“We are almossst there, Massster,” Lark hissed.

I snapped my attention back to the direction ahead, seeing nothing beyond more endless reefs.

A few hours after leaving, the overgrown cave system had widened, and we had entered an abandoned reef, the cavern roof no longer visible above us. The pale-white, spongy material was covered in cancerous dull crimson growths while thin tendrils of blood drifted through. A dark stretch of water extended to our left, soft roaring coming from within.

There are dozens of demons in the reefs, Casiron said. I didn't see when they came, but they are stalking us.

Could we flee if we had to? I asked.

Only towards that empty part of the sea, Casiron replied. They are behind us and to the right, hiding inside the reef.

My fists clenched as I wondered if Lark had led us into a trap. It sounded like something a demon would do, but something, perhaps a lingering connection, told me it wasn't his doing.

"Lark, are those things looking at us, your friends?" I whispered.

A soft, hissing laugh came that made my skin crawl.

"Friendsss? No. They are my minions," Lark hissed.

The long, unevenly scaled snake demon slowed down and angled towards a large opening inside the reef. It was oddly dark beyond as if a shroud of blackness pushed away all light. Even my dark vision failed to penetrate through.

"Open up! Your massster has arrived," Lark thundered.

The darkness immediately withdrew as if a curtain was pulled to the side, and a bone-white cave appeared beyond. A dozen merman demons, a large flock of ugly, multi-eyed, two-armed fish, and a pair of long and serpentlike demons hovered in the water beyond.

None of them showed any sign of attacking, and I quietly examined the two serpents. With a long body, too thick to be a snake, they had pale skin with red scales, haphazardly placed as if by a drunk artist, and heads more similar to a lizard than a snake. One of them stared back at me with large black eyes, red pupils narrowing as they drilled into my eyes, making me shiver unconsciously.

Ugly fuckers, I thought as I let my gaze drift to the rest of the area. It was clear that these were Lark's minions, as he called them, and they didn't seem about to attack.

Some of the plantlike coral we had seen in the rest of the cave system hung in patches across the walls, almost as if they were placed there on purpose, stuffed into oddly thin cracks. Red and white bulbous pods grew from small growths, glowing brightly and illuminating the cave as if it was early morning.

"Massster," the left serpent, one with cancerous scale-covered growths across the left side of his head, hissed. "You have succeeded! Thisss form befits you!"

My skin crawled from the slimy, humbling tone in the serpent's voice, and the groveling merman to the side didn't help. The whole image looked like something from an old movie with a crazy king and his weak followers. Except, these were all demons.

"Not that the ssship one was bad," the other serpent said, glimpsing at the one beside him with a gloating look in its one good eye. The other was milky white, with an angry red slash across the sides, a milky white fluid oozing out.

"Offcoursssse it does," Lark hissed as he swam inside, seeming to ignore the ship comment.

Follow him, but be careful, I told Casiron. There was no response, but I felt a heavy curiosity.

What is wrong? I asked.

There's something about those serpents, Lark too, that is wrong, he said.

"Did you find new slavessss?" the one-eyed serpent hissed, drawing my attention. His black eye was following my every move.

"No," Lark snapped angrily. "The drylander is my guessst. Now, prepare some food he can eat, and continue harvesssting the young!"

Harvesting the young? Gruesome images appeared in my mind, and I wondered what they were doing here and what a young demon even looked like. Wait, they were talking about demons, right? My worry grew as I pictured them holding some other sentient species captive.

Casiron swam inside, and two mermen moved forward, swimming passed us. They moved to a dark ripple that hung to the side of the entrance, fingers moving in a conjoined gesture. With a slight shudder, the dark ripple elongated and slid to the side, blocking the opening behind us. As soon as it entirely covered it, it flattened out and turned shiny and transparent, the outside visible as if through shaded glass.

One of the things that surprised me was the fact that the two demons had cast spells with gestures. Besides that, I hadn't thought there would be this many intelligent demons. Somehow, I'd thought they would cast magic in another way. Did that mean I could find more spells here?

