“Hello there, new horror! I don’t know if you have ears, but I wanted to tell you that you look silly. What are you even attempting to achieve by constantly burning your eyes, or having to close your own food hole like that? It’s all so ridiculous! Stop trying so hard to be intimidating already!”

  Whether the creature had ears, understood Faiz, or merely got bored inspecting itself, its crest of flaming eyes all fixed back onto him, “Burn? Yeeeees~ It BurnsHurtsSeesCriesCantDie…DieDieDieDIEEEEE!!

  The creature-most likely by necessity-could ‘speak’ without having to unwind that long tongue, very conveniently transferring its phlegmatic and extremely hateful voice directly into his head. Not the most pleasant of experiences; Faiz now also knew to tune said voice out, since the monster seemed stuck on wanting-Faiz-dead mode.

  “You’re cheery eh? Alright, come on, attack.” Faiz stood his ground confidently (at least, he hoped that’s how he looked) in front of the fiend, taunting it. As if on cue, it immediately started scuttling forth at alarming speeds, its burning stalks trailing across the ground. This might’ve been intimidating, had the deep horror not also near instantly blown up, engulfed by an awe-inspiring roar and light, ensconced by extremely hot flames.

  Faiz was knocked off of his feet by the sheer force of the explosion. He couldn’t help his giddy if slightly warbled giggles as he got to his feet, “Hah! Haha, you fool! Using all that fire in this burbling bog, you haven’t ever felt the flame of inequity, have you?”

  Faiz had learnt of the dangers of the wetlands long ago, diving beneath the foundations of Shaiher for dredged fortunes. Some days, even the lightest of sparks from other delvers set off massive chaining blasts, further releasing a medley of noxious fumes into the sub-forests for a second bout of killing. He was a bit sad he couldn’t enact his original plan, but he’d gotten a big explosion regardless, so he was mostly content-

  “PainPainPainPainPAINNNN!! Live? Must die..? Prey! Prey~ KillDieDIE!!

  “…that’s not fair..” At this point, Faiz really should have known better. It could never be that easy, and this horror had, of course, survived. Apparently unscathed..?

  No, it was definitely injured, and how! That bruised hide was still unbroken, but those long jaws appeared shattered, that coiled tongue lashing free, and there must’ve been an internal injury or two in the creature’s skeleton, since it was now limping. That trail of…entrails, was now also on fire, crackling merrily and filling the air with a putrid stench. Charming.

  Those burning stalks at its tail were nearly all gone, save four wavering appendages, held conspicuously high above the sunken ground. So even its eyesight was hindered, then. Not a very ideal situation-Faiz was still stuck with an awful headache and a ruined arm-but not unwinnable, if he managed to avoid being…cut? He still didn’t know how this beast attacked.

  The fiend started crawling forward once again, slower obviously, but with intent. Faiz tried to remain confident, and started inching backwards toward the tree line. It wouldn’t bode well for him if he stumbled now, and this terrain was rather treacherous. Soon, he’d managed to slip between the heavy boughs, wading through shin-deep water as he attempted to make himself scarce.

  Hiding away in the undergrowth, Faiz indulged in his favorite pastime: Cursing out Jesyll and Ellery, those two treacherous and idiotic incompetents, by whose grace Faiz found himself in this horrid predicament. Having to deal with monsters and mayhem and fend off a whole host of terrifying horrors, unable to discern reality or fiction and always injured or aching, like right now! From the burned out arm to his impaled shoulder, he was nev-

  “AAAHHH!something in his arm, having drilled a neat hole through flesh and bone. It didn’t hurt, probably because all the veins in that arm were roasted. He really needed to work on his threat perception…but more importantly, when did this happen to him?

  As the ‘tendril’ started wriggling and retracting through his shoulder, a horrible understanding struck Faiz. It wasn’t a mysterious anything…it was a , and he knew exactly to which creature it belonged. He started frantically pulling at the fleshy growth, scrabbling forward all the while, since if the tongue was here…

  The hissed giggle and muffled splash behind him confirmed it; So it could use that lashing muscle to attack, then? How very dangerous, Faiz had to get rid of it fast, he supposed. He wouldn’t want the next hole to be somewhere more vital…

  The good thing about it being so inflammable was that keeping track of it wasn’t very hard, Faiz could always catch that scent of burning hatred and see the wavering shadows cast by its eyeflames. Faiz noted the dearth of its motive capacity, and wisely decided to retreat further into the marsh, hoping he wouldn’t hit a dimensional border. That damned tongue kept flicking forth at him, again and again, further hampering his movement.

