The last ghoul didn’t go down quietly. It thrashed as Elisha’s blade carved into its leg, snarling even as it crawled. Its lips peeled back, exposing blackened teeth.

  It hissed curses, words none of them could understand. David watched it with guilt and pity.

  Whatever had turned them to what they were was creeping on him slowly. He felt the draw of power as if the anchor was everywhere, weighing him down, drinking off him slowly and surely.

  David moved forward, his blade heaving up for the last hit. He didn’t have the stomach to watch the ghoul suffer. But the moment it lunged again, Elisha caught it. His shadow coalesced into a gleaming black axe. The axe dropped with a heavy thud, and David flinched as the ghoul’s skull cracked.

  The ghoul twitched once, then fell still. Blood, red as if from a normal creature, leaked from the jagged wound.

  David stepped over the corpse without looking at the shattered face. He couldn’t clear the frown from his face, but he was grateful for the quick death.

  The stench of the Anchor’s domain filled the air, worsened by the dead ghouls. Slowly, he crouched beside the body, nudging the rotten armor with his blade. His frown deepened when he saw the insignia etched into the shoulder plate. He’d hoped he was wrong. He felt the urge to touch the space in front of him, like Iliana. But he didn’t believe in the goddess, nor did he think Ishkar cared about the dead ghouls.

  This was a game to the wardens, as it is for their master, Balek. They waste lives like piss tokens, meaningless to them.

  David sighed.

  The armor had rusted from age and negligence, which means these people had been here for long—longer than he wanted to imagine.

  Which meant there were more. He felt tiredness in his bones. Killing more people to feed some unknown evil wasn’t what he expected when he crossed the torn veil. And these weren’t monsters summoned from another realm; they had once been soldiers. Protectors. People. They had families, friends, and lovers—some who still waited for their return.

  His mind reeled at the implications.

  Zoey’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. “David!”

  He stood slowly. A growing tiredness had settled on him, dragging him like boulders chained to his heel. When he reached her, she was crouched near one of the earlier corpses. One of the many he’d hacked and crushed himself.

  She dragged what remained of the body up and pointed to the ground. “Look.”

  It wasn’t immediately visible. But then he blinked the weariness away and let his perception stretch. He sensed something there, like a distant string waiting for him to pluck at it. David lowered himself until he was on his knees. He pressed his hand to the ground, staining his fingers with the blood of the dead ghoul. Cussad, Ignis reminded him, and David sent a thread of gratitude to the dragon for remembering the name.

  There, finally, he felt something. Clearer than anything else in that moment. Almost as if he could latch on to it, explore it further, and find its origin.

  He focused harder. The strain of the veiled world pressed against his senses, but this was different. It was right under him, almost touching him. He felt it as a throbbing thing, alive and moving.

  Then he saw it, just below the dirt. Thin threads, glowing faintly; traveling through the stones, roots, and filth underground. Like veins stretching through a body, feeding the different parts.

  Each strand connected to the corpses that touched the ground. Attached to the torn parts—arms, heads, legs.

  The essence pulsed as the Anchor fed through the channels. Draining the last of their essence, leaving nothing behind.

  “What… is it doing?” Elisha asked, stepping beside them. He crouched, one hand brushing the air over the nearest thread, but not touching it.

  “Feeding,” David said. Even as it dawned on him, he couldn’t help but smile. “The Anchor is draining them dry. A greedy thing.”

  He stood, tracing the lines with his eyes. Now that he had them in sight, he wouldn’t lose them again. He traced as many as he could, coming to a conclusion on the eighteenth line.

  They all stretched in the same direction. He wasn’t completely sure, but he guessed the channels all converged somewhere.

  Beyond the ruined trees and twisted stone, the threads thickened—flowing like a river toward that unseen place.

  “The Anchor,” he said quietly. “We follow this, we’ll find it.”

  “That makes sense,” Zoey said, looking at the other corpse. “What do you think it will be?”

  “An artefact,” Elisha said. “ It would make sense that it needs to consume enough essence to be strong enough to hold the second domain, right?”

