After we left that sad vendor behind, I was eager for a fight. My adrenaline had yet to wane from defeating the Fungal Monstrosity, and I was dying to test out my new Shadow Blades. That ability was going to change the game for me, I just knew it. Unfortunately, I was only allowed ten Shadow Blades per day, so I had to be careful with them, but if I used them frequently enough, I could receive an upgrade naturally, or I could select a more robust upgrade on my next level up. I was also pretty sure that my Shurikenjutsu competency counted toward my Shadow Blades, so I expected they could grow quite powerful in time.

  If I had to build my own character, a shadow-veiled, knife-throwing assassin sounded pretty damn good to me.

  The dungeon grew darker the deeper we dwelt, despite our enhanced vision. It was eerie as hell, and I did not like it one bit. Neither did anyone else.

  “This place is starting to give me the creeps,” Tabby said, wrapping her arms around her body, shivering.

  “Petri won’t leave my shoulder,” Kitz said. “He doesn’t like it here.”

  “That is because something terrible lurks ahead,” Ersabet said. “I can sense it, be at the ready.”

  I smacked myself in the head for being forgetful and put the hood of my cloak up. I opened my visual mini-map and activated my Monster Hunter ability. Immediately, a single mob appeared on my mini-map about a hundred yards ahead. It was blocking the entrance to an elaborately styled adobe building that I thought might be of some interest. The mob’s presence there confirmed my interest wasn’t misplaced.

  “Ersabet’s right,” I said. “There’s a creature or monster of some kind ahead. It’s down the road, near the only building that isn’t completely falling apart.”

  “What is it?” Tabby asked. “It’s giving off a major creepy vibe.”

  “I don’t know. It could be anything. Do we all feel a sense of dread?” I asked everyone, meeting their eyes to know this question was serious. They all nodded.

  “It’s strange,” Delen said. “I’m more anxious here than I was fighting mushroom monsters.”

  “Expect these feelings to intensify as we approach the creature,” Ersabet said. “I know not what awaits, but if it can affect our emotions from afar, its powers could be much more potent up close. Trust only in yourself and each other.”

  “What does V think it is?” Kitz asked.

  On cue, Val said, “I think you're dealing with something truly nasty. My best guess, based on Earth folklore and fiction, would be an oni, a hag, or maybe a boggart. Something that induces terror – feeds off it. It might be able to do more than just scare you; It might be able to show you things that aren’t real. If you are going to fight it, do so as quickly as possible, lest one of your own hurt themselves or something else.”

  I relayed Val’s morbid assessment of the situation and added, “We don’t have to do this. We can find another way.”

  “Nonsense,” Ersabet said. “We’ve gone too far to backtrack, and we’ll eventually run into another monster, one that could be even worse than this. This is our fight.” She glanced at the rest of the group. “However, if any of you do not feel up for it, you may stay behind.”

  “Never!” Kitz said.

  Neither Delen nor Tabby wanted to be outdone by a little kid, and both claimed to be up to the task.

  “We approach it quickly, but cautiously,” I said. “I have no idea what to expect, but V thinks the longer the fight goes on, the worse it will get for us. If anyone has a kill shot, don’t hesitate to take it.”

  “Remember this,” Ersabet said. “Fear is like wind. It can be light as a feather or strong enough to knock you down, but it passes all the same. When it doesn’t pass quickly enough, we simply cut our way through it.” With those words, she turned and led us down the ever-darkening empty street.

  A veil of fear slowly lowered itself upon me as we progressed toward our target. It was a soft presence, a simple prickle at the back of my neck, that feeling of being watched. I looked at my companions and noticed their faces cringing under the weight of their own ill feelings.

  The darkness grew and grew until I could barely see the outline of Ersabet, only a few feet ahead of me. I heard faint chattering from behind, and turned to tell Delen to shut up, but his mouth was locked tight, terror in his eyes. The voices weren’t coming from him.

  My next step splashed into a puddle of water. I looked down and saw that the entire street was covered in a thin layer of black water.

  “Is anyone else seeing this water?” I asked.

  “No,” Ersabet said. “I see no water. However, I do see eyes. Many eyes. They are watching us.”

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  “I’m sure everyone’s seeing or feeling something different, something that will unnerve us individually. Just remember. It's not real.”

  “He damn sure looks real to me,” Delen said, staring off to the side.

  “What are you looking at, Delen?” I questioned gently.

  “My deceased father. He wants me to come to him.”

  “Absolutely not,” Ersabet snapped. She walked to Delen and grabbed his hand. Then she grabbed Kitz and indicated we all link up. Tabby took Kitz’s free hand, and I took hers.

  “It is only an illusion,” Ersabet said, leading us away from Delen’s dead dad. “The beast lies further ahead. I can sense it.”

  I could too. We were getting close, and the fear was irrational yet all-consuming. I didn’t even know what I was afraid of. I just was. It took all my effort to keep from panicking. I needed to be a calm, collected leader in that moment, but I saw Kitz crying out of fear, so I said, “Fuck this,” and started pulling our chain gang faster and faster until we were jogging at a steady pace. We were going to find this thing ASAP and chop its scary freaking head off.

  The ground trembled under my feet, like the earth was angry at our approach. I then noticed the eyes Ersabet had mentioned. Voices accompanied them. Whispers of death and vile things.

