Cedric leaned up against a wall next to Dyllan. This whole breakdown had caught him off guard, which lead to… sub-par reassurance. Honestly, “that’s a Nightmare not a person?” What was he thinking? Phrasing like that would only make things worse! “Come on buddy, I really need you to come back to reality for -” Cedric caught sight of the local Nightmare, which had returned with a renewed courage. “Shit! Andie, follow me!”

  Cedric heaved Dyllan over his shoulder and sprinted around a corner, making another turn a few seconds later into a dead end alleyway.

   Thoughts echoed in Cedric’s head, just as naturally as if they were his own. He knew they weren’t, though - partially because he knew their true origin and partially because of how they felt ever so slightly… alien.

  Cedric ignored the thoughts’ protest. His shadow had agreed to help defend their friends whenever necessary, and they both knew that if Cedric didn’t do anything he’d be racked with devastating guilt for the rest of his life.

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   A twinge of frustration settled in Cedric’s stomach, not entirely his own.

  “Reach through the darkness, my Cunning.” A black and green drone rippled into visibility and flew off of Cedric’s back, revealing the pair of black ectoplasmic wolf ears and tail that had been fluttering out of Cedric for a while now - concealed up until this point. Swiftly, the drone soared over to the alleyway’s entry point, and created the holographic image of a wall. The illusion was perfect. Anyone who hadn’t seen its creation would never think it fake, and anyone who didn’t think it fake would meet the same amount of physical resistance they would get from an actual concrete wall.

  “Come forth, my Courage.” With a swirl of orange flames, a bronze longsword manifested itself in Andie’s hands, pressed lightly against Cedric’s throat. “You aren’t Cedric, are you?”

  “I absolutely am - and no, before you ask, I don’t mean that in the darkness-is-a-part-of-Cedric-too sense of the phrase. This isn’t a lead-in to some speech. I’m the same Cedric you’ve fought alongside for years… plus one more.” Cedric looked toward Dyllan. “I’ll explain why that isn’t a brain-staggeringly horrific idea later, right now we have something more urgent to deal with.”