Thinking the dwarven girl was done for, Lark balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into the ground, not minding the mud smearing onto his skin.

“Don’t let him escape!” Silvina shouted again as her mount rushed towards the abomination.

Giiirl, who the fuck cares about Vick? Why aren’t you checking on the dwarf? Lark seethed for a second. His jaw dropped open as he saw the dwarven girl standing her ground against the massive creature’s assault. Unlike the other members of the party, Rhea could not gather mana. This was apparently common for many dwarves, but to make up for their lack of magical abilities, their innate strength was unparalleled.

“Sorry about this Vick-an!” Rhea yelled and slammed her heavy shield down onto the monster’s naked foot.

Yelping, the creature bounced backward once Rhea released her shield and she nicked its slender arm with her ax. Lark felt nausea swirl in his chest as he saw black fluid drip like sludge onto the sand. It reminded him of the first time he saw motor oil in a museum, crude and smelly.

“Henry! Now!” Silvina shouted and the person behind her had rocks circling around him.

“Mountain Capture!”

Spiked stones erupted from the ground, throttling the creature until it formed a mini mountain range with abomination screaming in the center.

Remembering the first time Mishka used Blaze, he compared their looks against the enemy in his head. Mishka was bright and fierce, but this guy looked like a provincial European marshmallow out of a history textbook. The grimoire mage had a prominent hooked nose and clothes that reminded Lark of the phrase: coat of arms.

Long black boots, green breeches, white stockings, and an over-sized vest with too many golden buttons to count was the Gullivan House style with the crest of a white griffin on the lavish coat.

Joffrey Gullivan, the previous owner of the spatial ring as well as a thief, had the same surname. Lark wondered if the Aapa clan knew of the thievery, but the alchemist in the group, Dula Aapa, didn’t appear to have any rifts with Henry as he supported Arelli Ula as a medical backup.

The sidelined members: Wangshi, Huan, Arelli, and Dula watched with trepidation as the flaming swordsman leapt off her mount.

“Flame Tunnel!” The leader took action and directed her broadsword at the abomination. Standing tall beside her, the Ice Wolf, named Jenna, shot icicles from her mouth. The icy ammunition pierced into the abomination’s necrotic flesh. Ice frosted the ground under the monster’s feet, paralyzing it for an extra second, giving enough time for Jenna’s tamer to unleash her skill. Sparking from the ends of the broadsword, flames flew forth like a fiery serpent and wrapped around the abomination’s rock cage.

Although Lark was over fifty meters away from the battle, he could smell the burnt flesh carry over to his nose and his eyes watered. He watched in horror as the flames continued to feed on the monster’s flesh and blood.

Then the monster roared, dispersing the flames from its body with wild swings of its arms and legs. It crushed the spiked rocks to smithereens, pelting the burning debris towards Rhea and Quichu.

Aulo stepped in front of his brother and the dwarf like a castle wall. Spinning his spear, it deflected all the jagged rock missiles.

Lark had to wonder if it was Aulo who was incredible or the spear. He didn't have enough time to decide as a dense metal material covered Aulo’s entire body. The new Aulo looked shinier than aluminum foil and harder than marble. This skill was known as a body tempering skill, Metal Body!

Quichu exclaimed looking at his brother from head to toe, “You’re able to use Metal Body to this extent, Brother! This is too incredible!”

Rhea snorted. The air left her nose like a cute sneeze, and Aulo gave a strange metallic smile as he raced towards the abomination.

“Salene!” Silvina called out and the female combatants traded places.

“Got it!” The water from Salene’s short swords extinguished the flames on the abomination’s body. Unlike Silvina’s overwhelming, frontal assault, Salene’s attack style was more fluid and what Lark imagined to be like fencing. Quick on her feet and with graceful movements, Salene appeared to be engaged in a dance with the ugly creature.

