I tried to clear my throat, but the sharp stinging from my missing eye brought me low. As I swayed, a warm hand touched my cheek, soothing the pain. Through slow, fluttering blinks I regained my vision and stared at my hands as the cuts and blood seeped away.

"Thank you, I needed that," I said.

Her chuckle was melodic, and all encompassing as the very world of the memory echoed it.

"It's not good to lose your vision so recklessly. But you know, you could have willed this avatar's injuries away," she said.

"No. I needed him distracted. I knew you were coming."

"About that, Cyrus," she sighed. Beside me, the woman sat down and leaned against my shoulder. Even now I couldn't really make out her features, as the gold flames making up her body would shift on an unseen wind. "You're not supposed to be here. Not yet."

"It's my memory."

"While true, that doesn't change the fact."

Anger surged but fled within the instance of its appearance. I was too wrung out, and currently all my pent-up rage was directed toward something else.

Clearing my throat, I rested my head on one knee and stared at the sleeping form of a child laying on healthy grass surrounded by a sea of charcoal.

"I have so many questions. So many things I want answered that I know nobody can but you." When she didn't respond I continued, tightening my grip on my leg. "Why me, why then? Was everything up until now a lie? Was it not random? Am I really cursed by fate? Was I the reason they…"

A glowing hand reached out and brushed my knee. Gentle, safe. That single touch created a ripple in the world and filled me with the warmth of a campfire.

"I cannot answer many things, Cyrus. It's not time yet. But do know that your parents' deaths are not your fault. That I can assure you."

A conflicting flood of emotions rioted through me, but I held it in and took a deep breath. "Are you the same, uh woman. I met before?"

"I have many forms, but I do believe being a woman is my favorite." I sighed in relief and she tapped my hand before snapping. A small screen appeared showcasing the time I went to contract Erebus. "Aaah, so that's what you mean. And to think she meddled so."

The screen blipped out of existence with a flick of her fingers.

"Oh well, it was probably for the best. Considering all that I've seen so far, you needed that skill. Even if you are too weak to utilize it fully. Work on that by the way, there's so much more to that skill that you know."

Before I could voice another question she rose to her feet and dragged me along. Even face to face, hers was hard to read. I did make out a smile, and soft eyes containing an age beyond even the gods.

She patted my cheek with a firm touch and raised her hand. "Your woes are not over, I'm sorry child. But you must go on. This memory is yours to have, and I can see the need for you to process so I'll help you this once to filter through it. Your fractured skill was correct. An amalgamation of misuse of skills, fresh trauma that feels as new as but an hour ago, along with many other complexities of the mortal mind has harmed you in ways you have only partially acknowledged. I'll help this memory settle, but know that you won't be able to visit me again. Not like today. Even if it was a very clever maneuver on your part."

She said the last sentence with the grace of a mother acknowledging her misbehaving, but smart child. It sent a fresh pang of sadness, and I suddenly didn't want to say goodbye.

"Can I at least know your name?" I asked as she conjured a thread of gold silk.

The silk wove together, spooling into intricate patterns that somehow formed a sphere made of glass.

"No. It is not yet time. When it is, you will know and much like my dear sister, I'll await your ascension into our ranks."

I had a thousand more questions to ask, but I knew the moment the marble completed its creation, that I was out of time.

Already the memory was blurring at the edges and falling away, revealing the sea of stars. The woman leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

For that one moment, all pain fled, every negative emotion pulled away so quickly I was left stunned. Information flowed in; instructions that were hard to grasp but slowly cemented itself into the back of my thoughts.

Blinking once, I found myself falling again, and the woman waved as I slipped further and further away. Before she reached the edges of my vision, I saw the sprout of giant wings that flapped once and sealed the fragmented memory shut.

Before I could adjust, a tugging sensation pulled at my chest and I was yanked through the void space and sent hurdling. I broke through the lake of mana, and caught my familiars raising there heads as I shot away from the island.

With a scream my brain shuddered as I slipped back into my physical body and shoved Mordred away.

Pain returned in a flood. What I felt as I landed in my soulrealm was childsplay by comparison. My lungs were barely rising, every bone stiff and my muscles unresponsive. I was freezing, like I was forced into a blizzard with dozens of open wounds.

All I heard was ringing in my eyes and only out of one, as the other produced a suffocating silence.

Yet, despite the injuries, I felt the desperation of my familiar forcing what little healing she could into my body. It was an uphill battle, as the electricity burned into my many channels fought against her. More than half of her mana was burnt away before it even had a chance to start fixing my flesh.

I would have kept laying there; I desperately wanted to keep my eyes closed and rest.

