Rowan made the first move.

His spear became a blur as it shot straight for the demon’s face. Unfortunately, it was flicked away before it could ever get close.

Rowan tried again, undeterred. His sweep was kicked away, his stab was simply blocked by an impenetrable hand, and his furious kick was absorbed with no trouble while leaving a dull ache in Rowan’s shin.

Blake wasn’t faring much better. The other hero was glowing in a corona of light, hacking and slashing, but each and every one of his attacks was outright absorbed by curtains of darkness that would flicker into existence a fraction of a second before the attacks would impact.

“Just. Die!” Rowan hissed, struggling to empower his spear for some reason. His mana was flowing into it but it was sluggish and difficult to control. But he managed a decent strike with the renewed effort. The tip of the spear exploded against the hand the demon was blocking with, and a couple of its digits were lost in the process. A large cut marred its palm too, bleeding black ichor that repulsed Rowan.

The demon grunted and took a quick step forward. Before Rowan could react, the demon used the very same appendage to backhand Rowan across the face.

The world turned into nothing but dizziness and pain. Rowan was vaguely aware that his body was tumbling over the ground, but awareness was an impossibility when faced by the sheer agony of having his face entirely caved in.

And yet, with a gasp and a whimper, he came to. He was on his back, staring at the depressing sky, with actual, functioning eyes.

I don’t want to think about it, but… Didn’t one of his eyes pop out of his eye socket, and wasn’t the other reduced to a mess running down his face?

He lifted a trembling, functioning hand up to his face and gingerly touched it. Everything was still there, all the bones and skin and other pieces in the right places. The only trouble was, when he pulled his hand back, it was covered in a red-black residue.

“Rowan, don’t just stay still!” Blake’s shout jerked Rowan back to awareness, even if he sort of wanted to continue ignoring reality when he laid eyes on what was happening.

Blake was getting savaged.

The hero was bleeding gold all over, and the mass of darkness was already inching its way up his jaw. Rowan suspected that the only reason Blake was still in the fight was the glowing silhouette embracing him from behind.

The figure was barely there and the most visible feature were the arms crossed around Blake’s neck. Even then, when the silhouette turned and looked in his direction, Rowan instantly knew who it was.

The Goddess of Light herself, protecting her champion.

With gritted teeth, Rowan managed to force his protesting body upright, focusing on shoving more power into his spear tip. It was even harder this time around, both because his mana was fighting him more ferociously and because there was less of it.

Rowan could tell that his regeneration was working, but like everything else, it seemed muted, barely there.

They were losing.

At least the demon was focused on Blake at the moment, a cruel smirk on its lips as it methodically worked to dissect the hero. The demon seemed to benefit from the oddness of the place. Like Rowan’s face, its hand was back to normal.

Shuffling slowly to the creature’s back, Rowan tried to find anything resembling a weak point. The closest that came to it was the creature’s tail that Rowan spotted for the first time, long and sinuous and deadly looking with the myriad of spikes that adorned it.

If I cut that off, I don’t think anything’s going to change… Then again, I’m not too sure if anything changes with how everything seems to heal in this place.

Rowan grimaced and decided to just commit. Steps lighter than they’d ever been, Rowan drew closer, counting on Blake and the sounds of the ongoing battle to mask his approach.

“Honestly, the two of you,” the demon giggled and then his head turned to the sound of a snapping spine a full circle to stare right at Rowan. “What are you hoping to accomplish?”

Its tail moved faster than Rowan could react, blood filling the hero’s lungs as the spiky appendage speared right through his chest.

Rowan would have collapsed on the spot as a pain worse than anything he’d experienced before filling him. The only problem was that he was literally dangling on the demon’s tail.

Blake screamed a wordless cry of frustration and fear, erupting into an ever-growing ball of light that managed to make even the demon frown. The monster whipped around, launching Rowan straight into Blake’s chest and making both of the heroes crumple to the ground in a heap.

Blake’s light continued to build.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Rowan’s best friend whispered, and then the world was consumed by light.

—

Rowan blinked his eyes open to the same depressing scenery, struggling to make sense of what was happening. They were obviously still in whatever hellscape the demon favored for its shenanigans, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. Which was definitely a good thing, considering the way Rowan’s body ached and protested even the slightest bit of motion.

“You okay there?” Blake grunted, and Rowan startled upon realizing he was still lying on top of the other hero.

