**Confession time! This chapter was written before the ones contained in the Infernus Arc. But I had decided to keep all of the Infernus Arc chapters one continuous uninterrupted session. In retrospect, that wasn't a good idea. But there is little to nothing i can do to fix it on RRL that wouldn't cause massive confusion. So if/when I publish this, Chapter 23 & 24 will come after 14, or possibly 15 if I decide to break the continuity of the Infernus Arc in exchange for chronological order or events.

So for now...cheese mode will be used and i'll just put a disclaimer above them to show that this all happened before the arc. But it will only be these two chapters that are like this. The rest should be fine chronologically. Let me know what you guys think would be best as far as placement of these next two chapters.**

*Prior to the events at Infernus Pass*

Meladris had bid her farewell to Belgard and began to walk up the stairs slowly. Her heart and mind racing with the possibilities of what they had just done. The what-if’s and consequences for whether it succeeded, or if they failed. She wasn’t paying too much attention to her surroundings until she heard voices from above her. Her eyes shot wide open and she looked up quickly. Luckily she was still a few flights below sight of the exit of the dungeon, but the voices were traveled down the empty stairway clear enough for her to hear.

“So what do you think it was?” a deep gruff voice asked.

“No idea, some kind of rat I think. If you think about where it came from it makes sense…who knows what the hell lives down there.” Another voice replied.

Meladris didn’t recognize the voices, but if she had to guess, they were guards that were doing their rounds. She swallowed hard and realized that they were talking about the golem that Belgard had created. She pressed her back against the stairwell and began to slowly push herself up the stairs as quietly as possible. The two voices continued to chat on about nothing in particular but what Meladris was most concerned about was when they would leave.

She knew full well that there was no animals living in the dungeons, but she wasn’t sure if there was anyone else that also did.

“You two! What are you doing there?!”

The voice echoed through the open courtyard above her. The voice was familiar, and caused Meladris’ heart to drop into her stomach. Of all the people that would come along, it had to be her.

“S-sorry ma’am! We were just investigating something!” a guard said.

“Investigating what? How to slack off and waste Lord Valdiss’ coin at the same time?!” she yelled.

“N-no, Lady Grandt! Of course not! There was a…”

“A what?!” Grandt interrupted, her patience was nonexistent.

“Nothing, ma’am. Our apologies! We’ll get back to our rounds!”

Meladris once again swallowed hard and began to ease her nervousness at hearing the thud of footsteps travel away from the entrance.

“Hold it!” Grandt yelled. “What did you see?” Her voice was calmer, but still had an edge of anger.

“An animal, like a giant rat, ma’am. But since it’s a dungeon, it’s only natural.”

“No…no there are no animals in this dungeon.” The tone of her voice caused Meladris to hold her breath.

“Would you like us to investigate further? Ma’am?”

“Yes. Make sure that our guest is doing well while you’re down there.” Grandt said with as much sarcasm as possible.

Meladris closed her eyes and could feel the sweat beading down her forehead and neck. Her heart was racing and felt as if it was going to pop at any moment. She needed to hide…but where? She thought about running down the stairs and trying to find a hiding spot in an open cell, if there was one, or at the very end of the row of cells. Since there was only one occupant, and he was in the fifth cell, there shouldn’t be any reason to check all the way to the end. But it was a risk she didn’t want to take.

If they had found her in the dungeons, and Grandt knowing that there was no animals in them, the amount of suspicion would be more than enough for Valdiss to punish them both. And knowing Valdiss' propensity for violence and torture…it would not be a punishment she would wish upon anyone.

She looked around her surroundings, the faint light of the sun from the entrance didn’t help her any. There was no alcoves or holes or anything of the like that would allow her to hide herself. Meladris had to make a decision quickly, and none of the options she could think of yielded results she liked. Far from it.

Her first option is to emerge from the dungeon and try to lie her way out of it. If it was just guards that would have been the best option, but now that Grandt was present, that option is the worst case scenario. The second option is to run downstairs and try to take the chance of finding a hiding spot in the dungeon themselves, either a cell or at the very end of the hallway.

