“That looks a lot like you,” Anecoya said, nodding towards the looming statue.

“It’s an Eldritch Horror,” Zogrusz admitted. “We all seem to assemble ourselves differently, but the pieces are always similar.”

“Different, yet somehow all equally terrible,” the bird goddess murmured, shaking her head.

“Do you know what this means?” Rhas asked before he could respond. “These snake-people are in danger, just like the humans of my world. A Sower has clearly been here and prepared the way for a Reaper.”

“The Sower might still be here,” Zogrusz said, looking around as if he expected to see an Eldritch Horror in its true form peeking at them from behind the trees. “I don’t think my kind leaves until a Reaper arrives.”

“All the more reason to grab this kid and get out,” Anecoya said. “The Wanderer said you’re different, yes? Other Horrors have most likely been shaped into beings with far less . . . compassion. And this probably won’t look too kindly on us meddling in this place, especially if it’s in the process of serving these creatures up on a platter.”

Anecoya began to walk towards the singing child, whose attention was still absorbed by the chunk of black crystal she held. Zogrusz followed, unnerved by the thought that another Eldritch Horror was quite possibly somewhere on this moon with them. Wouldn’t he sense it?

“Where is this Sower?” Zogrusz muttered to himself.

“Forget the Sower, where is the overmind for these snake-men?” Rhas answered. “I can still hear the idiot ramblings of the fungus on the surface, but nothing down here. It’s like it’s hiding . . .”

The girl broke off her singing when she noticed Anecoya approaching, her eyes widening in excitement. “Hi! Oh wow, who are you? I’m Qala. You’re so beautiful! And your hair is so red! Can I touch it? Is it hot?”

“Uh, hello,” Anecoya said, momentarily unbalanced by the avalanche of questions. “I’m Anecoya. And this is Rhas. The ugly one is Zogrusz.”

“He’s not ugly!” Qala said, squinting at him as he came up beside Anecoya. He felt a presence slipping through his mind like the wind, and the ease with which the girl rifled through his thoughts was disturbing. She had tremendous mental strength, unlike anything he had encountered before. “Oh wait, yes he is,” she finally said. Her eyes lit up again as she shifted her attention to the cat on Zogrusz’s shoulder, and her legs swung so hard in excitement she kicked the stone of the statue’s plinth with her heels. “And a cat! Well, not really a cat. But I love cats! Can I pet you?”

“I . . . suppose,” Rhas said slowly, then cleared his throat. “But later. Qala, I think you’re the one we’re looking for. Are you the Wanderer’s ward?”

The child’s face instantly collapsed. “Ixia sent you to come get me?”

“Indeed,” Rhas replied gravely. “He worries for you.”

Qala huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “He’s not worried about me, he’s worried about his ‘great project.’ But he said I could stay down here until I found the Heart.” Her face suddenly brightened as she held up the chunk of black crystal proudly. “And I did find it!”

“Oh,” Rhas said. “Then . . . you can leave this place?”

Qala chewed on her lip, her expression turning evasive. “I could . . . I suppose, but I made a promise to S’skesspa . . .”

“Whoever that is, he’s not important,” Anecoya said curtly, stepping closer to loom over the child, her hands on her hips. “We don’t have time for games – gah!” She reeled back, raising her hand like she meant to summon her fire sword. One of the snake-men had appeared beside her, silently materializing into existence. Surprised, Zogrusz came within a heartbeat of shifting into his true form, but stopped himself when he saw that the creature was not making any threatening moves, instead simply watching them with its eyes of glittering obsidian. It was taller than the snake-men they had seen previously, and unlike the others it had a great hood flared around its head, very similar to some of the serpents on Rhas’s world. Its robes were more elaborate as well, a deep crimson trimmed with black, which matched the black patterning on its red scales.

“S’skesspa, I presume,” Rhas said.

The snake-man did not reply, continuing to study them impassively, its forked tongue flickering.

Qala clapped her hands together happily. “Oh! You look much better than before!”

Cold reptilian eyes swung from them to the grinning child. “These ones are who, Soulfisher?” he said, his voice soft and sibilant.

Qala blew out her cheeks and rolled her eyes. “They’ve come to fetch me, S’skesspa. I’m so sorry, I told you I couldn’t stay forever.”

