Disorientation. Disgust. Rage.

    A swathe of emotions swept over me, so abrupt and destructive the lithid must have been suppressing it before I broke free.

    What a loathsome thing it was. Dredging up fears from the darkest recesses of a person''s mind, weaponizing their greatest nightmares. I held no animus against the monsters in the sanctum that acted as beasts, simply hunting for sustenance and killing prey. They were still a danger, and when necessary, I slayed them as humanely as possible.

    But this thing?

    It deserved far worse.

    I tore my sword free, dark oily mass spattering into the sewage below, and drove it home again, aiming more towards the center. It squealed and writhed beneath me, screeching like something unworldly. All at once, it bucked upward, trying to throw me off.

    Somehow, I held my balance, tugged at the sword. And balked.

    No matter how I pulled it didn''t budge.

    The creature timed its next attempt perfectly with my movements, waiting until I''d expended strength on another attempt to pull the sword free before it suddenly twisted, sending me splashing into the sewage. I closed my eyes too late, and caustic burn penetrated my skull.

    Stoke that fire until it''s so hot you can barely stand it. Burn away the grief until there''s nothing left.

    Half-blind, I lunged through the sewage, grabbing for something, anything, until my hand landed on something slick that immediately tried to squirm away. I dug my fingers in, holding grip even as it wrenched at me violently, eventually anchoring my other hand.

    The violet light radiated through my eyelids as I wrestled it tightly, pouring fire through it. It squealed again, timbre of its voice escalating, growing shrill.

    Demon fire doesn''t work on demons.

    But was that really true? Maybe. The last time I''d attempted to use the dantalion flame against a demon, it''d been fruitless enough that I''d never tried again. But its reaction seemed so terrified, and I''d come a long way since then.No?v(el)B\\jnn

    I dug my fingers in tightly, several popping through, piercing the protective membrane, recalling the flame that burned amongst the pooling refuse, cycling it through, gathering as much ambient mana as I could as it writhed, attempting to retreat, wiggle away.

    Burn.

    White flame erupted, so hot I could barely stand it. But it didn''t matter. Any pain or discomfort I felt now was worth it if it meant rendering this monstrosity to ash. I felt bits of it crumbling, and opened my eyes, my vision blurry. From what little I could see, it was entirely atypical. No appendages to target, and presumably, no traditional organs.

    Fine. When precision failed, overwhelming force was the best option.

    I forced white flame through my fingers, specifically the ones that pierced it, and immolated it from the inside.

    Shrieks turned to savage snarls. There was a rough thump against my tabard, followed by an icy burn I''d long ago associated with being stabbed. I looked down to find a tendril of darkness piercing my torso, wiggling to widen the wound. During the vision, it''d made me take my armor off. Apparently, that part was real. It should have been excruciating.

    But all I could really think about was how badly I wanted to destroy it.

    RELEASE ME BEFORE WE BOTH REACH OUR END. A chorus of voices forced their way through my mind, all screaming the same words in a dreadful raucous.

    "No." I murmured.

    Then poured enough mana through my hands that the flames ravaged the lithid from the inside in a wide corona, erupting outward, setting the wide walls of the tunnel aflame.

    IT HURTS.

    "Does it?" I sneered, adjusting my grip again, ensuring the crumbling of its form didn''t give it an opportunity to escape. "This pain is nothing... compared to what you inflict on countless others. Does it truly give such pause?"

    The black oily mass writhed, and a face took form, Lillian''s, howling in agony.

    Elphion damn you.

    I pulled from the ambient mana, pumping more into the wretch, not bothering to weave or even control it. In a controlled state, the flame of absolution had many applications. Short-range teleportation, and a limited ability to disassemble and reassemble objects. In its raw, unsophisticated form, however?

    It was pure destruction.

    Another tendril pierced my shoulder, and seconds later, my guts. My vision grayed, and not from overuse of mana. A sign that death was near.

    Keeping it fully anchored beneath me, I reached a hand towards the rictus of Lillian''s face. There had to be a reason it was manifesting a weaker version of the same illusion, when a more convincing version hadn''t worked before.

    It had to be protecting something.

    Forgive me.

    I drove my fingers into her eyes, her cheeks. This time they pierced easily, and I drove the fire through it, tapping every reserve I had. The halo of flame grew brighter as the lithid wailed, rolling violently as I clung to it, eventually overtaking and forcing me back into the sewage. Still I held on, feeding the flame, surrendering to it, even as my soul quake and my mana grew slight—

    BOOM.

    There wasn''t time to register the explosion before it flung me backward, separating me from the creature, sending me flying down the tunnel. My shoulder crunched as I slammed into the circular tunnel wall, and my knee cracked moments later. The already damaged arm went numb as it impacted the maintenance ledge and I landed face first in the sewage, barely keeping the wherewithal to hold my breath.

