The journey through the cave proved to be an epic series of winding tunnels and caverns. I’d never traveled through a cave, but I knew what a man-made tunnel looked like when I saw it. Corners had been sanded, the ground was smooth—well, smooth for a cave, anyway. Any of the “natural cavern” details that I’d expected were missing. For at least the last few minutes, we had yet to come across anything jagged or pointy, sudden drops in elevation, holes in the floor—maybe I was expecting a dungeon, but this wasn’t it.

From time to time, we’d catch a stray unlit lantern hanging from an old iron hook wedged into the wall. We went through the trouble to check them, but I didn’t know what I expected to find. Each lantern had been exhausted of its fuel. And, judging from the light film of dust and stains, I had to assume it’d been years.

No matter which way you looked at it, this place was deserted. And yet, the hairs on my skin ceaselessly stood on end. I rubbed at my bicep, hoping it was just an effect of the cold. The goosebumps would disappear briefly, then reappear seconds later. Latent anxiety slithered beneath my skin, and my breathing felt labored.

Is this what claustrophobia feels like?

Another room to our left appeared. I peered around the corner with caution, holding the axe out to light my way. Inside was an old cot—years old by the looks of it—a couple of utensils splayed out on the floor and a rickety-looking table with two lanterns turned over on their sides.

“Nothing in here. Let’s move on,” I suggested. As I withdrew my weapon to turn my attention back to the hallway ahead of me, the light upon the blade began to flicker. “Ah, Cannoli. Mind helping me out?”

Cannoli’s pitter-patter of feet quickly approached. She came to my side, her eyes wide and her lips a flat line across her face. She held out both of her hands and spoke, “[Illuminate].”

The glow returned in full force, dare I say, a bit brighter than before, and I forced a smile. “Thanks, Cannoli.”

“Mhm.”

You really worry me.

Tristan and the girls had grown awfully quiet, though Keke and Ara seemed the only ones clammed up for pragmatic reasons. Keke carried a furrowed brow the entire time, her ears twitching every so often at the slightest sound, the slightest movement. To her credit, Ara was just as attentive, never once leaving Tristan’s side, a dagger held in each hand for the moment an attack would spring. They both seemed to be in their element.

“Ravyn—”

“Eep!” she squealed, squeezing her hands tighter around Ball Gag.

Ball Gag gasped, and a series of chokes, groans, and swallows followed suit from the poor parrot.

“Wh-what?” she yelled in the quietest tone she could muster.

I blinked. No way. “I, uh, just wanted to hear what you thought.”

“About what?” she snapped back.

I scratched the back of my neck. Ravyn had caught not just my attention but all of the girls’ as well. “You mentioned dark magic before. Any idea what kind?”

She frowned, and her face grew as red as her hair. “This place reeks like that stank-ass hoe.”

So, I’m assuming… “Yomi?”

Ravyn gave a short nod. “Yeah.”

“So we’re dealing with a [Dark Priest] then?”

“[Dark Priests] can’t raise the dead,” Ravyn replied. “Besides, there’s too fucking many undead outside for one catgirl to manage.”

I tried again. “Then it’s a Defiled, right? Creating the zombies?”

“Not necessarily,” Ara said. “There is a small possibility that it could be the effects of an incredibly potent [Necromancer].”

“Doubt it,” said Keke. “You’d be hanged or get your head chopped off by the queen if she ever heard about that.”

“If,” Ara repeated. “No queen has, to my knowledge, ever visited Anyona, or Shi Island for that matter, in my lifetime.” Ara’s grip tightened around the dagger in her hand. “Much too busy, I am certain.”

Ravyn loosened her grasp around Ball Gag, and he desperately gasped for air. Which, might I add, sounded a lot like one of those inflatable camping mattresses. Hated those things. “Something darker than Yomi. Much, much darker.” Ravyn’s eyes widened, and she tightened her grip around Ball Gag again. “Fuck, it’s damn near suffocating.”

I think Ball feels the same way. I frowned and turned to Cannoli. “Do you feel anything?”

Cannoli shook her head. “No.”

A little odd, being an [Acolyte]. Shouldn’t you be clutching your cross any second now? Maybe some holy water? A little Hydro Storm?

“Guess we keep going,” I relented.

“Down there?” Ravyn hissed, aghast.

I looked past Ravyn, down the path we just came, then turned to the literal only other path we could possibly follow and pointed in that direction. “Where else? This is the only way.”

“I-I know that,” she stammered.

Okay, something’s up with her.

I sighed. “Look, I’m at the front. I’ll stop anything from approaching us.” I gestured toward Ara. “A word?”

She pointed to herself with one of her knives, raising her brows like there was anyone else I could be pointing at, then performed a dainty jaunt over to stand in front of me.

I was surprised, as I’d expected her to stick her nose up again or throw some sort of protest. “Ara,” I whispered close to her ear, “keep an eye on Ravyn, too, please. Something’s up with her. She’s not usually like this.”

“This is a stressful situation,” Ara whispered back. “Her reaction is shared.”

I shook my head. “She’s usually the most level-headed. Something’s up.”

Ara raised a brow. “If you insist.” Bowing at the neck, Ara made her way back to Tristan’s side, though she was now in-between him and Ravyn. Ravyn glared, though she made no effort to stray from her.

