Gozric saw the wave approach them. His eyes picked up the rapid wave that turned the trees black and branches droop, as it bounced from tree to tree and warped them. In a split second, he pushed his friends out of the way and jumped for cover himself before the trees next to them had a chance to explode into whatever dark fiend had taken over them. They wanted to run, and were trying to escape, but they clearly had run out of time.

With the other’s safe, he had a chance to look at where he was about to land, only to realize he had severely misjudged where he was standing. With his eyes working faster than gravity, he could see the massive chasm hidden behind the bushes he jumped over and into. He fell into the cave system and kept falling as the light disappeared around him. He hit a massive ramp left behind from something that had burrowed out of here and continued to slide. Once the curve gradually ended, he took stood and dusted himself off, only to turn around and see something completely foreign.

“What is that?” he mumbled to himself, as he looked at the gray crystal orb in the center of the room. He ran his eyes along its jagged surface, and down the root-like veins that grafted themselves from it to the ground in such haphazard lines. It slowly pulsed like a heartbeat as it dripped a crimson liquid that smelled enough like iron for Gozric to dislike it on principle.

“Those aren’t roots, but veins…” their exterior was just thin enough for him to see movement beneath the surface as blood rushed through. “What are you, to be a rock that has become the heart of this forest? Wait, is this the center of the oasis… which would mean…” his voice trailed off as he continued to mumble a hundred different hypothesis before settling on a single conclusion.

“I need to go.” He looked back to the hole he had fallen down, and while his eyes may have been good at seeing things, there were very few hand holds he could use to scale the sheer wall that was melted to be as smooth as melted glass. If only there was…. He spotted a ladder discarded in the side of the room. “Well that’s convenient.”

It wasn’t glamorous, but he was in a hurry to be anywhere that wasn’t here. He just wanted to leave and find his friends, and not be here.

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Upon the scorched earth of battle, every monster that was a part of the dungeon doubled over in pain. Their minds were catatonic in hopes of it being enough to block out the pain of the mutations their bodies went through.

Every monster connected to the System felt this way, as its knowledge gave shape to the Core’s desire for bigger and better things. For monsters that were stronger and had more teeth.

However, Echo was different. He was detached from the System, so the knowledge it gave the Core had no bearing on his life. As the protector of the forest, it was his job to cover the others while they went through their twisted mutations. With a heave, he twisted his roots and snaked his way out of the ground that had protected him from responsibilities.

He rose to his full height, twice, three times the size of any other tree that remained in this burned out forest. There was no need to clear a path to move through, as there was never anything in his way.

With his branches, he gingerly picked up those of his friends that were in pain and moved them to safety. There was no threat now, but he didn’t want anyone so close to the pit. Anything could take advantage of their incapacitated state, so he moved them behind away from where the battle had been taking place.

He stacked the ant statues and placed the corpse spiders underground. He wrapped the few non-flaming slimes left in leaves, just as he placed the birds in the trees. As he worked, he came across a lone moth, who was going through the worst of the mutations.

The Empress writhed as countless wings sprouted from her body, as her shell broke down, as the mana burned its way out. It was so thin to begin with, but now she didn’t even have a shell to give her form. She was nothing but wings that tried to flutter and give stability, but got nowhere.

Echo was most gentle with her, as he moved the mother to be with her children. They would protect her, even if they couldn’t protect themselves.

With all those he cared about safe, Echo turned back to the chasm that had given them so many problems. Something was down there that called to him, and he had ignored it until now. His roots knew the taste of what was below, and in doing so, what was below knew the taste of him.

He raised a massive root and slammed it down in challenge. The earth shook as another rumble met his, as the challenger took up his call.

It slithered out of the hole like a snake of white interlocking jagged plates. Bone protrusions snapped as it squeezed its way out of the hole, ribs breaking off from the entrance that was too narrow to fit its entire body.

The spine of the mountain rose up to tower above Echo. Its movement caused the bones to click and rattle as it tried to intimidate him.

He didn’t care about such tactics, and met this stance with a branch right at its center. The branch snapped as the bones cracked and buckled under the force.

It was as good a greeting as any.

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It was a frigid winter’s day, but nothing could cut through the walls the detective had put up around himself. The only thing to get past those walls was his sister, as he escorted her up the mountain path. They traveled together as the sheer wind blew over them and chased the clouds away. It chipped at the permafrost and turned the layers of snow into tiny shards of ice daggers.

He made an excuse about wanting to take in the scenery as she passed him. She was eager to lead, and he was content to let her.

“Don't worry about me, I’m right behind you,” he soothed. “There is no need to turn around. Just focus on reaching the top. That’s all the matters now.”

