Alexia’s boots sank deeper into the thick muck with each step. Her mind wandered into imagination as she recalled stories of the quicksands of Isihla. In her daydream, she fell, grasping at the hand of a faceless knight. Together, they warded off shadow monsters in the Subterra, Norali’s light bursting from her fingertips as his sword carved through hordes of giant spiders.

For a moment, she lingered in the fantasy, sharing adventures with her knight where they fought fiends by day and made love by night. But reality clawed her back. Isihla had fallen to the Celegan Tamers, she was bound to fighting in the Gemstone War, locked into a betrothal with Prince Halius, and she needed to focus on slaying ogres rather than living out her fairy tales. The muck seemed to weigh heavier now, like a ball-and-chain latched to her ankles

Up ahead, Sir Timmeck pointed toward a cave—a jagged opening in the hillside, dark and uninviting with a horrid stench. The bowels of the mountain, she thought, trying not to panic.

Maleon pointed his wand toward the opening, Alexia sensing him pull on Celegana’s earth, intending to collapse the stone.

“No! Endrei’s son may be inside,” Alexia said.

Maleon shook his head. “Ogres don’t take prisoners and I don’t go into dark, cramped spaces with monsters that can break my spine.”

“Wyl was alive when the ogres carried him away,” Alexia argued, her voice trembling.

Maleon sighed. “Ogres don’t take prisoners. They take food back to their lair.”

“We’re not sealing the cave until we know for sure.”

“You’d risk us all for a slim hope? Harden your heart and do what must be done!”

Alexia felt the fire of Seraxa rise in her chest, as she grew more passionate and angrier, as the Divine’s altruism flared within her. Guided by the Divine, Alexia unleashed a fire in her heart that she didn’t know she had. “I see you clearly now, Maleon Stonebreaker. You’re a vengeful coward who cares only for the enemies he can harm and not for the friends he can save. My heart is not too soft—you’re heartless.”

Seraxa’s heat raged inside of her, chilling the air and heating her insides. She kept her glare fixed on his and did not back down when he approached. He tried to intimidate her, yet she looked down on him.

“A coward, am I?” Maleon said. “See how well your heart does when you stand amidst the heat of your flames, unable to focus, when every ogre sees you as a woman and rushes to rip you apart, when one knight stands between you and them, unable to keep you safe. I fear not for my own life, but for yours. If you’re not afraid, then you really are innocent.”

She met his eyes, unblinking, yet shaken to her core. His confidence fueled her doubts, and her hold on Seraxa slipped away. Maleon sneered, sensing the change in divine energy around them, then turned his back on her, quietly cursing the Divine Thirteen for his predicament.

Alexia sought Timmeck. “What do you think?”

Timmeck hesitated, tossing another log on the flames of her doubt. “I trust your judgment, Alexia. For what it’s worth, I’ll follow you with no regrets.”

Alexia breathed, letting his faith restore some of the cracks in her confidence. “Your trust in me is worth much, Sir Timmeck.”

He answered with a wink from his blind eye. For once, she returned his smile.

She trusted in her own judgment, in the importance of being a hero to the people who looked to her for a light of hope in this dark world where monsters stole children away from their parents and strong men like Maleon Stonebreaker did nothing to save them. “We go in,” she said with authority. “If anyone wishes to stay behind, they may.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Maleon said.

“I won’t. I’ll be too busy telling you I was right,” she replied.

Maleon chuckled, a knowing smile gracing his handsome face. That smile, more than any of his challenges or sneers, set her at unease. The only other time she saw that smile was in her nightmare when he loomed over her broken body. She pushed it away, remembering the Stonebreaker’s priorities. He would do what it took to get his vengeance, and she was a powerful tool he could use. He would fight to keep them all alive.

She spent the next few degrees formulating and reviewing a plan. Then, when they were all agreed on their tactics, she pulled a small vial from her belt pouch and shook it, the glowing orange liquid inside swirling. “Elixir of Darksight.”

Maleon raised an eyebrow. “Who brewed it?”

“I did.”

His smile twisted. “And what’s the base?”

“Carrot juice,” she shot back.

“Catalytic reagent?”

“Bat’s eye.”

Alexia took the first sip. Her pupils dilated until the whites of her eyes were no longer visible. The world, occluded by darkness, became clear to her in shades of green, white, and black. The outlines of shapes became more distinct. Timmeck’s body glowed fluorescent green with white edges. She handed the vial to Timmeck, who blinked as the elixir took effect.

