After Raine witnessed Thalia's nearly silent agony and that almost imperceptible yet profoundly significant touch of her fingertip, a new layer of tension settled over the three of them. Doubts coiled in Raine's mind like the vines deep within the Blightwood, constricting his breath. He no longer saw Thalia as merely a powerful yet fragile ally—every subtle movement, every faltering breath hinted at a deeper secret, one intertwined with his own blood.
Karrion still led the way, his dwarf‑honed instincts and rugged strength serving as their living spear and shield. His heavy steps crushed the brittle, coiling ferns beneath his boots with loud cracks, painfully sharp in the forest's hush. Thalia walked between them, her hood pulled even lower to veil her face, revealing only the pale line of her jaw. Raine brought up the rear, eyes darting among the warped shadows and then back to Thalia's slender form, his expression unreadable.
They trudged on until the surroundings began to shift in an undefinable, fundamental way. It was no longer just twisted trees and slick moss, but the very texture of space seemed altered.
Raine stopped short when a nameless pressure descended upon them, as if they had plunged into an abyss of freezing water. The air itself turned to amber, heavy enough to crush their lungs. Every breath burned with bone‑deep cold and a near‑tangible malice.
"Wait," Karrion's gruff voice carried that same unease as he halted and scanned their surroundings, brow furrowed. "Something's… different."
Thalia also paused. She lifted her head slightly, her hooded gaze piercing the dim gloom. Even through the fabric, Raine felt the sudden intensification of her tension.
"We've reached it," she said quietly, her words striking the soul like a tolling bell. "The core of the Blightwood… beyond the 'Gate of Decay.'"
There was no gate, no physical boundary—yet they all felt as though they had passed through an invisible, ice‑cold membrane. On the other side lay another world.
Here the light was distorted and dim—not merely lacking illumination, but actively absorbed and bent by unseen forces. Distant shapes shimmered as if viewed through cloudy crystal, their outlines unstable. Trees twisted into grotesque forms: some trunks swollen with pustule‑like growths that pulsed, exuding black slime; others spiraled into claw‑shaped branches gripping at the sky; a few stood bark‑stripped, flesh‑red wood laced with phosphorescent fungi.
The ground was blanketed in a thick, oily black moss that hissed underfoot like living skin. The stench peaked—a blend of sulfurous acridness, metallic rust, and a sickly‑sweet odor from another dimension, numbing the senses.
Most horrifying was the silence. The forest, once eerily quiet, now felt as completely soundless as a deep grave, yet not empty. Raine sensed countless hungry, malevolent eyes watching from fissures in the bark, from beneath the inky moss, from the shifting edge of shadows.
This was no illusion. He even caught faint ripples of energy beneath the surface, like silent undertows probing around them.
"Steel yourselves," Karrion barked, raising his axe as dull yellow runic light glimmered along its blade. "What lurks here is far deadlier than what we faced above."
Thalia said nothing, slipping a gloved hand to the black pouch at her hip. A wisp of shadow‑energy curled about her fingertips.
Raine drew a ragged breath, forcing down his anxiety and concern for Thalia. He gripped his sword hilt, feeling the star‑light within him burn coldly—warmth mingled with a sharp sting. He knew the true trial began the moment they crossed that invisible "Gate of Decay."
In the core of the Blightwood, not only was the terrain lethal, but the very air and earth sought to corrupt the mind. Almost at once, they discovered why.
At first it was subtle disorientation: they marched in one direction, only to pass the same twisted arm‑like tree three times. The same fungus‑blotched stone reappeared ahead as though mocking them.
"By Moradin's beard, are we going in circles?" Karrion growled, tapping the ground with his axe haft. He tried to perceive the ley‑lines as a dwarf might—but gave up after a swing. "This ground… it's like churned porridge! There's no proper flow I can read!"
Thalia fared slightly better. She closed her eyes and traced arcane patterns in the air with a gloved finger, seeking the magical currents. "The weave here is a snare," she murmured, fatigue edging her tone. "Full of misleading traps and phantom pathways. The forest itself… is deceiving us."
Over time, the deception escalated. Illusory paths gave way to full–blown hallucinations.
Karrion stopped abruptly, listening. "Who's there?" he rumbled, hefting his axe.
Raine scanned the gloom—only writhing branches and flickering shadows met his gaze. "Karrion, there's nothing."
The dwarf blinked hard, confusion and annoyance flickering on his furry face. "Must've been tricks of the light." He relaxed his stance only marginally.
Thalia, however, fought an inner battle. Raine noticed her shake her head as if to clear it, lips moving in silent incantation to hold back creeping illusions. Her pallor deepened, and her breathing grew ragged.
Raine himself felt the tug of unseen snares—perhaps amplified by the star‑blood coursing through him, or by the obsession to find his sister.
Then a faint whisper drifted through the miasma:
"Brother…"
Raine's heart leapt. He whirled toward the sound's origin.
Under a black‑sap‑dripping tree, a fleeting blur of white clad a little girl—like a candle‑flame flickering in the wind—then vanished into dense shadow.
"Elara?!" Raine cried, surging forward. That was his sister, Ellaria! Even blurred, he would never mistake that white dress—the last birthday gift he had given her.
"Raine, stop!" Thalia's cold voice cut through his mind as a coil of shadow‑energy wrapped firmly around his ankle, halting him short.