Her upper light blue armor had a steely bodice that protected and accentuated her elegant torso line. Lark imagined how much practice she must’ve gone through in order to move so fluidly while wearing that. It was also the area with the most defense, whereas her steel boots and long white leggings did little to hinder her movements.

While Salene had the monster distracted, Aulo suddenly pinned the monster to the massive rock wall Henry erected a moment ago.

The giant Ice Wolf carried Silvina and Jaime closer to the abomination without getting in the way of Aulo and Salene where the two combat specialists were going toe to toe with the monster.

Although Aulo’s hardened body appeared overwhelmingly tough and solid, the abomination was able to kick Aulo a few meters into the air. Columns of sandstones rose from the ground, blocking the monster from chaining attacks. Henry was keeping complete control over the battle’s pacing with his earth elemental magic stabilizing the flow and direction of the attacks.

Meanwhile, Salene went after the monster’s opening with a quick double slash towards its midsection aided with hydro-power. The water magic plowed against the creature’s wrinkled body, causing its skin to flap haggardly. But it did little to hinder the creature’s defense as it dove against the waterfall. The abomination’s long fingers sliced through the current like a spear and rushed to Salene’s outstretched sword. She parried the sudden attack and swerved to the left. Her feet moved lighter than air and she seemed to have the upper hand in speed until the abomination’s face head-butted her right sword out of her grip. Surprise drew on her face. Her short sword, while not as grand as Silvina’s crimson broadsword, was still coated in mana!

With the sudden connection to her sword cut off, she winced as the normal steel blade snapped in half under the abomination’s stomp. She had underestimated its strength and magic power!

Biting her lip, she taunted. “I still have one good sword. Come!” Waving the sword with one hand, she flicked off the creature’s black blood onto the sand.

A fierce feeling rose inside Lark’s chest. Salene’s azure hair loosened out from her ribboned braids, her face disheveled with mud, and her bangs wild and unfurled. Lark couldn't help but cheer for her inside his heart.

Taking the bait, the creature ignored the two men and rushed towards her.

After aiming her sword towards the ground, she gave a cursory glance towards Henry and that was all they needed to end this farce.

As the monster was about to seize her, Salene stabbed her one short sword into the ground and ducked under the monster’s reach.

Alarmed, Lark gripped the sides of his hair. Where the hell was she aiming?

Salene stabilized herself a few feet away from the confused abomination; her hand was coated in blue mana as she directed her energies toward the steel sword in the ground. With an icy voice, she quickly bellowed, “Water Fissure.”

Lark could see both Huan Shi and Wang Shi look on with surprise at this skill. Wang Shi mumbled something along the lines of a rare rank B skill. Water Fissure was not a simple water-affinity magic skill, there were elements of earth in it.

Deep cracks appeared in the hardened gray sand and Salene’s sword splintered into dust. Crisp sand flew into the air from the sliding ground, and water gushed out, flying up like a geyser. The abomination’s long limbs caught hold of the hot steamy water bath instead of Salene’s head. Cracking a triumphant smile, Salene withdrew, switching places with Henry.

This mysterious Water Fissure skill was not all the team had up their sleeves. The runes in Henry’s opened grimoire glowed as he bellowed a string of phrases. His skill had been prepared as soon as Salene gave him that look. A magic circle appeared around the howling monster. Coupled with the bleeding cuts Salene made on its tough skin, blisters had formed on where the scathing water touched it. Giving one last strangling cry, it wanted to tear Henry and his griffin apart, only to suddenly fall down into a sand tomb. It sank deeper like quicksand into the pit Henry had structured out of Salene's Water Fissure skill. Unable to climb or jump its way out, the monster roared non-stop and the area around the pit trembled unceasingly.

As the two team leaders approached the trapped abomination, Silvina spoke in Jaime’s ear. “Is there anything we can do for Vick?” she asked the Light Enchanter.

“Unfortunately, I do not know Silvy. The best I can do is restrain him for now and liaise with Dula for potential cures,” he answered while observing the dark pit. Their bodies bumped into each other as the wolf zig-zagged around the rocky terrain. Henry effectively transformed the sandy plateau to his own rock-filled sandbox.

