A black cloud hung over Balora, devouring the rays of light that failed to penetrate the unnatural darkness. An ominous aura billowed from the gates of Balora, sending shivers up Gene’s spine. He had cast his senses wide over the city, searching for any signs of life as they stood on the fallen watchtower that made a bridge over the gates. He could feel neither the presence of minds nor the strange void of them he felt from the chimerae but the closer they got, the more he experienced a strange sense of being watched. He looked over his shoulder as they stood on the precipice of the broken city-state, searching for his voyeur in vain.

  “We have our plans and our destinations,” said Kyrie, rallying his team consisting of himself, Gene, and Winnie.

  The original spire trio reunited to charge the citadel, leaving Kyra, Eonis, and Amara to raid the library. Gene watched the Priestess and the Floraspeaker crowd around the newly christened Shieldbearer and said, “Be careful. We’ll be too far apart for us to communicate mentally but I can still feel your emotional state.”

  Amara pumped her fist affirmatively and said, “Right! If we encounter any resistance, we’ll assess our capabilities and decide if we need to regroup.”

  Gene chuckled and smiled. Her spirited strategizing lightened his mood and Kyra and Eonis looked at her with pride. The two of them had grown more protective over her as they traveled, taking on mentorship roles to help her acclimate to her powers and combat as a whole. His faith in them to watch over her was absolute and he felt secure when Kyra looked up at him and gave a thumbs up. He returned the gesture.

  Kyrie snorted and said, “Well you heard her. The tiny tactician has spoken. Let’s get in and out in one piece. Be careful and be swift!”

  Everyone raised their hands to form the Venturian hand symbol, touching fingertips before breaking apart and splitting off into their teams in opposite directions. Gene held his team aloft with his telekinesis while Amara formed footholds in the air towards the library. They had miles to go to reach their destinations and after gaining some distance, they both took to the ground to avoid any possible aerial assaults.

  On foot, Gene acted as the scout for his party. His senses were cast wide like a neural web as he sought out any possible disturbances. Eonis’s words weighed heavily on his thoughts. He didn’t know enough about magic or the world at large to make an estimate of just how bad things could get. They walked with Kyrie taking point, Winnie in the middle, and Gene at the back in a classic party formation.

  “Still nothing so far but be on guard.”

  Gene projected his thoughts but his conviction was shaky at best. That strange voyeuristic feeling washed over him in waves but he still couldn’t pinpoint its origin. He wondered if he should tell them but short of spreading paranoia in his group, he couldn’t think how this news would change things. Passing by a small ruined building, Gene stumbled slightly when he thought he heard a whisper. Something or someone shifted in his peripheral vision and stopped, turning suddenly to see what it was. He looked over and saw nothing but destruction and decay where he thought he saw a person.

  “Gene, what is it?” asked Kyrie in a hushed whisper.

  Gene simply stared at the empty spot and his chills intensified. He felt like he heard a whisper in his ear, making him turn around and once again find nothing there.

  He looked back to Kyrie, a cold sweat forming on his brow as he said, “Feels like we’re in a horror story.”

  ?

  Across the town, Amara felt as uneasy as Gene. She didn’t share his senses but due to her strange nature, she seemed to feel the world differently. All around her were swirling shadows that skittered out of sight when she tried to focus on them. The further they crept, the more she felt a mounting sadness gripping her chest.

  She let out a small sob when the feeling became too much and both Kyra and Eonis stopped in place.

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  “Amara, what is it?” asked Kyra as she rushed to take the girl in his arms.

  Amara fought her sobs. She couldn’t understand what was happening but she knew she had to drive the emotion away and focus.

  “It-it’s nothing,” she said, drying her eyes before the tears could escape. She shook her head and said, “This is a bad place. We need to hurry.”

  Kyra gave her a sympathetic look and squeezed her tighter before they turned back to follow Eonis.

  “Don’t stress yourself, Amara. It’s just first mission jitters,” said Eonis as his voice quavered.

