Cold. An aching, unfathomable cold that begged it to lie down, to close its eyes and sleep till the warmth returned. But it knew it must keep walking, that it could not stop lest it never rise again.

That was the only thought in the creature's head as it dragged itself to the peak of a frozen dune. There was nothing in the frozen wastes around it save for withered, spiked grass caked in layers of black ice, and a distant roar that its shattered mind could not identify.

But lured by the sound, it kept walking, despite the bitter cold that had turned its bones to ice, or the fierce winds that buffeted it as it stumbled through the frozen sands. It fell, it rose, it fell again, tumbling down the icy slopes of the dune.

There was something new here, as it rose, the source of the steady roar, a blackness in place of the sand. Nearly as dark as the starless sky above it, the blackness surged back and forth against the sands, leaving long streaks of white behind as it receded.

The creature paused in its trek, confused at first by the sight before it, but as it stared at the darkness, a new thought wormed through its mind. It needed only to touch the darkness, and the cold would go away, never to bother it again.

It staggered forward with newfound urgency and, failing to watch its steps, went sprawling to the ground as its foot twisted in a hole. It rose quickly, the blackness still beckoning, but found something blocking its path. A tall, black shape with pale white flesh and eyes the color of twilight.

"Wkdopr avielknfg." It jerked back as the shape made noise, flinching away as a pale blur shot toward it, but the cold had dulled its reflexes.

"There. I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd been a few minutes later."

Ihra stared up in a daze at the woman touching her forehead as her senses began to return. She was cold, so very cold she could barely think of anything else, but she was fairly certain she wasn't supposed to be here. Where am I? Where's Jasper?

"Are you okay, little one?" The woman's gentle prodding broke through her confusion, and she nodded.

"I-" She choked as her throat froze up, unused to speech after the eons she had wandered through the frozen dunes. "I-"

The woman's hands twitched, and she felt a warm glow suffuse through her throat and chest. She was starting to think more clearly now, and though she was still confused as to where she was, she was certain the woman before her was someone important.

"I'm fine, my lady," she bowed her head respectfully. "But I'm not sure where I am? Or why it's so cold?" She clutched her arms to her chest, running her hands up and down in a vain attempt to generate a spark of warmth, as she finally tore her eyes away from the woman in front of her long enough to survey her surroundings.

She appeared to be standing on a beach, though it was hardly the sort of beach one generally wished to visit. The white sands beneath her feet were frozen nearly solid, with long streaks of ice left each time the dark waves receded back into the sea. It was night outside, apparently, and thanks to the lack of any moon or stars, the waters looked nearly completely black, giving the ocean a sinister vibe that made her take a step back.

"I-, I-" She glanced at the woman with frantic eyes as the truth dawned on her. "Lady Selene? And I'm-" The word seemed stuck in her throat, but the goddess waited in silence until she finally coughed it out. "Am I dead?"

"Aye, child. I do not know what happened once you passed beyond the portal, but I became aware of your presence here a short time ago. I was fortunate enough to arrive before you reached them."

Ihra swallowed, casting a wary glance at the waters she had nearly wandered into just a few minutes ago. The Sea of Oblivion. She'd learned the myths in school, seen depictions on the temple's wall, and, one time, Jasper had even been drunk enough to spill some details of his own encounter with the sea, but she'd never given it much thought. Yet as she stared at the black waters, she felt a terrible fear creep over her.

She had almost ceased to be, and she wouldn't have even known it - wading to her doom without a thought in her mind. With a sudden shudder, she bent over, gasping for air as her stomach tried to empty itself. Of course, there was nothing in it, as her body wasn't really here, only a projected image of her mind, but that didn't stop the dry heaves from racking her frame until she felt a presence beside her and a gentle hand began to rub her back.

Somehow, she pulled herself together, and wiping the spittle from her mouth, she bowed her head. "What do I need to do, my lady, to return? My friends need me, they need-"

Selene placed a hand on her lips, hushing her gently as she began to get worked up. "There is no need for a contract, for the price has been paid in full."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"The price? How?" The answer dawned on her as soon as the words left her lips, and a mixture of happiness and irritation flared up. "He used the potion on me? It was supposed to be for him-"

"There were no conditions on its use," the goddess interrupted her, "nor do I think he will regret it. But, come," she grabbed Ihra's hand and started walking, "we must deal with the corruption in your soul before I return you to your realm."

"Corruption?" Ihra practically had to jog to keep up with the goddess's brisk pace as she walked along the beach, but she cast a frantic glance down at her torso, afraid she'd see tendrils of darkness creeping down her arms.