I turned away from the dark glass covering to see that the two serpents looked at Casiron hungrily. They were examining his wings, but as soon as they felt my eyes on them, their gazes switched back to me. Cold, calculating, and intelligent. Not what I would have expected to find in these demon seas. The one with the wounded eye concerned me most, as he was calmly examining Casiron and me as if we were his prey.

Casiron swam after Lark, and halfway into the cavern, I saw a tunnel on each side and a few in the back. All around, oddly rounded outcrops decorated the walls, and the entire cave had an odd, sculpted feel to it. An odd, familiar feel. As if I'd seen something like this before.

Then it hit me.

The inside of this place looked like the inside of a massive, oddly shaped skull. I turned around and recognized the entrance as an eye socket.

"You will treat the drylander like you would me," Lark said, followed by a low and dangerous hiss as he inspected the array of demons before him.

He was now hovering at the back of the room, glaring at the other serpent demons longer than the others. Side by side, I saw the differences between him and the others. His body was just as thick but longer, and he had a more streamlined feel. Pictures I'd seen of Asian dragons popped in my mind. He looked like what a baby between those and a demon might look like.

"Now, I'll retreat and try to heal as I remove the remnantsss of this body's previousss occupant!" Lark said.

His voice had turned noticeably deeper, the words more measured, almost like he was falling into a roll. He appeared to hesitate for a moment, then turned to me.

"Come, I need to show you sssomething! Votrix! Zoln! Join us immediately when you finish here!"

"Yesss massster," the two serpents hissed.

The hunger in their eyes had changed to curiosity, and I wondered why. Did Lark normally not attend to others in his own lair?

Lark's words seemed to be taken as a dismission as the demon merman swam away while the tiny fish vanished through narrow holes and cracks. As they did, I saw that one had pseudo arms, similar to Lark's new shape. Was he a smaller version?

Casiron swam forward towards Lark, and we followed him through a round white corridor. The top was cracked, almost as if something had fractured the bone. After a second, we entered a small rocky space, similar to the outside cave system. It was only short, and ahead of us was another white, flat area with a large cracked hole in the side. Now that I had seen the first, I recognized it as a skull with a crack in the side.

"Lark, are these skulls?" I asked, wondering if he would tell me more.

"Yesss," Lark said. "These were enemies of Puil Da, left as a reminder of their folly!"

They had to have been the size of a building, I sent to Casiron, getting a somewhat amused grunt in response.

A fully grown Dracoserp is roughly the same size, Casiron replied. You soul-bearing mortals are one of the few things in the deity-verse as small as you are that still grant Karma. It is why you are so priced by the Deities. Small, fast-breeding, and never too powerful.

Stunned, I looked at Casiron's scaled hide below my hands. That almost sounded like they were breeding us! I'd never gotten this sense from Rathica, though. And soul-bearing? Did that imply other things didn't have a soul? That didn't make sense. I'd pulled Casiron's soul into the wooden carvings, right? Then I frowned.

What was the difference between a Vengeful Spirit and a soul? Was there even one?

Lark moved through the long passage, and I absently realized that indicated how thick this skull had to be. When he swam out with a quick flick of his tail, Casiron followed him into a cave almost as large as the previous. It, too, was filled with plants with glowing pods.

A massive pile of bones and skull, some as big as Casiron's body, covered the ground, and Lark lazily swam down, curling up atop like a serpent. He put his head on his coil, his short arms beside it, and a dim red light glowed from the skulls as he sighed contentedly.

"So," I asked, staring at Lark. "What did you want to tell me?"

Lark looked at the exit, then at Casiron. "Ssstay at the entrance, and make sssure none listen in," he said, making it almost sound like an order.

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"Why?" Casiron replied. The deep, rumbling voice caused Lark to stiffen, then he growled.

"Casiron, can you make sure we are undisturbed?" I asked, pushing off from his wide back. I wasn't interested in any argument now. I needed the information about Belegh, that Lark had.

