There were three undead waiting for us outside. I cursed, replacing my axe with my pistol and planting bullets in their heads as fast as I could. Two struck home, and the creatures hissed before retreating into the mist, while the third shrieked as its wing was pierced and dived backwards over the wall, out of sight.

Griffin gasped as the things' gazes diverted, and our strength started coming back. "Oh, oh no, what were those things?"

"I have no idea," I said. "Guardians, I think. Maybe cursed. Come on!" I kept dragging them forward. They struggled to keep up with me, especially with their ankles shackled together, but I couldn't stop yet. I took us towards the empty building and jumped through the open doorway.

We landed in a thankfully isolated yard, far from the sounds of commotion. I took a chance and peeked over the wall. Arthur's chamber wasn't far from here. We could run for it if we had to.

I hissed and fell back down. I could feel the injuries Griffin's Fiend was inflicting on mine, and by the look of the cut that opened on their face and the blood staining the front of their shirt, they could feel the same thing.

"What…what's happening?" they asked. "Why am I bleeding? Am I dying?"

"We share our Fiends' wounds here," I said. "Ours are fighting, so we're probably going to feel worse soon. Hopefully they don't kill each other."

Griffin's hand's started to shake. I saw tears welling in the corners of their eyes. "Why'd you have to take me away?" they said. "I almost…we were getting somewhere!"

"No you weren't!" I insisted. "Look. I've been feeling strange things too. Like…pity. For the Fiend. But it's not real, it can't be. That's not how I feel in the real world. This place is messing with your head, it's making it harder for you to get rid of the thing causing all of your problems. But you have to—"

"But it wasn't! Doing that!" Griffin yelled, uncharacteristically loud and angry. "We were both causing problems! I was just as much an issue for them as they were for me!"

"'They' aren't even a person!" I said, starting to lose my patience. Why couldn't they see this? Maybe the palace's manipulations were hitting them hardest because they were inherently kinder than me. It was easy for someone who always saw more good in people to twist themself into giving a monster an identity. "It's a parasite, Griffin! A disease! All it wants to do is hurt and kill!"

Griffin just shook their head, leaning up against a wall, and holding their hands to their eyes to keep the tears back. "Now it's all gone," they said. "That was my one chance. One chance to resolve things…gone…."

"Griffin, I know you're upset," I said, letting myself be a little bit softer. "I need you to pull it together a little bit. Okay? Arthur needs our help, and I can't give it to him alone. Even if all this ends up being a total failure, we still need to make sure we all get out alive."

They nodded. "Okay. Okay. Sure." They tilted their head back and took a deep, stabilising breath. "So where is he? What's going on?"

I explained the situation: how Arthur was imprisoned, how the pure water at the Pool's source let me see the cords, and how the undead dragons cursed us with their stare. Now with something tangible to focus on other than their Fiend, Griffin was able to calm themself. Our wounds stopped appearing after a minute or so, which meant danger was a lot more imminent. If the Fiends weren't fighting anymore, they were probably hunting for us, and now there were two to look out for.

"The plan," I said, "is brute force."

Griffin's brow furrowed in concern. "That seems…out of character," they said.

"Well, tell me if you can think of a better way," I argued. "That room doesn't have any other entrances, it doesn't have anywhere to hide, and the key to Arthur's cage is tied around the demon's neck. It's not like the key will fall off on its own. We'll need to rip it off ourselves."

"Okay…" said Griffin. "So we just attack the demon?"

"I'll distract it, since I've got weapons," I said. "You wait for an opening to snatch the key, then you let Arthur out and we all run to the spring and get out of here."

"Just like that? What about the reason we came here? I don't think anyone's separated yet."

I grimaced. "I tried to cut your cord, but it didn't work. I don't know if I'll be able to cut Arthur's either. I can't get myself to cut mine, and we'd need to go to the spring anyway for anyone else to even see the cord to try. If we aren't being pursued, we can take a minute there to each try cutting them again, but if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. This place is enormously dangerous, and leaving alive is the most important thing."

"Right," said Griffin. They stood up, legs a little shaky. "Okay. Let's go."

