Alicia’s body pulsed with essence. Threads of brilliant light bent around her, weaving about her frame. Each thread, stretched down, past her hands where she had a few in a grip. She grinned at David as if she could hear his thoughts. The threads filled their view, like a messy twist of wires. Alicia navigated the mess as though her every step made a path before them. David followed.

  “What are these?” David asked. He knew he was staring at strands of essence, but it didn’t make sense. He could see essence, and perceive it in a way some others couldn’t. Yet, he’d never seen them like this—tangible in a way that was so real. He reached out to touch a strand.

  “Paths?” Alicia asked. “I don’t know myself. I thought I was a navigator, but I am not. I find paths, but I can also use this in other ways.”

  “How?” David asked, and the woman smiled. David realized his mistake. “Sorry. Of course, you can't share.”

  “Trust, Lord Ruler,” Alicia muttered as she sifted through the handful of strands. Some were of the same color and intensity. But many were of varying colors or shades of the same color. Others glowed stronger. The dimmest ones were discarded. David watched them stretch into the distance, slowly vanishing under the intensity of the brighter ones.

  Vith, what am I looking at? David stared at the chaos of moving strands. He expected Vith not to answer, so when she didn’t he wasn’t very surprised. Someone else surprised him.

  Paths, Ignis said. She was not really lying, but there is more. Each of these strands leads to a place, people, or something. There are places with high essence density. Some things give off more essence than others. You can tell that from the brightness or dimness. The proximity is conveyed by the pulse. A slower pulse means farther while a faster pulse means it is closer.

  “How do you know this, dragon?” Vith asked.

  David sensed a lashing of sudden fear from Ignis. He wasn’t sure why the dragon was scared of Vith or Aza, but it was funny to sense. Ignis’s pride had dwindled since Vith joined them. And now, with Aza, the dragon seemed to have settled into a worrying silence. Like a beast driven from its lair.

  I am old…Vith. Older than most creatures. Not more than you though. I have experienced things, met people, and acquired knowledge. I know what I know. What I am curious about is how sh…

  David pulled himself from the conversation. He could still hear them talk like thoughts floating in his head, but he was focused on Alicia.

  She tossed the rest of the strands away, holding up a rust-brown thread. It was thicker than the rest, almost the size of David’s thumb. She held it up to David, grinning even as The edges of her fingers blackened.

  “They have included a rot spell,” Alicia said, her eyes fluttering so fast. She was trying to hold the pain at bay, but it was overwhelming her. “They can’t hide the path, but they have found a way to attack those tracking them. Clever.”

  “How long can you continue to do this?” David asked. Alicia shrugged. “So this is what your people fear will kill you? I thought it was something else.” For a moment, David stared at the woman. She was brave. To come here, knowing it will kill her.

  “They have a tracker too,” Alica said before stretching out to him to hold her hand. David hesitated, worrying the rot spell would affect him too. He wasn’t sure he liked or trusted the black patches on her finger. What if this was the plan? To pull him into this place and consume him. It was the kind of thing Balek would do.

  He took a moment to think about it and decided it might be time for him to take a leap of his own. Her fingers wrapped around his. They were cold. The rotting tips were like icicles. She pulled his hand to the thread, nodding for him to trust her. David whispered a curse and touched the thread.

  The moment his skin grazed it, they moved. It was so fast David felt like they teleported. But he could vaguely remember walking.

  David gasped at the leaning face of a statue. It loomed over them, back bent forward as it stared down at them. For a moment, David thought it could see them. But the statue was unmoving, unalive. Its body had webs of cracks. Through the cracks, someone wailed within. The cry was so loud, guttural. Whoever was in there, his agony leaked out.

  David took a step forward but Alicia held him back. She gestured at the rest of the place. It was a small room with its roof open to the sky. Up, on the edges of the round opening, Shadows lurked.

  David watched the terrifying things with awe and weird interest. He couldn’t sense their powers.

  When he looked away from them, he saw the swaying forms of the priests. The room was lit by real torches. The flames danced whenever the chill wind pushed through the room. The priests—all eight of them—were murmuring something. A prayer? Their necks were connected by binding collars. They swayed clockwise, as if in a dance.

