The shadows hung on the subterranean walls like sludge. The taste of the vile demonic was in the air; it reminded me of elder-root and rusted iron.

I could feel it: the veil between Arden and the Unwaking World was very thin here--and all the slimy, disgusting things that had burrowed their way into the walls of the infinite gap between spaces were lurking now.

The creatures of the Cravens were very much near.

I scrunched my nose up at the smell. It only got worse as I descended.

The walls became more thickly lined with the thick, filth of darkness as I went. Time felt off. I might be stuck walking for hours if I weren't careful, or if I just trusted my own physical eyes alone.

[Truesight]

My irises flashed a deep, royal purple.

I'd been hearing the whispers for some time now too. Those, however, were easy enough to ignore; I just had to make sure I didn't overestimate my abilities if they started to become not so dismissible.

Just how wrong my surroundings would become remained to be seen and relied entirely on just how shattered the boundaries of reality had become within the dungeon.

[Truesight] would keep me from walking directly into the Cravens themselves, if things proved to truly be that far gone here--or, at least, it would keep me from going into them unwillingly.

If it came down to needing to walk into the domain of warped souls and monsters, then I would do it to find Castien.

My magically enhanced vision guided me deeper.

It wasn't that advanced of a spell. It was more about knowing how to utilize it that made it useful.

I was simply using the incantation to find the lines where the Other world and ours overlapped, but where neither fully overtook the other.

Essentially, I was walking a tightrope and using [Truesight] to keep my feet on the solid ground of anchored reality, while also traveling deeper into the fringes of what some had once called the Hells--though the Cravens and Hells were, in fact, two entirely different abominations.

Eventually, as I met the end of a long stairwell, the chamber before me abruptly opened up into a sea of stars and shattered floor stones. [Truesight] warned me that there wasn't all that much of the material plane left to be found here.

I closed my eyes, but not before casting a slight barrier. I wasn't going to leave myself that open.

[Mage Armor]

Now for the spell I truly needed:

[Locate Evil]

The corruption bubbled into my senses, slinking and wrapping around my outstretched mana. It beckoned me closer.

My eyes opened and I ended the spell. Best to not allow that sort of Demonic energy to linger against my own powers for too long.

The spell had told me what I needed to know: I would have to cross this expanse of shattered realspace to find the epicenter of this disaster.

I had no way of knowing if James and Castien were at the center of it all. However, I had nothing else to go on. If they weren't then hopefully I could end whatever was causing this planar disturbance and then track them down in whatever would be left of these ruins after that.

One very strong worry did weigh on my mind, however.

My magic should've been able to find James anywhere in Arden. Not outside of it, mind you, but if he were here then I should have been able to pick back up on his soul signature now that I had entered, at least partially, the more demonic realms.

If I had sensed nothing, as I had before, then that would've been one thing. I could've assumed he was dead, or somewhere else entirely, despite the original spell leading me to the temple up until it was severed.

But this was different. I didn't sense nothing. I sensed a vacuum of something.

It was a distinction I hadn't been aware existed until the moment I had stepped foot into the temple. And, if I were being honest with myself, it terrified me like few things could.

James was a skilled and famed hero. He had done much in his lifetime.

But I was centuries older than my infinitely noble, but apparently naïve lover. I had stepped between worlds and realities.

Yet... I had never felt the sheer absence of life that touched me so gingerly when I reached my mind deeper into the temple. If it weren't for my need to find Castien then I would have run as fast as my legs could carry me.

I raised my staff into the air.

[Greater Telekinesis]

A chunk of real space drifted from the expanse of nebulas and supernovas to present itself to me.

I stepped upon it and, once more, my eyes flashed and the rock began to drift forward.

I hadn't traveled long before I felt the presences growing closer. They had been following me for some time, of course, but only now were they preparing to pounce.

I remained facing steadily forward as my magic guided my chunk of temple flooring forward through the air.

[Aura of Awareness]

An invisible bubble of consciousness spread off from my position. My eyes were now everywhere.

I felt no need to call the demon-spawn out and give away the knowledge of my awareness. I had little arrogance left in me, but much contained pride. If they felt the need to ambush me then they would be the ones who were instead caught lacking.

Whatever creature had ended his life, which I was now beginning to accept had happened, they would find out all too well that I was not my husband. I was something much worse.

The first arrow of hatred flew, barbed with hells' fire from a direction where I'd have missed it if I'd relied only on mortal eyes.

Too quick for me to dodge.

[Aura of Awareness] saved me.

I didn't have to dodge at all, just see the threat.

[Sacrosanct Circle]

A crystalline pendant, wrapped in delicate blessed silver hung from my neck. The holy symbol glowed a beautiful gold and warmed against my breasts.

