The torch hissed softly as its flames danced in the still air, crackling and spitting embers that echoed faintly off the stone walls. Emily saw that everyone was frozen in place. The mausoleum was only big enough for them to get inside, the Rime wolves remained out in the passage watching for any sign of danger.

“We need to get out of the shadows, now! If I remember correctly, darkness amplifies a Fearmonger's abilities tenfold. We’re at a huge disadvantage while here.” Alex said as he glanced around.

Kael still seemed to be looking around the bare room but he spoke.

“That’s easier said than done, but I believe we should try. Everyone mount up, we’re going to move fast.”

Alex grunted and climbed back onto Mist. He didn’t even question it when Oscar climbed on behind him. Emily brought Cupcake forward and their small group took off. She felt a strange sense of vertigo as they moved through the darkness, but she quickly attributed that to the glowing eyes in the darkness that were keeping pace. With the unchanging corridor around them, the only way they could tell they were making progress was by the pillars flashing past. But even those started to look the same after a while.

They moved quickly, allowing Alex barely a moment to ensure they didn’t stumble into another obvious trap.

Moving from passage to passage, they were just approaching another doorway when Emily spotted a flash of light in her peripheral. In a place so dark it was like a sparkling sun off to her right.

She was just about the turn when another screech shook the chambers. This one was far louder than any before it, easily eclipsing the Rime wolf’s howls.

Emily could just make out a figure moving towards Kael, but this one was different in that it took up almost the entire passageway.

All at once a massive serpent's head moved into the light. Its body already having struck. Emily tried to have Cupcake maneuver out of the way, but when the thing struck it shook the whole passage. Forcing them all to scatter or be crushed.

It slithered into the light, revealing the largest python Emily had ever had the misfortune of encountering. Kael lowered his stance, his expression flipping to a very serious one.

“Everyone back off. Even if this thing is an illusion, you can’t handle it!”

Emily wasn’t certain but she thought she heard the faintest waver in Kael's voice.

Alex and Oscar had dismounted from Mist but they were on the opposite side of the chamber.

Emily was about to launch a blood bolt when the shadows around them began to writhe. Emily's eyes widened when all of a sudden darkness rushed in pushing back the light of her lantern. As though crushing it and drowning out sounds. Emily could hear the impacts as Kael began to battle the serpent, but she could only make out a faint outline. A curtain of shadow had surrounded them all.

Emily got ready to cut through it when a pale light flashed out of the corner of her eye again, blinding her.

Moving her hand up to shield her eyes, Emily turned towards it to try to find where it was coming from.

When Emily managed to focus on it she realized it was moonlight reflecting off a broken piece of glass, wait not glass, mirror, attached to a… car?

The rearview mirror, still attached to the rusted frame of a sedan, jutted out from a heap of scrap and car parts. The instant Emily's gaze locked onto it, her eyes narrowed to pinpricks. Her hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and the world around her sharpened into a painfully familiar reality.

Mountains of forgotten junk towered so high they swallowed the horizon, casting jagged shadows over the landscape. The air hung thick with the acrid stench of motor oil, mingling with the sickly-sweet odor of decay that clung to everything. In the distance, the constant hum of the city buzzed faintly, barely audible beneath the relentless roar of traffic on the nearby highway.

She was back.

Emily's smaller hands went to her chest as a noose constricted her chest, crushing her heart. Cupcake responded through their link but Emily didn’t pay her any mind even when she growled at an approaching figure.

Emily’s breath came out harshly as the figure stepped into the light and plopped down in a rickety lawn chair.

She knew it was an illusion but she couldn’t bring herself to reject it.

“What’s up little bug? You need anything before you head out?” the old man said, his long silver hair bouncing the moonlight around him. His face was filled with laughter lines and a warm glow issued forth from his eyes.

This man had long left this life and yet if this were even a shadow of who he was, she needed an answer. Emily raised her head, a teenager's voice coming out.

“I know why you’re sending me away gramps…”

The man's gentle face fell and a hard light appeared in his eyes.

“Fuck, girl. Can’t you just go enjoy that day off I’m giving you? Do you want to do more training?”

Emily shook her head at the retired supervillain.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Well then head out. It's your fault I have to deal with the heroes. Next time don’t kill one of their own. This is what happens when you mess with the order of things too early.”

Emily's free hand clenched on Cupcake's saddle, bracing herself there.

“You could run… why do you have to face them?” Emily's voice shifted to that of a sulking child.

Gramps shook his head.

“Blood can only be repaid by blood. I’ve already taught you that, and I didn’t spend all this time making you strong for nothing. You’re going to go on to destroy this corrupt world one day, that much, I know.”

An explosion of pink energy detonated somewhere near the edges of the junkyard. Smiling more to himself, Gramps whistled, and the piles of junk around them came to life. Small, mismatched robots clawed their way out of the piles assembling en mass, followed by a four-story titan of steel and machinery. As it lowered an open palm for the older man to step onto he looked back and shot Emily a final good-natured grin.

“Go on little bug! And don’t forget your place in all of this. It's the only reason I made you.”

The nearby scraps of junk turned in face Emily and moved toward her, reaching out to her with deadly intent.

Gramps didn’t seem to notice this, but Emily remained fixed in place. Cupcake snarled at the approaching metal amalgamations but she was suddenly was wracked with guilt and pain. She knew how this night ended. Could she stop it?

