Pezzle

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

"Chres!" Sil cried out weakly as Akai took her away to safety. "No… What are you doing?”

What was this pain? This worry?

"We… we can’t leave them…. We can’t leave him…"

Her mind felt clear again. Why now? Why here?

The cries of battle began to fade as Akai took her further away.

”No…" She whimpered. With every step away from battle she could feel her mind dulling. "don’t…"

I’m broken. she realized as the clearity began to leave her. Her mind… It had always been broken…

---

The tendrils reaching for Chres hesitated as a giant icy blade began to form. Intentional or not, Karina had kept the extent of her abilities hidden during most of this fight. Her ability to attack from afar caught the Seed off guard.

The icy blade shot through the air. The Seed panicked and redirected its tendrils away from Chres and towards the incoming attack. But it was too late. The blade flew true. It hit its target and ripped the last of O’Kal’s hearts out from its home.

---

Time stopped for Karina. A towering shadow fell upon her in the form of General Frost.

“You can’t escape it.” Said a voice behind Karina. A voice belonging to the Being. “You can’t escape him.”

“No matter where you go. No matter what you achieve. The weight of his name will follow, and the ‘respect’ given will never really be your own.”

The shadow of General Frost faded.

“One must not chase mirages, my friend.” The Being said, smiling coyly. “They have this nasty habit of disappearing when you get too close.”

The Being vanished. Time rushed in on itself.

---

The seed screamed. It slammed its tendrils on the ground as if throwing a fit.

Two hearts left. The last two hearts were the ones connected to the mass that used to be Nieffar. Chres held his breath. Hoping beyond hope that at the very least the loss of O’Kal’s four hearts would impact the O’Kal part of the seed in some way beneficial to the Pactmakers.

He waited. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. Thirty. Nothing happened. The Seed continued to throw its fit.

Chres cursed. Their gamble to focus on only one half of the Seed appeared to have not paid off. It had become clear that they would indeed need to rip out the final two hearts.

The Seed screamed. Nieffar’s tendrils, still shivering, uncoiled themselves cautiously. They almost appeared unhealthy. Perhaps a little brown... and… cracked?

Chres cocked his head.

"C-C-C-CAN’T L-L-L-L-LOOSE… C-C-C-CAN’T-T-T-T-T”

O’Kal’s tendrils sharpened. The action making Chres tense up. He’d managed to get himself into a sitting position but struggled to get back on his feet. However, instead of launching the tendrils at him, the tendrils instead shot into the earth.

Chres cursed. He had seen Sightless attack like this before, launching tendrils from the earth beneath their feet in a surprise attack. A Sightless was one thing, but for a creature with several of individually moving tendrils to do the same?!

”Run!” Chres cried out to the others, but it was too late.

What seemed like hundreds of tendrils shot out from beneath the earth, individually surrounding each of the soldiers and Pactmakers. Caught in the Seed’s trap, their attempts to escape were fruitless. Within seconds the each Pactmaker and soldier became coiled and bound by one or more tendrils.

The tendrils coiled around each of the Pactmaker’s chest and tightened. The pressure making it difficult to breathe.

Damn it. Chres thought. We were so close to winning. So close to ending this nightmare.

Chres felt one of his ribs give in with a snap. He open his mouth to roar out in pain. Though with no air left in his lungs, nothing came out.

“CAN’T L-L-LOOSE!” The Seed repeated. “C-C-CAN’T!”

Chres tried to cry out. His lungs screaming for air.

“S-S-SEE ALL. L-L-L-LOST FROM START.”

So this was how Chres would die. Never knowing if he deserved it?!

The air seemed stiffen. As if time had stopped. A familiar sensation, but this time, Chres, his fellow Pactmakers and the Seed still moved.

“Lost yes.” Said a coy voice from the shadows. “Though not for them.”

The strange sensation stopped. Time seeming to rush back in on itself.

The seed seemed to hesitate. Its grip on the pactmakers loosening. Time stopped.

“Nieffar, oh Nieffar. Proud and Pompous to a fault.” Said The Being, emerging from the shadows. “His vision short-sighted, as were his ambitions.”

The Being vanished. Time rushing back without him.

The Seed roared and lashed out at where the Being had been. Yet again time stopped.

The Being appeared in a different location. This time leaning casually against the base of the Seed.

“This fight is lost but not for them. For you see, what is this? Is that rot I detect?”

The Being casually nodded to the Seed’s base, where what used to be the hips dug into the ground.

Time returned in a rush. The Being, gone from sight. The tendrils’ grip loosened further, enough for the Pactmakers to breathe again.

