Aiden felt like his veins were on fire.

His ears rang and his brain hurt as he siphoned mana through too thin an internal tube, releasing it into a blast of force at the monster. It hit straight in its chest, sending it slamming into the building. The troll growled but it stood almost instantly.

Not enough.

Aiden triggered another energy pulse, and while he used his hands to direct it, the real magic came from his neck; through the bit of magic he could siphon through the access point. Getting it out was painfully complicated and painfully…well, painful. It was also a different kind of torture knowing that a whole well of power lay underneath, resting, but he could only use drops.

When Lexie had cried out of that frustration of being powerless, he could understand how she felt, struggling with a similar thing himself.

Nevertheless, he'd used the little magic he could channel to create attack patterns, refining and perfecting his pathway process until it was easy for him to do at least a dozen of them. He'd practiced with Naem, focusing on force fields, energy waves, and teleportation until he was blue in the face. It was exhausting, but all that training was worth it because it got him to this point.

He used every bit of that practice on the troll. The creature recovered from the blast and ran towards him again. While durable, the good thing was that they were repetitive and not very intelligent. He hit once more, his mind pulsing, as he turned up the intensity. He was trying to drive it through the tall cathedral so that it would crash over him. That was the only building in the vicinity that could at least knock out a creature that big.

He'd sent it twice into the tower, but the building was sturdier than he imagined, and the creature was only getting stronger the angrier it got. Aiden needed to end this now so he could find his daughter, wherever she had gone off to.

One more thing to try, if he let himself get close, was to hit a weak spot in the troll's neck, target the tiny sliver of flesh that wasn't tough, leathered skin, impervious to even some blades. Aiden would have to get very close to the troll to see it and avoid all club swings. He needed to get ready.

Out of his hand, he crafted a series of sharp force fields, slicing them thin, readying them. It hurt, gods it hurt, like blood pushing against an artery that was stretched to burst. That single pathway wasn't meant to hold that much mana, but it twisted as it accommodated it. He directed it outwards, melding with the external mana. Then, he gave the forcefield at his feet a burst of speed, and as it rushed him closer, he located and targeted the spot he needed.

Right as he shot, the troll slammed its club into his stomach.

Blood hit his face as multiple glacier-like force fields sliced through the troll's neck. Aiden flew back, crashing on the floor. The pain consumed his body, but luckily, the strike hadn't broken anything. System healing would kick in soon, slowly but steadily.

He didn't have time to wait for it. He needed to find his daughter.

He had known the second Lexie had broken the forcefield because he was psychically attached to it. When it had broken, he'd panicked but wasn't surprised. It was too much to ask of his daughter to flee to safety, not when he and many others were in danger. She was too much like him for that, and too much like her mother.

He didn't have time to sit and celebrate his victory or nurse his wounds. Lexie might be in danger.

He put his hand out on the floor and pushed himself to kneeling biting back the agony coursing through his body, splitting his brain in two. He wouldn't stay down. Lexie needed him.

They'd come so far in their relationship. He'd told her her truth, and she hadn't run away from him. She hadn't cursed him. She'd forgiven him for his wicked actions and didn't fear him, or loathe him for forcing her to be what she was. She'd finally accepted that she was his daughter.

It was more than he deserved, more than he could have ever hoped for.

He had more to live for now that his fear was behind him, and he needed her to live too, for if Lexie died, he was not sure what would become of him.

He glanced around, making sure no one had seen him and then disappeared. The tracker he'd placed on her would have him appearing wherever she was. He couldn't afford to lose her again, and he would save her even if it took everything out of him.

Lexie stared around her at her friends, her face twisted in horror. The realization was a mocking presence, taunting her by asking, 'What are you going to do now?'

Lexie didn't know. Another dungeon was spawning, tugging her to the left. She tried to focus on it, to nail down exactly how far away it was, how strong it was. Right now, the pull was faint, so it was either weak or several hundred meters away.

"Lexie?" Xena asked. "Are you okay?"

Lexie shook her head mildly. She wasn't okay; none of them were. They couldn't take another dungeon. They were already swarmed, and she didn't know what would come out of the new dungeon. More trolls?

Even now, Torin was still trying to burn the trolls, but neither of them was dead yet. They could hear the angry shouts of the one they left behind, still engulfed in his fire. The one in front of them had a similar cry and was attempting to attack despite the flames.

Torin's face was as straight as ever, but a vein popped in his head. Lexie could sense his struggle in achieving opposing goals–making the fire burn hotter and higher while containing it enough that it didn't roar out of control.

He was doing that in two places. She didn't know if he could manage a third.

She had to somehow stop this new dungeon from spawning.

"I'll be back," she told Xena. "Just…when you're done here, help with the other troll."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to find my dad." She claimed as she raced away, ignoring Xena's calls for her to go back. As she turned the corner, she saw more of the destruction that had been wrought. More bodies. Once again, Lexie didn't look at them. She would deal with the trauma later. For now, she didn't want to think of them as dead. For now, she had a job to do.

