"Shit!!"

  I roll to the side, Luna's blade slicing the air where my throat had been. She presses forward, attacking with a vicious flurry, Maldor's control twisting her movements into sharp, unnatural angles. I dodge behind her and slash at the dark tendrils buried in her flesh... but my blade slips through them like smoke, leaving no mark. She whips around, blade screaming toward my eyes—I parry just in time, the force jarring my shoulder.

  "D-Dammit..."

  My head throbs. Maldor's spell still affecting me, clouding my mind and eyes more vividly than before. My sight pierces into the otherworld, unbidden, the flow of dark manner visible in every corner. So too flows more memories. My vision stutters, warps.... suddenly it's not Luna before me.

  It’s Fang. His great jaws open wide as he lunges. I gasp and roll aside.

  Fang spins in a whirl and then he’s Emily. Smiling sweetly, her eyes bright as she charges me with Luna’s shortsword. “Stop!” I cry, blocking the strike in a panic.

  Hallucinations. Not real. I need to focus!!

  The aftershock of Maldor’s spell claws through my mind… and Luna’s blade slips past my guard, carving a deep gash across my abdomen. Blood pours freely. “F-Fuck…” I drop to my knees, sword slipping from my grip. But Luna doesn’t stop, her sword arcs downward toward my skull.

  Terror floods me. With a desperate shout, I lunge upward, catching her arm just before the blade connects. With all my strength, I hurl her aside. She tumbles across the cavern, crashing into the web-laced floor, silk clinging to her limbs as she rolls.

  A voice snarls in my ear.

  “What are you doing, boy? Waiting to die?”

  My eyes snap up. Zaenith towers over me like a phantom of judgment.

  “Pick up your weapon,” she growls. “Kill the witch. Then the sorcerer.”

  I shake my head violently, just another hallucination. But Luna is already up again, covered in web, stalking towards me.

  I snatch up my sword, deflecting the blow. She's fast—blindingly so—but under Maldor’s grip, her movements lack her former skill. Our blades clash, lock, and I sweep her legs from under her, blade raised high.

  "Kill her, boy! Finish it!" Zaenith's voice cuts through my head like a blade.

  I falter... and it costs me.

  Luna’s sword lashes up, stabbing deep into my calf. I cry out and retaliate with a brutal kick. Her ribs give under my boot, cracking as she’s flung across the floor.

  Maldor chuckles behind her, fingers twitching in the air, forcing her to rise.

  “What are you doing, boy? Will you let her kill you? Have you already forgotten the first lesson I taught you?" I look to the giant woman, she's beside me now. "Survive. Prioritize your life over every other. Always.”

  I shudder at the words. My mind flashes, memories of Fang’s corpse in my arms, my own blade buried in his heart. Survive. Always.

  I shake my head clear, focusing my vision.

  Dammit... what am I doing?

  Risking my life... and for what? What is this woman to me?

  Maldor's spell might have already destroyed her mind. Am I going to die for what remains of her body?

  A soft whisper coils in my ear. Emily. She stands beside me now, one hand caressing my cheek.“You don’t need her. You’ve got me. Kill her. Save yourself, fere.”

  My head snaps forward. Luna lunges again.

  My eyes harden. Both hands on my sword, I swing, full force and with no hesitation or mercy. Our blades collide, but mine drives through. The impact rips her shortsword from her hand and sends her staggering backward.

  I raise my sword and plunge forward, ready to drive it deep into her exposed form. Then-

  "Is that the man I raised?"

  The voice cuts through me like ice. My vision warps again. In Luna’s place, I see Rose... smiling gently, eyes full of trust. "Surely, you’re better than that."

  I hesitate... but only for a breath.

  “I am.”

  Then I thrust.

  Steel punches through the illusion, into flesh. The sword sinks deep into Luna’s stomach.

  I catch her as she falls forward, feel her weight, her warmth. I pull her close... then let go, yanking the blade from her stomach with a sickening squelch.

  She crumples silently to the floor.

  Behind her, Maldor’s laugh slithers across the chamber, dry and rasping.

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  “Merciless. As a sorcerer should be. Well done, apprentice.”

  My head snaps to Maldor, muscles surging with the strength of both draughts, and I explode into motion, crossing the distance in a blur. Black threads wither as he flings an arm wide, Nsam Nkrante rips through the air into his grip, just in time to meet me. But the gulf in strength is staggering. My blow sends him hurtling through the cavern, but his body doesn’t fall, shadows cradle him, floating him upward before he hits the ground.

  I dive aside as an acid arrow shrieks past my head. I close the gap again, dodging two more shots, blade arcing in a brutal cleave-

  "Gnngh-"

  But a tendril bursts from his shadow and drives into my arm mid-swing. I snarl, forcing the strike through, but the blow slows just enough. Maldor deflects it with a sharp twist, and in the same motion turns his blade toward my face.

  I jerk back, a hiss of caustic venom splitting the air inches from my cheek.

  Looking back, I back-peddle as I see a spider bursts from the shadows at his feet. Only to stop myself and take a step forward, swinging my blade down and cleaving through it before it can fully emerge.

  Only one spider this time?

  Yes... he's been feeding that cocoon since long before we arrived, not to mention all the spiders he summoned earlier and the spell he used to dominate Luna and very nearly me.

  He's spent... he must be. Or close to it.

  "Hrmm!!"

  My blade crashes into his with great force, knocking his weapon from his hands. But I pause, looking around me, his shadow has stretched wider, surrounding me on all corners. Tendrils burst up and wrap around my limbs, tightening like iron chains.

  Maldor shakes his head. "Apprentice.... did you think you were a match for me all alone?"