A flare of this time very visible golden light seared out in front of me. The burning, holy power then began to carve a deep, glowing ring around me in the hewn rock.

The arrow was a mere foot from my neck now. If [Mage Armor] had been absent then it would've all but killed me had it hit. I would admit to myself completely that I lacked entirely in physical constitution.

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The holy ring connected from one end to another.

The arrow was an inch from my neck when [Sacrosanct Circle] began to dissolve it into nothing, from tip to to nock.

[Detect Evil]

My necklace glowed again, as further arrows failed to even breach the outer rim of [Sacrosanct Circle]. Instead, they broke apart as the first one had, but they did so immediately upon reaching the ring's boundary.

Many of the gangly creatures, who had sought to ambush me, had already begun to crawl up to the top of the many floating boulders and rock chunks all around me.

[Hungering Haunt, Level 10 Demonic-Archer]

[HP: 70/70]

They resembled some disgusting cross between satyrs and elf children. Each held a bow in their hands and hunger in their eyes.

So, it was a hunt they wanted? Very well, but they would find themselves on the dying end.

[Detect Evil] was what I had cast next. It outlined the corrupted energies of evil or chaos aligned creatures that came within my sight; when combined with my [Aura of Awareness] it allowed me to see even the hidden few among the archers in all directions--since the invisible bubble extended my senses.

[Seeking Arrow]

The light on my staff's gem flared once again. The flash of mana was blinding and, once it was over, a dozen mana-forged floating projectiles spun around my still stagnant body.

[Curse Evil]

My necklace continued to hum with holy power.

The arrows were outlined with a sublime, golden aura following the final spell.

"Die," I said.

The arrows flew true. Only a [Counterspell] or [Dispel Magic] could stop them from hitting home.

Almost every single archer found their bow hands pierced by multiple mystical bolts. If that had been the worst of their wounds then perhaps they'd have recovered easily, but I had worse intentions than that. The glowing arrows quickly dissolved into a equally as shining aura that licked like holy flame up their bodies.

The very unholy screams started then.

[Holy Ally]

[Buff Good]

[Guardian Circle]

[Salving Runes]

Arms burst forth from my [Sacrosanct Circle]. The beings that pulled themselves up, smoothly and carefully from the holy light resembled winged devas. Their many arms each held a celestially shining weapon.

[Buff Good] applied a flash of power to wash over and settle into their bodies as they each came to stand in a protective ring around me.

[Guardian Circle] summoned a number of golden shields that circled around the blessed ring of light I'd summoned.

[Guardian Shield, Level 5 Divine Construct]

[HP: 10/10]

[Salving Runes] on the other hand, carved a holy symbol of power at each of the cardinal points of [Sacrosanct Circle].

A set of violent, angry cries screamed out from those same four directions.

It wasn't over.

The creatures were much taller than the now indisposed [Hungering Haunts]. They were nothing but cracked and flayed bone. Their faces resembled something between a de-fleshed horse and hyena. Powerful armor covered their bodies, save for their exposed arm and clawed toe bones.

With one mighty jump the first of their number crossed the not-so-minor gap between the cliff that it stood upon and my chunk of rock. It hurdled with absolute killing intent for the western-faced of my Holy Allies

The thing's glaive slammed heavy against a Guardian Shield which flew up, instead, and which then all but immediately shattered under the onslaught.

[Jackal Magehunter, Level 15 Undead Construct]

[HP:50/50]

I wasn't fast enough to intercept the lightning quick abomination. This among other things told me that its low HP was not something to underestimate.

The Holy Ally lunged for the Jackal, just as the dissipated energy of the Guardian Shield was lazily drifting into the weapon of the Undead that had easily broken it.

[Holy Ally, Level 10 Celestial]

[HP:60/80]

It took only one hit for the Magehunter to take nearly a fourth of my defender's health--and they had much more AC and HP than I did.

Its glaive and level at most meant that it should only be dealing, roughly, ten to fifteen points of damage per regular strike.

The creature's name and its easy destruction of the Guardian Shield slowly began to give me a skin crawling realization: it was doing up to double damage to targets of a holy, if not just outright magical disposition.

If that thing made it through [Sacrosanct Circle] then I was done for, because I very much fell into both categories.

[Detect Evil] and the sound of another shield cracking told me that another of the four Jackals had made its lunge.

[Holy Lance]

I struck one of my now glowing hands out towards the first of the undead. Back behind it, a weapon of pure light was constructed.

I slammed my arm down and the piercing lance of light struck the back of the Jackal.

[You dealt 25 points of Divine damage to Jackal Magehunter.]

