I stroked her scales, but she showed no signs of waking up. I summoned a sphere of light, hoping the source of Lumos magic would help her recover, but there was no noticeable change. I leaned back and opened up the notifications from the battle. The battle was definitely worth it.

You have been awarded 2,100 experience from defeating Night Scale Lamia Matriarch-level 15

Your skill Spira Magic has advanced to level 9. You can learn new spells.

Some quick mental math told me that the lamia matriarch gave me her level times 150 experience points. Which differed from most of the creatures I had fought until. Those gave me 100 experience points times their level. So did that mean that not only did I need to fight higher-level creatures, but I had to find the right creatures? It did make sense. It would be a lot easier to kill a level 100 rat vs a level 100 dragon after all. The unfortunate part meant that I had to find the right kinds of creatures. I would need to ask Amara if she knew of a way to gauge the strength of a target. Either way, it was a problem for later. A quick review of my character sheet told me that my skills had taken a decent jump. Not enough to level up, but a decent jump nonetheless. I closed down my status screen, took a breath, and closed my eyes.

I was jostled awake sometime later when a pair of claws dug into my thighs. I brought both hands up, ready to cast, as my eyes scanned the room.

“All is fine, Master.” Sanaa’s voice hit me like a bucket of ice water. I looked down at her and found her strutting around in my lap. I chuckled as the panic dissipated.

“Are you feeling better? I am not sure what happened, but Tenebris and I dealt with the monster.”

“Yes, I know. I could see the battle through your memories. I can not be sure, but I think the creature was toxic to radiant creatures. I am sorry for not being able to deal with it.”

I waved that off. “It's fine. You had no idea, I had no idea, and we could deal with it. Are you able to continue? We can wait a bit longer if you need it.”

She tossed her draconian head back and let out a roar that was somehow both adorable and predatory. She then leaped into the air. She spun and twisted above me as if daring something to stop her.

“I guess that answers that.” I got to my feet and made my way back into the chamber proper. Tenebris flew down and joined Sanaa. I left them on their flight and focused on the three statues. I assumed I needed to grab the hand of the middle statue next, but when I approached, the ground began to tremble and shake. I took three steps back and brought both of my hands up, ready to cast. Instead, the ground in front of the statues collapsed into a spiral staircase. I raised an eyebrow before looking up at my familiars. I didn’t have to give the order. They both turned in the air and darted forward and down the staircase. I gave them a few minutes to get ahead before I started walking. I checked my spells and calculated how long I had been asleep. Since I had access to everything now, it had to have been at least two hours.

“Master, you should hurry.” Sanaa’s voice disrupted my thoughts.

“Is something wrong?” I added and prepared myself to spring down the rest of the stairs.

“Not at the moment, but it will be.”

“Stay safe. I will be there soon.” I cast a sphere of light and then sprinted the rest of the way down. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I entered a long hallway. My familiars were floating about ten feet in front of me. From what I could see, the way forward was clear, but they were acting as if there was a wall right in front of them. I walked up next to them and was about to ask what was going on when I caught sight of something. A thin line of silver glinted in the glow of my spell. I knelt to get a bit closer to it and realized that I was looking at a crisscrossed pattern of thin metal threads. I slowly got back to my feet and took a step back. I pushed the sphere of light forward, letting its glow reveal the position of each wire. There were so many, it was impossible to count them.

“Could we destroy them?” I asked.

“I don’t think so, Master.”

I attempted to burn them and the fire only made the wires hotter. I was about to try my breath when she suggested we notify you first.

I nodded and instructed them to fly back a foot or so before I started casting. Six rays of light shot out from my hands and flew toward six different wires. As soon as the light made contact, the wires made a hissing sound and a dark green gas flowed out. The gas smelled like death and rot, forcing us all to move back another several feet. We waited until the gas dissipated before we moved closer.

“We can’t burn it nor will my Lumos spells work, which leaves Spira magic, your breath weapon, your claws, or a very unsteady balancing act.”

“I could make it across,” Sanaa replied.

“No, it’s too risky. I don’t know if your light would interact with the wires or not. Tenebris might do it, but his wings would create issues.” I brought both hands so together and unleashed a blade of Spira magic. The wind shot forward and slashed into the closest wire. The blade cut straight through the wire before dissipating. I grinned and turned to my familiars.

