Col felt tears come into his eyes from the pain and quickly evaporate in the midst of the searing heat. He guessed if he lived much longer than the next five minutes his skin would probably be heavily burned, if not permanently scarred. Just as Col felt he could bear the heat no longer, flames raced outward, creating walls of flame that were escorting them to the stone. Not sure what was going on, but not exactly wanting to waste time questioning it, Col ran towards the glowing stone. Merlin slobbered over his face, causing Col to let out a laugh, caused by a mixture of stress and surprise. Perhaps he should've just trusted Merlin from the start. Regardless it seemed they were safe for now, the flamewall, caused by who knows what, was keeping the Wolfborn at bay.

However the ground rumbling beneath them seemed to indicait they were not yet safe. Col had just began to voice a question when an ungodly noise erupted all around them and the very earth they stood on collapsed, sending the lot of them tumbling to the ground. If it could be called that. Col was alarmed by a pervasive silence that was an almost painful contrast to what he had just heard. All around them was pure pitch black and Col's stomach informed him they were falling, though it was impossible to tell if this was really the case. All Col could do was stare and try to figure out what was happening.

---

Trust me. These words resonated with Marque, echoing within the chambers of his mind again and again. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. And trust he did. Marque bore witness to the stone shine with brilliant power, then manifest that power. A path was born, guided by walls of flame, so that his companions could yet escape. Relief swept over the young man as they approached behind the safety of flame. Yet the terrors has not yet ended.

Before the actor could speak to his traveling companions, something new surprised them all, and darkness swallowed everything. His face stung with the sensation of moving air, as Marque and the others plummeted within the void. Instinct very nearly took hold, but he fought off the desire to scream, in order to calmly accept this fate.

Trust me.

I do.

Bastian stayed close behind Col as the pushed on to the stone. The flames were both his best friend and worst enemy, threatening to consume him as much as save him. He could feel the sting of the searing heat on his flesh, but he really had no choice but to push on. He had no interest in dying today. He had a family to return to.

As he and Col continued on, the flames moved. The flames reorganized them themselves into a channel for them to follow, providing safe passage from the wolves straight to the stone. Bastian had heard stories of magic, but he only ever treated them as such. Stories. This, however, was definitely something different. Perhaps magic did exist after all. If that was the case, then hopefully it was as incredible and miraculous as he had always been told. They certainly needed a miracle.

After pushing past intense heat, the pain, and flashbacks of a particular burning tower that he always experienced around open flames he joined up with the rest of the party at the stone. Bastian turned his attention back to the Wolfborn. The flames continued to ward off the beasts as they stood around the mystical glowing stone, but now that they had arrived the question remained: Now what?

As if to answer his unspoken question the earth began to rumble beneath them. Bastian looked down at his feet as the ground shook. What in the world was happening? His thoughts were soon drowned out by the rumbling turning into a roar. Bastian struggling to maintain his footing as the ground churned beneath him. Then his footing was removed completely when the ground gave way completely. Now plummeting down through the darkness he could only wonder what would come next. As his mind processed hundreds and thoughts and possibilities, one question stood out amongst them all:

Is this how I die?

---

Sweet release.

Lorenzo felt himself fall towards the abyss, falling loose of Merlin in all the chaos as he could only look down in wonderment. All he could do at that point was open his arms as he felt the world slow around him. He was welcoming the idea that he wouldn't wake up from this chaos soon. What he had witnessed in the last few minutes was fantastic, surely, and what he would give to paint a scene like that. The crippled archer, mischievous trickster, noble doctor, and valiant knight, with hound and horse in tow, fighting off a pack of bloodthirsty and darkened wolves. Alas, it didn't seem likely.

After all, was this a story meant to have a good end? If it was, then Loyal's death wouldn't have happened.

Lorenzo smiled at Martyrdom before he simply closed his eyes and waited for the floor to eventually hit him. He was ready, and he was prepared to accept moving on.

"I'm coming, Loyal."

