For a moment, and only but, did silence fill the room. No rattling chains, random lightning bolts, or the tinkling of broken glass, just pure silence.

I licked my lips. The anger inside retreated step by step. It hovered just outside my thoughts, ready, and willing. But the Keeper’s ascent had satisfied the urge.

Alice was the one to break the silence first. She cleared her throat and motioned to my satchel. “The book.”

Nameless’ toes twitched, but he kept his unending stare fixated on the drawing. I wasn’t ready to lower the flames so I jutted out my hip. Alice retrieved the book and held it up.

“Do you recognize this?”

Another twitch.

“Can you tell us how to open it?” She glanced my way and to the painting. Is it yours?”

Nameless inhaled sharply, a deep throaty rumble spilling out. His toes crunched the stone and he lifted his chin in a ferocious snarl.

“Get it out of my sight.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Remove it!”

Alice lowered the book and moved it underneath her cloak. It was hidden from view, just as he requested. But he refused to look her way.

“At least tell us how to open it,” she said.

Finally, he lowered his chin and leaned forward, pulling at the chains as they tried to drag him back.

“No more mention of that book, and I grant you a boon just like your packmate. But if you ever mention or show me that infernal thing, I will consume your soul. What say you, pup?”

Just what is in that book?

As I looked into Alice’s eyes, I watched them focus, hone on that offer as hungrily as Nameless did to the picture.

Alice…

“And it won’t corrupt me? Destroy me like it did to the Grimm we found in the underground city?”

Nameless cocked his head. “There are more of your kind snooping around?”

“No,” Alice said. “But their corpse had suffered an attack similar to your monsters.”

“Then they were a failure. I do not recall all the useless mongrels who come to pilfer.” The pillar had enough and snapped his neck upward. He grunted and adjusted, not fighting the chain but not allowing it control. “But no, pup. My boon is not my affliction. I am filled with essence, its corruption is my choice.”

Implying that you willfully bleed like a festering wound.

“Alice,” I whispered.

She turned, guarded. “I have to do this.”

“You don’t.”

“You heard everyone. The harvest is nearly here and I refuse to be protected. If this gains me strength like yours, then it's worth it.”

“You trust him?”

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“No. But I do the system.”

Wha-oh.

She adjusted her axe and returned to looking at Nameless. “Will you swear a system oath?”

“An oath? You think the system cares about the land?”

“Will you swear?”

“If that is the only way to quit your yapping and banish you from my prison.” He spat a wad of phlegm into the far wall and worked his jaw. “

“Oh System, by the rules that bind and the powers that be, I solemnly vow that what I speak remains true lest they be struck from mortal ears. Let my intentions remain true and unswayed, pledging my soul in its sincerity. Let this oath stand as testament to my words.”

It was different from Hildegrim’s oath; the wording was similar but changed. And as he finished speaking, I waited for the familiar pressure, and the swirling mana to rush in and signify that the oath was in place.

And for a brief moment, nothing happened, earning a cocky grin from the keeper. But then the ceiling cracked a wave of energy bore down, flattening Nameless to the ground as Alice’s body lifted into the air.

I reached for her arm but a hard barrier repelled my attempt, and pushed me back.

“Alice!”

But as quick as the energy came, it seeped into the ground and into the pillars. Alice landed on her feet and Nameless slowly sat up.

“How?! Why? It shouldn’t be here! You shouldn’t be here!” he roared.

He raised his hand and I tugged Alice back, but he froze mid-swing. From the center of his chest, a glowing rune appeared over his left pec and then exploded in a fountain of blood. The blood spilled forward and cascaded into a waterfall that led directly to Alice’s feet.

Again I tried to grab her out of the way but the voice slammed its thoughts into my head, paralyzing me.

SACRED! DO NOT INTERUPT!

It sounded different, felt different. There was a weird inflection to its tone that stopped me short.

The blood pooled around her feet and reversed gravity. It flowed upward and under her clothes and around her skin. The emerald blood sparkled with bits of gold that caught the light and turned her skin into a smattering of stars.

Nameless convulsed on the ground. Even as I shifted my stance, the voice returned along with a deep sense of wrongness.

Slowly the blood seeped into her body and left her with the flecks of gold on the surface before they melted away. Alice’s hair parted as she slumped forward and dropped to her knees.

All at once, Nameless groaned and Alice looked to the ceiling–arcs of green electricity coursed across her limbs. The blood returned, bubbling to the surface before it froze and cracked while the sparks crystalized.

No!

Yet as I reached for her, the crystal split and a rush of cold air swept through the room. The ground frosted as the ice spread and crumbled.

The electricity faded, and the crystal over Alice’s skin sloughed off as she swayed. I dived to catch her, supporting her weight on my chest as I pulled her away from the ice-covered ground.

“Alice. Say something,” I demanded.

She slapped my shoulder and pushed me away, using my arm as support. As she exhaled, she coughed up specks of gold before she cleared her throat. “I’m alright. Don’t worry.”

I rolled up her sleeve and examined her skin. It was unblemished, and and had a healthy tone.

“You sure?”

She nodded. As she stood straighter, The chains dragged Nameless back into position till he righted himself. His eyes were wide open.

“Its you. The two of you. You’re a connection to the damn thing. That’s why its here. Should have known… Should have…” His words trailed off as he closed his eyes. As he opened them, he extended his hand and motioned with his finger. “Give it to me. And I’ll give your sacrifical lamb. Then leave. No more.”

I raised the scroll and held it ready. Nameless plunged a hand inside his stomach and tore it free. As the blood dripped off his fingers they solidified and shrunk down into a bowl about as wide as my chest. Half the blood stayed liquid, and filled the bowl to the brim before it expanded into an urn. As the last drop fell into the receptacle, he removed his bloody hand and used his leg to push it closer.

“Your turn, little wolf.”

I moved my hand from the scroll but kept the flames burning. As I rolled the picture and bound it with its thread I reared back and launched it high. Nameless caught the scroll and clutched it tight against his chest. His eyes glared balefully as he relaxed and allowed the chains to drag him up and into position.

He didn’t fight it. The chains contorted his arms and he kept his head on a swivel, glaring at us even as his skin fused and marble started to form around his legs. It grew and grew until it reached his neck and he leaned forward, preventing it from sealing him away.

“Remember what you saw. Do not forget just who you serve. The system does not care, neither does its court filled with jesters. You are a pawn, little wolf. Nothing more. And one day, you’ll be nameless, just as I.”

“I don’t plan on dying,” I shouted.

He snorted and leaned back, the marble rising to his chin. “You won’t have a choice. You’ve been marked for sacrifice. There is no avoiding fate. Someday, you’ll be nameless, just like me.”