Seth covered his ears. He felt the demons crisps words carve themselves on the inside of his skull. He stumbled in the narrow space. He propped himself against the wall, willing his breakfast to remain in his stomach. His injured arm raked across the cold solid stone. The shock of pain painted his vision, ripping him from the chorus of demonic calls.

His mind quieted, replaced by the soul fueled song of Astral's scythe. He had heard the melody before, in a place between the physical world and the dream world. If the twilight had a sound...

He watched her teenage form against the brilliance of the shield as abominations rushed at her, slamming themselves into the ward with a viciousness reserved for pure hate. The Astral's core wrapped its arms around the teenage girl, guiding her hands down the staff altering the song of the dead. The delicate smattering of chimes changed to long calls, like a finger stroking the tops of glasses. She whispered to girl with love and patients.

"They're stuck behind the shield!" Seth shouted over the torrent of growls and screeches. "Maybe they're reacting to your weapon!"

The shadow woman barely cast a glance over her shoulder. Was that a smirk? A glimmer of recognition? The shadow assumed control, standing in the teenage girl's place as though she had been the one with the scythe in her gasp.

Taller than her teenage counter-part, the shadow woman had become a solid entity. He felt as though Astral had shed her skin, that the cold arrogant girl was a human shaped suit. Long shadow wisps for hair danced around the woman, not unlike the silky strands that Astral bore. Her armor moved with her and around her like a living organic entity, hardened by time and refined with experience, reshaping itself on a whim while anticipating the Hunter's needs. It shunned all light.

The woman broke the scythe in two, unleashing the stored energy in a brilliant flash. Seth looked away as light swallowed the narrow tunnels, reaching down its' winding depths and pulling the darkness into the shadow woman; Astral's core.

Silence.

The moment lingered in eternity. Why was this emptiness familiar? Tears wet his eyes as grief welled up. They failed again.

The light pulled him back into the present, drawing him toward the source of the vortex, toward Astral's core. One laboured step at a time, he moved deeper into the light.

Tricking Astral into breaching the shields was one thing, but what were the consequences in manipulating Astral's dormant power. He could see why she attributed her survival to her core. But why had this entity anchored itself to a child? Was her desire to live stronger than those who died during the disaster? Were her intentions just the right flavour to draw the attention of this lingering power? Whatever it was, he couldn't count on the same set of circumstances to work in his favour. He had to take control of his own fate. He'd deal with the consequences later.

"Break the shields! I need this!" Seth roared at the shadow. Maybe, just maybe, the power that possessed his friend was okay with unleashing a little hell. Once the shields fell, the games could return to their original design in training combatants for the war ahead. It's the training he needed. It was the training they all needed. As soon as the threat level was acknowledged the weaker candidates would drop their position like it had gone out of fashion, leaving room for the desperate souls who would have to face the reaper on the killing fields.

A grin spread across his face. He was right about Astral's weapon being able to act as a focusing tool. It was a risk to assume that she would bring her weapon into the games, riskier still to assume it wouldn't get flagged and the girl banned from participating. He had tried on a few occasions to activate her weapon, but each time it remained dormant in his hands.

"Issue the order," the girl and shadow commanded in unison. Weapons in hand, and arms spread wide, the woman unleashed a barrage of spectral blades into the space beyond the shields. The light pursued the energy, leaving Seth and the Hunter to adjust to the new darkness. The crackling of the barrier promised pain to any who dared get too close.

The core released its hold over the teenage girl who slumped against the wall. He rushed to her side only to be pushed away. "We've got to run," Astral panted and pushed herself back to her feet and took a few steps.

The shield grew bright as energy arcs lunged across it. "Seth, run and don't look back."

The shield was on the verge of breaking. He had won. He had tricked the oh-so-clever demon hunter into serving as his pawn. He pushed the twinge of guilt from his mind. She was a means to an end, just like he was to her. He had no doubt that she had every intention of shutting down their training after he had shown her the hidden access route. He knew he couldn't postpone the inevitable forever.

Pawn or not, he wouldn't leave her behind. He was her friend. A better friend than William, at least; but that wasn't exactly setting the bar high.

She shoved him down the path. He glanced at the energy whipping at the tunnel. "GET A MOVE ON!" Astral roared and struck him in the shins with the shaft of her reassembled scythe. He wanted to argue. He wanted to give her the lead. But the objective was survival. For better or for worse, he wanted to survive to see the effects of unleashing the ghost onto the games.

He ran with Astral following close behind. The narrow passage was impossible to fight in. He was curious to see what the young hunter would manage, how she would use her environment to her advantage.

He couldn't tell how far they had run. He was sure that the tunnels should have split off ages ago. His lung had long since given up on taking in air, and left him in a state between sucking in dust and blowing out smoke. He ran on while his fingers guided his way against the stone.

He couldn't hear Astral behind him. Not a sound. No running footsteps. No metallic scratching of metal on stone from a blade too long to manage in the narrow confines of their soon to be grave. Yet, there was no sound of demons pursuing them. He slowed and Astral collided into him as an explosion launched them into darkness.

His ears rang. He pulled himself to his feet and stumbled forward while resisting the need to look at the damage. He needed to stay focused. He avoided looking at Astral. Instead he stumbled in the general direction he was meant to be heading as ordered. His groggy thought congratulated him on his impeccable timing in slowing down the only person that could stop the demon from reaching them before their escape.

The sky bridge couldn't be much further. Astral was on her feet, retreating into the tunnel to buy him time. He hoped he could get to the sky bridge and reach the opposite side in time to seal the trapped demons on the other side. It was a temporary solution, but based on what he knew of the Hunter's Curse, Astral would be compelled to eliminate the demons. He hoped that there was nothing she could do to disable the system. The Academy would want to keep its dark history a secret, political powers would deny that there was a problem at all. By the time, researchers and military found out, Seth would have gotten what he needed from the program.

He saw the static pulse of the hologram revealing the faded reality beyond. He slid to a stop in front of the flickering projection, hand hovering inches from the opening.

The call of savage demons was distant, but it was enough to tell him that the monsters had survived the initial blast. Astral couldn't be far behind.