Jaime’s hand brushed against Silvina’s studded pauldron made with the fur of her Ice Wolf and silver chain links. The white fur decorating the shoulder wings, separated in between his fingers like snow flurry. Letting go of her shoulder, he smiled as he climbed down the mount to settle the score with the abomination. Silvina’s eyes seemed glued to the back of his head after he left her side.

The two were whispering much too close for comfort. Thinking maybe he saw something he shouldn’t have seen, Lark was reminded of a certain incident in middle school between him, Daisy, and Sky. A dark incident, in which he promptly wiped away from his mind.

Jaime pulled out a wooden wand from inside his robes and drew runes in the air as if there was a piece of paper in front of him. Lark could make out five characters before Jaime’s enchantment was finished. The Celestial runes glowed bright yellow as they encircled the pit and formed several sharp light spears in the air. Turning his back away, the yellow spears darted inside the darkened pit. Black blood spewed upwards along with blood-curdling cries, each becoming more human-like as they carried on. Then, Vick’s voice pierced through the battlefield

“Someone…Maddox…it's so dark…Argh! Rhea, please find me!”

“Vick-an!” Rhea, the dwarf shouted when Jaime stopped her.

“It’s an abomination, it's in their nature to trick us,” he told her. There was an ongoing struggle between Jaime’s words and whatever Vick’s friendship meant to her. Lark and everyone else could understand when she slammed her ax into the ground and buried her head in her hands. It was hard to ignore a friend in need, even if that person’s appearances changed.

“We’re all hurt by Vick’s unwanted transformation, but if we want to find out how to possibly cure him, we need to discover what did it in the first place.”

Rhea remained unmoved.

Seeing that his words had no apparent effect on the dwarf, the white-haired man twirled his Light Wand around her. It was a little swish and flick, and Lark could only capture a tiny light, which lasted as long as a firefly hovering over a frog pond. Her complexion instantly brightened and the dwarf girl looked wildly at Jaime, whose mirthful golden eyes said everything.

“Light magic has its benefits.”

The lines on Lark’s forehead creased. What on earth was that bippity-boppity shit there?

Throughout the battle, Gushi’s antenna changed from black to white depending on who or what Lark focused on. Currently, the bubble was in a white hue as he looked at Jaime’s pale face, oddly reminiscent of when he first met Sphinx. And like Sphinx, Jaime had an otherworldly presence; upon closer inspection, much of this heavy intimidation came from those piercing, golden eyes. Everything about this Light Enchanter was suspiciously too radiant, like a vampire in disguise.

“What? Can’t stand competition?” Sphinx cooed. “By the way, the sun and moon have this strange power to bring happiness to people. People cannot live without light.”

Smug, Lark watched the group walk back towards the embankment where the sidelined members were. They all ignored the abomination’s cries in Vick’s voice.

The battle persisted longer than he thought it would, but it wasn’t the event that explained Wangshi’s transfer to Earth. Lark examined Wangshi current condition and compared it to his father’s account. The Wangshi they found was confused, wrapped in bloodied bandages, and speaking in a language unfamiliar to them… Lark paused there. Was it that Wangshi of then was speaking in Celestian? If so, how was he able to understand the currently spoken language.

“It's simple really.” Sphinx coughed. “I'm the translator.”

“You understand Celestian?”

“I have a wide vocabulary. How did you think, I, a creation of Pantheon, could speak English?”

“Magic, I suppose…”

“Then magic it is,” Sphinx said with a laugh. “Truly, you will have to learn the language on your own one day in the future. Or like I said before, scan a Celestian wordbook for starters.”

Lark twisted his lips in the same aggrieved manner when he learned he had homework on the first day of class. “Say, Sphinx, could you perhaps give me subtitles instead of translating over what they're saying?”

