I looked at the final lines of text below the wall of messages, having a hard time not being worried.

> Rathica says you need to go down towards the sea bed, below the Spawning Grounds, and be ready for battle.

> That's it…

> Oh, and Brewcanon? Be careful, you oaf! You said you were safe, but this hardly sounds safe!

> You aren't allowed to lie to me, remember?

I sighed and shook my head. Eliandra was going to remember this, that was for sure. After worrying about being nagged at, I suddenly felt like laughing. How was that even a problem compared to my current situation? With a sigh, I reviewed the information Eliandra had relayed to me. Most of it was in line with what I'd thought, including how they were locked away. Besides the annoying fact that she wasn't allowed to message me herself due to some stupid rule, one line worried me more than even the Despotin corpse, which had me very worried.

The line where she told me she wasn't the head of the pantheon.

What consequences would that have? Would Rathica be bound to do things The Stone said? I recalled Bastian, who seemed like a reasonable guy. How likely would it be that his Deity was some unreasonable, evil entity? Rathica said not to worry, but… From what she told me, it seemed that The Stone, Flowheart, and Wyerg were more heavily influenced by their mortal side than I'd expected. More so than what Rathica had led me to believe was normal. If this was the truth, it made me wonder: after they were bound to a mortal, how much did these Deities really differ from us? Worse, how much could they actually be trusted?

After pondering the existence of Deities for a bit longer, I eventually managed to push my worry away for now. I did flag it as something I wanted to discuss with Rathica and perhaps even Par later. Now, it was time for something else. Lark might know about the Despotin corpse, or he might think something else was going on. But did it matter? Rathica's last message had been clear if she wanted me down there, it meant there would be more than just Deity-level battles to be fought, and I had to go there.

"Something appeared near the entrance," Lark said. "And Kineater is moving towards it."

I hissed, closed my status with a snap, and swam beside Lark. He was staring into the depths, and it took me only moments to see two small dots move against the backdrop of the brilliant red light at the exit. I also instantly saw something was missing.

"Where is Kineater?" I asked.

"He moved towardsss the ceiling and disssappeared just as thossse two appeared," Lark said.

"Fuck," I grunted, narrowing my eyes as I tried to determine what was coming our way. More monsters?

"Can you see what they are?" I asked.

"One seemsss to be a demon," Lark said. "But odd… I've never seen one like that. Perhapsss he is from the Howling Foressst? The other isss like you, a Dirtborn, but different… odd... Black and bald, with blue eyesss."

I was moving for my mount before he finished talking, cursing at what was about to unfold before my eyes. How the hell could Libidi be here, and why?

"Get ready to fight," I snapped.

"We are going to ussseee them as distraction!" Lark hissed, a nasty smile covering his lizard mouth. "Perfect!"

"Not exactly," I said. "Those are friends, or at least one of them is."

"..."

Lark stared at me, and I could see the annoyance on his face.

"Not friendssss again," he hissed.

"Yes, well. Are you ready?" I asked, not even sure what the hell we should do. Even though we would be with three or four, depending on the other one, I still didn't like our odds.

Lark glared at me, and for a moment, I was sure he was going to say no. Then his eyes narrowed.

"Only if you let me have his essensss."

I blinked, confused. Kineater shouldn't have any Dracoserp essence, right? From what he had said, it seemed he knew about it but had none.

"Sure," I said, hesitantly and unsure if I meant it.

After a second, I realized I wasn't. If there was another Dracoserp essence in Kineater, I didn't want Lark to get it. The problem was, with Casiron gone, how would I even begin to stop him?

Lark didn't seem to catch my uncertainty. With a hungry grin, he moved ahead of me and into the dark.

Dammit, I could really use you here, Casiron, I thought, hoping I'd be able to get him back soon. I'd known before I was heavily reliant on him, especially below the water, but now I realized there was more to it. I also enjoyed someone to plan with.

My Vengeful Mount raced after Lark, staying close to the stone surface and dodging between the shadowy cracks. I kept searching for Kineater to no avail. Soon I could make out Libidi, recognizing her emotionless expression as she observed the darkness ahead. She and a long, green humanoid reptilion were heading straight for us, almost like they knew where we were.

"Kineater isss attacking," Lark suddenly said.

