22 Culminating a Harrowing

As Nye laid unconscious on the bed, the black veins were growing further across her body. However, by now the visions of rain began to become visible to both Ashewyn and Jackyn. The others seemed worried already about her health, but Ashe was watching the ghost like raindrops form from the air around him. He seemed fairly anxious about this, which caught Solitaire's attention.

"Is it... the visions of rain...?" She timidly inquired, with furrowed brows.

Ashewyn was sweating, gritting his teeth, as he exchanged a deeply concerned glance with Solitaire. It was starting to tip off the others around them. They began to grow more frantic in expression, but Jack kept his nerve despite also knowing what was going to happen if they didn't hurry.

He let his eyes trail over to Zyron, who was swearing under his breath. "Fuck... If that's the case.. There's no way in Hell that this is going to work fast enough to stop the Nightshade..."

"Give it here." Jack held out his hand, firmly. "I'll make it work. Just tell me what to do."

Zyron turned to Jack, shakily handing him the bowl. "Blood magic is risky, you sure you can do this?" His hand hadn't yet released the bowl.

"Nye is dying! Just let him try!" Ashewyn exclaimed, tension building from the anxiety.

Zyron flinched, letting Jack pull the charcoal powder from his grasp. "Alright, you're only going to have one shot here... just use the charcoal on the entry wound."

"I know what I'm doing, just let me handle this." Jack turned from Zyron, to crouch down beside Nye, setting the bowl down beside her.

"(Please Maker, if you're up there... Let this work...Come on...Nye...)" Miles was unnerved, but he had to trust Jack on this. His eyes didn't budge from his focus on Nyghtmare.

Jack took his blade, cutting open his palm to release some blood into the bowl, mixing it into the powder as he clenched some with it. With his free hand, Jack removed her choker, tossing it back to the foot of the bed. Once that was out of the way, Jackyn scooped the charcoal with the same blood coated hand, and applied it directly to the infliction on her neck. Jack was rubbing it in gently, before he let his palm rest against the infection entry way on her neck. He closed his eyes, channeling his magic power. The Ichor magic began to spiral around from it, trailing from between his fingers like ribbons of blood. Then the visions began to subside subtly.

The glow of the magic aura was beginning to fade, as the black color of Nye's veins started slowly receding back to normal. Jack retreated his hand, letting his self inflicted wound regenerate. Nye seemed to be stable, which cued Jack to get up, holding back his stress of this situation. He stepped out of the room, going to grab a drink from the bar.

"Is... She going to be alright?" Miles asked Ashewyn, with his ears slanting to the sides.

Ashewyn sighed with relief. "I think so... Might be best to bandage her up, and let her rest. Honestly though, after that... Someone needs to be watching her."

"Might be best to rotate turns, so whoever's watching doesn't get too zonked out..." Solitaire added, shifting to bandage up Nye's neck, and partially her shoulder.

"I'll watch her then, you should rest Sol." Miles spoke up.

"You sure, mate? I'm not even tired." Solitaire tilted her head a bit.

"Yeah, go ahead and take a breather." Miles nodded.

"Well if that's settled, I need to bring this to my old man's attention." Ashewyn rubbed the back of his head, with a shrug, before proceeding downstairs. There seemed to be more customers appearing down there, taking seats, but none were aware of Nye's position.

Solitaire grimaced slightly, peering to Nye. "Let me know if you need anything. Okay, Miles?"

Miles had stepped over to Nye's bed, but looked back to the pink haired girl, somewhat surprised at being called his given name. "Got it."

Solitaire then turned, stepping out of the room. Zyron looked over to the bed, watching Miles. His eyes glanced back to Solitaire, who he could see was walking down the stairs. Zyron decided to follow, closing the door behind him. Jack was now drinking whisky upstairs, as Ashe sat down with Runfaust again. They seemed to be in a discussion, from what Zyron could tell. He sat in the back, avoiding all the patrons that had shuffled in a short time ago. He seemed bothered by the crowds, trying to ignore it. Hands placed to the table, with a sigh, as Solitaire took a seat beside him.

Zyron timidly peered her way, clearly nervous about all the commotion. He could see her lean to her palm, with her eyes closed, as she took a bite out of a scone that was sitting in a basket besides the table lanterns, of the circular stone table. She glanced his way, causing Zyron to slowly turn away to avoid having too much eye contact.

"Do you think Spooky's gonna be alright, Ronnie?" She inquired, setting down the half eaten morsel.