Quiet and still darkness overshadowed everyone. Their awareness of time was completely removed. For all they could perceive; mere minutes, days, or even weeks could have passed. There was no way to tell. Even the perception of their fellow allies was affected. They were each alone with their thoughts for better or worse. Musings about family, life, death and trust. Then they heard something. The splashing of water in motion.


They didn't know how long it had been since they had last heard anything at all. But sure enough, the splashing continued. Then they began to become aware of a hard surface below them. Finally, their eyes opened. Before them a vast expanse of sea..and much more.
The largest dog any of them had ever seen looked out toward the sea. At least ten times the size of the Wolfborn from before. Next to it stood a cloaked figure with a staff in hand. Off in the distance they could spot a tower with a beam of light shooting outward. Around themselves they noticed both Merlin and Martyrdom were nowhere to be seen. But Lorenzo, Marque, Col and Bastian all laid nearby one another.

Suddenly, both of them turned toward the group and ran. The dog made it within seconds. The rocks shook, its paws thundering against the hard ground with each step. When it was within a few feet of the group it skidded to a stop. Just barely bumping into Lorenzo. Its tongue lapped out of its mouth in excitement. It was hard to tell whether it was happy to see fresh meat or to lay eyes on them.

After half a minute, the hooded figure made it to the group. It was apparently a man as they perceived a deep, rasping coming from him. He brushed passed everyone. Then he made his way directly to Marque and gripped both his shoulders tightly. Everyone could see a ragged, bearded, but smiling man. From Marque's perspective, Gardevoir looked beat. Like a man who had been on the run, obviously, but more than that. The last time he had seen the man he was clean shaven and well kept. Now he had a fully grown beard, scraggly hair and a walking staff. Even still, Marque could feel the warmth emanating from his master's eyes.

Gardevoir began to speak between breaths, "Marque! Hah..I knew you had the gusto to find me!..hah..these your friends?" He gestured to them inquisitively and continued, "Your animals are safe..hah..and this one has been waiting..hah.." He glanced at Lorenzo and the enormous dog, smiling, "From the looks of it..hah..I think it's found what its been looking for.." Then he shook his head as if to snap out of a distraction and continued, "Never mind that now..hah..we must traverse this cove toward that light tower..There is no time to waste!" Gardevoir turned in a flash, his cloak flipped behind him in a whirl as he swaggered toward the light tower.

During all this time, the dog simply stared at Lorenzo and panted. After Gardevoir's introduction, it licked Lorenzo's face with a giant, wet tongue. In any other circumstance Lorenzo would be terrified of a beast this size. But something was different about this one. Something..familiar. The dog lowered itself and reached out with its paw for Lorenzo to grab onto. It continued to pant excitedly.

Upon a quick inspection of their inventories, the group would find everything that they had acquired where they had left it. Items that had been equipped at the time of their fall were laying nearby. Even Merlin's saddlebags were there.

The party would notice some of their items had underwent a slight change. The shield Col had picked up had a certain gleam about it that it didn't before. Colley's sword, which Bastian picked up, had a crimson red color that covered the entire blade excluding the hilt.

---

Suddenly Marque's eyes awoke to a light faded in the distance. Under normal circumstances such a light wouldn't have been too bothersome, but in the infinite void of nothingness for what could only be described as weeks, the sudden shift felt jarring, and blinding, if only for but a moment. The young man rose to up, first to his knees, then to his feet, feeling aches in every joint. That is when he spotted the two figures that should have caught his attention first and foremost. A cloaked man, shrouded in mystery, and an enormous hound, cloaked in nothing yet by its very existence far more mysterious than the man could ever have hoped to be. It's massive frame dominated most of his field of vision as it took an instant liking to the woodsman, Lorenzo. A more fortuitous boon, indeed. Then the man demanded Marque's attention by way of grabbing his shoulders. Before the young man could protest at this violation of space, the older man's voice brought instant relief... And tears.