If he learned anything from taking one year of Spanish, it was that foreign films were easier to watch with subtitles(easier to understand that way too.) Plus, it was a great way to pass the time before the school holidays. Two weeks of winter vacation? Okay, let’s watch a movie instead since no one was going to remember their verb conjugations.

Lark could hear a sigh from Sphinx. He was like a house cat that wasn't satisfied with its canned tuna. “I said I understood English.”

Lark blinked.

“They’re speaking in English.”

Lark blinked again.

An exasperated sigh this time knocked the canned expression off his face. “You're telling me that the Celestians are speaking English, like plain English?”

“Oh no. It’s not the kind of English you eat.”

Lark’s head didn't exactly hurt, but Gushi somehow felt heavier than before. It was disorienting enough to not know anything about Celestian’s magic system, but it was even more disorienting to learn he knew the language already! Why couldn’t learning magic be this easy?

“So what did you mean by being a translator?”

“Well, it's true that they're speaking in English, but some of the spells they were using were not, and I went by the sorcerer’s notes. So things like Jaime’s magic or the spells in Henry’s grimoire, I need more time and information to decipher.”

So even Sphinx had a limitation on his knowledge base, Lark thought, but that still didn't change the fact that Celestians spoke English rather than some fantasy language like Elvish.

“Not to be rude, Lark, but the Elvish language does exist. Remember the history of Jade City? Elven artifacts used to be sold here. Also, you've seen the dwarf speak with some sort of dwarven accent. There are a plethora of cultures in Celestia—-”

“So that would mean the same thing for magic. They might be using different kinds of magic with their own languages. I saw Mishka do her summoning spell before.”

“I'm glad you're starting to think about this. But it's a yes and a no. First, there are no ‘different kinds’ of magic. Magic is what it sounds like… doing the impossible, bending reality, or whatever. While the definition of magic may vary cross worlds, it’s still a system defined by a consistent set of rules. That said, any race or culture could make their own modifications to interpret the components in the system. For instance, we know Terragon has magic that is ranked by rarity and arts and formulas. In Celestia, there are definite similarities with the ranking system, but we know there’s a variation in using Celestian runes as a template for doing magic as well as affinities to different elements. Also, there's elven magic which has its own secrets.”

At the mention of Elven magic, Lark briefly rubbed his chest where the Flower of Life tattoo formed after sucking on the Elf Stem liquid. He still hadn’t figured out what having the tattoo meant yet. But like any world, tattoos were often something of significance. Lark recalled that during the battle, Aulo’s tattoos had merged with his metallic body. Perhaps they were also somehow being used as a template for magic. The two brothers, Aulo and Quichu for the moment were towering over the two Jitte weapons Vick dropped before he had transformed.

“But like any variants of a recipe; Terragon Magic, Celestian Magic, Elven magic, is all still magic. A fruitcake or a wedding cake is still a cake in the end.”

“Then what about a pie?”

“What about a pie?”

“You know! Ugh never mind! I'm confusing myself.”

“Well, if you're asking me what I think you're asking me… if we had a pie instead of a cake, then you're not doing magic anymore. Are we?” His voice low and ambiguous.

Lark couldn’t help but think that his choice of name, Sphinx, was so fitting. While a sphinx was a mythical creature with a head of a human and body of a lion, the image of a cat kept popping up in Lark’s head when he pictured Sphinx. Perhaps, it was because of the sphinx’s nature: intelligent, inquisitive, and beyond a doubt…annoyingly cattish.

“So you mean if it’s not magic, it’s something else?” Lark wondered. “Like spiritual power and psionic energy?”

“Ding-ding!” Sphinx replied in a musical voice. “Now, you’re getting it.”

Lark rubbed his eyes, somehow feeling tired. The abomination’s howl shook him awake as he realized he was still hiding in the creepy forest. He went back to his place behind the rock when the two leaders held a meeting at the lake.

Jaime’s hand was shrouded in a yellow hue as he held one of the Jitte weapons. Huan Shi already clarified that it was the one from Vick’s Item Bag and not the one he discovered in the water.