The third option is one she didn’t want to do now that there was a chance that Amrin would be able to find them. But it was to fight. Take every one of Validss’ men with her while she destroyed what she could of his laboratory before dying. But Valdiss would be right back to it once more, just as he did from thirty years ago.

“Pierce the darkness and give thy comforting presence. Highlight my surrounding and grant ease of mind. Illuminate.” Said one of the guards.

Since he had to recite the entire incantation, Meladris knew he was nothing more than a simple guard. But with Grandt so close by she didn’t dare attempt anything foolish. Taking a deep breath, Meladris darted silently down the stairs quicker than humanly possible. Skipping entire flights of steps as she jumped down further and further into the darkness. After landing the final jump, Meladris noticed in the corner of her eye a glinting light down the hallway, causing her heart to skip a beat.

The thought of who it was, could be, or how they were able to get passed her flashed through her mind. But after a moment she realized it was the pebble she had used earlier when she was speaking with Belgard. He wouldn’t be able to tell her about it since he no longer had eyes. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself and began to make her way to Belgard’s cell.

“Belgard?...Belgard!?” she whispered as loudly as she dared.

“Huh? Meladris? What is it this time?”

“There are guards coming this way…they saw the golem and got suspicious.”

“Hmm…well couldn’t you do something about them?” he asked curiously.

“Grandt is with them…”

The two fell silent for a moment.

“I see…that bitch of all people huh?” he finally replied. “Well there’s only a few options really.”

“I know, but none of them are good. And unless you’re willing to die right now…” she began to say.

“No. The only reason I…we, have stayed alive this long is to one day see him again. Plead our case and hope for forgiveness…or meet our end at his hands. So I damn well rather not be killed by the likes of Valdiss or his bitches…” he said with as much contempt as he could muster.

“I could try and shroud myself at the end of the hall…but the chances they would search them all, now that Grandt is also suspicious leads me to think that it would be a lost cause.”

“Hmm…true. Well…there is another option I think. But you won’t like it.” Belgard said cautiously.

“Why won’t I like it?”

“Because it relies on you being able to muster enough magical power to keep you from falling to your death.”

“Falling?…Belgard are you suggesting jumping into this…abyss?” Meladris asked looking into the pitch black hole between her and Belgard.

“Seems a bit better an idea than anything else you’ve got right? Stay and try to hide…fail…get tortured and beaten into an inch of your life by Grandt and continue living under Valdiss’ thumb, most likely in even worse conditions than you have now since he would no longer trust you? Or try to take them on, fail and die when Valdiss gets back and realizes what you’ve done? And we both know that he isn’t the kind of man that skimps on the torture. Or you could jump and…hope.”

“But wouldn’t that make the golem completely pointless?” Meladris asked.

“I don’t think so…if Master Amrin does get the message and comes here…Valdiss will be totally annihilated, as he should be. Even if we’re not here, it’s still a win in my opinion. And if we’re free, we can at least try to locate him at our leisure and take the punishment he deems fit.”

The options were filled with bad outcomes no matter how it was viewed. Meladris sat there contemplating for a moment until she heard boots clicking on the steps leading down to the cells.

“Do you know what’s down there?” she asked.

“No. I’ve tried finding out but…it just ends.”

“What in the world is that supposed to mean? Just ends?”

“Just like I said, woman. It just…ends. I can trace and make a mental map of the walls and ceiling but after a certain point everything just disappears.”

“So we’re in agreement that we would rather die by Amrin’s hands instead of anyone else’s…but suggest jumping to certain death into a bottomless cavern? That’s ridiculous.”

“Oh it’s not bottomless. There’s ground down there.”

“But you just said it just ends.”

“Well yeah, I didn’t say that it was bottomless or endless. It just comes to a sudden stop. But there’s absolutely nothing down there I can feel. It’s as if the darkness down there is eating everything around it. All magic, life, light…everything.”

“Th…That’s not any better!” Meladris raised her voice slightly through gritted teeth. “And what makes you think someone can survive the fall?”

“Well, like I said, it depends on you.”

“…”

“What? I told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“You’re expecting me to conjure enough magic to make the shadows lessen the fall? Are you crazy?”

“Hey, you asked me to do something crazy not too long ago if I remember correctly.” He grinned, only visible due to the small illuminated pebble.

