The interior of the tower retained some semblance of its former self with some furniture and the previous inhabitants’ belongings untouched by Daimonic corruption. All else was covered in that same mesh of violet nerves; everything they touched appeared to form a jagged mess of carbon, silica and metals. The Teleostium that would have easily transported them to the upper apartments had been destroyed, so the soldiers used some of their Focus to push the walls and ceilings into a staircase, large enough to fit their triangular formation. Slowly, Gallus led their ascent from the back. The two friends were separated, with Adonis at the head and Rufinus marching uncomfortably in front of Gallus.

“You’d better not get us killed, half-serpent.”

Adonis ignored the Duxus’ words. The moment they ascended up into the next room he scanned through the vicinity. An ache formed in his sealed eye the moment he glanced to one corner.

A spear of ice shot, piercing a rodent-like mass with a squelch and a screech. The other two Draekslanni followed suit, sending out several bolts of sparking electricity and darts of glowing thorns which each marked many other hidden rodents around the room. The rodents then formed a horde of small earthen puppets in the image of lesser Daimons. They rose up from the floors and walls, each looking like swarming, many tailed worms in the vague shape of their possessed makers. They rushed at the soldiers, gnawing at the bottom of the magic shield surrounding them. The soldiers in front dared not break their concentration; once one rodent got in, the entire swarm would surely follow and tear them to shreds. Those behind began infusing the shield with all manner of elemental magic. Cold froze the air within the puppets and the fluids that circulated through the poor rats. Then sudden heat formed cracks in all of them. The puppets were the first to crumble into rubble. The rest were quickly burned away, leaving behind their red bead-like eyes. Before they moved to the next room, Gallus made sure to destroy their eyes with light, sending them up to Paradis.

“What are you all standing around for? They’re just rats! Keep moving!”

And so, they continued their ascent. Were it not for their collective urgency to find any signs of life in this tower, the soldiers would have dared protest against the Duxus for a moment of reprieve. At least the non-Draekslanni could rest their eyes. The other three on each corner had to rely purely on Focus potions and the brief rests during each blink of their eyes. By the fifth floor, things were quieter. None of the Draekslanni had picked up on the presence of Daimons, but they didn't dare let their guard down.

Adonis felt discomfort briefly pass his eyes. It wasn’t the usual ache he had with the Minoridaimons. He could feel pain through the Tribunus’ Numbing spell. The squad stopped their advance as he glanced around the room quickly. The other two followed suit.

“Where did it go?” said Cenau, the other Draekslanni.

“Well you’d better find it quick,” said Gallus.

After a long pause, the Draekslanni woman answered by hurling several darts of glowing thorns towards one corner of the room. A shrill clink resounded. The thorn’s glow revealed the remnants of a smashed glass.

“It was right there. I felt it.”

As Adonis peered over, he noticed something reflected on the glass and he immediately glanced upwards.

“Look there.”

There were a few holes and gaps between the nerve mesh in the ceiling above, but the one they gazed at was larger than the others.

They entered a large room on the sixth floor. Some streams of dim light poured in from the broken windows. Broken glass and spilled drink lay on the nerve mesh, which was much denser on this floor compared to the others. Poking out between the nerves were the remains of gold-stained, navy robes marked with the dulled symbols of an Altus Collegium, but the eyes of each cloak pin were fully open; a graduation party had taken place here. The youths would have just completed the better portion of their school life, perhaps looking forward to (or dreading) the next 24 Blinks of institutionalised education.

Something moved past Adonis again. He readied his eyes. At that, everyone assumed a defensive position at the centre of the room looking around themselves. A few almost lost their footing to the holed ground in their haste.

“Idiots! Watch your step!”

The discomfort grew stronger amongst all of the Draekslanni, but they couldn't properly locate the Daimon. The Draekslanni woman saw something in one of the hallways. A figure. The discomfort in her sealed eyes was strong. She shot a spray of her thorn. Her darts met not flesh, but mirror glass, shattering it to pieces.

Everyone scrambled to search for the reflection’s source but as they did, more mirror glass began to cover the walls, the floors, the ceiling… everything. The mirror glass’ advance stopped at the shield surrounding the soldiers. Many more saw the figure dashing across multiple places. More glass was broken. Distracted, many hardly noticed the shards rising from the ground.

