Several nights later, I yawned outside the door of the mansion, ready to be over with all of it already.

Multiple nights of testing various methods with Fredrick had sapped much of the dread that I’d had towards this night, replacing it with a silent anticipation.The fear of the actual monster still lay within me of course, especially as I never got close enough to think any truly dangerous things during testing, but any thoughts of backing out had swiftly died.

We’d managed to cross out a few dozen plans in that time, such as alternate insertion methods or conscripting a mage to blow it apart with thaumaturgy. The first was because we found that the demon couldn’t actually be surprised, and was able to affect us through walls with ease. The second was more a matter of us not wanting the books to become collateral damage in the destruction. A few other of my, er, ‘stranger’ plans we decided to drop because of lack of feasibility. Apparently constantly screaming would in fact not stop yourself from thinking, though I found holding a conversion was a great help.

The strange and the unusual accounted for, we finally decided upon one of the simpler, and more boring, plans in the list, which was to rush down the hallway while using all the countermeasures we’d discovered so far. It was a shame really, when I’d gone through all the effort of testing so many pages of ideas, but a lot of those tests had come in useful in small ways anyway.

The most important thing we’d learned was that the demon would only work through a person’s thoughts about themselves. By talking to each other and interacting constantly, we’d be forced to think about something other than ourselves, which in our testing had worked beautifully.

In the end, we’d decided to invite Auro as well, if only for another person to make sure that nothing went wrong. I hadn’t been around for her practice spellcasting, and didn’t know if she was able to do anything yet, but even if she did I thought it a little early to send her straight into battle even if we did think we had an alright plan. So she would only wait outside unless she heard something go wrong.

“And remember, only call for help if it gets really bad.” I warned. “For obvious reasons, I’d hope.”

Auro nodded, and turned back to watch the gate in front.

In truth, I’d wanted to just leave her behind for all the previously stated reasons, as well as my own world-hopper suspicions, but there was no real way to keep her out without directly lying to her, which if she ended up being a fellow resident of Earth wasn’t something I wanted to do.

“Really though, you’re getting scammed in this deal.” I quietly commented to the white coated swordsman beside me as we approached the door. “I was going to come back anyway.”

The only favour Fredrick had wanted in return for agreeing to this was for me to come back and participate in the next plan Andril’s little conspiracy had, which was more than fine with me. After all, it wasn’t like I’d sworn off helping them, and I’d only stormed off because they hadn’t been letting me do so.

“Just remember, you’ll help us in the next plan no matter what.”

“Do you have to say it like that?” I grabbed the doorknob and looked back at him. “As long as you’re not selling me into slavery or doing anything inappropriate I’ll do it.”

“Inappropriate?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Just know that I’ve read enough novels to know the signs.” I warned.

Or, Saphry had, and had shared the memories with me. Indeed those were possibly the only type of memory dump that I welcomed my red demon friend to appear in as to help me forget afterwards.

He ignored the comment and gestured for me to open the door, which was somehow way more terrifying to me than the ghost ahead. They wouldn’t suggest I do something like seduction or anything like that, would they? Because that was still one of the core lines I would hold while in Elys: nothing approaching romance was allowed. Half because I wasn’t sure which way would be gay, and the other because of how unfair it’d be to Saphry. And another half because of how much GIdeon would make fun of me.

I opened the door to the house, and a foul stench burst out to meet us, one that smelled of ash and oil. The mirth I’d felt just moments ago all too quickly dissipated as I gazed into the dark entry hall.I found it ever more foreboding than it had been over the last two days, as if the demon itself knew of the finality of tonight’s quest.

Dark whispers tugged at the corners of my mind.

It’s different today. Gideon noted from above. Colder, darker.

“Almost like it knows.” I murmured.

Not wanting Fredrick to think my nerve was failing, I took my first step into the house.

Damn, I could’ve planned better for this. Isn’t this one kind of boring? In all my years of crime-fighting, the-

“Alright, so I read that book.” I said. “God, it’s strong today.”

