Meera stood at the mouth of the tunnel, once again facing a horde of wraiths. They were sluggish and floating around but became attentive the moment Meera left the cave with her two ghostly companions.

Onyx must've been scared of bats when he was alive and kept his distance, even though he was many times Shade's size. This horse was as skittish as they came. On the other hand, Shade hung upside down from the tunnel's ceiling, looking out at the horde.

"How many do you see?" Meera asked the bat.

"Now, I can't see all that well, but from what I've scanned with my screams, there are a lot of them, and I do mean a lot, like a shit ton. You sure you've been killing them to get here?"

"Yes."

"U-Unless, they keep coming back," Onyx quivered. Both Meera and Shade snapped their head to him. He flinched and quickly added. "Or there could be more people on this expedition than we saw."

"Either way, we need to get out of here," Meera said. "And I'm basically running on fumes. I can't take on so many at once, and then there are the invisible ones."

"So, our chances of getting out of here are not good?" Onyx asked in a shaky tone. Ever since Shade, the horse had been shaken to his core.

Meera didn't bother answering that question as she didn't want to bring herself down as well, and she needed all the motivation she had. Her father used to say the only way through a problem was to tackle it head-on.

"Shade," she called. "Can you quickly fly out and find me a dark spot, somewhere I can easily teleport to?"

"Ah, the missy has a teleport skill. Nice."

"What about me?" Onyx literally shook. "Are you going to leave me here?"

"No, when they come after me, you make a run for it, plowing down any that come in your path," Meera said.

"O-Okay, but just remember, I'm a ghost, and I'm quite sure they can hurt me just as they can hurt you."

"Relax, I've seen rats with more backbone than you," Shade said.

Onyx didn't give any retort. He just stood there, with his head hidden in the rocks of the tunnel. Meera gave Shade the signal by pointing ahead. The bat flew off the ceiling and over the heads of the wraiths. None turned in his direction. They all stayed focused on Meera. She watched Shade circle the cavern a few times before hovering high in the air.

"The second floor is basically all empty and dark," Shade called. "You can teleport anywhere here."

"Hey!" Meera yelled. Her voice echoed in the cavern. "You in the last room. Start signing or something to point us the way."

"Oh, you're coming to me. Sure, here you go." This was a more feminine and squeaky voice, so this animal's singing was not so bad.

Meera nodded to the horse. "Get ready, Onyx."

"Okay." He had stopped quivering ever since Shade had left.

Meera stepped to the tunnel's edge and could see the second floor on the opposite side, which should create enough room for Onyx to run to the singing animal's tunnel. The wraiths' activity became feral as they tried to push against the invisible barrier to get at Meera.

She gave them a smile and a wave as she used Shadow Step and appeared on the second floor on the other side of the cave. Just as she reappeared, the wraiths began to move. Heads snapped to her, and movement began.

Their slow, sluggish steps had a little bit of energy in them. While the wraiths filed away from the tunnel where Onyx eagerly waited, Meera was also waiting for the invisible wraiths. Mirror Eagle's Perceptivity was on full blast, and she scanned every dark corner simultaneously. Her heart thrummed, and she knew which tunnel she needed to Step to, but she needed to wait for Onyx to get there first, who was sprinting full speed across the cavern to the tunnel where the singing came from.

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The first slash was to her right arm. Meera cried out as the arm's sleeve fell to her wrist. Meera Stepped away from the spot and pulled off her ruined sleeve. She started healing the cut on her arm while keeping an eye on her Mana, which was coming dangerously close to double digits.

Down below, she saw her ghostly horse friend almost reach the tunnel. Meera didn't see the wraith coming her way but felt it in her bones.

Sorry, Onyx.

Meera used Shadow Step and arrived at the mouth of the tunnel. The wraiths turned her way in an instant. Onyx snapped his head to the oncoming horde and picked up speed. As it turned out, even in death, horses were faster than people.

Onyx tried to come to a stop before he barrelled right into Meera, but she didn't have to worry about much as he sailed right through her and into the wall. The wraiths descended on them a few moments later, screeching and wailing. Thankfully, the invisible barrier stopped them in their tracks. Shade flew over their heads and 'landed' on Meera's shoulder.