Casiron looked at Lark, and I got a strong sense of hilarity from him. I had no idea why, but he laughed softly before turning and hovering before the only entrance.

"It's clear," he said, ignoring Lark's glare.

Lark hissed angrily before turning his gaze to me.

"Good, we can ssspeak freely now," Lark said.

I frowned, wondering what Lark meant with that.

"We could have spoken back where we found you, right?" I asked. "There weren't any demons there."

Lark laughed, a low hissing sound like a deflating balloon. "We were too close to Puil Da'sss territory. You can never be sssure if some of his followersss are listening in! Or perhaps even he himself! His reach issss long!"

"Aren't we inside his territory now?" I asked, both curious and worried if I had been spotted long ago and just ignored.

"Yesss, but this skull is special," Lark said as he glimpsed around. "The othersss didn't see it, but I do! They thought me a fool for picking this small lair when larger were offered. No, being a ssship gave me many new insights! This sskull? Power lingersss in it. The one whom it belonged to could have beaten Puil Da if it had been more careful!"

As Lark spoke, the red light from the skulls became brighter, casting the skull in a deep red light as if from a rising sun.

He is right. There is something odd about this place. I can't sense things outside of it, as if it's blocking my perception, Casiron said. There is also something... familiar about it. Just like there is about Lark's body and those other serpents. I need more information! See if you can get him to tell you what he knows about this enemy!

I was surprised by Casiron's long message. He usually didn't speak that much, but this time there was a strong sense of curiosity, disgust, and an almost barely perceivable hope coming from him.

I'll ask him in a bit. First, we need to figure out what he knows that he couldn't talk about before, I replied.

Casiron didn't respond, but I could almost feel him biting his tongue.

"So?" I asked, letting the word hang.

"I know why you are really here," Lark said, staring at me, a sly smile around his scaled lizard lips. "The deitiessss are in trouble," he hissed, his eyes glittering as if it brought him great joy.

I stared at him in stunned silence, unable to formulate a response. Slowly, hope grew that I would finally get to the bottom of this. Then I realized he was quietly looking at me, his eyes glistening and his head weaving from the left to the right.

"What do you know?" I asked, knowing he wasn't going to break the silence.

The way he behaved reminded me of Eliandra's cousin when she was young, glad she knew something you didn't and more than willing to make you pay for finding out.

"More than the othersss," Lark laughed. "I know why those three foolsss haven't returned in weekssss! I know why they still fight over the entranccce!"

"Alright," I said slowly. "And what do you want in exchange for this information?"

Lark's head rose, a long, fleshy tongue darting out of his mouth while a long and loud hissing laugh filled the cavern. It took him a while to calm down, and when he did, he sighed as if in incredible pleasure.

"It feelssss great being in control, don't you agree, masster?" he said, focusing his eyes on me. "Good when othersss need you?"

For a moment, I was confused, then I shrugged. I guessed it made sense from the perspective of a demon. Deriving joy in seeing people grovel. The thing was, I didn't have any interest in dealing with his childlike behavior, so I just looked at him, waiting for him to get to the point. Slowly, Lark lowered back to his coils, his eyes glittering as he stared back at me.

"I want you to releassseee your control over me," he said. "And, I want your help getting a body!"

I used my arms to slowly hover in place, staring at the demon and wondering what he was talking about. I didn't control him anymore, did I? After I had summoned his spirit in the ship, the ship had somehow absorbed it, and Lark had become a free entity. Right? My frown deepened as I tried to recall the details of when I had awoken Lark and found they were foggy at best. Not surprising with everything that had been going on at the time.

I can't sense anything; no lingering connection or control between you two, Casiron whispered.

I cleared my thoughts, then nodded.

"Alright," I said, weighing my words carefully. "I'll release you. But didn't you just get this body?"

"Thisss body is broken, and the previous owner tarnissshed it," Lark hissed. "The only way to repair it isss by absorbing a powerful demon."