The snake-man’s expression did not change, but his tail began lashing back and forth in agitation. “So soon? On our scales your light is a balm. Convince you to stay, how can we?”

Qala slid from the plinth, her expression sorrowful. “I’ll come back and visit when I can, I promise!”

Rhas’s voice bloomed in Zogrusz’s mind.

Zogrusz asked, his gaze returning to the statue of the Eldritch Horror.

a new, cheerful voice piped up, startling them both.

“This one,” S’skesspa said suddenly, drawing their attention from the mind-bridge. He was peering at Zogrusz through slitted eyes, his hood spread even wider. The changed posture suggested aggression, and Zogrusz took an instinctive step back. “It smells . . . familiar.” The snake-man’s tongue slipped from its mouth again, but this time it remained extended, shivering as it tasted the air. Suddenly S’skesspa recoiled, hissing in alarm. “It does! The Betrayer’s stench clings!”

The radiance from above suddenly dimmed, plunging the park into twilight. The darkness was fleeting, as a moment later the light swelled again, but this time it was harsher, making the pale trunks of the trees around them gleam like shards of bone and rendering the crimson leaves black as crusted blood. A tremor shook the ground, and Rhas had to tighten his claws to keep from losing his grip on Zogrusz’s shoulder.

“Calm!” the cat cried as the snake-man overmind began to tremble violently. “We come in peace!”

“No peace!” S’skesspa hissed, baring long curving fangs. “Keep away, you could not? This carcass you have come to pick over?”

Zogrusz was certain the snake-man was screeching at him, and he drew himself up. “I haven’t done anything to you or your world,” he said indignantly.

The snake-man ignored his protestations. “Betrayer!” it cried again, pointing a clawed red finger at him. “Show yourself!”

A wave of mental force washed over Zogrusz, making him stagger. He felt barbed psychic hooks slip beneath his man-cloak, and before he could steady himself the world-mind yanked hard, his disguise sliding away.

Rhas yelped in surprise as the soft flesh he crouched on was replaced by sharp scales and hard leathery skin. Behind him, he heard the whoosh of flames igniting as Anecoya summoned her fiery blade. Strangely, Qala’s expression was now one of intense but distracted concentration, as if she was straining hard to keep her focus on something else entirely.

Reality flickered.

It was only a moment, but during that brief fracture in time their surroundings changed. Gone were the trees and the flowers, though Zogrusz thought he glimpsed a few fossilized stumps. The statue of the Eldritch Horror beseeching the heavens also vanished, though shattered pieces of its plinth remained, including one with a few clawed toes clutching at stone.

Then the park returned, just as alive and vibrant as before.

The hooded snake-man was nearly thrashing now, tossing his head back and forth, his stunted arms clawing at his face.

“Rhas . . .” Anecoya said nervously, raising her sword so that it formed a crackling barrier between them and the clearly deteriorating world-mind.

Their surroundings shifted again, this time for a heartbeat longer. Zogrusz noticed that the iridescent stones sunk into the pathways were still there, but dulled by time. He raised his head to look at the great city looming over the park and surprise washed through him. Most of the hive-like buildings had collapsed in on themselves, the graceful archways that had webbed the city sundered. The silver domes had been cracked open like eggs, reduced to jagged fragments, and the tamed vegetation that had once draped the city was gone. In that brief moment, Zogrusz saw no movement, nothing to suggest that anything still inhabited these ruins.

Then the dead city was replaced again by its still-living twin.

“S’skesspa!” cried Qala, lines of tension etching her young face. “You must stop! I’m losing the thread! I can’t . . . hold . . . on . . .”

Abruptly the snake-man world mind stopped his convulsions, focusing on them with a frightening intensity. Bloody tracks marred his face where he’d scratched his scales, and he thrust a red-smeared claw at Zogrusz.

“You we trusted! Finally, Betrayer, our revenge arrives!”

Qala cried out, collapsing to her knees. The chunk of black crystal tumbled to the ground, and as soon as it slipped from her fingers the verdant park disappeared and the crumbled devastation rushed in to take its place. Zogrusz looked around wildly, but this time the ruin did not quickly melt away – it seemed here to stay, and even S’skesspa had vanished, leaving them alone. The silence was unnerving, as the hum of insects and the trilling of birds that had a moment ago filled the park had suddenly ceased.