“Sorry, sorry,” Rowan mumbled, managing to stagger upright and offer his friend a hand. Blake took it, and then they were both standing. “What in all the hells is going on?”

Blake just sighed. “The same thing that happens every time I pass out. I have no clue what this place actually is. A mental realm? The demon’s mind? Whatever it is, I always fight it here. And I always lose.”

The other hero absentmindedly rubbed at his throat, and Rowan realized there were runes, sigils, and more engraved there. Like the thickest choker in existence, they encircled Blake’s throat, glowing brighter every time the tiny smidgen of darkness tried to worm its way higher.Even though the darkness’ progress had been reset, Rowan just wasn’t willing to bet on the effectiveness of Blake’s new defensive measures for very long.

“How do you always get out?” The question was a little desperate, but who could blame Rowan for trying?

His friend, unfortunately, shook his head. “I don’t, Rowan. So far, Lady Sarina was able to pull me out every time I’m on the verge of… not dying, exactly. Just… it feels like I’m getting slowly unmade while fighting the thing.”

Rowan was forced to reexamine them both and he didn’t like what he saw. The color of their ‘bodies’ which had once been so rich was slowly leeching away. Blake was more an off-white than golden now, and Rowan’s own red and black were diluted.

Granted, he had no clue what that meant, but it couldn’t be good.

“You’re clearly doing something right, though. You managed to drive him off, for now,” Rowan said. And it was true. Whatever the light Blake wielded against it was, the demon was nowhere to be found.

So, Rowan didn’t like the odd look Blade gave him. “I didn’t drive him off. I shifted our location. I can’t win but I’ve been learning how to run and buy time to recover a little. Problem is, every time I do, he ends up finding me.”

“Oh.”

Rowan really couldn’t find a single difference about the plains they were currently in compared to their previous location. Everything was still dead and barren and the sky was just as gloomy as before. Blake pulled him from his contemplation by tugging on his hand. Rowan didn’t know where exactly the other hero wanted them to go, but he wasn’t about to doubt his expertise on what they should do. “Where we headed?” Rowan asked.

“Nowhere. Just can’t stay still. He shows up faster when I do that. Listen, Rowan…” Blake trailed off, refusing to look at him.

“Whatever you want to say, just do it. We’ve known each other for long enough that I can tolerate a stupid question or two,” Rowan said, desperate to lift the mood a little. He didn’t like the gravity Blake had injected his voice with.

His friend sighed. “Please… I want you to break whatever bond we formed before we both ended up here.”

“What? No! I know I’m not much help, and my healing card isn’t working the best here, but it’s still helping, and I won’t leave you here!”

Rowan was pretty sure he was right on every count, too. While his regeneration card wasn’t its usual reliable self, he could feel it working when he focused, struggling to pull color back into his ethereal frame.

“You wouldn’t be here without the bond. And I… I don’t think we can win, even if we’re fighting together. That thing’s a Legend. We need all of our armies and Kayla by our side if we want to actually kill it,” Blake said. There was a deep bitterness there, especially when he mentioned Kayla’s name.

Desperate for both some answers and to change the subject, Rowan latched onto that. “Speaking of, I met Kayla, briefly. She wasn’t really, how to say it, herself? What happened in the capital after I left?”

Blake hunched in on himself, and Rowan was briefly worried his friend would just shut him away and refuse to talk further. The emotions he was feeling through their bond were a mess. It was a churning storm of doubt, fear, disgust, anger, regret and so much more.

“When we ended up here, Kayla started… changing. I don’t know what she went through, exactly. We only had brief chances to meet up with each other,” Blake said, his voice growing low as he forgot about moving and stood in place.” Still, she grew colder and colder, and then she stopped visiting altogether. The last time we met…”

After the moment of silence stretched into two, Rowan asked, “Yeah?”

“She said a bunch of stuff about how I shouldn’t trust Harold. The king, I mean. How he’s been plotting since before we arrived at the world. She insulted my Goddess and said that Lady Sarina was just using me, too. The fight got bad and she left. She hasn’t spoken to me since.”

Rowan wasn’t sure what to say. More to the point, he wasn’t about to disagree with any of the stuff Kayla had apparently told Blake. The king was suspicious at best, and the less said about the Goddess of Light, the better. Frankly, a part of Rowan was upset that Blake was so mindlessly following a Goddess that was at least half the reason they were here in this mess. Rowan took a deep breath and picked a different approach.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Why do you think she said all of that?”