So, he wants to evolve? I thought, not sure what that meant for me.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"I need to gain more favorrrr with Puil Da, so he will grant me accessss to his treassssury," Lark said, a hunger in his voice. "There isss an item there that I need. With it, I can get what I need!"

His words didn't make things any clearer, and I groaned. "Lark, what do you exactly want me to do?"

"Help me kill two lieutenants of that pathetic Qylox! I had planned to wait for Votrix, and Zoln to become strong enough, but the risssk is to big! They are growing too slow, and I might not succeed before Belegh isss beaten!"

I tried to make sense of what he said, attempting to read between the lines. He wanted to use the chaos to gain something. But, how was he so sure Belegh would be beaten? From what I had seen, it seemed things were pretty equal, or maybe even in Belegh's favor. Besides, what if Ux Disir Lar sent more of his lieutenants here?

"How long will this take?" I finally asked.

"Not long. Perhapsss a month," Lark said.

I shook my head, letting out a long sigh. "I don't have that much time!"

"Ssssure you do!" Lark said as his head rose, eyes suddenly filled with worry. "Belegh won't finish with the-" he stopped talking, his mouth closing with a loud snap. Then he glared at me.

Slowly, my annoyance grew as I gazed at him. Why did this have to be so difficult?

"No, I can't stay this deep that long! The spell I'm under will fade before that," I said, trying to make it as clear as possible.

Lark stared at me, then hissed. "I will bring you sssome demon flesh! If you eat it, you can ssstay here longer. It's how Pul Da keeps his slavesss. I'll have some brought tomorow!"

I felt my skin crawl at both the idea of eating demon flesh and the image of slaves kept by demon lords. As my mind conjured up images of people caged in caves, fed upon by demons and tormented, deep, boiling anger bubbled up from a familiar place in my mind.

No, not now! Calm down, I told myself, trying to think of happy thoughts, other moments, and times.

Eventually, I managed to calm down, but the lingering desire to go out and save people while slaying demons remained, rippling below the surface.

"Why don't you just tell me what is going on," I snapped, angry and trying to distract myself. "If I can, I'll help you."

Lark shook his head. "No. I don't trussssst you," he said.

The thick, unhidden anger in his voice surprised me and somehow pushed away some of my own anger, clearing my mind.

"What? Why not?" I asked, not able to keep the confusion from my voice.

"You sssaid you would meet me at the coassst, help me visit the land," Lark shouted, disgruntled like an angry child. "But when I was there, you didn't enter the sssea! You ignored me! All you did was run around on those ugly four-legged wooden thingssss!"

"Wait, what things?" I asked, trying to remember. When had I ever seen Lark again?

"I never even saw you!" I shouted, trying to calm him.

"With the hornssss, that jumped," Lark said. "You were with the other four-armed one, Laurel and some dangerous old thing! And I was in the sea!"

Does he mean the goats? I thought as I remembered the time when I'd moved through the Shallow Gale Mountains with Haltir and Laurel, finding a spot for the base. Trying to remember it, I couldn't recall seeing Lark.

"I don't remember seeing you," I said.

Lark chuffed as he looked at the far wall. "I wasss in the water, waiting for you! But you fled from thossseee puny flying thingsss! I waited for daysss, but you never returned! I won't tell you! Help me firssssst!"

I hovered in the water, staring at the angry demon, and suddenly everything seemed funny. I was Rathica knew how far below a sea crawling with monsters, inside a demon's cave, while a war was raging all around me, fought by demons the size of houses! The only thing keeping me from laughing was the image of Eliandra, locked in Rathica's realm without a way out. I needed the information!

I shoved down the crazed hilarity and tried to organize my mind, figuring out how to commence. When it dissipated, I inspected Lark, wondering if there was a way to trick him. The way he acted when he was with the other demons wasn't how he really was. He was young, maybe not a child, but his mind was like that of one. No knowledge and experience, and all instincts. He wasn't stupid, however.

He did say I have enough time, I thought, as I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead.

Even though he hadn't said how or why, which apparently had something to do with what was going on, that meant I had time. If he was right and not lying, of course.