Glass shards flew straight at the men and women. Their shields blocked the majority of the shards, however one shard managed to lodge itself to the cracked shield. There was then a flash of light that bounced across mirror shards before channelling through the aligned glass. Cenau cried out, clutching one of his eyes. The others pushed him back to fill in the hole in the shield he had left. He fell backwards into the centre and one of the healers caught him. His essence had been deeply scorched to the point where he was incoherent. One eye was completely shut, the other darted around wildly to form a nonsense spell.

Whilst the healers mended their brother in arms, the others quickly destroyed the shard and filled in the gap that was left behind. Multiple rays of light bounced across the floating glass shards seemingly out of nowhere. The soldiers shot back, destroying or obscuring the shards and disrupting the lights.

Another scream, this time from a soldier close to another Draekslanni. The light just barely grazed him enough to interrupt his spell. If he weren't in the way, the Draekslanni woman’s eyes would have been directly burned like the other. Gallus could see what the Daimon was doing.

“Draekslanni! Are you blind?! Get behind the line!”

Adonis and the woman slipped behind the line. With one corner lacking a Draekslanni, they needed to change their formation.

“Orbis!”

By Gallus’ order, the triangle smoothly formed into a circle at the centre of the room. Soldiers focused their efforts on destroying and obscuring the glass shards before them to disrupt more rays of light. Yet, none could find the Daimon amidst the endless barrage.

There was too much light. It was hard enough tracking the Essence-Burning beams from the ambient light. Adonis turned his attention to the broken windows. His eyes began to glow with another spell and the stone walls started to cover up the gaps. More mirror glass infected the new walls but the room darkened on one side.

“What are you doing, fool?!” Gallus barked. “You’ll kill us all!”

“Wait,” Rufinus interjected. “Duxus, look at the lights!”

Gallus quietened up the moment he looked. Surrounded in darkness, the beams were far easier to follow. He hated that he was taking the suggestion of a low-ranking Maleficari but he was willing to take anything if it meant surviving this encounter. By his order, more walls were patched up much faster. Though it had become difficult to see where the glass shards were, the rays of light could be clearly seen bouncing around the room. As the others concentrated on destroying any nearby shards briefly illuminated by the lights and their own spells, the two remaining Draekslanni focused on following the lights. With the mirrors, it was hard to know where they were coming from from Tirran sight alone. Adonis focused hard, tracking the rays to their point of origin. With the slightest movement of his eyes, he felt a strong sensation. Amidst the flashing lights, he could see the same violet pulse that ran through the nerves of all Daimons.

“Duxus! To your right!”

Gallus immediately saw what Adonis had seen. He turned his head to see a small flash of ice pinpoint its target. From it, he followed its rays of light hitting several points around the room. An idea formed in the Duxus’ head. His eyes glowed and a whip of light snaked down from his hand. He struck it at one of those points - a glass shard - and it extended all the way. Bouncing. Splitting. Then striking its target. The whip wrapped around its form in a tight grip.

The soldiers followed suit and began concentrating their spells at that point. The sound of glass shattering rang through the air. The whip broke. The beams ceased.

“Is it dead?”

The soldiers circled around with the same thought. Adonis and the Draekslanni woman looked deep into the darkness. Left… Right… Up… Down… Corner to c-

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

A bright flash of Starlight flooded the room. Everyone cried out as the light blinded them. Most thought that they’d been essence-burned. Gallus thought so too, until his vision recovered. He saw shards lodging themselves into the cracked shield. Some pierced through and struck several soldiers. He needed to act now before they’d all truly become blind and very much dead. He visualised his whip in his hand once more and threw it back with a crack. With one hard swing, the whip struck the light and wrapped around it. The bright ball quickly dimmed and shrank as the whip drained it of its light. The light dimmed enough for the soldiers to recover.

Gallus saw a beam of bright white light bounce and go through those shards. As if the passing of change itself had slowed, Gallus saw the beam shoot towards a single glass shard that fell in front of his eye.

Red flames blew just inches from his face. Gallus doubled back, face feeling warm but unburnt. His vision remained unaffected and his mind untouched. The flames continued to engulf the shards and disrupt the light’s path. Gallus traced the source of the flames; air and pieces of furniture were drawn to a Focus Circle just in front of one hand of the Warg-eyed soldier.

Rufinus’ irises blazed brightly yet its fires remained confined within the boundary of his irises, like the Morningstar in the confines of space. The shards in the room melted into bright orange molten glass that dripped around the nerve-covered ground. A rancid smoke filled the air till none could see with their Tirran eyes. The outer edge of the squad rotated with Adonis and the Draekslanni woman on opposite sides of the circle.

