It was quiet in my mindscape as I tried to come up with a reasonable excuse. As the seconds ticked by I knew anything would be better than nothing as Desero's shock would soon abate, and I would lose my momentary advantage if you could call it that. So, without really knowing where I was going with this, I began rambling.

My mind is in shambles! That Deity, she tried to do something to me! She pulled me back when we were speaking! I was about to tell you, but I got no chance!

There was no response, and I bit my mental tongue to keep from saying something else right away. If I continued for too long, I might blurt something stupid, if my ridiculous lie hadn't already exposed my deception.

Finally, Desero spoke, his mental voice venomous and sharp. You are trying to trick me. Do you take me for another human? You WILL tell me how you escaped from under the control of a deity, even if I have to drag the information from you. And you know what?

His voice turned calm and cold, and I got a bad feeling.

I think I know exactly how to make you tell me.

My vision turned as he did, and I saw we were in a partially destroyed apartment. More of the odd inscriptions covered the walls, and broken pieces of ceiling, glass, and wood littered the floor. There was a king-size bed in the corner. A person was lying on top, tied up and on her back, with a wound-up towel gag stuffed between her jaws. The familiar curves, less than they had been, and the dark matted hair made my heart shudder, and when I saw her face, I cried out.

Sandra!

Yes, Sandra! Desero hissed.

He walked towards her, and when he reached the bed, I saw her familiar eyes stare at me with such intense hate and loathing that I knew right away this might be Sandra's body, but she wasn't in it. I had never seen her look at someone like that. The knowledge should have relieved some worry, but it didn't. It took me only a moment to realize why. Somehow I still expected us to get back to our old bodies. Why? Desero moved, shaking me out of my sudden awareness.

It took me a bit of time to find this one again, and she didn't want to cooperate. These later generations are so weak-minded. But that is fine. I can deal with that! Desero's fingers traced the contours of Sandra's hips, slowly moving along her waist and between her tightly bundled up breasts until they reached her throat. Then his fingers turned into a claw, and he squeezed tightly. Sandra's eyes bulged, but the hatred and anger didn't abate, and there wasn't a sign of fear.

Not Sandra, I had to tell myself, and not Desero's hand, MY hand, I thought, as a burst of anger made me want to tear the demonic AI to pieces.

What, does this anger you? I have barely even started! Desero raised my hand, and my fingernails slowly turned green, elongating until they were like wickedly curved talons. Almost gently he put the tips on Sandra's cheek.

How did he do that?

Now, let's try this again. How did you do it? Desero punctuated each word as he mimicked my question. He pressed a finger in the soft flesh of what was for the last few years my girlfriend.

Should I try and convince him I hadn't tried to doublecross him? No. It wouldn't matter. Besides, he would still want an answer. Did it matter? Sandra was now Eliandra and in another body altogether, but seeing the familiar face, I knew I couldn't just let him do this. Besides the fact that I wasn't sure of the future, could my mind even deal with seeing it? No. I needed an answer for him, something believable. But what? What could I tell him-

Fast! Desero snapped. His index finger moved down, and the fingernail drew blood, a pearly red orb that sat shakily on the small wound.

My mind scrambled for an answer, and then the blood gave me an idea. Without thinking it through, I began.

No, wait! I told the truth. It wasn't my intention to leave you hanging! It's the demon blood! If you go deep below the Demon Infested sea, it somehow hampers a deity's sway! I found out that-

As I continued concocting my elaborate lie, half hearing what I said, a part of my mind wondered about something. It was said that the subconscious mind sometimes shows you the truth in the most strange circumstances. Was what I said really a lie? I hadn't been able to get into contact with Rathica. Desero was quiet, his hand no longer taut with tension, and his index finger gently tapping Sandra's cheek. My words trailed off, and I waited.

Interesting.

A simple statement, but I heard no malice, and I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Desero continued.

I can't tell if you're lying or not. Either you truly believe this ridiculous tale, or you can somehow mask the truth from the spell I cast.

A spell? I felt a mental shudder pass through me as I remembered the lies. I was about to answer when a barely audible whisper trickled through the back of my mind.

Keep him preoccupied. Help's on the way.

It was Rathica's voice, tense and filled with anger.

