Aaron lay there on the ground, breathing slowly. His legs were still wrapped around the now dead attacker. Sliding away from the corpse he pushed himself up with great effort. He knew enough about impaled wounds to know that removing the sword stuck in his thigh might not be the best idea right now unless he wanted to create a new opening for blood to leave his body. To his surprise, the wound had already started to scab over and seemed to bunch around the sword as if it had already started to heal with the foreign object still in it. He hobbled towards the prone Zeva checking to see if she was still alive. He hoped she was, being that she could very well be the ticket to his good treatment. Surprisingly she seemed to be breathing a little better, her dusken cheeks looking healthier by some miracle. Shadows still surrounded them The distant sounds of fighting had died down. Lightning lit up a part of the night sky, Aaron just noticed, thunder now reaching his ears. He hadn't noticed that before, he wondered if this place had rain. It would be nice to feel the rain after being covered in so much blood and grime. He felt strangely calm as if he had unwittingly accepted a part of himself. A part he had been denying for so long. Head straight Aaron looked to the shadows. He knew this battle wasn't over.

Hundreds of shapes materialized out of the shadows, a sea of glowing red slits staring at Aaron. He stilled his breathing, put his hands up in a boxing stance and waited for death to come for what seemed like the third time that day. Life had other plans for him. Aaron felt a great power gathering near Zeva, how he had the capacity to sense this unknown form of energy was not something Aaron sought to question until later. A tendril of water arose from her back, gaining mass rapidly until a large-man-sized blob levitated in front of him. Morphing rapidly into the familiar figure of Arjun, the large smiling man dropped onto his newly formed feet. His smile so warm and inviting before turned into a rictus grin of impending bloodshed. A murderous aura burst forth from the large previously scholar-like man. Raising his hand he snapped, a small whirlpool of blood-red water swirling around his feet. Aaron blinked and his world had changed.

A massive area around them had turned into a sea of blood-red spikes. Impaling every single shadow dweller in an instant. It was a massacre. He snapped his fingers again and the spikes turned to water. Hundreds of corpses hit the ground. "Aaron?" he asked. The concerned scholar was back again. Aaron gave a thumbs up as he felt his world spin sideways and he passed out on the ground.

Aaron felt his consciousness come to. He found himself in a world of grey, grey skies, grey dirt and no sun. In this monochrome world, he found himself standing in front of a large throne. Roughly hewn from obsidian, it was primal and barbaric. And it called to Aaron.