I scrambled to my feet, the flask of black goop held tight in my hand. The Daughters of Umbra avoided the Spriggan Wraith's thrashing attacks with ease, keeping their feet off the ground with flapping wings. Being so focused on dodging made it difficult for them to fire their crossbows. Only a sparse cluster peppered the monster, leaving his health bar almost untouched.

Frank flew in rapid circles overhead, screaming his outrage. At least, I assumed it was outrage, it could have just as easily been fear. I didn’t speak squawking feathered pest.

My fingers itched to toss the flask at the beast and watch it writhe but that would be wasteful. I took a deep steading breath instead and drew my blade. I carefully coated the shining metal, being sure that not a single drop missed the sharp edge. The empty flask went straight into my bum bag, ready for my next concoction.

Do you really think this will work? The phantom voices asked inside my head.

“Do I even have a choice?” I curled my free hand into a fist and looked up at the roof high above me. “I’ll see you soon, Rory.”

I aimed my finger at the ground, a useless but centering gesture, and called upon the Rift. When the gaping whirlpool opened up at my feet I dropped into it. The weightless swirling that had once made me sick had morphed into something akin to a warm embrace. My feet hit the stone on the other side of the room for barely a moment before I launched myself at the wall, using it to propel myself upward as I spun and dug my sword deep into the spriggan’s back.

It let out a horrendous howl. Its long arms reached for me but I was lodged where its fingers could not go. I braced my feet on its back, wrapping my other hand around the hilt of my sword to keep me in place as the poison was pumped through its body by its glowing heart.

“Shoot it!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs, hoping the others would hear me over the howls and screams echoing around the chamber.

I tried to spy the monster's health bar but it was out of sight. I just hoped I’d done enough.

The spriggan gave up its failed attempts at snatching me away and instead slammed its back into the wall, crushing me between its bulk and the stone. I crumpled, my grip torn away. The sword slammed deep into the body of the monster like a nail hit with a practiced strike of a hammer.

When the beast shifted I dropped to the ground, black splotches dancing in front of my eyes. My health had been in danger before and now it was nothing more than a thin sliver, flashing urgently like I didn’t already know I was royally screwed.

It didn’t matter though, through the painful fog I could see the monster still as the poison took effect. Its magic fire went out like a snuffed candle, leaving the room silent and dim. The comforting weight of Frank landed atop my broken body as the darkness closed in, tossing me into the void where pain and fear did not exist.

I don’t know how long I was there, searching for the light that would take me to Rory. It could have been an eternity or only a few seconds. There was no time in this place, only deep, unsettling emptiness.

A voice sounded around me in a gentle musical lilt. “Even here your potential burns like the sun. You disappoint me little worm. I would not have thought you would give up so easily.”

I turned away. This was a place of solitude and quiet before my soul could be released into what lay beyond the world. Or even beyond the realms of the primordials. I didn’t want to hear her voice here of all places. Where was Rory?

“Hmm, it seems the core of you is not quite ready for what is to come. I expect better from my followers. Now rise, show me the gift you kept buried from even yourself.”

“Shut the hell up!”

Frank’s shout ripped me back to my batshit crazy reality even as they echoed the thought bouncing around my aching head. My eyes opened only to see the enormous white skull of the Spriggan Wraith right in front of me. My brain told me to screech and get the fuck out of there but my body didn’t listen.

The room was quiet now that Frank had calmed. I expected to hear Isabella or Clara scolding me for my idiocy but it never came. Instead, I lay there on the cold stone floor staring into the dead eyes of the monster as my health slowly crept up again, one tiny slither at a time.

They must have won the fight and then moved on. I couldn’t blame them, I was little more than an intrusive stranger to their already formed party. I wondered though, what they planned to do when they reached the peak of the spire. The Goddess had been clear; if more than one player survived then all of us would die. Or did that only apply if the timer ran out? I couldn’t quite remember the words she’d spoken to me when she’d brought me here.

I didn’t much care about Clara or the Nox Warriors but Isabella was pretty cool, even if she had been willing to kill me once upon a time. I could forgive a little murderous intent, after all, it's how I’d made most of my friends since the beginning of the Toilet Croc invasion.

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The time came when I could finally lift myself up. Frank jabbed me hard with his beak, a punishment for almost dying or one simply for upsetting his comfortable roost I’ll never know.

I eyed the empty chamber, grateful that the dead Spriggan Wraith hadn’t been replaced by a very alive one. Or maybe this one would regenerate like Eugene had mentioned he did after every failed fight.

I took one shaking step toward the stairs and then another. It would have been a nice surprise to wake up to a blooming garden of the wraith lilies but for whatever reason, I wasn’t that lucky. I glanced at the spriggan again, disappointed that it wasn’t glowing a brilliant gold that signaled lootables.

