With my revelation came a measure of peace. I was going to die, but I could be proud of my life. I'd helped dozens of people who'd had no one else. I could be proud of that. But that didn't mean I wanted to die.

My brain started going back over my situation, like a motor sputtering and wheezing back to life. I had no weapons on me, and no real way to free myself from my bonds. I looked around and saw the box of explosives. I couldn't exactly blow up the ropes for obvious reasons. And I doubted I could angle a gun to shoot through the ropes. Besides, the ward circle might prevent me from leaving it. My aura was still out, that would be calling to Cheryl, making her come faster. Was there any point in veiling now, though? I didn't know how long I'd been unconscious, but I was sure that the monster had a bead on my location. I made a few awkward attempts to roll myself over. After a few attempts, I succeeded. Though I wanted to cry as I rolled across my back. The four massive tanks were at least 100 feet away from me, likely further. And I could see their inhabitants moving about. All of them stayed away from the glass.

There was something about that, something that my tired brain attempted to grab hold of but failed. What was it? There was something about the glass.

One second, I was looking at the glass, trying to make out what a particularly giant crab was doing. Then a massive form slammed down between me and the tanks, filling my vision.

Cheryl was an onyx black octopus, technically. I say technically because most octopus I had seen weren't the size of sixteen wheelers. I'd also never seen an octopus with crab legs. I say crab legs, but that didn't really do it justice. It wasn't like the thing had a couple of massive legs holding it up, that would be weird, but its actual legs were far more revolting. As Cheryl moved her tentacles about, I could see that their undersides were covered in thousands of chitinous legs. Each one roughly 6 inches long. I was sure there were other odd things about her appearance, but I didn't have time to take them in as the massive octopus turned and stared at me with an eye larger than a dinner plate. Shit. Cheryl started gliding towards me. Her thousands of legs letting her move with eerie grace. The motion was made all the more disturbing by the thunderous sound of chitin clacking against stone. She wasn't moving at a sprint, and her head was twisting around scanning for any threats. But she wasn't wasting time either. It was a strange feeling, staring your impending death in the face. It wasn't an unfamiliar one, not exactly. I had been in danger... More times than I cared to think about, but this was different somehow. Cheryl wasn't a ghost that I could try and overpower. She wasn't an angry spook; I could try and talk down. She was a clever, and implacable, monster that wanted me dead. The fact that she hadn't killed me earlier was almost pure luck, mixed with my knowledge of how predators worked. I knew normal octopuses were smart, and I had a feeling that Trenton was dumb enough to make a giant octopus smarter too.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As she closed the distance, I resigned myself to death. A few minutes ago, that would've meant giving up as well. But I was too stubborn just to take this lying down. I couldn't do anything to Cheryl, but if I burned my entire shroud, I might be able to blast past Trenton's defenses before I died. I might be able to destroy the soul cage, as well. Doing something like burning my entire shroud wasn't something I would ever consider unless I was about to die. It would permanently weaken me, setting me back a lifetime of growth. But if I was going to die anyway... I readied my power, taking a firm grip of my shroud.

I wish I hadn't been so arrogant. I should've called the Knull clan when I had the chance. If they knew the risks, they could send powerful mages to sweep through this place. But instead of calling them, I tried to do it all myself. It was habit, partially. I couldn't hand off problems with ghosts to someone else, but it had also been my fear. If I called them and one of them realized what I was, then my life would be over. But this wasn't just a problem with ghosts. And now I was going to die, and Trenton was going to keep killing, keep torturing. I didn't blink as Cheryl grew closer. She was utterly silent save for the sound of her legs. She blocked out my view, completely obscuring the glass tanks behind her.

The abused and under fueled engine that was my brain choked to a stop before roaring back to life. The glass tanks. The warded glass tanks! A slow smile spread across my face until I was grinning from ear to ear. I might not be able to save myself, but I could screw Trenton. Just as Cheryl reached the edge of the ward circle, I screamed. I didn't use my shroud. Instead, I did something I had almost never done before. I didn't just stop restricting my aura. I pushed it forward with all the desperate, terrified strength I could manage. It rolled out from me, a wave of green and purple magic that crashed over the room and kept going. Cheryl froze as it passed over her, and the second it did, I could tell there was something strange about her aside from her size.

A moment later, my aura crashed over the tanks and encountered the wards. They felt like thin plastic and resisted for a second before shattering under the weight of my aura. My power kept sweeping out through the building, spreading out through the walls. I made sure to push it in the direction of the other tanks I had passed, Trenton would have to deal with dozens of rampaging sea life. Once that was done, I stopped pushing, letting my aura drift back. I didn't bother to restrict it again and was surprised to find that it covered the entire room, from floor to ceiling. I was surprised, due to the risks involved, I had never tested how far I could push my aura. I could feel everyone in the room, and all of them were standing stock still. Then, with the sound of shattering glass, the world went mad.