32 A Force to be Reckoned with

Within the misty terrain, near the abandoned Kamano ranch. The debris was beginning to clear, from Sclera's previous attack. Shane was laying on the ground, holding both his waveblades in the air, having deflected the blow from Sclera's tail. She quickly flipped backwards, landing not too far from Shane. Those eerie eyes looming ever so carefully, in unison with her red ghoulish mist.

"Sclera knows Death can hear life energy... You didn't come for us..." Sclera narrowed her eyes, while creeping forward.

"Took you long enough to catch on." Shane replied in a cool tone, while shrugging briefly. "Guess that means we've reached an impasse."

Sclera halted her movement, standing up straighter, before cranking her head to the side. Her face was far more serious this time.

"Shane leaves us no options... Fine... We will let him be... For now... Eheheh... Sclera likes you, Death... So she won't tell master you were such a crook... Eheheh... But if Shane betrays our master... Or... doesn't return home... Then Sclera... Will have to hunt you down... and TEAR YOU TO PIECES!!! Eehehhehe..." She licked her lips, before evaporating into mist.

"Famine could be trouble..." Shane muttered, unsure about the sudden retreat.

The fog around Shane began to subside, exposing the real landscape of this area. The farm wasn't too far off, but Jackyn could only lay on the ground, in a puddle of his own blood. Adam however, appeared to be no where in sight.

Shane listened to the air, before his eyes turned to see where Jackyn laid. The fiend crept over to his friend, crouching down beside him. "Don't worry bud, I'll get you outta this mess..." Shane spoke up.

Jackyn weakly glanced over to Shane, almost in a daze. "...Shane?.... How is this possible...? I... Must be... Imagining things..."

"Hey, you shouldn't talk. You're in pretty bad shape right now." Shane suggested, calmly shifting his hand to to his friend's shoulder.

"This is real then?... I don't get it... How are you alive....?" Jackyn faintly asked, before losing consciousness.

Shane was just about to help Jackyn up, but hesitated. "Jack? Jack, Come on... stay with me here." He seemed unnerved.

However, before Shane could move Jack from that position; Shane was rapidly hit back by a flying ball of fire. He skidded backwards, crashing at a distance. His senses had gotten a bit scrambled, with a sharp ringing in his sensitive ears. As he regained his senses, Shane noticed Ashewyn land on the ground, not far from him in his dragon armor. In the distance, he also spotted Nye beside Jackyn. She was clutching to him, holding him close to her chest in what appeared to be panic.

Shane suddenly realized that Ashe and Nye did not recognize him, and he had no way to explain who he was. He had changed, and they knew him to be dead. There was no way to explain this, and it didn't help that Ashewyn was on the attack. The red haired Amygdala rushed Shane's way, slashing his sword quickly. Shane could only sway from the blows, as he frantically tried to think of a solution to this endeavor.

"Who are you!?" Ashewyn demanded, remaining on the offensive. "Are you with the Cult of Ghestro?"

"(There's no way I can explain this... They would never believe me! I died, but if they keep this up, then Jackyn won't make it out of here. I need to do something.)" Shane frantically thought, trying to keep his cool under pressure.

Shane couldn't answer that question, but Ashewyn kept the attacks coming. Shane swiftly leaned backwards in attempt of evading Ashe's incoming attacks, as Ashewyn swung his sword once again. The maneuver had allowed Shane to just barely dodge the attack. If he hadn't moved like how he had, surely Shane would have been cut by the steel of Ashewyn's blade.

Quickly Shane's hand reached for the ground, flipping backwards to get to a distance from Ashe's continuous slashes. However, once at a distance, Ashewyn shifted to fire based attacks, with his aura flaming around him wildly. Shane's eyes took notice of Nye, as he avoided the hacking and slashing. She was clearly distraught, even crying.

"Jack... Hold on... Don't die on me..." Nye was frantic, as she held onto her wounded Angel of Death.