He turned her way again, nervously. "I really don't know." Zyron said, noticing her gaze his way. "Nightshade is pretty fucking deadly, not to mention the risk of blood magic. It could really go either way." The canine spoke softly, he recalled that she snapped at him last time, and was surprised how calm she was now.

"I see...." Solitaire seemed disappointed. "I just don't want to lose any of my mates... I haven't made too many since I found myself here..."

Zyron seemed a bit surprised by her response, he had been a hermit nearly his whole life, so the feeling of friendship was harder to grasp. He could tell Solitaire was concerned, but there was nothing he could really say, without making it worse. "(I really should just keep quiet. I don't need to piss her off again.)"

Upstairs, Miles sat down beside Nye; much like a sitting animal, he leaned forward to remove her goggles from her head. "Nye..." He grimaced a bit, before setting them aside, and rested his hand on the bed, hovering over to the other side of Nye. His feline eyes stared down to her lips, trailing to her chest. Miles partially lowered his head, letting his bangs hang in his face, as he gripped tight to the blanket. "..." He looked up slightly, so his eyes could focus to her face. "...You've made it clear you don't have feelings for me... but why can't I stop wanting you? I just-"

There was a sudden knock from the other end of the doorway. He jolted back, looking paranoid, as his gaze turned to it. "Miles?" The door opened, as Solitaire peeked in.

Miles had gotten to his feet before she could see him hovering over Nye. "What is it? I thought I told you I was gonna watch Nye."

"It's been a bit since you ate, so I thought I'd switch in, so you can grab something." She admitted.

Miles let out a soft groan, as he approached the door way. His eyes began to linger on Solitaire, as he gawked at her figure. It had to be the short skirt that caught his attention. "(Bad timing, but can't discredit that figure. Wonder if she's wearing panties under that skirt.)" He thought, passing by her to peer at the staircase. "Guess I'll be right back then." Miles replied, pocketing his hands, as he continued to the upper level's walk way.

The door was left open as Solitaire walked over to look at Nye, but Miles continued until he passed by where Jack was leaning against the railing, with his glass of whiskey on the rocks. Those sharp eyes were jarring to the feline, who quickly turned away to hurry his pace, as he headed down the staircase. Miles reached the lower level, seeing how bustling it was down there. Many eyes loomed over at him, as he decided to take a seat with Zyron.

Miles plopped down, reaching for the basket of food on the table, that sat beside the pumpkin lanterns in the center. "Man, I'm starving..." Miles muttered. He glanced over to Zyron, as he repositioned himself on the chair. The canine was looking through a journal of some kind, and not really paying attention to the cat beside him. Miles noticed it, leaning closer to peer over Zyron's shoulder. "Hey, what's that?"

"A book, obviously. Fuck, how you can not know that?" Zyron teased, in a sarcastic manner.

"No-No, I get that, but you can read?" Miles seemed very curious.

Zyron looked over, closing the book, with a look of astonishment. "Come again?"

Miles itched his head, "I thought all Leashed couldn't read... Maybe it's just me?"

"Don't fucking call me that!" Zyron growled, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"HEY! Not like I know the proper words for this!" Miles retorted.

"Holy shit, you're a fucking moron. Look stupid, you're a Lugooz, and I'm a Vulpis. The term 'Leashed' is a word the Templar came up with. I hate it, and you should too. So stop using it!" Zyron groaned, in annoyance, as he face palmed.

"Well, screw you... I didn't know that, okay?... So what's the book about anyway?" Miles pouted, with a huff.

Zyron sighed a bit, pushing the book's cover closer to Miles, as he flipped open the pages. "From what I've read, it seems to be a log book or something. I found it down here, under one of the tables. My guess is, it's an Amygdala journal. Not sure whose to be honest."

Miles could see all sorts of notes, and details scrawled onto the pages, including sketches of different objects and people. "I vaguely remember Finch mentioning that Amygdala have a lot of wisdom..."

"Exactly, they keep books like this, as an archive of sorts.... One thing did catch my attention." Zyron replied, flipping to a page on Dream weavers, that had sketches of Jackyn beside them.

"That's..." Miles tensed up, his eyes slitting.

"Yeah. No doubt about it." Zyron leaned back briefly as he looked to Miles.

"I don't trust this guy already, but if someone's keeping tabs on him..." Miles seemed uneasy.

Many of the other patrons were peering over, seeming to be eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I met the guy once before, and at the time he was swallowing the soul of a corpse in the snow. So I get where you're coming from, but I can sense how strong his magic aura is. Trust me, you don't want to mess with someone like that." Zyron was clearly a bit uneasy about it, but he sounded serious.