Qala was hunched on the ground, swaying and clutching at her head. Zogrusz went to kneel beside her, hooking a long claw gently under her arm to keep her from collapsing. She looked up at him, and to his surprise, she didn’t flinch from his true-form’s visage.

“What is happening?” Rhas asked, and Qala shifted her attention to the cat on Zogrusz’s shoulder.

“I lost my grip,” she said dully, her voice sounding drained. She glanced at the black crystal lying beside her. “But not all of him returned to the Heart. A part of him escaped. The worst part, the angry part . . .” Qala took a deep breath, steadying herself. Then she scooped up the crystal, running a finger along an ink-dark facet. “But it’s all right, I don’t think he can hurt us.”

The world spasmed, and a ridge of rock burst through the ground, obliterating what remained of the statue’s base. Anecoya cried out as fragments of stone pelted her. In the distant city, one of the few spires still upright buckled and collapsed. Chunks of stone were falling about them like hail as dust sifted down from above.

“Or maybe he can!” Qala cried, her eyes wide. “We gotta get out of here!”

“Over there!” Anecoya cried, and Zogrusz turned to see a half-dozen snake-men slithering towards them . . . or at least what once had been snake-men, as they had been reduced to nothing but bones and a few scraps of withered flesh. Ancient jaws unhinged to display yellowed fangs, the cracked and broken claws at the end of their stunted arms straining towards them.

Zogrusz positioned himself between the dead snake-men and Qala, unsheathing his own claws. Anecoya did not wait for them to arrive, rushing forward with her burning sword upraised, but the snake-men showed no fear of the flames and lunged to meet her charge. Her sword struck a skull and it exploded into fragments of charred bone, but the other dead snake-men closed around her with mouths snapping. Anecoya cried out, sweeping her sword in a broad arc to try and drive the creatures back.

“I’ll stay with the girl, you go help Annie!” Rhas yelled, and then leaped gracefully down from Zogrusz’s shoulder.

It was the presence of the cat that had been forcing him to hesitate, and now unburdened by the worldmind he rushed forward. The snake-men were single-minded in their desire to tear Anecoya apart, and they didn’t even turn around when he closed a taloned hand around a spine and hurled the snake-man through the air. He brought a fist down on a skull, crushing it, then ripped apart another of the dead creatures, scattering its vertebrae everywhere. Anecoya severed the last snake-man in half, then kicked away its upper body when its arms tried to pull the rest of it close enough to bite her leg. Her lip curled in revulsion as she surveyed the dismembered creatures . . . many of which were still moving feebly.

“More are coming!” Rhas cried, and Zogrusz looked around until he saw movement in the distance, a line of black squirming closer. With the park’s trees gone, he could see quite a distance, and though the dead snake-men were far away he knew they were rushing in this direction as fast as their bony bodies could slither.

“Back to the tunnel!” Zogrusz cried, and then staggered as the ground heaved and shuddered.

Something massive emerged from below in an eruption of stone, sending them all tumbling. Zogrusz scrambled back to his feet, peering at the enormous shape looming within the haze. He heard coughing behind him and glanced back to see Anecoya helping Qala to her feet. Both of them were coated in dust, and a very miserable-looking Rhas was hunkered at their feet, the yellow-white fur of the cat now moon-colored in truth, gray as lunar regolith.

The shadow recessed in the cloud of dust swelled larger.

“Anecoya!” Zogrusz bellowed over the rumbling. “Get them to safety!”

“I want to fight!” she shouted back, but he ignored her and began to run towards whatever was approaching. He heard her splutter angrily behind him, then felt a great rush of heat as she assumed her bird-form.

Good – they could fly back to the tunnel entrance in no time.

As for him . . . he wanted answers.

Zogrusz unclenched the fist of control he kept over his shape. Immediately his body began to swell, and in moments he had grown to the natural limits of his true-form, the stony stumps of the trees that had once filled the park nothing except a faint prickle on the underside of his massive feet. He bared scythe-like claws and set himself as the great shape surged closer.

Then the haze dissipated and he saw it clearly for the first time: a massive serpentine skull wending its way through the shattered park, a faint red light recessed deep within its eye-sockets. If the skeletal snake lifted its front body from the ground it would tower over Zogrusz, even in his true-form, but so long as its head remained on the ground it barely came up to his knees. Still, its length was unsettling.

“BETRAYER!”