Immediately a small sense of relief and hope came to me. Rathica should be able to deal with anything a single Guidar could attempt. Right? Besides this, I also had no idea how to get back to my body, but Rathica would know! And I had to get her to help me stop this from happening again. It took me a moment to notice how I thought of the Grablon body as my own all of a sudden.

What was that? Derero's voice made my relief dissipate as fast as it came, and I felt his mental presence rut around our mindscape. It felt like an itch within my skull, decidedly unpleasant.

What was what? I said, not bothering to continue putting any fear in my voice.

An intense screech came from outside the building, rattling the pieces of glass still seated in the window sills. A crack appeared in the wall, and massive talons pierced through the wall as if a bird had grabbed hold of the wall outside.

"Now what?" Desero growled as he backed up to the door. A loud slam came from the wall near the talons, and cracks appeared. Another bang followed, accompanied by ripping and tearing as a massive head slammed through the wall. More lizard than bird, it looked like a madman's representation of a dragon, complete with two unequally sized eyes and a ragtag patchwork of scales. It dove forward, and to my utter dismay, it bit down on Sandra's bundled-up form. Blood splattered everywhere, and then it began devouring her as I watched.

NOOO! My piercing scream reverberated through my mindscape, and for a moment, I thought I saw something overlaid above reality. Like a landscape on glass placed close before my eyes, with small trees for vegetation, and a lake in the middle of a plain.

Desero's breath was sucked in, and he jumped back as he whispered, "Chaos Beast!" He backed up, and I felt his/our heel snag on something, and Desero tumbled against the door, which gave under his weight. We fell through, and as soon as we did, my mind shook. I felt as if I was being torn in two. My mind stretched until it felt so thin I thought I would cease to be at any moment. Then something snapped, and my mind shuddered as I blacked out.

--

I woke to a gentle touch on my cheek. After a second, the touch turned to pain, and I realized someone was pinching me. Hard. I had a massive headache, and I wanted nothing more than to sleep. I was so tired. Then I remembered Sandra.

It was just her body, I tried to tell myself, but I knew that the memory of the massive teeth ripping the familiar body to shreds would probably haunt my dreams for a very long time

"Est?! Est! You have to wake up!" a familiar voice whispered in my ear as the pinching continued. Grateful for the distraction, I tried to force the memory to the background.

My eyes fluttered open. Was I back? I had to be, right? A hazy image slowly turned sharp, and I saw Laurel's scarred and rugged face a few inches from mine. There was a barely suppressed panic in her eyes, and when she saw my eyes open, she held her finger to her lips.

I blinked. This was somehow oddly familiar. I didn't recall when I had had a similar experience, though and … … Wait, why did my mind just wander off. I slowly moved my head from side to side to take in my surroundings and hopefully clear the fog. A rampant pain came from my back, and I groaned. I needed to heal, and with a whimper, I summoned my status screen.

My stamina was zero, and my health below ten percent. As I watched, my stamina bar filled up, showing I had leveled it up, and I anticipated some relief from the pain. Alas, my health increased by only a sliver, and I barely noticed any improvement in my physical condition. So much for that brilliant idea.

I looked around to find we were in some cave of colorful green and purple coral. A red eel lazily swam near the ceiling, glowing with a green light. The simple act of looking around made me gasp for breath. I definitely wasn't healthy. Not by a long shot.

Rathica? A little help? I thought, hoping that whatever was blocking our connection had ceased. There wasn't any response though, and I hoped that what I had told Desero wouldn't end up being the truth. Wait. Where was Redtooth?

"Wh-" I tried to ask what had happened, but Laurel covered my mouth. With a shake of her head, she moved closer and began whispering in my ear. "There's some kind of big demon outside, hunting the smaller ones," she said, her voice so soft I could barely hear it. She cocked her head as if listening to something. "He seems to trigger on sound, and he has finally moved away."

I didn't hear anything, but nodded and waited for her to move her hand from my mouth.

"Where is Redtooth?" I whispered.

"He fled when the big guy showed up. It chased him long enough that I could drag you in here."

I groaned, and the pain began spreading again. It started from my back, moving through my body, and I realized I was cold. With a shiver, I looked at Laurel and opened my mouth indicating that I wanted to talk.

She tilted her head towards me.