"(She might be at risk too. If only Jackyn were awake, then he could stop this. Dammit! Looks like I'm outta options.)" Shane kept evading, and got close enough to his Skeletal unicorn. He made his decision, leaping onto it's back. "Hyah!" He commanded the mount, before fleeing towards a dark vortex that appeared before him. He glanced back, before he reached the threshold. "I'm sorry." He muttered, with the portal closing behind him.

Ashewyn had a bewildered expression form on his face, appearing shocked to see Shane flee without a fight. His gaze peered around, also noticing Adam wasn't present. His attention quickly shifted back to Nye, as he hurried over to her, while disengaging his dragon armor. The fire aura trailed off into the air, as it vanished around him.

"Nye. You're gonna have to help me here, so you need to trust me on this. I can cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding, but you need to hold on to Jack tightly, so he doesn't hurt himself. I know it's gonna burn like hell, but it's the only thing I can think of right now." Ashewyn explained, seriously.

Nye nodded, agreeing to his idea. "Alright, do whatever you can to save him." She held Jackyn close to her, stroking his face. "You have to hang on, Jack..." It was still very clear she was terribly worried about her boyfriend.

Ashewyn pursed his lips, as he pulled off his right glove with his teeth. Crouching down beside where Jack's leg used to me, he placed his bare hand to the torn ligament. Jack immediately winced from the contact, but it was going to be far more painful.

Igniting his wisp magic, flames engulfed his palm, burning the wound. Jackyn screamed out in pain, but Nye held him tightly against her. Finally the fire ceased, and Ashewyn pulled his hand away. The wounded stub of leg had been scarred over from the flames.

"The visions of rain aren't subsiding..." Nye spoke softly, her weeping face leaning against Jackyn's cheek.

Placing his glove back on; Ashewyn got his his feet, looking to Nye. "Pull it together Nye... We need to act fast here. He's lost a hella lot of blood, so we should hurry up, and get him back to Knothole. Maybe Zyron knows some cure or something. Come on. Help me get him standing." He said, trying to encourage his friend.

".... (Please be alright...)" Nye glanced to Jack with a somber gaze, as she did what Ashewyn suggested.

The two worked together to help Jackyn up, and got his arms over their shoulders. Urgently the duo fly off into the sky, bound for their headquarters.

Around Knothole, Zyron and Solitaire were sitting close together at one of the tables. Solitaire was glancing at a book, that Zyron was looking through. "What are you looking for exactly?" Solitaire inquired, leaning her face against his shoulder.

"Not sure yet. Before I gave Nye back that journal I found, I saw some interesting notes about Dream Weavers inside it. I'm trying to see if there's anything here I should know about... Just in case something did happen out there." Zyron explained, his eyes panning to her, nervously, before saying, "You really shouldn't do that, people will talk."

"I told you, I don't care what they think." Solitaire pouted, before slyly giving Zyron a look. "Here I thought you were a hermit." Solitaire replied, almost teasing. "Since when were you and Jack mates?"

"Uh, we aren't? Fuck, I can't say I even like talking to anyone here... Well... Except maybe you. I'm just doing my job, since no one else really has knowledge on this kind of thing. Besides. If something did happen, Amygdala can die if their partner does too. Didn't you know that?" Zyron kinda gave her an odd look, like he was teasing her.

"So... Miles wasn't shitefaced when he told me that? They can really die?" Solitaire seemed shocked.

Miles was still upstairs, jealously watching over them, with his ears fixed backwards and his tail swishing in irritation.

"Dammit, you really didn't know that? Fuck... Okay, when shit blows over, you and me are gonna talk about things so you aren't oblivious to the world." Zyron gawked a bit, before holding his head.

Solitaire hugged him, leaning her head against him. "I'm sorry, Ronnie... I hope I'm not a burden to you." She said, sighing softly. "Is Nye gonna be alright?"

"You're not, but we'll figure this out." Zyron replied, his ears perking up to hear the door open. "Hm?"

"Bugger. That was quick." Solitaire glanced over as well, releasing his arm from her clutches.

