This isn't good.

"Master!" Sturmrorex roared.

In the back of my head, Magnus' anger bled through, the feeling empowering the chaotic gremlin rattling its cage.

I used my fangs to pierce my lip, blood coating my tongue. The pain startled Wrath, and I knocked it aside, regaining control.

Things may have been worrying, but it would not control me.

"I'm fine," I said, pausing. "Maybe. Anything happening that I can't see?"

"No."

"Okay, calm down, let me focus."

Sturmrorex's scales tingled as a wave of electricity expanded down his body. He didn't filter the frustration from the link.

I sighed and looked up, peering into the glass as the blue expanded. Something inside drew my attention to a fine point, just out of sight.

A strand of mana pelted the glass, a needle's width. I tried to lean away, but when I shifted my shoulders, I realized it was the crystal helmet that was stuck.

Just let go!

Nope. Nothing worked. I tried sliding my claws between the space, but there wasn't any.

Clink! Clink! Clank!

I flinched as a pair of mana threads rattled against the crystal, followed by a larger thread the size of my thumb.

"Cyrus?" Sereza asked.

"Stuck and busy. Something's happening inside the obelisk," I replied.

Clink! Clink! Clank! Clank!

Gotcha!

I pulled with Magnus' skill as the last impact tried to force its way out. Instead of dispersing back into the roiling cloud of blue, the mana stayed glued to the crystal surface and tried to dig through.

After watching the mana pulse out of the crystalline structure, I confirmed my theory.

The obelisk was permeable to the mana, but most of its power was contained with each pulse. It filtered through what felt like tiny passageways, diffusing and losing strength before it breached the surface.

But not this time. I forced it to stay together. My skill sucked it in, keeping its form intact. When I pulled, it complied—almost eagerly.

"Master..." Áine whispered in my head.

Only a little more, a final push.

Clink! Clink! CLANK!

Once more, mana threads pelted the obelisk from within, but the mana slipped through the pathway that was being created and joined with the one pressed against the surface.

It breached, and my skill devoured. Uncaring of the electricity clawing at my skin, I exerted my will and forced it down the pathways.

Mana swirled in my receptacle. A storm brewed from within, enveloping the other energy types inside. They fell prey to it, assimilating under its power as more streamed in from the crystal.

It overwhelmed my senses. Bugs crawled down my limbs, lightning raised each hair on my body, and a fierce cold pried my mana channels open. I tried to fight back and cut off the skill, but it wouldn't listen.

"Master!"

Sturmrorex bit my neck, injecting electricity into my muscles, but the flood of etherous mana tore it apart, forcing it away.

Something smacked against the obelisk, but I couldn't open my eyes, my attention glued to the rising storm.

"Master." Sturmrorex whimpered.

Up my throat, it continued, and it tried to condense.

No!

I slammed a mental fist against it, forcing the flow to continue. For the first time in forever, I gave in and let the gremlin out of its cage. It latched onto the mana stream with glee.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Hot and cold, hellfire and ice made warred inside my mouth. Until finally, Wrath gave in and crushed the thread. It stomped and stomped until the mana was forced back. Like a cascade of dominoes, the mana channel lost its support, and my manapool forced the stream to reverse.

Behind me, firm hands gripped my shoulder, and cold tendrils snaked around my waist and forehead. They pulled, and I slammed both arms onto the obelisk. I pushed, and the mana rushed into the receptacle, but a sharp crack rang out in my mind.

Oh fuck.

One moment, I was pushing against the obelisk, trying to separate. The next, I could only clench my fists as the receptacle shattered, the mana rampaging through my body.

Channels widened in agonizing pain. I screamed, in my head or out loud; I was unsure.

Just as mana continued to spin and consume my insides. A soft chime rang from my soul.

Ding!

And then an unmistakable—but loud enough to drown out the misery—chomp blanketed my ears.

CHOMP!

It may have been my imagination, but I heard laughter as the world fell away and dropped me into a black void.

------

My eyes fluttered open, and I tried to smack the bug crawling on my face. As my hand met skin, I paused and pinched my cheek.

Slowly, I ran my hand up to my head, where I felt my horns but a lack of a crystal ring spinning behind them. Just in case, I leaned forward and patted my skull.

I lowered my hand to my shoulders, felt around, and moved to my neck and finally to my stomach. In an instant, I sat up, searching for my spirits. Around me, endless darkness filled my vision with only a soft pink light illuminating a few inches past my skin.