"... Gardevoir?" Marque barely choked out, only audible enough for the two of them. The man before him had gone through a metamorphosis of sorts. He was more rugged, more primal, than the clean cut and sophisticated city man Marque knew. Yet this was the same man, of that there could be no doubts.

"Friends?" Marque asked back, confused at first but quickly regaining his senses. The trip through the blackness had temporarily robbed him of reason and memory. "Oh, yes! In a manner of speaking. Traveling companions recruited at the edge of the Glimmer Woods. A temporary arrangement at the time, yet destiny feels differently, it would seem. I have grown fond of them in the short travels shared."

Then Gardevoir addressed the others, referring to the large canine, the animals they had had with them previously (indeed, the horse and dog were missing! Marque nearly forgot!), and assuring them all that time was of the essence. Marque had no idea what the cause for concern could be, but he trusted his mentor fully and completely. Mothers usually had a facetious tone when asking the age old question, "If they told you to jump off a cliff, would you?" However that exact situation had become far more literally relevant than Marque ever believed it would be... And he did in fact trust Gardevoir enough to do so, that much was already proven in action.

"I should follow you to the ends of the earth if request, master. However, my traveling compatriots might not be so inclined, and I find myself curiouser and curiouser. Could you please find the breath to enlighten us as we proceed?"

Col had not given up. He didn't understand what was happening. Where he was going. Even his sense of time seemed off. He might as well be asleep for all the control he had over the situation. But he was looking for a way out, for something to do, for some way to win still. Somehow along the way the incomprehensible journey came to an end and Col realized there was hard ground beneath him. He struggled to his feet, his entire body feeling tingly like when he slept on a limb. An ocean? A lighthouse? A giant- oh not this shit again. Col desperately ordered his limbs to move and get in the way of the charging dog but he barely managed to get to his feet and retrieve his sword before the dog had reached them with his massive thundering stride. To his great surprise however, it did not immediately consume Lorenzo, instead coming to a halt just in front of him. The time between the dog and its apparent master felt tense, as Col was waiting for the massive beast to attack them at any second, though he would be able to do little about it even if it did. At least by the time its master arrived he had regained full feeling and seeming capability of his limbs.

Apparently Marque knew this old man? And he seemed to want them to follow him. As the two spoke Col took this chance to grab the rest of his equipment that had landed on the ground around him. Merlin was safe according to this stranger but his saddlebags apparently had stayed here. Not sure of the logic behind this, Col decided it best to bring it just in case, slinging it on top of his own shoulders with a grimace, they were quite heavy. At least he hadn't become weaker over the journey. The last minute shield he had acquired, however long ago, now seemed to be strangely shiny. Col moved the shield around to see if was some trick of the light but the effect persisted. Well, it was perhaps one of the least strange things that had happened all things considered. Col was still confused as the robed man began walking away, imploring them to follow him. Had situation gone on any longer Col certainly would have asked the old man to explain what was going on, but Marque kindly spoke up again.

Col would follow the Marque but was most curious to hear anything the old man could say to enlighten them as to what exactly was going on. It wasn't like he had much of anywhere else to go, had he been alone he would've headed to the lighthouse regardless.

Bastian lost track of how long he had been falling after awhile. As far as he knew he could have been falling for days, maybe even weeks. All this spare time was a great opportunity for his mind to run wild. His entire life flashed before his eyes. The attack on the village, his mother, Gwen, that damned tower engulfed in flames as he made his escape, and Leo. Rising above every ever thought, however, was a single notion: He wanted to go home. He just wanted to go back to his family and forget all of this. He wanted to forget the wolfborn, forget the bard that was dragged off into the night, forget poor Felix who now laid dead in a field. He wanted to go home.

Eventually he found himself on solid ground. Bastian was confused. He didn't remember hitting the ground. He wasn't in any pain. After running through a mental checklist and making sure every part of him worked as it should he sat up. His belongings were scattered around him, so he began to collect them. As he did so he noticed the mysterious old man and a giant dog that seemed to have taken a liking to Lorenzo. After all the strange things that had happened today, he was now officially of the mindset that anything was possible at this point.