I looked up just in time to see a dark, shadowy blob move down above Libidi.

"Libidi, above you," I roared.

With a single mental command, my mount sped straight towards them.

--

Grem was startled by the shout and almost mechanically shot down and forward.

Next to him, Libidi flipped over and raised her daggers, seemingly ready for anything. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the purple demonic blob of flesh moving towards them, and then her eyes frosted over.

"A Yirghas spawner," she hissed.

Grem growled, not sure what it meant. His clawed hands flashed, and two green darts shot forward, slamming into the incoming thing. A soft hissing scream came, then a slit opened in his direction. Before he could even dodge, a blurry movement rushed him, and teeth drove into his arms.

As he was pulled away, the teeth began gnawing, interfering with his casting.

"Help!" he screamed as his free hand flashed through spells.

--

Libidi heard the odd wizard's scream but had no time to react. Instead, she flitted back, away from the spawner. She had seen the triangular demon before and knew they were in trouble. It was a Yirghas, a demon with no actual attacks but capable of regenerating almost any damage, summoning deceptively fast offspring, and swallowing and consuming anything it got its serrated tongue around.

Battle sounds caused her to peer deeper into the barren cavern, and she felt a tinge of joy as she saw Est. The obscenely muscled Earthling Grablon was on the back of an odd monstrosity, likely another of his creations, dodging three of the offspring. Another demon was beside it, biting apart one of the offspring, while a fourth was lodged on its tail.

"Est, kill the Yirghas offspring," she shouted, turning to the Yirghas' main body. It was still coming after her, but she knew she could-

A thin slit opened on the Yirgha body, and a jet of white air burst out, propelling the whole blob forward. Libidi barely managed to dodge sideways, but as she did, another slit opened, and a tongue slashed at her. She sliced at it with her dagger, cutting four feet off while dodging around it. Something tucked at her back, and a dull pain appeared.

Her Leralion-trained, detached emotions were all that prevented her from freezing in fear. But just that told her how dangerous this was. She'd fought these things before, and none had been able to move like that.

--

I cursed myself for forgetting Kineater had made minions before, hoping Libidi would be fine. I'd seen her barely dodge Kineater just as my vengeful spirit grabbed one of the triangular things in passing. A quick cast of a normal Controlled Conflagration had it floating away, scorched black and covered in blisters.

Knowing I had no other options, I rushed another, copying the move. As the thing ripped off one of my Armedshark's arms, I washed it with fire.

The third demon slammed into us, its teeth barely missing my leg as it mauled the wooden flank of my Armedshark. A long crack rippled across as the whole torso began to split.

"Shit," I hissed, pushing myself up and away from the Armedshark.

Suddenly I was swimming on my own in the water, slow and cumbersome compared to all of the agile demons around me. I began to swim backward, then instantly knew it was a lost cause. As the stakes increased, I was happier than ever to feel my mind calm, a plan appearing. I rapidly cast two Controlled Configurations and held my hands forward before propelling myself into the demon mauling my mount.

It either didn't notice my approach or thought of me as harmless because it didn't react until my fire flowed from my hands and against its skin. The purple flesh blistered and boiled black as the demon howled, releasing its hold and trying to flee. Rigid as it was, I held on, burning further into its core. Even though my own skin started blistering, I didn't stop until the demon hung lifelessly in the water.

Sucking in deep breaths of scalding water, I felt my regeneration kick in, battling the damage of the heat. I pushed away from the purple demon, reduced to a black and blistered mass. The almost boiling water was causing blisters on my skin, and I paddled away as fast as I could, making sure to swim through a cloud of purple demon blood. The blisters vanished almost as fast as they appeared, and as they did, I looked around, trying to decide what to do.

Lark ripped apart the final demon, white blood oozing from numerous new and deep wounds on his lith body. His movements were sluggish, and his eyes drooped. Further away and higher up, Libidi was nimbly dodging around the mass that was Kineater, dashing in and out faster than I knew I could swim. She was using the knife I'd given her to slash at him at great risk to herself, and I wondered why she didn't just stay back. Each wound she dealt seemed inconsequential on the bulk of purple flesh.

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Higher up, I saw the green demonic reptile who had shouted for help. He had managed to blow away another of Kineaters minions and was glaring at the purple blob with intense hate.