  “Then why keep it here?” Zoey asked. “Balek is an asshole, but he is not an idiot. And like David said, he couldn’t have created a toxic place like this.”

  Elisha shrugged. “He did create the first domain.”

  “Which was really interesting. The time loop had a purpose. And it wasn’t easily understood. This one screams mediocrity. A world that turns people into monsters and feeds on them?”

  “It’s not just that,” David said as he followed the thread with his eyes, deeper and deeper. Once he couldn’t see it anymore, he started to move forward. “It is punishment. The genius is in the simplicity. And so is the cruelty. Get this, and save your nation will have kings sending their people until there is no one left to send. No one in Balorn or Qael Dorei knows what is happening here. All they know is that they can’t stop sending people in. The first to stop risks their enemy finding the promised artifact or resigns to a slow, but sure death.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Cold,” Elisha muttered.

  David nodded, his eyes focused on the throbbing lines of essence underground. They were thicker now, brighter. He knew that it wasn’t his perception that had gotten better. Which meant he was closer to the source.

  He didn’t hear the rustle, nor did he perceive those hiding. The day here was dim, but not quite dark. But there were shadows deep enough to hide their enemies.

  And as with the essence veins, Zoey was the first to sense them.

  The attack came fast, too fast for David to dodge.

  Something slammed into his back with the force of a boulder rolling down a mountainside. David yelled at the sudden pain as he hit the ground hard. Wind knocked from his lungs, his vision turned white a ringing sound made him hold his head as a hot flood of pain filled his skull.

  The pain was unnatural, and David struggled as though he were drowning in it.

  In the darkness of his panic, he heard Elisha roar and someone curse. The ringing sound stopped, and David’s eyes flung open. His sword formed in his hands as he charged at an armored man—or woman—he was in a daze.

  A shield parried his swing, but the force pushed the soldier. The cross embossed on the shield glowed faintly, and David saw what really blocked his strike. He blinked the dizziness away as the situation settled in his mind.

  They were being attacked by Balorn soldiers? No, David confirmed. He groaned, his head swimming in dark soup. Nausea rocked him. Whatever that ringing had been, it had affected him mentally.

  With a somewhat clear mind, he focused on his enemies. The Qael Dorei were larger now that he could focus. There were about six of them.

  Five, Ignis corrected. Your brother killed the one with the prong.

  They were still surrounded. He couldn’t see their faces—covered in contoured helms. Their armors had seen better days, too. But what made them stand out were their weapons. The shield had a large cross on the front, made from some kind of rune markings that created an extra layer of essence over the shield.

  Another wielded a poleaxe with a scythe-like blade. The edge of the blade was darker than Elisha’s shadow. At the end of the shaft, a single, thick thread was attached, which secured it to the man’s right wrist.

  “They are merged with their weapons? Elisha asked.

  The poleaxe soldier attacked. He threw the weapons, and a shield of shadows grew in front of Elisha. Then Elisha’s form sank into his own shadow just as the poleaxe crashed into the shield. A dozen golden arrows spilled out from Zoey. The shield wielder was protected, but the slim woman with the spear wasn’t fast enough.

  She died almost immediately.

  The smallest of the Qael Dorei was the man with the double-bladed axe. His every swing split the ground, leaving wide fissures. David ignored him, focusing on the shield. His every swing clanged on the shield, giving him no space to deal any real damage.

  It was frustrating because he could see the man was weak. But the shield repelled him or reduced the impact. He spun instantly, sensing the axe wielder behind him.

  Spell: Requiem

  You have complete resonance with Ignis!

  David’s sword exploded, deep purple flames flashing so close to the axe wielder that he flinched in shock and fear. David felt his control of the fire slip, almost burning himself. He pulled it back with effort, gritting as he arched the blade down for the shield bearer.

  The man brought his shield up to take the hit. Wrong move, Ignis hollered as the blade fell on the shield. It tore through the rune, then shattered the shield and took the man’s arm.

  David realized the axe wielder had been screaming, flailing as a bit of his face burned. The shield bearer cursed as he cried in pain. David snuffed his cry by plunging his flaming sword through the man’s armor and chest, burning him from the inside.