“I don’t know!” Blake exploded, teeth audibly clenching as his hand tightened on Rowan’s arm. Rowan thought he looked desperate for reassurance. “I don’t know…”

It wasn’t the best approach, but Rowan wasn’t about to just drop the subject entirely. Especially not if he wanted to keep his friendship with Blake. “Well, did the king say or do something to her? Surely, you didn’t just dismiss her without asking?”

“He didn’t. I’m sure of it. Why would he? He’s been nothing but nice to me, and Amanda says… never mind what she says, Harold has our best interests at heart, okay? And my Goddess has protected me time and again! I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t pull me out every time things got really bad,” Blake protested.

Rowan sucked in a frustrated breath through his teeth, taking the time for fear of saying something indelicate. He observed Blake’s current state. A gold color was definitely leeching back into his frame, and the more of it accumulated, the faster the process got.

“You’re healing up pretty nicely,” Rowan tried.

“Yeah.” Blake allowed himself a smile. “I still think you should break our bond and leave, but the card is helping. This is the first time I’m actually healing while stuck in here.”

Rowan hummed in contemplation then decided to go for the throat. “Do you actually trust the king and his daughter?”

To his credit, this time, Blake didn’t rush to answer. “I think so. They helped me. Got me good equipment. Trained me. Helped me level up. Wouldn’t have even met my current party without all their help.”

“The party that can do nothing but buff you up? You saw what my party could do, back at the fight.”

“Please don’t remind me, that wolf kin mage was scary.” Blake actually shuddered, making Rowan smirk.

“Shaman. But point still stands.”

“I know, I know. But… trust me, they’re not… bad. They like to argue, but they work great as a team when they’re supposed to. Besides, you caught them at their lowest. They’ve burned through a bunch of their mana protecting us and trying to keep me alive,” Blake said.

“Blake, just because someone does the bare minimum after stealing you away from your own life doesn’t mean you should trust them.”

Blake slumped even further down.

“We can’t just keep second guessing everyone’s motivations, Rowan,” Blake said. “They want their world to be safe. Sure, they summoned us without consent, but would you really just go back right now if you could?”

Rowan tried to say yes. But stopped just short of the words forming in his throat. The second he thought about Olivia, his party, and even the baron and his wife, he couldn’t say the words anymore.

“Thought so. You’re way too nice to walk out on all the people who need you.” Blake offered Rowan a smile but it was a small, fragile thing. “Kayla would leave. She just wants to be done with it, I bet. You know she always had trouble caring about anyone or anything.”

Kayla had some issues. That was true. However, that sounded more like self-justification to Rowan, but again he said nothing. If he defended Kayla, he would also feel compelled to admit that until very recently, he was fully on board with leaving the second he could.

Eyes fixed on the ground, Rowan struggled to come up with an argument, any argument, to make Blake understand how horrible an idea it was to trust the king. Instead, he got thoroughly distracted by the soft, green shoots under their feet.

“Blake, does this ground look different to you?” Rowan muttered, looking around.

While there were a ton of differences he was only starting to understand between his real body and the one he was currently stuck in, it seemed that stats carried over well enough. The extra perception helped Rowan spot all the emerging greenery all around them.

The problem was, he was pretty sure that hadn’t been there before, since they hadn’t made much progress walking and he would have noticed if they suddenly popped up.

“There are plants? Why are there plants here? This is the first time I’m seeing anything like this,” Blake said in wonder, stopping and kneeling to gently inspect one of the fragile shoots struggling to grow.

“You really shouldn’t make it a habit to run like this, you know. It’s horribly rude to give your host the slip like that.” The oily voice of the demon had both heroes spinning around, only to find the creature examining them with more than a little amusement.

“We’re in your world then, are we?” Rowan asked, mind racing for ways to distract the creature for as long as he could. Anything was preferable to getting outright curb stomped.

The demon just shrugged, offering them an open-mouthed smile with far too many teeth. “Shall we continue where we left off?”

Blake seemed to have an objection to that, however, seeing as the hero grabbed Rowan closer and once more erupted into a storm of light.

The scream of frustration from the demon would have amusing, if the two heroes didn’t just blink into existence in yet another stretch of lifeless wasteland. Well, not entirely lifeless. With a frown, Rowan realized that the same shoots were present all around them once again.