Wait, wasn't that the voice of Grem?

The reptile's long taloned hands were flitting about while a dull white pattern was growing before him. Not sure what it was, I swam slowly towards him. Halfway there, the pattern finished with a blinding flash, and dozens of silvery daggers flew outward, leaving bubbly trails in their wake as they slashed into Kineater. Libidi backed away, dodging two errant silvery blades.

That looks good, I thought as I saw long gashes appear, blood rapidly clouding the water.

"Pathetic Dirtborn tricks," Kineater howled. His skin darkened as he stopped moving, tongues retreating into the two mouth-openings which rapidly closed. A sudden, high-pitched pinging noise came, like hail on a windshield, as the silvery blades bounced from him.

Too good to be true, I thought, as I sped up towards what I expected to Grem. Ten feet away, two lizard-like eyes looked into mine, a hint of surprise evident.

"Est, where is Casiron?" Grem's voice asked.

"His body is destroyed," I said. "Can you kill that thing?"

"Afraid not," Grem said as he glared at Kineater. "This is about the best I can do while also maintaining this form."

"How about holding him in place?" I asked.

"Probably, but not for long," Grem said. "What do you have in mind?"

"Lock him down," I said, putting a finger to my lips and pointing at my ears, then at Kineater. I had an idea, but it wasn't smart to let the demon know.

Grem nodded, frowned, then stopped casting. The white pattern disappeared, as did the silvery daggers, but the long green fingers immediately began moving through another set of gestures. Long gaseous lines appeared before us, stretching towards Kineater like cloudy arms.

I swam after them, hoping Grem wasn't overestimating his own abilities. Libidi hung not too far away, and I looked at her for a second. Her blue eyes showed a small measure of emotion as she nodded, and I forced a grin before continuing forward.

The gassy tendrils wrapped around Kineater just as the dark skin turned purple again. "What is-" Kineaters voice came, annoyed.

He stopped mid-sentence as the tendrils bound him tightly, even tugging him back a bit. As soon as I saw it, I swam forward as fast as possible, stopping a dozen feet away and casting Controlled Conflagration. Only controlling it to spread instead of move, it grew quickly, and I began backing up. As I let the fire expand outward, it created a cordon of fire between Kineater and me.

"Draw him in," I shouted. If I had to, I could gently move the fire forward, but that would cost more energy, and the fire would be smaller.

Grem didn't respond, but the tendrils began drawing the bound demon blob towards the cordon of green fire.

Let's hope he doesn't like fire, I thought.

A piercing scream came as the first part of Kineater connected with the fire, and the skin rapidly darkened, black blisters appearing.

"No," a short, dull scream came as Kineater began struggling.

The flesh that made up its body turned almost anamorphic as bits seemed to attempt to flee of their own accord. I frowned, raised my hands, and focused on the fire, drawing it tight around him. Slower than I wished, a small bubble of fire appeared with Kineater in its center. As the surface area shrunk, I managed to increase the heat, and soon I could feel the water around me heat up rapidly.

"Be careful. It will try to escape any moment," Libidi's cold voice came from next to me. "It will split up, and we need to end the tiny fragments before they get away, or it will just reform somewhere else!"

I nodded, wondering how I would do that. My movement was too slow compared to hers and the rest, and my energy was rapidly dying down.

A final screech came as Kineater almost seemed to explode into dozens of tiny fragments. A black crust remained behind, while purple fleshy things surrounded it, bursting out from my fire like tiny meteors that shot away.

"Destroy them," Libidi screamed as she shot forward.

A massive form rippled the water from behind me, and Lark passed by, his eyes dull red with sparks of orange light. Grem's binding spell also vanished as his green form blurred through the water in pursuit of a part of Kineater.

I swam forward, not even attempting to hurry, as I saw the others dash between the small blobs ripping them apart. Libidi sliced through their center, seeming to hit some vital spot, while Lark simply swallowed them whole. Grem had two smaller clouds of silvery blades around him which kept mincing the blobs.

"I won't go down like this," a sudden roar came from one of the tiny specs, much too loud compared to its size.

