He stared down at the chasm below; it could be an exit or a trap. Heat welled up from within the whole anything could be down there. Lex glared at Jean and her shiny new caller. There was heat from it as well; it felt wet, like hot air rising from a swamp. Moreover, it carried Jean's curse; a sinister thing never meant to be removed. Jean wanted to toss him in the chasm wearing her slave collar. Did she think it would be funny for him to wander around in the dark until she set off the caller?

She claimed it was an exit. Now, they couldn't trust her work. But Lex still had to try. Lex tossed a rock down the chasm. He counted seven seconds before it hit. This hole in the ground wouldn't be an easy path to take.

"Maybe, there is another way. There is still time." Morgan said.

They both knew they were drowning in dark waters and reaching for a log that might not be there. If they were going to escape the institute, it would be through the chasm.

"There isn't another way out. I didn't lie about that. How can you trust him over me?" She pulled at the collar around her neck; it didn't budge. Instead, it only reddened her skin. "Why would you let him do this to another witch?" Jean asked.

Morgan smiled, and it was full of teeth. "I gave you so many chances. I kicked Lex out of my bed, and you tried to replace him. You promised only to pretend to put a curse on him; he brought out that." She grabbed hold of the caller wrapped around Jean's neck and shook it.

Jean cringed in pain, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I wanted to protect you from him. He's loyal now that he'll betray you. They always do. Men hate witches; we remind them that they aren't all-powerful." Jean said.

Lex knew what was going on. Jean wanted to control him and shatter his sense of self. This attack was more vicious than he thought. It made him believe that Morgan already had a curse on him. But, how would he know, it could be benign for now? Waiting for the day the witch who placed the curse activated it wasn't an option.

He couldn't trust them. Such an insidious power couldn't be entrusted even to a friend. Everything was falling into place now you knew why the witches were hunted across the world. They could curse many newborns, wait until one of them became someone important, and then trigger that curse. Such power couldn't be allowed to take a foothold. Lex understood it.

Lex felt the tugging of the welded link. Was it just another curse? Was it benign for now only to be used as a leash later?

What about Morgan? Would she use it against him? It was a dagger pointed at his heart, and no matter how powerful he became, she could always use it. To link it to him, she had to force it into his mind and burn him until it held.

He grabbed hold of the welded link with the meta-physical hand. Within his body, he was king. Morgan's eyes widened as he pulled.

"Don't do this. It's not what you think it is, I promise. I'm different; I won't ever use it against you. You can trust me; I've shown you that I and the only one you can trust." Morgan said. Tears fell on her face this time, and her face turned red. Jean began to laugh, cackling like the witches from old tales.

"I'm not certain that you're the only one who cursed me. But if we have something, then it can't be a lie." Lex said. He felt Morgan take control of the welded link. She showed Lex where to grab it with his metaphysical hand away from it.

"You're right, I chose to trust you, and that means having faith," Morgan said. Then, he felt the curse dissipate. The link vanished, and he felt alone.

Suddenly, he was more alone than he had been in weeks. He'd grown used the calming thoughts from Morgan's mind. And now he was alone again about it leap into a dark abyss.

Morgan wrapped her arms around him and pushed her face into his chest. "Without the link, I won't know if you're alive or dead out there. You could disappear, and I'll never know if you abandoned me or died trying to help me." Morgan said.

Jean screamed. "How could you be so stupid? He'll abandon us." Jean yelled.

Lex pulled Morgan close and kissed her. It was so strange. He couldn't feel what she felt anymore; without the link, he was alone.

He broke the kiss. "I'll come back." He stared down at the chasm. From the heat wet, dry, and dense. There were many powerful creatures hidden in the darkness. It may very well lead to an exit but getting there would be a challenge.

Climbing down was a slow process. Lex felt eyes on him with every foothold in step. The creatures waiting below were powerful. Blind in the darkness, Lex continued to climb down until eventually, his feet touch the bottom.

He heard a shriek and punched forward, the creature's breath was on him, and it stank like rotten meat. Claws raked at his chest creatures all around him stabbed, bit, and beat at him. In the dark, he fought, as claws raked against him, he fought, and when creatures latched onto him, he moved forward.

He punched, kicked, jumped, and ripped; the cave filled with the sounds of shrieking broken monsters. Finally, they gave, and he returned golden blood poured down from his chest, back, and face. Blinded by the darkness, he marched forward, unsure where he was going and what he fought. Sometimes he felt the puncture of fangs, the rake of claws, or the gnashing of teeth; none of them could keep him down. Even as a ripped at him, his blood hardened into amber and resisted their blows. Their mouths filled with quickly congealing blood suffocating them. Even their claws were blunted.

As they shrieked and some died, those who fought him dwindled. He could taste their fear. It kept him going as surely as his cultivation and the desire to return. He could feel the technique evolving; digging deeper into his flesh, they feared him the thing that couldn't fall. Lex knew it because that's what the technique did, fed on fear.

He traveled beneath the earth for kilometers, following an old mining shaft shifting his way through barricades and squeezing through half-collapsed tunnels. Eventually, he made his way to the outside.

Outside, the sky is filled with endless stores constellations of the hungry Dragon, Heracles Invictus, and the hag shown brighter normal. The air was clean, and the world was open. He could leave nothing could hold him back now he broke the link to Morgan. She wasn't his responsibility fate had brought them together, but now he was free, he had a choice. He could choose to leave her to her fate, or he could try to savor and bind their fates together.

Lex snorted like he'd abandon and Morgan. No, he'd find a familiar and return. He didn't know how but he'd try.

What did he know about familiars? Well, they were spirits or manifestations of raja. Those who were once alive were often more complicated than pure manifestations of raja. Of course, that didn't help them find one.

He walked away from the mine and found a road, more of an animal trail. It was long winding and led south by the moss on the trees. Lex needed to find a familiar in less than five days. Not long after traveling, he felt something. He followed the presence until he came upon a desolate farm.

Surrounded by tiny red lights, a girl in a red dress sat on a bell. Her hair was an inky black that moved about as if she were underwater. The dress she wore was homespun dyed with blood. She giggled and kicked her feet. Small balls of light around her danced.

Lex edged back to the tree line. He needed a spirit, and he found one. This spirit would and bond with him; it was a spirit of vengeance. It would only bond with people consumed by revenge. There was one person he wanted revenge on, but that didn't consume him. He would be used and discarded by that spirit.

An explosion of heat rained down from up high. Lex looked up to see a crimson Dragon, the highest-grade spirit. It flowed across the sky at an incredible rate before smashing into the nearby mountains. Then, suddenly, the stars vanished, and rain fell.

Before Lex knew what he was doing, he began walking towards the mountains. He broke out into a sprint crossing the distance with all the speed. Already he could sense them, the others who saw the Dragon fall; it would be a race.

Whoever got the Dragon would become invincible.