This is terrible timing. Where are our spiders? Inside my soul, I scour the foreign dungeon that resides within. Through it, I can feel my connection to Bones. The dungeon isn't ready yet. I move to the gate but turn back to check on Gene. We are still in her shadow. The calm restfulness of her realm is spiked with icyness. Gene is a source of cold power. Her eyes are black and distant. It hurts to see her like this. I step toward her to offer any kind of support.

"Stay here." Her voice is colder than her realm. She walks by me and, in an instant, is upon the fortress wall. I sprint to the top to catch her. "I said stay." She holds in so much anger and fear.

Don't do this. I want to say, but I'm frozen in Gene's shadow and silenced. The inability to move stirs my own anger. I want to yell at my friend, curse the demons, and just all around rage. I understand her reasons and fear. I'm not even sure I blame her. That doesn't calm my growing fury.

Gene steps and appears next to Lana, leaving me behind, stuck in her realm. I watch from the wall as the Queen of Shadow eyes the Light Princess. Lana senses a terrible presence at her side. Even though she can't see Gene in her shadow realm, she takes her eyes off the demons surging closer and stares at the emptiness beside her.

Instinctively, Lana turns around and raises an aegis. Swinging a blade of pure shadow, Gene's back attack is blocked. Light and shadow collide. Mana ripples, and the airwaves crack. Neither force budges.

"What the hell, Genevieve?" Lana is a voice of power and certainty. Her rustic golden armor is immaculate. Her right pauldron glows with runes and stretches past her shoulder like a ritual dagger. On her back, she wears a white cape. Like her pauldron and headband, the cape also glows with runes. She looks every bit like a hero. "I am not your enemy."

"I have grown tired of your illusions and deceit." Gene phases back to shadow, creating space between them in a blink, and fires arrows of shadow when she steps out of her realm. Lana raises her light shield and absorbs the barrage. Shadow beings manifest and charge.

"And I have grown tired of your catty nature and the spider you keep sending to spy on me. Keep your perception to yourself. But this is not the time for that." Light blazes through the shadow warriors and travels through a host of demons getting too close.

"They are no threat. It is you I do not trust. What is your game? Kill us all and take the core for yourself. No. You want redemption…" Gene tries to pull Lana into her realm and is repulsed by a blast of light as bright as the sun. The light spreads, fighting the shadow that starts to creep over.

"I'm not here for that." Light reflects more shadow. Demons die. Twenty Lanas appear; seven fight shadow warriors and the rest fight demons. "I don't even care about it or need it. I am here for a new start."

"You have the curse of death." Gene is absent of emotion. Her inner turmoil is steeled and focused entirely on Lana. "Your presence endangers all of us. You are not welcome here."

"I broke the curse," Lana shouts in defiance and rage.

"It still lingers."

"I can handle the rest. I would not be here if I thought I was a danger."

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"Prove it," says Gene coldly. Light and shadow collide in full. Gene unleashes all of her power. The frostiness of her realm extends to the outside. The world is darkened and slowed. Shadow warriors manifest by the hundreds. Clouds of darkness hunt out light and snuff it out.

I struggle against the hold over me in vain. I can't even shout. I'm seething with anger. Mind mana burns inside me. So tight is Gene's hold that I can't get my mana out. Mind, shadow, and death are all blocked by the queen. Maybe I'm more than furious. Not at Gene, though. She is a part of it, but I'm mad I can't break these damn bands. I don't care about ranking and power levels. I never want to be bound like this again.

Purple mana courses through my channels. I can sense my frustration pooling into it. I should probably stop. More and more, the mana becomes a part of me. Purple turns into a deep maroon color. In my mind, I'm anywhere but here. I picture myself pulling the binding apart from the inside and outside. I will not be tied down.

Out of shadow, Gene blazes in a cold cloak of energy. Battered on the ground is Lana taking deep breaths. A deep gash on her cheeks spills blood. One hand holds onto the dagger stabbed into her belly. Light and shadow still clash while demons die in the aftermath. Still, some demons slip through and are almost upon the two.

"What is your problem?" Lana asks between breaths. She pulls the bloody dagger from her stomach and tosses it aside. In an instant, her stomach and cheek are healed. She wipes the remaining blood off her face. "I am here to help you."

"Finally, you drop the mask," says Gene. Lana rises to her feet and stares into Gene's empty eyes. Her breaths are calm and easy. Light and life bask around her. Her power is not that of a templar or sage but even greater. Like Gene, Lana is a mage. A barrier of light extends. The barrier hardens and blocks the closing demons from getting closer. A white gold sword is summoned in the cleric's hand.

"A mask your spider asked me to keep on, which I did out of respect for you and your people against my will and against my wishes."

"You can't take them." I think Gene says them. The children? The demons. None of this adds up. Lana is a mage and is bound to life and light? As the two square up again, my will and mana become one, and the shadow hold breaks. I'm free. Sort of. I'm still stuck in the shadows, but I'm no longer stuck in place. The two clash in full in a might of power that destroys landscapes. Our walls collapse. Lana's barrier cracks and shatters, pressured by the energy from within and without. Demons unlucky to be near disintegrate. More take their place.

Gene appears in her shadow realm, and I take the small window I have to grab onto her. She struggles in my grip, but my will solidifies my hold, if only for a moment. The pressure the mage is putting on me is surmounting.

"Gene," I call to her in a mild tone. And again a little firmer when she doesn't look at me. "Gene, It's OK." I grab her in my arms and hold her. I ease my grip but continue to hold on. "It's OK, Gene. We're safe." Her breathing is sporadic, and she weakly tries to resist my grip. I almost let go but hold on longer when she crumples into me.

"I can not do this. I can not hold it together. I can not let go, either. I'm unraveling. I sensed an ominous presence in that woman." Gene's breathing is short and sporadic. The words struggle to come out between each breath. Her body shakes uncontrollably. My heart aches for my friend.

Gene takes a deeper breath, trying to fight through her anxiety. She tries to speak again, stumbling on her words. I want to tell her she can just rest. Gene pushes through. "I… kn-knew she was… hiding her power. And I know she has ulterior motives, but Annette will not reveal them. When the dungeon went down, I sensed the spiders vanish as well. Then the demons came, and Lana was at their lead. I thought the worst, and she is too strong not to confront. Now we are exposed, and I feel weak and tired. I let my fears bring us despair."

Fighting alone against an army of demons is Lana, who stands before the broken walls. Her immense power repels the demons repeatedly. A heavenly tune with a peaceful beat hums in the air. Life, like fire, burns the enemies. With each death, Lana's light grows brighter. Still amid the demons are seven of her clones, who all equally destroy the opposition. Instead of retreating, the demons continue to surge forward, driven to their deaths by the allure of power. Lana is a fire that can't be snuffed out in a sea of monsters. The sea doesn't care.