But the ringing faded, and with it came snarling fury as the person raged at the sky.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! You monster! Leech! I'll rip that fragment from your soul! How dare you!"

I lifted my head and eyed the partially melted form of the demon. One half of his body was a bloody ooze that surrounded charred bone. Only small patches of fur remained, giving the possessed beastkin the appearance of mange-riddled flesh.

Absent from its back was the king's body. Even it only existed as mostly char while pieces of bone jingled with the demon's frantic movements.

"You don't deserve to be my slave! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

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Thump. Thump. Thump.

The rest of the world fell away as my eyes narrowed onto Arz'odral. With every fiber of my body protesting against me, I forced my arm forward.

Áine protested immediately. "Master! No!"

I sent her back my thoughts, distilling all the rage into that fine needle-point. Áine's fists slowed and I pressed on, closing the link. Her healing continued to fight its way through me and every second helped me move forward.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Arz'odral kept screaming. I tuned it out, hearing the sounds of my heart struggle to keep up as I dragged myself along the ground. The demon had one eye at least, but the milky film over the red probably meant he was blind.

Closer. I shoved my nails into the dirt and braced. My arm trembled, and my fingers started to spasm. I ignored it all, and willed my other arm forward.

"I am going to torture every last one of you miserable wretches! I'll–"

Growling, I rose to my knees and flicked my tail. In the back of my mind, Mordred smirked and he took control of my mana.

Áine didn't protest twice, but she abandoned trying to fix my ribs and lungs. Instead she shoved a painful wave of healing energy into my mana channels around my spine and down my tail.

My tail hovered in the corner of my vision, the prismatic flames surging as glowing lines etched itself into the crystalline tip.

Cut or Sever.

The jolt of containing mana into the tail sent hairline cracks through the tip, causing me to grunt.

Arz'odral finally turned. His head whipped around as raised his one good claw.

"Fledgling? Fledgling! I'll kill you! I'm going to kill you and all your friends! Hear me fledgling, I'll–"

Shut up!

My tail pierced through his hardened flesh with ease. Like a hot knife through butter, it stabbed into his left lung and out the back.

Arz'odral gurgled as the air pressure in his chest changed. With one hand, I grabbed his throat and pulled him closer.

Thump. Thump.

My other hand tapped my skull. Galarion oozed out as a muted blob lined with teeth. He stretched and expanded, growing till he dwarfed the demon's head in size. Without any gentleness he showed me, his tentacles burrowed into the demon's skull, earning another strangled scream in the process.

I worked my tongue, pushing through the parts that were paralyzed.

"You… I'm going to bleed you dry… Take everything you have to claim for yourself."

His claws dug into my shoulder, but I worked my tail through his back and into his shoulder. His arm lost most of its strength but he clutched on.

Good. Brace yourself, asshole.

Galarion started to pull at his memories and the demon thrashed. I accepted the injuries and held him in place.

Mordred roared in delight and he helped direct another thread of mana into a different skill.

"Once I do this, I'm done. You'll be on your own for a while. So if you get us killed…"

"Just fucking do it already," I retorted.

Mordred gave the impression of shrugging and red and green motes formed beside me. When Zagreus formed entirely, a ringing crack echoed in my soul. Mordred's presence fell away, and I knew it would be resting on the throne if I looked inward.

None of that mattered right now. Two of Zagreus's heads butted in my cheek while the other half hissed at the squirming demon.

I didn't have the capacity to look Zagreus's way so I sent over the same distilled emotion packet I sent Áine.

Dredging up what willpower I had left nearly wrung me dry. The corners of my vision were black, even with Áine's healing.

I still pressed on and activated Spirit Lord's Invocation.

Zagreus broke down as he settled on my body, and made changes. My arms thickened and red scales stretched across my skin. Already, Áine's mana was finding it easier to flow through my body with the increased regeneration from the transformation.

But I felt like a balloon with too many holes. My vision blackened even more and I nearly lost my grip as Arz'odral shook himself.

I found the demon's eye. The milky red, containing hatred even when he looked so damn pathetic.

Thump.

Zagreus' transformation flowed and it stretched up my neck and over my jaw. A row of extra large fangs pressed against my lips, while an even smaller row of jagged teeth formed across the hardened red scales.

"I-I'll… Kill you!"

Arz'odral slapped his hand against my chest and the curse responded. My soul ached as the bound skillwisp hammered against the island.

"Heh… You know what. That's fine. I needed to awaken that thing anyways." I opened my jaw and tested the weight of the extra teeth. "I told you… I'm going to take it all. Every last, fucking drop!"

The curse rebelled in my soul and pulled me closer to the demon's hand. His claws pushed through the skin of my stomach but it didn't matter.

