Animalistic screeches erupt as rage consumes all. The desperate battle, once one-sided, has mutated into pure bedlam with the tipped scales of madness. The cemented lines of alliance and family crumble away as the salamanders tear into each other, Satyr spears stab fur.

I crawl towards a gulf of rocks, wedging myself between the tight formations when my ankle is grasped. Nails dig deep into my calf as I spin around to kick out at my assailant. The Satyr’s ruby eyes bore into me from within a terrifying mask of fury.

They too crawl across the ground having been skewered in the hamstring with a knife from their brother in arms.

I lash out, crushing his nose with my heel, but the madman holds on through the pain. I repeatedly kicked out again and again to no avail. Success finally dawns when a predator's tongue wrenches the Thorn away and into the darkness.

Pushing deeper into the tiny crevice, I watch with sickening guilt at the consequences of my Will. The pandemonium from a few droplets of my blood displays the evil of my chaotic powers, I promise myself that I would rather accept death than use that power ever again.

Mother’s motes swirl throughout the frenzy, displaying the gruesome uproar in dull shades of green. Painting the image with a hint of the divine, although it's Omnia’s chaos that reigns in this scene.

A lizard's flat frame jerks with the onset of death as Cane’s tusks crunch together. He stands an impassive sentinel at the entrance of the narrow tunnel, protecting the youngling by knocking any that get too close. With Uke watching over us, none of my enraging blood touched his leathery hide or the lad's fur.

However, as corpses fill the tomb's floor, surviving aggressors with crimson eyes make their way towards his huge mass. Spears, tongues and claws are leaving their signatures upon his pink sides, and though the parchment of his health runs long, he will run out of space eventually. I spot a discarded blade and snatch it up as I charge towards my flock.

The garrison's heavyset Captain blocks my way, stamping a congealed mess that was once Aili. He snaps at my approach, a layer of thick red matted through his fur like a Satyric version of Ares. Rubbing blood along my sword, my Searing Blade shimmers a crimson glow in his wet coat.

I must strike swiftly and true before his fury overwhelms me.

“Hurry! I see an opening!” He screams out, pointing with a spear behind me.

Holy Mother, I thought he was bewitched.

The Captain eyes my blade for a leaf fall before shoving me aside and lunging at a charging Salamander that leaks blood from its severed tongue.

His spear impales the creature but fails to slow its berserk rush as it tramples him into the glistening floor.

Finding my footing, I turn and slash out in aid, halving the creature across its torso. Semi cauterised from my cooling sword, intestines and organs spew out onto the trapped Captain. His legs kick out in futile attempts to free himself.

“Cane, help me!” I command. Praying the kid is smart enough to follow.

Careening towards us, he gobbles limbs and chunks of people.

Strange time to eat I wonder

Together we shift the dead weight off the Satyr. As I make contact with its smooth scales, a flash of ebony light imbibes into my hand.

Angler / Tetany Spirit collected

Loot added to inventory:

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Nox windpipe

Tetanic venom sac

Nox leather

Angler tail

Ignoring the runes, I help the Captain up as he wipes the vile innards off his face. The shock of the Reapers' scythe narrowly taking his life shows in his eyes, but his body spoke of hysteria as the Satyr shoulders past me. Weaponless, he bolts for the exit.

I grab the boy under my arm and follow suit.

The floor is slick with fluids and body parts, no surface goes unsoiled, as if a train had collided with a crowd. We push on as the salamanders bite and rip into each other, passing under waterfalls of blood as the battle continues on the tunnel's ceiling.

Flight overcame my sense of fear, fleeing my life goal. If it meant sacrificing the child so I could see the sun and sky again, I would. For in these Depths of darkness, when survival balances on a rotting branch, any excess weight must be sliced off.

The skinny boy under my arm is slowing me down, I see the Captain outpacing us.

I shake the terrible thoughts away, albeit they’re selfishly wise, and clutch the child tightly to my side.

The heavy breaths of Cane are near as he lopes beside me, I sneak a glance and see his wounds look surprisingly petty.

“Fall back behind me.” I command.

He can take the hits better than most, their venom is dulled by his hide, I tell myself.

A scraping and clattering of loose stones signals a stalker gives chase along the ceiling. I focus on the hooves of the Thorns leader, barely within the edges of our only light source, Honey. As my loping gait twists my body, the vambrace that the slug sits upon, shifts and turns.

Panning the yellow glow in front and behind periodically obscuring our vision like a strobe light.

In a brief window of frontal darkness, the Satyr trips and tumbles.

We pass him in a leaf fall, and I purposely look away from the excess weight, blocking out his cries for help.

For I wish to feel the warmth of the sun and bask in the endless sky as the wind caresses my skin. If our anabasis from hell demands an exit price, then I’m willing to pay.

Through endless tombs of stone and root we trek, my heart hammers with burden long after the sounds of scuttling creatures seize. Trickles of relief flow as my feet splash in the small stream, it crisscrosses the centre of the tunnel, acting as a milestone.

“I hear it.” I yell aloud.

The gushing cascade rings ahead, the waterfall.

It pumps energy into my soul like never before, we bank right through the baltic waters without missing a step.

Then my hope dies, as on the other side is only darkness to greet us.

There should be sunlight at the end of the tunnel. Did we take a wrong turn?

Fatigue stiffens and cramps my legs, I lean and collapse against the wall. Dropping the child as defeat takes hold.

I’m sure the waterfall was at the entrance, I repeat to myself.

The boy stands up and persistently tugs on my arm, I push him away feeling too tired to move. He lets go and walks away, I don’t care anymore, rut the prophecy and the mukky shepherd position.

If it means delving into hell for suicidal fawns and golden seeds, then I’ll pass. Mother can find a new champion or do it herself.

His tiny steps grow faint as my breathing slowly returns to normal, Cane stands guard facing the waterfall. At least we made it out together, I would be truly lost if anything happened to him, my pink boulder keeps me grounded as I ponder our choices.

I reach out and pat his rump.

“You’re the best companion I could have asked for, big guy. Thanks for watching our backs.” The contact elicits runes in my vision.

Hippo Cane Tamed

Status: Minor injury,

Carrion regenerating

That explains it, the ability I transferred to him has healed the damage, no wonder he keenly gobbled down meat during our retreat.

“You’re smarter than I give you credit for.” I comfort in his presence.

Now I need to get us out of this hellhole before those devils gain their wits back, I wonder how long the Enraging Mist lasts?

I hear those tiny footsteps returning, I’m surprised he spent so long in the dark after everything that’s happened to him. He’s a brave little trooper.

The youngling appears in Honey’s glow, clutching an odd shape in his hand that he presents to me and points back the way he’d come.

A fern leaf.

“This is the exit?” I ask the stupid question.

He simply nods and helps haul me up

“You rutting hero, let’s go.”

We walk down the final stretch of meandering passages, the sound of the falling water mockingly follows us, and doubt gnaws away as the darkness continues until a sharp bend offers a wave of nostalgic smells.

Fresh rain pours beyond the Depths entrance, the night sky dense with thick clouds and Silva’s trees.

I drop to my knees in the wet mud, sobbing with relief.