    I couldn''t move. Being stabbed to death by a monster—or a man—wasn''t so bad. By this point I''d experienced it countless times. In some ways, it was almost pleasant, once you''d lost enough blood that everything got numb. This, by comparison, was far worse. It was harder to hold your breath with any injuries. And when I broke, I''d be breathing in the refuse of the city above, filling my lungs with it.

    My arm snapped into place, and the pain followed, my vision swimming, a darkness pressing in around it.

    "Cairn. It''s... worse than I thought. This will hurt." Maya warned. Through the numbness, I felt her touch on my fractured arm.

    "Do it." I growled.

    Bone rubbed against bone, sliding, grinding, and my vision narrowed as pain bowled me over, lighting every nerve and neuron.

    "Squeeze, ya cunt!"

    I squeezed for all I was worth, fighting unconscious, holding on for what felt like an eternity until all at once, it was finally over. I sagged back against the wall, sucking in breath, waiting for my vision to return to normal. Mari slipped free.

    "How is he?" Someone asked.

    "Counting down the minutes... until I can mount that lithid... above my fireplace."

    There was scattered laughter.

    "Stable, for now. I''ll want to examine everyone more extensively once the threat has passed." Maya answered.

    "Mind fixing this?" Mari said, stoic again, now that the danger had passed.

    "Of course."

    Mari held her hand out to Maya. Some of her fingers were bent strangely, at odd angles, and I realized what I''d done.

    "Apologies." I muttered, feeling a flash of guilt.

    "Why?" Mari grinned. "Told you to squeeze. Only broke a couple fingers ''fore I called you by my mother''s name and the rest got buggered."

    "Nevertheless, thank you both." I stood, feeling a little awkward at all people who''d witnessed my thrashing. It was embarrassing. But from the looks on their faces, they understood. These were seasoned soldiers. Most had taken injuries in the line of duty. "And all of you. For holding the line, when I couldn''t." A particular part of the hallucination came back to me, and I scanned their faces. "Who warned me not to drink?"

    A man stepped forward. "Uh, me, my lord. Then everyone else."

    "And the cup was filled with what I think it was filled with?"

    Everyone nodded.

    I clapped a hand on his chest. "Remind me to buy you a very nice sword."

    "We''re not supposed to take gifts from officers, but the gods''ll strike me down before I argue." The man''s eyes glimmered in amusement. "Ye really gave it the business. That lithid. Ain''t seen nothing like it."

    "A performance he won''t be repeating." Maya said, twisting back to look at me as she continued mending Mari''s hand.

    "Right. Because fire and shit has an annoying tendency to explode." I looked around. "Do we have any idea where the others are?"

    "Well. Aetherya''s flat ass disappeared." Mari flexed her newly healed fingers. "Can''t say for sure if she was taken or just broke ranks to do snobby elf things."

    Maya grimaced. "There were strict orders to stay together. My instinct''s that she''s been abducted."

    "She''s ignored orders before, milady." Mari said.

    "Zin and Sevran?" I checked.

    "They were taken down the northern channel." Maya explained. "Snatched by the same tendrils that held you, carried off before anyone could react."

    "But the creature was here." I pointed out, confused.

    "Seems to be everywhere from the looks of it." Mari shook her head. "Like the whole sewer is the monster."

    "Fine, that''s our course. North. We recover our people first, then bring the fight to the lithid. But we need a strategy to free them."

    "I''ve worked out a method." Maya said, glancing over at Mari and quickly away, as the shorter woman''s cheeks burned red. "Got lucky the first time, caught it off guard. We were in the midst of attempting to do the same for you but it increased its defenses."

    "The only reason it did so well was because of the chokepoint." Sera mused, speaking up for the first time. There was an irregular pallor to her skin, but she seemed stable. Almost confident. "We were attacking it from a single direction, sporadically, as it was using a hostage as a shield. If we split the current forces in two and create a roving flank moving parallel down the tunnels, it won''t be able to use the same tactic."

    "Makes sense to me. And if we get you close enough, you can break them out?" I asked, watching Maya carefully.

    "Yes." Maya confirmed. Her staff trembled, all the anger she''d been suppressing in my absence seeping through. "This parasite practices its foul craft in solitude. It is unaccustomed to direct opposition regarding matters of the mind."

    "Anyone have a sword?" One of the soldiers tossed me a spare blade. I drew it, examining the steel for sharpness and coming away satisfied. A far cry from the blade I''d lost, but it would do for now. "Two groups. One with Sera, one with me. Let''s make this thing regret it ever came to Whitefall."

    A grim shout of defiance rose, fading into silent purpose, as we pushed north, deeper into the sewers.