The Eye of Madness opened, engulfing everything before it. It revealed the truth, a truth I shared with my enemies. I saw them for what they were, tiny extension of something much greater. No more important than a few loose skin cells shed casually without care or notice. All their hunger and rage, meaningless before their true purpose.

I stood at the very center of this vortex of madness, seemingly important. But what was I?

I saw the birth of planets and great civilizations, only for those civilizations to gradually fade and die, slowly being replaced over time. I saw entire solar systems perish as stars expanded before collapsing into magnificent and violent supernovas that could be seen from half a universe away. It was awesome in its scale, and terrifying in the realization of how small even these events were.

I saw the great expanse of time and space, every possible action repeated over and over unendingly. Both the past and future were infinite, and yet more existed beyond these measurements. Other dimensions existed outside of our own, some far older and with native intelligences so alien, powerful, and malignant as to be unfathomable.

Then I saw the silent waiting forms for whom these events and creatures were but cosmic specs of dust, the lifespan of universes over in the blink of an eye compared to these eternal beings. Terrible and frightening, not because they held malice but for the complete lack of regard they held for anything as insignificant as human life. Even entire universes were little more than baubles to be squandered and bartered. Worse than their lack of regard was the chance that one might turn their attention towards you, a momentary amusement.

I saw a burning eye in sky as one of these great intelligences, gods that stood outside of time and space, took notice. Only for a moment, but events were set into motion that could not be avoided. I saw the true enemy, and I understood the utter insignificance of my own existence. To resist was unavoidable, and yet pointless.

***

I felt a strike across my face.

“Finn,” said a familiar voice laced with sobs. “Snap out of it.”

I held my hands in front of my face, fingernails dripping with blood. Deep gauges had been dug into my forehead and cheeks, tears and blood ran down my face. My eyes were dry, and my skin felt hot. My throat was hoarse, and every muscle in my face ached as if I had been screaming for hours.

I breathed deeply, hyperventilating while collapsing to my knees in despair. I took deep ragged breaths, as I tightly squeezed my eyes shut. The images would not leave, they seemed to be permanently burned into my memory – not only unforgettable but unable to be repressed or ignored.

“Finn,” Rachel’s voice called out to me. “We need to get out of here.”

I looked up to see Rachel and Tiller standing over me. Someone had carried me down off the barricade and leaned me up against a group of stacked cars several meters behind the main barricade.

After a few moments I finally dragged myself up, one hand grasping a car for support while Rachel put her shoulder under my arm for support. My conjured cast was completely gone, and in a moment of clarity I realized the palisades I had constructed would be as well.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked. I could still hear the sounds of battle, somehow fiercer than before.

“I think so,” it was Tiller who answered. “Whatever you did caused everything to go crazy. Those monsters went berserk, started tearing each other apart. Others charged the barrier, ignoring every injury like they’d gone mad.”

“Your spiked wall is gone,” added Rachel. “A bunch of those … things, they just mindlessly impaled themselves, but it didn’t take them long to smash through.”

She looked at me for a moment, peaking out from beneath my arm. She briefly pulled away from before throwing her arms around me, almost causing me to stumble. “You were babbling and screaming the whole time, I though something was really wrong with you. I tried singing again, but it didn’t help, and my mana was already almost gone. I’m… just.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled. “You save me more than once today, all of us really.”

She smiled back releasing me from her bear hug, still leaving one arm under my shoulder to help me stand.

“Oh,” said Rachel holding one hand up to her chest. “Your bird, Finn, I am so sorry. He’s…”

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“Eaten,” finished Tiller.

“Eaten?” I said. I reached out through my connection to the creature before saying more. “He’s fine. In fact, whatever ate him is probably having a bit of indigestion right about now.”

My bond to the dark companion was now much deeper, and the creature itself had gotten some fancy new upgrades as well due to another of my new class features – Dark Gemini. I wasn’t sure how useful it would be just yet, but the description was promising.

Dark Gemini Ⓛ - You have gained insight into the true nature of your Dark Companion. It is now truly a part of you, a twin born from your shattered psyche. It can no longer hide from or deceive you, but no longer can you deny it its rightful place in your mind. As long as you live, your Dark Gemini cannot be truly killed.

Having absorbed a piece of your adaptability, the Dark Gemini has gained complete control of its form. Furthermore, as the twin to your own soul you now share a mana pool with your Dark Gemini and it can cast any spell you know from this pool.

