Further into the Highgrove Warrens…

Haven’t encountered any more demons since that Imp Master, oddly enough. I suspect that the Shadow Fiend has recalled its minions to wherever it's hiding, concentrating its forces for one final stand. An ambush. It can’t command the imps, but the Imp Masters serving it can.

The shadows ahead are like layers of darkness overlapping each other, an unending deathly pall. It’s… suffocating. Just a little. I can sense the Shadow Fiend nearby, hiding in that darkness somewhere – I can sense the Demon’s Mana, just as it, too, can sense my imminent arrival to kill it dead.

“Our Candlelight is…” Anna whispers worriedly. “It’s going out. I can barely see what’s ahead of us now.”

“Yeah. Don’t sweat it, though. I don’t sense any more demons nearby,” I tell her reassuringly. “Just keep going. Slowly.”

“Okay…”

But this darkness… it ain’t your garden-variety darkness when you turn off the lights. It’s a Demon’s spell. It’s an Abyss – a conjured, all-encompassing veil of greater shadows that consume all, a world black as death. That none can see but those born from the darkness, and those bound to the shadows forever. Anna and I are neither, so that sucks for us. Oh well.

Torches won’t be any good here. Not that we brought any. But even my Candlelight falters as we approach the heart of darkness itself… to say nothing of what remains of Anna’s spell. And as the light dies… darkness rises… and the Shadow Fiend draws near. Creepy bastard.

“Anna, stop,” I whisper urgently. “We’re getting too close.”

The Shadow Fiend is up ahead. Probably. From the sound of the wastewater flowing past us through the canals in this place, round the corner, it sounds like it’s all leading to a large pit that flows out into the river beyond. The shallows surrounding that pit would’ve been a Giant Rat nest, its Monster inhabitants feeding on refuse and wastewater to thrive. But not anymore. Instead… I sense that Demon bastard waiting for me in the shadows with a massive horde of imps and imp masters as it tries its damnedest to suss out my location.

Oho! I don’t think the Shadow Fiend can sense us yet! But I can! With our Candlelight fully snuffed out in the face of the ever-strengthening darkness of the Shadow Fiend’s Abyss, the demons are waiting in ambush, thinking they’re gonna be the ones to get us when we step blindly into their domain. If only they’d be so lucky, huh?

“The Shadow Fiend and its minions are massed up and waiting for us in the next room,” I tell Anna, my voice a whisper. “I’ve got a plan.”

“What do we do?”

“I’ll shield our movements with a Spell Ward. Thirty steps, and I’ll unleash the strongest Candlelight spell Nisha’s ever seen. It’ll blind them all for at least ten seconds. You’ll charge forward with my Divine Blessing and kill the Shadow Fiend. Don’t stop for anything or anyone.”

“Sounds like a plan, Arisa. I’m with you.”

“Only one try for this. Ready?”

Turning around momentarily, Anna nods grimly.

“Ten seconds, right?”

“Yup. Don’t stop, no matter what. We’ll count our steps. We go all-in at twenty-eight.”

“Okay.”

I put up a Spell Ward, concentrating a lot of Mana into it to conceal our steps. We count our steps slowly, one by one. At twenty-six, I bestow my Divine Blessing on Anna. At twenty-eight… as Anna rushes into the darkness, I drop my Spell Ward, plant Elizabeth into the ground, and unleash a burst of Candlelight overloaded with Mana, illuminating and revealing everything in our way.

“RODERIC… RUN…”

My light reveals everything once hidden in the dark, blinding the demons in its radiant glory. Even the Shadow Fiend itself, a massive arachnid Demon towering over the lesser imps frozen in place, its visage like the shadow of death even in the face of divine light. And more importantly… it also reveals the sprawling path of Shadow Webs across the filthy floor, cursed to debilitate all who tread upon its Demon master’s domain.

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But not if I can help it! With Elizabeth still grounded in the filth, I aim my hand towards those accursed Shadow Webs, casting Dispel Magic to unravel the accursed strands of darkness in Anna’s way. It’s fast enough to clear a path for her as she rushes through the petrified masses of blinded imps and imp masters.

“Be not far from me, Rinnah… my strength…” Anna whispers as she winds up Ascalon for an executioner’s blow upon the Shadow Fiend. “My courage…”

“I CAN SAVE YOU, RODERIC! RUN… PLEASE…”

Still half-blind, the Shadow Fiend unleashes an Unholy Swarm of shadowy insects upon Anna, brandishing appendages black and sharp like obsidian-edged blades to defend itself. Intervening swiftly, I unleash a storm of Holy Fire to incinerate the Unholy Swarm before it can slow her down, giving her the moment she needs to send Ascalon’s fiery edge into the Demon’s accursed carapace. And I gotta say… the resulting symphony of blessed silver slicing into demonic flesh and shrieking pain is like music to my ears!