“I managed to do it again,” Blake said, wonder in his voice. “I typically don’t manage to do the disappearing trick twice.” He looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them with wonder. “I feel so much better than I did before.”

“My card is working then,” Rowan concluded, and a simple visual inspection proved him right, too.

Blake was back to where he was upon their appearance in the infernal realm, golden and glowing. In fact, a closer look even told Rowan that the darkness swirling in the hero’s chest was shrinking. It was sluggish now, its grasping tentacles barely rising from the hero’s chest.

“It is. It really is. If we can just stay ahead of the demon, we might win.” Blake gave Rowan a dazzling smile, making it difficult to continue being upset.

“We should get moving again then. We’re safe for now?” Rowan asked and got a nod in return. “Then it’s time to talk about something else.”

“I don’t like that look in your eye, Rowan,” Blake said.

“Then you shouldn’t have gone and accepted a party with three women in it, Blake. Now, before that freak catches up again, spill the beans. What’s up with the whole harem protagonist thing you’ve got going on?”

Blake groaned and blushed, but Rowan wasn’t about to just drop the subject.

“It’s nothing, really. I honestly think most of them don’t even like me,” Blake groused, making Rowan quirk an eyebrow his way. “I’m serious! Getting a hero into the family is a big deal. Pretty sure they were ordered to pursue me, so I don’t want to force them into an awkward position.”

Rowan had to agree with part of that, making him wince a little. “Still, you can’t tell me they’re constantly fighting over you like that without at least some personal feelings involved.”

Blake blushed again, making Rowan laugh. “Oh, shut it. Okay, so maybe they care a little. Honestly… I think Mirabella actually does like me. If any of the three do, it would be her. And, I mean, I might like her too.”

This time, Rowan couldn’t help himself. He groaned in frustration. ”The Treagon. Out of all of them, you like the Treagon?”

“What’s wrong with that?” Blake asked defensively, giving him side-eye.

“Oh, nothing much. They just stole all of the land, power, and even the card collection of my girlfriend’s family.” Rowan scowled, giving his best friend the stink-eye back.

At least Blake seemed suitably shocked. “What? That can’t be right. I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“Well, I bet they don’t go around discussing how the only reason they’re dukes is because they stole everything they own from the Suttons. Honestly, you saw how slimy and disgusting Duke Treagon was during that whole mess they called a welcoming feast,” Rowan said.

“I mean, he’s not pleasant, sure, but his daughter’s not like that. Honestly, you’d probably like her if you gave her a chance. I can see the two of you talking about some random book together,” Blake teased, even if there was a slight edge of discomfort to his voice.

“We’ll see. I’ll have to make sure she’s good enough for my best friend. Still, you actually care about her? It’s not just infatuation, or whatever? You’re in love?”

Faced with the earnest question, Blake blushed and nodded. This time, Rowan managed to restrain the groan he wanted to make. After all, there was a chance that Blake was right and the woman was a sweetheart. It didn’t change Rowan’s feelings on the matter of her family though.

“Well, as long as she makes you happy, I guess. I can at least promise I won’t be mean on purpose. And I’ll stop Olivia from poisoning her. Or I’ll try to,” Rowan said.

“Your girlfriend’s the alchemist then, I take it?”

“Yeah, she’s amazing, right?”

“Well, if you fancy dating something who can literally blow you up.” Blake teased, and the two friends exchanged glances.

Even stuck in a nightmarish reality, hunted by a too powerful demon, the two broke down into laughter as they allowed themselves to finally relax a little.

Sure, things were horrible. But at least they now knew their friendship wasn’t over, as Rowan had privately worried it might be. Blake was probably in the same camp.

“I’ve missed talking to you, man,” Blake admitted quietly, smile on his lips.

Rowan was about to agree when he ran face-first into a tree. “What the heck?” He sputtered, trying to get what he was fairly certain were pine needles out of his mouth. His mouth had been open when he ran into the branch and the earthy taste was altogether not pleasant for him. “There are trees?”

“First time I’ve seen any,” Blake admitted, glancing around in worry at the veritable wall of trees that had formed up in front of them out of the blue.

A quick glance back revealed the same plains as before, with the exception of the plant shoots now standing even higher.

And then the angry roar of an approaching storm also announced the unwelcome return of their stalker. As he looked in the approaching demon’s direction, however, Rowan was more confused than anything. He could spot the monster’s head forming up out of the cloud and its expression was livid. He was also wreaking complete destruction as he went, leaving the ground barren in his wake.