Chres gasped for air and then turned to look at the Seed’s stem. And there he saw it. The brown coloring he had seen before was a rot growing from Nieffar’s roots. It cracked the wood-like outer layer of the seed. It grew up along the base, seeming to attack the part of the seed that had been Sightless Nieffar.

Nieffar’s tendrils shivered further, turning browner in color as rot grew further. Suddenly, the stem cracked.

Time froze. The Being returned. This time sitting atop one of the Seed’s tendrils.

“The town you rooted in; it rejects you.”

Time returned. The Being, gone. Another crack from the Seed’s rotting stem. Time stopped.

“Your connection to this place? Tenuous at best. And so, the land; it rejects you.”

Time returned. Two more cracks. The tendrils gave way, releasing the Pactmakers. Again time stopped.

“You lost this fight from the start. Your decision to delve into the Insight’s depths; Let’s just say it was a miss of the dart.”

Time returned. The Seed bellowed out. The rot spreading up Nieffar’s mutated spine. Ten cracks followed. Time stopped.

“The Insight used you, and like the fool you are, you dove into its depths. Now, with ties to this land so weak… your very roots themselves; they reject you.”

Time returned. Nieffar’s spine snapped. Splitting the once Sightless away from the remainder of the Seed. Time stopped.

“Farewell Nieffar, fool of a Sightless. If you wish to toss blame, by all means, go blame yourself. Your cause was lost, though only to your arrogance.”

Time returned. The Being vanished.

“Its gone…” The thing that had been Nieffar whimpered weakly as it died. “I could see… everything… and now… its gone…”

The remainder of the Seed slouched. Its last remaining hearts, having belonged to Nieffar, now gone.

“We… did it?” Chres breathed in disbelief. He struggled to comprehend everything that had happened.

Suddenly the Seed, that had been O’Kal, twitched. The Seed… the place where the hearts had been… they appeared to be healing.

Chres cursed. The Seed could heal its hearts?!

Cut off the stem. Salt the stump. The Being had said.

He struggled to his feet only to collapse. Damn it! They had to stop it before the fight started all over again!

A shadow emerged, dropping down from where the stairs, leading out of Lord O’Kal’s cellar, had been. The figure rushed in swiftly towards the seed and pulled out a blade. In a rush he raised his blade and swung with all his might. The place where O’Kal’s spine connected to his hips was now severed.

The man reached into a pouch at his side. He grabbed a handful of salt and tossed it on to the stump.

The world around them pulsed. Slowly the unnatural darkness began to recede. The pactmakers shadows shifted. No longer did they stretch towards the light coming from the dropped crystal jade candle. Instead, they retreated away from the light. Acting as shadows should.

The Distortion was gone. Chres blinked. He recognized their savior.

”Ferris?” Chres said hesitantly.

A brown gas released from the stump and the corpse of the O’Kal seed. The gas caused Chres’ attention to shift away from Ferris. The stump and the corpse’s color shifted to a color darker than black. It almost appeared to suck in the light around it. Almost like-

”Shadow metal…” Chres breathed. His eyes widened in realization.

Time froze. A slow clap broke through the silence.

“My, oh my.” The Being said, sounding amused. He sat in midair. Hovering above the rotting stump of The Seed. “You folks sure know how to put on a show.”

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

The Seed shuddered when Jen's stick impaled the heart. The flesh around it turned brown an shriveled releasing a brown gas from the wound. For a moment, it seemed the seed appeared be fighting back against the corruption from the salt. Black shoots shot from the shriveled flesh. Coating it. Attempting to heal it. But then, when Jen ripped the heart out, the healing stopped and the entire heart quickly shriveled up.

---

Time around Jen came to a sudden halt. A hand fell upon his right shoulder.

The Being spoke in Jen's ear. "Oh my! Look at you go! Scoring points with the allies before the treasonous act you must commit."

With a snap, The Being disappeared and reappeared in front of Jen. He hovered in the air in a sitting position. "Traitor to her, or traitor to him. Quite the dilemma you find yourself in."

The Being vanished. Time rushed back in on itself.

---

Most of the Seed's tendrils stopped shuddering and almost seemed to calm. All except for the part of the Seed that once belonged to Nieffar. It seemed to whimper and shake. The Nieffar's tendrils curled up around the main body, covering up the two hearts located there. Was it protecting those hearts, or something else?

Chres frowned and limp backwards. He was beyond exhausted. Yet despite his tire, he fought to focus.

