I searched for Sania and the others first. It wasn’t difficult to find them. They’d barely moved from the last time I’d checked them out. The cause of their stopping? a literal hoard of Darkness’s troops between them and Far Reach. The mountains and the passes were filled with at least a hundred thousand troops of every shape and size. So numerous that they covered the ground all the way to the open plains of the forsaken land to the north west of Far Reach and into Kalabri.

There was no battle at the moment, no real troop movement from either side, just a horrifically unbalanced standoff between the two forces.

Despite my faith in their abilities, some obstacles just couldn’t be overcome, and from my bird's eye view, this was definitely one of them.

I focused more acutely on Sania. She was easy to spot with Grigor, Danivra, Olata, Ewan, Galota and Freeler, all deep in discussion. I desperately wanted to know what they were saying. How they were going to navigate this and get to Far Reach or if they intended to give up and go elsewhere. I wondered if Malatia would welcome them if they entered the country from a different route. Then my thoughts came to a juddering halt. Ewan was here. He was supposed to be helping protect Far Reach.

I fled to inspect Far Reach, fear building in each of the few seconds it took to arrive. Looking down on my battered town, there was no evidence of further fighting beyond what I had seen last time. Further buildings had been dropped in the area I’d seen work going on last time.

Our own soldiers surrounded them. All with some form of armor on, glistening in the Mid- afternoon sun. Among them, the sight of Devotions silver and blue armor filled me with a little hope that even if I couldn’t break free, Malatia was standing with us against the tide of Darkness.

I spent most of the day watching my friends in both locations. Waiting for the fighting to start. If they were wiped out I would force myself to watch it to the bitter end, because if by some miracle I did find a way to get out of Nuinaer, I’d channel all of the hate I felt toward Darkness and I would make him pay.

As the Sun was setting, it was on the plains of Kalabri that the tense standoff was finally broken.

The ground in front of Sania and the others began rippling wildly, appeared to boil. It reminded me of the Saleel movements, though on a far greater scale. I watched with grim anticipation, before receiving my first look at Great worms. Twenty-three of the giant creatures surged up from the ground in a cloud of dust rock and snapping teeth. I could make out even from this height. I could see instantly why Elamu had said they couldn't be defeated by just anyone. But, he was wrong about only Saleels being capable.

I forgave him, though. Because up until a few weeks ago Nanooks had not been commonplace on Falritas. And when the front line of those Nanooks met the Greatworms, I winced at the collision involving the two titanic races. In every instance I saw, the Greatworm came off second best.

While smiling at the result of those battles wasn’t on the cards, there was a grim satisfaction. Across the full front of our line, my people worked together to combat the Worm attack. The Saleel played a pivotal role in the battle. As the Great worms dove and resurfaced, they were able to alert everyone when each would resurface.

We still lost people. Elves and Goblins mainly. Woltar and Nysti seemed capable of avoiding the snapping Jaws with a combination of speed, instinct, and size. Then there was Freeler… oh Freeler. He was easy to spot, jumping around like a flea on an elephant, landing each time with a brutal blow with his Mace of Exhaustion. He was utterly amazing.

Sania, Danivra and Olata worked together in the air, with Wind of the Wild and the other Amaroks working tirelessly underneath them from the ground.

As the Greatworms, comprehensively outmatched, disappeared underground and didn’t return. It appeared we’d survived the first battle. I was very surprised to see none of Darkness’s troops came to assist the Greatworms when they could have overwhelmed us easily.

Looking down I tried to get a feel for how many we had lost in the battle, and that’s when it hit me. If the troops from the Nideland came at us with their full army, my people would have no choice but to run. Darkness, once again showing a worryingly brilliant flare for long term tactics was clearly intending to give us false hope while whittling us down.

I moved as close as I could to Sania, who was addressing the troops, so close yet so far away and I would have stayed there and watched her and my people all night, but a tugging began on my mind. Imperceptible at first, but growing more and more insistent, before I had no choice but to return to my body.

I found Grimstrom standing over my mutilated body as my eyes peeled open. Ten guards standing ready. They were still taking me incredibly seriously, which came as a surprise. In a strange way, it gave me hope. If they thought I might cause trouble still, then perhaps there was a way out of here.

“Did you see enough? You know how easily we can crush every last one of your people?” he said. I could barely make out his face out, back lit as he was by the torches the guards carried to illuminate the dark room. I struggled to reply. Surprised he knew I could watch what was going on.

