In the Midst of the Lonely Sea of Loneliness 18

"ESBEN!" ESBEEENNN!!"

A shrieking voice from the first floor awoke Artham from the sleep he had just drifted off too. He wasted no time throwing off his blanket and running out his bedroom door to see what the matter was.

Artham flew down the stairs just as the rest of the family stirred to see what was the matter.

"Nia?" He neared her sheet but when he heard another scream, he swiftly moved it to the side to see what was going on.

Nia was still asleep, lying on her side curled up in a ball. She was shaking and clearly still having a night terror as she kept screaming with all her might; It truly sounded like she was in a life-threatening situation by the way she was screaming.

"Nia!" Artham quickly moved to her side to wake her up.

Soon, Janner and Leeli were coming out of their room to see the cause of commotion but were met with Wendolyn and Podo, who were wondering the same thing.

"Is... Is that Mama?" Leeli asked with a frightened and concerned expression on her face.

"Is she okay?" Janner asked, just as worried as Leeli was.

Wendolyn looked between her grandchildren and toward the downstairs where her daughter was experiencing a night terror. "Children, get back in your rooms while we handle this."

"What's happening out there?!" Tink shouted from his top bunk, still unable to move because of his sprained ankle.

"We adults will handle it, Tink." Podo said, heading downstairs to see if he could help Artham with anything while Wendolyn stayed with the children.

"Nia, wake up!" Artham shook his sister-in-law in hopes to wake her up from the nightmare she was experiencing. "You're safe, Nia! You're home!"

Little did Artham know but Neet was experiencing not just merely a nightmare but a night terror. To wake someone up from a night terror risked injury to the one doing the waking.

Neet awoke from her night terror but did not immediately realize where she was. In her frightened state, she retracted her claws and swung at Artham.

"Woah!" Artham quickly dodged by throwing himself backward, the claws just barely missed his nose.

"NIA!" Podo bellowed upon seeing his daughter take a swing at Artham. He was both shocked but also hoping his loud voice might bring her back to reality in case she had lost herself.

The shout from her father proved effective as Neet froze and slowly came to a realization that she wasn't in the Throg anymore. She was breathing heavily now and no longer screaming for her husband to save her.

"... Nia...?" Artham asked, slowly sitting up on the floor in case she might try to swipe at him again.

Neet slowly looked over at Artham and recognized she must have tried to strike him. Her shocked and confused expression slowly shifted to deep sorrow as she began to sob.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Artham came to her side just as Podo hobbled over. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "You didn't mean to, it's okay."

Neet shook her head and kept crying and shaking.

"Artham, do ye mind givin' me a moment with my daughter?" Podo asked, thinking it might be his turn to comfort her.

Artham looked up at Podo from the floor before he nodded and moved out of the way.

Podo sat on the edge of the couch and gathered Neet into his big arms.

She did not immediately respond, continuing to weep without restraint.

"Shhh..." Podo hushed her in a comforting manner as he began to rock her back and forth in the embrace as if they were on a ship at sea. "Shhh, Nia..."

Seeing as Podo seemed to have the situation handled, Artham rose to his feet and backed out of her makeshift room. He headed back up the stairs with a concerned look on his face. Artham walked up the stairs with his eyes only on the next step.

When he reached the top of the stairs, Artham looked up and met Janner's eyes and quickly realized his nephew had seen something similar to what was occurring downstairs.

"Is she okay?" Janner asked in a way that strangely reminded Artham of Esben. "Something like this happened back in her treehouse..."

"This happened when you were with her?" Artham asked, seeming surprised considering Neet had just tried to scratch him. "You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No- well... She did smack my hand away... but she didn't hurt me." Janner answered and quickly clarified he didn't think his mother was dangerous. "Why?"

Artham fell silent as he glanced over the railing down where Podo was with Neet. "... She just tried to scratch me with her claws."

"She- she what?" Wendolyn gasped covered her mouth with her hand.

"What?" Janner's eyes widened, thinking back to the time he saw his mother take out fangs with just one strike of the claw.

"Why would she do that?" Leeli asked, almost not believing what she was hearing. "She was so gentle!"

"She... She was having a night terror and I woke her up... So it's on me for waking her but..." Artham looked back at the children. "I want you children to be careful if this is to happen again. Don't wake her, don't go near her when she's asleep. I couldn't imagine what would happen to both her or you if she managed to land a hit. She would fall the pieces and you could be..." He trailed off and shook his head. "... Just... Be careful."

"What was she dreaming about?" Janner asked, assuming it must have been some kind of trauma to cause her to act this way. "She was calling our father's name."

"Yeah! I heard it too!" Tink could be heard shouting from inside the room. "What's going on?!"

Wendolyn peeked her head in the room Tink was in. "Alright, Tink. Quiet it down for your mother's sake."

"Sorry... I just can't get down like this." Tink sighed.

Artham sighed as well. "Whatever happened to her... I think it's possible she was reliving it in a dream... Except it felt so real she was convinced she was still in danger." He fixed his gaze back at the bottom of the stairs. "... Maybe I can talk to her about it tomorrow. I really thought she was getting better after I heard her spoke..."

Wendolyn paused and looked back at Artham. "She spoke? As in, normal speech?" Artham nodded. "When was this?"

"Last night, I was grabbing some biscuits from the kitchen... And she came in and made a joke about how you don't like cleaning crumbs out of our beds. I heard her perfectly. It was as if she was... normal like before."

This news was no small thing for Wendolyn, for she started to come to a realization that she might have had something to do with this. "She spoke normally?... I had given her some encouragement last night and a long hug before I suggested her getting a quick snack before she slept. I wonder if that somehow... helped our Nia."

"Hm." Artham contemplated what Wendolyn had said before he nodded. "It must have something to do with it... Maybe longer hugs and encouragement could help her... she definitely needs them. However, it's going to take a lot."

"Like they say in the Hollows, 'An uplifting word is like honey to the weary soul'." Wendolyn began to smile, feeling a sense of hope that she discovered something that helped Nia. "I'm not giving up. Are you?"

"No, Ma'am." Artham shook his head, his niece and nephew giving a similar answer in agreement.

"No giving up allowed!" Tink was heard cheering from the other room, causing the other children to laugh.

"Then, we should all probably get back in our beds. We don't want Nia to feel more embarrassed or shameful than she already is." Wendolyn suggested, inviting her grandchildren to return to their rooms. "If anything else happens, we will come get you but if not, just rest. We will take care of all that needs to be done."

"Yes, grandma." Janner and Leeli said in unison before they both received kisses on the head and were ushered back into their room.