Of the three hearts left, The last one belonging to lord O'Kal was the only one currently exposed. The only question was how would they get to it? They were all beaten and bruised up. And Chres doubted that the Seed would let it's them get close enough to toss more salt into its stomach.

The seed waved it tendrils hesitantly in the air. It seemed cautious now. Perhaps afraid? It released guttural growl that made its bloated stomach contract and visibly rumble. The intestines and innards, connecting the stomach, began move. Slowly hoisting the stomach upwards as if on a pedestal.

Chres cautiously limped backwards. Each step pure agony.

The stomach, shaped like the bud of a flower nearly in bloom, turned its tip towards the pactmakers and spat. Acid spewed from the stomach towards Chres, Týfurkh and Jen. The first bit grazed Jen in the right shoulder. A second shot hit a limping Chres off the side of his bad leg.

Chres screamed. Once again falling to the ground.

The seed saw its opening and took it. All of O'Kal's tendrils shot towards the fallen Chres. Quickly, Chres threw up a wall. The last bit of his stored body heat used up in that moment.

The seed roared and began to wrap its tendrils around Chres's barrier.

He would likely die here. That much, he had accepted. But at the very least, they could take advantage of this moment. With Nieffar in his curled up, shivering state and O'Kal's tendrils focused on Chres, that left the last of O'Kal's hearts undefended. Ripe for being picked off by an icy blade.

”Karina!” Chres cried. ”Take the shot!”

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

”Do it!” Chres yelled to Octavio as he dashed behind the ice wall.

Octavio's illusions suddenly redirected their attention to the hearts. Together they made a mad dash for the Seed.

Chres frowned. The Seed didn't seem to be reacting to the Illusions. Instead it thrashed about. Smashing one of its larger tendrils through the ice wall and then attacking with several smaller tendrils.

Chres ducked for cover. Senses! Why wasn't the Illusions distracting the Seed?

Suddenly it hit Chres. The Seed was using the Insight! That meant it probably couldn't see the Illusions! They could use this! Perhaps take out all the hearts at onc-

The Seed roared in anger. Chres' realization had come too late.

The cloud of debris had finally settled, revealing that the closest of Octavio's illusions had already made it past the Seeds defenses and ripped out another heart. The seed was now aware of the presence of illusions.

Chres had seen it before with the Sightless. Once they became aware of the presence of illusions, they would target the illusions relentlessly. And in that moment so did the Seed.

---

The Seed's tendrils recoiled backwards after losing its second heart. Frantically it search for the cause yet it found nothing. Nothing but blank spaces in the Insight. Illusions.

All at once the tendrils came smashing down on all the Illusions rushing its main body and blinked them out of existence.

More! There were more illusions! Three more illusions. Familiars..

---

The world around Octavio appeared to freeze. The only sound, an echoing slow clap.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Said a voice belonging to The Being of Many Names. "Two down and a hell of a lot more to go!"

The Being materialized before Octavio, sitting comfortably atop of Chres' back. The Being got to his feet and smiled coyly at Octavio.

"Have to say I'm impressed. Working with others? So unlike you after Olivia...

The Being looked to the frozen Lynx. "Though that one was the odd exception, wasn't it?"

The Being looked back to Octavio with a knowing smile. "Be glad it still has eight lives left."

With a snap, the Being vanished. Time rushed back in on itself.

---

The largest of the Seed's tendrils, came down in a rush. Smashing a poor Lynx, caught unaware.

"K-K-KILL... K-K-KILL..." The seed roared.

"LYNX!" Sil screamed in horror. Without thinking, she sped towards the 'injured' Lynx

Chres cursed. ”Sil! Wait! Don't!”

Getting off his hands and knees, Chres made a mad dash for Sil. The Seed was targeting the Illusions. That included Sil and the rest of the familiars!

A stray tendril whipped out of nowhere and slapped Sil from the air. She collided into a wall next to Lynx. The large tendril lifted itself back up into the air, ready for another strike. A strike that would crush both Lynx and Sil.

”Damn it!” Chres yelled. As he dove and throw up a construct at the last minute.

The tendril came smashing down. The force cracking Chres' construct.

A whimpering Sil slowly crawled towards Lynx. It looked as if she was in pain... but... wasn't Sil not able to feel 'pain'?

"L-lynx..." Sil whispered. "P-please... don't be dead..." Were those 'tears' in Sil's eyes?

Chres had no time to ponder the unusual behavior of his familiar. The large tendril was coming in for another attack.

”Damn it all!” Chres yelled. He took down his cracked construct and Compressed the retrieved energy into an unstable orb of energy.