Truth be told, he just didn’t want her to turn around, and for good reason. Below them, the dungeon she loved changed as reality itself twisted. The abominations that he once called allies twisted into black specs on the snow white landscape below. He didn’t need to be up close to get an idea of the details, but he knew it wouldn’t be good when it inevitably hit them.

As it passed, she was oblivious to its effects, as she was too pure for the darkness to take root in her heart. She was the only one kind enough to avoid disaster, as Vault took the brunt of the blast. It was that kindness he wanted to preserve, so he continued to hide the horrors of what was happening around them.

“Do you see it, up ahead?” He soothed, as he urged her to keep looking forward. She would reach the top, and then nothing else would matter.

“I can see the peak!” Shimmer’s voice echoed off the slopes. “Wait, no, that’s just a big rock, but the peak is right behind it! Wait, did you know the mountain had a whole other side to it?”

Her curiosity melted the detective’s heart… but he noticed it wasn’t the only thing melting his heart. The corruption had set up shop like an unwanted smell. It twisted his body, and he wasn’t sure when he had grown bones, or why they were heart-shaped, but he knew why.

“Since you made it up there, I want you to get comfortable, and look up, and just don’t turn around. Take in the view of the new side of the mountain. Good, just keep watching.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She did as he ordered, and was all the better for it. They waited, as Shimmer got comfortable as the sun beat down on the two of them.

The sun bleached her skin, as the green hue she had carried for so long gave way to crystal clear. She became transparent as she reflected the sun’s rays like a mirror. Only she could make the sun look even more beautiful, then what was just a reflection became reality.

“Its so warm…” she said absentmindedly as she basked in the sun.

“I have another task for you,” the detective’s voice was slow, as he struggled to hold together his melting body. “You are brightest when in the light, but do you think you can outshine that ball of light above us?”

“You mean the sun? I think I can glow brighter, but how will this help the others?”

“There is no shadow without light, and the people below us- well, let’s just say they are fighting an enemy that glows in the dark, so let’s make sure they know how bad of an idea it was to try to outshine you.”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before she focused on the light bouncing around her body. Her rays grew more intense by the minute, as the sun almost seemed to dim overhead.

A second sun appeared at the top of the mountain, as people for hundreds of miles learned why she was called ‘Shimmer.’

Like a mirage, the mountain below them darkened as who ever held the other half of his title matched her power.

The brighter one, the darker the other. True balance would be maintained.

As he was distracted looking below, Shimmer turned around for praise to see the puddle that Vault had become.

“Oh no,” she screamed. “Is that my fault?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, this is from the dungeon. Those of us susceptible to corruption are feeling its effects.”

“Wait, but why am I not affected? I belong to the dungeon to, right?”

“Its simple Shimmer, you are too good to this world. You are a goddess of light and friendship that stands above the darkness of the world. In a way, by being yourself, you have ascended.”

She looked past him, and saw the valley below, and the shadow that had consumed it- Her shadow.

“But I don’t want to be above everyone else. I don’t want to be alone, and godhood sounds lonely.”

“Probably,” he chuckled at the thought. Of course, the ones who deserve were the ones who didn’t want it. “Well, if you want to give it all up, I can think of at least one person who would be happy to spend the rest of their life with you.”

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The titanic spine dove at Echo as it slammed itself against his truck. There was a crunch as one of his central branches snapped. It wasn’t the first one, as he was forced back. He tried to make up a plan, on of a tactical retreat to force the spine snake out of its den so he could attack, but as more sap hit the earth in thick and golden globs, he knew he was just running.

The bones slithered across the ground to get behind him, and at those he protected. Without a choice of playing it safe, he swung his broken branches as he tried to stab between its joints. He aimed for the golden strings that animated it, but only managed to scratch the plates. The feeble attempt got its attention as it abandoned its path and charged him directly, its broken rib segments cutting another gash in his side as bark went flying.

Any plan he tried to think of failed, as there was no opening or room to move. It was only when the world above them lit up did he think of something that would work.

The second sun shined as the valley grew dark.

The titan lacked the eyes or sensitivity to its surroundings to know what was happening, but Echo knew the familiar flow of the dungeon’s bad ideas. The flow of mana swirled around him and through his leaves as it plunged into his roots. There were a hundred souls that were laid to rest under his roots, and a chimera of a flower that grew on his back.

Somewhere along the lines, the chimera and its titles found their way to him- perhaps because of their wooden similarities, perhaps not. These were not details that mattered to him, as they didn’t change where the flower bloomed. Each petal had a different color as it was wrapped in a shadow in this twilight under the mountain.

