The Avatar was still waiting when Sai and Cuatete made it back to the Shadowed Abattoir. "And yet again you return," Syn taunted. "Is your lust for death so great?"

  Sai scowled at it. "I will defeat you, beast," he spat. "If it takes an eternity."

  The chorus of insane laughter echoed again through the canyon. "Come then, little orc," Syn repeated. "Test your resolve against the full fury of the Eternal Nightmare!"

  Déjà vu plagued Sai during the entire time during the fight. It seemed to progress almost exactly as it had before. The same columns toppled. Cuatete bit the same limbs. And soon, Sai spotted the same opening. And again, he took it.

  "Now, Cuatete!" he called, darting for the southern exit from the canyon.

  And again, the laughter stopped. "Know your master, beast," Syn commanded.

  But Sai skidded to a halt and turned back to face the altar as soon as he felt the shackles dissolve. Cuatete watched him, eyes wide, the Avatar of Shadow standing right beside her. She licked her jaws. The Harbinger of Nightmare pointed at her. "You howl for me!" he shouted, casting out his shackles in the wake of the shadowy command.

  He felt the shackles pierce through the shadows Sai had drawn around Cuatete's mind and latch back into place. Cuatete, without delay, clamped her jaws around the Avatar's leg. The shadows roared.

  "Good girl!" Sai called, and he sprinted for the exit.

  But Syn was not done with them. "Enough!" the Eternal Nightmare shouted, and the shadows everywhere around the shrine pulsed inward in a concussive burst that knocked Sai and Cuatete both to the ground. Through the stars that clouded his vision, Sai saw the darkness rush into the form of the Avatar of Shadow, which began to bulge and expand. It writhed as it grew, its limbs twitching and snapping about at painful angles. Shades and nightmares and other shadowy beasts raced amongst the columns as a massive cyclone of jagged midnight encircled the shrine. The entire Vale seemed to howl with the anger of the Eternal Nightmare.

  By the time Sai managed to regain his feet, the humanoid outline of the Avatar of Shadow had been replaced by the bulbous and insectoid shape of the Umbral Hulk. Its improbable limbs lashed at the air and its misplaced pincers snapped while it threw back its uppermost head and bellowed. Black shockwaves lashed out on the sound of its cry, and Sai had to drop back to the ground to avoid being sliced in half.

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  "Know the face of Nightmare, mortal!" came Syn's voice through the howling shadows. "Know fear and die!"

  "No," said the Harbinger of Nightmare through clenched teeth. He raised his weapon, and Cuatete was at his side. The candle still cradled by two of the hulk's arms began to blaze brighter.

  "Grrr…" said the Prismatic Terror.

  With a wild smile, the Harbinger leveled his lance at the Umbral Hulk. "You've given me no cause to fear you, beast!" he shouted. "It's you who will know fear today. Now charge!" He led the charge against the hulk, Cuatete following close behind with her battle screech. Behind her followed the creatures of shadow that had been racing through the whirlwind, now heeding the call of the Shadowed Voice with their triumphant howls.

  Syn bellowed in anger. "You would turn my own power against me?" its voice shrieked over the howls. The hulk's massive arms crushed columns and nightmares alike.

  "I am Trotzen!" the Harbinger shouted back. He lanced the hulk's side and darted away before it could smash him as well. "I will use any weapon, any strength I can. And I will crush all who oppose me!"

  Cuatete bit down on one of the arms, which tossed the raptor into the air. The Harbinger pointed, and a nightmare raced across the whipping darkness to catch her. Cuatete, her outward flight arrested, twisted in the air and landed atop one of the still-standing columns. "SKREEEE!" she cried and launched herself into one of the hulk's inky faces.

  With the raptor savaging its head and the army of shades hacking at its lower limbs, it was only a matter of seconds before the Umbral Hulk tripped. Its uppermost head landed right in front of the Harbinger of Nightmare, who looked down at it. Shadows dripped like blood from the head of the orc's spear. "You will never be free," Syn spat.

  The Harbinger did not respond. With a fierce scowl, he impaled the hulk's head.

  "NOOO!" the Eternal Nightmare screamed, and the shadows of the Umbral Hulk lost their form. The cyclone, the army of shades, the mass of the hulk, all were drawn, howling, back down into the Shadowed Altar. The Harbinger stood unmoving amidst the maelstrom. And then there was silence.

  Sai gasped and began to pant. He scanned the ruins of the shrine. "Is it…?" he said between breaths. "Is it dead? Is it really dead?" He stepped gingerly over the ruins to the side of the altar. The shadows within were still, the stars distant. "It is," Sai said. "It's gone."

  Cuatete hopped around him, almost dancing. "Chirp! Chirp!" she sang. Then she stopped and tossed back her head. "SKREEE!"

  Sai smiled at her only for a second. "Now it's time to get out of here," he said. "Before the Nightmare comes back."