  “You have come,” One of them hissed. “Spy, enemy, defier. We can see you. We can smell your sickness in the wind. You don’t have long. You can’t win.”

  David looked toward Alicia. The priest was not wrong. She was going to die soon. Perhaps that was why she was doing this? It didn’t make sense.

  “You can’t flee, Spy. Lord Balek sees all. You will be destroyed.”

  Together, their heads snapped up to look at David and Alicia. Their eyes moved from Alicia to David. “You have brought the fake ruler,” they all said.

  That sent a chill down David’s back. He wasn’t scared, but he couldn’t deny how creepy it was. Their fanatism was shocking.

  He could see their life rapidly dwindling. Soon they would be dead. Perhaps they should wait for that?

  “They change priests,” Alicia said. For the second time, David wondered if she could read his thoughts in this realm of hers.”This contaminates them, so they are killed after their essence has been spent.”

  “Why do they do this then?” David asked. He couldn’t understand following a god that would compel him to kill himself. “What benefit do they get from this?”

  Alicia chuckled. “They please their gods.” She grinned, amused by David’s reaction to that. “We should leave. They have not attacked me directly here before, but I think that is only because it will destroy the flow of essence powering the spell.”

  “Can you attack them here?” David asked. Alicia shook her head. David nodded, looking up at the shadows mounted atop the room. He could only see the outline of their forms. They moved subtly as if trying to shake off the night.

  “What do you think, Aza?” David asked. “I imagine those things are made of some form of chaos. Are they within your control?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Yes,” Aza said immediately, David felt a sharp surge of elation. “But not within yours. While you continuously growing into my powers, you can’t dispel those yet. But I think your gauntlet can help in a battle.”

  The room vanished and David blinked to find himself on the cushion again, resting on Zoey. He pushed off her quickly. Looking around to find eyes staring at Alicia. She stared at her hands. The rot was gone, but she looked generally worsened. She coughed, gesturing for her cup. Kalmar picked it for her, then helped her drink. The cough stopped after that. She looked weaker, but she was smiling again.

  The priests were right, Ignis said. This woman will die soon.

  David thought so too.

  If he could see her essence strand, he imagined it would be faint. But she was putting on a brave face for them. Why? Why was she leading this group? They didn’t seem to be from the same world or at the same rank. The old man looked stronger. And the black hilt sword lying beside his cushion gave off a weird aura.

  So why?

  “You have seen them. Do you believe now? That was an expensive expedition, as you can see.”

  David stared at the armored woman, then back to Alicia. He knew what answer to give, but he wanted more.

  “Why?” David asked. They all frowned at him. “Why are you doing this? You are dying yet you dive into that place, knowing they have a trap set for you. Why do you do it?”

  “Because no one else can,” Alicia said. “Before me, my sister could. She died. Their poison and spells hurt me, but it is the gift killing me. Ability to see the strands, to follow them. It eats at me. As if I exchange my life for every use.”

  That makes sense, Ignis added.

  “I can recover over time if I stop using it. But for now, I need to. They will move the priests, they always do when I find them.”

  “You are going to die,” David said, scowling.

  Alicia chuckled.

  “Maybe. But that doesn’t change what you need to do, Lord Ruler. Break the spell, let us flee this prison.”

  “I will have to talk this over with my family,” David said. A slim, dark man beside the armored woman sneered. David stopped him by adding, “They didn’t see what I saw. I need to explain to them why they might want to ally with you.”

  Alicia nodded.

  “Do you have a plan?” David asked, looking down at the cup he set in front of him. “That place. Those Shadows.”

  “We do,” The armored woman said.

  “Something like it,” Alicia said with that smile David didn’t trust.

  They probably don’t, Ignis said.

  “You will need somewhere private to discuss. Kalmar will show you.”

  Kalmar led them to a smaller room. Empty except for the small bed frame pushed to the left edge of the room, the window. David stood by the window, watching the sky outside. He could still see the Shadows in his mind. They were nothing like Elisha’s. There was cruelty in their forging. As if Balek had made that their only purpose.

  “You don’t want to trust us,” Kalmar said at the door. “I understand it. None of us in that room was from your world. You have a mission you have set yourself on. We have all heard your story. But you can’t do it all alone. You need allies. Especially with the temple of Balek.”