The man seemed very enthusiastic to see Marque, and Marque seemed rather joyous to have found him as well. This man must have been who he had recruited them to help find. However, the man was now babbling something about heading to a mysterious tower off in the distance that was projecting some sort of light. Marque requested that the man explain everything on the way, but Bastian had had just about enough for one day.

"We're not proceeding anywhere," Bastian said after retrieving his belongings. "I don't want answers on the way. I'm getting them now."

Bastian approached the old man clearly irritated.

"What were those things up there? Where are we now? What does that tower have to do with anything? And most importantly why should I give a damn? Marque recruited us to help find you and we did, so if it's all the same to you, I would like to go home to my family.

---

"... AAAAAAARGH DAMMIT I'M NOT D-" Lorenzo froze immediately as he saw what was sitting in front of him. By whatever God was out there, that was the biggest hound he had ever seen. It was... massive. Purely gigantic, and it seemed to have an affinity for Lorenzo's patience. This hound was more terrifying than any Wolfborn they had encountered the night prior, or at least, it would be to most.

"... maybe I can stick around a little longer. After all, what kind of hound trainer would I be lest I leave this beauty to itself after it had been waiting." Lorenzo put himself into a sitting position before grabbing the paw of the hound and climbing aboard it, holding onto it tightly once he was on it's back. It felt great, almost too great.

Then Lorenzo remembered something.

"Pardon my intrusion, gentlemen," Lorenzo said as he looked down at the cast, Gardevoir included. "Where's Martyrdom?" Even if he wasn't Loyal, Martyrdom was still a damn fine hound, and one Lorenzo wasn't willing to give up.

The waters continued to splash against the shores as the group inquired Gardevoir on many things. His steps took him further toward the tower of light. He stated to Marque, "I understand you all have many inquiries, and with good reason. But you really must not stay here." Gardevoir glanced back at Bastian with a concerned countenance and remained still. Then he sighed in resignation, turning toward him, "The Wolfborn are beings of another realm. One where all flame has been snuffed out. I controlled your fire to provide safe passage here. That tower is one way out of here. So, if you would like to leave, please follow me." Gardevoir turned toward the tower and resumed his rapid pace. Clearly in a hurry. Marque felt impatience come from his master. Not a feeling Gardevoir gave off very often.

Lorenzo mounted the enormous hound and questioned the strange man. The dog moved at the pace of Gardevoir, immediately to his left. Lorenzo felt every step of the dog. It had a powerful stride to it, but obviously could be fast in a flash. Gardevoir did not avert his gaze from the tower for a moment and replied, "As I mentioned earlier, they are perfectly well. Waiting for us on the other side. It would take far longer to explain so, if you please, let me show you. There is an entity of great peril here. I narrowly escaped with my life. Please hurry!" Then he turned toward Marque while walking and pulled out a unique mask. Gardevoir handed it to him and stated, "It will come in use.."
Afterward, they continued in silence for a few tense minutes until everyone was about a third of the way toward the tower of light. Then they heard the faint whistling of wind far off drawing closer every moment. The dog turned its head in that direction as Gardevoir called out, "It draws nigh! Fly you fools!" Gardevoir began to run toward the tower. Suddenly, an icy gale screeched over the group pushing them toward the water. Col and Bastian remembered the feeling well. The very same coldness they felt in the Glittering Wood. The freezing wind blasted the party for ten agonizing seconds. In its midst, they could distinctly hear the screams of an otherworldly terror.

Before the group descended into complete hopelessness, Gardevoir drew the key necklace from under his cloak. It glowed bright red, releasing a firey warmth to everyone nearby. It helped eleviate the coldness, but not completely. It was like a campfire after a plunge into a freezing lake. Then, out of a dark cave in the rocky cove, a terrifying being emerged.

It had skeletal, elongated limbs and was grainy in appearance. As it exited the cave, it stood fully upright at nine feet tall. Parts of it were missing. The environment around the entity appeared to shift into the same grainy texture that it had. As if the world rejected its very existence or that the entity rejected it. Then it stared at the group through two hollow sockets with pale white light.