The monster’s mouth had not opened, but Zogrusz knew it had spoken. And he could sense a familiar presence behind that voice . . .

“S’skesspa!” he shouted back as the snake slithered closer. “Let us talk! I know nothing of what happened here –”

His protestations did not slow the monster in the slightest. It lunged at him with jaws wide, revealing rows and rows of jagged teeth. Zogrusz caught the snake by its neck just before it could latch onto him, and the mouth snapped in frustration, straining to be free. Focused on keeping the skeletal giant from biting him, Zogrusz didn’t notice what the rest of the monster’s body was doing until he felt its bony coils begin to wrap his legs. He swayed, barely able to keep himself upright, for he knew that if he fell, the snake would twine itself around the rest of his body and attempt to crush him. He needed his hands to pull the snake away, but they were busy keeping the monster from sinking its fangs into his flesh.

Apparently, the world spirit did not wish to talk.

Zogrusz gritted his teeth as the sharp snake-vertebra pressed against his legs and midsection. He stared into the depths of the monster’s eyes at the faint red glimmering and could feel the waves of anger crashing against him. Madness as well. The mind of the creature he was locked in a struggle with was a rotting mess, barely bound together by its festering hatred for the one it had called the Betrayer. One who had looked very much like Zogrusz . . .

His arms were trembling. The snake was only bones but it certainly felt like it was still sheathed in muscle. He honestly wasn’t sure how long he could keep its teeth at a distance or his legs from collapsing under the relentless pressure of its constricting coils. In desperation, Zogrusz unleashed his psychic blast, but unsurprisingly it washed over the undead monster with no apparent effect. White spots were beginning to pulse in his vision, and as if it knew he was weakening the skeletal serpent redoubled its efforts.

Heat washed over Zogrusz and he gasped in relief as the snake suddenly loosened its strangling grip. Burning wings battered the monster and Anecoya’s flashing beak struck its skull again and again – it did not break under the onslaught, but chips of bone went flying. Zogrusz used this reprieve to wrest himself free of the snake, and with a tremendous effort heave it away from him. S’skesspa landed on its back, raising another great plume of dust, and began to thrash madly in an attempt to flip itself over.

Anecoya cried, her voice echoing in his mind.

Zogrusz fought through his dizziness and the sharp pain where the snake’s bones had dug into his flesh, lunging at the fire bird as he folded his true-form into a smaller shape. He landed on Anecoya’s back, clinging desperately to her blazing feathers as she lifted into the air. A horrific shrieking from below made him turn his head just in time to see the great serpent leap after them, its bony jaws clacking shut frighteningly close to the phoenix’s talons.

Anecoya’s wings beat the air furiously as they flew higher and higher. From this vantage Zogrusz could see the true devastation of the city – it looked like it had been nothing but a shattered ruin for a long, long time. He could only take the briefest of glimpses before glancing down again, as the skeletal snake was surging after them, carving a furrow through what remained of the park. Its speed was impressive, nearly keeping pace with Anecoya as she flew, and by the time they arrived at the tunnel entrance up on the wall they were barely ahead of the deranged world-mind. She alighted on the balcony in front of Rhas and Qala, then shifted into her human form as soon as Zogrusz slipped from her back.

“Come on!” she cried, immediately dashing for the passage that led back to the surface. Zogrusz followed her, scooping up Qala and the cat just as another tremor shook the underground city. Cracks spiderwebbed the gray stone of the balcony, but luckily it did not break apart before they threw themselves into the tunnel. A monstrous bellow washed over them, and Zogrusz turned to see the massive skull of the serpent rise up from below, the crimson light sunk in its abyssal eye-sockets blazing like flames in the void. He put his head down and fled deeper into the passage until a terrified gasp from the child he held made him twist around. The snake was trying to wriggle its way in after them, but its skull was too large and the attempt was causing the frame of the entrance to buckle. Another terrible shriek came from the monster, but it was drowned out by the sound of the ceiling collapsing. When the dust settled, the way back to the city was completely blocked.

They hurried a ways deeper, far enough that Zogrusz thought this section of the tunnel was still stable, and then turned around. The rock pile was shuddering as the maddened world mind raged on the other side, its muffled screeching filtering through the barrier.

For a long moment, none of them could muster the energy to say anything.

Finally, Qala broke the silence. “Wow, that was exciting!” cried the golden-haired girl, and then put her hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle a giggle.