46 Trapped and Ensnared

As Nye's feet dangled there in the air gripping tightly to the black tentacle constricting her throat, the vision of her emerald eyes were quickly becoming more blurry from lack of oxygen. She could barley make out Sclera's face as the female fiend hungrily licked her own lips in excitement. The palpation of Nye's heart were increasing, as her breath was becoming harsher to intake. Then something obscured rushed in. Sclera let out a sharp screech, as the tentacle ensnaring Nye dropped to the ground.

Nye found herself coughing, as she gasped for air, hazily noticing the tentacle was still wrapped around her body, however the end had been cut off by some sort of weapon. She tried to gather herself, with faint ringing in her ears. Nye's wary eyes focusing to the rushed movement not far from her. Sclera had whirled around angrily, to slash back what seemed to be the dwarf from the cave entrance, still with the blood coated blade lodged through the templar garbs covering his chest. Nye felt alarmed, watching what seemed to have been a templar brought back to life to save her from this cannibal.

"(Is that... a reanimated corpse?)" She pondered, completely perplexed by the situation.

As the dwarf swung his axe at Sclera, his movements appeared rather odd, seeming to sway as he shifted around. It was as if he wasn't actually moving on his own, rather much like a puppet being manipulated by someone else. It was quickly becoming apparent that the vessel was not acting on it's own, but rather by an outside force.

Sclera quickly lashed out her tentacles, forming spikes to destroy the mangled corpse, thrusting it back to the ground in torn pieces. She seemed furious, with her hundreds of eyes quickly seeking out the source hidden behind her fog of miasma. "Sclera knows it's you...." She growled, angrily. "COME OUT!!" She demanded.

Nye seemed uneasy, as her vision quickly located Nikolai. She would need Sclera to remain distracted if she wanted to get to him, but whoever this was may not be a friendly face. "(I need to be careful here...)" She thought.

"Easy now, Famine." A bored voice replied, before the shadow of a figure drew closer from outside the mist, clearly on horseback. The rider dismounted, leaving something behind upon his equine.

Footsteps approach as the figure slowly entered the field of miasma, to reveal it was Shane, but seeing him made Nye tense up. The man with his face covered by a tattoo of a skull had came clear into her view, causing recollection of when Jackyn lost his leg. "(If that fiend was the one who devoured Jackyn's leg... then why was he there?)" She wondered, as she cautiously observed, and waited for an opportunity to get to Nikolai.

"Yet again... You betray the master... Sclera told you... If you did... she'd have to tear you to pieces... Yet you disobey us... Why DOES HE HURT US!?" Sclera screamed angrily, before tilting her head with a wide cackling grin. "Ehehehehehehe... You were supposed to mate with us... Eheheh... You must have been afraid we'd eat you afterwords... Eheheheh!!! Either way... We were ALWAYS going to EAT YOU, DEATH!" Sclera exclaimed eagerly, as she rushed at him with full force of insanity.

Nye watched as the two began to fight back and forth, mostly assaults coming from Sclera's side of the conflict. Shane continuously weaved between slashes of her massive razor sharp claws and lashings of her bone-like tail, as he flipped out his wave blades with such elegance. Nye quickly took the opportunity to get to Nikolai, pulling the unconscious reaper back into her arms. Her anxious eyes panned back to the conflict, clearly unable to determine how to escape this miasma.

"You really want a grim encounter, don't cha?" Shane teased in a sly tone, deflecting Sclera's incoming strikes with his usual crooked expression.

Sclera only growled, using her remaining tentacles like whips that continuously formed spikes to knock Shane back aggressively. He continued to take the beating, remaining purely on the defensive. The ends of her tentacles formed into snap-dragon type mouths, rushing for the skeletal faced opponent. Shane reacted to deflect the biting motion by using his waveblades like deflective shields to fend them off. This was beginning to aggravate Sclera further however.

"We know you're scared.... You know... You know you're going to DIE!!!" Sclera hissed, swiftly getting hold of Shane with her tentacle mouths, before shifting her face to his back. There her sharp incisors dug into him, followed by the rest of the fangs in her mouth.

His blood trailed down her lips, flowing to the edge of his collarbone before dropping to their feet below. Despite this, his expression seemed serious, like he was letting her have a taste. "Am I now?" He replied, with his tone cold.