Heeled boots clopped down the stairwell of the entrance, but to their surprise, the one who entered was not Nyghtmare or anyone they knew at all. A tall, silver haired older woman, with a massive bastard sword strapped on her back appeared from outside. She wore what seemed to be a purple coat, over her leather battle dress. There was also a dagger hooked to a strap on her sleeve, and thigh-high leather grieves upon her legs. Her green eyes somewhat seemed familiar however.

"Ey, who's that?" Solitaire mumbled.

"Not a fucking clue..." Zyron replied, clearly not feeling like he could trust this mysterious woman.

The silver haired woman approached the bar, leaning her hips against the end where stools weren't positioned. Those green eyes peered over to Runfaust, very calmly. "Ten years, and you finally request an audience with me. Been far too long, Faust." She chuckled, teasingly.

"It's good to see you again too, Pneuma. I thought perhaps my messages weren't reaching you. I was starting to worry, but for now, let's speak about matters, in private." Runfaust replied, stepped out from behind the bar, and leading this woman called Pneuma, into the kitchen area of the base.

"So, What's this news you mentioned in your letter?" Pneuma inquired, her attention on Runfaust.

"I'm sure you recall the old days. This is somewhat aligned with the past." Runfaust explained.

"Care to elaborate for me?" Pneuma replied, listening to what he had to say. "Does this have something to do with the people we've killed?"

"No, not quite. This isn't another assassination assignment. I know those days of putting down the corrupted, are over with. However..." Runfaust assured her, but paused for a moment. "Geoffrey Ghestro. I'm sure you remember him."

"I do in fact recall that one. It still plagues my mind from time to time, that I took more than just that man's life away. I stole any chance for him to rule the fiends, along with the child that I lost." Pneuma sounded somber in tone this time, showing she had some regret.

"Pneuma." Runfaust placed a hand to her shoulder. "I know we wanted to change things, and help guide a better ruler for our kind. We were wrong, the Templar never found her."

"Her? The child was a girl then?... How can you be sure she's the one I lost? Do you know something, Faust? Tell me." Pneuma seemed stunned by this.

"No doubt about it, the girl is your daughter. Even has your eyes. She's been staying here for some time now, calls herself Nyghtmare of all things. It doesn't much matter now though. Geoffrey had a legitimate heir that we knew nothing about. Nye couldn't take the throne, even if she wanted to." Runfaust explained.

"I see. Not exactly the name I would have chosen, but I'm happy to hear she's alive. I would love to meet her." Pneuma smiled. "How are the orphans doing? I should have asked sooner."

"She should hopefully return soon. As for the kids, I decided to take them in as my own. You always did want to be a mother after all." Runfaust stated. "In fact, Ashewyn is out with Nye right now. Molly's grown up so much, and Vex... Well, I haven't seen him for some time now."

"Always like Vex to run off on his own. I suppose he's old enough to take care of himself now. It's good to hear that the children have been well." PneumaPneuma shrugged slightly, before placing stepping closer to Runfaust. "I do feel though, that you and I have much to catch up on."

"Indeed so. It's been a long time, and I have missed you, Pneuma." Runfaust placed his hands around her waist.

"As have I, Runfaust." She replied, as the two exchanged a soft kiss.

In the main chamber of Knothole, the entrance slammed open once again. Rushing down the stairs, Nye and Ashewyn brought the wounded Dream Weaver inside the base. Solitaire could only stare at them, utterly stunned by the sight of Jackyn's condition.

"Bloody Hell!" Solitaire gasped, in complete shock.

Zyron quickly got to his feet, leaving his book resting upon the table. "Holy shit! What the fucking hell happened!?"

"No time to explain, the Visions of rain aren't stopping." Ashewyn spoke up urgently, as he and Nye hurried to get Jackyn upstairs. "He needs medical attention."

"Zyron, please tell me you know some way to fix this." Nye pleaded, her tone trembling.

Glancing back to Jackyn, Nye and Ashewyn proceeded up the staircase to the upper floor. Transitioning upstairs; Jackyn was placed in a bed, with Zyron and Solitaire having followed them. Nye was refusing to leave Jack's side, but Ashewyn wouldn't dare part her from her wounded boyfriend.