“This is the dark magic object that has a powerful curse over it, even now it's still struggling against my light magic. Only a high ranked dark mage would be able to produce such a remarkable weapon. Maybe a tier 3 or 4 mage.”

Silvina coughed.

“Tier 4?”

Then she kicked his shin and took over the proceedings. “Excuse his poor choice of words, but what Jaime means to say is that the object is very dangerous. We’re unsure if this was given to Vick before he came here or if… the culprit is here.”

A strange sense of unease loomed over the group.

Lark chewed his bottom lip. There was truth in what the leader was saying, but it wasn't everything because he recognized that hidden discomfort in her voice and eyes. It's what he did to his friends before everything happened, telling half-truths.

If he had to make a guess about what she was worried about, it would be about having a possible traitor in their midst!

He scanned the weapon in Jaime’s hand.

Item: Cursed Jitte (dark) (enchantment)

Durability 10/10

The dark magic has turned the spiritual weapon made by Grandpa Willowham into a cursed object!

Effects: Turns the wearer into an abomination under the enchanter’s control.

Enchanted by XXXXX

Gifted to XXXXX.

Well, that’s helpful, Lark muttered uselessly. Like Henry’s grimoire, he couldn’t understand certain parts. There was not even an ingredient list on this information box.

Though he was able to gather two hints from this item description. One, the crafter and gifted were two different people. Essentially, he had to be wary of more than one person in this group. The other clue was that the abomination was under the enchanter’s control. How much control the enchanter had over Vick’s cursed body was hard to gauge, seeing that part of Vick’s consciousness was still there. A fading consciousness, but nonetheless, he wasn’t completely won over by the enchanter.

Lark recalled the abomination had called out for Maddox and Rhea to find him. So, for now, the dwarf and the missing adventurer were at the top of his list of possible suspects.

“Did you discover anything from their status screens that were off?” Sphinx asked.

Lark frowned. He had forgotten about the investigation team’s status screens due to the impending battle.

“This is why your intelligence is lower than a slime’s.”

Lark’s frown could not grow any deeper. Ignoring Sphinx’s sarcasm, he deferred to his Trinity Watch, forgetting it was no longer in a digital app mode, but sundial mode. Sphinx reminded him that all he needed to do was impose his will onto the watch to open up SIM. It was a magic/spiritual object after all. Suddenly, an image of Mishka popped up in Lark’s head. She wore her fiery flower headband instead of cat ears and his heart ached temporarily as he remembered how she also told him the spatial ring should just act accordingly to his will. If all it took was willpower to do magic, why hadn’t anyone done it sooner?

“There are several reasons. One being, Earth is void of organic mana. And two, people did not inherit the arts.” Sphinx answered casually. “Also magical objects are not native to Earth’s environment, they were brought to Earth through organizations like Wishes of the People and other magic merchants.”

Sphinx’s casual answer only opened another can of worms that Lark could not wait to ponder on as the group dispersed.

Shit. He missed some parts.

The group still waiting by the lake were Huan Shi, Wang Shi, Arelli, Aulo, and Quichu.

Jaime and Dula were conversing in front of the pit, while the others appeared to be heading back to their campsite on the other side of the bluff.

Okay, so they were keeping to the plan of maybe curing Vick and still looking for Maddox it seemed. Lark rolled his eyes. Being a spy was difficult. How could one person keep track of everything going on?

Not knowing much about the alchemist, Lark decided to eavesdrop on Dula and Jaime’s conversation first.