"There is nothing you can help with here. I shall hold it off. Now GO!" There was an urgency in Gardevoir's voice that Marque had never heard before. A reddish glow began to emanate from his staff and left hand just as his key did. Lorenzo's mount backed away from the entity and whined as it turned its head for direction.

The entity raised its arms outwards as a forceful gale began to blow over the group once more. The screeching winds continued yet strangely, the warmth from Marque's key negated much of the cold they felt from it earlier. Even its power was limited, giving the group more maneuverability then before. Gardevoir strained as the wind blew his cloak and hair forcefully. Yet he remained steadfast. There was still a ways to go before the tower of light yet...

Well those weren't quite the answers any of them were looking for, but they were reasonable enough answers all the same. Plus, it seemed they had this man to thank for saving their lives initially, so a bit of good faith didn't seem out of place. It seemed only a few moments had passed when a foul wind could be heard, a glacial chill that was horridly familiar. Col continued taking agonizing steps. He needed to move. That was the most important thing when you were cold like this. Just keep... keep... moving...

Ah, like the sun emerging on a wintery day a sudden warmth burst forth from the old man, warding off the dread chill, and returning the flexibility to his body. Col turned to face the source of the wind for a mere moment. Revulsion flooded through him, causing his body to shiver in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. There were no words to explain how wrong what he saw was. The old man's words were the catalyst to cause Col to turn away with rapid steps, they had to leave. If that wrongness touched them Col could only imagine something similar to the void they had traversed to get here, only somehow worse and unending.

"Get on the dog!" Col shouted. The lighthouse was too far away, he didn't know how long the seeming wizard could hold that thing at bay, but he suspected that just running would not get them there fast enough. Col ran to the dog, intent on boarding it way one or the other. Be that the it leaned down to help him get up, or he clutched at its fur and pulled himself up. It was certainly large enough to bear all of them and still travel faster than any of them could run. Col would have perhaps thought the dog could help fight any sort of monster before he saw that thing, but he entertained such thoughts no longer. It was time to leave.

---

Marque could not help but find himself annoyed at the rather selfish antics of the physician-in-training, despite understanding where the man came from. Clearly the danger had not passed, only on temporary leave, and thus resisting any action which could place him in safety felt at odds with the man's usual rational thoughts. Still, more terrible behaviors could not dampen the sheer joy an elation Marque experienced merely trotting alongside his master once more.

In spite of the circumstances, the young actor could only reflexively smile alongside Gardevoir even through such terrible news the theater master gave. Terrible, and gravely fascinating. In the stories heard before of the death-bringing wolfborn, Marque had never heard such tales of other worlds beyond their own. The idea that one could exist at all, much less a world a darkness lacking any and all flame, could be described as only incomprehensible. Yet still the ideas resonated with what they had seen, and they resonated with Marque's mind. The story was one he could tell again and again to the people, once Gardevoir accompanied him back home and his name was cleared.

That is when his master bestowed upon Marque a gift, a mask of dark portent, black and feathered with beaked nose. "A crow?" he wondered aloud, wistfully. Turning the mask about in his fingers as he inspected it, the costume accessory, despite being completely alien to him, felt strangely familiar. Perhaps it bore some connection to him in another life? Gardevoir insisted the mask would come in handy, but before Marque could request an elaboration, a new threat appeared.

His ears pierced like an arrow, the screech demanded attention and so he gave it. Some unholy abomination appeared from the ocean depths, something far more terrifying than the hounds of prior, and with it a biting cold. Gardevoir's key offered relief from the bony chill, but such as it was the young man felt as though he were using a match to keep warm in a blizzard.

"It draws nigh! Fly you fools!" Marque stood ready to obey, but his master's next words gave him pause. "There is nothing you can help with here. I shall hold it off. Now GO!"