They weren't there, so I closed my eyes and tried to dive into my soulspace. I slipped into a deep meditation and found myself on the central island situated within the lake.

Something was wrong.

The lake lay still, the fog frozen in place. I searched for the skill wisps but found nothing, even as I willed myself around the dimension.

Panic set in, but I forced myself to breathe and calmed down. Not even the gremlin acted up.

I left my soulspace and blinked at the the wall of nothingness. It didn't hurt my eyes like the void, so I hesitantly swiped at the air.

No reaction.

"Hello?" I called out.

Nothing.

Extending my arm, I examined how the soft glow interacted with the shade. When the constant flow pushed away from my skin and met the edges of the darkness, it pushed it away, knocking it aside.

In a constant battle for space, I closed my eyes and tried to feel what the energy was, but it was absent from my senses outside of visual perception.

Lowering my arm, I tried pulling mana from my pool, but it wouldn't budge. The lake remained frozen even after I closed my eyes and observed the process in the soulspace.

So, nothing's working, and everything is gone. I can't be dead... I think.

Going out by being stuck against a crystal obelisk would be one of the dumbest ways to go. If anything, I'd find a way to haunt Cal for forever.

I lowered my arm and got to my feet. I jumped and felt practically weightless but grounded in a way that wherever I stepped, something solid met my action.

Without a way to go, I began walking.

Time felt strange, I tried to count, but after ten seconds, I'd lose my place, and it would suddenly feel like an hour had passed. The longer I walked, boredom began to set in.

Eventually, I jumped and leaped, adding variety to my movements. Closer to moonwalking than acrobatics, I continued until I noticed something had changed.

I held up my hand, observing the pink glow intensify, pushing the darkness back even further.

For a time, I examined my body. The light had brightened in general and not just around my hands. Again, I tried to call my mana or view the energy with my mana sense, but it remained hidden.

With nothing else to do, I continued.

On and on it went. I thought I was going in a circle at one point, so I doubled back. Something in my head nagged at me, and I turned around after a few minutes of backtracking.

Slowly, the glow brightened, and I saw the energy react. It stopped pushing at its confines and began sloping upwards.

I stopped once the light made actual cones rise from my head and up to the dark ceiling. From there I jumped, deciding that forward was the new up. Strange at first, I continued my journey until, finally, something happened.

CHOMP!

I waited and shifted to a closer spot where the light from my mana flickered.

CHOMP!

Ahead of me, about three inches to the right, I felt a pull from my chest demand I get closer.

CHOMP!

As the sound echoed in the grand nothingness, I punched forward and plunged my hand into the darkness, repelling it and revealing a piece of the void.

A headache built as I stared at the scar in reality. But the sound was too familiar for me to care, and I plunged my claws into the crack, dragging my hand downward.

The void expanded like a zipper splitting apart, revealing a familiar face. I smiled and extended my arm.

Instead of floating through the hole, Chomperz bit my fingers, clamping my hand in his mouth. He pulled, and I let him drag me forward, bringing me onto his side.

Like a vacuum, it sucked me in and deposited me onto solid ground. It felt cool to the touch, my hands creating claw marks as I scrambled to sit up.

Chomp.

"Yes, Chomperz?"

Chomp!

I looked up, and he landed on my face. He wrapped his arms around my temple and tugged up as his wings flapped behind him.

When I tried to pull him off, his maw crunched my nose and chewed.

After lowering my hand, he stopped chewing and tugged me forward.

"Chomperz, seriously. What's going on?" I asked, trying to poke him from a different angle.

He sank a fang into my knuckle--pain shot up my hand, and I reached up to poke his forehead.

His tongue slid my finger around until he opened his mouth and chomped.

I poked his nose. "Fine, fine. Stop biting me."

I let him guide me further in, completely unable to see. I tried to peer through the corners of my eyes, but Chomperz squeezed himself closer, completely covering my sight.

Eventually, he released me and leaned away, removing his jaw from around my finger. Now that my sight was no longer obstructed, I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light. The once soft glow about a foot out had extended into intense light that filled the space.

Blindingly bright, the pink bordered on white as my eyelids fought to stay open.

It took a second, but I managed and finally looked up to see what Chomperz was leading me to.

Out of all the things he could have shown me. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be so... tiny.

"Hey! I'm not tiny!"