“This is different and you know it. If I use too much I…” Meladris looked down to her chest and gently placed her right hand just above her breasts. The orb that Valdiss embedded was hidden beneath her blouse.

“Yours is different though isn’t it?” Belgard said, knowing what Meladris was getting at.

“What do you mean?” she tilted her head, confused.

“Well unlike mine, which goes all the time…unfortunately. Yours seems to only activate by his command. And unless that man is more a monster than I gave him credit for…if you’re outside of his range of influence, there’s no way for him to be able to activate it.”

Meladris thought about that possibility, but there was never really a chance, reason or need to test it out. As with all magic, if it isn’t generated with a specific intent in mind, it will cease to function, or at least not function fully once out of range. Similar to Meladris’ shadows that motivated the golem’s movement. It was given basic commands to repeat the same function over and over, but anything more complex than that or dynamic adjustment would need to be within the Chanter’s range of influence.

Belgard’s orb was activated with the intent to void any magical energy above a certain threshold, that is why it was able to stay active constantly and without Valdiss’ direct control. If Meladris was able to get out of Valdiss’ range of influence, there was a chance they could be free. But there was also a chance that the fall into the abyss would kill them, or cut them off from everything and anything and they would ultimately die of starvation or to whatever lives beneath.

“The time to decide is now Meladris. If my ears are any good now, they should be a few steps away from reaching the cells.” Belgard said, raising his left ear into the air slightly.

“Fine. I’ll jump. But on one condition.”

“Eh? What’s that?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“W-what? Woman are you ill? What the hell good am I going to do you?”

“I won’t leave you Belgard. If I disappear suddenly and the only other person where the suspicious animal came from is you…what do you think will happen to you?”

“Mm…” Belgard grumbled. He knew full well that he was only left alive because Meladris made an agreement with Valdiss.

“We don’t have much time. You’re coming with me!” she said loudly.

Knowing that Valdiss was away from the castle, and that there was a very short window of opportunity to use her full power she stepped away from the bars of Belgard’s cell and raised her left hand. Without uttering a word, large masses of shadows formed just behind her. There were four total. On either side of her, two coming over her shoulders, and two from her lower back. Like massive arms of darkness. They reached out from behind her and grasped the bars of Belgard’s cell and effortlessly ripped them out of the stone they were embedded into.

The loud crash and smashing sound filled the dark dungeon, a cloud of dust and dirt billowed everywhere, making it impossible to see what was going on. Utilizing nearly all of her powers in a last ditch effort to get away it was possible for her to make out every aspect of the darkness in the dungeon.

Since she had quite possibly the highest innate affinity to Darkness that anyone had ever seen, next to Amrin, the darkness was not a hindrance to her in the slightest. Her eyes were blanketed in a black cloud, and would by all rights mean she was blind, but it was the opposite. Everything around her was as bright as day, but lacked any color whatsoever.

Two of the large darkness arms on her right, threw the bars of Belgard’s cell towards the stairs, blocking the way. She could hear the shouts from the guards, yelling up the stairwell at Grandt that something was happening. But by the time Grandt was able to reach them, Meladris and Belgard would be long gone. Using one of the shadow arms, she picked up Belgard’s frail and broken body as gently as possible.

“Last chance old timer…”

“Uhh, last I checked…you were older than me.” He began to chuckle, and cough violently at it.

“You are terrible.” She said with a slight laugh.

Meladris, with her four shadow limbs and clouded black eyes looked into the abyss between the cell floor and the hall of the dungeon. Even though she could see clear as day everywhere else, passed a certain point into the abyss there was nothing but black. She swallowed hard.

“There they are! Stop!” one of the guards was climbing over the rubble and mangled remains of the cell bars.

She turned to look at him and steeled herself, standing at the edge of the abyss. The guard’s eyes shot wide open. Only because he had cast Illuminate on his armor was he able to see. Four massive black and writhing limbs coming from behind the woman before him. He had never seen anyone use Darkness magic as if it was a part of their body, something completely intangible had form, and mass…and power.

He held out his hand and opened his mouth to shout. Before the words left his mouth though, Meladris jumped. As if it was the most natural thing to do, she casually hopped into the air and disappeared into the blackness.