Solitaire stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, as she watched her canine lover look over the wounded Dream Weaver. "Blimey..." She muttered, softly.

"Shit, he's lost a lot of blood." Zyron swore under his breath.

"Is there anything we can do... Please tell me...." Nye furrowed her brows, as she desperately hoped Zyron had an answer.

Zyron stood back to his feet, holding his head. "Looking at those wounds... Fuck... From what I know, Dream Weavers have a minor healing factor... Thing is, those cuts there should have fully regenerated. With that in mind, he needs to regain a fucking shitload of blood."

"Just how do you expect that to happen? Sure, there are 'theories' about how people centuries ago could heal others who lost liters of blood, but we don't have the technology to do things like that." Ashewyn shook his head, with a shrug.

"..." Nye had nothing to say, but her expression showed her vast concern for Jack's well-being.

"Hey, I might not be a fucking expert on this shit, but Dream Weavers CAN regenerate blood on their own! They just have to feed... It regains their mana." Zyron retorted.

"Feed on what?" Solitaire placed her hands to her hips.

"Life force." Zyron glanced over, with a serious gaze. "As fucking controversial as that is, we don't have any other options right now. That's the best it's gonna get."

"Souls? Dream Weavers eat souls?! There's no other alternative to that!?" Ashewyn snapped, uneasy about the whole ordeal.

"Don't look at me, asshole! There's not exactly a fucking instruction manual to Darkling species!" Zyron retorted.

"So people have to die, so he can live? Is that it?!" Ashewyn was not having this.

"If he dies, so does she." Zyron explained, motioning to Nye. "Not really any other options here."

"..." Ashewyn quickly looked off, harshly.

"If that's the only way, then we have no choice, Ashe." Nye tried to reason with him.

"I know. I'm not thrilled about this, but Zyron's right. Do what you gotta do." Ashewyn groaned, displeased, but giving in.

"I appreciate this, Ashe." Nye lifted her head, "Nikolai." She called, softly.

The reaper appeared immediately, as he phased from darkness. "Something I can do for you, milady?" He inquired.

"You're a grim reaper... Right now, we need souls for Jack... Please. Could you retrieve some? I know this isn't an easy request, but it's urgent." Nye pleaded with him, her hand shifting to gently touch Jackyn's cheek.

"As you wish, I'll do what I can. I will try to only take those which are undeserving." Nikolai nodded, before warping off to attend to his task.

Miles was observing from a distance, seeing how Nye was so worried about Jackyn. It was clear she really loved this guy, but the others; it was as if they were more stressed about Nye's health rather than Jackyn's. He couldn't help but feel jealous.

"What about that fiend that went with him out there? He was no where to be seen." Ashewyn crossed his arms.

"I'm unsure, I wouldn't know where he could have gone." Nye spoke up.

"I see, then guess I'll try to track him down. Zyron, keep an eye on things here." Ashewyn replied, before glancing to Zyron.

"Right. I think I can manage this, we just need those fucking souls." Zyron nodded.

"I'll be back then." Ashewyn replied, heading out the room's door.

He passed right by Miles, giving him a look, before heading down stairs to exit Knothole. As he reached the bottom level, Runfaust and Pneuma had already stepped out from the kitchen corridor. Runfaust quickly noticed Ashewyn, approaching his adopted son.

"Ashe. What was that commotion about? Where's Nyghtmare?" Runfaust inquired, seriously.

He glanced over, staring in surprise at Pneuma for a moment. "Pneuma?" His gaze then turned to Runfaust. "Nye's upstairs, but Jackyn isn't doing too great. I'm sure you're seeing the rain too, Pneuma?"

"I was unaware that it was someone you knew. This Jackyn, Is he a friend of yours?" She inquired.

"Not exactly. Guessing you're here to meet Nye then? Now's probably not the best time, she's really worried about Jack." Ashewyn explained, turning from them.