She kept running, tracking the dungeon, but the signal remained faint and was growing even fainter. No matter how far she ran, it stayed away from her. Was the dungeon moving? How?

No time to wonder.

She activated <Hustle and Shuffle> and went after it. She left the town center, going further left and further west until she entered a forest. She could hear the waves crashing on a nearby cliff.

They were surrounded by a cathedral of tall trees, stretching high into the sky to pattern the sunlight. The more she ran, the thicker it got. Lanes of light led her in, and she chased them. At this point, she'd been running for minutes without <Lightfoot> elapsing. She knew she had tapped into her chaotic eldritch mana, but it was necessary. There was no way she was going to win without it.

The drum of her heartbeat and her breath were the main sounds she heard. It was punctuated by the whoosh of the wind, the breaking of the waves, and the chorus of the swaying trees.

Sea and pine filled her nostrils.

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The dungeon had finally stopped fleeing.

It was getting closer and closer, and once she was there, she stopped. She got on her knees and closed her eyes, meditating again, while remembering her father's words. She reached out to the mana below her, trying to make the connection.

Still, fear pounded in her heart, whittling at her conviction. If she did this…what would happen? Would the Eldritch part of her take over forever? Aiden didn't seem to think so, but there was no way to really know, was there? No one had ever had their Eldritch essence grow like she was.

But she had to do this. Her friends could be getting injured and overrun by trolls as they speak. She had to do something to help them.

Lexie swallowed and closed her eyes. She didn't know what to do or say to stop the dungeon from coming out. What if it wasn't an intelligent dungeon and all of this was for nothing? What if it was an intelligent dungeon and she became infinitely more Eldritch?

She took a deep, trembling breath. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they could fix it after Aiden and Naem. They could stitch her soul up differently and remove the Eldritch part entirely, or at least make it retreat.

For now, she needed to use it.

Lexie reached out and psychically connected to the dungeon, trying to calm her heartbeat. It was only a simple touch, not really much, yet the chaos rushed around her like a flock of crows flapping their wings. It scared her to be so surrounded. It felt like it would suck her in and trap her in the darkness until she became the darkness.

"No!" she screamed, and her eyes flew open.

Terror made it hard to breathe. She wanted to cry and vomit. She didn't want to be here, but she prevented herself from leaving.

She tried again. She put her hand over her face and breathed shakily, reaching out.

The darkness engulfed her, choking her, and once more, her mind jolted her awake.

God. She couldn't do it.

She was too terrified. She was dealing with things she didn't understand, and maybe she would be stuck in a nightmare forever.

She tried one more time, and this time, she didn't disconnect when the dark surrounded her. But then, flashes of images forced themselves into her mind. She saw dead bodies, the same ones in the city center, but more piled on top of each other. Their eyes opened and they bored into her, accusing her.

She tore herself away, and that was when she became aware that the dungeon had changed.

She had failed. It had spawned.

She drew back and waited for whatever would emerge. She waited for the Earth to shake, for another explosion, already preparing something to get her away from here. But it didn't happen.

Instead, the forest around her transformed, becoming thicker, darker. She straightened as the fear pressed down on her, the darkness following with an oppressive silence.

"What is this?" she whispered, and it echoed like a thousand voices were around her. Her breath hitched, and she swung around searching for what was there, but nothing was. Only identical-looking trees, a subtle fog hanging through the branches.

Wait no. That was no ordinary fog. It was moving, approaching her.

She had to run.

Lexie turned and sped off. She tried to activate her magic, but she couldn't open her system screen.

"System Interface on," she shouted. "I need my system interface!"

Nothing happened.

Her heart raced, her pulse hammered. The fear she was feeling was unnatural. The monster was Eldritch in nature.

She could feel it whispering to her, and invading everything, changing things. Paths disappeared, closed up by a thicket of trees, forcing her to double back and go in another direction. The floor beneath her transformed to mud sucking at his feet. It strengthened into quicksand, trapping her. She fought it, needing to flee, to get away. Desperate whines left her lips, but the more she tried to escape, the faster she sank. She was nearly knee-deep now. She pulled and used her hands to push back the murky surface.

"Dad!" she screamed. "Dad, help me!" Her voice was muffled. It didn't stretch far, smothered by the darkness that quickly folded her. She was neck deep in the mud now, phantom hands on her wrists trapping her so she couldn't struggle. Sticky soul pressed against her body, crushing her. All she could do was stare as the darkness formed into a figure that approached.

It walked on the mud, each step echoing in her ear, matching the beat of her heart. She could do nothing but huff out breaths, watching as the figure finally came into view.

It had her face. And her build. And everything else except for her eyeballs, which were swirling blacks of nothingness.

"Imposter," it said as it twisted its head at an unnatural angle. "You do not belong to this world, do you? You are an imposter, a creature meant for another dimension."

"Please." Lexie felt tears flowing down her cheeks, her sheer anguish making her beg. "Please let me go. I'm sorry."