  He hadn’t yet attempted to use the lightdial again, but knew instinctively that he probably wouldn’t be able to fire any more sigils (or conjure lines for the matter) afterwards. Best use physical means first then, and just as well, since survival remained his foremost goal, as he hoped the world would crumble sooner rather than later.

  Looking at the beast’s frame, the chances of it being able to climb were miniscule, and thusly Faiz chose to clamber up one sturdy looking tree he’d found. It was strenuous, fighting against his throbbing head and dragging one limp arm along-which was accruing splinters at a fearsome pace-but he managed, and soon he was hanging off a bough, looking at the fiend below.

  “I-ah my arm! I did it..! Let’s see you try to get me now! That’s..whew, that’s what you get for trying to-Wah!” Faiz ducked his head in the nick of time, right as that piercing tendril lashed up at him, balancing on its hind legs for more range. Curse it for being so inconveniently clever! It couldn’t possibly maintain that awkward pose for long, luckily; The added strain of keeping both the rear appendages and its head so high were steadily sinking the aberration into the soft bog earth.

  Faiz didn’t have the time to outlast it though, because if he looked over his shoulder…indeed, the dome of twisted space was steadily shrinking, the unsettling tears in reality both mesmerizing and highly lethal. Faiz didn’t know what would happen if he let himself be swallowed by that storm, but he could make a few educated guesses, none of them particularly merry.

  He looked back down, gauging the distance between him and the thing below. If he wanted to get out of this, he was going to have to play a risky game…very risky, and potentially foolish. Better than certain death however, so he made up his mind, and praying to himself to not miss.

  The next time the aberration started falling back onto all fours, Faiz jumped. Midair, he felt a brief burst of terror as he started falling, and that made him even more desperate to get this right. Ideally, he should’ve landed right on the meld between long gone Aujyav’s flapping face-skin and the rest of the body, but the beast (damnably clever that it was) seemed to have seen through his ploy, raising up its eyeflames in an attempt to either impale or immolate Faiz.

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  It was a fortunate thing that Faiz was terrible at accurate measurements, and instead of either of those gruesome scenarios occurring to him, he just sailed on right into the base of the appendages. “ My nose..”

  Holding with one hand his throbbing scent organ-almost certainly broken, given the volume of blood and how it had become difficult to breathe nasally-Faiz shook his head to reorient himself, nearly slipping off the fiend’s slippery hide. He regained his bearings and manage to cling onto the stalks in the nick of time, to the consternation of their possessor.

  “Prey Thief~ Resists? Fall DieDIIEEE!!”

  It remained eloquent as ever, and started spinning in circles and attempting to buck and throw Faiz off. Most felicitously, it couldn’t bear the weight of its body on those shattered limbs, or it might’ve even succeeded. Now Faiz was stuck, and running out of options, since his grasp couldn’t exactly last forever.

  His eyes shone with determination. If he’d come this far, why stop now? “Time to risk it…I didn’t want to do this you know?! You-it’s your fault for forcing me this far, you…you…”

  He hooked his slender legs between the eyeflame stalks, and leaned down towards the ever spinning and wobbling ground. Already feeling the blood rush to his head, disorientation setting in fast…he worked fast. Using his functional arm to prop up his ruined one, he focused on willing up a line in the ground. There was no pain, perhaps because he was rapidly approaching the limits of his body, and so he was able to make a connection and then close his eyes, bracing for impact.

  Faiz didn’t exactly feel the impact. His mind seemed to have disconnected from all worldly affairs, as if throwing up its little hands in consternation and disgust. Rather inconsiderate. At least he felt , than he’d felt in a long while. There was even a tiny leaf shaded critter tugging at his sleeve-yes he had sleeves now-to come play. Very relaxing!

  But all good things must end, and so his eyes (which he hadn’t realized were shut) opened, and he found himself staring at a mess of angles, which slowly resolved into that undying aberration, looking really very sorry, having had to bear two whole explosions of super magic fire. He couldn’t worry about that for long, though, because Faiz had finally found out why he felt so hot. He was flaming like a pretty Artlight! And he’d lost those nice sleeves, but the light!

  The arm bearing his lightdial was sizzling with rainbow heat, the fire starting from his dial and slowly creeping upwards. Mesmerizing! Also, looking down, he was pretty sure one of his legs was bending the wrong way, or at least, bending in ways he’d never thought to test before now. That little pastel critter danced at the edge of his vision still. It was a bit more insistent, the naughty thing! Faiz didn’t accept its overtures, mostly because he was trying not to doze off.

  It was getting , the comfort factor increasing, tempting him to fall down and lay cozied up. Somewhat like getting hugged by a parent, he thought, though he had no way of knowing for sure given his complete lack of experience in that field. Only a vague feeling that he shouldn’t start snoozing now of all times prevented him from going under. That, and the irritating broken hissing in his ear.

