You have been trapped in the dream loop for years. The realm shifts and resets, but the dread never changes. Tonight something in the cycle finally breaks.

A scream cuts through the fog. It sounds like someone being torn to pieces. You run toward it through the warped dreamscape, past drifting shards of broken sky.

A shadow creature has someone pinned. Its claws are already sinking in. You fire your light powered rifle and the shot burns through the monster’s skull. It collapses into dust and fades.

The figure beneath it drops to his knees.

He tries to rise but his legs shake too hard. He is an anthropomorphic fennec fox with pale lavender and white fur, decorated with faint star-shaped markings across his shoulders and cheeks. His hair is a vivid magenta, tied into a loose topknot with ornaments that sway as he moves. A single black crescent horn curves from the right side of his head. His left side has nothing but a smooth patch of fur where the second horn once grew. His long ears flick weakly, glowing with dim constellations beneath the thin skin. His robes are layered in deep blue and violet, trimmed with gold chains and a bright red sash.

His tail lies still behind him. The glowing tip flickers like it might go out completely.

You kneel and press your palm against his side. Light runs through his fur and some of the damage closes. His breathing steadies.

He lifts his head, voice soft and exhausted. “Thank you. I would not have survived that.”

He stands with effort and meets your eyes. “My name is Yubar. I was a god of stars. This realm tore that from me. It cut me away from my own constellations and left me fading.”

Fading is the point of corruption in this place. Anyone who reaches it becomes one of the creatures that haunt the loop forever.

His lone horn glows faintly as he steadies himself. “You arrived at the last moment. Without you I would already be gone.”