"Hold up... He ate someone's s-soul?!" Miles was trembling.

Zyron grimaced faintly, as he nodded with a soft tone. "Yeah. He fucking did..."

Not far from where they were seated, Solitaire could be seen descending the staircase to the bottom level. She was walking passed their table, towards the bar area.

"Sol? What are you doing down here? Whose watching Nye?" Miles spoke up, seeming nervous.

She stopped, glancing over to the two of them, right in earshot of other tables. Everyone seemed drawn in to their conversation as the sound of Nye's name. Solitaire furrowed her brows, uneasily. "That... That one bloke walked in, and I couldn't bleeding stay in there with him... He gives me the creeps..." She admitted, timidly.

"Who?... JACK!? He's in there with her!?" Miles abruptly stood to his feet, shaking from adrenaline. "Wait.... He's planning to eat her soul... T-That's it!" Miles stammered, panicking as he dashed for the stairs in a hurry.

"Miles!" Zyron yelled to the staircase, before glancing to Solitaire. "..."

She turned away, "H-He gave me such a fright... I-I couldn't..." Solitaire muttered shakily, before quickly heading for the bar to Ashewyn. It was clear she was uneasy.

Zyron gritted his teeth, proceeding up the staircase after Miles. "Goddammit!"

Miles reached the closed door, barging right it, gripping the hilt of his kodachi. As soon as that door swung open, a dagger came flying his way, quickly getting stuck in the door frame right beside his face. Miles's heart was racing, perspiration rolling down his face, he looked terrified, as his eyes stared to the knife.

His vision finally started to focus, as he caught a glance of Jack sitting on the foot of the bed, with one hand to his knee, as he faced Miles.

"Ohh, it's just you... You're lucky I missed." Jack stated, his sharp eyes locked onto the feline.

"GET AWAY FROM HER! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Miles snapped, stumbling into the room, his body shaking.

Jack merely raised one of his eyebrows, with a bored expression. "... What the hell are you going on about?..."

At this point, Zyron was in the path behind Miles, just outside the room. He could see the entire verbal exchange. It was clear that he was confused.

"DON'T EVEN TRY TO PLAY DUMB WITH ME, I WON'T LET YOU EAT HER SOUL, YOU MONSTER!!" Miles hissed, grabbing Jack by his turtleneck's collar.

Without hesitation, Jackyn tightly grabbed Miles' wrist that was clutching his shirt, standing to his feet. Miles flinched from that, squinting nervously with flared teeth at the taller man.

"You sound like a babbling idiot. If I had any intention of devouring her soul, I wouldn't have brought her here to begin with. Why would I have any reason to save her life, if I was planning something of that sort? So, don't be stupid." Jack stated, coldly, forcing Miles to release his grip on him.

Miles' eyes were tearing up from fear, as he quickly pulled his hand away from Jack, fumbling back to his rear as he hit the ground, and dropped his sword. Jack kept staring at Miles, boredly, but Miles scrambled to his feet, getting a distance between them. He was breathing heavy, and trembling, trying to grab the sheath of his blade from the ground. "Y-You do ANYTHING to her... and I'll... I'll..." Miles angrily turned fast, fleeing the room. He rushed right passed Zyron, back down the stairs.

Zyron and Jack made brief eye contact there, as the view panned to the floorboards beneath their feet. The scene transitioned to Wynorex, peering down from an birds eye view of what appeared to be some form of construction. There was many skeletons and zombie-like creatures creating various structures and such below the surface. It appeared to be mostly bone arranging, being made various bones from man and beast. A dark city was emerging from the work of the walking deceased, and It was like the hallowed ground of a demonic chapel was forming within the cave of Wynorex. Stone pillars, adorned with bones were being erected, carved with a large eye, near the top. The emptiness from before was transforming rapidly, by the hands of the dead.

Outside the front gates, stood the massive ink reaper from the cemetary. He was positioned right between the two doors, holding his scythe in one claw. Approaching from the darkness ahead, was the mysterious woman from before. She was accompanied by Shane, and the skeletal unicorn. Inkers shifted, holding the scythe more defensively, his attention focusing on Shane.

However, the woman raised her hand up slightly. "You needn't worry, dear Inkers. This one is mine now." She smirked, eerily.

Inkers lowered the scythe, acknowledging her motion. "As you desire, my lady. I do hope the accommodations are to your liking." He replied, moving out of the path, and opening the gates for them.

