The darkness enveloped me as I got up and backpedaled away from where the long tentacle had been.

"More light!" I shouted as I tried to push a sudden fear of the dark away. Instead, I gripped my ax, preparing myself for action.

"I can only make one more," the Isirow shouted back at me.

One? I thought with a grunt.

So, I had to get back out, or kill the thing before the next light died down? That, or hope the other Isirow could do the same or better. Before I could tell him to fire the flare, the wet dripping noise came again, and I jumped sideways, rolling across the ground while trying not to slice myself on my ax. Mid-roll, another flare shot up, and I saw the tentacle was in the air above me, ready to slam down. Behind it, the monstrous eyes were shut again, and the other tentacles were stretching towards where both Isirow now stood. One of them was doing something to a pillar next to the portal we'd come out of, while the other's fingers were flickering rapidly.

I scrambled up, slid my ax along my palm until I had the butt in my hand, then slashed at the tentacle hovering above me. The black blade sliced through the section I could reach, and a deluge of pink blood sprayed from the wound, splattering across me. A gurgling howl erupted, and the tentacle was pulled back to the main body.

It's not retaliating if it's blinded! I thought as the darkness returned, and I saw the thing's eyes crack open, the ugly pupils focusing on me.

"More light!" I roared as I sprinted towards the thing.

Another flare shot up, and the eyes shut closed again while all of the tentacles pulled back to the main body. I couldn't get by it with the short windows of light, and from what the Isirow had said, I didn't expect them to be able to provide these flares indefinitely. So, that left one other option.

Kill it.

My mind turned calm and collected, and I scanned the leathery thing for weaknesses, finding nothing to its makeup but the tentacles and the eyes. Blood was still pouring from the wound I'd inflicted before as I aimed for the thickening where the tentacles attached to the body. I reached the monster before it could open its eyes again, and this close, I smelled something like boiling leather, sickening and disgusting.

My ax raised, and ready to sever one of the tentacles from the body, a shout came from behind.

"No! The eyes, aim for the eyes!"

Fine, I thought, as I quickly stepped closer, feeling a waft of stink coming from the maw in front of me. It was dark, toothless, and slimy inside. I slammed my ax towards the nearest eyelid, noticing it was cracking open, a sliver of blue visible. I angled the blade and buried it in the slit between the eyelids. All four eyes shot open, and a roar came from the mouth, ejecting fetid air with splatters of slime. The thing pulled back and raised up on its stubby tail, using two of its tentacles to prop itself up.

The sudden movement threatened to pull my ax from my grip, and I grabbed it with my other two hands, holding on as the head lifted up in the air. The eye I had hit was closed now, pink and blue liquid dripping from between the clenched eyelids. The other three focused on me as two of the tentacles began wrapping around me.

"Don't look into the irises!"

I was already looking into the nearest eye, raising my arm to shoot bolts into it, but when I heard the warning I tried to close my eyes. Too late. The screaming face of a pupil looked back at me, and something smashed into my mindscape's barrier. The blows came fast and uncoordinated, like a child with a tantrum striking at something that had upset it. The barrier around my mindscape wobbled but held, though I could feel each blow weakening it further. I was frozen on the spot, gritting my teeth as I focused on my mindscape's barrier, instinctively trying to strengthen it. It felt as if I was balancing a knife on its tip on the palm of my hand and had to keep it balanced while at the same time keep it from piercing my hand. A soft ping came from my status, and as it did, I felt the barrier become stronger and inflexible. The blows didn't dent it as much anymore, but I still couldn't relax.

A soft moan came from the horrendous thing before me, and I tried to focus on it, but my eyes burned, and everything was blurry, everything except for the pupils. All three open eyes were staring at me, the small pupil looking like those of demon children from an old cartoon. They glared at me, their small round mouths pulled into a sneer, and their red eyebrows lowered in indignation.

One of them stopped glaring, and I saw its lips move.

Let us in!

A voice that sounded like glass scratching across stone came across the barrier, and I shivered as I redoubled my efforts to keep my barrier up. The demon-child screamed at me in anger, and the sound howled around my mind. For a moment, all I knew was the screaming, and my thoughts turned to scrambled fragments. Another soft ping came, and the sound dulled as my realization of what was happening returned. I sensed the grip I had on my barrier weakening, and I barely managed to hold it back.

We will come in!

This time all three pupils spoke in unison; their horrendous voices dripped with glee. Their mouths opened, ready to scream, when I saw a pale white arm snake into view from below, a gleaming dagger gripped in its hand and slammed into one of the pupils. Another scream resounded, but it was one of pain and anguish, not directed at me. The constant pounding on my mindscape's barrier stopped, and as soon as I felt control over my body return, I shot with my thorncasters.