Alright, good. Let’s see what else is down here.

The next half-hour was uneventful. We found the occasional extension from the main hallways. Some had old or rotten food stores, emptied potion bottles, bloodied bandages, or scrolls whose ink had been lost to time. In rare circumstances, we’d come upon a couple of old articles of clothing, wooden toys, or rusting pieces of jewelry. Moth-eaten holes bored through the cloth, and the threads were so weak that I nearly tore a shirt’s sleeve off when I picked it up.

Then something caught my attention—an old heart-shaped pendant with a picture inside. Photography was something I’d assumed didn’t exist in this world, and this seemed to cement the idea. Inside was a miniature painting of some undisclosed kittengirl. If the real thing looked anything like the photo, she was a beautiful little girl.

“Hey, Ravyn,” I said as I stood up. “Check this out.”

Ravyn had calmed down a little since we’d last talked. She shouldered past Ara, Tristan, and eventually Cannoli, then appeared before me. “What is it?”

“What do you make of this?” With the pendant resting in my palm, I held it out for her to see. “My earring didn’t go off, so I’m assuming it doesn’t have an Enchantment.”

“Baka. It could also mean the Enchantment is too powerful to be detected or stopped by normal means.” Ravyn narrowed in closer, tilting her head, squinting, and making all sorts of facial expressions. Did she even know how she felt about it? “Bad. Don’t touch it. Put it back.”

“If you say so.”

I snapped the pendant shut and set it back down on the floor where I found it. Maybe it was all in my head, but I swore I felt a strange pull toward the jewelry. When I turned back around, my breathing stopped. “What the?” Everyone was gone. My feet carried me outside of the room in a flash, and my fingers gripped the doorframe. I looked down one hall. Nothing. Down the other hall. Nothing. “What the fuck?” I muttered.

And then I heard something. Something horrible. Cannoli’s cries.

“Cannoli,” I hissed. I darted down the hall, following the sounds. It was getting closer with every step. My muscles tightened, and beads of sweat began to trickle down my face. The entire time I kept my axe held in front of me as my guiding light.

The noises grew damn near deafening. My legs forced me on the only path I knew. I stopped just short of dropping down a staircase to my death. “Fuck!” I licked at my dry lips and squinted in desperation. If I could just see what was down at the bottom…

Cannoli’s cries grew louder.

No, there was no time to think. She needed my help. In the most careful way I could manage, I bolted down the stairs toward the origin of the cries.

Cannoli, Keke, Ravyn, please be okay.

I reached the bottom, where candlelight poured through the expansive room. When I arrived, my axe dropped to the ground. There, pinned to three crosses, were Keke, Ravyn, and Ara. An array of sounds made their way out of my throat. I gasped and swallowed, unwilling to accept what I was seeing.

“No,” I managed to say quietly. “Not like this.”

Blood dripped into a collection of cups where their limbs were pinned. Each drop pounded in my head like a jackhammer. “No.” Keke’s face was rended to unrecognizable shreds. Ara’s was frozen in a fit of defiance. Ravyn’s, though…Ravyn’s was the worst. Her eyes were bloodshot from tears; her face stuck in perpetual terror. Her tongue had been cut out, and her throat gouged.

At the center of the room was Cannoli, sitting on her knees and sobbing. I ran to her and put my hand on her shoulder. “Cannoli! Are you okay?”

The crying stopped.

Cannoli sniffed and turned around to look at me. She blinked, then flashed a wicked smile. “Did you come to play?”

“What?” I pulled back and stumbled backward.

Cannoli rose to her feet and approached.

“Stay back!” I screamed.

The visage began to fade in streaks of violet smoke. A seductive smile played on her lips, her hips swaying from side to side. Bright blue eyes appeared in the fog. Knee-length hair painted in white. Pointed fingernails. Tattered clothes barely covered her flesh. She was there, and then—as if someone had hit fast forward—she was crawling over to me on her knees.

“I’ve never had a man,” Cannoli hissed, “you are so delicious to look at.” She reached out with a hand, her fingers brushing against the skin of my cheek. In a flash, she pulled one of her fingers back, drawing a bead of blood in the process. Lapping the sanguine hue from her nail, she smiled. “And more delicious to taste!”

Cannoli descended on me.

I screamed.

“Matt!” Ravyn yelled back, her hands on my shoulders.

I was breathing fast, and my heart pounded against my chest. It all felt so real, so…ephemeral. At some point, I’d fallen to the floor. I was resting on the palms of my hands, visibly leaning away from something. Looking ahead, I could see what it was now.

The pendant.

“Matt, are you okay?” Ravyn asked again.

“Matt?” Keke and Cannoli said in unison.

“Don’t touch it,” I whispered.

“Fucking cursed, is it?” Ravyn said as if she herself had been wronged. Her eyes lit up in a storm of fury. With her palm held forward, she bellowed, “[Fire Ball]!”

A furious blaze erupted from where the spell landed, scorching and melting the pendant on the spot. I watched with a sense of relief as the metal melted and the voracious flame ate away the portrait within. Perhaps it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I was sure I saw the horrifying image of a demon smiling at me before disappearing into the haze.