In the woods south of Ingcaster, almost a mile off the main road, I tapped loose dirt with the back of the shovel, packing it down over five strongboxes of buried treasure.

  Over 8,000 gold coins, minted by Aclana’s treasury, lay beneath six feet of dirt along with the rivet Veigan had imbued with Seeking Sigil.

  I paid out 1,100 to Hanover after we switched out the sullied flatbed wagon for one with a shallow, boxy bed, low wooden sides and a tight canvas cover. The swap had been part of Hanover's original plan.

  "Promise me, I'll never see you again," was the only thing he said after he handed me a fresh change of clothes from his shop, free of charge.

  I didn't fault him for taking me off his Christmas card mailing list. Not only had I made him an accessory to the murders of multiple Royal Guards, his name was associated with Oarwin's phantom, who happened to piss all over Daven Murpharion's turf. But as Viessa and I departed from the scrapyard, it looked like the old blacksmith was packing his bags.

  I held back 500 gold coins before burying the rest. 100 went into a coin pouch tucked into the satchel that practically lived underneath my armpit. Another 100 went into Viessa's own pockets. The last 300, I put in a cloth sack and stored them underneath a false bottom in the wagon.

  The elf's gaze hadn't wavered from me since my shadow's breakout debut. I didn't know what she was thinking, nor did I ask. Personally, I thought I had handled myself pretty well considering what dwelled within.

  "It said something to you," Viessa said, spiking my heart rate from a mere mention of its existence. "What did it say?"

  I tossed the shovel into the back of the wagon and climbed onto my horse. "It wanted me to feed it."

  "And you obeyed?"

  "I couldn't hold out after I felt its hunger."

  I broke out into a cold sweat, heart rate increasing as I replayed the details in my head. "I seem to have more control over it, than it has over me."

  "You suddenly look like you're on the verge of passing out."

  "I'll be fine if we change subjects."

  On the surface I projected the triple c's. Calm, cool, collected. Beneath it all, I was, for lack of better words, freaked the fuck out. A significant change had occurred back in the warehouse. It knew me, and somehow, I knew it. Maybe not its name, origin, date of birth, or social security number, but its vast emptiness hung over my head like an ever persistent rain cloud.

  The most frightening detail, on some base, instinctual level I understood it, and it understood me.

  "You'll be fine?" Viessa yawned and leaned forward on her horse as we trotted out of the clearing. "How can you be sure?"

  "It’s just instinct. I don’t think it means me harm."

  "Your gut may be tainted if you don't think you have a disease festering in your soul. I'm not surprised. It's the same gut that's delayed us from our divine quest."

  "The delay was intentional."

  "And pointless—Justice never appeared. I hope the heavens forgive us for neglecting our sacred duties for this long."

  "Last I checked, the heavens are being run by a skeleton crew who couldn't handle the third shift at a Denny's, let alone keep the universe from imploding."

  One uncomfortable pause later, the elf yawned. "You're not tired?"

  "Not in the slightest."

  When we turned back onto the main road, Viessa dismounted and climbed into the back of the wagon for a nap.

  Hours slipped by and dawn rose but failed to crack through the rolling tide of storm clouds with any meaningful presence. The first drops of a light rain only stirred Viessa for a moment. She tucked herself under the canvas, using a bag of horse feed as a pillow.

  We passed through Waystone without being recognized. I kept my hood low and pulled a light scarf across my jaw. Hammers pounded, and saws cut through wood even as the rain picked up.

  The stable's charred remains had been cleared; a new frame stood in its place. I dismounted, traded our horses out, and pressed two gold coins into the stablemaster's calloused hand.

  A crude boulder stood in the village's center. Its surface was etched with names of the dead. Bright daffodils and white roses rested at its base, trembling in the breeze. We left through the south, riding past villagers burdened with fresh-cut timber and mournful resolve.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Our fresh steeds made haste through a heavy downpour. I expected the elf to wake up from the thunder crackling overhead and the whistling wind. But she didn't rise from her slumber until we were crossing through the same stretch of the heavily wooded path where Fisk had stopped my heart during Soul Viper's ambush.

  Towering trees loomed on either side, their trunks vanishing into mist. Rain whispered through the canopy, and the wet earth muffled the cart's creaky wheels. It would've been a tranquil sight if I wasn't all too aware of how much blood had been spilled on this very path.

  "How long was I asleep?" Viessa peeked her head out from underneath the canvas, rubbing her eyes, rogue strands of hair escaping out the side of her face guard.

  We turned the bend and trotted out beyond the forest's edge. From the hill's crest, the Silverlight Plains unfurled westward as an endless sea of grass, rippling in the storm like hair on the back of a slumbering giant. No roads or track marred paths suggested a proper route.

  "The heart of the Silverlight Plains, huh?" I wondered aloud as we reached the bottom of the hill and turned off-road onto the grass. "You guide the horses. I'm going to scan the area with Void Seer."