With wet pops, three bolts burst open another of the large eyes in front of me, and the scream intensified as the tentacles binding me hurled me away. Only a single eye was still open, pink fluid leaking through the eyelids of the others. The world spun around, the wind screaming in my ears. A small part of me managed to realize that I'd probably break my back if I hit something at this speed. My fingers were still curled tight around something, and it took a moment for me to realize what it was.

Ax!

If I fell on that, I'd slice myself to bits. Not sure if I was oriented up or down, I dropped the ax, and as I did, I heard it clatter on the ground behind me. I slammed into the ground, ignoring a burst of pain from my bottom left arm, then my shoulder as I tumbled, and I barely managed to raise the other arms and curl them around my head before they struck the ground. I toppled over, the backs of my legs and feet striking the ground hard as well, slowing me down as I continued to slide a bit before rolling over and finally lying still.

My breath came in great gasps and there was a ringing in my ears that dulled everything.

Isirow, I thought, and I tried to push myself up. Pain in my arm and shoulder intensified, and I grabbed the arm with my other lower arm as I pushed myself up. The world was spinning around me for a moment, red and black.

Can see again!

The realization brought some clarity to me, and I looked up. A screaming and pounding came from ahead of me, and I focused on the monstrous thing that was writhing on the ground. One of the Isirow was clutched in two tentacles, screaming at the top of his or her lungs while the other was using its daggers to slash at the closed eyes on the face. The monstrous thing was trying to swat its assailant away with the other two tentacles.

I took a step, felt the world wobble, waited until it straightened again, then took another step. Slowly the wobbling stopped. My ax lay on the ground a few feet away, and I moved towards it. Bending over to grab it made the whole world spin again.

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I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move forward, the sounds slowly clearing up, the dull echo dying down, but it still sounded like I was underwater.

"Est, help!'

The cry penetrated the hazy fog, sounding sharp and crystal clear. At the same time, the pain in my arms was overridden by a pain in my head that caused my eyes to water. Still, my mind was clearing up rapidly, and I tried to run forward. Each time my feet stomped down, a blade seemed to pierce the back of my head, but I ignored it. The Isirow were losing, and if that monster somehow healed up…

I recognized Libidi jamming her dagger into the eyelids of the thing's last functioning eye, carving deeply as she tried to get to the pupil. Her usually cold and calm face was wrought with panic, and she looked up to see me coming.

"We need to finish it!" she screamed.

I nodded, cursing my action as the pain flared in response.

As soon as I was close enough, I raised my single free arm and shot a bolt into the eyelid. It thudded home with a dull sound, but besides a shudder, the thing didn't react. I got one more shot in before I reached it and grabbed my ax with two hands. The thing hadn't noticed me arriving, which was a good thing because I'd never have been able to dodge the tentacles as I felt now. Raising the ax as high as I could without doubling over, I slammed it into the eyelid. The black blade slashed through with some effort, but the reaction was instantaneous. The four tentacles shot up in the air, dropping Dibidi and stopping their swinging at the nimble Libidi.

"The others," Libidi screamed as she jumped off the head and onto the ground next to Dibidi. “Destroy them completely!”

I ripped my ax free and slammed it into the other eyelid. The tentacles were now standing up like beams, straight and shivering, but I didn't stop and rammed my ax through another eyelid, then another. When I struck the fourth, there was a soft wailing sound that erupted from the body that slowly moved to the mouth.

"Back up," Libidi hissed as she appeared next to me, two daggers raised, her eyes focused on the mouth. I barely managed to stumble a step back when something small and bright red flashed out of the mouth, straight at me. As fast as it was, Libidi moved faster, and her knives slashed and thudded into the thing, swaths of pink blood spraying everywhere. It wailed one more time before dropping to the ground, where I could finally see it. It was a small demonic-looking child with a row of honey stubs across its skull like a mohawk, thin arms and legs, and a tail that looked like a chain of bones covered in red skin.

Libidi jumped forward and stabbed her daggers in the thing's yellow and barely opened eyes. A soft hiss came from the mouth, then its chest deflated.

Libidi stepped back, looking at it with deep, intense hate, before turning around and rushing to Dibidi. She fidgeted over him, then looked up at me with wide-open eyes.

"Do you have a healing potion?" she asked, her voice cracking.

I took one more look at the horrible thing, then moved next to her and inspected Dibidi. His arms both sat at odd angles, and even with his leather armor covering it, I could see the shape of his chest was not as it was supposed to be. His eyes were closed, and a layer of red blood lined his lips. The only way I knew he wasn't dead yet was because of the soft wheezing he made.

"No, I've got none," I said, getting up and looking around. We were in a large room, some sort of welcome chamber, and dozens of portals sat on small pedestals everywhere. One of them was different from the others, the stone crumbled inside, and runes covered the sides. They looked nothing like the ones I'd seen before. The one we had come from was still covered in a slight film of smoke. There was only a single way leading out of the room, a massive double gate that was closed.