I helped boost them up onto the wall before jumping up myself. I glanced at where the cords were pointing before we ran off. Mine was aimed back towards Griffin's chamber, so we'd have some time before that Fiend caught up with us. Griffin's was pointed towards the spring, though, and wasn't moving. That would be a problem for later. I sensed that we might not get a chance to all try tasting the spring water after all.

I heard the shuffling and splashing sounds of more undead crawling through the yards below us, but I did my best to keep us moving and avoided eye contact. Griffin couldn't help but stare at each one in horror as we passed them by, but luckily our stares didn't register to them as much as theirs did to us, and we made it to Arthur's chamber without any more encounters.

I did remember, though, that there had been undead on the upper balconies inside the last time I came in, so I readied my weapons and jerked my head towards the door, motioning for Griffin to open it. Once there was just enough of a gap to enter through, I went first.

Thankfully, the undead seemed to have spread out over the complex rather than returning to roost in here, and I didn't see any of them. Arthur's Fiend was laying down, too, facing towards the door, but curled up with its eyes closed like it was trying to sleep. It didn't even seem to register us opening the door. Behind it, in the cage, Arthur sat with his back against the bars, dejectedly staring off into nothing like a corpse. He didn't acknowledge our presence, either.

I saw the bright blue cord between them, too, and seeing it gave me a small flicker of hope that we'd be able to salvage at least some good out of this trip. I had expected it to be tougher and even more tangible than Griffin's or mine, but it was actually fainter, thinner, more like a string than a cord. If Griffin's was too hard to cut, this one might be a lot easier.

"You go right, I'll go left," I whispered to Griffin. They nodded and we split up, tip-toeing around each side of the room. As I got closer, I saw Arthur's eyes shift to follow me, but he kept quiet. I didn't say anything to him for fear of him alerting the beast. If he hadn't changed since earlier, engaging with him would just make this harder than it needed to be. Hopefully once the link was cut, he'd be back to his normal self.

Griffin stopped, hovering over the Fiend's neck, their eyes watching me closely for the signal. I kept going a little farther past the monster, to a spot on the floor where Arthur's cord was exposed. I slowly raised my axe, careful not to bang it against the metal cage, and then—

"What are you doing?" Arthur said, his voice rapidly crescendoing as he watched me raise my weapon. "What are you doing!?"

I swung, but the Fiend was faster. It snapped awake and lashed its tail out, knocking my feet out from under me. I hit the ground hard, the cord suddenly whipping back and forth too much to keep track of while the demon lunged on top of me.

"Damn it, Arthur!" I roared. The beast tried to snap at my neck, and caught the handle of my axe instead as I held it up as a makeshift shield. I needed both my hands to keep it from tearing out my throat, so I dropped my pistol and was suddenly without a way to resist other than hoping it backed off before my strength gave out. The key dangled just in front of me like a taunt.

"Grab it, Griffin!" I screamed. "Grab it now!"

Griffin darted forward but was caught by the demon's lashing tail, swinging them into the stony dais with a yelp of pain. They clutched at their chest, struggling to breathe.

"Why are you doing this?" Arthur cried. "You're getting hurt…!"

As if I don't know that! I thought bitterly. The demon lifted its arms off the ground, putting its weight behind the force on top of my axe. I felt the haft starting to bend. It would break before the demon gave up, I realised.

I had to take a gamble or die. The demon hadn't bothered to pin my legs down or anything, so with one move I let go of the axe and shoved myself to the side, rolling out from under the monster just before its jaws snapped shut and shattered the haft of my axe. I grabbed my fallen pistol and kicked upwards to get back to my feet.

The demon was fast, though, and it was lunging again as soon as I was up. I grabbed the bars of the cage with one hand, about to try the same thing I did at the arena. This time, though, the foot I tried to boost with landed against its teeth, and I felt several sharp stabs pierced my leg just above my ankle. I gasped in pain, but luckily it let go before it tore my foot off, and I was able to drag myself up on top of the cage with one bad foot. I was bleeding heavily, but I wouldn't die for a little while at least.

I pointed my gun at the demon, and…hesitated. What's wrong with me!? I screamed in my head. It almost took your foot off, just shoot it! Arthur will live!

