Rael arrived in the dining room a few seconds after I did, followed by Eliandar and Irontooth. “The three of us will set out as soon as we have secured provisions and weapons for the trip. I figured you would ask me to assemble a team for the journey anyhow.” That was fast. Then again, Rael was not a novice to crisis. I looked at the three of them. “Good, be careful you three, there is no telling what you will run int on the way to Caelyn.” They nodded and after a quick set of goodbyes they headed for camp to pack provisions and get geared up.

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It only took us half an hour to prepare for the trip to Caelyn. Eliandar and Irontooth had gone to pack almost immediately, and I went to find Mordred so we could cut down on travel time. Taking the trip in utter darkness was not appealing, but it was too important to get the news to Caelyn and everyone else as quickly as possible. The good news was, we could get to Caelyn with the Recall spell, since we hadn’t done the ritual to place our recall area anywhere else. The downside was we would have to walk back since riding in these conditions would be suicide or just as slow as walking. Even when we were fleeing in the storm, we had some light to guide us from the near constant lightning. Now there was not a hint of light underneath the sky.

A knock on the small wooden wall separating my quarters from the rest of the camp pulled me and Mordred out of our discussion about the quickest way back. I looked over and saw Duplica and a small cloaked individual that reached me to about my chest. There was a grunt from it, as if this entire situation bored it. “Mistress asked me and Nicomphus here to accompany you on the trip and provide support should you need it.” I eyed the two of them for a moment. “Fair enough. I don’t mind having some extra backup for this.” Mordred nodded in agreement as he pulled a small pack onto his back. “That’s fine, though I hope you don’t mind teleporting, as we intend to Recall to Caelyn and walk back to cut travel time.” Nicomphus and Duplica shrugged in response. “Even if we minded, it wouldn’t matter. Mistress asked us to accompany you, so we do that. Our personal comfort is inconsequential to fulfilling her requests.” The deep and cold voice came, much to my surprise, from the small cloaked form of Nicomphus. Duplica nodded in agreement. “Besides, neither I nor Nicomphus have ever teleported, so we don’t really know how well we handle it. Though I suppose Nicomphus’ trip through the portal might count as teleportation.”

Mordred opened his mouth to respond when Eliandar and Irontooth showed up as well, both with their own packs and equipment ready. Irontooth eyed Duplica with curiosity, though a moment later he scowled down at Nicomphus. “You smell like blood.” There was a bitter chuckle from Nicomphus in response. “Afraid you gotta deal with it, Wolfie. We’re coming with you, Mistress’ orders.” Irontooth looked from him to Duplica. “Hmm, considering the stench of blood, you’re dangerous, so obviously I approve.” He grinned down at Nicomphus and stretched out a clawed hand. “Irontooth.” He stretched out his own hand and gripped Irontooth’s. “Nicomphus.” The two glared at each other for a while, as if they had a conversation only the two of them could understand.

We left the camp and headed for the chamber belonging to the Umbral spiders. Since Duplica and Nicomphus were coming with us, we needed to make a magic circle to include them in the spell and there simply was no space in camp. Eliandar looked at Duplica and Nicomphus. “So what skills do you have that made Pearl consider you an asset on this trip, if you don’t mind me asking?” Duplica looked at him, then Nicomphus, and then back at him. “As a Doppelganger I can pick up thoughts of nearby creatures, so we won’t walk into an ambush with me around. Aside from that I have picked up some levels in Scout thanks to the adventurer I mimicked when you were attacking the Dungeon.” She then looked at Nicomphus, who grunted rather than respond. “Common Nicomphus, you can tell, can’t you?” Duplica looked at him, and he finally answered. “If you need my skills, it will be obvious what I am. Until then, I prefer to keep quiet about it. Especially if our enemy can read minds.” Duplica just shook her head slowly, her disapproval clear. Nicomphus snorted. “Better safe than sorry, kiddo.” He said coldly. With that, he hopped onto a small rock and watched as Mordred and Eliandar prepared the magic circle.