Sclera began to growl loudly, growing more wild and angered by the second. Savagely, Sclera attacked Shane, wildly swinging her claws his way as she felt her entire body tightening up from pure emotional rage. Instead of evading the point blank strike, Shane went for a counter attack, striking his waveblades her direction. Sclera was taken off guard by the sudden shift due to the unpredictable response, and felt the cold steel pierce her chest slicing open the cavity to release her rib cage and the bizarre organs held inside its embrace. Within her body was a void of blackness, faintly glowing from inside, as miasma leaked out into the air around them. Sclera appeared startled as she released her hold on him and collapsed to her knees; coughing up a black, tar-like substance. Her body was trembling, and eyes frantically looking to her open wound, watching as the fragments of her body bled off into the air.

Tears of blood began to exit Sclera's eyes, shifting in panic to stare at Shane with the look of betrayal and regret. "Why did he have to do it, mama?.... Ehehehe...." She asked, starting to giggle in a fearful manner. "She made alive...Both us... Back... Same... We're same... Yet he... Hurts us... Mama.... He hurts us." Sclera sounded hysterical, but her voice shattered with soft sobbing as she looked to Shane in horror. "He BETRAYED US!" She screamed, becoming even more unhinged in tone.

Nye could only watch the exchange between the two, unsure what to make of it.

Shane stood there, quietly staring down at Sclera with a cold gaze. "I gotta wonder if this is the fate of all who she brings back, or if you were you always this troubled, Sclera. It's time now. You don't need to hang on anymore. Just let go." Shane said, his eyes still focused on the decaying female before him.

"Ehehehe...." Sclera giggled, sounding crazed as she attempted to drag herself closer to Shane.

The mist around them was becoming fragmented, seeming to be fading away in places. The intense gaze of Sclera was locked onto Shane, as she gripped her arms around his leg, letting her organs trail behind her on the ground under her torn open rib cage. Shane pulled his leg from her, getting a few feet back. Sclera didn't seem to be giving up just yet, wildly laughing more as she tried to get closer once more. However, trotting was heard approaching as Sclera's twisted mount halted beside her. Sclera hadn't even noticed, until the tentacle maned unicorn began to sink it's teeth into her back. Sclera let out a shrill scream, as she found herself being eaten alive, much like many of her own victims.

Shane continued to watch, until the remainder of Sclera's body had fully disintegrated into the air after her equine completed feeding on her. He waited quietly until the mare had departed from them, leaving his back facing the very confused Nyghtmare.

"Karma is bitter sweet, don't ya think?" Shane asked, not yet facing her way.

The miasma had finally completely vanished, giving a view of the skeletal unicorn waiting for it's rider with an unconscious Hitomi upon it's back.

"...Why did you intervene?" Nye finally spoke up, not replying to his previous remark. She was clearly on edge, keeping some distance between them as she held Nikolai in her arms.

Shane had paused, slowly turning around to show Nye his skull tattooed face. "I know what it looks like. Like Sclera, I'm one of the four riders, the one called 'Death', but I wasn't always that. I didn't exactly have a choice. Might be hard to tell behind the skull markings covering my face, but their queen resurrected me. I may be a fiend now, but I wasn't about to let my best pal's lady friend get eaten by some psycho monster bitch." He smirked, letting out a soft chuckle.

"You're Shane? I didn't even recognize you like this." Nye titled her head in confusion. "Then what I've heard about the true heir's powers must be accurate." She remarked, certainly surprised by this discovery.

"Mis....tress?" Nye heard a tired sounding voice come from her arms. This cued her to glance down to see Nikolai waking up in a dazed state. "Who?...." Nikolai's tired eye shifted to Shane, but before Nye could speak, the small reaper phased out of her grasp to place himself between Shane and Nye with his scythe formed. "Distance yourself from her at once!" Nikolai demanded.

"Nikolai, stand down, he's not our enemy." Nye tried to explain.

"I mean no offense by this, but you don't know that, mistress. This could be a rouse by those cultists." Nikolai sneered to Shane, keeping himself between the two firmly. "He has an unconscious maiden upon his mount there as well."

"..." Nye grew hesitant, unsure what to think now.

