The shadow shifted, its form coalescing into something more defined. Tendrils of darkness unfurled from its core, writhing like living smoke. The air around it seemed to warp, the threads of the Path bending toward it as though drawn by some unseen force.

“Listen Jinx,” I said, my voice steady despite the fear clawing at my chest. “I need you to hear me, and not argue. We have a problem.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What kind of problem?”

The shadowy form was nearly upon us, and I grabbed Jinx’s shoulder to pull her back. I am willing to admit that I might have yanked a smidge too hard.

“Ow!” She growled. I let go, but it was too late.

She spun around, her eyes blazing with an unnatural green light. Her once-golden aura had turned blood-red, pulsing like a heartbeat.

“Jinx?” I said, taking a cautious step back.

She didn’t answer. Her lips curled into a snarl, revealing teeth far sharper than they should have been. A guttural hiss escaped her throat as she lunged, faster than I could react.

She slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. My cane skittered out of reach as she pinned me down, her teeth inches from my throat. Instinct kicked in, and I shoved an arm against her neck, struggling to hold her back.

“Jinx!” I shouted. “Snap out of it!”

Her strength was unreal, far beyond anything I’d felt from her before. My enhanced abilities should have given me the edge, but whatever had taken hold of her was stronger. Desperation clawed at me as I fought to keep her at bay.

I activated my adaptive physiology, and that barely managed to save me.

Heat flooded my veins, my muscles surging with newfound strength. I twisted my body, using the momentum to roll her off me. For a moment, I thought I had the upper hand -until she slammed my head against the crystalline ground.

Stars exploded in my vision, and my grip faltered. She took advantage, sinking her teeth into my neck. Pain seared through me, red-hot and all-consuming, as my blood drained away in agonizing pulls.

A surge of energy erupted from within me, a shockwave of force that sent Jinx flying. I scrambled to my feet, clutching my neck as I staggered back. My vision swam, the glowing patterns around me twisting into chaotic spirals.

Jinx lay motionless for a moment, her aura flickering like a dying flame. Then, with a guttural growl, she rose to her feet -puppet strings of energy lifting her like a marionette. The shadow clinging to her form writhed and twisted, its edges fraying as though caught in a strong wind.

“Damnit Jinx, stay down,” I warned, my voice trembling. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She didn’t listen. With an inhuman shriek, she charged again, her movements wild and erratic. But this time, I was ready. Or so I thought.

Her movements slowed in my perception, each lunge and twist outlined in the glowing strands of the Veil. Her blood signature burned bright against the backdrop of her corrupted aura, a shadow parasite attached to her form - now distinct to my heightened senses. I could see its tendrils burrowing into her essence, spreading like ink through water.

I used every trick I could think of, and none of them worked. Despite my advantages, her assault was overwhelming. I tried to keep her at bay, and not hurt her, but she had no such compunctions with me. I was manhandled like a raggedy Andy doll.

“Jinx,” I said, my voice low but firm. “You’re stronger than this thing. Fight it.”

She grew frustrated with my resistance and figured that some more head pounding would loosen me up.

It did, but not in the way she was intending.

One second I was lucid and barely hanging on, and the next my head was swimming as pain exploded in the back of my skull. Thankfully I’d trained for a long time with nothing but ordinary human strength. And some of my training was specific to being pinned under someone, and how best to get the advantage. Using my hips and what little leverage I had -we shifted, rolling on the floor in a blur of motion, and then I was up and we disengaged.

She growled, her body trembling as though caught between conflicting impulses. The shadow flared, its edges writhing, and she lunged again. This time, I sidestepped her attack with preternatural ease, my enhanced agility kicking in as the world around me seemed to slow.

I grabbed her arm mid-lunge, using her momentum to twist her to the ground. Her body hit the crystalline Path with a heavy thud, and I pinned her down, my weight pressing into her back. The shadow parasite pulsed, its tendrils flaring as it fought against her struggling form.

“Let her go!” I shouted, my voice echoing into the void.