In those moments as the Shadow Fiend burns away into non-existence, as the radiant sun of my Candlelight peters out… I see, for the briefest of seconds… many arachnid eyes wide and upon mine as we look each other in the eye for the first time.

“MY LORD…”

I open my mouth to say something, but before I can, it’s too late – the Shadow Fiend is dead and gone from this world, as is the fate of all demons who die on Nisha. Oh, and the darkness is back. Not the Abyss, but just good old-fashioned darkness in the absence of light. And in that darkness, I’m left wondering. Shame that the bastard's not taking questions at this time. Y’know, being dead and all.

Without skipping a beat, I snap my fingers, conjuring another orb of Candlelight to illuminate the cavern anew in blue and white. And it reveals a horde of imps and imp masters eyeing us fearfully. Desperately. Angrily. They'd be wise to flee... but they can't. Lesser demons are compelled to obey those above them... and the Shadow Fiend's will imposed upon the Imp Masters endures even in death.

“Arisa…” Anna whispers cautiously, her breath still hot with Mana, Ascalon gripped tightly in her hands as the light of Sanctuary appears beneath her feet to protect us both. “Umm… stay close to me.”

“Yup. Don’t let up now,” I answer with a smile, readying up another Divine Blessing as my other hand burns white and blue with Holy Fire. “This right here’s our victory lap.”

----------------------------------------

Five minutes later…

Without much fanfare, the remaining imps and imp masters fall dead to Holy Fire and Ascalon’s edge. The imp masters tried to sneak a Greater Illusion in, but I burned them up before they could. It’s hard to get that spell off without the element of surprise. Too bad for them!

Like their fallen Shadow Fiend master, the lesser demons fade away quickly. It’s really nothing to write home about. Just killing done righteously, a chore like any other.

Oh well. Now, all’s quiet and dark under my Candlelight’s glow. Place still smells like shit, though. There are some Giant Rats lurking far out in the darkness, but after everything, they want nothing to do with us. We should really get the fuck outta here.

But wait! there’s something lingering in the filth, where the Shadow Fiend died. Dark essence, black as night and dark like the abyss. It holds power – demonic magic! And as I stand in its presence, it probes into my thoughts, whispering its secrets to me. The secret of…

“Mind Control…”

This spell... it uses Mana to bend the will of others. Humans. Elves. Monsters. Everything, with enough Mana. Even demons! They’d do as I say, till death do us part. That my will be done. But before I can do anything else, it all fades away into nothingness. And it feels like nothing’s changed.

Huh. That’s weird. Did I imagine all of that? Good grief, what a tease! Why, I…

“Umm… Arisa!?” Anna exclaims, bringing me back to my senses as she shakes me gently. “Are you alright? You were staring motionlessly into the muck…”

“Yeah! Yeah, I am…” I answer, forcing a smile as I play it cool, pushing aside the thoughts of darkness and Demon shit fucking with my head. “How about you?”

“It’s a little filthy here…”

“Heh, you think so?”

“Mmm-hmm! But umm… I just wanted to say… we did it!” Anna exclaims as she hugs me tightly, taking me completely by surprise. “That was really, really awesome and cool! It went exactly as you said it would!”

“I suppose it did!” I exclaim enthusiastically. “But then… you weren’t afraid? Going up so close to all those shadowy blades…”

“I’m not worried at all, Arisa.”

Silently, I look into Anna’s eyes. Her gaze is… sincere. Warm. Her arms are strong like they’ve always been. Firm. And uh… I might have something in my eye right now. But it’s okay. Being here right now, being close to you, Anna… I don’t mind it at all.

“I trust you. You’re my Healer,” Anna states gently. “And we’re a team, aren’t we? My senses were overloaded with your magic, but I was willing to let it happen, willing to focus on what needed to be done. I put my life in your hands, willingly.”

“Why?”

“Because I believe in us, Arisa! Don’t you?”

“Hell yeah, I do!” I answer with a smile. “I’m just always so…”

“Unsure?”

“Yeah. Sometimes. Just a little, of course. You know that feeling, don’t ya?”

“I do!”

For a moment we just stare at each other, all smiles. For a moment, this place doesn’t smell like complete shit. But of course…

“We should really get outta here,” I state quietly, as Anna nods in agreement. “Get back to Roderic with the good news. As good as it can ever be, after all this bullshit.”