A dull explosion rang through the water, and I looked up to see parts of Kineater explode into clouds of purple gas, a ripple expanding out that rushed towards me. I barely had time to raise my arms when a massive force slammed into me, forcing me away. Out of control, I spun around, not unlike when I'd used the Enhanced version of Controlled Conflagration. Luckily, this time I wasn't in total agony when it stopped.

I quickly turned around to see only four of the tiny pieces of Kineater remaining. Each swam away in another direction while Libidi and Grem hung motionless in the water. Lark was the only one still moving, sluggishly as it was.

Shit, if he gets away…

I moved before my thoughts finished, swimming towards the remains of my Armedshark. One of its arms was dangling nearby, and I grabbed it while four sets of fingers flashed through the motions of the Thorn Boltcaster. At the same time, I kicked with my feet, trying to stay as close as I could to the three fragments.

My hands finished almost simultaneously, and the piece of wood vanished, absorbed by the spell, while four Botlcasters appeared on my arms. I whipped them up, cursing the water resistance, before shooting four bolts after the nearest fragment.

Two hit, and it popped like a disgusting purple fleshy soap bubble. Ten seconds later, three more bolts ripped into another fragment, leaving just one. I swirled around, trying to locate it, then grunted. It was far away, a tiny spec rushing further into the cave, towards the darkness. Soon I would lose track of it.

"Itsss mine," Lark hissed as he swam past me. Long lacerations covered his body, and dull-white fragments of bone stuck out of his back, but even then, he was moving. And faster than I could.

The problem was, I didn't want him to have that last piece. Something, a fear, a hung, told me that a Dracoserp essence was in it no matter what Kineater had said.

I swam forward, trying hard to gain ground, but even wounded, Lark's long serpent body was much faster, and just as the final fragment of Kineater disappeared into the darkness, Lark caught up, swallowing it in a single gulp.

Lost for words, I slowed down, waiting for the odd burst of orange light. Seconds ticked by, then again, but nothing happened.

Perhaps he didn't have any essence after all? I thought.

A dull boom came from Lark as his body turned rigid, and a bright orange light burst from him.

Fucking dramatic moments, I thought as I watched in horrified silence as the orange light kept burning.

There was a soft grunt behind me, and I swirled around to find Grem swimming towards me, pulling Libidi along by her arm. She cradled the other one, and even from here, I could see the crooked bones in it.

"So… from the lack of surprise, I guess you already knew?" Grem whispered.

I looked up, surprised by his words, and the shiny green eyes blinked as Grem cocked his head.

"No? Well, that is-" he began.

"Not now," I said, quickly shaking my head. "Let's see how much he gained."

Grem blinked, his reptilian mouth opening and closing twice before he nodded and moved next to me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, looking at him.

Grem quietly gazed at Lark, still rigid and pulsing with orange light.

"To warn you about what is down here," he said. "There is a Despotin corpse at the bottom here. If Ux'dsir gets it…"

His tone and the way he let his words drift off made me think he believed I would know what a Despotin was and expected me to be thoroughly worried. The thing was, I didn't know. Not really. I'd only heard the name recently and with no background information. Not that I was going to tell him this right now.

"I know," I said, staring at Grem. "But how do you?"

"Everyone with a high enough magical perception can sense it! It's like a hurricane of energy down there," he said, pointing down and off to the side. "All of the school heads will probably be scurrying around, trying to come up with a way to investigate without all-out war."

"Alright, and why are you here?" I asked.

I couldn't believe Grem was just here because he was worried about me. More likely, he wanted it for himself, though I wondered how he thought to do that without getting killed. He must be so worried about his people that he hoped to use whatever he could get from the body to stop The Nail queen?

"Because we need to stop it," Grem said with a shrug. "If we don't, Fastris, Elision, and every other place along the coast will be swarmed by demons within weeks. Another month or two after that, and the entire continent will be nothing but a slaughterhouse for demons. The few that might survive will need to flee across the sea... a feat that hasn't been accomplished in over six hundred years."

Stunned, I looked at him. Yeah, that might be a good reason to stop whatever was happening. Still, I wondered how he expected us to stop the likes of Nimron and Ux'dsir'Lar.

"And how do you propose we do that?" I asked slowly.

Grem grinned as he looked at me. "Well, I'd hoped you had a plan. Perhaps your Deity can help or something?"

I was about to respond when Libidi spoke, interrupting us.