"Where are you heading, Ashe?" Runfaust spoke up, before Ashe could leave.

"Adam is missing, so I'm gonna find out why. Nice seeing you again, Pneuma. I gotta run." Ashewyn replied, heading for the exit.

Back upstairs, Nye was looking over Jackyn, with Solitaire and Zyron lingering not to far from her in the room.

"He's so weak..." Nye spoke softly, caressing his face. "You need to hang on, Jack..."

Nikolai phased into the room, extending a black claw from his sleeve to Nye. Floating in the claw's palm, was two blue souls. He sheepishly looked to her. "I've returned. Will this suffice?"

"I hope so. Thank you Nikolai." Nye replied, looking to the souls. "What do we do now?"

"Fuck... I didn't think about that. I haven't got the faintest idea." Zyron held his head. "They inhale their food, like air. That's really all I know."

Nye reached for one of the souls, holding it in her hand. It hovered there gently, as she shifted it over to Jackyn. "I'm going to try something. I just hope this works..." She said, extending the soul in front of Jackyn's face.

From there, she softly blew on it, letting the soul flow towards Jackyn's mouth like a breeze. As the soul shattered into smokey particles, his breathing caught the fragments that floated his way, inhaling them in subconsciously. Relived by this, Nye seemed to ease up, and shifted the second soul forward to do the same. The visions in the atmosphere around them seemed to clear up, albeit it slowly.

"The visions are fading." Nye was astonished, shifting to place her hand against the side of Jackyn's carotid artery. Feeling his heartbeat, and his breath on her arm, made Nye smile. "He's gonna be alright." She said with great relief, as her eyes teared up with happiness.

Nikolai, Zyron and Solitaire all seemed relieved as well, for Nye's sake. Nikolai bowed, before vanishing back downstairs, leaving the other two with Nye. Miles was still just outside the room, watching with displeased eyes.

"What makes him so great?" Miles muttered to himself.

"Spooky. Mate. I think we should speak further on Miles when everything has settled down. You can stay with your bloke. Don't worry about the other things, we'll take care of it." Solitaire spoke up, looking to Nye.

"Thanks Solitaire. I appreciate that." Nye smiled to her friend, who smiled in return.

"Come on, Ronnie. We should keep our eyes on that cheeky cat." Solitaire took Zyron's hand, leading him out of the room, and closing the door behind them.

Nye could hear them speaking through muffled words in the hall, but kept her attention on Jack. She sat down on the bed beside him, running her fingers through his hair that seemed to have grown back a fair amount since it was cut.

There was a sudden knock at the door, getting Nye's attention to peer over. "Nyghtmare? There's someone I need to introduce you to, once things have settled. Just come down stairs once you're ready." Runfaust said, before his footsteps proceeded away from the room.

However, during the time all of this was simultaneously taking place, another was going through his fair share of conflict. Adam had been separated from Jack, due to the exposure of the red miasma. He had found himself roaming a vast desert terrain, during nightfall. There wasn't anything visible for miles, except cacti and other formations of the soil. The mist was rolling past his boots, seeming to have engulfed this area as well.

It was clear Adam was lost, having no insight where to go from here. It was so dark out there, and the desert was somewhat frigid this time of the night. His feet began sinking in the sand, and he was forced to scramble forward to avoid falling in. By a nearby cactus, a shadow formed in the sand before it trailed up the thorny plant; forming a dastardly grin, like that of a crescent moon.

"Nyahahahahaha!!" Cackled a sinister voice.

Adam shifted, uneasily, as he peered around in slight panic. "Who's there?" He called out, timidly.

Adam's surroundings were casting into darkness, causing issue for his sight around him. The wavering moons were concealed by dark clouds floating in the night sky. The smile on the cactus moved, forming a black body around it from thin air. Perching on the cactus now, was a small black cat-like fiend. It was plastered with fluorescent green eyes, that all focused onto Adam in the darkness.

"Your efforts are futile~!" The glowing creature sing-songed, maniacally.