"Do you understand it?" Shane inquired, realizing the shift in body language.

"Aye, he has a fair point though. How do I know you're who you say you are? Let alone, someone I might be able to trust?" Nye asked, awaiting an explanation. "Then there's the girl there." Nye motions to Hitomi on the back of his skeletal unicorn.

"You tell me. I did just kill one of the four horsemen to save you. I had no other reason to do so." Shane replied, but appeared somewhat hard to read. "The girl though. I'm protecting her as a promise to another friend who died here."

"Who were they?" Nye inquired, with suspicion.

"One of the cultists took his life here, his name was Hige, and he was a rabbit leashed I took in. I'm sure Jackyn told you about him." Shane replied, calmly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You're correct though, he did." She replied, but paused a moment before saying. "Tell me something about Jack, that only you and I would know." She kept her watchful eyes focused on him.

"Hm..." Shane thought a moment, before coming forth with an answer. "He hates when his hair's shorter than he likes it. That satisfactory? Or perhaps that the two of us met when the Templar had us locked in the Pit? No, you want something more solid that no one else knows." Shane smirked, looking more confident. "He's actually really shy despite how moody he can get. How's that for something no one else knows?"

A soft smile formed on her face. "I think you've proven yourself enough, Shane. He's who he says he is, Nikolai. Now if you wouldn't mind." Nye glanced to her little reaper friend.

"Very well, if you're confident we can trust him." Nikolai placed away his weapon as instructed.

"I need to find a safe spot to leave her, and once I do I'll rejoin you and the others here." Shane stated, looking back to the slumbering Hitomi.

"Take her to Knothole, it should be safe there." Nye suggested.

"I'll do that then. Be safe, alright?" Shane replied, turning for his equine mount.

"Does Jackyn know? That you're alive, I mean." Nye called out to him, before he could get upon his horse.

"Yeah, he found out when he encountered Sclera, and I stepped in." Shane smirked, before climbing onto his mount.

"I'm grateful you did, and relived Ashe and I didn't hurt you when we arrived there to find you with him." Nye admitted.

"Don't worry about it. See ya when I get back. " Shane replied, before taking off into a dark vortex.

Nye and Nikolai watched as Shane took off, before deciding to proceed further into the deep roads now that Nye's confidence had returned to her.

Meanwhile, the lady fiend named Raz was sprinting through the passageways to try to get as far away from Ashewyn and Miles as possible. She began to slow down as she caught her breath, glancing back to notice they had stopped trailing her. "Finally, I lost them." She sighed with relief.

She decided to slow down her pace and proceed in the direction of where she left behind Darkness and Pythagoras. Ahead of her hung the broken bridge on the opposite end of the cavern. It was rather quiet, so she decided to approach it. She had a somber expression on her face, but halted suddenly to notice a stray humerus bone laying on the ground in front of her. With excitement, the short lady fiend crouched down to pick it up and placed it in her mouth like a dog.

However she heard a slight sound of pebbles being disturbed, and turned cautiously to her right. The bone dropped from her mouth, as she noticed Adam slumped up against the wall, clearly exhausted. "(Did he climb up all the way from the bottom of the cavern?)" She thought to herself, sweating uneasily as she forgot about the bone she found.

"If you're looking for Pyth, he's dead, Raz." Called a voice from the opposite end of the broken bridge.

Her eyes shifted to it, noticing the masked man, Enoch, standing there. "What do you mean, Enoch? How's he dead? What about Darkness? Is she dead too?"

"If I had to guess, I'd assume so. I wasn't here, but that fiend next to you says he killed Pythagoras. Not that it matters, you can do with him as you please. I'm just spectating for Koron. Speaking of, I should report back to her. Don't get yourself killed like the others now, Raz." Enoch explained, turning off to vanish off into the darkness.

Raz scrunched up her face, just as she glanced down to the weakened state of Adam. Her hair mouth seemed to shift his way with it's jaw hanging open with toxins dripping out to the ground. She seemed to be contemplating killing Adam, but her eyes seemed almost hesitant as he peered his eye open at her. They stared to each other for a moment, and she recalled that Adam refused to fight back against her.

"Is it true? Did you kill Pythagoras?" She asked, her tone unsure as she took a step back.

