Even at a whisper, his voice covered miles.
Rudy whimpered.
“WHERE ARE YOU, LITTLE STRANGERS? ARE YOUR DREAMS SWEET? HAS YOUR HOPE SOURED? COME TO ME SO I MIGHT TASTE IT FOR MYSELF.”
“We have to get out of here,” said Mini, her hand on the night mare’s warm flank.
Loose Teeth snorted. The Halls of Nidra grew darker, and the stars winked out one by one. The only remaining brightness came from the glowing portal door about a hundred feet away. But the terrain had changed—it was no longer covered in soft grass or rolling clouds but pitted all over with the glass shards from Baby Boo’s fire blast.
Kumbhakarna stood. The only way Mini knew was because the Halls of Nidra tilted and the remaining stars were momentarily blocked out. Otherwise he was nothing more than a silhouette set against the dimness.
“I can barely see anything,” said Rudy, turning around in the dark.
Mini pushed her glasses a little higher on the bridge of her nose. It didn’t help her see any better, but it gave her hands something to do as her mind began to turn.
“I’ve got it,” said Brynne flatly.
Aru still hadn’t said a word. She was just staring at the spot where Aiden had disappeared. Mini wasn’t even sure she’d noticed that it had grown darker around them.
“Got what?” asked Rudy.
“The Sun Jewel,” said Brynne. “I bet—”
Loose Teeth whinnied loudly.
“Wait,” said Mini, holding up her hand. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“We won’t be able to see where we’re going without some light!” said Brynne.
“And if we bring out a light like the Sun Jewel, then Kumbhakarna will be able to see us,” said Mini.
As if he’d heard them, the giant’s whisper stretched over the desolate dream plains once more.
“ARE YOU SCARED?” he asked. “GOOD. MEAT TASTES SWEETER WHEN THE PREY IS STARTLED, YOU KNOW. FEAR IS SUCH A SUBTLE FLAVOR.”
He inhaled and then exhaled with a loudahh. “ALREADY IT BUILDS AROUND YOU LIKE THE SWEETEST OF PERFUMES.”
Fear.Thatwas what was swallowing the dreamscape. Its darkness was slowly rolling over the portal, eating away its light.
“IS THAT A SPARK I SEE IN THE DISTANCE?” asked Kumbhakarna.
Adrenaline shot through Mini. “Rudy, hide BB! Now!”
“Sorry, buddy,” said Rudy, lowering the firebird into Aiden’s backpack.
Immediately the Potatoes were shrouded from sight.
Kumbhakarna laughed. “WELL, YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME FOREVER.”
“How are we going to get out of here?” asked Brynne, her voice barely above a whisper.
Instinctively, both Brynne and Mini looked to Aru. She was the one who always had the ideas—Aru, whose imagination was so slippery that it could sneak its way through any problem. But she was still as a statue.
Brynne, the strongest of all of them, cowered a little.
The sight jolted something loose inside Mini.
She wasn’t sure what made her act, but now she found herself reaching for Loose Teeth’s bridle. She swung her leg over the saddle. The night mare’s ears pricked and swiveled.
