“Let her go this instant! You fool!” Alba shouted, ignoring his words. “Her demise is ours too!”

Asher’s grip loosened immediately, his fingers uncoiling from my throat like dead vines. I stumbled back, gasping, my lungs burning as if I’d just surfaced from drowning.

“Damn it! What is wrong with you people?” I snapped, clutching my throat and taking shaky breaths.

Asher glared at me coldly as if I insulted his whole bloodline.

“Enough!” Alba hissed with irritation and authority. “Agh! Asher, this body cannot work without her being fully functional. So, please, until further notice, leave her be.” Alba said.

“WHAT?” I shouted.

“Listen, girl,” Alba said, her tone sharp, “Don’t get too cocky. I could dispose of you at any moment and look for another host. It doesn’t matter to me—”

“But you didn’t,” I cut in quietly, my voice bitter but calm.

An awkward silence followed. From an outsider point of view, it must’ve looked like I had lost my mind—standing there, talking to myself—while a war waged silently within.

In the distance, a sharp growl echoed.

The shadows rippled.

Vyraths began assembling, crawling out of their hidden spots, like roaches disturbed from their nest.

“Great! Great!” Alba groaned. “Just what we needed.”

“Let me handle this, my Lady,” Asher said. “This insignia can perfectly protect us against these abominations.”

Oh really? Where were you when I was nearly going to be devoured by one?

At least, my thoughts remained mine alone. I could say whatever I pleased, they didn’t seem to care or listen.

“Do not underestimate me!” Alba suddenly declared with confidence. “I, the almighty Alba, can kill them all in one blow!”

I felt the sharp pain before I even realized what she had done—she slit my wrist, my body’s wrist. A huge fountain of blood poured out, sizzling as it hit the ground. She drew an array as swiftly as death’s whisper, and the Syr energy flowed into it.

The bloodthirsty monsters faded one after the other. They dissolved into smoke the moment they stepped into the array’s radius. Physical touch wasn’t necessary; the Syr energy poisoned the very air around us.

“Agh!” A broken cry tore from my lips. My body spasmed, coughing up blood, as a freezing shiver spread through my veins. I could still feel every ounce of agony, as vividly as if I were still the one controlling this vessel. I wonder — did Alba feel it too?

 “Damn,” Alba rasped, with a trembling voice. “What a bloody state I’m in! Hahaha, reminds me of that last day, when you caught me by surprise and shot me with that damn arrow, Asher. You remember, right?”

He didn’t answer.

But I could tell that since she recalled that sinister day, she must’ve felt the same searing pain. Whether it’s betrayal or torn flesh, pain is pain.

Suddenly, a strange floating sound drifted towards us, eerie and hollow. With all the thick smoke swirling around, I couldn’t see anything.

“Appear now, or I’ll shred you to pieces!” Alba shouted.

From the mist, a tiny creature emerged. It floated midair, pink and almost translucent. Its big blue eyes sparkled, as pure and mesmerizing as crystals under sunlight.

“Houff, Houff, Hiuuuuf!” it squeaked, bouncing slightly with each sound.

Alba squinted at it, deadpan.

“If you think that I understand what you’re saying, you must be nuts!” she snapped.

“It doesn’t seem harmful! Look at how cute it is!” I said.

“Cute, huh? Calling you fool was definitely not an understatement!” Alba mocked.

“It’s an Aelith,” Asher explained. “This little one… is apparently asking for help.”

“So, you understand this rubbish nonsense it just spouted? More of a weirdo than a fool, I’ll give you that!” Alba quipped with a smirk.

“You flatter me, my Lady,” Asher replied, his voice laced with sarcastic politeness.

The creature tilted its head, eyes shimmering, and emitted a high-pitched, desperate cry: “Houff, Chouf, Houff, Hiuuuuf, haayt!”

“Okay, now it’s creepy! What is it saying?” I asked, stepping back.

“It has been cursed by Lucius… as a price for defying his orders,” Asher said, his voice lowering with a hint of concern.

“I see…” Alba’s eyes flickered with an edge of amusement. “So, it is asking us to lift her curse, huh? Sorry dear, but in my current state I can barely move properly.” She groaned, trying to shift her weight.