It took about 15 minutes for the two of them to finish. Nicomphus had in the meantime pulled out a wicked-looking serrated dagger and was sharpening the thing using a whetstone. Duplica and Irontooth were discussing the ins and outs of certain forms of unarmed combat and I had gone through the route in my head for the 50th time. Mordred rose and motioned for us all to gather in the circle. “OK, we’re ready. Let’s get the show on the road, the faster we get this over with, the better.” We bunched up and Mordred started his cast. There was a flash of light, a sensation beneath my navel, of being yanked backwards. Then I landed on the floor of the guild, only to be knocked over as Duplica appeared in front of me and stumbled. Mordred and Irontooth fared better, though Eliandar almost fell over too, as Nicomphus hit him pretty hard in the stomach as he appeared.

Our sudden arrival caused quite a ruckus, and guild members, all too curious as to our sudden and unexpected arrival, quickly swarmed us. We certainly didn’t have time for this. “All of you move. We need to talk to the Guildmaster, now.” The receptionist snapped out of his gawking and quickly flipped through a notebook on the table. “The guildmaster isn’t in right now. They called her and every other noble and merchant in the city to discuss this strange phenomenon with the city Lord.” He responded after a few seconds. I nodded. “Even better, need to talk to him too. Where is this meeting?” The receptionist hesitated. “Only Nobles…” he began. Eliandar cut him short. “There is no need for you to tell us. I know where it is, common everyone.” The receptionist blinked in surprise as Eliandar led the way out of the guild and onto the street.

Mordred hurried up to Eliandar. “Are you certain about this, your father…” Eliandar shook his head. “I will cross that bridge later, as this is too important. Besides, I am just a bastard child and not his successor. Even if he tried to stop me, my life is my own, and I said as much to Father when I left the first time.” He sounded tense as he spoke, but continued on with a determined expression.

After about 5 minutes of hurried walking, we arrived at the Council hall. The guards outside immediately moved to bar our entry. Eliandar raised his hand and displayed the signet ring sitting upon it. “Move aside, we have important news.” The guards, after casting just a glance at the ring, stepped aside and bowed their heads in respect. Eliandar didn’t slow down as he walked past, and the rest of us hurried along to keep up. Soon after, we arrived at a large double door with another set of guards in front of it. Though they too moved aside when Eliandar showed the signet. As the doors opened, we could hear arguing inside. “I say we should mobilize the troops immediately, this is surely a sign of-” “And what good would it do to mobilize all the reserves for nothing? It’s just a waste of time and money, I say, a waste, we should wait and see.” a second voice interrupted. It sounded smug and quite calm, as if nothing was wrong.

The first voice, which I recognized as that of Yndali, spoke again, but fell silent when she noticed us. “Rael, Eliandar, what are you doing here?” she asked instead, genuinely surprised. The room fell quiet, and now everyone was eyeing our little group with interest. Eliandar spoke up, his voice clear and unafraid. “We are here per the request of Pearl, as she recognized what this fell darkness means.” The room erupted in hushed whispers, and the City Lord had to slam his gavel a few times to silence the crowd. He looked down at Eliandar, “Continue, boy.” Eliandar glared at him for a moment, before he did as requested. “According to Pearl, this darkness is the Prelude to Destruction and signals the imminent arrival of the Lord of the Void. From the moment the darkness fell, we had twenty-four hours before the Lord’s arrival.” The room erupted in screams and questions, and this time they drowned out the gavel. It took a magical explosion to silence the crowd this time. Then the calm, smug voice that had spoken up against Yndali took the word again. “A convenient story, boy, but do you honestly think the word of a beast and a commoner holds any weight? Speaking of, how did you even get into this room, where are the Guards?” His voice was dripping with contempt and self-importance.

Before anyone could respond to his words, there was a loud slam and the sound of splintered wood. The City Lord had risen from his seat with such force he had flung the table in front of him cleanly across the room and shattered it to splinters. His eyes were literally glowing as he glared at the fat Noble that had said the words. The noble himself, upon realizing this, suddenly became far less smug and comfortable. “Count Nerivim, that Beast, as you call her, is a valued ally of this city, whose contributions have saved countless lives already. Not only that, but it’s my son you are calling commoner, as if it was a derogatory term.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I feel this council will be better off without you in the future, Nerivim. Leave, before I decide on further sanction.” The City Lord’s voice was calm and low, but his expression showed that the former Count had made a catastrophic mistake. Nerivim himself turned as pale as Duplica, and he hurried out of the room as fast as his stubby legs could carry him. The City Lord turned his attention back to Eliandar. “Now, what was this about the Lord of the Void?”