“We are going to have to cut through them with Lesser Spira Blade. Space your casting so that you don’t run out of MP too fast. Once you're below half, pull back and keep an eye on the tunnel behind us.”

“Yes Master,” They replied together.

We managed to get through a third of the wires before we were forced to stop. Even working together, we couldn’t summon enough blades. As we got closer to the middle, the wires got stronger and stronger. By the time we had to stop, the wires took two or three blades.

“I am going to try summoning a cyclone in the middle of the wires.” I closed my eyes and leaned against the wall. I made a mental note to fill my ring with food and water. I should probably set up a whole adventuring kit at some point as well.

“What if it sends the wires flying in every direction?” Tenebris asked.

I shrugged. “We will have to avoid them. We don’t have the time nor do we have the MP to destroy this many. Either we move to destroy them all or we try to get around them.”

“I can make it through.” I opened my mouth to shoot down the idea, but she landed on my shoulders and pressed her claws into me. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to hurt. “I am aware it is dangerous, but I also know that we don’t have much time. I don’t know how long I was out, but I know you only gave your allies two potions each. If they have come across dangerous enemies, they may need our help.”

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I stared at her, trying to come up with reasons that she was wrong, but I couldn’t. I looked at her and then back at the latticework of threads, a knot forming in my stomach. “Fine, I am going to cast lesser swiftness on you. I want you to be careful. If you come across any danger, come back immediately.”

She leaped into the air as her scales glowed. A moment later she shot through the air like a bullet. I rolled my eyes as she twirled in the air. Once she was ready, she headed into the minefield of wire threads. I balled my fingers up into a fist as she contorted her body. Several times, she was forced to rely on her scales to protect her from a pair of wires that were too close together. Tenebris landed on my shoulders and firmly pressed his claws into my shoulders to stop me from chasing after her. Just as she reached the end of the hall, a bolt of black lightning shot out from the ceiling. The lightning left a smoking patch of darkness on her back and I started to run after her when I heard her voice.

“Stay back!” She spoke into her mind while righting herself in the air. She unleashed her breath on the crystal. Thankfully, it was enough, and the crystal shattered.

“Are you okay?” I pulled up her status screen and saw she was at 10% of her health. “Is there a way to get rid of the wires?” I summoned a potion vial from my ring, ready to get it to her as soon as possible.

It took Sanaa several minutes to find the lever that caused the wires to retract into the wall. The entire time I kept my eyes trained on her HP as if I could will the numbers to increase. Once the way was clear, Tenebris and I bolted down the hallway. We entered the next chamber and Tenebris started circling the room while Sanaa landed in my arms. The impact sight had turned her scales a black and dark purple color. The scales that were hit were either shattered or missing completely. I removed the stopper from the vial and placed it against her mouth. Instead of tipping the vial back and letting it pour into her mouth, she stuck her tongue out and into the bottle. She used her tongue a bit like a dish. It was odd to watch, but it was working. Once her health was restored, she leaped from my hands and back into the air. I watched her fly around and bite my lip. She had been healed, but her scales were still broken. They had been improved by the potion. They now looked like a broken piece of pottery, but it was still noticeable. When she caught me staring, she spun in the air.

“My scales are ruined.” The whine in her voice made me laugh.

“I think it looks fine. A bit of a battle scar. It will help make you look more frightening” Now that I was sure she was safe, I turned and surveyed the room. We were in a large circular chamber. There was a mural on the opposite wall. The two side walls were empty. Overall, the room was oddly spacious, which made me feel like we were about to be attacked by something. I made my way over to the mural. It showed a trio of women standing in a dark forest. Dozens of eyes surrounded them as they raised a stone orb into the air. The orb shone a silvery white color that illuminated one of the creatures. It looked a bit like a three-eyed dogged only it was the size of a horse. Staring at the creature made my chest hurt. It was like an icy hand had reached inside me and was slowly squeezing my heart. I had to look away after a minute.

I couldn’t tell if the women were trying to destroy the creature or if the creature was on their side. Either way, I hoped I didn’t have to fight the creature. I turned my gaze to the plaque below the mural and grimaced.