Dula Aapa (human) (Alchemy Association) (Aapa Clan)

Titles: Tier 3 Alchemist, Friend of the Merchant Guild, Royal Scholar

Known affinities: Wind, Earth

Age: 28

Lvl 2

Happiness: NA

Conditions: Limp leg(birth condition)

STR: 50

DEX: 20 (+30)

INT: 350

MG: 500(+15)

SPT: 200(+15)

LUK: 10(+10)

Skills

Earth Magic - Golemancer

Wind Magic - Wind Walker, Wind Shield

Alchemy - Poison Arts, Potion Arts, Transmutation, Pill Concoction

Contract Magic

Magic Craft

Metallurgy

Warding

After reading the status screen, a message popped up in a separate black box: “If you want to learn more about a person 1) Increase their Happiness level towards you. 2) Add their friend code.”

“Friend code? What’s that Sphinx?” Lark’s brows dipped forward.

“It’s part of the SIM experience! Adding friends via their unique mana signature or mana identification card, it was all the rage in Pantheon,” Sphinx spoke like an advertisement.

Ignoring the friend code, for now, Lark learned the function behind the Happiness level he had been seeing on his and Gushi’s status screens. Having a higher happiness score enabled him to attain more information about that person.

Lark looked at the man’s legs that were covered by thick black boots and a heavy white robe. The leg limp was unnoticeable as the man walked around the pit with Jaime, observing the abomination inside the pit. Each step looked even, but at around the tenth step, Lark saw an unnatural double-step, as if a rock had stubbed the left foot. This pattern repeated after several turns, and Lark had no doubt that the double-step was related to Dula’s birth condition. The scan skill was simply incredible!

“The red-eyes and shrunken flesh are undead characteristics. I’m afraid soul purification won’t be much help here unless we can reverse death itself.” Dula remarked. As he spoke, a feather-quill pen copied down his words inside a journal.

“What if I used a light purification spell to reverse the dark magic effects?” Jaime countered.

Dula shook his head. “It wouldn’t help much. It’s already reacting badly to your light spears. I’m afraid using more light magic will destroy Vick’s body instead as a result.”

“Dula! Is that you? Please help me, I’m begging you,” the abomination screamed.

“How unsightly. Is this a normal behavior pattern for an abomination, Jaime?” Dula asked, folding his hands behind his back. An embroidered golden scale flashed in the sunlight.

Item: Hooded Golden Scale Robe (clothing) (magic) (uncommon)

+15 MG, +15 SPT, +10 LUK, +15% Magic Defense, +15% Spirit Defense, +10% Heat resistance

Durability: 25/25

Only high ranking members of the Alchemy association can wear this special robe. It represents a respected status and reputation of the wearer. Will allow the wearer to gain access to special laboratories and discounts at ingredient shops.

Craft material: Golden fleece and Fire-Salamander skin.

Crafted by: Gigi Lodestone (tailor)

Sold to the Alchemy Association for 5500 credits.

Gifted to Dula Aapa.

“To be honest Dula, exorcism isn’t an art I’m highly adept in. I have less experience with this type of situation compared to others in the Sanctuary.” Jaime touched the locket hanging over his heart.

Sanctuary? Lark wondered. What’s that supposed to be something like a church?

He pulled up Jaime’s file, while also scanning the locket.

Jaime Graham (human) (Southern Sanctuary member)

Titles: Tier 3 Enchanter

Known affinities: Light

Age: 19

Lvl 2

Happiness: NA

Conditions: none.

STR: 80

DEX: 80

INT: 300

MG: 300

SPT: 400

LUK: 100

Skills

Light Magic - Light Spears, Light Sword, Lightspeed, Light Barrier, Light Heal

Purification

Enchant

Exorcism

Warding

Alchemy

Sword Mastery

Sniping Mastery

Item: Jaime’s Memento (accessory) (unique)

A waxy golden locket holding nothing inside!

And the previous option from before repeated itself.

“Wow, he has a lot of skills,” Lark mentioned as he closed out of the SIM app. The first skill he read about, Light Spears, must’ve been the one he used to entrap the abomination. But these other skills seemed impressive as well. Lark swallowed air before resuming to spy. This Jaime guy was the most suspicious so far! Not just because he knew the most about abominations, but because he was an enchanter! For all Lark knew, Jaime could’ve been acting like a good guy this entire time just to get away with it… but to get away with what exactly?