About an hour later, we had explained the situation, leaving no detail behind. We had also emphasized the danger that the Void entities posed to one’s sanity and one’s perception of friend and foe. The rest of the nobles and merchants had listened with far more interest and far more seriously after what had happened to Nerivim. So, our explanation had been with no interruptions. The City Lord nodded slowly. “So we have less than 24 hours before their arrival. Hmm, it’s unfortunate that it would be this soon, but not entirely unexpected, I suppose. Thank you for informing us, you may go.”

Eliandar nodded and motioned for us to follow him, but paused as the City Lord spoke again. “And Eliandar, you have become a fine adventurer, keep up the excellent work.” Eliandar froze for a few moments, several emotions displaying on his face in rapid succession. “Thank you, Father.” he said finally, before he left the room in a hurry. Duplica hurried up to Eliandar’s side. “For what it’s worth, when he spoke just now, he was emanating an intense sense of pride, he meant every word and more.” Eliandar looked at her for a few moments, then nodded. “I know. Looks like I won’t have to worry about him wanting me to come back.” Eliandar replied. His voice was low, barely more than a whisper.

The trip back out of the city was uneventful. I took a quick stop to check on Erem’s sister. I had promised him to check in on her while we were packing. Much to my relief, she was doing far better because of the healing potions Pearl had given to Yndali. Erem would be happy to hear that. As we left the city, a chilly wind blew in from the east, bringing with it a hint of frost. Nicomphus pulled his cloak tighter around himself. “Unless we wish to sleep outside in the cold and pitch darkness, we should get moving.” As he said so, he sped up, forcing the rest of us to hurry to catch up with him before he became indistinguishable from the darkness itself.

It didn’t take long before we lost track of both time and direction. The ground was a featureless brownish grey flat in every direction with no landmarks. The city walls blocked any light from Caelyn, and the sky was just darkness. And yet, both Duplica and Nicomphus continued to lead us through the darkness unerringly and without worry. I could only surmise that they had some kind of sense of where “home” was. Then, after what felt like endless hours, Nicomphus stopped. “Get your weapons ready. There is something out there, something bloodthirsty.” The two pinpricks of red light that were his eyes darted back and forth. Duplica pulled out a bow and pulled back a bit, giving me space to take the lead. Nicomphus pulled to the side as well and pulled his knife. “Hey, Mage Man, when I give the signal, use the strongest light creating spell you know.” He looked at Mordred, who nodded in response. Eliandar knelt down on the ground and mumbled to himself. As he did, I could sense a slight tremor underneath my feet. “They are to our right about 40 ft away, three of them. They have the outline of wolves, but their shapes are wrong, twisted somehow.” Mordred opened his eyes. “Probably possessed by creatures from the Void. Treat them as sentient and clever opponents, just in case.” Irontooth looked around, then took a deep breath through his nose. “I smell something, can’t describe it, but it isn’t pleasant, whatever it is.” Eliandar flinched and a yelp of pain came from our right. “They are coming!” Eliandar yelled a few moments later.

A second later Duplica let loose with her bow, and she had to have scored a hit as there was a pained snarl from the darkness. Then we heard footsteps nearing quickly. “Mage Man!” The entire area suddenly burst into view as magical daylight exploded from Mordred’s staff. “Get them quickly, I can’t cast anything else while maintaining this!” He warned, as the sudden light stung our eyes. If we had taken the sudden light poorly, the monstrosities that had once been wolves took it even worse. They had far more eyes than we did, and they had been looking at Mordred when he fired the spell. Duplica took advantage of the situation by burying an arrow in the chest of the nearest wolf. It gave an angry growl, but seemed otherwise fine, not a good sign.