He snorted. “You didn’t think we knew about that? It won’t before long. We’re working on ways to prevent you. Though both the King and I feel there’s a fitting irony in you being able to watch while we slaughter your people.

We’ll be attacking again in an hour or so. We do love a night attack. I’d say, by the end of tomorrow. They’ll all be finished off, Clive. Unless you do the right thing for once in your life.”

“Fuck off,” I mumbled. He kicked me in response.

“We thought we’d ask once more. Now you’ve seen what’s about to happen. I honestly thought you’d see sense. I’ll not visit again until they’re all dead and Sania captured.”

“I’m gonna kill you all,” I spat out. “One way or another I’m going to make you pay.”

“No, you’re not,” Grimstrom laughed. “A lot of planning has gone into your imprisonment. A lot. You are never walking away from here unless you are bonded to Darkness.”

“Walking?” I said bitterly. “This world and its obsession with cutting body parts off. What the fuck is wrong with you people.”

“I think it’s just the effect you have on people, Clive,” he replied. After we’ve killed your traveling army, you’ll have one more chance before we raze Far Reach, then it’s a very long sleep.”

He kicked me once more, and I had no way of responding to the attack as I went over onto my side, bashing my face and head on the cold stone floor. They left the room laughing at me there helpless on the floor. The level 81 Warlock did something with the Dark Shield and my body shut down again.

I wasn’t sure what the hell they were expecting me to do with my body awake, but they clearly weren’t taking any chances at all with my captivity. That more than anything gave me a flicker of hope and set my mind to racing yet again over my options. No matter how obscure and improbable they might be.

First thing to check was to see what Grimstrom did next. Activating Spirit Gaze, I focused in on him outside the room. He was talking to the other guards. Reiterating the need to be on their guard at all times. Then he left and headed toward the exit of the prison that led on to the high level bridge. Crossing over to the Kings Tower my tailing of him was cut short by Darkness’s power. It was worth a try, but I wouldn’t be defeated by that setback.

I headed back, intent on inspecting every inch of the surrounding cells and to listen in on the guards. They were definitely scared of something happening. Perhaps a rescue. Though with the best will in the world, I couldn’t imagine anyone rescuing me from here. Right in the center of Nuinaer. A spiritual stronghold of the most powerful god there was as far as I could tell.

I found the first of the shrines I’d heard mention of earlier. An extra layer of protection against me escaping. It was a five-foot stone column full of intricate markings, and I could see the Dark power emanating from it. Even if I couldn’t affect it, I could understand that it blocked any power other than Dark from being used inside my cell. Which explained why the Dark-Shield and other dark spells still worked in there.

Checking on all six of the shrines, I knew if I broke one, the shield they’d set up would fail. Of course, all I would have to do was simply break through one of the thick dwarven made stone walls without anyone noticing. After breaking free of the Dark shield, After breaking free of the sleep spell, and of course, after magically acquiring new limbs. In other words, as predicted prior to my investigations, I was completely and utterly screwed. Next, I moved to actually check my body over with Spiritual Gaze, to see if there was anything I was missing.

I hadn’t really spent too much time inspecting my mangled form, because… well honestly it was pretty much unbearable to see myself like that. In my spirit form, free of my body, I could ignore what had happened up to a point.

Now in the cell, if I could have cried for myself I would have. I needed that guy to get the fuck back out there and rescue our people, but he was going nowhere.

Taking in the rest of the cell, I acknowledged the burnt remains of my left arm, torso, and legs. While it was dark with my physical eyes, details were clear to my Spiritual eyes. I noticed my Immortal Shell arm had been removed from the cell. The thieving bastards had obviously been unable to burn or destroy it.

I inspected the ashes more carefully, wondering what happened to cores when you died. Because my lower abdomen, which housed the Dark Core, had very much died. I assumed it had just floated back off into the ether as I couldn’t sense its presence at all. Then something occurred to me. The damn thing was covered in ethereal energy. Ethereal energy that was given explicit instructions to conceal the Dark Neuma. Specifically from the Light Neuma within me, but…

I moved my soul projection closer to the pile of ashes, to see if I could make it out. Despite what I’d been through, despite being in an ethereal soul form, I pulled back when something in the ashes moved. I assumed a rat, and felt sick at the thought of rats in here nibbling at my paralysed body.

From my new position, I focused fully on the pile a while longer and nothing happened. So I moved closer again. The barest of twitches responding to my presence, growing more insistent the closer I moved.