He didn't fight with a weapon; he fought with the sound. He let out a scream that harmonized with the chaos around him. The ground shattered. The mirrors in the hallway behind him exploded into a million shards of light.
The creature was gaining. Elias felt the heat of its breath on his neck. He realized then that he couldn’t keep running. In the logic of this dream, speed was the only currency. He turned, not with fear, but with a sudden, jagged surge of defiance.
"You can’t wake up until you face the fire," a voice hissed from the dark.
He closed his eyes, and the transition was instant. He wasn't in his room anymore. He was standing in a corridor of mirrors that stretched into an infinite, oily void. This was the "Nightmare" he couldn't outrun.