A moment later we learned all too well what Nicomphus was. He suddenly appeared on top of the same wolf and buried his dagger in the back of the beast’s skull. Shadewalk was a technique unique to Assassins and required shadows to be used. “So that’s why he wanted light.” I mumbled as I charged the 2nd wolf and struck it with my sword, scoring a wound that would have felled a regular wolf. Meanwhile, Nicomphus was clinging to his dagger for dare life as the impaled wolf was jumping around and tried to shake him off. “These things aren’t behaving like normal creatures, this one should be dead!” He commented dryly as he twisted his dagger free and flew away from the wolf, did a somersault, and landed on the ground. Just in time, too, as a stone spear burst from the ground and impaled the injured wolf. “We probably need to annihilate them completely to kill them.” Eliandar commented dryly. The Third wolf had tried to get near the two spell casters. But Duplica had pulled a rapier was keeping it at bay using an evasive fighting style I had never seen before. Irontooth was helping her, scoring several nasty hits with his clawed gauntlets. He dodged out of the way from the beast when it turned its focus on him. The two worked well together, even as Duplica cleanly punctured one of its many overgrown eyes. “Total annihilation isn’t my forte, so I must leave it to our mages. You have some way of creating large-scale destruction, right?” Just like Nicomphus, her voice was as calm as if she was talking about the weather.

Mordred grumbled. “I have a few but I will have to drop the light to cast them.” Eliandar forced the wolf Duplica was dealing with a few steps back by sending stone shards at it. “The only way for me to do that would be to open a giant fissure right here, which would likely take us with it as well. This is all on you, Mordred. I can get us some light, however. Though nowhere near daylight levels.” Mordred nodded once, and Eliandar reached down to the ground again. A few moments later, 4 huge glowing crystals shot up around him. “All yours, Mordred.” The daylight spell collapsed and dimmer light from the crystals took over, casting long, strange shadows into the darkness. The sudden shift in light seemed to embolden the wolf I was fighting as it lashed out with sudden ferocity that caught me off guard. Its attack never reached me. Nicomphus Shadewalked onto the wolf’s head as I cast my shadow over it and rammed his dagger through the snout, forcing its jaw shut.

We had to end this, fast. “Mordred, I will pull their aggro to me. You blast them with the strongest spell you got.” Mordred nodded. “Ready your best self-buffing and self-healing skills, this one will hurt.” I nodded grimly. “COME AND GET ME!” I roared, and as I did so, a red energy burst from my body. The three wolves immediately tunnel-visioned on me, the Taunt forcing the idea that they HAD to harm me and only me into their heads. The impaled wolf ripped itself loose from the spike, while the one that ad been fighting Duplica took several nasty hits as it turned around to attack me. There was a ripping sound as the wolf that Nicomphus had impaled ripped its mouth open, leaving a nasty wound that would have incapacitated a normal beast. As this was happening, I was busy popping every defensive skill I had. I knew what was coming, and Mordred’s words had been an understatement. Mordred’s chanting grew to a fever pitch and just in case I dropped my strongest skill, “Indomitable Guardian.” For the next three seconds, I wouldn't take damage.

Just in time, too. “Xirekhs Cataclysm” burst from Mordred’s staff, engulfing me and the wolves in random elemental energy that lit up the area far brighter than the Daylight spell. It continued past me, engulfing whatever it hit in elemental death. I slowly crawled towards the edge of the spell, but the going was slow. 3 seconds left. The wolves were not chasing me, but I could hear their anguished howls. 2 seconds, my hand reached the outside of the spell. 1 second, I would not make it, there was too much pressure from the magic.

A hand small brown hand grabbed mine and yanked with inhuman strength, and in the next moment I was on the ground next to Mordred. I looked up at the one who had dragged me out, Nicomphus. “Thanks.” He nodded once as he rose to his feet from where he had been lying next to me. “If that doesn’t kill em we have no choice but to run. I doubt anything we have can deal more damage than that. How long does it last anyhow, Mage Man?” He looked from the ongoing spell and over to Mordred, who shrugged. “For another minute or something like that. Let’s get as far away from it as possible, just in case.” The entire group, as one, hurried along, Nicomphus in the lead and Duplica and Irontooth in the back. As we walked, I silently thanked Pearl for having the foresight to send Nicomphus and Duplica with us. Without them, this would probably have ended far worse.

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As Medino entered my domain, I rose from my seat. His smile weakly, but it was a smile, could it mean? Before I could say anything, another shift happened, and I rushed over. I threw my arms around Inlas and gave her a crushing hug. After a few moments of hesitation, she returned it. “I am glad to see you awake, Sister. How are you, any lingering ails?” She gave a chuckle in response. “As if our dear Medino would let any patient of his leave the healing pools before they had fully recovered.” she too smiled weakly. Clearly, the entire experience had been quite draining. Inlas took a few breaths to steady herself. “How are things going?” she finally asked. It took little to figure out what she meant. “Both good and bad. The void has blotted out the sky and they have already attacked several Avatars. It won’t be long before they break the barrier completely.” Inlas shuddered.