"A darkness that would eat away at your soul if left unchecked, consigning you to a fate worse than oblivion, but do not fear. My sister can heal your wounds." The world blurred around her as Selene finished speaking, and Ihra blacked out.

"Did it work?"

Despite the heat that saturated the fallen city, Ihra's body was shockingly cold as Jasper placed his fingers on the side of her neck. "She's got a pulse; I can barely feel it, but it's there," he answered S̆ams̆ādur's question with a sigh of relief. "Thank god it worked."

He frowned, though, as she realized she wasn't waking up. "Was the potion not enough?" He quickly cast Circle of Forgiveness on her, but as the massive bruises the abomination's tentacles had imprinted on her healed, it revealed jagged, black streaks across her flesh. "Is that…" He reached his hand out fearfully, but the durgu snatched it away.

"Don't touch it," the man hissed. "Do you want to spread it?"

He shrugged the man's hand off, casting Circle of Forgiveness again, but it didn't affect the streaks in the slightest. "Damn it, there's something we can do." He grabbed his bag, fumbling for a healing potion, but as he pulled one out, the durgu grabbed his attention.

"Hold on, I think they're shrinking."

He turned, potion in hand, to inspect the streaks, but couldn't see any differences. "Are they?"

"I'm pretty sure. Look," S̆ams̆ādur pointed to a streak that wrapped around her arm and ran nearly down to her elbow. "I'm also certain the darkness extended past this mole a few minutes ago, but now it's barely even with it."

A few more minutes confirmed it, as the darkness sluggishly receded above the mole. The healing was moving at a glacial pace, but at least it was working, Jasper decided. But she's not going to wake up any time soon. We need to get out of here.

He stood up quickly and glanced around the platform. Erin and S̆ams̆ādur were right beside him, but Tsia wobbled above the star, pushing back at the tendrils assaulting it with gales of wind. Together, the pair had nearly succeeded in forcing the darkness out, and the star was already mending the holes in its dome. But the battle had not come without a cost for the avatar, across whose form the darkness had spread.

Still, Jasper figured their best bet of closing the portal was helping the star, so with a twist of his fingers, he rose into the air and joined the frey. They worked in silence, with Jasper and Tsia fighting the bulk of the tendrils while the star focused on mending the holes that had been torn in the dome, and only when the last breach had been closed, did the star speak.

"It has been a long time since a child of fire came to my aid." Now that it was fighting for its life, the star seemed more articulate, but the streaks of darkness across its body still worried Jasper. He flew down to the platform before responding and placed himself in front of Ihra, just in case it proved to be as insane as everything else they'd encountered in the fallen realm. "I thought they all had fallen," it continued sadly.

"I'm glad we could help, Lord Nūr," he began smoothly, but the star jerked violently at the use of the name.

"I am not Nūr. Nūr died long ago. Now, I am only Dipāru."

"My apologies, Lord Dipāru," he corrected himself, but the star interrupted him again.

"Have you come to rescue me? Tell me, has Eṣidannu fallen?"

Rescue you? Jasper was caught flatfooted and cleared his throat. "Um, I'm afraid I am not familiar with Eṣidannu. Is that the name of the city outside?"

"No, Arag fell long ago," the star replied, seemingly surprised by the question. "When the walls fell to the mimmûl, the maidens and a few of the priests shut themselves in my temple, but it has been many years since they last attended to me. I had lost hope that anyone yet remained untainted by its filth," it said despondently, before returning its focus to Jasper. "But if you are not from Esidannu, that means somewhere still remains? Is it Dimtûl? Barag-Gudur? There were rumors that perhaps Lord Nūraddin had reclaimed Gizilla, but…"

"I'm afraid I don't know any of those names except for the last one," Jasper cut in. "I've heard of Lord Nūraddin, though mostly in stories so old they're practically mythology. Supposedly, he led the Djinn from the ruins of their homeworld to the world we came from, the world we're hoping to return to."

"To another world? Then you…" The star's brightness dimmed as it reached a realization. "You did not come to rescue me."

"We kind of came here by accident," Jasper admitted. "An evil mage in our world opened a portal that led here, and we're trying to close it before it can do too much damage, but we're not sure how to do it."

The star's light pulsed. "There's a way to get off this accursed world?"

He nodded reluctantly.

"Then, take me with you, and I shall close it," it said decisively.

Jasper eyed the dark streaks running across the avatar's body dubiously. He didn't want to accuse the god, if that's still what it was, of being potentially violently insane, but neither did he want to be the fool who brought back the mysterious corruption to their world. "But what about your…" he paused, searching for the word the star had used a few times, "mimmûl?"

"I will recover," the avatar of Nūr replied. "Now, take me to this portal."

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