"Something is moving towards us from deeper inside the cave," she whispered.

My skin instantly began crawling as I looked beyond Lark. I saw nothing, even the orange aura of light not helping, but that wasn't surprising as Libidi had better darkvision than me.

"How far?" I asked.

"They will be at Lark in a minute," she said.

I blinked, looked at Lark, and wondered if this was Rathica sending me a sign to just abandon him. Who knew what kind of trouble he would bring. And who knows if we might need him later, a tiny voice said in the back of my mind.

"Lark, there are Xandi leeches incoming! Hurry up," I shouted.

I'd not expected my warning to have the effect it did. The orange light turned off like someone flipped the switch, and Lark looked up. His eyes were dull red with swirling whirlpools of orange, and most of his wounds were gone. His body had elongated, and his front arms now actually looked long enough to be of use. Where before he had only slightly looked like an oriental dragon, it was now impossible to miss.

"No worriesss," he said, turning around.

I felt my hair rise from the smooth and mocking tone.

"I think we are in trouble," Grem whispered, and I felt him back away.

I agreed, and I was pretty sure neither of us was talking about the leeches.

A dull roar rumbled through the water like a subwoofer on steroids, and I flinched. Lark had coiled up and was radiating danger, a thick threatening aura growing around him.

"Those things are fleeing," Libidi said, seeming unimpressed with Lark.

I barely noticed all my attention on Lark, who turned back to us, then swam closer. The closer he got, the more I realized his face had changed even more than the rest of him. Where first he had looked like a cross between a snake and a lizard, the movement of his lips the only expressional thing about him, now his face was longer, his mouth sophisticated. Muscles around his eyes and cheeks were pulled in a mocking smile.

"No need to be thisss guarded," he said, the mock smile on his thin scaly lips widening. "I won't bite!"

He laughed softly, and I suddenly wondered if this was what a mouse felt like when confronted by a cat.

"So… You look a lot stronger," I said lamely while pulling up my status.

> Tell Rathica we need some help down here. Right now!

I sent to Eliandra just as Lark sniffed.

"I think it isss time to ssstop pretending, Essst."

I blinked in surprise. Lark had never called me by my real name. I closed the screen, not waiting for a reply, knowing I needed my full focus on one thing now. Lark was examining me. His odd, orange eyes radiated with a knowledge that hadn't been there before.

"I know you are here for the power of the Despotin! I don't know why you want it, but without my help you and your fake Dracossserp will never even reach it!"

I swallowed as Lark turned to Grem, who was hovering beside me. The transformed wizard somehow managed to make his lizard-like shape look like a frightened deer, ready to bolt.

"Nor that pure-bred remnant you carry, Dirtborn!" Lark spat, his eyes glowing with obvious disgust for a moment.

I shared a worried look with Grem while Libidi hovered quietly beside us. She showed no reaction, but I had a general feeling that she would move if Lark did anything hostile.

"And what exactly did you have in mind?" I asked.

A ping came from my status window, showing I had a reply to my message. I immediately pulled it up, praying for good news.

> Rathica has gone with other deities towards the main battle to fight Ux and Nimron! Her partition says she can't help…

> Est, what is going on? Run if you have to! Don't be stubborn!

As I read the message, Lark's voice turned to a smooth salesman pitch.

"Sssimple! That body is massive, plenty to share. While those foolsss are fighting over the main entrance, we can sssneak in through a sssmaler crack. We can ssstart absorbing the power, interfere with Ux'dsir'Lar, and get as much of the essensss as we can!"

I was confused, licked my lips, which made no sense as they were wet enough and frowned. Why did I get the feeling Lark hadn't only figured that out just now? Also, what did he mean with, interfere with Ux'dsir'lar?

"Why didn't you go down by yourself?" I asked carefully.

Lark laughed a soft hissing laugh as he stared at me.

"Because I can't do it alone! I wasss waiting for Votrix and Soln to awaken Dracoserp memoriesss, to work together, to prevent weaklingsss from interfearing! But now?"

Lark laughed again, moving slightly closer, his cart-wagon-sized head only a foot from me.

"Now, you can help me fully awaken my heritage!"

I saw the hunger, the palpable desire burning in Lark's eyes.

Shit.