The Aelith made another frantic sound:

“Houff, Pouff, Pafi!”

“I am pretty sure it insulted me just now, but listen, I really can’t help you. I was brought here against my will anyways.” Alba sighed. “By the way, have you seen a girl about this tall, with blue hair, purple eyes… A noble…”

The Aelith became more agitated, its body trembling with urgency. It hovered closer to an abandoned wall, darting in frantic circles as if it were trying to tell us something important. Then, with a sudden motion, it plunged straight through the stone like it was water, vanishing without a trace.

“Here we go!” Alba exclaimed.

We stepped inside a cold, dark and sinister space. From the looks of it, we had entered a basement. The stench of blood, mixed with damp soil, clung to the air, sour and rancid.

“What in the world is this place?” I whispered.

Alba was following the Aelith carefully, guiding us through the labyrinth. The corridor stretched on, seemingly endless.

We finally reached another intersection— another corridor, but this one had doors on both sides. From behind one of the doors came a soft, low moaning sound, as if someone was in agony.

Alba stopped to take a closer look. The scene was horrendously atrocious. A figure, barely recognizable, was bound tightly to a wooden chair. His legs had been brutally severed at the knees, the jagged stumps stained with dark, congealing blood. His arms, unnaturally twisted, were dislocated at grotesque angles, the skin around the joints stretched tight and raw.

“What… is this?” I trembled with disgust.

“This is what Lucius Virell really is. Calling him monster will be an insult for every monster in these lands.” Alba said.

In the next cell, a merman was suspended against the damp stone wall, his body chained with heavy, rusted links that dug into his scales. His once-glowing skin now seemed pale and sickly under the dim light, and his long dark hair was the only thing covering his half-dead corpse. His eyes, wide and filled with a mix of pain and desperation, locked onto us, as if silently begging for release.

On the ground, a pile of inner organs lay discarded, already beginning to rot. Nearby, another pile seemed freshly extracted, blood still dripping from the mutilated flesh.

“I have seen enough!” I screamed, my voice trembling with horror, “We need to find Philamina!”

The Aelith didn’t flinch, didn’t even glance back. It showed no reaction to any of this. Whatever it had been through, whatever it had suffered, it seemed numb to the horrors around it.

“Say, you’re not leading us to some kind of trap, are you?” Alba’s voice cut through the air, sharp and skeptical.

The Aelith’s glowing blue eyes flickered slowly, but there was no response. No reassurance. Only silence.

“Listen, we might be able to help you somehow, so think carefully about which side you’re taking, little one.” Alba added.

“I am afraid you’re way too deep in my domain to step back… My Lady,” said a sinister voice.

A chill ran through me at the sound of it. I could almost feel the weight of the darkness it carried.

“I must say, Lucius, your atrocities have no equal,” Alba spat, with blazing eyes, “You’ve even surpassed my bloody past-self in that regard!”

“Glad to see you are back, Lady Alba.” Lucius said bowing his head in mock respect.

“Enough of this. Where is the little Narcis girl?”

“Oh?” Lucius chuckled darkly. “I am surprised that your visit is about her. In fact, I am quite offended.”

“Quit chatting and give her back!”

His deadly glare pierced through my soul like a blade. I felt my heart racing, remembering the savage scenes I had just seen.

“What if I refuse?” he asked, his voice low and teasing.

“Or rather, what do you want in exchange?” Alba countered, her voice turning sly.

“Smart, as always,” Lucius said with a twisted amusement. “Well, you see, I need a new powerful test subject for my experiments. As you’ve already seen, even the high-regenerative creatures didn’t survive or weren’t resistant enough. So, what do you say?”

“You make it sound as if I’d give myself for a girl I haven’t met!” Alba retorted.

“You may not, but the two other souls inside of you won’t agree, will they?”

He knows too much about what was happening. Even the Aelith was sent to us on purpose to lure us right into his trap.  He could have captured us easily and kept Philamina as his prize. Yet he played the gracious host, pretending courtesy while savoring every twisted moment. Talk about sadistic.

“Mia is that you?” called a wrecked voice, laced with pain. “Get out of here! That beast is after you!”