Emily glanced down when one of the shadowy metal hands latched onto her ankle. This wasn’t right, she had accepted this reality a long time ago. These weren't her emotions, they were from whatever skill was being used against her here. Anger bubbled up from the depths of her chest. How dare someone show her this again. She’d made peace with this memory and sealed it away behind dozens of mental walls. How dare some dead person dredge it up to use against her?

Emily had stopped living for others a long time ago.

Letting the rage clear her mind and still her beating heart, Emily took out the disk Alex had given her.

This was an illusion and she was done being here. Snapping it open, Emily pressed her hand to the rune and let her source flow freely.

A blinding light burst from her hand, sending the shadows scattering and warping her surroundings.

The junkyard melted, slogging away like burning bark. The wall of shadows was so thick that Emily could easily see where her illusionary world ended and the real one began.

Ushering Cupcake forward Emily stepped out of that nightmare.

Looking down she realized those illusions had triggered her Vital shell, but it was still intact, so they hadn’t gotten very far.

Glancing about, Emily realized they hadn’t gotten very far from the mausoleum itself, even though it felt like they had left it hours ago.

However, what caught her attention now were the three other cacoons of shadow in the chamber.

Emily let her blood lead her towards the one Alex was in and she pressed the disk up against the wall. It melted as though it were ice, thawing rapidly until Emily stepped into his world.

The vibrant night skies Emily had come to know were grey with blackened smog. All around her fires burned as the surrounding city shook in the throws of war. Screams and pleas echoed out from all directions as people ran about in panic.

Nearby, a wall of soldiers dressed in reflective armor blocked off the main streets holding back creatures that Emily could only describe as demonic. Their bodies were tinged in grey scales with horns protruding all across their forms. Maws fill with hundreds of teeth crunched on the bones and flesh with fervor.

And facing off against the hoard of creatures was Alex, only, not quite Alex.

Emily urged Cupcake forward, needing to be certain of what she was seeing. The Alex she knew was a far cry from the man before her. Alex was in his twenties, but this man looked old enough to be his father, likely in his late fifties. And yet, Emily could tell that this world was centered around him—this version of Alex.

The man stood at the forefront of the armies, screaming orders in an attempt to quell the raging beasts but it was a doomed endeavor.

The ranks of demons seemed endless, yet the battling men and women held their ground. Much of their endurance was due to Alex, as every sweep of his golden blade felled dozens of the twisted beasts.

This entire thing didn’t make sense, but then Alex spotted her. His eyes widened and he looked around. His eyes narrowed on the light in Emily's hands. He knew why she was here and yet he refused to abandon the ranks of soldiers. That was until the tall castle in the distance collapsed in on itself, crumbling to nothing more than brick and motor. Alex turned to look at the sight with sorrow on his face, and then turning his back on the still fight soldiers he abandoned the frontline.

He closed the distance in an instant and arrived next to Cupcake

“Go!”

Emily nodded and turned back the way she had come, pushing the glowing ward forward and tearing their way out. The moment he crossed the threshold, Alex’s body reverted back to his normal visage and the shadow world behind them scattered.

Alex was still panting as she turned to stare at him. Those worlds were made from their memories. So then how had Alex looked like that? Had he reversed age somehow?

In her world, some healing abilities could turn back the clock on a person's physical body. Was that what was going on here?

Alex seemed to get a handle on his breathing as Emily spoke.

“You gonna explain what I just saw?”

“No, now you have to help the others, they could be in danger.”

“I don’t need to do anything until you explain what I just saw in there.”

Alex ground his teeth

“Dammit, Emily we need them!”

“Then speak fast.”

Alex’s fist clenched as he glared up at her, his shoulders drooping.

“When we get out of here, I’ll tell you what you want to know…”

Emily searched Alex's face for a hint of deceit but she found none. So she walked Cupcake over to the nearby cocoon and hopped off, pressing the ward into it. A whole rapidly formed and Emily entered a snowy woods with a small cabin. Stepping inside she found a young boy with blond hair weeping next to an empty bed and dragged him out of the shadow world.

Oscar clutched his head when they were back in the real world and his eyes widened.

Emily moved toward the last cacoon with some trepidation, but before she could use the ward against it. The shadows suddenly exploded outward and Kael stepped out covered in glowing ethereal vapor.

“Ah, you guys are out, I’m glad because I think I know where the culprit is.”

Stepping towards the mausoleum he swung his spear and the hard stone crumbled to reveal the empty coffin. Only now it contained a Speter lying quietly in the recess.

Emily frowned. All of that and the creature was not even fully mature. By the looks of things, it couldn’t even more. But it still managed to give them the run-around. Kael reached in and snapped the title stone from its place in the spine. Instantly the shadows died down and the howls near the edges of their vision faded.

Even the darkness didn’t feel as oppressive.

“Well, I’m sure this one alone will make up for all my losses on the little trip. Come on then let's get going.”

Emily stared at the man’s nonchalant demeanor and frowned, all of them had been shown something deeply personal, and enthralling. Yet Kael seemed to be fine after being in what Emily was certain was his own personal nightmare prison. So either he was a psychopath or he had conquered it just as Emily had.

Regardless, the silence that hung over their group as they pressed forward was more oppressive than the stillness of the tomb.

Blood points: 76