Thump!

I extended my jaw and bit down on Arz'odral's neck.

Blood pooled, and the extra set of teeth actively pulled at the blood with suction. The first droplet hit my tongue and it was the sweetest, most delectable drink I had ever tasted.

I growled, and pushed myself deeper into the demon's neck, using my tail and thickened arms to hold him steady. He bucked, and the force nearly threw us back, but I dragged him with me and pinned him to the ground.

The first gulp burned like molten metal, settling into my gut. It started to move, and change, my burnt and ragged cells reacting to the blood filled with power.

Everything. I'm going to make you regret everything!

The second gulp came and Arz'odral slumped against me.

The pressure in my stomach built, and I started to feel sick, but I wanted more! I wouldn't stop until I bleed the bastard dry!

"You know… fledgling. You forgot," Arz'odral rasped.

I bit harder, tearing through the meat of his shoulder as I felt the powerful heartbeat in his chest throttle blood in an attempt to combat the injury.

The curse in my stomach twisted, but I kept a grasp on it, using golden thread to bend it's mana. Even now, the demon was losing, the curse was mine to control.

I used it to strengthen the connection but removed its fangs entirely, letting the knowledge granted by the woman guide my actions.

Blood, life, body and soul. I was going to take everything!

Arz'odral chuckled, a weak harmless thing. His lips touched my ear and his tongue slipped out. "You forgot my words… De-demons, don't fight… Fair."

I completed the inversion of the curse, the golden cocoon mixing with the blackened red to form a cage. All I had to do was pull and then–

Arz'odral's body erupted in power as the last of the king's body turned to dust. Crystals appeared atop the blackened ground and a blur shoved me away. Bones snapped and I cried out, but shadows extended across the ground and rose into the air.

By the time I looked up, a bleeding woman covered in more stab wounds than open patches of skin stood before Arz'odral. His claw was in her back, and she loomed over me with hollow eyes that glowed red.

"You think you lost it all? It's time you learn, fledgling!"

He twisted his arm and the woman gasped as shadows spilled from her mouth. They stretched as six limbs grabbed at reality and tore through them. One limb crumpled and receded as the woman recoiled, but the others…

Eodyne's unconscious body hung limp in shadowy claws. Celenae fought to escape but every barrier she made was penetrated by the shadows and shattered. Igas fought as well, ice forming and breaking with every inch of movement.

In the final two limbs, Teddy and Arturous were held up, neither moving while dim, golden blood seeped through the shadowy fingers with a hiss.

"No!"

My tail sliced through the women's neck, but the shadows remained. I tried to stand but the bones in my leg gave as what little reinforcement of freshly healed sinew and crystal cracked under the sudden movement.

Arz'odral roared with laughter as the shadows pooled together and formed a swirling vortex with him in the middle. The first limb started to retreat, and Eodyne's head fell into the shadowy void.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"No!" I screamed.

Using my remaining strength I slammed into the woman's body. She crumpled like wet paper and bowled over without much resistance. Arz'odral eyed me with a bloody smile and grabbed Galarion. Mana burned crimson and my familiar was ripped off and tossed aside.

I had to do something. Anything at all.

The demon kept laughing as he sank, and Igas was now up to his neck in the shadows.

Come on, come on!

My chest bucked, and I sank mental claws into the bound curse. Golden threads rose from the mana lake like an angry kraken, and grabbed hold.

Pull!

Arz'odral's laugh cut off, and his eyes widened.

"You dare!" he growled.

I pulled again, and the cocoon inside my soulrealm was filled with a bead of dark red. I pulled again, but Arz'odral extended his arm and the shadows surrounded me.

I laughed through bloody teeth and returned a smile. "I'm taking it all."

"Not if I kill you first!"

Arz'odral lunged. In that same instance, a shadowy portal appeared, separated from the ones pulling my friends into the void.

Black fingers shot toward Arz'odral's neck, as a blade of shadows cut through reality.

"Die!" Isaac screamed.

Arz'odral pulled back in time and avoided the cut to his neck. Isaac's blade continued to travel and it sliced through his remaining arm. Inside my soulrealm, the golden threads crashed back into the lake as the tension went limp.

"Isaac, no!"

In a crackle of red and black, the shadows warped and Celenae was swallowed into the vortex with a scream. Two figures raced forward and crashed into Teddy and Arturous with a flash of golden light.

Another figure wrapped Isaac and me in a cloak of water and ripped us away as the demon sank into the storm.

The demon met my eyes from across warped space in outrage. I reached forward and landed close enough to touch Arz'odral's chest.

But the vortex snapped shut and my claws landed on nothing.

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