The woman stepped inside, with a sly grin as she passed the ink reaper. Shane's eyes peered to Inkers, as he closely followed. The skelecorn however waited outside, whinnying briefly. The renovations of the cave were massive in size, as the two passed through the construction zone of the bone fiends. Shane was close behind the woman, whose back was constantly facing him. He shifted his path, looking to the back of her head.

"How long are you going to keep me in the dark for? I know nothing of who you are, or what you're planning, woman. The least you could do is explain what you signed me up for." Shane spoke up, with a hoarse tone to his voice.

The mysterious lady halted, chuckling slightly as Shane uneasily stared to her back. "Keheh... Ohh, I figured it would be pretty obvious by now, or are you just that dense?" She said with a darker tone, as she shifted her head to look back at Shane. Her eyes were narrowed, with a chilling grin on her black lips. "Bringing back the dead, speaking to lesser fiends... It should be all too familiar to the tales, don't you think?" The woman drew closer as she continued with a hushed tone, and shadows casting over her face. She dragged her fingers along his scarf, chuckling once again with a wide grin. "Kehehe... Those who follow me, have come to call me by many names. You however, may address me as, Koron Ghestro."

"(That name sounds familiar... But where have I heard it before?..)" Shane seemed surprised.

"Don't be shy now, you haven't given me your name yet." Koron smirked.

"...It's just Shane, no fancy surname." Shane wasn't sure what to expect.

"No? Then let me give you one. I think ... Shane Muerte, will be most fitting. Don't you?" She said, letting her hand trail to his jaw line.

"I see you have returned, my Queen." Spoke a voice from behind.

Koron slowly removed her hand from Shane, shifting to glance over with a smirk. Standing there, partially bandaged up, was Finch. "My favorite little bird, I do hope those wounds are healing. That one was rather violent, wasn't he? A rather fascinating reaction to the severing of the key, as well. I am curious to see just how unpredictable that one can be."

"Indeed, it is quite a shame the others couldn't claim him, as you had desired. To tame such a savage beast, may have risked wildfire. I had warned you though, he is a danger to us all, but I digress..." Finch spoke cryptically, before glancing to Shane. "Hmm, such interesting facial markings... Can I assume that this is the rider that the Spyders spoke of?"

Koron shifted, to glance over her shoulder to Shane. "You could say that, my sweet little bird."

"All this talk is way over my head..." Shane finally spoke up.

"Be patient now, soon everything will come full circle. We will need to fetch you a change of garments as well. Come along now." Koron smirked, before turning to walk further into their lair.

Shane seemed unsure still, as he decided to follow after Koron and Finch. They proceeded passed more skeletal construction, before ascending the spiral staircase to the upper level. Stepping into the middle doorway, within the throne room, they could see that it was adorned with gothic furnishing, and skeleton garnishes. Finch led Koron to a newly built throne of bones. Koron left the two standing on the gothic rug, as she took place on the massive throne.

A dark and evil grin poised across her lips, letting the top of her hand rest under her chin. "Gather the others, so that we may guide our new general into understanding the ways of the Cult of Ghestro."

"It shall be so, my Queen." Finch bowed, leaving the throne chambers.

Meanwhile, back within Knothole; Solitaire walked up behind Ashewyn, who was sitting at the bar. He was holding his head, with a spliff between his index and middle finger. He flicked some ash from it, with a soft groan.

"You seem pretty knackered, Smokey." Solitaire chimed in, as she peered over his shoulder. She still seemed a bit unnerved from coming down stairs. Ashewyn jumped slightly, dropping his joint to the ground. "Bloody hell, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, mate." She said, as she crouched down to pick it up.

Ashe however had also reached for it, causing their hands to touch in the process, along with meeting of the eyes. Solitaire blushed, pulling back nervously, as Ashewyn picked up the spliff, and got back to his feet. He took a puff from it, exhaling briefly. "It's fine." He muttered, rubbing his brow, with a faint glance back to her.

Solitaire stood up, peering to him. "Is something the matter?"

"You wouldn't understand." Ashewyn turned away, to take another drag.

"There's a chance I could. You never know." Solitaire grimaced in response.

Ashewyn sighed, getting to his feet. "...Best if we avoid too much attention then. Follow me." He motioned her to follow him, as he headed for the passage way to the kitchen area. They walked through the torn curtain, into a narrow passage, stopping midway in the hall. There was a tiny glimpse into the small cooking area, at the end of the passage.

"Does this have anything to do with Spooky?" Solitaire inquired, with an unsure gaze.