“The water of vitality shall reveal the way forward.” I read the words out loud, hoping they would change. When they didn’t, I sighed. “Why was it always about blood?” I checked my ring, hoping I had brought something sharp with me, but I already knew I hadn’t.

“Tenebris, Sanaa, can you come here?”

“Yes Master”

“Of course Master”

They landed on my shoulders a moment later. I gestured for them to read the message. When they finished, they both hissed.

“We must give blood to the wall?” Tenebris asked.

“I think so. I need you to use your claws to do it for me. I don’t have any blades and I would rather not use my teeth.”

“You should let us do it. We do not know if using your blood will weaken you. If we need to battle, you have to be at your best.” Sanaa added, and I wanted to refute it, but she had a good point. I was still thinking about what to say when Tenebris placed a claw against the mural and then used a second claw to draw black blood.

My eyes went wide as the mural began draining him. His blood flooded into the stone and spread, filling the image with color. I tried to pull him away, but it was like his claw had become a part of the stone. I panicked as the face of the hound became more “real”. The stone became supple and the black streaks that made up its fur started to look like actual fur. I opened Tenebris’ status page and saw his health dropping slowly. It was draining him to create the dog. I turned to Sanaa before placing my hand against the stone.

“Cut my wrist!” I felt her resistance to the idea through her bond, but we didn’t have time to argue about it. “Cut my wrist and prepare to blast it when it comes out. Do it now!”

She landed on my wrist and moved so fast that I didn’t feel the cut. If the mural was draining Tenebris, then it was devouring me. Black Tendrils reached out of the stone and wrapped around my wrist. The image began to shift. I fell to my knees as the dog began to move. It threw its head back and let out a howl that made my blood run cold. A prompt jumped into my face as the wall released us.

You have been afflicted with Howl of the Fallen. Your movement speed has been reduced by 15%

You have been afflicted with Dread. Your attacks are 15% less accurate.

I pulled myself up to my feet and grabbed Tenebris. The world felt like it was spinning end over end. The wound on my wrist had closed, which was the only good thing at the moment. I stumbled away from the wall as the sound of battle filled the air. I summoned my staff and used it to keep my balance. A flash that felt like the sun had emerged in the center of the room hit me a moment later. Another prompt blocked my view, forcing me to minimize it. I bit my lip and made a decision. I gripped my staff with both hands and started a dual cast. I wasn’t sure what level this creature would be with the boost from dual casting and the staff, but I was in no shape to fight and I wouldn’t let Sanaa do this on her own. The casting felt like it took twice as long as normal. I caught sight of Sanaa unleashing her breath weapon while the wolf responded with another howl. This one didn’t create any new prompts, but the sound wave shaved nearly ten percent of my HP. Finally, a golden orb appeared ten feet away. The orb burst like a bubble and a lion nearly twice the size of the hound appeared. Golden light filled the entire cavern. The lion took in the scene like a king, judging its subjects. Once our eyes locked, I wasn’t sure if it was going to attack or try to break free from me. Instead, it bowed its head. It was only a slight bow, but from a creature the size of a minivan, it was no less noticeable. It then turned and leaped onto the hound.

I summoned another potion vial and down it as fast as I could. I planned to join the battle, but by the time it restored my health, the battle was already over. The Aurelion had torn the hound limb from limb. I wasn’t sure if the mural could heal the beast, but either the damage was too great or the wall had run out of blood. Either way, I was glad. Sanaa landed on my shoulders for a second before the lion let out a roar of victory. A black-light arced from what was left of the hound and flew back into the wall. The wall then exploded. The piece of stone fell into an abyss with a land bridge. The new piece of land was large enough for two people to walk side by side, which meant that my new ally couldn’t join us. I looked at the lion, hoping that it would grow wings or anything, but it didn’t. We stared at each other for a beat before it turned and disappeared in a shower of light. A glance through my spells told me the summoning spell was on cool down, which was just great.

“Tenebris, are you feeling alright?” I reluctantly turned away from the spot where the lion had been and back to Tenebris. He flexed his wings before taking off and landing on my shoulder.

“Fine Master. I apologize for causing such a poor hunt. It will not happen again.”

I considered telling him it didn’t matter, and that there wasn’t much he could do about it, but I decided to leave it alone. I nodded to Sanaa, who flew down and took her place. Once we were ready, I pulled up the notifications from the battle.