  Roaring, I tear one arm free, sword swinging wildly, but Maldor glides backward, effortlessly out of reach. The tendrils constricting me hoist me high into the air and slam me down with brutal force. The impact crushes the wind from my lungs. Then again. And again. My spine jolts, bones rattling. Pain explodes across my ribs and shoulders as the tendrils bash me into the stone floor like a stitched doll.

  My sword slips from my grasp, spinning out of reach. I curl my arm over my head in a desperate attempt to shield my face as I’m pounded into the web-strewn ground, the fibers clinging to me. Then, with one final heave, they fling me across the cavern. I tumble, rolling end over end until I crash to a stop.

  "Ghhhnnngnhh...."

  My body screams as I try to crawl. Agony burns through every muscle. I force my arms to push, my face lifting slowly from the ground, gasping for breath.

  Behind me, I hear the hiss of shifting silk.

  Maldor drifts toward me like a specter, his charred body still lightly smoking. His skeletal arm stretches forward, and Nsam Nkrante rips from the floor into his waiting hand.

  “It is over, apprentice,” he says, voice low and final. The runes along the blade flare green as vapor surges down its length, gathering for the killing blow.

  "Bl?ctr?l!!!"

  Black threads erupt, exploding with blistering speed....

  They pierce Maldor's body in a dozen places, threading through flesh, bone, and shadow. His mouth opens in a silent cry, his limbs frozen in place.

  Still prone, the scroll unfurled beneath me, I twist my rune-carved hand. The tendrils writhe outward from my skin, their paths guided by the glyphs cut into my flesh. They drill deeper into Maldor’s body, anchoring him in place.

  My vision swims as I gaze into the scroll beneath me. Black runes coalescing into haunting vision. Black spires reaching into a rotting sky, touching the stars. A blood soaked moon opening to reveal monstrosities. A host of black eyes gazing at me as the Mother emerges....

  “Hnnggh, you!!” Maldor convulses, snarling, snapping me out of my reverie.

  I feel his will crash against mine, vast and overwhelming, twisting around my weakening spell. I grit my teeth, holding on, knuckles white, sweat burning my eyes. My other hand rises, clutching the scroll, and I scream the word again, desperate, furious.

  “Bl?ctr?l!!!”

  It works, the spell deepens, threads burrowing into Maldor’s body and mind. The visions shift.

  Now I see memories, vivid and haunting. A small, thin child sits at a table beside a rotting corpse, spooning steaming broth into a bowl. “Eat, Mother,” he says gently, smiling. “It’s good. I promise.”

  The scene warps, now a boy, older, stripped to the waist, bleeding as runes are carved into his back by a cruel hand. He doesn’t scream. He bites down, shaking.

  Only to shift again. Finally a man grown, golden blade in hand, soaked red in his masters blood.

  No mercy. For anyone.

  But the memories don't last. Maldor's will slams into mine like a falling mountain, immense and unrelenting. Even with the scroll, even casting the spell a second time, I can't hold him. My thoughts buckle under the weight. He presses in harder, sneering into my mind, "Did you think your will could rival mine?"

  I'm faltering. Should I try again? My hands tremble around the scroll. My vision tilts-

  Then, from nowhere, a sudden blur of blue.

  A blade erupts clean through Maldor’s throat.

  His breath catches, eyes wide in disbelief. “Wh…what?” he rasps.

  Behind him, Luna leans close, breathless, eyes fierce. “Got you, sorcerer.”

  I look to where I left her, the red potion I forced into her hands before stabbing her now lies empty on the floor. She stands tall, crimson streaked down her chin, blade buried deep in Maldor’s throat. With a savage rip, she tears it free. His head tumbles from his shoulders, thudding once before rolling to a halt. Without hesitation, she drives the blade through his chest, into his heart. Then she steps back, expression flat with contempt, and lets his limp body fall.

  I breathe a sigh of relief as the oppressive weight of his magic lifts from my mind. The shadows retreat. My thoughts clear.

  Still on my knees, I sway, then fall to my side, limbs leaden, every breath ragged. I could sleep here. In this festering pit. I wouldn't even care.

  But Luna moves on. She draws her own scroll from her pouch and unfurls it, already preparing it for its final use.

  "Smēorflōd!"

  Oil erupts from her palm, thick and hissing. She douses Maldor’s remains first, then turns to the grotesque cocoon, coating its swollen mass in slick black fluid. She continues on, spreading it across the cavern, over the hanging bodies, along the web-laced floor, up the walls and across every silk-covered surface within reach.

  She turns to me, face still streaked with blood. “You alright?”

  I groan. “No. I think I broke something.”

  She helps me up, slinging my arm around her shoulders. I wince as pain lances through my side. “Definitely broke something,” I cough out.

  She carries me to the exit, stopping where the trail of oil ends. “Can you light it?” she asks.

  I sigh, lifting a trembling hand. “Let’s see.”

  With a snap of my fingers, a spark leaps to life, just enough. It touches the oil, and in an instant, the flame surges forward with a rushing woosh, roaring down the silk-laced cavern. Heat washes over us, casting long shadows. The webs ignite like dry parchment, the fire racing across the walls, the floor, the suspended bodies.

  The cocoon blazes at its center, hissing, groaning under the heat.

  We watch it burn for a long moment.

  “It’s over,” I whisper.

  We turn our backs, leaving the chamber behind, the glow of fire painting our skin as we limp into the dark tunnel beyond.

  Then-

  We here a sound.

  A low, sickening crack, wet and fibrous, like ligaments tearing free from bone. Followed by a deep, resonant thump.

  We stop.

  A wave of dark ana rushes past us. Cold, suffocating. It presses against our spines, sinks into our bones. Luna gasps, and I feel my body rattle from the inside.

  We turn.

  The cocoon.... is splitting open.

  Results

  + 1 Strength

  + 2 Life

  + 2 Mana

  -1 Dark Scroll