As the tendril slammed downwards, Chres threw the ball of energy with all his might at the tendril. It connected in an explosion, ripping the tendril in two and saving them from its follow up attack.

Chres was now dangerously low on stored body heat.

They had to do something about these tendrils if they ever hoped to get another attack in.

Salt the stump.

Chres' hand went to the pouch of salt at his side, as he recalled The Being's words.

I ended up fighting the same sightless we fought again. Jen had said in the tunnels. Her healing ability got interrupted wherever the salt got into the wounds.

An idea came to Chres. He dashed towards the seed, pouch of salt in hand.

C-chres... Sil said in his mind. W-what... What are you doing?

Heroism at best. Suicide at worst. Chres replied. A tendril caught him by the waist and lifted him off the ground.

C-chres... don't...

The tendril pulled Chres towards the center, where its bloated stomach pulsated.

Too late. Chres thought, as he threw the pouch of salt into the stomach.

Nothing happened at first, but then-

The tendrils stopped moving and almost seemed to shutter. The Seed suddenly let out a guttural wail echoing throughout the chamber.

Chres found himself falling to the ground and landing awkwardly on his knee. He heard a crack.

Crying out in pain, it took all the will power Chres had to force himself to his feet.

With a limp, Chres made his way to the enlarged skull that had once belonged to Lord O'Kal. Deep inside that skull, another of the Seed's hearts beat rhythmically.

Chres placed his hands in the slightly a opened O'Kal jaw. With all his might he tried to force open the mouth of the skull to expose the Seed's heart within. It wouldn't open with his strength alone.

The Seed's tendrils began to move slightly, shuttering here and there. It appeared to be recovering from the salt. They needed to act soon.

”A little help!” Chres called to the pactmakers behind him.

The Five Senses

Chres

---

"Not okay! Not okay!" Sil replied frantically as she zip from the left of Chres to the right and back as if worried he was hurt.

Chres coughed, and attempted in vain to wave away the cloud of debris that had formed around them.

"I'm okay..." Chres managed, but his eyes shifted to Týfurkh with a look of concern. Chres shook his head. Salting the wounds of the seed perhaps could do something... but... "The Being told us only to salt the 'stump'. We go for the hearts..."

Chres' words cut off as he looked back towards the seed. His back stiffened. The cloud of debris had filled the cellar, shrouding the seed from his vision.

"Shit..."

"Not okay! NOT OKAY!" Sil screeched in panic. Finger pointed straight ahead.

Aside from Sil, the feeling of rushing wind was all the warning Chres had.

"MOVE!" Chres yelled, as he jumped out of the way of a large tendril just in time. The sound of rushing wind alerted him to another tendril from above. Chres hit the ground and rolled out of the way.

Several of the smaller tendrils shot out from the cloud with no warning at all. Fortunately those tendrils shot right past him. Unfortunately, they grabbed five of the soldiers that had accompanied them.

One of the soldiers screamed as he was lifted in the air and disappeared into the cloud of dust. Two of the soldiers fought back cutting away the tendrils in time. The last two yelled for help as they were dragged away. Fortunately for them, one of Octavio's many illusions appeared, cutting them free and saving the day.

The seed yelled in anger and confusion. Its prey denied. Several more tendrils shot out from the cloud to attack the Pact Makers.

"Karry! HELP!" Sil squeaked, re-enforcing Jen previous request and his nickname for Karina.

"Karina! Octavio! Any cover will do!" Chres yelled in agreement.

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

The bolt flew true. Straight through the heart on one of the three larger tendrils connected to what used to be Lord O'Kal. The bolt seemed to meet some resistance when it contacted the exposed heart, but regardless, the power behind the point blank ripped the heart free from the tendril.

The Seed roared. "Y-Y-YOU... CANNOT... W-WE... WILL NOT..."

The world froze for everyone but Týfurkh. As if time itself stopped.

"Nice shot." Said a voice, coyly.

A man materialized in front of Týfurkh. It was the same man who had given Týfurkh the drawings of Chres and the rest that night before the day of madness.

"Better mind those ribs though." The long absent man continued with a smug grin on his face as if in mockery.

Then just as soon as he appeared, the Being vanished. Time rushing back in on itself.

---

Chres

---

"Týfurkh! Look out!" Chres yelled.

The giant man had blessedly taken out one of the six hearts belonging to the seed. However, in the time that Týfurkh had managed to get close, the several smaller tendrils had already fully regenerated.