"...I did." Adam softly admits, clearly exhausted from his climb back up.

"..." Raz seemed hesitant, her body reluctant to attack him while he was down. Her hair slunk back briefly, but still within range if need be.

Adam noticed her behavior and felt a bit guilty, looking for the words to speak. "...Was he important to you?" Adam finally spoke up.

This caught her by surprise, and she quickly shook her head. "No. Can't say he was. Why does that matter? Female fiends eat their mates after breeding..." She admitted, furrowing her brows, as her hair shifted to pick up the bone.

"You sound like... that bothers you." Adam replied, seeming curious but also somber.

"It does. Why put in all that effort just to kill them?" Raz turned away quickly to hide her face. "Why am I even telling you this? You're the enemy!"

Adam couldn't help but stare at Raz, as if he was captivated by her. She took another step away, as if she was just going to leave him there, but once more she hesitated. Raz turned around to lash out her hair mouth, but right as it came up to Adam's face it halted. She found herself unable to attack him, and she was growing frustrated by this.

"Why didn't you fight back? I can't even find the nerve to put you out of your misery!" Raz asked in frustration, before storming off in embarrassment.

Adam watched her vanish from view, unsure what to think about her reactions there.

Elsewhere, Solitaire and Minerva were fending off more monsters, with archery and blade arms. However as soon as they managed to kill all the beasts, the duo quickly found themselves surrounded by cultists. The group of cultists that appeared was led by a naga, along with a purple lady fiend with black and white hair, and a male fiend with a massive jaw for a face.

The naga rushed Minerva, tightly coiling around her to constrict her movement. "Where is the one who killed Levi?" He slyly demanded.

"I can't say I know who you're talking about." Minerva grunted, struggling to even move her body.

"Don't play dumb, I saw her leave the chamber where Levi died. Her scent is all over you two. So where is she!?" The naga insisted.

"Maybe this one knows, Kobra. Want me to get it outta her?" Snorted the fiend with a mouth for a face. He managed to get a hold of Solitaire, with his buff arms around her.

Kobra squeezed Minerva tighter, causing her to scream out in pain. "Look girl, if you don't tell me where your friend is, I'll kill this bitch and let Jaw have his way with you!"

"No offense mate, but I'm sure you would try, even if we told you!" Solitaire sneered, struggling to get loose.

She managed to wriggle out one of her arms and formed a scythe from one of them, shuffling to slash off Jaw's complete arm. Immediately the fiend released her, as blood escaped his shoulder. Solitaire took this opportunity to rush Kobra, but the lady fiend got in her way gripping onto Solitaire's bladed arm with her massive claw.

"Really gonna brass me off, you shite-faced arsehole!" Solitaire retorted, forming a blade from the tibia of her lower leg.

Without a second thought, Solitaire swung her leg, piercing the lady fiend's side. As she pulled the blade out, the fiend dropped to the ground covered in her own blood. Solitaire stepped over her, forming a second blade to her opposite hand.

"Don't make me cut off that pretty tail of yours, bloke. Let. Minerva. Go!" Solitaire growled, preparing to engage him.

For a moment Kobra seemed frozen, but a soft smirk crossed his lips. Not even a moment after, Jaw had gotten behind Solitaire, with his only arm holding on this time. His monstrous face drooling as his fangs drew close to her cheek. Solitaire closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Blood suddenly splattered from behind Jaw, as he let out a groan of shock. Blades had sprung out from Solitaire's shoulder bones piercing right through Jaw's chest and came out from his back. Retracting the blades back in, she let the second fiend drop to her feet. Both of them now trailing with ash into the air as their bodies laid dormant.

"Do you want to die?" Solitaire asked, her tone cold as she continued to leer at Kobra.

Without question, the snake released Minerva to the ground. She coughed, finally free from constriction to breath easier. Kobra slithered to a distance, staring uneasily at Solitaire before quickly retreating from them.

"You alright, mate?" Solitaire asked, helping the feline to her feet.

"Yeah, thanks for the assist there." Minerva brushed the dust off herself. "Didn't It sound like that naga was looking for Nye though?"

"Can't be for sure, but we should get a move on it either way. Who knows how many more of these dodgy bastards there are down here." Solitaire replied, as the two proceeded back onto their trail.