  “Why us though?” Zoey asked. “Your friends there were all Rankers or near Rankers. You are all strong enough to fight the temple. Why did you have to wait for us to show up first? And who told you we were coming?”

  “I don’t know who told Lady Alicia of your coming. But if you saw the link of priests sacrificing themselves for the spell, you must have noticed why you are needed.”

  David shook his head, turning away from the silhouette watching them from the tree outside. Kalmar didn’t look like he believed David, but he shrugged.

  “I can’t tell you more until I know where you stand. If you won’t help us, then you will fight alone. I hope you see that there is no wisdom in that. Together we are stronger. We are weapons you can use.”

  “No, my friend. It looks like he is the weapon you want to use,” Carlos said. David caught the irritation in Kalmar’s pinched face. Then he sighed, shook his head, and left.

  David turned back to the tree, but whoever was there had left. They were probably somewhere else, tightening the mask over their presence. David ignored that and turned to face his family.

  Zoey, Gil, and Elisha sat on the bed. Chloe seemed glued to Zoey, but she didn’t look scared.

  David was happy about that.

  He felt an unimaginable weight of sadness that she had to grow up so fast, but he preferred her alive. And this was what it took to be alive.

  “What do you think?” David asked the others. He looked at Gil and Carlos to let them know they were part of the conversation.

  “We don’t have any choice,” Elisha said. “I don’t trust them, but that is only natural. What I want to know is what she showed you. You seemed worried when she pulled her hand away.”

  “Balek is sacrificing his priest to keep the city in a loop.”

  “I knew that gu…god was evil,” Carlos muttered. Chloe snorted but said nothing.

  “A strong spell then.” Elisha formed a slim dagger from a strip of his shadow armor. “Do you know how they expect you to break it? Or does killing the priest end the loop?”

  “I don’t think so,” David replied, hating how easy it was for his brother to talk about murder. It was strange how killing came to them now. He couldn’t have imagined it before they jumped in Amareth’s tower.

  “I think it has something to do with my authority. But that would get the Watcher’s attention. I would like to know their plan. Taking that temple will be difficult. Some of them are strong, but they will need an army.”

  “Maybe they already have that?” Gil asked. Everyone turned to her. “When we entered, I thought I heard voices, kids too. But I have not seen anyone so far. There is something weird about this place. Or it might be connected to someplace else.”

  David stared at her, his mind working out the possibilities. Then he chuckled. “True. I didn’t even think about that. I heard the kids too. I thought I imagined it.”

  “So we are joining these people?” Carlos asked.

  “I don’t see why not. Alone we will have it harder. And I want to get out of this place as soon as possible.”

  Elisha let his dagger dissolve and pushed off the bed. He found a spot away from them and sat with his legs folded under him and his eyes closed. Chloe took his spot on the bed, her amulet floated off her neck and a transparent bubble of golden light enveloped her and the amulet. The bubble floated a few inches off the bed and Chloe closed her eyes.

  “What are they doing?” Carlos asked. David noted the small fluctuations in Elisha’s essence control and made a mental note to correct him later.

  “Training,”

  He wheeled on Zoey instead.

  “Your egg, you might want to try intentionally feeding it some of your essence.”

  “What will you be doing?” Zoey asked.

  “Shaking the hand of a dying rebel leader.”

  David opened the door to find Alicia. She grinned. Beside her, the armored woman seemed obviously uncomfortable.

  “I am not dying, Lord Ruler,” Alicia said.

  David grinned. “I like the optimism, Alicia. And I will believe it if you want me to.”

  “Trouble, I told you,” The armored woman said.

  “Selass,” Alicia said and the armored woman snapped into a stiff military form. David raised a brow at Alicia. The frail woman grinned, her right hand extended for a handshake.

  David took it, feeling like he shouldn’t.

  You have sworn an oath of alliance!

  Faith Bestowal can be extended to new allies…

  David declined it immediately.

  “You did the oath of alliance, didn’t you?” David asked.

  “No,” Alicia said. “The tower did.” And then she walked away with the armored woman in tow. David watched them march into a bed at the end of the passage.

  ? My 100th Life Will Be My Last ?

  by Asher Teivel

  Clara Crowsong has died ninety-nine times, and this is her last chance to save her family.