The newly regenerated tendrils sharpened into razor thin blades and slammed into the earth behind the seed, cut through stone and carving out a chunk of rock the size of a man's chest. As Týfurkh fled from the seed it struck back by lunging several of its smaller tendrils into the earth and forcing Týfurkh to dodge their strike.

But that was only a faint. the real counter attack came from the small boulder, which it swung like a club and catching Týfurkh in the side of his chest. There was a loud clang from the man's armor as the blow tossed him to the side.

Chres made a mad dash to Týfurkh and blocked the follow up strike with a heat construct he threw up in front of the man. He looked to Týfurkh and winced. The man's armor was dented around the chest. He could only hope that Týfurkh wasn't too badly injured.

"Go! Quickly!" He said to Týfurkh as the tendrils started banging against the construct with force like before. "It would be bad if I loose another heat construct to this thing."

The seed roared. Banging is tendrils again and again against heat construct. Two of its larger tendrils shot upwards crashing through the cellar's ceiling directly above Chres and Týfurkh. The tendrils seemed to tighten and wrap around something.

What was it tugging downwards on? The ceiling beams?!

Chres cursed, and quickly dissipated the construct. He barely managed to dodge the Seed's next few strikes as he scrambled to get away. "Go Týfurkh! It's pulling down the ceiling on us!"

The ceiling immediately above Chres and Týfurkh collapsed. Chres dove for cover...

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres hit the ground as Týfurkh let loose an explosion different than he expected. Not an explosion of fire, but an explosion of sound instead. The resonance chamber erupted in a loud boom. Its force ripping several thinner tendrils, their severed bits falling to the ground. The thicker tendrils, however, only had chunks taken out of them.

Chres took down the heat construct around Týfurkh. The seed roared in anger. Pools of greenish-Yellow blood oozing out of the seed's wounds

"We have an opening!" Chres shouted.

"WE-WE-WE-WE..." Speech seemed to have become difficult for Nieffar after turning into a seed. "WE SEE-SEE-SEE-SEE..."

Black sprouts shot out of the Seed's wounds, twisting together like vines. They clotted the pools of flowing Seed blood far faster than a normal Sightless and worked quickly to regenerate the missing tendrils.

Chres' eyes widened. If they didn't act soon then they would lose their chance to take out one of the hearts. Chres rushed forward but paused when he noticed that the four thickest tendrils had shifted their attention to Týfurkh. All four raised high, about to crush him.

Chres cursed. Someone else would have to take a go at one of the hearts. Turning on his heels, he raced towards Týfurkh and quickly Weaved a protective barrier above them.

The first tendril came smashing down with a deafening sound. The Heat construct held. The second tendril hit. The construct almost seemed to groan from the impact. The third tendril hit. The construct cracked. Chres' heart skipped a beat.

"GO! GO! GO!" He shouted to Týfurkh in quick succession.

The forth tendril came down with a crash. the construct shattered. Chres jumped out of the way, and barely avoided getting crushed.

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Six more tendrils shot out. Two shot towards Karina, one towards Octavio, one at Chres, and the last two shot towards the soldiers in the back.

Chres jumped to the side, but the tendril reacted almost immediately, catching him by the leg.

"CHRES!" Sil cried out in terror. Eyes wide, she zipped towards the tendril moving left and right, not quite sure what to do.

Chres felt himself get lifted up in the air by the leg. Reacting quickly, Chres curled his body upright, Shaped a blade, and hacked away the tendril.

The Seed roared as Chres dropped back to the ground in a thud. Beside him he heard a scream from another soldier as he was lifted into the air by tendril and submerged into the depths of the Seed's stomach.

Chres shook his head at Karina's words.

"There are too many." Chres sucked in a breath as one of the more thick tendrils came down, as if trying to crush him. Quickly he threw himself out of the tendril's path.

"I can Weave a heat construct into a temporary wall for protection if we need to buy time for an attack" Chres look to Týfurkh "But my stores of body heat are already low from our last battle. So it would be best to use it sparingly."

Another tendril swung sideways. Chres ducked under it.

"If this Seed used to be a Sightless, then maybe it has similar weaknesses."

Chres looked to the abandoned Crystal jade candle. Their only source of light in the darkened Cellar and shook his head. No they couldn't just go smashing their only source of light. At least not unless they could get some other source of light.

"The Being told us to take out its hearts, but with all these tendrils, we'll have a hard time ever getting close enough. At least not with attacks that it can easily 'see'."

Chres's gaze fell on Octavio. The man's whole magic revolved around creating constructs of light. "Perhaps we can confuse it. Redirect its attacks in a blind attempt to defend itself."