Deeper into the bowels of the underground, Zyron was leading the way as Vaugn and Grave proceeded not far behind him. Zyron was filled with the determination to find Solitaire in these vast tunnels, even though Nye had purposely separated them to avoid distraction.

"Hey, you." He faintly heard being called behind him. "Hey!" The voice called again, before Zyron felt his arm pulled back by Grave. "HEY! Are you even listening to me!?" She snapped.

"What the fuck is it!?" Zyron retorted, angrily.

"..." Vaugn silently looked their way, as Grave gripped tighter to Zyron's sleeve. "She was trying to ask why you were alone down here." Vaugn quietly spoke up.

"Yeah! Where's your master and the others we were supposed to help out?" Grave grumbled.

Zyron pulled his arm away from her. "We're trying to find them. Everyone got split up, before we crossed paths. Now stop touching me!" Zyron growled.

Grave snarled, biting to his hand, before Vaugn stepped in to break up the conflict. "Enough!" Vaugn firmly stated.

Grave quickly retreated her mouth from Zyron's fingers, looking nervously to her master

"..." Zyron turned off from them, walking ahead in a huff of irritation. He held his bleeding hand that Grave pierced with her teeth, "Bitch." He muttered under his breath, as he pulled out a cloth to bind it.

"Grave. Do try to control yourself." Vaugn stated, following after Zyron.

"Vaugn..." She softly whimpered behind timid eyes and she hurried after him.

Scurrying of spider legs danced along the ceiling of the cavern, as many spider monsters followed after the humanoid spider-fiend of the cultists. His eyes carefully watched them proceed onward, with a focused gaze. "These must be the ones Titania mentioned that took out Inferna." He spoke softly as he crawled along after them from above on a massive spider web covering the upper layer of the cavern. "How peculiar that such simple creatures could destroy that of a witch." He smirked. "I'm sure both the Queen and lady Arachnophobia will be pleased to see them dead."

He hung there in the ceiling, as he withdrew a bow and arrow. Aiming, he focused to Zyron's group, getting them right in his sights. With a flick of his wrist, the arrow was drawn, and fired at a steadfast rate. It struck into the wall not far from Grave causing her to become startled, and trip over an invisible thread attached to the end of the arrow lodged in the wall. Hearing the thud, Vaugn turned around to notice Grave being wrapped up in spiderwebs, as she was whisked into the air.

"Master Vaugn!!!" She cried out, as she spun around as the webbing continued to ensnare around her body. "HELP!"

This got Zyron's attention, causing him to swing around to notice the flood of spiders swarming the ceiling and Grave hanging there. Her hat went flying off her head as she struggled inside the tight encasing white thread that continued to be spun around her from the horn like growths from the Spider-fiend's head. The spider appendages from his back assisted with this, hoisting her higher into the massive web coating the ceiling.

"Greetings trespassers." He smiled to them with an enthusiastic, yet unsettling grin. "My name is Weaver Recluse, and I'm afraid this is where your part in the games draws to a close. You see, I report directly to the Queen's advisor. This means, I always get the job done. Once I have you in my web, there is no escape." He chuckled, as he began draw Grave in.

"Sonova bitch." Zyron growled, forming his staff from his chest pauldron.

Vaugn charged his fire magic, but a recollection flashed into his mind. "Ack! FIRE!? W-What the HELL are you DOING!?" Grave's panicked voice echoed through Vaugn's mind. He immediately remembered how terrified she was of fire. His fire mana quickly faded from his hand.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Zyron snapped, noticing Vaugn's hesitation.

"She's terrified of fire..." Vaugn grimaced, instead reaching under his cloak for his voulge.

"Well, then fucking fly up there!" Zyron barked at him.

"I can't!" Vaugn retorted.

"Why the fuck not?! I know you got wings under there." Zyron sweated, focusing to Grave as she was reaching the top now.

Vaugn was growing frustrated, and shamefully threw off his cloak to expose his single wing. "YOU have to destroy the web. Use your magic!" He insisted, with urgency.

"...Well, Shit." Zyron appeared shocked, but turned his full attention to the spider army above. "Goddammit." He muttered in frustration, as he cast out an ice based spell.