That was only half of what I should've been able to do to a creature of undeath with a Divine spell like [Holy Lance].

What was worse, however, was that after hitting the creature, and even piercing its armor and cracking a number of its bones audibly, the energy was pulled into it. A holy sheen glowed around the Jackal and was channeled into its ugly looking glaive.

I watched with alarm as its next strike cut through two of the four arms of my western Holy Ally.

[Holy Ally]

[HP: 10/80]

It had taken a portion of my spell's damage and not only resisted it, but also redirected it.

These monsters were handcrafted to kill mages.

The very fact that these things were here meant that I was now severely limited. And, honestly, made me very concerned that whatever now controlled this tomb had turned its eyes towards me--and that it knew just how to deal with powerful spellcasters.

The sound of two more Guardian Shields cracking entered my awareness.

I quickly ruled out Personal magic attacks. If Divine magic was dealing half damage, when it very well should have a double multiple of damage against Undead, then I did not want to see my mana go towards a one third reduction in damage dealt if not worse.

I glanced at my own status bar.

[Viessa Stoneheart, Level 15 Mage, Level 15 Cleric, Level 5 Warsister, Level 5 Worldwalker]

[HP: 60/60]

[Mana: 250/300]

[Faith: 23/30]

I may very well run out of Faith before I could end these things.

There was task at hand, I reminded myself. I couldn't die. Castien needed his mother.

[Divine Chains]

At the moment of my casting the spell, golden-linked chains burst from the ground and shot towards the Jackals. Manacles locked firmly around the wrists and ankles of three out of the four.

My summons lunged into action. Each stabbing a spear, bringing down an axe, or crashing into the Jackals' bones with a mace.

[Jackal Magehunter resisted the effect of Divine Chains]

One of the creatures ripped free of the spell before it could fully take hold of it.

Their Constitution scores must not be too bad, then, I noted.

Still, maybe I could do them harm without actually damaging them.

[Channel Undeath]

It was a Personal magic spell I did not enjoy using, but it had its place now.

The chained Jackals struggled as streams of power left their body and flowed into me. I felt my mana slowly ticking back up. My health, on the other hand, started to decrease.

It didn't matter, if my HP came into play at all here then I was dead anyway; [Mage Armor] wouldn't save me from their magic-draining glaives. I couldn't let these monsters touch me.

The [Salving Runes] began to glow brightly. The decrease of my health was slowed somewhat, but not fully halted.

The other two Jackals snapped their chains not too long after the first.

[Heal Allies]

My mana flowed out of me and began to restore the health of the Holy Allies.

The Jackals started to be pushed back.

[Holy Lance]

[Holy Lance]

[Holy Lance]

[Holy Lance]

In quick succession, multiple searing beams of light slammed into the remaining foes and drained me of my Faith.

My summons charged, pushing the Jackals fully away from the [Sacrosanct Circle].

One by one, the Jackals were slowly whittled down to almost no health.

This was my opening; I just needed their health to get low enough and:

[Return Undead]

The Jackals screeched once again as the spell was activated. Out from beneath them pools of darkness began to form. Hands, much like their own, reached up from the portals to the Fellshade--the realm from where Necrotic energy seeped into the material world.

Again, it was a spell I didn't like using; even though the portals would close nearly immediately after reclaiming the monsters, just accessing such a dark place disgusted me.

Still, [Return Undead] did its job, as the Jackals were clawed down, one by one, screaming as skinless hands forced them deep into the darkness from which they were constructed.

My Holly Allies began to crumble into particles of light, just as the last of the Jackals were banished.

My circles of protection and runes of mending soon also pattered out as well.

I felt my body slump against my staff. Both of my hands gripped my staff hard and I did my best to steady myself. My blonde hair was messy from exertion and fell to droop over my thin face.

I felt my body aching. Despite my levels persisting, I wasn't the mage I had once been. I knew I would reach my limit eventually if things kept on like this.

But I would never abandon my son.

[You've reduced Jackal Magehunter's HP to 0.]

[You've reduced Jackal Magehunter's HP to 0.]

[You've reduced Jackal Magehunter's HP to 0.]

[You've reduced Jackal Magehunter's HP to 0.]

[Your Spell Attack skill increased by 1.]

[Your Spell Defense skill increased by 1.]

[Your Spell Efficiency skill increased by 1.]

[Your Summoning skill increased by 1.]

[You gained XP. Check your Character Sheet to assess your current level progress.]

[Corpses were removed from the battlefield. No loot will be rewarded.]

It was then that a loud roar shook through the eternal sky of the corrupted place and I saw on the void winds the wings of death.