"We need to be quick." Chres looked to Jen. "Quick enough to weave in and out of its attacks, while still gaining ground.

"Perhaps even distract it." His comments then directed at Karina while jumping out of the way of another attack. "Force to to focus on threats that can attack from afar."

This creature claimed to be able to see everything. Well it was time to put that to the test.

Chres drew out enough stored body heat to Weave a box shaped Heat construct around Týfurkh with holes for air.

"Do your thing Týfurkh. Though keep in mind that this wall of protection last for a few minutes." Chres said as he tied off the Weave. "The light and fire from this explosion might help further confuse the Seed. Give me a yell when you need me to take the shields down."

The Five Senses

Chres

---

Chres stood frozen to the spot. Eyes wide. He had seen death, murder, monsters, but this...

One of the Seed's many tendrils launched towards his chest.

"Chres!"

Chres blinked and Shaped a towershield at the last possible moment. The tendril collided hard against the shield. Its force tossing him backwards and causing him to lose his grip on the crystal Jade candle.

Chres landed on his back, the candle landing far to his right. As his heat construct dissipated, Chres groaned and started pushing himself to his feet.

"Chres! Chres! CHRES!" Sil cried out again in a hurry.

Chres snapped his head up. Two more tendrils shot his way. Chres threw himself sideways and rolled.

One of the tendrils shot past him instead choosing to impale a less fortunate soldier. The other tendril twisted and contorted, before finally shooting again towards Chres.

Having come to a halt, Chres shaped a smaller shield and slapped the tendril aside. The move seemed ineffective. The tendril instead wrapping around the shield before then twisting around his arm.

Chres' eyes widened. He took out his hatchet and hacked the tendril in two, freeing him from its grasp.

Chres breathed out, and quickly got to his feet.

The hearts... Chres recalled. They had to go for the hearts.

"Gonna try and set up an explosion! This will be ugly!" Týfurkh said.

Chres nodded. Any source of additional light would be helpful. He couldn't fight while holding that crystal Jade candle. That much was clear!

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

Chres' back stiffened at Karina's touch. He turned to look at her hand.

The Karina he had seen thus far was a dutiful woman who wouldn't hesitate to kill someone she believed a danger to her mission's success. But of late he had begun to realize there was more to this woman's character than her sense of duty. There was compassion as well. A sense of loyalty to her comrades.

He turned his gaze to her. Chres wasn't quite sure yet what to make of this new side of Karina. There was a part of Chres that wanted to reject her kindness. To turn her words around and tell her that this kindness was misplaced.

Instead, Chres relented, deciding it better to not reinforce the woman's concerns. He looked her in the eyes and gave a hard, tired, uncertain, yet kind smile.

With a nod, he turned his eyes forward and stepped into the tunnel's darkness.

---

The tunnel went on for some time. Long enough that Chres began to wonder whether there was even an end. The only sign of a potential end being the ever growing smell of rot and death.

At long last, the pactmakers reached and opening into a room that appeared to have at one point been an expensive cellar. Barrels of wine lined the walls. Some still intact. Others, broken to bits.

Towards the back of the room, on the left, there appeared to be a stairwell leading upwards. However, that stairwell was no longer reachable. The wooden flooring before it appearing to have disintegrated away. And it wasn't just the flooring that appeared to have disintegrated, but earth beneath flooring as well.

Indeed, in the back of the room was a giant domed shaped hole. And at its center, a pile of corpses. Corpses being fed upon by a monstrosity.

Chres breathed in as he took in the Sight of what could be none other than the Seed of Insight. On the surface, it appear similar to human skeleton, except its bones were black and wood like, similar to the skin of a Sightless. But at the same time, it was all wrong.

The Seed's lower body appeared to be embedded deep into the earth, with only its deformed and enlarged hip bones emerging from the soil. From there, the spine was elongated. Far longer than it should be. With its back curved backwards unnaturally in a parabolic shape.

From the shoulder blades, the arms hung downwards and dug back into the earth. Its neck, curved back 180 degrees further, ending in an enlarged skull. Something appeared to beat from within the skull... could it be, a heart???

Chres blinked and shook his head. His gaze shifting to what appeared to have once been the Seed's rib cage. Its ribs curved outwards instead of inwards. Looking almost like a flower in bloom. flayed skins seemed to stretch out between the ribs like webbed feet. At times it even seemed to fuse into and out of the bone. At the center of this... ribcage flower... were human organs fused together in a mishmash of grotesqueness.

