Pike was falling. His world had become an endless pit of darkness. As he plummeted down, time and distance no longer held meaning. He only knew that he would die, where no one would ever find his body again. But strangely enough, he held no fear. He had become a living weapon, and fought in over a hundred battles, slain his own father and won back his freedom. And when death had finally come to claim him, some miracle had brought him back. He had given up his freedom then, to swear an oath and travelled to the edge of civilisation, surrounded by people who would rather see him dead. Had he come so far, fought so hard, just to die in a hole? Was his whole life just the buildup to some cruel joke? Such thoughts filled his mind, blindingly fast. And behind them all, a lurking presence, a faint voice, like a red ember, waiting to grow again into an infernal blaze. Pike clenched his teeth, tasted the iron-tang of blood in his mouth. Even now, of all times, the Voice was trying to make itself heard. He felt the end draw terribly near. Louder and louder the Voice grew. He no longer resisted, but took up the same song. He let out a terrible howl of rage that burned his throat, and then his mind went dark…

Pike woke up with a start. He found that he was no longer falling, but lying on his back. All around him, great crystals jutted out everywhere at odd angles like some kind of great forest. They seemed to glow with some eerie, inner light. Above him was utter blackness. He looked at his hands and felt his limbs. He was all in one piece. Now this was strange. Why was he not dead and plastered all over these crystals. He looked around at his unearthly surroundings. But perhaps he was dead? He felt hungry, but then maybe that’s why people left offerings to their dead relatives. He got up, struggling to keep a firm foothold and the floor of crystals. In the corner of his eye he glimpsed his sword, lodged between two great shards.

Well that was convenient. His sword had survived the fall somehow. Or had gone with him to the afterlife. Pike tried not to think about it too hard. He reached for the canteen at his side and found that too was intact and still had water in it. Pike was grateful for that, his throat felt parched and terribly sore.

Pike retrieved his sword and drank his water, sitting on a crystal and wondering what to do next. Should he just wait for something to happen? Pike remembered his hunger, unless he wanted to starve to death he should try and find a way out of there. Unless he was already dead. But then could a ghost die again of hunger or would he just stay hungry? That seemed like a hassle either way.

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“Help… me…”

Pike’s head snapped to the direction the voice came from. It sounded thin and frail. Sword in hand, he scrambled over the crystals. There, upon a great shard spearing upwards like a lance, was impaled a hideous shape. The monster that appeared out of nowhere and fought the One Eyed Man. The surrounding crystals were bathed in black blood, and the monster’s body seemed to almost be melting away. But still, a faint yellow gleam was in its eyes as they fixed upon Pike.

“You…” the thing said through a jaw that was half hanging off. “You can… help me…”

Pike sniffed and grimaced at the smell. “Sorry, don’t have a bandage quite big enough for that.”

The monster cackled, coughing up black gore as it did so. The light at last faded from its eyes, and the thing’s body disintegrated like a rotten corpse dug from an ancient grave.

“Well then,” Pike said to himself. “I must be alive after all.”

“Yes… yes you are.”

Pike turned, slowly. His blood went cold. Behind him was a shape like a lingering mist. Pike could only make out a wide outline, the vague shape of a creature. But still, its eyes shone terrible clear. Suddenly, the thing enveloped him like a cold wind. He recoiled violently, his body convulsing as though trying to run away from itself. Terrible pain coursed through his entire body, as his mind was filled with a sea of chaotic images. Pike clutched his head and screamed as he fell, trying to fight the strange sensation.

“We are lucky to have found each-other…” the voice came from nowhere and everywhere.

“You!” Pike snarled through grit teeth. “You’re in my head…”

“No… you’re entire being… I’ve lost mine. What luck I must have, for one such as you to be here with me… one who can walk in the shadows…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Leave me the fuck alone or I’ll…”

“Don’t be like that… I only want to share your body. I can give you… more power than you’ve ever possessed. Together… we can climb our way out of this pit…”

“No! I’ve had enough… of bloody magic and demons and all you things!”

“Why must you struggle so? Think about it. Did not the elf with the shiny spear try to kill you? To kill us both? Would you not like… vengeance?”

Pike had nothing to say to that. For a moment, his resistance wavered. The thing peered deeper inside his mind.

“Yes… I see now. We are not so different. But I know all the secret ways in this place. I know where you’re friend can be found… the one you call Erasmus… the one you want to find, like you promised the pretty lady… yes?”

Pike went silent. He closed his eyes. “Bitchin’.”