  He too felt a strange emotion washing over him but he couldn’t find the cause or source. He was on high alert, scouting a few paces ahead of them. Roots covered him from head to toe, stopping just at the bottom of his feet where the foul energy of the lands wilted any plants that touched it. He saw desecrated soil in plots all across the city and was sure if anything still grew, he would’ve heard the wails of their tortured existence.

  Where once there stood a lush and living network of roots, Eonis could sense a foul scar running through the lands. He could hear the trembling voice of the Everoak bracer, urging him to tread carefully. He responded in the indecipherable plantspeech, affirming his focus to the living armor.

  The deeper they strode into the fallen city, the thicker the atmosphere grew. They didn’t speak it aloud, but each of them felt the clammy chill of void mana enveloping them.

  “Strange,” she whispered to herself, pulling Amara closer almost reflexively. “It’s as if the void mana has been infused into the land.”

  She waved her hand through the air and over the shattered stone of ruined structures, feeling the pulse of energy radiating out of it. She looked to Eonis, a cold sweat running down her spine, and he nodded to her, affirming the hypothesis that had begun to form in her mind.

  Was it possible for a location of immense trauma, suffused with sufficient void mana for a long enough time, to awaken as a lich? She shuddered at the thought and Eonis tensed up.

  “Kyra,” he said suddenly, drawing her attention. “You need to focus too.”

  She straightened up and suddenly felt like a child again, on her first mission at Eonis’s side. She shook off the feeling of embarrassment only to notice Amara had strayed without either of them realizing it.

  “Amara!” exclaimed Kyra as she frantically searched for the girl.

  Gene spotted her first, straying off the path into a dilapidated structure. He raced to pull her back but it was already too late.

  Drawn to a discarded and decayed doll, she couldn’t stop herself from picking it up. In a flash, she saw a scene all too familiar. In her vision, a young girl ran, dragged by her mother as they raced away from the errant wave of magic that swept out of the citadel. Regaining her composure, Amara dropped the doll before the memory of the vaporizing wave overtook her.

  She covered her mouth and sobbed, stopping Kyra and Eonis in their tracks.

  She could feel stories, lost to time and the devastation around her.

  Drawn to a discarded and decayed doll, she couldn’t stop herself from picking it up. In a flash, she saw a scene all too familiar. In her vision, a young girl ran, dragged by her mother as they raced away from the errant wave of magic that swept out of the citadel. Regaining her composure, Amara dropped the doll before the memory of the vaporizing wave overtook her and let out a terrified wail.

  ?

  Gene felt the spike of terror rush through Amara’s mind and he turned on a dime, thinking, “They’re in trouble!”

  His voice boomed in Kyrie and Winnie’s minds, flooring them from the startling spike of explosive thoughts. He raced to where he sensed Amara’s mind and then suddenly a new mind popped into his line of senses, and then another, followed by five, then a dozen. All around them, minds sprung into reality, spiraling out of thin air.

  A baleful wind blew through him, freezing him in place as the hero system spoke.

  Hero System Notification: Awareness Save failed. You have been afflicted with Grasp of Essence.

  Gene’s eyes went wide in shock as a swirling fog of darkness engulfed him. He screamed, struggling to pull shadow tendrils off of himself but it proved useless. He felt them snaking into his very core and then his eyes clouded over from their dark energy.

  “Gene!” Kyrie roared, scrambling to his feet and drawing his blades.

  Winnie cried out in horror as a shadowy creature formed itself around Gene. He struggled as the cold embrace of void energy swallowed him whole. Gripped in agony, Gene watched Kyrie frantically swing his blade, slashing through the shadows to no effect. The shadows surged around Gene and felt like he was being pulled under water. Sound faded and his vision clouded. He struggled to reach out to Kyrie with a feeble hand. Ice water rippled through his veins and the hero system spoke again.

  Hero System Notification: Awareness Save failed. You have been afflicted with Grasp of Essence.

  Gene’s eyes shot open wide in shock and then he was gone.