But the thought of hurting my friend came with overwhelming shame and guilt, and no matter how much I tried to force my finger to close around the trigger, it just wouldn't. I snarled at myself, truly hating the fake thoughts this place was putting in my head almost as much as I hated the Fiend. I'd have to try another way.

Griffin had kept chasing the monster around the dais, struggling with an awkward gait from being both shackled and out of practise on two legs, and soon the monster turned its attention toward them instead. It hissed, opening its mouth as frigid fog began leaking out in preparation for a blast of ice.

I felt my heart clench with fear, remembering what that breath had done to the fiends at the cathedral. I didn't have time for another manoeuvre, not with a bad leg, the only thing I had to stop what was about to happen was my gun. Finally, the need to save Griffin was enough to overcome the false guilt, and I was able to fire.

Only, I didn't aim where I had originally intended. I wanted to land a shot on its horn to shatter it and distract it, but the bullet actually ended up grazing its neck right where the key was tied. There was a quiet snip sound as the bullet tore right through the thin string keeping it up, and the key dropped to the ground with a metallic clink. Arthur yelped in pain at the shot, and that caught the demon's attention as it looked up at Arthur in a way that almost suggested concern. Almost.

"Now!" I screamed, and Griffin listened. They lunged for the key, sliding underneath the demon and snatching it up as they passed by, moving with far more acrobatic skill than I expected from them. By the terrified look on their face, I guessed it was fuelled by adrenaline. They dashed to the cage door and slammed the key into the slot.

The door didn't just open; the entire cage melted into lukewarm liquid metal. I fell right in front of Arthur, landing hard on my back. The demon stared at the empty space where the cage had been, clutching its heaving chest like it was having trouble breathing, before it ran for the door. I levelled another shot, this time at its wing, but with all of us out of immediate danger, my ability to harm it had disappeared. I threw my pistol down in frustration.

"N-No!" Arthur wailed. "What did you do!?"

"We rescued you," I said flatly. "We're all under some kind of mental manipulation from this place. It's making you think differently than you really want to, just like the Fiend. You have to fight against it. We're leaving whether you want to or not."

Arthur shook his head, his own breathing unstable and shallow. "You're wrong, I…I know that I'm right," he said. "I'm going to die. I'll die without them."

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"You'll be worse than dead with them," I insisted. "Not that it matters. Our one chance got away from us because you woke the damn thing up. Get on your feet. I know the way out, and we're taking it."

Arthur glared at me, but slowly rose. It gave me some time to examine my leg injury. I could walk, but I would be slow. Standing was painful. My leg had six deep puncture wounds just above the ankle, and putting any weight on that foot made them bleed worse. I had been planning on just carrying Arthur if he decided to keep being a problem, but I wouldn't be doing that anymore, and Griffin was far too scrawny to carry him and keep up the pace. I'd have to rely on him actually following.

Once Arthur was on his feet, I limped to the floor and picked up my lost axe head. Arthur still had the cord. He wouldn't let me try and cut it in this state, so I'd have to surprise him with it while we were on the way to the spring. Preferably before we got there, because I really didn't want to have to try to cut it in the middle of a fight with Griffin's Fiend. But it couldn't be too far away, either, because who knew what kind of side effects severing these parasites would have on us here?

"Can you run?" I asked Arthur. He nodded. "Good. We're going to need to go fast. Griffin's Fiend is already at the spring we're headed to, and I think yours is going in the same direction. It'll be a fight, but we just need to get underwater. Then we should be back with the others, and we can go home and prepare to face Barbosa. Ready?"

Arthur held his breath for a long stretch of moments, but eventually nodded again.

"Yes," said Griffin.

"Okay." I made sure my pistol was in my hand and fully loaded, ready to take another shot. "If you see any more of those half-dead dragons, shout and I'll get rid of them."

"What even are they?" asked Arthur as we made for the exit.

"This place's curse, I reckon," I said. "The result of whatever Valhë did to this place, assuming that story's true. Thankfully they disappear for a little while if you 'kill' them."

Arthur didn't seem comfortable with that answer. He crossed his arms tight in front of himself as we went outside. The Fiend was already gone, and while I could see an undead dragon around a corner nearby, it hadn't spotted us yet. Silently, I led the way to the wall and boosted the other two up. I pointed in the direction of the spring, then held up three fingers and counted down.