The intestines flayed about in a messy disarray, twisting in and out of bone and at times fusing with it. The Intestines seemed to act similar to blood veins. at places they were translucent revealing the greenish-yellow ooze being pumped through the Seed's system.

But all of this was not the end of the monstrosity. At the center of the seed, from where the heart should have been, three thick tendrils sprouted outward. Embedded at the base of each these tendrils were more hearts, which beat to the rhythm of the heart in the Seed's Skull.

The tendrils themselves appeared to be made of braided bones and sinew, which split off multiple times forming several individual free moving tendrils. Collectively, they moved about, picking at the pile of corpses before them. When the Seed found a corpse it liked, it would pick it up and pull it back towards the center of the seed. Towards what appeared to be a bloated, mutated stomach.

The corpses would sink into this stomach on contact, disappearing beneath the surface and only serving to expand the stomach further. Chres could only surmise that the Seed was consuming these corpses. Merging them into its very being.

Chres wanted to vomit. Fortunately, though, he managed to keep his stomach intact.

"Is it not incredible-" Started the dry sound voice of a Sightless, "-what a bit of Insight will do to a person?"

Sightless Nieffar appeared from behind the Seed, his hands clasped in front of him.

"Although, this one received far more than a small dose of Insight. Indeed, we had been dosing him with high amounts of Insight for weeks before he turned Sightless." Nieffar said, placing a hand fondly atop the Seed's skull.

"He was doomed to take this form from the start. You see, one does not remain Sightless for long after receiving frequent high doses of Insight like he did. Indeed, shortly after scratching out his own eyes, he could not help but give into his new found addiction. The moment he turned Sightless, The once great O'Kal, Lord of Shimmer Town, took the final plunge into the depths of Insight. And so it consumed him. Reducing him to the mindless Seed of Insight you see before you."

Lord O'Kal?!?! The Seed of Insight was Lord O’Kal?! The Lord of Shimmer Town?!

"Senses..." Chres breathed out. The implications of it all hitting him at once.

Lord O'Kal had reportedly locked himself inside his manor ever since the Distortion occurred. Not accepting audiences even before the Day of Madness.

Senses! The Seed used to be a person! That meant, the Sightless could turn people into these monstrosities?! No... Chres shook his head. Nieffar had specifically stated that it was after someone became Sightless, that they then could turn into these monstrosities...

Chres re-examined the cellar before him. Senses... they were in Lord O'Kal's manor! In the Lord's very own cellar!

“Such a tragic end for Lord O'Kal. More depressing yet, we no longer need him.” Nieffar continued.

His hand traced down the skull and along the Seed's twisted spine. There was a look of yearning on the Sightless' face.

”My work here has built me a connection to this town just as strong as any connection that the of Lord O’Kal had to this land. This town was promised to me. Given to me. I molded it. Shaped it into a place where the Clan could call home. I planted its seed. Tended to it even! This town… It belongs to me.”

Nieffar’s wood-like skin began to warp and crack. Tendrils, not unlike the seed’s, emerging from within. Ever since that day back at the clock tower, that day when the pactmakers nearly overwhelmed him, the Insight’s call had changed.

Nearly taking the plunge into the darkest depths of Insight had changed everything for him. The amount of Insight granted to a Sightless no longer able to sate him.

He had gotten a taste of the Insight’s full knowledge. A knowledge only Vetius was known to be able to wield. Everyone else who tried, the power consumed them. Turning them into Seeds like the one before him.

Things would be different this time though. Nieffar knew it in his bones. He could wield this knowledge! Wield it just as well… NO!... Better than Vetius! He had trained for a century as Sightless! Had long since learned to be one with the Insight. It would not take him like it had with this pathetic lord! He could use it! Use the Insight's full power and turn the tides of battle in the Clan's favor! He would fix it! He would fix everything!

And so Nieffar took the plunge. His mind falling into the Insight’s depths. He could see things! Yes! So many things! The past! The present! The future! The past! The present! The future! The past! The present! The future!

Nieffar’s body grew and warped. The cracks along his skin growing. His flesh beginning to peel away. Chres’ heart began to race at the gruesome sight. He held his breath and took a step back. His eyes widening further every second.

"This power is mine! It belongs to me!" Nieffar roared as his body warped and legs dug into the earth. "I can control it! I can control anything!"

Nieffar bit into the Seed. His jaw seeming the fuse into it. The world pulsed with a blinding darkness that ate at the light of the crystal Jade candles.

"I-I... CAN CONTROL... WE C-C-CAN CONTROL..."