"Alright, some questions then," I said. "Can you tell me how much time we have before whatever is happening finishes?"

Lark stared at me, his head still lifted and his body tense.

"Almossst a year," he hissed.

"And you are absolutely sure about this?" I asked.

"Yesss," Lark snapped angrily.

Then he put his head on his coils and gave me an almost petulant look.

"Belegh isss waiting for the alignment of the moonsss, and Pul Dah will kill him before then and take all his power."

The way he said it reminded me again that I lacked common knowledge. I didn't even know what the bloody moons were called, let alone when they would align. Still, I did understand something. Pul Dah was doing something for as long as he could, then he was going to finish it. The trouble with that was, how could we be sure that Pul Dah was right? What was he getting out of it anyway? My eyes snapped open. These demons consumed each other for power, and Belegh was bringing fresh blood from Leralion!

"Is Pul Dah allowing Leralion demons to come here so he can feed on them?" I asked as I folded my legs below my body, using my arms to easily stay in one place.

"Yesss," Lark said, his eyes gleaming. "We will get sssso-" he snapped his mouth shut, glaring at me again.

He is not lying and seems to believe what he says Casiron's voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

Alright, a quick question… What happens if a demon uses my title? I asked, keeping my eyes on Casiron.

The same as with anything that generates any form of Karma that uses your title, Casiron said.

That meant the idea that was forming in my mind would work. The only question then was, was which title I should use. It took me a moment to get the list of statuses from my status, but when I did, I instantly gravitated toward one.

> Gained the title: 'Rot Bane'

> Gained the title: 'Guardian At All Cost'

> Gained the title: 'The Deliverance'

> Gained the title: 'Fearless Four-armed Prime

I didn't want to use either Deliverance or Fearless four-armed Prime, as I didn't want anything I did here to be associated with me later. If people heard I worked together with demons, that could only lead to trouble. Guardian At All Cost sounded too much like a hero one, and one I might want to use later, but Rot Bane? It was my first title and not one I would likely use again. It had too much of a villain ring to it.

"I will help you, but there is something we need to do," I said, gaining Lark's immediate attention.

"What?" he said cautiously.

"From now on, call me by my title, Rot Bane, and help me spread it," I said.

Lark's eyes widened, and a low hissing laugh came from him. "Good. Great! Yessss! A great title," he shouted. "Vile Snake and Rot Bane will become the mossst feared off names, whissspered when nobody believesss we can hear," Lark howled, hissing with laughter.

Yeah, sure, I thought, staring at his insane reaction.

"When will we leave," I asked.

"In a few daysss," he said. "I need to heal and you need to feed!"

The idea of having to stay in these caves for days on end felt stifling, worse if I had to share them. Perhaps there would be a safe space for myself?

"Do you have another chamber where I can rest, one with plants?" I asked.

"No big onesss," Lark said, frowned as he looked around his own.

"It doesn't have to be this large," I quickly said. "But large enough for Casiron to fit."

Lark frowned, staring at me in disbelief. Then he quickly nodded and raised his head.

"Votrix, come here," he roared. His hissing voice exploded through the room and outward, and a response came mere moments later.

"Coming, Massster!'

"He will bring you to one," Lark said. "I'll have food and demon flesssh brought to you. If you need anything elsssse, order anyone to bring it."

A soft rustle came from the entrance as Casiron withdrew to the side, and the serpent with the milky eye swam inside.

"Votrix, bring Rot Bane to the newest cave! It isss hisss from now on!"

Votrix's eyes narrowed, and he glared at me. For a moment I thought he was going to object, then he turned to Lark.

"Yesss, master."

He turned to me, and I saw an angry glitter in his eyes. Something told me he had wanted that cave, or perhaps it was his?

"Follow me," Votrix hissed.

I swam forward, holding Casiron's neck spines.

"I'll warn you when it isss time, Rot Bane," Lark hissed.

Yeah, sounds great, I thought, waving at him while Casiron effortlessly swam after Votrix.