On zero, I started sprinting as fast as I could. Which wasn't very fast, between my foot crying out in agony every time I slammed it against the hard stones of the wall and how low I was running on energy after running around this whole complex and fighting Arthur's Fiend, but it was fast enough to be worth it. The others easily kept pace behind me as we ran for the spring.

"I can't see anything," said Arthur. "It's so foggy out here."

Right, I thought to myself. It must still be foggy for them because they haven't drunk the water. Damn. I'd have to keep an eye out for dragons on my own.

Almost as soon as I had that thought, I heard Arthur gasp and stumble. I glanced back and saw his eyes wide as he clutched his chest. "What…?" he wheezed. My head snapped up and looked around, and I spotted the dragon on a distant rooftop, a hiss sliding out of its slack jaw as its eyes glowed and locked on to Arthur. I raised my pistol and shot, and the hiss immediately silenced as the thing retreated into mist.

Arthur took a sudden, deep breath. I gave him a hard pat on the back. "That's those dead things," I said. "The curse. We need to move faster, the rest of them definitely heard that shot, and they'll be swarming towards us soon."

"I…" Arthur said, then sucked in a breath. "Yeah. Okay." He shoved Griffin forward as he started running again. "Move!"

At least he still had some sense of self-preservation. We kept going, the others moving ahead as I lagged behind on my injured foot. More undead dragons arrived, just as I thought, drawn by the sound of gunfire. I kept planting bullets in their skulls, but they were just replaced by more only a minute later. Our pace slowed as each of us was sapped by the curse. Griffin stumbled and fell.

"I can't walk," they said, frantic. "Help. Please."

I went to shoot the dragon staring at them and heard only a loud click from my pistol. I reset the hammer and tried again, only to hear an even louder chunk noise.

Oh no.

"I'm out," I said and tossed the now useless weapon on the ground. I hadn't considered that the gun this place conjured could actually break like a real one, but that had been a mistake. "Misfire. Come on. I promise we'll get there."

I bent down, nearly falling over myself from fatigue, and lifted Griffin over my shoulders, carrying them like one of the sheep I used to herd. I barely had the strength to lift them, and every step was slow and agonising. I could hear more dragons coming up behind us, their claws clicking against the stone and their hisses filling the air like a serpentine choir. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, unable to focus on anything else. I couldn't even bring myself to act on the plan I had for Arthur's cord. I should have done it earlier. Now he wouldn't escape this place free.

"Belfry," said Griffin. Their voice was so quiet. "I hear my heart slowing down."

"Shh," I said. "Save your strength. We're almost there."

We were. We only had to make it past one more yard and we'd be at the spring. I didn't see Griffin's Fiend there like I had expected to, and wondered where it might have gone. We were so close, but at our pace, it was also so, so far.

"I'm not going to make it," Griffin said, barely able to manage a whisper.

"Don't say that," I said, my voice seething between teeth clenched in stress.

"Sorry…" they muttered. I felt them sag on my back.

"Griffin!" I shouted. "Keep your eyes open! Come on!"

Then I heard the whoosh of great wings flapping. My hopes plummetted off a cliff. Why now!?

I braced myself for the attack that I knew was coming, but it never came. Instead, I felt the weight pressing down on me from the curse begin to lift, and the chorus of hissing behind us was interrupted by a defiant roar. I glanced back to see that my Fiend, not Griffin's, had crashed into the group of dragons, slashing at them with its claws and hurling them away with powerful blows from its tail. It sucked in a deep breath and blew a plume of fire over the yard to one side, incinerating an entire pack of the things until they returned to mist.

Is it helping us, or fighting them for its own sake? I wondered. It was probably acting in self-defence. If our injuries were mirrored, me dying might mean that it died too. Either way, it was taking one of the threats away, and I felt Griffin stirring in my grip.

"You okay?" I asked as I carefully set them down.

"N-No!" they said hesitantly.

"You sound better at least," I reassured them. Their legs wobbled beneath them, but they were able to stand now. Meaning my hands were now free to grab my broken axe head. Arthur stood right in front of me, at the corner of the wall just above the spring. The undead dragons were distracted. I wouldn't get a better opportunity. Once more, I prepared to cut the cord.