“I’ve always loved Mordin’s Tale of the Mountain.” He nodded fondly. “A thrilling tale of avarice and companionship.”

It was most probably the slowest book I’ve ever had the displeasure to read. Seriously, I know dwarves lived forever here, but cut the rest-

“I finished the first book.” I said. “Didn’t think Harkiz would survive that roc fight.”

In preparation for this, and because I had nothing better to do with Marcolo hanging over me all day, Fredrick had lent me a book to read so that we had something consistent to talk about while we did this. The idea was simply to distract ourselves so that we wouldn’t have time to think. The only problem was that the book was incredibly boring. Dry, dwarven prose and long, flowery romantics didn’t really mesh with the modern American attention span. Compared to my parents, I could barely sit through anything. Has our society really-

I shook my head as we stepped past the entrance hall into the main foyer. [Christ], he was proactive today, wasn’t he? We hadn’t actually gone upstairs in the past few days, but normally he never affected us until we got somewhat close to the room, be that from below, outside, or on the stairs.

“It wouldn’t have been a proper allegory if he’d died there.” His gaze flew from wall to wall, looking for any sign of further trouble. “His whole arc is a somewhat hidden reference to Teu’s Kara Karif.”

He pronounced ‘Teu’ like ‘Teh-Ur’, which was spelled nonsensically, like most dwarven words.

“And what’s that about?”

We stepped past the shadowy kitchen and into the living room, taunted by the dozens of boxes and crates lying around, each one holding trash and paper. It was a depressing room devoid of moon, starlight, nor hope, and no amount of testing had stripped that feeling from me.

I lingered in the centre, before the beginning of the stairs, knowing full well how sudden and horrible the demon could begin. Did I really want to climb that challenge, endure those thoughts, risk my own death? It was probably better to wait until the paladins got back to Verol, of that I was increasingly sure. Did I really need those books right now anyway? I could just wait for Hans to…

“It tells of the warrior Rknoreos and his descent into the abyss.” Fredrick’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I shook my head to clear it.

“The abyss?” I refocused on the conversation as we walked to the stairs, past box and shadowed eave alike. “That’s a horrible place, isn’t it? Why’d he do that?”

The first step creaked as I placed my weight upon it, and I almost thought that it would snap violently, sending me into the basement with a broken leg and a plank of shrapnel lodged in my gut. I’d probably bleed out before Fredrick could get to me, mewling pathetically as, for the second time, I-

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I climbed the stairs cautiously, and Fredrick didn’t respond for a second as he faltered on the third step.

“Why’d he do that?” I asked again, stopping above him.

“Hmm?” Fredrick looked up, blinking away thoughts.

“Why’d he go into the abyss? This Erk-nor-eh-ahs.” I said his name slowly, pitching each syllable differently.

“Oh, yeah…” Fredrick rubbed his eyes. “He lost his family to the frozen plague, you see, during the sixth century of the Age of Ice.”

Frozen plague? Age of Ice? I had to wonder idly which age the world was in now, and how they decided to name it.

“It wasn’t called the Age of Ice then of course.” Fredrick began following me up the stairs again. “It was the Age of the Star then. Though sometimes people still call those first few centuries that.”

I nodded as I climbed the last few steps.

“So he went to the abyss to find them?”

The abyss was as far as I had heard, the hell of this world, the deepest place under the planet, though for some reason I’d never heard of a heaven. Perhaps everyone who died here went to hell, or maybe it was some kind of unending purgatory, an existence without light for an eternity.

“He went for the Star, in the deep places of the world.” Fredrick continued, as if he assumed I wouldn’t know. “He thought he could find it, and bring it back to the surface.”

I stepped foot on the landing and looked down the hall, which stretched out like a great ocean in front of me, filled with foul smells, jagged broken nails, and a thousand inky shadows. My will sapped ahead of me, drained into the leaky cauldrons of each open room. Already I imagined a beast in each one, and I could see the scene of Fredrick being overwhelmed by a hidden knife in the dark.