Ashewyn turned back around, carrying a glum expression. He shook his head, "Not entirely. There's something more to why all of this is happening, and it's messing with my anxiety." Ashe shrugged, leaning his back against the hallway wall behind him. "I know I'm not crazy."

Solitaire was right across from him, leaning back to the opposite wall. "Well, I don't think you're a nutter."

Ashewyn crossed his arms, averting his glance from her. "If Nye was targeted, and Finch was really the one who hurt Nye, and potentially the cause of those fiends attacking... then there's gotta be something major we never caught onto... I tried to explain this to my old man, but he's... skeptical. You think he'd be more concerned since she IS our queen. I just don't know what else I can say to reason with him. We don't know what we're dealing with anymore..."

Solitaire leaned away from the wall, getting closer to Ashe, wrapping her arms around him, in an embrace. "When Spooky wakes up, we can figure this all out. You know, if you're on the pull, I might be up for it." She said, her mouth only inches away from Ashewyn's, as if she was about to kiss him.

Quickly, Ashe took her shoulders, forcing her back to a distance. This made Solitaire look scared. Ashewyn was gritting his teeth, uneasily. "Look Solitaire, you're a cute girl, and I know you got a thing for me, but something like this just isn't gonna work for me. So don't go there. Got it?"

Without warning, Ashewyn had received a rough slap across his face. He was taken by surprise, as his eyes looked to the pink haired girl before him. Solitaire's expression had shifted drastically, her face carried strong anger, but her cheeks were streaming with tears.

"That is a load of rubbish! Why do all blokes have to act like such wankers!? Just, just sod off!" She cried out in anger, shoving him away as she dashed from the hallway, up the stairs to the second floor.

Just as she was running up, she passed by Zyron, who was heading down the stairs. he turned in confusion, as he saw her rush into one of the other upstairs rooms, and slam the door behind her. "Solitaire?.. What's gotten into her?" Zyron spoke softly to himself.

Zyron reached the door of the room she went into, and proceeded to knock, but it caused the door to creek open. Zyron could see through the small crack of the door, spotting Solitaire sulking on the bed, but he couldn't see her wiping away her tears. Deciding to enter the room, Zyron proceeded closer to the bed. "Hey, what's going on?" He asked, seeing concerned.

"I bloody told you to sod off!" Solitaire snapped, her arm shifting into a blade, but as she turned towards him, her expression shifted to startled. The morphious arm was within an inch from his jugular. "Zyron?.."

Zyron was holding very still, with the blade nearly grazing his throat. He had perspiration trailing down his nervous face. "What the fuck has gotten into you?" He asked, shaking briefly.

Her hand returned to normal, as she crossed her arms, and looked away from him. "I'm fine, why do you care?" She pouted, rudely.

"You ran up here like a madwoman, and nearly cut my fucking head off! Like hell you're fine, so I call bullshit." Zyron retorted. "Just stop being a bitch, and come out with it!"

"Listen here, you mangy twit! You don't know bleeding shite about what I've been through, or how I bloody feel!! So don't go yakking at me!" Solitaire grabbed Zyron by his fluffy collar with both hands, and a fierce gaze focused on him.

"Works both fucking ways. Don't bitch at me for trying to make sure you're alright!" Zyron snapped back. "You really piss me off sometimes!!"

Solitaire was gritting her teeth as tears began to stream down her cheeks again. She was sniffling, but she couldn't help but sob. Zyron seemed startled in response, to feeling her face push into his chest. "Hyhh...." She whimpered, restraining herself from wailing.

"Uh... H-hey...W-Why are you crying?..." Zyron stammered, surprised by her switch in behavior.

"...It.. it doesn't matter where I am... Or what I do... or how hard I try... The outcome is always the same, the ones I fancy think that I'm capricious!!... Hyhh... I'm stuck in this bleeding place... and I... I just want to go home!" She cried, sobbing still into the surprised canine's chest. "It breaks my heart... Knowing I'll never see my family or mates again... I'm just trying to fit in, and except that this is how things are now... but with how dodgy everything is getting.... It's really starting to tug at my heart strings... and It literally scares the shite out of me... I'm terrified... and I've never felt so alone..." She admitted, her body trembling with tears continuing to roll down her cheeks.

Zyron furrowed his brows, before deciding to hug her. "Just stop talking, It'll be alright... Weep as long as you need to..." Solitaire clung to him, keeping her face buried on the fur of his coat. He had his head over her shoulder, staring to the wall, while Solitaire continued sobbing.