"I'll be right back," I said as I stumbled forward towards the door. I had no idea what teleportation would do to us if we were this injured. Besides, there had to be something out there! My head was still throbbing, the pain centered on the back, and I gently felt there. My hand came back glistening.

Fuck, we need healing.

The door was closed, but I saw no handles or knobs. Besides, with how big it was, I wondered if I could even open it if there were. Runes covered a small stone panel on the left side, and they looked like words. I couldn't read them, and against my better judgment pushed on the door. It felt like I was pushing against a solid stone wall.

"Libidi, can you read those runes?" I called, and the Isirow looked up. She seemed ready to snap at me, then looked at the door.

"Yes," she said.

"You can't help him now. Come here and read it. We need to see if there is something outside that can heal us."

"What if there are more Barsoc there?" she hissed.

"The door is closed, and I think this thing was locked in here. There is one portal that looks… odd. I think it came in here and couldn't get back out," I said, pointing at the crumbled, runecovered portal.

Libidi took one look and shot upright.

"Barsoc runes," she hissed.

She looked down at Dibidi, her hand raised as if she wanted to stroke him, then she turned and sprinted towards me.

"If one came, more might come. Dibidi can't go through that portal now, it will kill him," she said as she stopped beside me and began inspecting the runes.

"It's a spell of some sorts… or a riddle. I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It's all numbers."

"Translate it for me," I said as I wished Eliandra was here. Numbers were her thing, not mine.

Libidi stepped forward and began carving numbers in the wall beside the runes. The black Basilwood dagger sliced through the stone with barely any effort, and it took her only moments to finish the last one and step back.

I looked at the numbers and frowned. It started with one, then another one, and continued becoming higher. Something about them was familiar, something I'd learned in VR school?

Fibonacci!

I quickly looked at the numbers, then spotted a flaw. There was a gap in the middle, a number that was not there. Fifty-five is missing, I thought as I looked at the door.

"Is there a place to enter something in that thing?" I said, pointing at the door.

Libidi nodded, placing her finger on one of the areas that looked like just another space in a line of words to me.

"Is the number before it thirty-four, and the one after it eighty-nine?" I asked hurriedly.

"Yes," she said with a frown.

"Carve the rune for fifty-five in there!" I said.

Libidi examined me, then stared at the row of numbers, hesitating for a moment before finally engraving another rune on the empty spot. A click came from the door, and it swung open, causing me to curse and grab my ax.

I guess it really is universal, I thought as I backed up.

Libidi was beside me, a dagger in each hand and an emotionless expression on her face.

A dim lime green light peaked through the split in the door, changing the red-tinted world into a grey and green one as my night vision slowly toned down. A magnificent vista opened up before our eyes as the door fully opened, and I automatically stepped forward onto the massive stone balcony that lay beyond the room.

Mushrooms the size of buildings covered the ground hundreds of feet below us, spreading off into the dimly lit world beyond. High in the ceiling, lime green crystals glowed and small flying things glided between them. Bushes of odd-looking vegetation sat between the mushrooms, their colors bright purple and blue, with red flowery protrusions. It reminded me of images I'd seen of the ancient reefs that had once been in the seas of Earth.

"There's a city," Dibidi said, and I looked to the right. The balcony gave way to a beautifully carved stone staircase that angled down into a city of angular beauty. Buildings stood in perfectly straight lines, their placement forming patterns obvious even to the uninitiated. The only thing marring its mathematically beautiful precision were the places of destruction and chaos. It almost seemed as if small explosions had occurred, one not too far from the end of the stair.

I examined it for a moment, then looked at the nearest mushrooms. Some smaller ones sat right down the stairs to the left, and I knew exactly what to do.

"We need to bring Dibidi down there," I hissed.

"He will die if we move him," Libidi said as she whirled towards me.

"I can heal him… if we can get him to those mushrooms," I said, pointing at the mushrooms.

Libidi looked at them, then at me in confusion.

"Trust me," I said. Then I slowly made my way to the staircase.

"I can't carry him now," I said. 'I'll heal myself, and if you can't bring him down, I'll come to get him."

I reached the stairs and saw that the steps were shorter than the ones I was used to. A good thing, as stepping down the first caused my head to pound. I took a quick look back to find that Libidi was still looking after me.

"If you don't bring him, he will die," I said. Then I began making my way down the staircase, focusing on the buildings below. With some pain, I managed to get my undamaged bottom arm up and ready to fire a bolt while hooking the cracked one partially behind the belt. I noticed the fingers were turning slightly blue, and I realized I wasn't really feeling them anymore.

Not a good sign.