The lantern I had dropped was nowhere in sight.

[Christ], I was paranoid sometimes. There was nothing here. Hans had never mentioned any physical threat whatsoever, aside from the ones you brought with you. Actually, we probably shouldn’t have brought Fredrick’s sword either, in case he break and cut me down.

Wait, he wouldn’t do that, would he? There was no way Fredrick would even think of that, so there was no point in even thinking about that. Unless of course, the demon broke him even quicker than me. Though that was only debatably possible, with how weak willed I was. God, even Saphry was stronger sometimes, wasn’t she? Mentally, at least. Maybe I should be more like her…

Wait, no more thinking about myself! That’s how the demon works! I was glad I caught that. Hans, the book, and all our experiences had told me that I couldn’t trust any thoughts about myself while I was in here. That was easy to catch, once you knew what you were looking for. No, the more important thing was that I keep a close eye on Fredrick, so that I’m ready if he decides to kill me. You never know when someone will lose it. It could be any time now.

I glanced carefully at my companion, and saw his fingers tightly wrapped around the hilt.

Damn, I should’ve come alone. Even Gideon was a liability, sitting up there on my head. What if he decided to push me down the stairs again? Because that wasn’t him trying to help, right? Who just pushes their friends down the stairs when they’re freaking out!

I led everyone down the hallway, passing by two rooms with well-intentioned glances inside. From atop my head Gideon stared hard at the two of us, probably wondering how best he would take us out. Behind me, Fredrick fingered his sword, and I made ready to roll forward at a moment’s notice.

It was quickly becoming clear that I was the only one here who still had complete control over their faculties. I had to distract them, clear their minds before we went any further, or I might just end up with a sword through my heart.

“That must be a hard journey.” I eyed the others suspiciously. “Straight into the abyss huh? Is that an exciting read?”

“Somewhat.” Fredrick snapped. “But you should’ve read Teu’s work by now. It’s one of the holy texts of the Everstar. I bet you’d rip through it.”

“Maybe it shouldn’t be so boring then.” I shot back, growing more frightened at his obvious lunacy.

“It is not.” Fredrick scoffed, haughtily. “Though it can be hard to get through in places. Even I had quite a bit of trouble with it, though you should be smart enough to not have any problems.”

“It’s not my fault.” I glared at him. “How am I supposed to know every damn text the church peddles.”

Are the dwarves even real? I haven’t seen one.

“It is good to be learned.” Fredrick spat. “Knowledge is praised if you seek marriage. Have you ever thought about that?”

“Marriage?” I rolled my eyes. “I seek no hand. Ever.”

Was he threatening to assault me? That’s what he meant, right? Why else would he say he couldn’t do it? God, was the demon even controlling his passions? I’d have to strike quickly, before he decided to act.

“A pity.” Fredrick said, a spark of violence behind his eyes. “Though I suppose I wouldn’t…”

“Give me the sword, Fredrick.” I stopped halfway down the hall and turned to face him, no longer trusting him behind me.

“It would be better with you, wouldn’t it?” Fredrick eyes drooped, an obvious ploy. “I couldn’t even defend Feanin after all…”

“You can’t trick me. Give me the butcher’s blade.”

Let’s calm down, Ryder.

“Shut up drake!” I flailed wildly at my head, throwing the drake against the wall with all my might before he could attack, and he crumbled upon the ground. “Do you have to doubt my every move? I’ve worked for both of us! Both of us!”

“Has anyone ever told you how cute you are?” Fredrick stepped threateningly towards me, crocodile tears in his eyes. “Just like a Tresti flitterjay…”

“Don’t make me do it.”

He’d lost it. Gideon’d lost it. Hadn’t they remembered not to think about themselves? That was how it worked! That was what the testing had shown! That was what Hans had said! That’s why we talked to each other! But no, they were too selfish, too inward thinking! And now they were thralls of the shadow.

I was all alone.

“I’m sorry, Fredrick.”