At last the darkness gave way. The dim light from the candle filling the room yet again. The seed had transformed; splitting off into two Seeds, both merged together at the hip.

"W-WE... CAN C-CONTROL... ALL..." The Seeds roared in unison. "W-W-WE... SEE... ALL..."

The Seed's tendrils sprung to life. Shooting out at the pactmakers and the soldiers behind them.

The Five Senses

Plot Point

---

Blinding light surged from shattered candle. The light itself almost seeming to twinkle in the air. Many cultists dropped to the ground stunned by the sudden lost of Insight. Most impacted, however was the Sightless.

"Attack!" The lead soldier shouted, snapping to his senses. "And for senses sake! Give Týfurkh back his gear men!"

The soldiers disguised as wall guards, jumped to life. Giving Týfurkh his equipment back and setting to work at securing the building. The lead soldier and three others quickly drew their weapons and attacked the most threating opponent. The Sightless.

The scene turned to choas, with dieing Cultist falling to the ground like flies. Some of the cultist, however, manage to recover from their shock and quickly got back to their feet in a vain attempt to fend off their attackers.

The soldier were quick to secure the back entrance of the Church meeting up with Karina, Jen, Octavio, Chres and the remain soldiers not in disguise. With the back entrance secure, three groups of soldiers split off. the first group started making ground towards the front with some of the soldier strategically positioning furniture to cover the bigger windows in the building. The second group worked to secure the second floor, as they started fighting their way up the nearby staircase. The third group of soldiers, a significantly smaller group, made for the basement.

Back with the Sightless, the soldiers had been quick to make swallow wounds. they had initially been thrown off by the thickness of the Sightless's skin but they adjusted quickly, attempting to pierce the hide with sharp thrusts rather than attacking with slashes.

The Sightless cried out in sorrow, confusion, pain and fury. Sorrow at the sudden lost of Insight. Confusion at the sudden attack. Pain from the wounds inflicted upon him. And fury at his inability to anticipate the attack.

He attacked with his sharpened tendrils blindly. Taking out one of the soldiers in the attack. He then leapt backwards in an attempt to avoid more attacks only to collide with a soldier behind him, who then lodged his sword in the Sightless's back shoulder.

Sightless Talne roared, as his wounds slowly worked to heal up. He turn his left fingers into a second set of tendrils and dung them into the earth beneath his feet. He needed to reconnect with the roots of the seed of Insight! He need to get some form of vision back!

Deep into the earth, the tendrils dug, following a familiar pulsing. The call of the Seed and the Insight it promised. At last he found it! His tendrils wrapped around the Seed's root. Dots of life spring up in his sightless gaze. A piece of Insight returned! While he could not make out the building, He could now see the living soldiers around him.

Yes! Now he could fight back! Now he could...

The Slightless turned his gaze downwards, the Insight calling out in warning. There were people in the basement?! More soldiers!

The soldiers in the basement raised their swords and hacked with all their might. And just like that, they chopped his tendrils in two.

The world went dark once more. His connection to the Insight lost yet again. Sightless Talne bellowed in rage as the enemy descended upon him. They struck again and again, at one point even salting his wounds which in turn countered his ability to heal.

Before long, he lay on the floor dying. He cursed the town. Cursed the pactmakers. Cursed Sightless Nieffar for not leaving sooner... but most of all, he cursed himself... cursed himself for staying. For had he left Nieffar behind, then none of this would have happened.

---

The battle for the church ended as quickly as it started. Chres breathed a sigh of relief. For once something in this town had actually been easy. Chres shook his head.

"Feels good to finally be the ones with the numbers on our side." He said.

"SHHHHH!" Sil said, fluttering over one of the dead cultists. "They're sleeping!"

"Nope." He replied irritably, as if he didn't have the time to deal with her nonsense. "Just dead."

Sil huffed and crossed her arms. "Rude."

Chres rolled his eyes and waved her off.

"We best hurry." He said looking to Karina. "Your soldiers can't hold this place forever."

One of the soldiers from the basement arrived in a hurry.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" The soldier said. "You best come take a look at this!"

---

The Pactmakers found no Seed of Insight in the basement of the Church. What they did find was a hidden tunnel that seemed to be shrouded in darkness. Chres could make out faint hints of a rank smell coming from the tunnel. It smelled like rot and death. This had to be it. The seed had to be at the end of this tunnel.

Chres took out the Crystal Jade Candle Karina had given him. Its light did not even make it to the tunnel's end.

"Scary..." Sil whispered. Chres couldn't help but nod in agreement

"I'll go first" He said, as he entered the dark abyss...