What just happened?

Stabby looks around, only seeing pitch black around him. It's a similar dark to what he saw when his brother transported them away from the village.

As he examines the surrounding abyss, his crown of crystals began emitting a dim violet light, illuminating the area enough for him to see up to ten feet. He can now tell that he's in a cave, but he still sees nothing but the stalactites and stalagmites that scatter across it.

He sits as he looks back through his memory, trying to piece together where he's arrived and why he's there.

He knew there was something off about the glowing circle as soon as he entered the room, but after he saw his mother he didn't think about it much until she told him to go in. What exactly is the purpose of the circle? It seems to be some sort of teleporter. Where would it take him if that was the case?

Did that room have a significance to it? He didn't have enough time to tell how large the building was, so he couldn't know the location exactly, but it had doors for every direction, so it was likely near the center of the castle. The room itself seemed familiar to him, like some kind of arena.

Wait, that's odd. How is it familiar? He's lived about a week. How could he know about that structure? Or any type of structure he hasn't already seen, for that matter. That's another question for the ever-growing pile of questions to ask when he sees his brother again, I guess.

He rubs his chin as he contemplates. It felt off... Looking down at his hand, he jerks back. Raising them back to eye level, he notices that they've grown. His limbs have gotten longer too.

When he went through the teleporter, his body must have jumped in age. His brother mentioned they aged quickly, but damn, this is way quicker than he expected.

Wait... what was I originally thinking about again?

A scuttling noise echos from deep in the cave.

Looking up, Stabby peers through the dark, hoping the slight glow from his crown would help him see what made the noise.

Nothing. But it's good to be safe.

He shifts slowly against the walls down the dark corridor, examining every inch of area that enters his vision. He still can't see anything. The noise hasn't echoed again either.

He relaxes his shoulders, letting out a deep breath. Placing his hands behind his head, he turns to head back.

Before he could make any progress, a sudden loud clatter comes from behind him. He jumps behind a large stalagmite, rolling up into a ball and hiding his body. His crystals dim their glow, somehow reacting to his emotions.

The scuttling is back, and much closer. It moves forward, its breathing becoming more noticeable. Heavy, it wheezes as it inhales, and stretches out each exhale painfully long. It continues to step forward, slowing its pace as if it were looking for something.

Stabby holds his breath.

It reaches the other side of his cover, then stops. The breathing fades. The cave becomes dead silent.

Stabby shifts carefully, peeking around the stalagmite. Nothing there.

Something touches his shoulder.

Stabby turns and his eyes widen. All of his forgotten thoughts and memories return to him.

His mother's words ring in his head. "They are nice, aren't they? And since you like them, you'll be able to play with some of them soon."

The talk of shades. The arena. The sternness in her voice as she asked him to go into the circle.

This is some sort of messed up combat training.

The creature was tall and deformed. Its limbs protrude from its body, stretched out hands with long bending fingers at their ends. As black as the surrounding abyss, if it has any features, they weren't visible. The only thing he can see is the multitude of sharp teeth lining its gaping mouth. It's a shade.... but it's wrong somehow.

Fear builds inside him. His hands trembling, he pushes the deformed shade's claw off him. He crawls away from the creature, still shivering from the dreadful sight.

The shade howls like a demon at the movement of its hand, dashing towards Stabby terrifyingly fast.

As it lunges, Stabby dissolves into the ground, making just enough distance to avoid the attack. The shade attacks again. Rolling behind it, Stabby dodges and melts back into the ground. This time he makes more distance, but he's still in the shade's sight. Right before the shade reaches him, he jumps into the cave floor a last time.

He looks around. The creature is nowhere to be seen. He's safe.

He sits against the wall, catching his breath.

How is he going to get out of here? From what he's seen, the cave is enormous. There's been nothing to show, even a sign of an exit. If his assumption of this being a combat trial is accurate, he's likely going to have to find out how to kill that thing. But... how?

Claws pierce out of the wall around him, grabbing him by the throat. He struggles to get out, trying to wiggle out between its fingers, but to no avail. As the creature's nails dig into his skin, Stabby feels hopeless.

Why would his mother send him here? Why would Grisha let her? She wouldn't have sent him here without purpose... would she? She wouldn't just send him to die. There must be a reason. There has to be.