I jumped forward and grabbed the sword from his sheath, which he was too proud to expect. It was heavy, almost too heavy to lift, and its blade was yet unenchanted when out of the hands of its master. Fredrick fell to the ground, bowing his head in some pitiful, mocking imitation of sadness. I raised the sword high above, ready to protect myself.

“Spatal!”

A ball of sparks slammed into my face, crackling like a firework, and I dropped the sword to the ground. At the end of the hall Auro fell to her knees, a defiant look draining from her face as she looked at her hands, newly horrified as the demon noticed her.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts for a moment, not bothering to wonder why she hadn’t come sooner.

No. Stop.

I had to get to that stone before it happened again, I didn’t have time to think about how it’s tactics had changed, or how we… the others had succumbed so quickly.

Grabbing the sword, I dashed down the hall away from the others, and slid around the open corner into that last darkened room.

It was a messy place, filled with thousands of books, some stacked neatly on shelves while others littered the floor. Papers, ink bottles, glasses, and trinkets dotted the few open spaces, and in the corner lay a crumbled pile of bones. Great curtains blocked the windows, and the only reason I could see was by a small half-open blue lantern laying in the middle of the floor, several metres from where I had dropped it outside. The stench of dust and mould was strong here, but still I saw no evidence of moisture. In the middle of an ornate enchantment circle in the middle of the room lay a plain stone ordained with an outrageous amount of human-carved glyphs, each shining with a brilliant purple.

It was the soulstone, but somehow different. It seemed to me artificial and ordered, not much like the organic whirled glyphs the banishment book had described.

Without another thought I brought the sword above my head again, swaying with the effort of moving such a heavy lump of metal. I’d never swung a sword before, and found that it was much harder than I’d imagined. It really drove home the difference in strength between Fredrick and Saphry. Even after all this time as Saphry, I was still weak and hopeless. Maybe the way Saphry was living was better after-

“A little too late for that.” I said to myself.

I let down the sword upon the stone, only for it to bounce right back, leaving my arms ringing violently with the impact.

Shit. How the hell did you activate the enchantment?

Maybe if I wasn’t so weak, so stupid, I would’ve figured this out. I’d seen that it hadn’t activated out in the hall! Why did I even bring it? I should honestly just use it on myself. Seriously, the world could do without a dumbass like me.

I shook my head.

Did it think I was gonna fall on my blade thanks to a thought like that? Did it really think that I would fall for so stupid a deprecation? I could think of way worse-

I threw the sword to the side and kneeled down next to the stone, calling to mind the casting box of the banishment spell I knew. In my mind I saw it, only for it to morph and twist, collapsing into something incomprehensible as my head boiled like the waves of the ocean. Despite that I continued to try, reforming it over and over like a sand castle in a hurricane.

It was this failure that killed people. Weakness, cowardice, overconfidence. Did I really think I could beat it like this?

“[Fucking] hell, I feel like I’m getting [cyber] bullied.” I murmured.

If only I had Gideon here.

From what I could tell, while Gideon had been affected pretty horribly earlier, the throw against the wall might’ve knocked some sense into him, same as Auro had done to me. Hopefully he wouldn’t try to bite out my throat again.

I blinked.

Wait, had he done that? I seem to remember him lunging for me, but then again…

I can’t even trust my own friends. Or… is he?

I stopped for a moment in an effort to calm my thoughts.

Was I really Gideon’s friend? All I’d done was take and pressure him, right? Even back on Earth, I hadn’t known him before college, and we only spoke to each other because I forced the grimoire on him and bound him to me. Did he hate me? I was the one who started us along this path after all. I was the one who brought us here, who tore him away from his family and life. It wasn’t just Saphry’s life I was ruining, no it was Gideon’s as well.

I’d started all this, I should end it.

A hundred sharp pains shook me back to reality as a dragon chomped down on my shoulder, giving me the mental acuity I needed to visualise that damn casting box.

“Idan Leadal Daldi!”

A bright white flash blinded me as the spell cast, clearing away whatever misgivings I’d had for this night and replacing it with a brilliant, glorious light.