The monstrous mouth loomed, opening it's jaw to speak. "You're a cat... but you're also like me..." Adam muttered, surprised to see another mutant type creature.

"Wow, you ARE soooo dull. I'm already bored of you. I honestly expected something a bit more... lethal." The animal scoffed, mockingly as it laid down on the cactus' arm.

"Your tone is much different than the others..." Adam took a slight step backwards.

"Your stupid chatter won't help you, Green. Those PEOPLE you call 'friends', nyahahaha... Tsk tsk tsk. Come on. Do you REALLY think THEY like YOU? You're one UGLY piece of work." The cat mocked, leaning it's chin onto it's paw.

"...You're... You're lying..." Adam seemed unsure, in his tone. He was carefully watching the feline.

"Am I know?" The cat inquired, still grinning. "Then tell me. What happened to your 'dear friend' back there? Seems he abandoned you. If these 'friends' actually cared about you, wouldn't they want to make sure you were safe, Green?"

"..." Adam silently turned away from the cat, dreading that it might be right. Maybe Jack had abandoned him out here, possibly the others too.

"Your stupidity is leaving you sitting there, too lost to find your way on your own. Here and now... I present you with an alternative." The feline stated, before it stood up to its paws, and leapt down to the sand below.

Before it's feet touched the ground however, it's form had changed shape. Shifting from four legs to two, the fiend rose up. It's appearance had changed into that of a demonic wolf with many eyes. The form was fairly androgynous, but seemed to resemble more of a male than female. Dark purple fur covered their body, with green spikes glowing over different sectors of the fiend. This fiend was wearing a pair of slacks, with bandages fashioned on their wrists, with other accessories around it's neck.

"Shape shifting? Just... Just who are you?" Adam seemed fairly stunned.

The beast looked over at the broken fiend, scoffing boredly. "Not quite a fiend, like yourself. Appearances can be QUITE deceiving. I'm part Lupis, so my life span is far surpassing your own. My name however, is Hase, but enough about me..." It's long ears lay twisted flat to the sides, with a psychotic grin posing on the fiend's furry face. "Don't you want to know what I have to offer?"

"I'm...Not sure I want to. You say one thing, but your tone says another." Adam replied defensively, his voice growing serious.

Hase crouched down, in a squatting position, with a hand to the ground. "No need to get self righteous now. Perhaps I need to elaborate, so you can understand the direness of your predicament. Not like you can just wander freely. Think of all the 'trembling' humans. You're all alone in the world. Don't you want to belong somewhere?"

"Self righteous? I think you have me confused with someone else, despite the fact about... humans. Do you really think I like being this way?" Adam kept back, unsure about this other fiend.

"Oh, so you do have a sliver of dignity. I sense your FEAR... You really don't trust me? I'm like you, just more confident. Think about what you can become, so MANY possibilities! Join us, Green! The cult of Ghestro. It's your calling, but you already know that. Don't you?" Hase spoke, with such a deceitful tone.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into, but who am I to argue? I may not be too smart, or confident... but I can tell when someone is trying to manipulate me." Adam tensed up, trying to make a stand.

Hase's grin shifted into a leer of boredom. "How pitiful. Here I thought I had your attention, Green. Oh, what does it matter, anyway?" They remarked, rhetorically.

"You don't think my feelings matter, right? I'm garbage after all, aren't I? Guess that makes me little more than a pawn for you to play with." Adam replied, standing up for himself. His monstrous mouth grew more violent, exposing it's teeth.

"Ooh, are you planning to KILL me then!? Tsk tsk! Being brave isn't going to save you, Green! You will lose those 'friends', and there's NOTHING you can do about IT! You can act all high and mighty, all you like, but for what? You have NO ONE!" Hase grinned wildly. "What were Mistress Koron's orders again? Hmmmmm... Hacking? Slashing? Ooooh! Maybe it was torture, seeing you declined her OFFER?! NYAHAHAHAHHA!!!" Hase began to cackle wildly, in excitement as they began to crawl on all fours towards Adam; holding a sadistic smile on their lips.