“I hope you know of a way to slow us down!” Belgard yelled as they both began to plummet through the abyss.

“I do. But it’s not going to be easy.”

“Well, I’m sure if it doesn’t work, the sudden stop at the end will be!”

Two of the large shadow arms reached out beside her and their giant hands began to claw at nothing. But darkness was Meladris’ forte, and even though it didn’t look as if there was anything there, the darkness itself was what gave her the ability to do what she did. Her own arms mimicked the movements and motion of the shadow limbs, as they were able to help her focus on the task.

The hands would be able to claw against the darkness itself, and since they were being fed her magical power, anything they touched became tangible as well. It was no different to someone grasping two ropes on either side and attempting to slow themselves down through sheer friction and strength. It took a tremendous amount of power and concentration on Meladris’ part though. The strain was plain on her face, the beads of sweat were trickling down her face, and her jaw was clenched in pain and effort the entire time.

“H-how….far down until…the bottom?” she managed to let out.

“We’ve been falling for what…fifteen seconds? Last I checked, a rock with a hint of my consciousness took over a minute to reach the bottom.” He said. “So if you’re managing to slow us down by even a fraction of that, we should reach the bottom in over a minute, but if we don’t want to come to a puddle filled end…you need to make that time at least two minutes…I think.”

“You think!?” she yelled back.

“Hey, I’m not a how-not-to-fall-to-your-deathologist!” he shouted back

She grunted at the strain it took for her to keep the shadow arms tangible. She had to pour power into the limb holding Belgard, as well as the two arms creating the friction they needed to reduce their speed. But it wasn’t enough, using the third arm, she reached it out and added yet another source of friction to reduce their speed.

The effort required caused her to scream in pain slightly.

“Oi, Meladris! Is there anything I can do to help?!”

“Yes….hold….on!” she said through clenched teeth, eyes firmly closed and all the muscles in her body at full tension.

Belgard knew what she meant and began to grasp into the darkness for her body. He felt a flutter of cloth and grasped hard. Meladris yelped and the speed they fell increased slightly.

“Oi, the hell woman!?”

“Don’t grab there!” she yelled.

“Oh…hehe…they’re quite soft.”

“Oooh, Belgard, if this doesn’t kill us, I’ll kill you myself!”

Belgard managed to wrap his arms around her waist and locked his hands behind her back. He did the same around her legs to make sure he wouldn’t fall off. Now that Meladris didn’t need to worry about dropping Belgard, she concentrated all power into the four shadow arms as they grasped the darkness. The power flooding through her body into the arms, then into the hands making the stream of darkness rapidly whipping passed them physical enough to grasp.

With four of the arms performing the same task and not having to concern herself with putting too much power into the arm holding Belgard and crushing him, Meladris was able to relax, but only very slightly. It still put an incredible strain on her body. Belgard could hear her heart beating furiously in her chest, her breathing was rapid and her body was hot to the touch. He knew that if this continued for much longer she would burn herself out and fall unconscious.

“Not much longer now! You’re doing fantastic, girl, absolutely fantastic!” Belgard shouted in an attempt to boost her morale.

While they were plummeting through the darkness, Belgard did the only thing he could do. Kept count of the time it took from when they jumped and estimate the time until they hit the bottom.

“B-Belgard….I…I can’t!” she was beginning to slip, the speed they were maintaining was perfect and only a little longer until they reached the bottom at a rate that wouldn’t kill them.

“A little more! Just hang on!” Belgard urged.

“I…Can’t!!” she screamed.

The shadow arms disappeared and the speed they fell rapidly increased. Belgard could hear her breathing had all but stopped and her pulse was incredibly weak. She had fallen unconscious. Just as he feared.

“Dammit woman! You always ask too much of me!”

Belgard carefully turned himself around so that Meladris’ body was against his back and he was the first to fall into the darkness. He reached inside his tattered shirt and pulled something out, bringing it up close to his mouth he began to whisper. After he was done, he took whatever it was that he pulled out and threw it ahead of him into the darkness.

“Please…work….” He said.

There was no one to hear it, but the thundering sound of two bodies hitting the ground echoed into the emptiness. The sound reverberated and lingered for a few moments until utter silence took over once more.