  Lorden’s essence has returned to the Anchor!

  Dance turned away from the burning corpse to watch Zoey take care of the last of their attackers. The axe wielder took off his melted helm to expose his half-burnt face. David undid the spell on the sword and sighed. Holding the spell together had been a labor. The essence here was painful to use.

  The poleaxe man died screaming as Elisha’s many daggers plunged into him. David pointed his sword at the last man.

  “Wait, wait!” The man said, his skin blistered. His lips looked weird. David imagined it was painful to talk, but he was past caring. They would have killed him. They had wanted to. He pushed the tip of his sword against the man’s breastplate, ready to push it through.

  “Please!” the man screamed, falling to his knees. “I didn’t want to come here. None of us wanted to. We don’t have a choice.”

  “And why should that matter to us?” Elisha growled. His helm made him sound devilishly wicked. “You tried to kill us. We don’t have to spare your dumb life.”

  The man turned from David to Zoey, who had just joined them. He didn’t look toward Elisha, knowing he wouldn’t find any mercy there

  “I can help you,” He said, desperate. He pointed to his face. “And wouldn’t you say I have paid for my mistake?”

  “You are still breathing,” Elisha said. “So, not enough.”

  “How can you help us?” David asked, his sword still pinned to the man’s face. He saw the moment the man grasped the string of hope he’d extended.

  “You are going for the anchor, right?” The soldier asked. David nodded. “I can take you there.”

  “We can find our way there,” Elisha drawled, annoyed. David focused on the soldier, not wanting Elisha to see he was displeased. “We can use the essence line that leads all the way to the anchor.”

  “You know about that, eh?” The soldier nodded. “But you don’t know about the ghoul traps we placed all over the Anchor’s domain. I can take you through them. And you don’t know how many soldiers are back at the camp--the camp standing between you and the anchor.”

  “Well, that settles it,” Zoey said, folding her hands. She looked tired. The battle had taken a lot from her. David felt the loss too. He gestured with his sword, and the soldier stood up.

  “What if he is lying?” Elisha asked. “He could walk us into a trap.”

  “I think I’d rather not die,” The soldier said, wincing from the pain. “And we have to move fast.”

  “Why?”

  The soldier looked at Zoey as though she were stupid. “How long have you been here? You didn’t notice the trees shedding? This place is influenced by the anchor. Although we have not seen her move. When the domain comes alive, the ghouls become active again.”

  “Her?” David asked, following the man. He set them on a fast pace. Soon they were jogging past trees. He stopped a few times, changing path to avoid clusters of ghouls. He called the clusters Sniffers, because the ghouls could fixate on a certain smell.

  “The anchor is there,” the soldier said, pointing past a line of trees. Beyond that was a clearing. The air was choking them as they walked closer. They crouched out of sight, avoiding patrolmen. The soldier was thorough in his betrayal of his people. David couldn’t find it in himself to blame him.

  “What do you mean it is a girl?” David asked. “It is supposed to be an artifact.”

  “That was what we thought. The seers lied. Or perhaps they didn’t understand what they saw. The anchor is at the heart of the camp.”

  David saw the camp from where they hid. It was barely a standard camp. A gathering of haggard tents, and he could guess the state of the soldiers.

  “How many?” David asked.

  “One hundred, maybe less. A lot of us have died. Lack of supplies. Since there is no food on the other side, there is none to bring here. The king keeps sending people empty-handed. We have been left to die or provide for ourselves. And this place had nothing to eat.”

  David tried to distance himself from the man’s suffering. It was easy to feel bad for a suffering enemy. Especially one he didn’t know. These people were hostages too. Captured by a god who didn’t care who died or lived.

  “How do we get in?” Elisha asked.

  “I don’t know,” The soldier murmured, shifting away from Elisha. “No one has managed to reach the anchor since we found it.”

  “Not even the soldiers from Balorn?”

  “Not even those pus-infected bastards,” The soldier said. And in his eyes, David saw a spark of real hate. Whatever Ishkar had done, she did it thoroughly. The hatred between these people was real, and it would consume them.