It wasn’t the most impressive of my new abilities, but it did significantly reduce the risk of the creature I had once considered a parasite. The ability to share mana and spells was also potentially powerful. It could potentially double my firepower, even allowing me to focus on combat while my twin cast spells.

Despite this, I was still hesitant to trust the creature – even if it was me.

“The defenders can’t hold out much longer,” Tiller said. “Catayla is doing something to blow the bridge. We are supposed to fall back and make sure the way is clear so everyone else can haul ass in a minute.”

Tiller seemed as detached as usual, though he was almost hesitant, as if he was torn between leaving or staying to study the monsters. Rachel, however, had truly surprised me. It didn’t seem like that long ago that I had had to send Tiller to find her as she hid from combat, the evidence of her crying still visible by the black lines of makeup that ran down her cheeks. Yet now, she had a certain determination to her. Perhaps she had found her courage during the battle.

“All right,” I added. It took me only a moment to reform the cast around my shattered ankle. It took considerably more effort this time. I suspected constructing anything as large as a palisade would be well above my abilities, at least for the short-term future.

“Did anything get past us?” I asked. “The bridge should be pretty much clear in this direction, right?”

“A big part of the horde broke off to the Northeast, they may cross up there and circle back south. We’re still not sure what those pterodactyls will do either. Whatever you did seems not to have affected them, so far. Probably just waiting to feast from the carrion, but we can’t be sure.”

“Can you walk?” asked Rachel.

“I’ll manage,” I said. “It’s painful, but I can move on my own.”

“All right,” said Tiller. “When Catayla gives the signal, they’ll be coming for us like a bat out of hell, demons hot on their tails. Literally in this case.”

We began sprinting back towards the city. It was difficult, but I manage to keep up despite my crippled leg. Under ideal circumstances I would have been faster than either of them. My physical stats were the highest of the trio, though Tiller was able to avoid obstacles with a gymnast like grace that allowed him to easily take the lead.

Our run didn’t take long, and we didn’t run into any trouble along the way. Slowly, we made our way down the debris ridden ramp at the end of the bridge and took cover behind the overturned frame of an old sedan.

“So, what’s the signal?” I asked.

“No idea,” said Tiller.

I looked to Rachel, but she just shook her head to indicate she didn’t know either.

“I imagine we’ll know it when we…” began Tiller.

A bright flash preceded a shockwave and a large plume of smoke. The entire bridge vibrated, but it still held. The groaning of the high-tension wires became sharp cracks as wire began to snap, and the bridge began to sway.

“If that’s the signal,” said Rachel. “Then I hate to see what the actual explosion is going to look like.”

“Baddasses never see explosions,” said Tiller.

“What?” Rachel and I said together.

“Too busy walking away in slow motion.” The groans were left unsaid, but the momentary silence and empty stares communicated our feelings well, I think.

“You’ve been holding on to that one, haven’t you?” Rachel asked Tiller.

“Maybe for a bit…” he admitted.

“Alright, you guys. Pre-fight banter concluded?” I asked. “They’re going to come charging down that ramp at any second and we need to be ready for whatever is coming”

It wasn’t long before my prediction came true. A dozen bridge guards, Catayla and Worthy leading the way, came rushing down the ramp. Tiller was already firing, not worrying about friendly fire as his shots unerringly flew past fleeing guards to strike the targets behind them. The speed and accuracy of his shots was poetic, some shots came within inches of striking an ally but somehow his bullets always struck Tiller’s intended target.

As the group of guards reached us they split up to take cover. I began to use Arcane bolts to take out pursuing creatures while Tiller continued to take out everything that came even remote close to one of our allies. Rachel held a gun at her side, but hadn’t started firing, instead humming a gentle tune that seemed to sooth my aches and clear my mind. The effects were minor, maybe even a placebo.

“Everyone down,” yelled Catayla. She pulled out a disk that looked exactly like the communication device she had given to me after we first met. I tensed as she pressed down the button in the center of the device. Instead of the high intensity blast I had braced for, there was a long serious of pops – sounding more like fireworks than high grade demolition charges.

Almost immediately I could hear sharp cracks and the screeching sound of metal on metal. The wires that supported the bridge all began to give out at the same time. The bridge collapse into the river beneath it, creating waves and a large splash that nearly reached us. The resulting clamor washed over me, even as a cloud of dust and powdered concrete settled, obscuring my vision.

“Get ready,” I said. “Here they come.”