Maleon shook his head when she offered it to him. “You ever used Elixir of Darksight in a confined space illuminated by fire? Bad idea, princess. But Zamael’s Hells,” he cursed, “I ain’t in charge of you.”

“We shall see,” she said, struggling to maintain her confidence, “when my sight allows us to avoid stumbling into a trap and allows me to kill them before they even know they’re under attack.”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Maleon said, winking. He clenched his jaw. “Ready, Timmeck?”

Timmeck took a deep breath. “Stay by my side, Alexia”

Alexia stepped into the cavern, Timmeck beside her and Maleon in the rear. The cave reeked of rot and filth, as if the bowels of this mountain had a severe digestive disease. The foul stench of ogre musk, decaying meat, and feces seared Alexia’s nostrils. The humid air, thick with the smell, made her nauseous, and the darksight only worsened her queasiness. She fought back the urge to retch, gripping Aurora tightly as she ventured deeper into the lair.

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Ahead, the sound of crunching bones made her stomach churn. Her enhanced eyes spotted a hulking ogre feasting on something unidentifiable. Alexia’s mind screamed that Maleon had been right: there would be no survivors. Off to the side, three more ogres slept near a pile of stolen metal. Alexia pressed herself against the wall, moving with silent determination, struggling to focus as the ogre’s grotesque meal filled the cave with sickening sounds.

Sadness flooded her heart as she thought of Wyl, but she knew that neither grief nor attuning herself to Balbaraq’s sorrow would help her here. She twisted her sorrow into anger, using it to fuel her magic. Swirling in the chaos of multiple emotions, she called on Zafrir’s wind, summoning a gust that carried the ogre’s attention toward the entrance. Hidden in the shadows, she stared at the bloodied maw of the beast, her sorrow fermenting into wrath. The anger burned within her, combining with a mental focus, to unleash a searing stream of fire that shot from her staff, illuminating the cavern with harsh light as it struck the ogre’s eyes.

The creature let out a muffled cry as Maleon’s wind spell smothered its voice, then lowered it gently to the ground. Despite their plan’s perfect execution, the remaining three ogres stirred, roused from their slumber. Stunned, Alexia’s focus faltered, the shock pulling her away from her attunement with Divine Seraxa and her fires.

“Focus, girl!” Maleon growled.

Alexia snapped back into focus, realigning with Seraxa and conjuring the Flumenignyx focus. The fiery blast engulfed an ogre’s eyes while Maleon’s fire took down a second. Both ogres fell with a heavy crash.

Sir Timmeck charged the final ogre, his sword hacking at its thick leg. But his formidable strength was like that of a boy with a butter knife against the bulk and reinforced hide of an ogre. The ogre retaliated with a deep, rumbling growl that reverberated through the cave, sending a painful shockwave through Alexia. She lost concentration and her spell faltered. Maleon, however, stayed focused, sending an arc of fire that burst the ogre’s eyes, ending the fight.

“That wasn’t so bad!” Timmeck laughed, the sound quickly drowned out by a chorus of roars echoing from deeper within the cave. The brave knight stood between Alexia and the crevasse leading deeper underground.

“Destroy the passage before they come!” Maleon yelled.

Alexia hesitated, unwilling to completely give up hope that young Wyl could be alive, deeper in the cavern.

“He’s dead!” Maleon roared, gripping her robes. “All we can do now is make sure his killers share his tomb!”

Alexia knew he was probably right, that he had been right about the darksight too, that he always seemed to be divinedamned right. The cacophony grew louder, signaling a large group of ogres coming for them, perhaps too many to safely fight. Logically, she knew what to do. Emotionally, she couldn’t make that decision; she couldn’t give up on Wyl, or the other people stolen from Fritjof. She wavered, divided by doubt, until she remembered that when things looked most hopeless was when it was most important to do the right thing.

“No,” Alexia said, breaking his grip. “Wyl could be down there, or other survivors. Stand your ground.”

Maleon’s frustration boiled over, palpable as he drew Seraxa’s divine energy. Between him and Alexia, the cavern’s oppressive heat turned icy as they harnessed the warmth for their cognitive-affectomancy. Timmeck steeled himself, ready for the fight, clanging his sword against his shield.

Seven ogres ascended from the depths. They were met with Alexia’s fireball. The explosion shook the cave, causing stalactites to crash from the ceiling. Alexia stumbled to one knee, struggling to breathe in the heat and stench. Lowering her hood, she retched.