Marque stumbled, both in form and in word. "B-but master!" he cried out. "I came to the forest to find YOU! Without you, I have failed! Come with us, we must escape together and let the city guard know what really happened to the theater!"

His words had no punch. The voice was weak compared to the icy cold wind of this new perilous creature, and his resolve seemed shaken, yet still Marque stood by his master, ready to face the end with the old theater master if need be. "Get on the dog!" shouted the squire, his voice barely punching through the Breathstalker's influence. Marque glanced over to the enormous hound and its two riders, then back to Gardevoir. The man had practically raised him, was in essence his father. Now that man volunteered to give the ultimate sacrifice so that Marque and the others could live on. He remembered his mother, likely sobbing with worry over the wanted posters. He remembered Rosanne, waiting patiently for his return after this mad scheme gone madder still.

"I love you, master," he declared, his voice once again strong. Strong enough to cut through the chilling winds. Strong enough to bolster his own strength. As Col and the others came by, he hoisted himself up upon the giant hound and locked his gaze on the path ahead, daring not to look back for even a second. The tears streaming down his face told him he wouldn't be able to weather the results if he spared even another glance back.

---

Lorenzo stared headlongingly at the beast, feeling some sort of detachment to the beast in all of it's unholy existence. If that's what Death looked like, then Lorenzo was convinced that he'd be burning the ropes and twine which he kept by his bedside (not that he could use them anyway). By whatever God was out there, Lorenzo and his crew needed to abscond NOW!

"Everyone, climb up!" the huntsman called to his allies, beckoning his new hound to help by nudging people up onto his back with his snout. First was Col, eager to climb aboard one way or another. Lorenzo nodded to the knight once he was aboard, speaking directly to him. "Sir Ward, if you need to use my bow, there's no need to ask right now. I'm going to steer this giant to the light!"

Lorenzo patted the giant hound's head once again, attempting to calm it down for just a little longer as the Marque climbed aboard. Grand, there were three out of the four heroes aboard the beast. The huntsman looked down at the doctor and yelled directly at him. "Felstead! Get on the dog or our families certainly won't know where we'll wind up!" The dog whined in anticipation as the threat drew closer and closer. "Let's go!"

Bastian wasn't entirely satisfied with the old man's answer, but if that tower was the only way out then he really didn't have much of a choice. As for the Wolfborn being from another realm, he didn't quite know what to make of that. Bastian had always been the skeptical sort. He never gave much thought to anything like magic or other worlds, but it seemed like both of those subjects were about to become much more prevalent. With nothing else to say, Bastian simply moved with the group and followed behind the man.

As they drew ever closer to the tower the sound of wind whistling in the distance could be heard. This was odd for someplace that had been so deathly silent up until now. Gardevoir then shouted at them to start running. Not long after the warning, Bastian felt the same chilling wind he had felt in that field. Unable to contain his curiosity, Bastian turned around instead of running to see exactly what they were supposed to be fleeing from. He immediately regretted it.

Bastian had been in battle before. He had experienced combat with both man and wolfborn. There were many times in his life where he had been afraid, but this... That thing. For the first time in his life, he felt true fear. Pure, incomprehensible, suffocating fear. Every instinct, every fiber of his being began screaming at him to be anywhere else but here.

Not needing any further convincing than what was before him, Bastian nearly mounted the giant hound in a single adrenaline-fueled leap. With a bit of extra climbing, he joined his comrades atop the unnaturally large canine. Though he had been skeptical at first, that mysterious glowing tower suddenly seemed like a great place to be. Hopefully whatever that thing was wouldn't be able to match pace with their unusual mount.

The rest of the group ascended the hound at Col's insistence and Lorenzo's pleas. Marque bid a tearful goodbye to his master, certain he would never see him again. The grizzled playwright maintained a grim determination as he faced his foe. He held back the screeching winds with everything he had. Even in the midst of the storm, he managed to nod in acknowledgement.