"They got you good," the bat stated.

Meera scoffed. "I hate those invisible ones. I can never tell where they are coming from. Never mind them. I'll figure out a way to deal with them sooner or later."

"For your sake and mine, I hope it's sooner."

Meera paused at that but wondered why he worded it like that. She was about to ask him why, but Onyx chilled her blood by jumping out of the wall and giving her the mother of jump scares. Thankfully, neither of the animals noticed, and they made their way to the door at the end of the tunnel. The polished door was like the last two in every way.

She readied herself to blast the door open but decided it was worth a shot to check the door handle first, just to be sure. To her surprise, it opened just like that. All three of them gave each other blank stares.

"Well, stamp my rump and call me a cow," Shade said. "Would you look at that?"

"If they left this one unlocked, is it really worth it going inside?" Onyx, of course.

"No, please come in," said a glowing figure approaching the door.

Meera opened the door, and it creaked open. The glow got brighter, but they saw nothing until Onyx screamed and scampered back as if his life depended on it. Meera jumped back and pulled out a chakram, and Shade took to the air.

"What is it?" Meera asked.

Onyx scuttled back into the wall until only one side of his face remained visible. "It's one of them."

Meera looked back to the door to find the glowing ghost of a thick, fat rat.

Shade howled with laughter and fell to the ground. Meera couldn't help but chuckle along with him. The rat, however, just cocked its head to the side.

"My singing couldn't have been that bad?" the rat said. Now that Meera heard her voice up front, she could tell the rat was a—she.

"No, it wasn't your singing," Shade replied. "We have a horse who's afraid of small things."

"Or things that look like rats," Meera muttered.

"What? I am not a rat. Do these wings look like they belong on a rat?" Shade shot back, clearly miffed.

"Sorry, didn't mean it like that." Meera apologized some more before Shade calmed down. I have to remember he has super hearing.

"Please come in," the rat said. "I cannot leave this place unless you come in."

Then it clicked why these animals needed Meera. Why they called out to her so desperately to come into their rooms. Despite not being cursed, they were trapped in their rooms. Hence, the tag—Trapped Soul. It all made sense now.

"Yes, we'll come," Meera said, walking into the room with Shade flying overhead. Only Onyx remained outside.

"I'll just stay here and…and…keep watch in case the wraiths break through the barrier," Onyx quivered. His shaking had gotten even worse, and he was still mostly inside the wall.

"Just come through, dear horsey," Shade teased. "We're already dead, remember."

"N-No, I'm okay…"

"It's fine, Onyx," Meera called. "Just give us a shout if you see something."

Onyx nodded or quivered. She couldn't tell.

Meera turned to the room to find the rat had jumped onto the table. "I'm Cinders. Welcome to my humble abode, or as I have known it, my prison for the past ten years."

Meera's brows shot up. "You've all been here that long?"

"I was the first animal brought here or, well, one of the first," Cinders said. "Many of my brethren were sacrificed in trying to achieve that bastard's nefarious dream."

"You mean Edwyn Toller?" Meera asked.

Shade gasped and moved away from Meera when she mentioned his name, as if the ground would open and swallow her whole.

"You shouldn't take his name in this cursed place," Cinders warned. "He holds sway over all here. He's sleeping right now, and we don't want him to wake."

"Okay, understood," Meera said. "You said you've been here for ten years. Is that true for you as well, Shade?"

"Does it look like I know how to count time? I am a bat, in case you've forgotten."

Meera turned to Cinders with a frown. "Then how did you?"

"I've learned a lot under the master's tortures."

"Do you know what he was trying to do here?" Meera asked. "And how this curse fell upon this cave?"

"Yes, I do," Cinders said. "And much more. Tell me, do you know of Darthin?

Meera shared a look with Shade, who shook his head. She looked to the door where only Onyx's head was visible, and he, too, was shaking it.

"No, I'm sorry, I am kind of new to all this," Meera said.

Cinders snorted, which made her nose wobble. "I figured not. Darthin is the Master of Skills. The god in charge of creating all our skills, and these people were trying to replicate his powers."