"Are there any plants in here? Vegetation?"

Laurel frowned then looked around, her eyes focusing on something in the distance.

"There's some growth covering the side of this cave, but I don't think it's edible."

Thank Rathica, I thought and closed my eyes, trying to gather my faculties. "Drag me over to them," I finally managed to whisper in her ear.

"That'd be dangerous! The thing might hear us!"

I shrugged and stared at her intently, trying to convey as much urgency as I could. After a moment, she nodded. I clenched my teeth when she moved me. It was a good thing we were in the water because my back hurt like hell even with it not fully supporting me. Luckily the cave wasn't that big, and after a moment, she put me beside an ugly patch of green moss that covered some of the back walls. It was thick, and long strands waved in the water, a slight yellow mist spreading from it.

Spores? I thought, wondering if they were dangerous. A few dark blots appeared in front of my eyes, and I knew it didn't matter if they were. I raised my hand and cast Share Lifeforce before pushing my hand into the moss. Lauren drew in a quick breath, but I ignored it. We were beyond the point of me caring what spells she saw me cast.

A shred of energy came from the plant, and my health bar popped up. It filled to fifteen percent, still in the red, but better than before. With marginally more energy, I looked around and saw more of the moss in other places. I thought I could probably walk, but I wanted to conserve as much of my energy as I could. I motioned to the nearest patch of moss and gritted my teeth as Laurel moved me there.

We moved from patch to patch, and when I had drained the last one, my health was at thirty percent and orange again. I also didn't need help to move anymore. Cocking my head, I didn't hear anything, and I looked at Laurel. She shrugged and shook her head.

"So, it's gone?" I whispered, and we both waited in silence. Nothing happened, and Laurel sighed in relief before turning to me. "What spell was that? I've never seen anything like it!"

I wasn't sure if I should answer, and I began debating what to tell her. Before I could decide, she turned red and began fidgeting. Staring at her in wonder, I shook my head. What kind of warrior is she? I remembered how she had held back the four demon-squids, her face like that of a berserker. I found it hard to square that with the calculating woman from before or the embarrassed woman I now saw before me.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's just that I've never spoken to a Prime before," she muttered gruffly.

"It's fine. What happened after I fell unconscious?" I replied.

Laurel snorted softly and shook her head in wonder. "That's what you call that? It looked more like you died! You were bleeding so much that it obscured my vision!"

I kept looking at her until she sniffed.

"I grabbed you, and that Manytooth you somehow charmed brought us further down. At some point, this massive reef appeared, and with it, more demons. One of them, twice the size of the Manytooth, came for us, and the Manytooth fled, throwing us off in the process. I managed to drag you down to the reef and into one of the caves in the nick of time."

I looked at the single entrance and saw a host of colors beyond it and a lot of movement. "And did anything come inside while we were here?"

"No, but you weren't unconscious for that long. I'm glad you're okay, though. Having to navigate back to the coast on my own would have been boring."

I looked at Laurel and saw the suppressed fear in her eyes. When she saw me looking, she turned to the entrance, swimming closer to it. Her movements were powerful, and I didn't see any wounds on her body—no marks from the previous battle.

"You're healed?"

Laurel didn't respond, but instead, she pointed outside. "It seems the coast is mostly clear. We need to get deeper, where the water is clear, and then begin our travels. You're still sure you want to head to the Harrowing Hills?"

I looked at her for a while, wondering why she didn't respond to my gaze, before moving beside her. Perhaps it was because she had become so embarrassed after asking me what spell I had cast? Another question to add to the pile.

"Yes."

"Then we need to go to Orlion," Laurel said as she swam outside.

I quickly followed her and looked around. I stopped for a moment as I marveled at the bright, vivid colors around us—lots of colorful fish, bioluminescent purple reefs, and small silvery snakes. Turning my gaze upward, the difference between my surroundings and the deeply red sea above me was sickening. It reminded me of a puddle of stale blood. The light from above was dull, and I saw dark shapes moving through it, some the size of ships.

"I need to heal more. So we need to find more plants," I said as I swam beside Laurel.

She nodded and began looking around without replying.

My mother always said I didn't understand women, I thought with a shake of my head. Then I began scanning around for anything that looked like a target for Share Lifeforce.