The spell came rushing for the tightly wrapped thread, but just as it came into range the ice mana caught onto an obstructing spiderweb hanging lower on the ceiling. It quickly turned to ice, and shattered, dropping hordes of the spider monsters to the ground level. Vaugn quickly rushed forward, thrusting his voulge at them to eliminate as many spiders as he could. However, within an instant their hearts sank. Weaver had pulled Grave up close with her back against his chest with only the webbing wrapped around her separating them.

"Eeeehhh..." Grave softly shuttered, feeling his breath on the back of her neck, as he pushed aside her long hair to expose her soft pale skin.

Zyron quickly cast yet another ice spell, that came rushing their way. However, moments before it connected, Weaver had already sunk the fangs of his venom glands into her neck. The collision of magic to the webs caused the surrounding webbing to shatter like glass, dropping weaver and hordes more spider monsters to the ground. The web surrounding Grave had turned to ice, only shattering as her body struck the ground. Grave shivered as she laid there surrounded by incoming spiders, her body seeming paralyzed from the toxin.

Weaver pulled himself from the ground as his spider appendages wriggled around. His cocky expression focused to the rageful Vaugn rushing his way. "You should consider yourself LUCKY that I'm so GENEROUS in my method of killing!" Weaver exclaimed with erratic enthusiasm, as he deflected the incoming voulge with his exoskeleton back legs. "She'll pass onto the next life without so much as a prick to the neck. You should be grateful I am so merciful compared to the others!" He went on, drawing to his bow as he spat out webbing from his horns to distance himself from Vaugn.

Zyron got to Grave's side, fending off the remaining arachnid monsters surrounding her. Ice only seemed to keep them at a distance, but if he really wanted to do some damage, Zyron knew he had to use fire based spells. His eyes glanced to Grave's weakened condition with uncertainty. He knew he didn't have any choice here, and turned his focus back to the horde, going against what Vaugn said and casted out flames. The approaching swarms began to hiss and screech in agonizing pain as their bodies crumbled into dust. Grave however didn't seem to react to the fire as Vaugn said she would. Upon closer inspection there was an abscess forming near the infection point with dark discolorations of her skin. He even checked to see if she had a fever.

"She's burning up..." He muttered, turning to glance behind him at the ongoing conflict with Vaugn and Weaver.

Zyron watched Vaugn get knocked back hard into the gravel, his voulge casted far from where he landed. Webs shot from Weaver's horns, attaching to the ceiling as he reeled himself into the air to let arrows rain down upon his opponent. Vaugn quickly rolled out of the way, taking some damage in the process. He winced momentarily, before he caught a glance of Grave's condition. From there the brunette ignited without a second thought, letting blue flames course around his body like wild fire.

Any remaining arachnids began bursting into flames as the maelstrom of the burning embers came blasting in Weaver's direction. "ARRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Bellowed the spider fiend as his body was enveloped by fire. The flames were so intense the flesh from his body began to melt off, plopping to the ground in puss-like globs of lavender ooze. The bones underneath were starting to become exposed, as his face continued to boil and leak to his feet. As the skin continued to pour from his body, Weaver collapsed to his knees, seeming like a living candle melting away like wax.

Vaugn didn't even bother putting Weaver out of his misery, he left the burning man to scream in anguish as his bones started to deteriorate into ash while he continued to be burned alive. Vaugn had turned off from him, getting over to Grave's side with urgency. The abscesses appeared to have gotten worse, as she weakly laid there, but Vaugn sat down beside her, pulling Grave into his arms delicately.

Zyron took a step back, looking to Vaugn with furrowed brows. "There's nothing I can do to save her..." He spoke cautiously, fully aware how lethal the toxin was to a girl her size.

"Master... Vaugn?..." Grave softly asked.

"I'm here, Grave..." Vaugn replied.

"I... can't see you..." She replied, timidly.

"..." Vaugn's expression became conflicted, with worry, seeing her eyelid had became very red, with cataracts seeming to have glazed over her eyes.

"Vaugn....can I tell you a secret?" She quietly asked, staring blindly his way.

"Yeah..." Vaugn replied, his tone staggering.

"My name was never Grave... heh... It was actually... Grace... Kesmer.... I guess... I never really liked it.... not until now..." Grave tried to smile, behind tear filled eyes.

