screamed, frantic and afraid. What should she do? For that matter, what COULD she do?
Suddenly, it hit her. If my own experiences are anything to go off of, they are going through something similar of what she had been through.
She could take the illusions and dispel them...but it was a risky endevour. If she was not strong enough...then it could be last thing she ever did.
But the healer had certainly learned one thing on this journey; she would willingly die if it gave anyone else to chance to feel the sun's warmth again.
Breathing in deeply, she touched the life essence of each fallen companion, one at a time. As she did so, she attempted to bring with her some of their inflicted darkness. She could not bring all of it, but enough that they should be able to shake the rest off themselves.
Slowly, the world around her began to fade. In its place, she was in the dead forest again. It's only an illusion, she repeated in her head, it's not real.
In the real world, her body trembled as she fell to her knees, blood beginning to flow from her nose as she struggled to expel the illusion. At first, it felt like the illusion was winning, but then...
She felt a benevolent presence along with her. Three of them, to be exact. They silently granted her strength enough to dispel the dark magic that cause the illusions.
When it was done, she passed out.

all Destiny say was the sun, and she was happy. she laughed and ran around in it's warmth, with Nely'na, Ella and Khaliana. she screamed of joy and almost began to weep, but then she awoke. she saw Nely'na on the ground and ran over to her. "Nely'na? a-are you okay?" Destiny screamed for Ella and Khaliana. but none of them answerd, untill Ella woke up. but they didn't know what to do. should they try to shake her awake , or what?

She heard screaming. Perhaps it was her own? What WAS this impenetrable darkness? Where was the light?
...Had she finally overstepped her boundaries?
No, she was still alive. She had to be. It was not over. Not yet.
Not until the sun reigned victorious.
She ran through the darkness, unsure of where she was going. All she knew was that she needed to truly see the light before passing from this world.
She would never give up until that day came to pass.

"Nely'na! Where are you going?"

Khaliana had escaped her nightmare only to see Nely'na run off.

We have to stay together if we want to succeed! thought Khali as she ran after Nely'na.

Nely'na gasped as somebody attempted to grab her from behind. With a jolt of mental energy, she attempted to shake them off. However, her captor still held fast to her forearm. She knew that she was too weak physically to shrug them off.
They were saying something, but Nely'na could not understand the words. Everything sounded like little more than a river roaring in her ears.
All at once, reality slowly returned to her, and the healer looked around. Where am I? she wondered.
"--listening to me? Say something!" cried a familiar voice behind her.
"K-Khaliana...what...?" she asked, dazedly.

"Nely'na! Where were you going? We need to stick together if we're going to succeed!"

"I...it...I-I'm..." she stuttered, bemused.
"Where are you going?" Khaliana insisted again, more forcefully this time.
"It...was dark. I was...trying to find the light. I suppose I have found it...?" Nely'na trailed, uncertain.
What HAD been her goal? It had all seemed so clear at the time...but now it made no sense. Of course, magic overuse did some strange things to the mind, and she was probably lucky to be alive.
"it's still dark. What are you talking about?" Khaliana insisted, seeming to become more confused by the minute.
"I...do not...know. Where...are we? And how far away is camp?" Nely'na replied, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion rush through her.
"We're not too far away. You look tired. Come on," Khaliana gestured with her hand, pointing behind her.
"Yes...rest...rest would be welcome," the healer said quietly, before turning on her heel to follow her companion's lead.

when Khaliana returned with Nely'na, Destiny was mixed with joy, fear, anger, and sorrow, so she was a mess. "Nely'na! why did you run away- are you okay?" the healer shrugged then went to bed. "what's her problem?" Destiny asked