Niyari was releived to finally be in a town again and being able to spend the night on a real bed instead of the forest floor or camping out on top of a tree or in a makeshift hammock. It was fine, they were used to it and could get sleep that way, but of course it was not their preferred method of getting rest. Niyari had taken off their travel cloth and enjoyed a quick bath before falling down onto the mattress. Their stomach was feeling a litle bit empty and it was tempting to go down to the inn keeper and get some warm stew inside of them, but Niyari wasn't sure if they would manage to stand up again. Their body was not feeling super exhausted, but the mental strain of the day was more than enough to knock the Elnin out. At least they still managed to throw the blanket over their body before burrowing their face into the pillow and closing their eyes.
Sleep found them quick. One minute they had rolled around on their side and the next they were already asleep. Niyari felt a slight rain on their face and blinked a few times before realizing they stood inside a forest. It must be a dream. It felt like a dream. But in the weird way of knowing you were dreaming without being able to intervene in any way. Niyari walked through the forest without even telling their legs to move. It seemed more like experiencing a movie from your own perspective. Niyari was drawn by something, walking through the muddy forest with confidence but they wouldn't be able to tell what they were getting drawn in by.
It was dark and the rain was almost invisible without any light source to reflect on the tiny water drops. The rain didn't feel cold and Niyaris fur didn't feel wet. Was that because this was a dream and they just couldn't feel it? Niyari looked up but couldn't see any clouds. The sky was just dark and once again there were no stars to see. Dread was settling inside of Niyaris stomach and they tried their best to shake the feeling off. The sky must just be overcast with dark storm clouds, that was only logical from the rain. Niyari was holding on to that belief until a rain drop landed right into their eye. Everything was suddenly black and it *stung*. Niyari frantically rubbed with a paw against their eye to get the water out. Their vision finally returned after a few tries and Niyari had the horrific realization: this wasn't rain at all. At least it wasn't water pouring down from the sky, no. This was part of the corruption, this was miasma! Niyari could feel their heart beating inside their chest. This had to be a dream. Niyari had been so sure of that at the beginning of waking up in this forest but now the weren't so sure about that anymore. This felt like a vision... Or a punishment. Did Niyari somehow cross the overwild border again?It had been hard enough yesterday to turn back and escape the strange crossing of two worlds but right now it felt strange. Niyari tried to look around to see some kind of path. The feeling that had led them here had dissipated a bit. Was Niyari just shook out of the feeling from the miasma rain? Or was they just led there by the feeling and was now at the place they had meant to be? Niyari was trying to still look around to find some kind of bearing or some indication if maybe some tree was a bit diferent from the rest. They couldn't see anything. Niyari tried to close their eyes and take a deep breath. Maybe they could just fall asleep again this way. Hopefully. The miasma kept raining down on them though.
*"Pathetic...."*
Niyari shuddered. They heard a growling behind them but the words were echoing inside of Niyaris head, echoing around the clearing. Everywhere. Niyaris instinct screamed to duck away and hide behind the nearest object but that seemed useless when they had already been found. Niyari took another deep breath, then opened their eyes again and slowly turned around, the fur on their body standing up. Their heart beat hadn't calmed down yet, no, seemed to get even quicker to the point that Niyari could feel the beating inside their head, hear it even.
There stood a monster behind them. Though that was not enough to describe it. Creature? Entity? A small voice in the back of Niyaris head told them what it was but that voice seemed wrong, had to be wrong. Was this a DaevaT
The creature had a body that seemed to be the mixture of an elk and an elephant, big antlers, big ears, the body sturdy and almost block-like. There was neither fur nor skin, just a coverage of the entire body with a shimmering shine of purple-black miasma. Halos were floating around multiple branches of the antlers, some moving clockwise while other moved anti-clockwise.
*"I smell your fear...."'
The creature didn't open their mouth - Niyari wasn't even sure exactly where the mouth was located - but a deep grumbling emitted from them. From the Daeva. Then the halos suddenly shot forwards, reaching out to Niyari and circling their body, constricting Niyari and squeezing them tight, tight, tight! Niyari didn't get any air anymore, they tried to tense their muscles but it didn't work. One last shuddering breath, rasping in their throat and then... They woke up.