And again, I was interrupted. A powerful force suddenly smashed into my side, tossing me off the wall where I rolled over the grassy yard. Even tucked against my chest, the axe head gave me several new nicks on my shoulder, only accelerating my blood loss as I pushed myself to my feet, thoroughly dizzy now.

Griffin's Fiend stood in front of me, and Arthur's was to its side, running in from one of the adjacent yards. Both of them snarled at me, looking frantic and desperate.

I cursed under my breath. "Make up your minds!" I hissed. "Are you helping us or not!?" I looked up to the other two, still leaning over the edge of the wall. "You! Get to that spring and dive in! I'll distract them!"

"I don't want to go if you're not coming!" said Griffin.

"If you're out, I bet this thing'll go with you!" I said. "It's the best way you can help me!"

Griffin did not seem to like that idea, but they started vaulting over the wall anyway. Their demon turned its attention away from me and towards them, its snarling growing louder.

"Oh, no you don't!" I roared and charged it myself.

I couldn't hurt it too badly for fear of hurting Griffin. At least on that front, I didn't have much choice. My gun was gone, and I wouldn't be able to put much force behind the axe head in my hand. Instead, I did something immensely stupid and tried to wrestle a demon to the ground.

I rushed forward and swung my arms around its neck. It felt like I was trying to throw a bear, or even worse than that. Even its neck muscles were strong enough to completely eclipse my ability to hold it still. I couldn't move it, but I might be able to slow it down at least. If worse came to worse, if I got hurt badly enough, my Fiend might come to fight them instead to make sure it stayed alive.

I dug my heels into the dirt and planted myself firmly on the ground. The Fiend tried to shove against me for a moment, making my feet skid backwards, ripping up the dirt as I went. But the resistance I was able to give was enough to slow it down, and Griffin and Arthur started getting away. The monster growled and swung a claw forward towards me.

There wasn't much I could do to resist without letting go or hurting Griffin, so I just turned to my side and took it. The demon's claws raked across my ribs, carving three deep gashes into my flesh. I could only grunt in pain. I was already wounded, and tunnel-visioned on slowing this thing down as much as possible. The dizziness from my roll wasn't fading anymore, though. I could tell my blood loss was getting worse.

The demon slashed me again, and then a third time before there was a splash behind me and it suddenly dissolved into thin air. I fell forward onto my face, the force I had been pushing against gone.

But there was no time to lay down and rest. Arthur's demon started running past me as he jumped down from the wall and followed after Griffin. I pushed myself to my feet as fast as I could, but the demon was fast and reached Arthur's side before I even steadied myself.

He was right in front of the altar over the spring, but stopped, cringing in fear as the demon ran up to him. Then it stopped, looming over his meek form and huffing loud breaths. It just stared at him, not attacking, at least not yet. I tightened my grip on my axe blade and limped towards them. It was distracted. I had another chance, certainly the last one I'd get.

Arthur unfolded from his terrified stance, looking the monster in the eye as it stared. Slowly, he relaxed, though not enough so to wipe the fear from his face.

"I don't understand," he said with a trembling voice. "Why did you do it? Why did you make me hurt Grace? I didn't want that, do you just enjoy causing suffering?"

The thing snorted. I was only a few steps away now. Arthur hadn't noticed my approach. Neither of them could stop me. I readjusted my grip, which had been loosened by sweat and blood on my palm.

"You took my self-control away," said Arthur. "How could I let that go? You make me dangerous to my friends. To myself. You're holding my life hostage. You're taking away the thing I think is most valuable about my own mind. I'll be in pain forever if I erase myself. I-I need me to be here. Can't you understand that?"

The demon gave a slow, uncertain nod, and the cord writhed on the ground in front of me at its movement. I collapsed to one knee, unable to hold myself up any longer, and with that motion I brought the axe down.

The blade stuck in the cord, not quite slicing all the way through. It felt like I was trying to cut into hard-packed dirt, but it could be cut, unlike Griffin's. Both Arthur and the demon let out the shrillest, most gut-wrenching screams I had ever heard in my life, screams loud enough that I feared they would shred Arthur's voice and render him mute for the rest of his life. Both of them stumbled, clutching desperately at their heads.