Dula flipped his gray textured hair out of his eyes, and said, “But this is not an exorcist case, Vick’s been taken over by dark magic. Not a maligned evil spirit.”

Jaime pulled out his light wand and waved it around casually. At first, Lark almost laughed because he thought Jaime was berating Dula like a kid would, acting all self-important and haughty. But after the wand-twirling, a screen full of text and pictures encased by yellow glowing rods appeared. “This is from the Great Library in the southern capital. It’s the information about what I know of regarding abominations. Unfortunately, I’m not all-knowing about these creatures except what is common knowledge in the Sanctuary since I only joined recently.”

“I see.” Dula peered into the screen and then touched it. Like how Lark could absorb information from his black boxes, the yellow screen seemed to go inside Dula’s fingertips like a fish returning to the sea. “Thanks for giving this information to me. I know how valuable texts are from the Great Library.”

“Of course, I just want us to have an option to save Vick. I wouldn’t be so stingy with books,” Jaime answered. “If you have anything you’d like from the Southern Capital just ask.”

“My thanks to you.” The two shook hands. Dula then continued the conversation asking, “What about your light enchants? Could they possibly reverse the ghoulish effects?”

“As you can see from the Light Spears, that’s already been taking effect, by giving the abomination more human-like attributes. While I can also somehow tell Vick is still there, at the same time the dark magic still possesses him. I fear that using light enchants would fight against the curse in a brutal way. It’s a last resort if we can’t fix him using alchemic ways.” Jaime’s rich, wine-colored robes fluttered from the sandy wind.

Dula rubbed his gray-stubbled chin. “Let’s return to the light purification and soul purification method. At first, I thought your light spears were damaging Vick. While his cries seem more human. They just sound like womanly screams to me—”

“Wait— you can’t understand what he’s saying?” Jaime asked.

“No?”

“That’s strange. Earlier he called out to Maddox and Rhea for help. I assumed she heard the same thing I did. And just now, he heard your voice, and asked you to help him.”

“Really?” The latest information seemed to stump Dula as he peered back into the pits.

“Vick? Can you hear me?” He shouted boisterously.

“Yes, is that you Dula? It’s so dark. I don’t like it!” the abomination screamed. Dula covered his ears.

“I guess he can understand me. But I can’t seem to understand him,” Dula remarked, rubbing his chin again. “What did he say this time?”

“He said ‘yes’ he could hear you. And he’s been repeating that it’s so dark where he is. Earlier he asked Rhea and Maddox to find him…” Jaime muttered. “Perhaps, as I thought, he’s trying to fight the curse’s effects.”

“So why is it that you can understand him, and I am not able to?” Dula wondered. His quill pen writing more furiously than before.

“I’m not sure. I’ll go ask Rhea as well. For now, let’s try the soul and light purification method after convening with the group.”

Dula nodded. Before he and Jaime left though, Jaime shouted into the pit. “Vick, we’re going to come back and save you!”

A loud roar emerged and the sand trembled more violently. A serpent-like voice arose from the pit. “Jaime? Jaime? Jaime? Jaime… I’ll kill you first!” Hisses that sounded like tongues made of sandpaper whipped around the two men.

Dula paled. “I understood that,” he said, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his robe. “Whoever cursed Vick, must be out for you.”

Jaime frowned and replied, “You’re probably right. The dark enchanter must be nearby.” Waving his wand again, light-colored runes surrounded the pit and light shot up into the air, forming a cylindrical cage. “For now, no one goes near him.”

While watching the two men retreat to the bluff-side, Lark asked Sphinx, “Why did Dula say he couldn’t understand? Rhea and Jaime could.”

Sphinx was quiet for a moment. For a second, Lark thought his question finally stumped the intelligent magical voice in his head, until he heard the unbelievable.

“It’s likely you can understand the undead. What an interesting little human you are.”

Lark’s blood ran cold.