Zyron suddenly turned to her in surprise, hearing his last name mentioned. He didn't want to interrupt them, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"Master?... Can you call me by my real name... at least one time?..." Grace went on, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Grace.... Just knock it off, don't talk like this." Vaugn insisted, as his voice cracked.He shifted his hand to carefully wipe the tear from her cheek.

"Vaugn?" She meekly spoke again, her voice growing even softer.

"...What is it?" He replied, still staring to her.

"Would it be okay... if you kissed me?..." Grace asked, yet again trying to smile behind her teary eyes.

"...." Vaugn hesitates, but does as requested, and kisses her forehead, all while trying not to cry. "...I'm going to protect you..." He says, as he pulls his lips from her face.

"...Promise?" Grace asked, as her eyes grew heavy.

"I promise." He affirmed, but just as the words passed, so did she. Tears immediately escaped Vaugn's eyes realizing the life had left her body.

Both remained still in silence, not yet coming to terms that she was gone. Her body laid cold in Vaugn's arms, but he didn't dare move. He couldn't. There was no time to grieve however, rapid galloping came rushing their way without any given warning. Unable to turn, Vaugn couldn't force himself to face the approaching evil. Zyron however immediately saw the splatter of blood blast onto the wall, as the silhouette of the war crazed rider reared up on his mummified mare. The rider had split Vaugn's collarbone open with one of his spike grieves, before tearing off his head, and allowing the blood to flow all over the rider like some kind of ritual.

"Oh, YESSSSsssss!!!" The rider exclaimed, as he eagerly held the severed head over his face to drink the falling blood before discarding it to his side with a belch and twisted grin.

He dismounted his mare, to reach inside the hole of the body's neck to retrieve what seemed to be a still fluttering heart, that he clutched onto with his long entwining fingers. Red liquid coated it as well, dripping down like icing that the rider ingested into his fanged mouth with the aid of his long demented tongue, before taking a bite out of the heart itself.

Turning from the corpses, the rider faced Zyron, with Vaugn's blood coating onto his clothing as well as his face. The man seemed to resemble Jackyn, but it wasn't him. This monster standing before Zyron, was none other than Jehxal.

Zyron had the look of horror as he fell backward to his rear, in panic. He had never been so scared of anything in his whole life, to that of which he was witnessing before him this very moment. This savage Dream weaver still appeared hungry for the taste of blood, despite how fresh vision of Zyron's comrades deaths were, accompanied by a glimpse of it not far behind the madman.

"AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" Jehxal cackled loudly, as he drew nearer. "You have no IDEA just how much KILLING really, I mean REALLY, gets me off. Hnhnhnh..." Jehxal's grin shifted to cold and serious as his blood covered face stared emptily at Zyron. "I don't even care who your friend was, he's dead. Now it's your turn, dog." Jehxal licked his lips, before shifting to a snake like grin.

Zyron scooted backwards, frantically trying to get himself to stand up and run, but he was too caught up in his fear to do so. Then he felt his back knock up against the cavern wall, he was trapped with no where else to run.

"End of the line, Poochy. Make peace with your maker if you want, I don't really give a shit what you do. Takes the fun right out of killing if I know how my prey is gonna react. I like the surprises of it!" Jehxal formed his Poleaxe from his pauldron.

"Why are you doing this?" Zyron whimpered, unable to move from the corner he backed himself into.

"Why? Pfft. Don't me laugh." Jehxal seemed unamused, as his gaze sharpened. "I'm one of the four riders, Jehxal, the one called War. Consider me the 'Dreadnaught' of the Cult. I do the dirty work 'round here, slaughtering whoever dares challenge the Queen. Though, there's a faint scent of my little brother on you, so you're allied with that pathetic excuse of a Dream Weaver then?" Jehxal grinned wide, to hold his poleaxe's sharp edge against Zyron's throat to lift up his chin, so he could get a better look at him. "I will kill EVERY last one of you." He stated, drawing the weapon back as he prepared to strike.

Zyron flinched, cowering as the weapon raised into the air. His eyes latched shut, fearing the end, and soiling himself in the process. He continued to tremble as his urine breached to the ground where he sat. This was really it. He was done for.