The hound howled in distress, but Lorenzo soothed it with skillful hands. When it had calmed down Lorenzo directed it forward. It began to rush ahead. However, as it moved, its path took them directly toward the struggling man. Suddenly it opened its large maw, clamped down on Gardevoir's cloak, and hoisted him into the air! His eyes widened in surprise as he glanced up at the large hound. Then he began to laugh, "Mad beast! You simply couldn't let me take my final curtain with a hero's end, could you?!"

He continued to laugh bobbing from the dog's mouth as they ran along. His protective barrier still enveloped the entire group. Then the dog tossed Gardevoir into the air behind it. The man reached out with his free hand and clasped Marque's. With his pupil's assistance he settled down onto the beast's back. After catching his breath he addressed everyone, "This was my plan all along, of course." He gave Marque a knowing wink.

Afterward, he turned his attention behind them. The entity turned its head with them as they whisked past. It began to break apart into very fine grainy particles. The winds began to lift pieces of it into the air. The same consistency and shape of sand. Countless pieces ascended high into the atmosphere and blew outward. They encroached ever further. Taking up more and more sky. Then...they began to descend.

Gardevoir's face turned from surprised delight into solemn soberness. He spoke while staring into the darkening sky, "We are not out of this act yet." He took his staff and tapped different pieces of the group's equipment. Lorenzo's arrows, Bastian's sword, Col's shield, and Marque's mask. They all glowed reddish orange and emanated a very warm feeling. Physically and emotionally. "Once we reach the tower we will be safe." Up ahead their path took a turn.

Lorenzo could take one of multiple routes. Some safer, but slower and others faster, but more dangerous. He was their driver and their lives were in his hands.

Col was worried at first when the beast was looking the wrong way but it was able to snag the old man and hurry away, seemingly out of danger from whatever the hell that thing was. The old man practically cackled as they dashed away. But it seemed they weren't out of the woods yet, the sky turned ashen and began to descend on them like a cloud of darkness. It seemed Gardevoir had more tricks however and began touching their equipment, causing it to glow with a fiery light. "What did you do? Can we use these against whatever that is?" Col asked, gears already whirring in his mind. Lorenzo was busy guiding the dog, but had told him he could use his bow. Col had discarded the idea at first, any normal weapon couldn't possibly work on whatever that abomination was. However, if those arrows could help ward off this darkness he could make use of them after all. The warmth emanating from them seemed to imply such was the case at least, though perhaps that was more because he wanted it to be the case. He was no master of the bow but as a squire he had a decent level of knowledge with most weapons.

---

"I'd applaud you, old man, but unfortunately I'm a bit bogged down!" Lorenzo shouted as he lead the dog along the paths he saw ahead of the group. The hound the group was riding on was fine for the moment, knowing it's own path to the light fairly well. That is, until the path ahead started to fade from the hound's memory. It began to branch out into arcing and winding paths, only for the dog to slowly grow more and more confused. It seemed to know the general direction of where to go, but it was as if it wasn't exactly sure what direction that consistently was.

Lorenzo patted the beast on it's head before taking the true lead away from the mount, looking at the paths for multiple moments each before deciding on the path based on two conditions. It's speed as the primary condition, and it's roughness as a secondary one. Lorenzo took a deep breath before whistling out loud to the hound, causing the beast to perk it's ears up in attention, and allowing Lorenzo to guide it with a pat. The first pat directed the dog slightly to the right, through a slightly narrow, yet rather easygoing path. It wasn't the most direct, but it was a quick route for advancing.

Lorenzo turned to the rest of his crew. "What in the name of Hell do you call that beast?!"

---

Marque jolted about as the massive hound suddenly changed course, pulling an about face. The sight he had desperately tried to avoid now stared him in the face. The creature, far in the distance but still close in threat, looming down on his beloved mentor Gardevoir who so selflessly chose to give himself up for their own survival. No, no Marque could not watch. He forced shut his eyes in an attempt to reject this reality for he could not bear witness to such a travesty. Suddenly the hound turned again, and Marque had to reaffirm his grip so as not to fall from the beast. But why had it chosen to do so?