Things were changing and Rowan had no idea if they were good or not.

“Can you get us out again?” Rowan asked.

Blake looked worried, hesitation obvious in his posture and features, but still nodded. “I’ll try.”

“No!” the demon screamed. “Don’t you—”

The light flashed again, cutting off the angry demon’s bellows.

When Rowan looked around, he was surprised to find they were standing, once again, at the edge of the tree line. Somewhere far off in the distance, he could even spot the lighting flashes of a storm.

“We should keep moving,” Blake insisted, plunging into the forest without a single look back. A contemplative look on his face, Rowan followed.

—

The trees were thick, and growing thicker as they went, but that wasn’t what worried Rowan. The demon was finding them faster and faster. At first, they’d walk for half an hour or more before the monster reappeared and Blake was forced to pull off his disappearing trick.

Now, however, they were barely lasting ten minutes before the demon would show up, roaring in fury and demolishing the trees around him.

Another thing that worried Rowan was the darkness in Blake’s chest.

Natural Renewal was clearly doing work because Blake’s golden complexion was shinier than ever. Even the darkness had curled into a tight ball, but that’s where the progress on that front had stalled out. The obsidian ball of shifting shadows stood lodged right above Blake’s heart, and it was stubbornly resisting any further attempts at diminishing it. That, along with the rapidly improving color of trees and the quality of soil under their feet, got Rowan thinking.

Clearly, they were moving closer to the center of something, seeing as they could physically spot the places where they’d fled the demon behind them, darkness howling above the tree tops. But was that a good thing?

Would they manage to get away from the demon entirely, or would the infernal simply corner them at the center and devour them on the spot?

More importantly…

Rowan took a deep breath. “Blake, I don’t think we’re in the demon’s world at all. I think this is your world. Or mind. Or soul. Or whatever. Why it’s a prairie followed by a forest, I don’t have a clue.”

Blake stopped, looking back at Rowan with wild eyes. “You think? I mean, I feel something calling for me, from up ahead. I feel like I have to get to it. Think we’ll be able to leave, if I do?”

“I don’t know, but I guess we’ll have to find out?”

Blake didn’t need more encouragement, and the two heroes broke into a run. They were hesitant to do so before, since the ground was oddly treacherous and full of roots, but the enraged roars of the demon in the distance were good motivation.

As they drew closer to whatever was calling to Blake, a smile slowly grew on his face, and his steps became surer and more hurried. “I can feel it. We just need to get there, Rowan, and —”

Blake cried out in pain as he ran headfirst into an invisible barrier. A barrier that, a second later, turned pitch black and rose into the sky, shouting their location for all to see.

“There you are, you fools.” The demon’s voice echoed from everywhere, and its storm corrected its course, coming right for them. “Think you can run from me? This is my playground. Mine.” The trees around them were violently ripped out of the ground as the demon once more coalesced into physical form. “Foolish. So foolish. Misery was lost to us, but I was hoping at least Ennui and Malice would come along more easily. Now, I see I was mistaken to be as kind as I was to you two. One [Holy Paladin] and one [Spear of Unity]. Your precious gods and classes won’t protect you.”

Rowan’s mind raced, looking for any possible solution. He wasn’t going to let the demon’s ominous words come to fruition. Failing to come to an obvious way to fix what ailed them, though, he desperately fell back on the only thing he had. Words. “Why do you know what class I was offered when reaching epic?”

The demon cackled, shaking its head. “Oh Ennui, dear Ennui. Did you think you can travel between the planes unnoticed? That your soul can slip into the world we’ve been monitoring for generations unaltered? We know you. We know all of you. You would do so much better on our side.”

“How? Why would we even want to join you?”

Rowan was barely aware of what he was saying or hearing, his eyes were staring at the squirming ball of darkness in Blake’s chest.

“Why wouldn’t you? You would have to give up the local spark of divinity, true. But what we offer is so much better. Why not ascend early and take your place by our side as we bring this world to heel?”

Rowan didn’t dignify that with a response. Instead, his gaze met Blake’s, and he asked a question of his own as his energy slowly seeped into the tip of his spear. “Do you trust me?”

Rowan received a nod without any hesitation, and with a sad smile, Rowan drove the spear right into his friend’s chest.