The parasite controlling her hissed, a sound that wasn’t physical but vibrated deep in my skull. I could feel its malice, its hunger, a primordial thing that clawed at the edges of reason. It wasn’t just feeding on her -it was trying to fully consume her essence.

Then she flickered. I mean she literally stuttered like a bad video. And the next thing I know she was wrapped around me, and my neck was being torn apart by her wicked teeth.

I fell back and landed on the ground with her on top of me, doing her best to tear the life from me.

And that was that.

I went from seeing strange lights to only seeing red on black. My vision was filled with the pulsing blood filled form latched onto the front of me. And I could do nothing but give in to the darkness that hovered at the edge of my sight, as it bled its way from her and into me, devouring me in its shadowy embrace.

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As consciousness slipped away from me, I did the only thing I could think of. I used Essence Drain on the parasite and hoped it would work without killing her, or me.

Heat flared in my chest, radiating outward as the parasite’s tendrils began to unravel. The energy it had siphoned from Jinx reversed course, flowing into me with a fiery surge that left my muscles trembling. The parasite shrieked again, its form flickering as it recoiled, but I didn’t let up.

Jinx writhed atop me, her growls turning to pained gasps as the shadow parasite receded. “Declan…” she whispered, her voice weak but clear.

“I’ve got you,” I said, tightening my grip as the parasite’s form collapsed in on itself.

With one final burst of effort, I drew the last of its essence into me. The shadow dissolved, leaving behind a faint, oily residue that dissipated into the air. The sudden absence of its presence left a strange silence, the oppressive weight lifting like a storm passing.

And that’s when I blacked out.

Essence Drain Complete

Target neutralized. Abyssal Essence gained

Clan Attribute Absorbed: Abyssal Shadow

Ability Unlocked: Veil Shift - allows the user to momentarily phase between dimensions, bypassing physical obstacles and briefly stepping into the Veil.

Partial Skill Unlocked: Phantom Strength

Duration of newly acquired abilities: permanent.

I came to sometime later, my throat raw but filled with a delicious fluid. I swallowed the sweet, metallic liquid down, and the soreness in my throat quickly subsided. It was like drinking fire and honey all at once -a strange mix of warmth and sharpness that spread through my chest and limbs, chasing away the lingering fatigue.

My breath came in ragged gasps, my body trembling from the overload of power coursing through me. I looked down and saw that I had my arms wrapped around a still-mostly-human female form.

I say mostly human because there was something off about her. My now-groping hands found a lot more fur on her form than I remembered when I first met her. Soft but coarse, it bristled under my touch, giving the impression of a predator's coat rather than a person’s skin.

When my fingers brushed her face, I found an elongated snout. Yes, a snout -complete with long, overly large teeth protruding from it. The same teeth that, judging by the lingering heat on my neck, had just torn into me. My throat tightened instinctively as I gingerly touched the spot where the injury should have been. To my relief, my fingers met smooth, unbroken skin.

“Okay, that’s… unexpected,” I muttered, breathing a sigh of relief.

I turned my attention back to the form in my arms. “Jinx?” It had to be. There was no other explanation. But what happened to her? Holy shit.

Her colors were all wrong. Her previously shifting aura of greens, blues, and golds was now blackened and shuttered, like someone had splattered tar across her vibrant canvas. As I watched, the faintly colored lights dimmed even more, flickering like a candle about to go out. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it couldn’t be good.

“Jinx?” I said, shaking her gently. “Hey, wake up. Come on.”

She didn’t stir. My chest tightened, panic rising like a flood. “What the hell did I do to you?” I whispered, running my hands over her again. Her body was cold but not lifeless -there was still a faint rhythm to her breathing, a fragile tether holding her to life. My fingers brushed along her back and ribs, where I found deep tears in her flesh. The worst was near her collarbone -a jagged wound that oozed sluggishly. It looked bad. Really bad.

My mind went numb as I realized what must have happened. We fought and I must have let the Hunger take me over, just like Father Ben had warned.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered, my mind scrambling for something -anything- that could help.