As he felt his life falter, a burst of energy fills his body.

"MOM WOULDN'T LET ME DIE!" He cries, tears streaming down his face.

Blood pumping, he bites the arm of the shade trapping him. He kicks away from the wall, entering a defensive posture. He wipes the blood off his neck, narrowing his eyes to a glare.

How did it find me so quickly? It seems to be adjusted to the dark, so it could have dark-vision. It somehow saw me through the wall, though.

Wait, it might have mutated, but it's still a shade. It must sense me through my crystals... if shades can do that. Well, it's my best theory to go off for now, so running isn't an option.

The shade pulls its torso through the cave wall as Stabby finishes his attempt to comprehend his attacker.

"Alright, now how to kill it."

Before the shade could fully escape the wall, Stabby opens his portal on the ground and thrusts his arms into it. His arms resurface near the shades, grabbing its head and slamming it into the ground. He throws it against a stalagmite, hitting it with a thud.

The creature howls in agony. It tears out of Stabby's grasp, pulling its legs through the cave.

Not allowing Stabby to recover, the shade lets out a high-pitched howl. Stabby steps back, covering his ears, trying to stop the painful noise.

Taking advantage of his pause, the creature plunges its claws into its chest, tearing itself in two.

Stabby, regaining himself, looks at the creature's self-mutilated body. "I guess he... gave up?"

Sadly, the thought is wrong.

The two halves heal themselves, dark flesh spurting forth from their wounds. The flesh bubbles, forming exact copies of the original halves. Each side gains a body for their own.

"Oh... damn it."

They pick themselves up to all fours and slowly crawl towards him.

This is fine. There's just two of the creature that almost killed me by itself. I got this.

Their crawl increase speed as they get closer. Reaching its climax, they practically leap at each step.

The original gets to him first, pouncing at him like a tiger, its jaw ready to bite through his throat. He dodges out of the way, kicking the creature's featureless face. The second one follows suit, jumping at him, its arm ready to swing. He tries to dodge again, but to less success, the claw cutting into his side.

He grasps his wound, hopping away from the double.

I need a weapon.

He searches his memories, trying to remember how Grisha summoned the swords. Replaying it in his mind, he remembers the movements. Sticking out his palm, he concentrates, trying to force whatever weapon he can out into his hand.

The shades once again close in.

"Come on... hurry up, Stabby."

One shade leaps as the other dashes low, hoping to trap him. Just in time, Stabby shoots a dagger from his palm. He dashes forward, dodging the leap of the first who crashes into a wall behind him.

The second raises its claw to strike. Stabby melts into the ground, ducking under the attack. It swings above his head. With the energy of his sudden drop, he shoots up, slamming the dagger into the shade's chest.

The creature is knocked to the ground. He punches the blade repeatedly, forcing it deeper into its ribs. It writhes, whimpering as the dagger hits a hard object.

The other shade regains consciousnesses, and charges at Stabby.

Slamming his fists against the dagger's handle, Stabby pierces the object.

A wave of dark mist explodes from the wound, knocking both Stabby and the other shade back. The mist pauses momentarily, before reversing back into the body of the shade. The forced re-entry causing its form to implode into the wound.

A singular blue crystal is all that remains.

The surviving shade forces itself up again.

Seeing it's still alive, Stabby holds his blade in front of him and crouches, preparing himself for another attack.

The shade gets back to its feet but falls onto the floor, its body fading into a puff of smoke.

Stabby falls back with a sigh. "Killed the right one."

After relaxing a moment, he sits up.

He's still here. Is he supposed to escape somehow? With how big this cave is, that'll take forever.

He sees the blue crystal laying on the cave floor, at the corner of his eye.

He picks it up, studying its form.

Maybe this has some significance. It did come from the shade.

As he examines the sides of the crystal, a strange urge comes over him. He moves closer, his eyes locking on to it. He opens his jaw, his mouth reaching its tip. His teeth bite into its tough surface.

The crystal cracks under the pressure, and his body surges with energy. The black mist from the beast spews from the crack, surrounding him. His body bends unnaturally under the power of the mist, lifting into the air. The entire abyss spread across the cave fills into him. The last of it enters and explodes from his body.

Nothing but his floating body left, Stabby falls to the ground.