I hadn't anticipated it would be that painful, but I had to keep going. I couldn't rest with a half-finished job. I heaved myself back up and used my weight to force the blade down and through the rest of the cord, slicing it in two. The rest of the length of the cord disintegrated as the connection was severed. Arthur jerked back like he'd been shot in the head, his scream cutting out as he toppled backward into the water. The demon didn't vanish with him. It remained, fallen over on its side, its eyes open wide as it stared at nothing. It looked like it was dead, but I could see its chest rising and falling with each breath, even though it didn't respond at all to the world around it.

I collapsed onto my side, unable to hold myself up any longer. My strength was failing fast. I felt numb in my hands and feet. I didn't even have the strength to crawl to the water. But that was fine, I thought to myself. I could accept dying like this. Arthur was saved. That was the important part. He wouldn't succumb to the demon, and I would die free myself. I closed my eyes, all too ready to sink into the warm embrace I could feel was coming for me. Something in the corner of my mind felt odd accepting death so easily, but I pushed it away. It was one of the best ways I could go out.

I felt a presence above me, and opened my eyes reluctantly. I didn't want to see it coming if it was one of the undead dragons. But it wasn't. It was my Fiend. It had fury in its eyes as it bared its teeth and growled. Then it glanced up at where Arthur's emancipated demon laid unconscious, and its growl deepened to a snarl.

"I can't do it to you," I said, my voice as weak as my body.

The demon's claws clenched, chipping the stone below us as they dug right into the altar, and I wondered if it would really finish us both off right here. Then I heard a hissing sound, and the demon looked back. I couldn't move my head to see, but I knew it was more of the dead ones. Maybe dying to their curse wouldn't be so bad. It was sort of like bleeding out in its own way, because of the way it drained your strength.

I blinked, my eyes closing for who knows how long, but when I opened them again, the snarls had ceased. I felt distantly a pressure on my side as the demon bent its head down and pushed me from the side, sliding me along the ground.

Am I getting toyed with? I wondered, but the push was too gentle to feel malicious or even uncaring. I felt my arm fall over the edge of the altar and touch the water of the spring, and my eyes widened in confusion.

It…was saving me?

"Why?" I asked, but the demon didn't answer. Maybe it couldn't answer. One more push, and I slid over the edge and into the water.

This time, there was no embracing darkness. I saw light below me, blue and white light streaming in from somewhere unknown. I felt cold and numb all over, and thought I might die anyway, here in between worlds. But then everything inverted, and up was down and down was up, and I floated towards that light that was now coming from above me. I felt something shift in my head, some missing piece slotting back into place, one I hadn't even noticed that I was missing.

I broke the surface of the water in the glade and gasped, my lungs filling with much-needed air. My ribs ached as I breathed in deeply, and my limbs still felt horribly weak, but I couldn't float here anymore. I felt my tail and wings were back, I felt the water sliding over my scales. I was a dragon again, and I was back in one piece too.

Suddenly I didn't feel so tranquil about the prospect of dying here, and even despite the pain and difficulty, I thrashed my limbs, getting them back under me before I sank and drowned, and paddled to the edge of the pool before dragging myself out onto dry land and flopping down on the grass. Grace was instantly at my side, feeling my wounds and shouting for Emrys.

"Belfry!" she said. "Belfry, oh thank the saints you're okay, how badly are you hurt? Can you hear me? What happened in there? Is the Fiend gone?"

I growled, momentarily forgetting myself before reality came flooding back to me. «Tired,» I pushed from my mind. «Lost…a lot of blood.»

"Emrys!" Grace shouted. "Blood tonic! She's hurt, low on blood…."

I felt my eyes flicker, and Grace's attention snapped back to me. "Hey, now," she said, getting more frantic the closer my eyes got to closing. "Don't die on me, Belfry, please don't die on me, please stay with me!"

I didn't feel death looming over me anymore though, or I would have fought harder to stay awake. With my own body back, all that was wrong was that I was terribly, horribly exhausted, and needed a long rest. I wished I had the willpower to say as much to Grace. I felt awful just letting her keep panicking. But my mind was sluggish. All I could manage was a slight smile before I passed out.

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