“There!” came the Draekslanni woman’s voice. Vines sprang from the floor and they moved with her deep blue eyes. They whipped at the Daimon, dragging it forward. The others followed, shooting their own projectile spells at the creature. More barbed vines sprang up wrapping around its entire head with a loud, glassy crack. Broken glass poked out of its mangled body. Out of all the Daimons the soldiers had encountered so far, this one looked… human.

The Daimon raised its hand, snapping the vine holding it down. The Draekslanni tried to reform the vine but the Daimon was faster. Two eyes appeared on its hand flames engulfed the vines.

Adonis nodded at Gallus. He focused on forming several pillars of ice around the room, all curved at the top, much like a series of lenses, all leading towards the Daimon.

Gallus struck his whip at the mirror and let it slip from his hand. It bounced across the mirrors and shot through the lenses, amplifying in its brightness.

The light struck the Daimon’s face and flooded its eyes. It threw its head back with a hollow screech. It crumbled. It couldn’t stand up. It didn’t know how anymore. Nothing but a mess of limbs and nerves. The Draekslanni woman quickly moved forward and reached out a hand in front of her eyes. With a flash of deepest blue, she formed a strange, scaled spear. She sprang forward and drove it deep between its eyes. The creature finally stilled. The violet lights no longer pulsed.

Once she was sure it was dead, she let go of the spear as it began to degrade into a fine dust. Like her, everyone stopped to catch their breath and rest their eyes. Everyone except Gallus. The Duxus pushed past her.

“Get back in line,” he said. His voice was much quieter than usual but the soldier still didn't take kindly to his tone.

Rubbing the ichor from her face, she cut her eye at him and rejoined the others. As he did with the other possessed victims, Gallus started performing the Last Rites. He stared deeply into the viridian orbs. They dripped with gold as if the essence inside were still weeping. These were the eyes of a human. The content of the flesh was proof of that. Like the other soldiers, Gallus was deeply troubled by the revelation. They felt themselves lucky that they had survived the encounter but the fact that a human had become possessed once more scared them deeply. The last time a human was possessed, a whole legion had been wiped out. Studying the body and based on its movements, it seemed that the host had slowed the process of possession.

‘Damned Maleficari… if only they weren't born with those accursed eyes!’ Gallus shook.

Gallus shut his eyes and searched through the deceased host’s memories. Anything he could find on the possessed human would be useful to the Magister Bellaxus. But then he stopped. His breath hitched in his throat.

“Strixus…”

The words slipped from his lips. It was all everyone needed to put everything together. Duxus Marcus Strixus had been met with a terrible fate, one that should have been impossible for someone born a Ludcetan. Ludcetans did not possess the Matiasma - the eyes that saw into Kaeva… But here was Strixus, dead in a terrible state. It was a huge blow to the party. Strixus may not have led them to battle but he did train each and every one of the 13th. Gallus may have thought that he was too soft on them but they had thought side by side once.

The squad fell silent and hung their heads in silence. Gallus said a few words, hands trembling as he held his predecessors’ eyes in his palm. Gallus’ eyes finally glowed with the Final Rites, engulfing Marcus’ malachite and gold eyes in bright light. They broke down into fine Essence Grains, passing from Tirra to Paradis. Now, no Daimon could use his knowledge against the people he swore to protect.

After another brief pause, Gallus ordered the squad to proceed to the next floor. He reminded himself of why they had come here yet dark thoughts crept into his mind. If Strixus could be possessed, then anyone could. But why did Strixus become possessed when all others had become nerves? He also wondered if it was by some strange chance that they had actually survived the encounter at all. Or was it by design? Thankfully, the Soothers had put those thoughts to rest. He needed to focus on the job at hand.

They arrived on the next floor, one that Gallus had seen often in Marcus’ memories. There were huge holes that cut across the walls of each room, as if a huge beast had smashed through the defences and flooded the building. There was one place untouched by mirror glass. Marcus was protecting something there, but the memories had been fuzzy; it seemed that Marcus managed to keep the Daimon out of that part of his memories by burning them away. At last, they found the partly-concealed Haven Shield on the edge of the other hole.

The lines on Gallus’ face softened.

“It’s a child. She still lives.”