The dull gleam from the large wound on its back had me kneeling down though. I dug my hands into the ice-cold flesh of the beast, yanking and tearing until my sword came free. Black ichor dripped from its length. I screwed up my nose, keeping the blade in hand instead of dirtying my scabbard by sheathing it.

I moved to wipe the blade on a relatively clean spot of the beast when the faint red glow from its chest caught my eye. I frowned, leaning closer to the odd cage that marked the center of its chest. It would seem its enlarged heart still had some life in it.

Throwing caution to the wind I used my sword to pry open the dark branch-like fingers that protected the heart. By the time the final one cracked and bent aside, I was puffing for air and sweating bullets. None of that mattered though as I dug my fingers back into the beast's body and with some help from my sword, dislodged the smouldering organ.

New item received: Spriggan Wraith Heart

Description: With filthy hands and a blackened soul you have yanked the beating life-giver from a corpse. I hope you’re proud of yourself. A unique object used to upgrade armor or weaponry.

Effects: Grants the boon of the Spriggan Wraith. +10 vitality. +12% affinity to nature.

My cheeks hurt from grinning so hard. In my inventory window, I combined the Spriggan Wraith Heart with my Silver short sword of thieving and read its new description.

Silver short sword of thieving

Description: An intricately crafted blade of silver imbued with talents from the dirt of the earth. Upgraded with the boon of the Spriggan Wraith.

Effects: Backstab does 33% extra damage. +10 vitality. +12% affinity to nature. Ability to use Recall. 1 available upgrade slot.

Attack power: 247

My sword had been lagging behind as the enemies got stronger but now it was as formidable as it once had been. It still didn’t have the raw power of the Crossbow of Umbra but with its added effects it was still by far my favorite weapon.

With a new skip in my step, I headed for the stairs, climbing two at a time in my rush to see what was up ahead. As I climbed I opened the quest menu.

One month, 9 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes.

Disciples remaining: 5

I blanched at the numbers. In such a short amount of time four players had died, including one from the little raiding party I had joined. I just hoped it wasn’t Isabella. If she was gone, then there was no way the others would accept me. Even if Clara and I were joined by some sort of weird divine connection that made no sense to me. She hadn’t seemed to care very much about that.

I reached the next floor, half expecting to see the others milling about around a door they could not open but that was not the case. With a disappointed sigh, I approached the door, my hand pausing before I pushed it open.

I looked at Frank who was now settled back in his favorite spot on my shoulder. “I want you to be quiet until we figure out what the danger is, do you understand.”

He answered by aggressively pecking my neck.

“Ouch, fuck off you crazy ass bird.”

He didn’t care much for my reprimand and let me know with another solid peck. I yelped and covered the spot with my hand, muttering every curse I could think of when my fingers came away bloody.

Shaking my head I pushed open the door and ran inside, aiming for the curtains as the boom of the doors shutting filled the room. It was a hard thing to do when the floor was covered in an ankle-deep layer of bone-chilling water.

The warm embrace of the heavy drapery took away some of my fear. I peeked out, my eyes practically bulging from my head when I saw the naked woman standing over the corpse of one of the Nox Warriors.

She was a being from old fairytales. Not the sweet and romantic ones we were all used to but the kind full of horror, blood, and death. Glimmering scales covered the entirety of her body broken only by the long sweeping waves of her light blue hair. Her eyes were golden and slitted like a viper’s.

When she opened her mouth a glorious sound echoed around the room. The lyrics were lost on me but the melody was soft and warm as it washed over my ears. I felt my whole body loosening as the song calmed me. There was no danger here, only the warm embrace of pure bliss.

I growled and sheathed my sword before stuffing my fingers in my ears. I might not be a smart man but I wasn’t a complete idiot. I knew what she was and what she could do. It was like facing Davina all over again but this time the pull was much stronger. That was the difference between pure lust and the unfounded temptation of what felt like home.

I don’t know how to describe it fully. I felt safe and wanted and whole. All feelings that had escaped me all my life. Even on the Percott’s farm, there had been some lingering doubts in the back of my mind. Something keeping me from opening myself completely. There was darkness in my core that others found repellant. I had learned a long time ago to keep it locked away.

But here, that darkness didn’t matter. It was part of me, yes, but the glimmering goddess in front of me saw only beauty in it rather than something to run away from. She saw me right down to my dirty jocks and loved me anyway.

I plugged my ears harder, biting my inner cheek to keep from yelping at the pain of it. I couldn’t let her in. My eyes darted about finally focusing on the stairs on the other side of the room. If I could plant one foot on those stone flights the monster would lose interest in me.

I couldn’t give in to the siren’s song.