  The nasty weather provided Void Seer with just enough darkness to channel my gaze freely through the air. Far to the west, the grasslands gave way to a vast area where the earth plunged deep into an unnatural depression. Its edges were smooth, and precise like the chasm had been drilled out by the gods themselves.

  I snapped back to my body and pointed Viessa in the right direction. Soon we approached the unmistakable chasm in the ground. Rainwater waterfalled over the side, echoing into its depths in endless silver streams.

  We dismounted and stared over the edge.

  "It's like an empty missile silo," I said.

  "A what?"

  "Forget it. Ready for a ride?"

  The elf nodded, climbed onto my back, and I jumped over the edge without warning, taking her by surprise. Her arms tightened around my neck, screaming in my ears until I manifested a rope out of the darkness, and rappelled down the last 100 feet.

  I landed ankle deep in water, and jogged down the only corridor. With each step I could feel the both chaos shards pulse with heat through my satchel. The corridor dissolved into an expansive chamber, which featured a monolithic slab of obsidian with two slots in its center.

  Viessa dropped off my back as I retrieved the chaos shards from the bag.

  "Stay alert. For all we know this could trigger a trap," I said, finding the whole quest suspiciously easy.

  I slotted in the first chaos shard, then the second. Violet lightning crackled all around the device. Its obsidian veins glowing hot as the chaos shards vibrated.

  Quest Cleared - The Realm's Great Defense

  +1000 XP

  -1500 Karma

  "Goddamn, another huge karma hit."

  "Why?"

  "It's been like this every quest," I said, wiping sweat from my brow as I noticed the temperature rise to a sweltering degree.

  "Nicely done, I was getting a bit worried about all the distractions. But in the end it all worked out," Chaos said, emerging out of the darkness with a grin on his face.

  Viessa stumbled back, putting her back against the wall, and I lunged at him along with an army of pointed shadows. Chaos clapped his hands and a flash of light cleansed the shadows and rooted me in place.

  "You piece of shit! What are you talking about?"

  "The flaws of the human psyche."

  I tore one foot from the ground, and Chaos clapped again, reinforcing his grip.

  "Wow, you've gotten stronger. Not that it matters." Chaos laughed. "Mortals are all too easily manipulated. Convincing a man to burn himself alive or tricking a man into ending the world... It's all the same."

  Chaos paced over to the obsidian monolith and held his pale hands out over the stone. "All I had to do was make you hate me. An easy task. From there, I just told you the opposite of what I wanted, and you ran with it, driven by anger and the ghosts of past trauma."

  "Cyprus, you're predictable. Though, I admit you had me nervous when you went chasing after the elf. I expected a cold-blooded killer like yourself to head straight into the quarry dungeon out of pure spite—not chase after a living reminder of what you’ve lost. After that miscalculation, I decided against another timer for your third and final quest. Still, you made me quite nervous with your delay. My distractions couldn't keep Justice occupied forever."

  Chaos chuckled again, slapping his knees and shaking his head. "I can't believe I worried over the negative karma from each quest spoiling the surprise. What a relief. Soon Galdir's favorite realm will meet its slow, suffering end. And it's all thanks to you!"

  I let his guilt trip slip past me and splatter on the ground. I was unwilling to shoulder all of the responsibility for the end of the world. How was I supposed to know that the Divine Framework itself was lying to me?

  "Cheer up," Chaos strolled over to Viessa, and sliced through her mask with his long black fingernail. "I'm so grateful, I'll let her live."

  An unfathomable hatred roared through my soul. Pain and anger coalesced into a serrated edge, carving away all but the desire for his end.

  "Don't take it so hard. Even if you saw through it, I would have convinced another schmuck to do my bidding. I will say, it was just much more fun for me using Justice's own chess piece against her. "

  "This monster inside me... How does it fit into your master plan?" I hung my head, teeth clenched.

  Chaos squinted hard, the runic tattoos wrinkling across his face. "Huh?"

  "The Corrupted Choir—"

  "Shut the fuck up!" Chaos jolted upright, eyes wild. "Never speak on what must remain forgotten. That which no longer exists. You cannot know. You dare not know!"

  "When I close my eyes, I can feel it's hunger, vast as it is desperate.”

  My heart rate doubled, and the room became an icebox. Sweat drenched my brow as the cold numbness returned.

  "I'll kill your elf." Chaos drew his hand back as I lunged against his invisible restraints.

  A wicked violin screeched and the shadows shifted.

  "Impossible." Chaos lowered his hand, turning away from the elf.

  He backpedaled as he waved his hand, opening an azure portal behind him. A shadow claw reached out of the floor and grabbed his leg, tearing through his robes. Without hesitation, Chaos ran his hand through his own pale flesh and bone, severing his right leg in one swift motion before disappearing into the portal behind him.

  The shadow claw retracted, taking the pale leg with it through the floor. Moments later a blinding light exploded, forcing Viessa and I to our knees.

  "What have you done?" Justice's voice boomed throughout the chamber.

  "Where have you been?” I countered.