Alexia hadn’t trained for seven years to be passive and unprepared or to let oppressive heat or vomit stop her. She drew Seraxa’s flames into her staff, cooling the air. Through the blinding light of Maleon’s flames, Alexia lost count of their enemies. Timmeck rushed forward, bellowing to lure their focus away from Alexia, cutting into one monster’s armpit.

The diversion failed. The ogres charged at Alexia, shielding their runty heads from her flames in what was a most unnatural display of ogre intellect. The ogre barreled into her, knocking her to the ground. Pain shot through her shoulder, but she held on to her staff, channeling Seraxa’s wrath.

The beast loomed over her, hesitating as shouts filled the cavern. Alexia didn’t share its hesitation. Reaching for the first focus she could grab, if not the best for the situation, a fireball erupted in the eight-foot-tall monster’s face. The beast was flung backward, but the heat seared Alexia’s eyes causing everything to turn white for several turns.

Dizzy and disoriented, she vomited again, then wiped away her bile as the flames blurred her darkvision. Another ogre pushed toward her through the flames. Timmeck charged, his sword edge caught and ripped from his grasp by yet another unusually intelligent maneuver.

Alexia gathered her focus and channeled Seraxa. Her flames sprawled toward Timmeck’s ogre, but not before it delivered a crushing blow to Timmeck, flinging him across the cave. Timmeck’s helm crashed into a wall as the ogre collapsed to the ground.

“Timmeck!” she yelled, rushing toward him.

“Hold!” Maleon shouted. He pointed his wand at the ground, illuminating the area with his flame. “I’m missing one ogre.”

Alexia scanned the battlefield, littered in ogre corpses. Inching toward Timmeck, she counted ten dimming outlines, thinking there were four in the first group and seven in the second. As always, Maleon was right. He was unscathed while she was wounded and Timmeck might even be dead.

“I’ve got ten out of eleven,” she said. “It makes no sense,” she continued, approaching Timmeck. “Ogres aren’t known for cowardice or strategy.”

Maleon shifted the flames until they illuminated the ceiling and glowed down into the cavern. “Your first fireball might have incinerated the brute.”

When Timmeck groaned, she knew she needed to get to him fast. The eleventh ogre crashed out of a crevice like a boulder out of a catapult. The beast slammed into her, driving her to the ground. A sickening crack echoed in her ears and she distantly recognized it as a collarbone fracture. She fought through the pain, trying to gather Seraxa’s energy into her staff. The ogre ripped Aurora from her hands, throwing it across the cave, dispersing her gathered energy.

She backed away, fear breaking her link to Seraxa as she screamed for Maleon’s help. The ogre snatched her, clasping his hands around her waist. Turning from Maleon’s flames, the ogre pinned her to the wall with a surprising gentleness for a creature that ought to fly into a rage at the sight of a woman. Light flashed from the ogre’s eyes, instantly ending her darkvision.

Now, backed into a corner, dispelled of darksight, she saw the beast’s eyes glowing silver like two bright stars in the darkness. Perhaps they would have been beautiful, if not belonging to the monster that was about to kill her.

Alexia squirmed, panicking, drawing on the dark sky she knew was beyond the cavern’s mouth, and letting it flow directly into her body. Yet, the lightning energy crashed against an invisible wall as the ogre’s eyes shone on her.

Pinning Alexia to the ground, the brute clasped a golden bracelet around her wrist. No more could she harness divine energy, the link broken by her contact with gold. She tried to channel the chaos of feelings flooding her, but even Zafrir couldn’t break through the gold that sealed cognitive-affectomancy.

Alexia tried to reach for her rapier, but the ogre predicted her move, keeping her pinned with one hand and ripping the scabbard off and tossing it aside with the other. All that remained was to hope Maleon could kill the beast.

The Stonebreaker’s flames continued to strike the ceiling above the ogre’s head, yet he made no effort to reposition. Crying, she realized that Maleon wasn’t going to put himself in danger to rescue her. He merely waited for the ogre to snap her spine and turn its attentions to him from a safe distance.

It was over. The beast pressed his body against hers and leaned in. It’s breath would be the last thing she smelled, its glowing silver eyes the last sight, the jaggedness of the wall and the hardness of its body the last feeling. She refused to go to whatever afterlife awaited a person who had killed as many people as her staring into those eyes.

Alexia Bluerose closed her marigold seers and dreamt of love she would never know and dreams she would never live.