  “Pr..ey…Vitality..? Lost..Die? Die~ Di..e..?

  So the dratted fiend was still alive! How hardy it was, impressive stuff. It was trying to slide towards Faiz, slowly, sat on a bed of its own broken limbs, the tongue digging into the ground and acting like a hook. Faiz couldn’t have that happen, could he?

  He tested trying to move his body. The green thing started prancing about his eyes rapidly, blurring vision. The flame also increased its progress up his forearm. No go, then.

  Faiz, lacking many other options, decided to test out the first trick he’d ever learnt. Being somewhere else. But where? Some odd sense of clarity fell on him. Yes, he wanted somewhere more shaded and comfortable, preferably a bit cooler too, something like…a cave..

  Well, this wasn’t what he wanted! Faiz wasn’t even inside a nice leafy mossy cave, he’d landed in some long tunnel carved up with painful looking letters. It was also somewhat pink in colour, but on closer inspection..it might’ve just been a load of blood binding to the soil. Most importantly, that nice had been replaced by an ice-cold sense of water rising up his spine, and even that cute fire had gone from his shoulder. This was so terrible!

  The aberration seemed to be in even worse spirits than him though, since it had landed a bit further into the darkness of the cave than Faiz. It started scrabbling forward desperately, its tongue lashing against the stone with a mad terror, heedless of the many cuts and tears it was sustaining.

  Faiz felt it then, suddenly. Nothing was coming, and after all there wasn’t any life except him and the beast, but the fiend started screaming and growling and coughing, “KILL?!?!  -NO!DIEEE?! EMPTEMPTYEMPTYEMPTYYYY-

  And then it stopped, because nothing came…wait, huh.. Faiz’s vision was growing blurrier, and he was getting sleepier. In that boundary between here and not, did he see ?

  Yes! It was indeed !  was slowly the pitiable beast deeper into the darkness! Explains why the deep fiend had stopped resisting, after all, who could (or would want to) fight ? Faiz felt lucky he couldn’t see into the darkness, or he’d never be able to forget what  did to the aberration.

  Still, now that he was alone, Faiz felt somewhat scared even despite his addled state. What if returned? Would  really ? He didn’t think it was his time yet! As he was fretting, he felt hands-slowly lift him up and start carrying him, up and away from  .

  Oh, this was nice! Surrounded by gentle strength, so warm too…even if something hard occasionally did poke his side. He felt his back touch something cool. Oh, he was at the entrance! And everything was so pretty and sparkling outside! Hard to focus on though.

  It was then that Faiz realized that there was a voice in his ear, and he weakly tilted his head up. Aujyav..? The real one this time, hopefully..

  “You did well, Faiz. Exceptionally so. I am….”

  Faiz could vaguely tell the man wanted to use a different word, but the praise felt nice after all that pain, so he grinned as best he could, “I…Thanks..”

  It was difficult, speaking now. Made him feel sleepier. That critter was back too, jumping on his chest. Strange, was he gonna-

  “No, you will not perish. Outside, you will be whole.”

  That relieved some unknown fear at the back of his head, and Faiz coughed (wetly) before asking, “Believe you…ah..who-what..there..?” He gestured vaguely into the cave with his chin.

  The tall man tilted his head and looked into the darkness, “If you ask of that recollection, it is what I was, glutted by hearts. How I am now whole..” Aujyav glanced at the blade stuck in his chest, “A story. Is that all?”

  So the big guy didn’t know about…about…what? Faiz felt like he’d forgotten something again, for the second time even! That..ice bucket? Ah well, no matter.

  His gaze shifted to the lines adorning the wall, the script. It had hurt him before, back when he couldn’t see it clearly. It was clear to Faiz now though, it was just one word, or maybe a few? Carved into the walls, slowly. Painstakingly, with blood and will, by a rather present someone... And while he couldn’t read them, Faiz understood the sentiment behind them well enough:

  “Did..you..?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then..on..on the first..tr..ail..?”

  “Visiting. Humans.”

  Faiz shouldn’t have attempted a chuckle at that last statement from Aujyav, partly because it made the fading green critter appear for an encore in his ribs, and partly because it told him…

  Aujyav looked out the cave again, then back at Faiz, “It is time. You will return, soon. Farewell, Faiz. We will meet, one day.”

  Faiz felt a pull

  “Aujyav..?”

  The man seemed to have been anticipating that, for his eyes drooped down fractionally, before he looked at the fast fading Faiz, “…yes?”

  “Why them?”

  “Because I’m not a human.”

  Faiz asked his last question, already knowing its answer.

  “Why... not me?”

  He heard four words, before he faded away.

  “Because you aren’t, either.”