“And… her?” I paused for a moment before I answered. “She had a run in with Saol, or what remained of him, it ended in his destruction and her banishment.” Inlas grew visibly pale, though I continued before she could say anything. “She suddenly returned on her own a few days later and she didn’t come alone.” I paused again and Inlas expression changed from horrified shock to intrigue, silently urging me to continue. “She returned with her entire dungeon, and then immediately fell unconscious, citing a massive experience and essence overload from having her dungeon increase in size 50 times over, literally. She regained consciousness yesterday and has been quite busy since. However, she didn’t arrive alone. She somehow brought her entire dungeon with her, including the inhabitants.” Inlas looked dumbfounded. Not a completely invalid reaction, considering my own when she returned on her own. Inlas’ expression changed from shocked to worried. “Wait, how can that be? There is no way she should have been able to do something like that on her own.” I led Medino and Inlas back to the table as I replied. “I have to agree with you there, I am not 100% certain. However, it might be a side effect from when we transmigrated her soul to our reality.”

Inlas looked at me with a blank expression, trying to comprehending what I meant. “I thought there might be side effects from doing so. Souls are delicate, and transmigration through realities might have unforeseen effects on them.” Inlas created a cup of tea for herself and sipped it. “And you are thinking she might have gained some unforeseen side effect or something from our fighting over her soul during transmission?” I nodded. “I am not sure what, she gained, but after she returned the entire feel of her dungeon changed.” Inlas and Medino now looked even more confused. “Feel?” Medino asked. I looked at him. “She is still mortal, but her dungeon now has the feel of a Domain, her Domain.” Medino dropped the wooden cup he had been sipping from. “That’s impossible. Mortals should not be able to have Domains.” I looked at him calmly. “Is she mortal anymore, though? After all, I reincarnated her soul while she was still alive.” Medino’s expression became thoughtful. “She decidedly isn’t a normal mortal, that’s certain, but she is no divine entity, either. After all, she is still a -.” Another disturbance and one of Father’s messengers arrived. “Everyone, get to the Hall of divinities now. They are coming.” I looked at the other two. “Well, here we go.” I commented idly as we all shifted to the Hall.

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We arrived back in the dungeon, completely exhausted. After the wolves we had encountered several more bands of void twisted creatures. The last encounter had been a swarm of bats with strange tentacles and eyes growing everywhere, and that would just split into two smaller bats when we cut them. If Irontooth hadn’t figured out that crushing them did the trick, we would have been in serious trouble, since by then Mordred was out of mana. As we staggered down the stairs, we saw Pearl waiting at the bottom. “Glad to see you all back in relatively one piece. I should probably have sent someone who could heal with you.” I shook my head. “It was good that you didn’t. We ran into this strange Void creature that had possessed a bear. It could invert the effect of spells. Our damaging spells healed everything they touched. I dare say healing would probably have inflicted an insane amount of damage considering go-to combat healing is powerful or ongoing.”

Pearl looked at us with an unreadable expression. “I see. Either way, take the portal to the Adventurer Camp. I asked Lienru to prepare some food for you when I noticed you entered the labyrinth. She should finish up right about now. Duplica, Nicomphus, you have meals waiting for you in the dining room, if you are interested.” The two smiled and bowed before they rushed off. Pearl turned back to the rest of us. “Rael, how did things go in Caelyn?” I gave a tired smile. “As well as one could hope, given the circumstances. The road back was a nightmare, though. Pearl. The void has possessed creatures out there, turning them into all kinds of monstrosities, more resembling horrors than anything else. You’re right, whatever is going to happen will happen soon.” I sighed, the exhaustion from the trip suddenly feeling so much stronger now that the adrenaline was running out. “I would love to keep this conversation going, but I really need some rest.” Pearl gave a nod. “Take a rest, all of you. I have a feeling we will need it before the day is over.” She vanished, probably to check on something else, elsewhere. I turned to Mordred and Irontooth. “Common, let’s get going, can’t let Lienru’s food get cold.” Despite the exhaustion we were all feeling, we couldn’t help but have a spring in our step at the thought of the coming meal.