"Mad beast! You simply couldn't let me take my final curtain with a hero's end, could you?!" No. No no no. Slowly Marque opened his eyes and sure enough, right there say Gardevoir like he had been born riding this animal. The young man felt a surge of emotion in all kinds, a total shock to the system. He honestly had no idea how to react, so it came out in the form of his fist slugging his master in the shoulder.

"You would have me mourn as a prank!" he half-accused, half-laughed. The entire thing felt very uncomfortable.

Then the older man took his cane and touched it to various items on all their persons. For Marque, it was the curious mask he had only just been gifted. So very peculiar. The glow somehow helped him feel a bit better about all this. A bit. But the creature was still in pursuit and they could not afford to get caught up in anything but their safety.

Lorenzo guided the hound to the left. A stable, but not as quick of a route toward the tower. The dog immediately took to his directing. It sprinted with all the speed it could muster. The stones beneath its paws flew behind as the earth shook from its weight.

Above the sky continued to darken. They saw the particles descend on the area around them and up ahead. Gardevoir replied to Lorenzo's inquiry, "What envelops the atmosphere around us is none other then the BreathStalker. It desires to cross over to our world, but we will not allow it.." He began waving his staff in swirling motions around them. The ashen particles were pushed aside. However, their vision was becoming more limited as time passed. Then, directly in the path ahead appeared the BreathStalker. Its hollow sockets glowed with a pale white light in the darkness. Their hound howled in fear, yet continued forward. It was the bravest animal Lorenzo had ever seen besides Loyal.

Gardevoir cried out, "You must use the items at your disposal! Shoot it!" Col had already resolved to use the bow earlier though he did not know how it would come in use against small particles. Now he knew. Col notched an arrow on their mount. It was difficult to aim with its erratic movements. However, his training on horseback prepared him for his shot. The glowing arrow flew true toward the entity. It sank into its chest and erupted in an explosion of reddish orange. It cried out into the wind as it was forced to separate again. The hound trampled over it smearing the BreathStalker on the stoney ground below.

The ashy rain continued to fall, but Gardevoir's staff and key lit the way like a lamp on their path. The tower of light continued to glow through the darkness. It glowed brighter and brighter the closer they came. Hope rising in the darkness.

Gardevoir began to groan in pain, "I do not have the strength to continue to protect us..cover your faces and take as few breaths as you need. Use the shield to separate the deadly ash from us. Fire more arrows as needed. And Marque..you know what to do..." As he spoke the barrier around them began to flicker out, little by little until it was gone. Marque felt his master's hand clasp his shoulder. Then Gardevoir collapsed in exhaustion. The mask in Marque's hand lit up brighter then ever before. Marque felt a powerful urge to put it on.

As soon as the barrier dissipated, smokey ash swirled around them. If they breathed they would inhale thousands of particles. The dog winced in pain. They could barely see or breathe. How would they continue forward?

---

Marque watched in abject horror as the eldritch creature willed itself into the path of their riding hound. Certain the journey had come to an end, he did not expect for the creature to be felled by a single arrow let loose by Col. Almost in a daze, he had to gather his thoughts as they trampled through the horror's ashen remains. Yet Gardevoir insisted the threat was not yet over, and certainly the creature proved itself a true abomination in how it still moved its bits of ash, surrounding them. Enveloping them.

Marque listened as his master declared himself powerless to offer continued protection, and the barrier fell. Thanks to the advance warning, he pulled up his shirt over his nose to act as a filter for the air, and elected to breathe in small, shallow amounts. Yet their giant hound was not afforded such luxury. Nothing could protect its nose, and the very nature of carrying them all at such speeds required heavy, labored breathing. How long could the beast last? Once it fell, so too would they all...

Marque shifted his attention to the crow mask in hand. It began to glow, just as the key around his neck. What power could it contain? Once adorned, what would it do? In such dire straits, the time to find out was now. Leaving behind his gentle, practiced touch, Marque hurriedly placed the piece of costumery upon his face.