Acting purely on instinct, I tore into my wrist with my teeth, hissing at the brief sting of pain. Dark blood welled up immediately, and I pressed it to her slack-jawed mouth. “Come on,” I urged, watching as the thick crimson fluid dripped between her teeth. “Drink, damn it.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Then her body twitched, a faint shudder running through her limbs. Her lips parted slightly, and her throat worked in a weak, reflexive swallow. The sight made my heart leap. I kept the flow steady, watching in awe as her aura began to shift.

The darkness that had cloaked her was retreating, melting away like shadows under a rising sun. Her colors returned, but they weren’t the same. Among the greens, blues, and golds was a new hue -a deep, vibrant red that pulsed like a heartbeat, weaving itself into her essence.

“Uh oh,” I muttered, a sinking feeling settling in my gut. “Now what did I do?”

Before I could figure it out, Jinx’s body jerked violently. Her eyes flew open, wild and unfocused, as she sucked in a ragged breath. The fur that had covered her form began to slough away, vanishing as if it had never been. The transformation was jarring -one moment, she was feral and unrecognizable; the next, she was Jinx again, though her expression was frantic and her movements erratic.

She groaned, rolling onto her back. Her eyes fluttered open, their green glow now subdued but still present.

“What… what the hell happened!? What was that?” she rasped, her voice raw and broken, like she’d been screaming -or like her throat had been recently torn out.

“Something nasty,” I said, offering her a hand. “You okay?”

She took my hand, her grip weak but steady. “I think so. What happened to me?”

“Some kind of parasite,” I explained. “It latched onto you and tried to turn you into... something else. But I managed to pull it out.”

“What do you mean?” She demanded weakly.

“I don’t know,” I said quickly, raising my hands in a placating gesture. “One minute we’re walking along the Path all normal-like, and the next we’re ambushed. You mean you don’t remember any of it?”

She shook her head, wincing at the motion. “No. It’s all… fuzzy. My head’s killing me.”

“That’s probably because you took a nasty blow,” I said, moving to steady her as she tried to stand. “Whoa, not so fast, yeah? You took quite a hit back there. Sit down and rest.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her hand going to her temple. “Is that why everything feels… off?”

“Yeah,” I lied, keeping my tone as neutral as possible. “You tried to fend off the attacker, but it got the better of you.”

She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I could feel it. Like it was digging into my mind. I wanted to stop, but I couldn’t…” Her voice broke, and she looked away, her shoulders trembling.

“Hey.” I reached out, my hand hovering over her shoulder before I decided to let it rest there. “It’s gone now. You’re safe.”

She nodded, exhaling a shaky breath. “Thanks, Declan. I don’t know what I would’ve done if…”

“Don’t think about that,” I said quickly, cutting her off. “We’re both still here. That’s what matters.”

She looked at me sharply, her eyes narrowing. “Where did it go? What happened to it?”

I hesitated, then decided on a half-truth. “I managed to throw it into the Space Between. It won’t be bothering us anymore.”

She studied me for a moment, her gaze piercing. They say the eyes are windows to the soul, that you can tell when someone’s lying by looking into their eyes. Luckily, mine didn’t tell much these days -not to her, at least. After a moment, she sighed, the tension in her shoulders easing.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, straightening up. Her voice was softer now, less frantic.

“Umm, you’re welcome. Nothing to it,” I said, though the weight of her gratitude pressed heavily on me. I didn’t deserve it -not with how much I was hiding. I’d ask her about going all furry, and the changes to her aura later, maybe once we were out of this hellhole.

A wave of vertigo struck me and I placed a steadying hand on the floor of the Path.

Status Update:

Condition: Minor Essence Overload

Effects: Temporary fatigue (-10% Body Attribute for 1 hour).

“Well, that’s new,” I muttered, disoriented and a little weak.

“What is?” Jinx asked, her voice still shaky.

“Nothing important,” I hedged, not wanting to overwhelm her with unnecessary details.

As we rested, the silence stretched between us, heavy but not uncomfortable. The Path beneath us glowed faintly, its crystalline light steady once more.