He carried her - still masked by the Haven Shield - passing her over to the healers. She was examined for any wounds. Besides the sleeping spell in her Mindscape, she hadn’t been harmed and there was no Daimonic presence in her. All seemed just as relieved as Gallus when they heard those words. Whoever formed the shield spell on this girl had come prepared and had time to keep her protected. There were bound to be other survivors in the city. Gallus searched her memories as she dreamt. Shock crossed his face again when he discovered that she was Duxus Marcus Strixus’ sister. From what memories they could access, they discovered not much else about how the invasion started, just that it happened suddenly. Strixus had quickly hid her away before Daimons could reach her. But they did discover that she was entrusted with knowledge of great importance. What that knowledge was exactly couldn’t be determined; that had been securely locked safely away under layers of protective spells and dreams. They would have to wake her if they wanted to find out, but they first needed to bring her safely.

They continued upwards, clearing out the building of Daimons - thankfully they only encountered more rodents. They found a few more survivors but not all were as lucky as Euterpe Strixus; some had died within poorly formed shields.

Once each floor had been fully swept of all Minoridaimons, they went back to the bottom of the tower. When Gallus gave them the order to rest, they were almost astonished. They took what rest they could get. Their Duxus wouldn't give them much time before their next move.

Gallus closed his eyes. His mind raced with so much information, he needed to contact Laevinus right away.

“Magister Bellaxus Laevinus, we’ve cleared the tower and recovered survivors. But there is something I must tell you. Are you free to speak?”

No answer. He was sure he was using the correct connection.

“Magister?”

He focused on the thread again, following the line all the way. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the connection. It wasn't broken, but it no longer led to the Magister’s mind. Laevinus must have disconnected it in a hurry, or...

Gallus felt cold dread creep up his spine. He wanted to follow that thread and investigate but Gallus was no high scholar of Roya. To search for Laevinus’ mind without proper knowledge was extremely dangerous in a place filled with Daimons. And with what he knew now, Gallus didn’t want to risk becoming possessed like Marcus was. He felt paralysed. His own Mindscape began to close in on him, resembling the rock faces of that Drakes-cursed mountain pass.

“Duxus?”

He felt himself being jolted back into reality. The first thing he saw was the Vattirmanni’s face. Why is he so concerned? Don't look at me like that, Maleficari dog…

Gallus had been in Roya for an unusually long time. Rufinus had been first to notice him shuddering, muttering the Magister Bellaxus’ name. What else was he to do but pull him back to Tirra? The Soothers soon came over and fully roused him back to consciousness. Rufinus had expected the Duxus to bite his ear off. Instead, Gallus remained unusually pensive.

“Are you done sitting around?” Gallus finally said, “Get up. We need to get these survivors out of here now.”

“Duxus,” Rufinus said, “Did something happen to the legion?”

“Nothing happened,” Gallus snapped. “Need I remind you of our orders, soldier? Get in formation.”

Rufinus couldn’t argue. As much as he wanted to rush back to the legion, he didn’t want to endanger the civilians they had just saved. He exchanged a look with Adonis, both men felt something terrible as they thought about Valerian. The other soldiers were equally worried. Gallus’ words hadn’t done anything to reassure them. Gallus didn’t care what the others thought. The survivors were their priority now.

Page Breaker [https://64.media.tumblr.com/a8dc877f97e5bcb4db42e99defb4db7b/9b1a21f683d16fe3-22/s540x810/ac3df64d4b3edc0a91966fe40ed359ff6386d0ae.pnj]The Craft’s District was deathly silent. There was a trail of Daimons in various states strewn all around. Amongst them, human soldiers and Monoceri all laid scattered on the ground. Not dead but asleep.

The only one that remained awake was Valerian. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was no coincidence that he, the most frightful Soother in the legion, would be the last to succumb. It was as if something were savouring his fear.

He crawled towards the centre. Tiredness was beginning to outweigh his fear. Fear was all that was keeping him awake but at the same time he knew it was feeding it.

As he looked around, he could see the nerves were beginning to spread over his fellow legionaries. Parts of their skin were beginning to unravel in their sleep, bit by bit. He could feel it happening to him too, just at his extremities.

He needed to keep awake. If he could find and wake the Magister Bellaxus before all of his Focus ran out, then the entire legion may be saved.

But he could hear its voice in his head. Just let go. This was all just a bad dream, wasn't it? He could almost hear Rufinus and Adonis trying to wake him up before he missed his lessons. Yes. There was nothing to worry about. Well… aside from his research assignment becoming a disappointing failure.

How tempting it was to give in.

“Stay calm.. stay calm… Oh…. By Magus, what have I gotten myself into?!”