The sound of metal struck the air, and rang through his ears, followed by a surprised roar of pain. Zyron's eyes peeled open, seeing Jehxal scream out in agony as the shoulder connected to his right arm was lopped off. Blood was spaying out to where the limb had fallen, but behind him was a glimpse of a massive scythe coated in Jehxal's life fluid. Spinning around the angry rider formed a blood edge over his arm, slashing back at his attacker.

Zyron was still a bit dazed, but he could see that Jehxal was struggling against someone with a scythe arm. "(Solitaire?...)" He thought, uneasily.

It was indeed the pink haired Morpheus fending off Jehxal with her bladed body, however with her preemptive strike over, Jehxal held the higher ground in this match up, even despite his missing arm. Solitaire was flung back, crashing hard into a stalagmite hanging from the web covered ceiling. Jehxal took this opportunity, while he reformed his pauldron on his chest, and prepared to impale her with the blood edge coating his arm.

Moments before his body moved, as screech came zipping his way and blowing up on contact with his opposite shoulder. Minerva had joined the battle, using what seemed to be explosive arrows. As the dust cleared, Solitaire appeared unharmed, but Jehxal was a battered mess. The Dream Weaver had the look of shock on his face, deciding immediately to make a hasty retreat. He quickly formed into a shadow to make his urgent escape out of the chamber, but not without leaving behind a massive amount of blood behind.

Solitaire scrambled to her feet, and rushed to Zyron, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Ronnie. Bleeding hell, are you alright?"

She looked legitimately worried about him, which made Zyron ease up from his overload of terror that was previously running through his veins. Without words, Zyron pulled her into a tight embrace, trying not to cry.

"Ronnie?" Solitaire asked, sounding scared.

"I'm fine... but..." His eyes lingered over to his dead companions.

"..." Solitaire glanced over to them, before looking back to him with a grimace. "Fucking wanker... He got to them? What about the others?"

Zyron shook his head in regret. "I don't know, but Grave and Vaugn are gone. Fuck." He cursed, feeling guilty about the whole ordeal.

Solitaire shifted herself so she could see his face. "A load of rubbish this is, but we can't give up... not now. " She said, behind furrowed brows.

Zyron reached his hand for her face, his expression full of doubt and concern. "I dragged them this way, trying to find you..."

"It's not your fault, poppet. You couldn't have known." Solitaire tried to comfort him.

"I know... but..." Zyron replied, guilt starting to manifest stronger.

Solitaire pulled Zyron into a kiss, hoping to snap him out of it, before looking to him seriously. "We can't change the past, so no more back chat."

Zyron nodded, pulling her back into a hug as Minerva quirked her brow over at them. She had been quietly observing but didn't intend to get between them in the moment.

"Uh Zyron? Something stinks." Solitaire pulled back, with a scrunched up face.

This made Zyron sweat." I.... May or may not have shat my pants." He nervously admitted.

"No. I'm pretty sure that's dog piss." She looked to him seriously, reaching her hand to her nose.

"Heh heh..." Zyron tried to laugh, but wound up with an almost grimace-like expression.

"On a more serious note... I did need to talk to you about something." Solitaire averted eye contact, seeming uneasy.

"I don't think now is the time, we can't remain here for long. I wish we could do more for our deceased allies, but it is far too dangerous during times like this." Minerva crossed her arms.

"Fair point." Solitaire nodded, sweating briefly. "Zyron, maybe could you maybe cremate them?"

He seemed unsure, before he nodded. "Fuck... Yeah best not to leave them like this." He said walking over to burn the bodies, however as he set them respectfully ablaze. They couldn't remain there long so they had to depart from their deceased friends. As they hurried onward however, his attention turned back to Solitaire. "What was so important though? Did something happen!? What is it?" Zyron anxiously gripped to her shoulders.

"Well if you must know... I think... I may be..." Solitaire seemed lost for words.

"May be what?" Zyron was becoming even more tense.

"Up the duff? You know... Uh... pregnant?" Solitaire blushed, looking to Zyron in concern.

Zyron had frozen there in his tracks, he was completely speechless, dumbfounded even. He was so astonished, that he couldn't stop staring in shock or even force out a reply. Minerva was right, now really wasn't the time for that talk.