  I noticed a small island of white against the sea of blackness. It stood out starkly against the dark backdrop, and I immediately diverted to it. As the scene came into view, I realized it was a woman in a white dress, lying prone on something, an altar stone perhaps. Her hands and legs were bound to it, and she struggled to break free of the bindings.

  “Does everyone see the girl in white?” I asked.

  “Yes,” They all replied in voices of varying terror.

  “This monster is a trickster,” Ersabet said. “Strike first before it can worm into your brain and use your fears against you.”

  We sprinted the rest of the way, arms at the ready.

  I kept my eyes locked on the woman in white, mostly because those watching eyes in the peripheral dark freaked me the hell out, but also because the woman was beautiful, and there was something oddly familiar about her. She had dark brown hair and a delicate face that seemed to glow in this lightless place.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  And then it stopped.

  I fell to my knees, twenty yards from her, unwilling to look again. It was Elena. My wife was here, trapped in this dungeon and beyond used as a pawn in some sick game. I steeled myself. If there was a chance my wife was really here, I had to do everything I could to save her.

  “What’s wrong?” Ersabet asked, her eyes wild with worry.

  “That’s my fucking wife!” I screamed, pointing to the end of my quest.

  Ersabet grabbed me by the shoulders. “That is not your wife. It is a trick, and it is being used against you. Do not fall for it.”

  “Ethan? Ethan, is that you?” Elena’s small voice came out as barely a croak. She needed water. I could satisfy her thirst in a matter of seconds.

  “Do not listen,” Ersabet said.

  “You can see her!” I protested. “We all can. She’s not just a figment of my imagination. If there’s a one percent chance that’s my Elena, I’m going to help her.”

  Ersabet scowled. “You will not.” She pushed me away so hard that I stumbled and fell on my butt.

  I scrambled to my feet, and my eyes bulged when I saw Ersabet approaching Elena with her sword drawn. She was going to kill my wife! Deep down, I knew it wasn’t her, but there was a part of my heart that wanted her so badly to be real that I had no choice but to follow it. I sheathed my sword, sprinted toward Ersabet, and activated Devastating Strike, catching her in the side of her head before she could bring her blade down. It was a cheap shot, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

  “Ethan, control yourself!” Val said. “That is not Elena!”

  “It could be!” I said aloud. “I have to check for myself.”

  “Do not touch her. If you do, your time in this game is over, and you’ll never see the real Elena again.”

  “Save me,” Elena whispered. “Please, my love, why aren’t you helping me?”

  Tears began to pour down my cheeks as I looked down at my perfect wife.

  “They hurt me,” she said. “They do terrible things to me down here. Please, I beg you. Take me back home.”

  “This is the beast,” Val said. “This is how it wins. I know you haven’t always taken my advice to heart, but I urge you to do so now. Your life, and the lives of all your friends, depend on it. Kill this simulacrum. It is a fabrication. An evil thing, and it must be dispelled. Trust me, Ethan. Please.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, doing my best to cool my simmering heart. Val was right. Ersabet was right. I stopped Delen from talking to his dead dad. This was the same thing. Elena wasn’t here in this random dungeon. It was the monster worming its way into my mind, using my own thoughts against me. It knew that among our party, I would be the easiest to crack, and I nearly did.

  This wasn’t my wife. It was a wretched thing, and it was going to die.

  “I’ll free you,” I said to my false wife. I pulled out my sword. “And I’ll see you again someday.”

  I stabbed my sword down into her heart, and when I did, she vanished into a puff of smoke. That smoke travelled no more than ten feet into the darkness and coalesced around a hunched figure.

  Its cackle was grimy as it shared its amusement in our pain. It came closer, using a cane to support its misshapen body. Based on the bare breasts that hung to her waist, I deduced this monster to be female. She had a crooked nose, and her entire body was covered in warts and pustules. If not for her talon-like claws, I wouldn’t think her formidable.

  “It’s a hag!” Val said. “Kill, kill, kill!”

  I immediately conjured a Shadow Blade and threw it at the hag, catching her in the forearm. Her screech deafened me, but didn’t break my focus as I conjured a second blade, and then a third. In a matter of seconds, I had sent five shadow blades through her, leaving necrotic holes in their path.

  After my fifth throw, Tabby joined in, hitting the hag in the throat with a bolt from her new crossbow. That attack was followed up with a direct shot to the head from Kitz’s slingshot. It hit her so hard, I heard the bone crack.

  A wild blast of lightning shot out of the hag’s fingers, but her aim was off, and I felt only a slight tickle as the hair on my arms rose from the passing bolt.

  Two more Shadow Blades, one more bolt, and two more stones from Kitz’s doubly enhanced slingshot did the job, and the old hag crumpled to the ground defeated.

  Just to be sure, I pierced her heart with my sword. Then I turned my attention back to Ersabet, who was slowly waking back up.

  I bent down in front of her to help her up.

  “Careful,” I said. “Go slowly.”

  Her eyes lolled a moment before finding their focus on mine.

  “We did it,” I said, grinning. “Good to have you back.”

  She sat up with my assistance, then leaned back and punched me in the face as hard as she could. My vision went black before my head hit the ground.