The sky grew ever brighter, and the brighter Shimmer became, the darker their surroundings grew. The darker the flower. A darkness emanate from it, and suddenly all Echo had to do was defend. As a tree, and as the ancient protector of the forest, it was a task he had done all his life. It was a task he was made for.

The snake tore at his skin as it peeled the bark from his trunk. He sacrificed his roots to push it back and bought crucial seconds. It hesitated as the sky changed colors- it could feel what was happening. It looked scared, and Echo was resigned to what came next.

An aurora danced across the heavens. The sky had become Shimmer’s canvas, so she painted it with green streaks that resembled the plants she loved. Each line split and bloomed into a hundred more.

The titan must have realized its time was short as it dove for its last attack. It needed to end this quick as it coiled around his trunk, and rotated like a saw. A decent attack, as his wood creaked under the pressure and the world below them was blanketed in sawdust, but he couldn’t help but laugh. He was about to become splinters, and yet he laughed with all the joy Shimmer must have felt daily.

“I belong to the dungeon. No matter what happens next, I will come back with the rising sun tomorrow, but can you say the same?”

There was a sickening radiance as the flower unfurled. Its petals tipped red and the pollen corroding everything it touched. His upper branches melted away as the reaper’s pollen fell lower. It reached his trunk and the spine snake and weakened both.

He would die laughing as both became so brittle there was about to be nothing left. This was the power of a hundred souls left to rot in his care. They were as putrid as the sun was warm.

They were truly the only type of flower to bloom in these forgotten lands.

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There was a rain that made Avice look upward. A smile filled her face as triumphed spread through her body. She knew this wasn’t water that fell from the sky, but ichor, spinal fluid, and sawdust from the titans above as they tore themselves apart.

She spread her arms wide to let the debris fall onto her skin, as she unhinged her jaw to screech the fifth triumphant laugh that hour. She had succeeded in every way she could. The dungeon had destroyed itself with knowledge, and its monsters were dead. The joy she felt only disappeared when a crack of pain and surprise shot through her face as she stumbled back, her laugh dead in her throat.

Before her stood a… actually, she wasn’t sure what was. It was human sized, but not shaped. A red mass of flesh, with muscles that pulsed in what looked like it could have been a heartbeat, as it stood on metallic legs. The thing had a single arm and what could have been a skull, with two eyes that looked at her like she had personally ruined its life.

It was dramatic for a corpse and gave her a pretty good idea what- who- she was looking at.

“Baros!” She exclaimed with false cheer. “I thought you would be back home resting. What are you doing here?”

The plastic smile never left her face as he stumbled forward. Uneven steps as the machinery in his legs whirled as they tried to keep him upright. Wordlessly, he got within arm’s reach and stood tall, as he raised another hand to strike her across the face.

Her head shot to the side from the force, but the little pain she felt was dulled. The preparations for the ritual were underway, and her body was being consumed by it as her nerves died off with each second that passed.

“I don’t know why, I don’t care.” He tried to speak, but the gurgling of blood in his throat distorted the sound. She got the gist of it. Something about “feeding a god to the dungeon won’t bring ‘them’ back.” which probably had something to do with their parents? She didn’t really care enough to understand his obsession with those people.

“Nope!” She cheerfully replied, in some attempt to pretend to be a doting sister before it fell away to a calculating coldness. “I’m not after some legend about a god falling and granting you wish, and no, this is not an attempt at a second wish. I am just portioning out this god so I can stake my claim to its power after it gets processed a little more.”

Baros screamed something. A bloody mess of saliva flew out instead of words as he raised his one arm to strike her again. In response, she calmly raised a hand to let her magic flow. The power to warp souls and smith them to better suit her desires made stopping an attack as pathetic as this a chance to flex her power and prove why she stood here.

Yet the fist passed through her spell and struck her square in the nose. Her head rocked back as blood poured out.

He had hit her… even after she used her magic to immobilize his soul…

She looked at her brother again, actually taking in what stood before her. His eyes held absolute rage, and nothing more. There was no fear, no pain, no life… no soul.

“You’re dead, huh?” she cautioned. “have been for a while. Wait, where is Dekrin? He was supposed to be keeping tabs on you specifically for things like this”

Baros screamed some more than his vocal cords tore. Something about ‘doesn’t even know I have legs, still in our yard’ as he drew a dagger. Surprised at the sheer stupidity of this unaccounted variable, she didn’t even flinch as he sunk the dagger into her stomach.

This didn’t ruin her plans, as someone so weak never could, but it was definitely annoying to deal with.