The desert stretched on for miles in every direction. There was red sand as far as the eye could see. Xander soon realized he had little hope of finding a water source in this arid landscape.
Before the Dreamwalker could think of another plan, the Barghests caught up with him. They surrounded him from all sides, trapping him in a circle and cutting off all escape routes.
With nowhere left to run, Xander jumped down from his direwolf and pulled out his revolver. Even though he knew it was pointless, he fired at the Barghests in hopes of scaring them. But the magic bullets went right through their spectral forms, leaving them unscathed.
Though Xander tried to remain as calm as possible, the Barghests could already sense his fear. They could pounce on him whenever they wanted, and tear him to pieces, but the cursed Ethereals decided to play with him a little longer.
Unlike the other Ethereals, these spectral entities didn't feed on flesh and blood. Instead, these cursed creatures drew nourishment from negative emotions.
Xander knew they weren't going to kill him outright, but take turns feeding on his fear. And both of his weapons were completely useless against them as long as they remained in their spectral forms.
The best way to deal with these cursed beings was by using elemental magic that harnessed the power of water, but the only elemental card Xander had on him was Arctic Kiss. And ice was going to do precious little against Flame Barghests.
While the four Barghests kept circling the Dreamwalker, the fifth one bared its fangs and took on the form of a black wolf with blood-red eyes and a long bushy tail.
Just as the Barghest was about to attack Xander, his direwolf stepped between them. Despite being a summoned entity, the direwolf was fiercely loyal, and over the years it had developed such a close-knit bond with the Dreamwalker that its protective instincts kicked in seeing him in danger.
Though Barghests weren't easily intimated by other Ethereals, Xander's snow-white direwolf was nearly double the size of the black wolf in front. And its ferocious growl was enough to cause the approaching Barghest to back away cautiously.
While the direwolf was distracted by the feral wolf in front of it, one of the Barghests pounced on it from the left, sinking its teeth into its back. But before it could pin the direwolf down, the beast turned around and slashed at the Barghest with its claws.
Xander was surprised to see that even in its spectral form, the Barghest yelped in pain. Just then, he remembered something about his direwolf.
"Of course, you're from the Dreamscape. I almost forgot you can touch other Ethereals even in their spectral forms." Xander backed away from the Barghests while they focused their attention on his direwolf.
Though the summoned direwolf was strong enough to take on an entire pack of feral wolves, the Flame Barghests proved to be too much for it to handle. Their burning claws singed its white hide, charring its flesh.
What followed next was a coordinated attack, with the Barghests pouncing on the white direwolf from all sides. Some went for its legs, while others clamped their jaws on its back. Still, it kept fighting with the last ounce of life left inside it.
Xander realized that his direwolf would soon be overwhelmed, and once the Barghests had killed his beast, they were going to turn to him next. Even if he tried to run away, there was nowhere he could hide in this vast open desert.
With the limited cards at Xander's disposal, there was little he could do against a whole pack of Barghests. His direwolf's valiant efforts only bought him a few extra seconds. Soon, the spectral canines tore the beast to pieces and narrowed their glimmering red eyes on the Dreamwalker.
Having exhausted all his regular options, Xander took his chances with a gamble. As the growling Barghests closed in on the Dreamwalker, he took out the last crystal ball from his jacket and tossed it upward. Then with a sudden, jerky movement, he shot the crystal out of the sky.
The glass shattered to pieces, releasing the dense black smoke trapped inside. Seconds later, the whole desert lit up with a blinding flash, and the ground started trembling under Xander's feet.
The void energy released from the crystal distorted the Nightscape, unleashing unbridled chaos throughout the land. Wild winds swept across the desert, creating a sudden sandstorm that swallowed everything in its path.
Even the Barghests were sucked into the swirling vortex as the winds picked up speed.
Patches of dull violet started peeping through the gray clouds above as lightning flashed across the sky, cracking its thunderous whip without mercy.
As the Death Nightmare ruptured at its seams, the trees and bushes scattered around the desert began to distort and it started raining hailstones.
Chunks of ice as large as boulders came crashing down all around the Dreamwalker. Xander quickly conjured Destiny's Child and boosted his reflexes to dodge the icy rocks raining from the sky.
Hundreds of glowing red portals started appearing all across the desert, but they flickered out of existence before Xander could get close.
Xander kept running at full tilt, frantically dodging the boulders and cutting through the sandstorm.
By destroying a Nightmare Crystal while still inside a Death Nightmare, Xander had disrupted the delicate balance of the Nightscape, and the ensuing chaos was now beginning to plunge the whole desert into madness.
It had been a desperate measure to escape from the clutches of the Barghests, but by resorting to such extremes, Xander had destabilized the Death Nightmare, causing it to merge with the void.
The disturbance quickly spread across the whole desert, and the sky was torn asunder by a rapidly expanding rift through which the Infinite Void started bleeding into the Nightscape.
Bestial cries and guttural groans echoed across the desert as the Ethereals trapped within the Death Nightmare lost their connection to the Nightscape and started becoming more and more agitated.
"Ohh crap! I should have thought about this before," Xander cursed under his breath as he continued running across the desert.
Suddenly, a black portal opened under his feet and sucked him in before he could jump out of the way. It teleported him straight inside the Shrine of Kiya.
Just as he thought he could breathe easy, he noticed that the shrine too was beginning to distort.
The pillars and braziers inside the old brickwork structure flickered like hazy afterimages, and little pieces of stone started flying out of its walls. The whole place was falling apart, unable to resist the pull of the void.
"God damn it. Not now!" Xander hurried toward the altar and placed the mysterious scroll on top. "How the hell do I perform the ritual?" he shouted hysterically.
[To begin the Ritual of Light, ignite all the braziers in the shrine.]
Xander ripped out a burning torch from the nearest pillar and dashed across the room, lighting all five braziers from left to right.
As he returned to the altar, the scroll floated up and unfolded to reveal a blank white parchment with a runic symbol painted in the middle.
[Ritual of Light completed.]
[Bonus objective completed: Unseal the scroll to learn its secrets.]
[500 exp gained.]
[Accumulated exp: 700/1500.]
[Current Level: 4.]
[100*2 Nightmare Coins Acquired.]
Xander reached out with his right hand and carefully grabbed the floating scroll. As soon as it touched his fingers, it rolled back in, emitting a faint white glow.
[Relic identified: Scroll of the Windwalker]
[The Scroll of the Windwalker is a divine relic that allows the Dreamwalker to instantly teleport to the nearest Eternal Fountain. This relic can only be used once inside each nightmare.]
"That's gonna come in handy," Xander said as he shoved the scroll back inside his jacket.
Just as he turned around to exit the shrine, two more portals appeared before him. The one on his right was a vibrant red while the one on his left was jet black.
Xander quickly pulled out his Chronica and this time both hands pointed at eleven. As he approached the black portal his pocket watch began to vibrate. It was a clear indication that the cultist's Last Memory was on the other side.
Gripping his revolver tightly between his fingers, Xander stepped into the black portal. It teleported him to a rocky wasteland swarming with Implings.