"Go where? You have nowhere to go. This isn't your home. And that isn't your home, too. You belong nowhere, except in the darkness. With me."

"No. Please don't." Don't take me to the darkness. I don't want to spend an eternity there.

The creature transformed. To her devastation, Logan's face stared down at her. It smiled cruelly as it spoke, "You were supposed to take care of him, weren't you? You were the only one who cared about him, the only one he could trust. But you left him. Do I show you what happened after you were gone?"

"No, I don't want you to show me anything."

"But you do. You're tormented with it, with the idea of his suffering. You can't stop thinking about it. I can see."

Suddenly, the environment changed, and Lexie was no longer stuck in the bog. She was now in a room with familiar green wallpaper. Shouting surrounded her, and she glanced around, recognizing the PlayStation propped next to the bed, a flat-screen TV with a crack in the corner, comic books piled high enough to block out the window, dirty clothes, and take-out boxes strewn on the floor.

It was her brother's room, but messier. A lot messier. There was a hole in the wall the size of a fist. She also noted beer cans in an overflowing trash bin. The windows were closed and obscured by dark curtains. The air smelled stale.

The yelling was getting closer and closer, and Lexie backed away as the door swung open, Logan stalking inside. She expected him to say something when he saw her there, but he didn't. He stalked to his bed and swept everything from it.

Lexie flinched as a ceramic and food crashed to the ground. He sat in front of his TV and grabbed his controller, but his hand shook and his face swelled from anger. He stood and he flung it at his wall.

The controller broke, and Logan screamed. He collapsed back onto the bed, put his hand over his face, and cried.

Something inside Lexie broke.

She approached him slowly, her heart breaking even more as her gaze tracked down his face. He was older than she remembered, maybe about sixteen. His hair was overgrown and dirty, tied at the top of his head, the sides shaved into a messy mohawk. He was also thinner. His eyes, when she'd seen them, had been bloodshot.

It wasn't just from sleeplessness. When Lexie got closer, she realized that he stunk of alcohol.

Tears flowed from her eyes, and she reached out and touched his hair. It was soft, giving the scene an agonizing realism.

"Logan," she called out softly, patting his head like she used to when he was a little boy scared of the boogeyman under his bed.

"Lexie..." he whispered.

"I'll come back, Logan," she told him, leaning down and pressing her head against his. "I swear I'll come back."

"Will you?" The scene changed back to the forest, and Lexie was once again trapped in the bog, staring at the creature with her face. It snapped its fingers, and before she could adjust, she was in her brother's room once more.

He wasn't there. The creature was now Logan and was sitting in her brother's favorite gaming chair. "It's been three years. Every night in his dreams, he sees you lying on the ground, bleeding out. He sees you calling for him as you die, and he blames himself for it. For not walking home with you, for letting you go to the gas station on your own. The nightmares won't let him sleep. The guilt ruins his life, ruins your family's life."

"Stop."

"Your father left. No one has seen or heard from him in years. Your mother barely speaks to her son as well, unless he gets in trouble. The last time she spoke to him was when the cops caught your brother for–"

"I said stop!" Lexie yelled.

"You abandoned him," it said. "To live this fairytale life that doesn't belong to you. It belongs to another. Do you think Aiden would love you if you didn't have Lexie Sparrowfoot within you? Do you think if you were simply Lexie Evans, he would care about you?"

"Stop!" Lexie held up her hand and did...something. She wasn't sure what, but she tried to attack it with the magic within her. Though nothing happened, the creature's eyes widened. It smiled. "Ah, are you one of us, *hissing sound*? Why did you not just say so?"

"I am not one of you!"

Suddenly, everything changed. Lexie was back in the forest, on the grass, with no more darkness and no more creatures. Only her father stood in front of her, holding the head of an alien-looking thing with pale grey, leathery skin, no eyeballs, and an emaciated skull-like appearance.

It was dead. He'd somehow sliced off its head, and black goo dripped onto the floor.

"G-gross." Lexie stuttered.

Aiden dropped it, and he reached for his daughter, whose body was still shaking in fight or flight. He drew her close, hugging her as she gasped and dry heaved against his chest.

"It's okay," he said, "You're okay.

"Wh-what was that thing…" she asked hoarsely, hiccuping, bones trembling, mind foggy, and throat thick with tears.

"A V'Sala," he said. "Variety of Eldritch Ghoul. It traps you in your mind and takes over your body if you let it."

Great. A real-life body snatcher. Fantastic. "What it showed me wasn't real then? It was all in my mind?"

"Don't speak right now. You were screaming the whole time, your throat is probably sore."

Lexie relented, holding onto her dad, but it didn't escape her that he hadn't answered the question. She also remembered the one thing he'd always said as fact.

Eldritch don't lie.

So the vision of her brother...had it been–

A snap of a branch warned them that they weren't alone. Both father and daughter snapped their heads in that direction, confronted with the sight of the last man they wanted to see.

A few steps away from them was Monty Ward. He had a stricken expression, holding so much disbelief that it could only mean one thing.

He'd seen Aiden use magic.

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