Raine whirled back to Thalia's hooded form, heart hammering. Where the girl had stood was empty—only warped bark and swirling gloom.
"It's an illusion, Raine!" Thalia's tone was steely. "This place feeds on your deepest hopes and fears. Don't be fooled!"
Raine panted, forcing himself to look away from that phantom. He knew she spoke truly, but the vision had been so vivid… and the whisper so clear. Was Ellaria truly trapped in Fallenstar Citadel, or merely bait in a crueler trick?
His anxiety surged like a sickness. Finding Ellaria had been the spark that lit his journey—and the last gasp of hope that kept him going. If even that was false…
"Kragh, breathe!" Karrion's grunt beside him startled Raine. The dwarf's large hand clapped firmly on his shoulder. "I know you worry for your sister, but now is no time for doubts. We must survive this hell."
Raine drew a steadying breath and nodded. He couldn't let himself be undone, not now.
"Thalia, can you sense a true path through this madness?" Raine asked.
Thalia paused, gathering her focus. "It's difficult—the distortions are extreme… but there." She pointed toward a slightly thinner copse where the ambient magic flowed a touch more clearly and the malice felt less intense. "Perhaps… that is the way forward."
"Then onward," Karrion said without hesitation, shouldering his axe.
Raine cast one last look at the black‑sap tree, then followed. The phantom had faded, but its chill lingered like a viper's bite in his chest.
They pressed on along Thalia's direction. The delusions lessened, yet the suffocating sense of dread and watchful malice remained.
As they clambered through a field of jagged, bone‑like black rocks, catastrophe struck!
The earth trembled violently—as if titanic forces writhed beneath the surface. Then, not far ahead, the moss‑covered ground bulged like a bubbling cauldron, flinging soil and shattered stone into the air!
"Look out!" Karrion roared, planting his shield arm—and if no shield, the broad haft of his axe—before the blast.
A massive, writhing form burst from the earth with a horrifying cascade of slime and stench, crashing before them!
Raine gasped as he tightened his grip on the hilt.
The creature defied all natural description: a nightmarish gestalt of countless fused horrors. Its bulk rivaled a great bear, yet its mass constantly writhed and shifted.
A wolf's skull jutted from its front, eye‑slots replaced by insect‑like compound lenses that flickered with manic light. On one flank sprouted arthropod‑like legs bristling with black carapace and barbed hooks; on the other trailed a thick, rotting serpentine tail tipped with ghost‑green flame. Its back was crowned by a massive, tumorous hump pitted with oozing vents that spat corrosive black acid. Worse still, random scraps of limbs and organs—torn from myriad victims—hung attached like gruesome patches, twitching in necrotic life.
"By the stars above… what cursed abomination is this?!" Karrion swore, dwarven blood running cold at the monstrosity.
"A Corruption Aggregate," Thalia intoned, voice grim. "Forged by the Blight's power to fuse multiple mighty beasts… Highly dangerous. It wields every ability of its components!"
Before her warning could fully register, the aggregation unleashed a cacophonous roar—a hammering fusion of snarls, howls, and shrieks that shattered their ears—then lunged!
Its speed belied its gargantuan form as those arthropod legs propelled it forward in a blur. At the same moment, the flaming serpentine tail whipped outward like a scorched whip aimed at Karrion, who led the formation!
"Stand fast!" Karrion bellowed, dwarf's reflexes exploding into action. He slammed his axe into the fiery tail!
CLANG! The impact rang like thunder. Sparks flew, and Karrion staggered back half a step, his arm tingling with the force. The tail wept foul black ichor but was not severed.
Simultaneously, the wolf‑skull head snapped a volley of acid from its maw—thick, black, and reeking of death—aimed at the center of Thalia's circle!
Thalia reacted with lightning speed, her form drifting sideways like a wraith, narrowly avoiding the acid's direct strike. Where the acid splashed the ground she'd just stood, it hissed and sizzled, instantly melting the black moss and stone into a smoking pit.
"It has so many ways to attack!" Raine cried, drawing his sword and dashing in to strike the Aggregate's relatively softer belly from the flank. Yet no sooner had he come close than the vent on the tumorous growth along the creature's back snapped shut, and dozens of bone‑like spines shot out with whistling speed toward him!
Raine hurriedly met them with his blade—cling, cling, clang—knocking the spines aside, but the force of the blows numbed his arm and sent him staggering.
The battle instantaneously fell into a dire stalemate. This Corruption Aggregate was nothing less than a walking arsenal: brute strength, lightning speed, remote‑sprayed acid, flaming tail lashes, projectile bone spines… Its ever‑changing array of attacks left the three of them scrambling to respond.
Karrion, relying on dwarven might and stout defenses—bolstered by warding runes etched into his war‑axe and on his shield—just managed to withstand the Aggregate's frontal onslaught, standing firm as a rock. Yet the monster's raw power kept him locked in place, unable to break free and lend support. Each brutal collision forced out a low groan from the dwarf, clearly under immense strain.
Meanwhile, Thalia flitted around the edge of the battlefield like a dancer in darkness. She continuously unleashed shadow magic to harry and restrain the Aggregate. Invisible chains of shadow sought to bind its arthropod legs; spheres of condensed darkness tried to shroud its compound eyes; patches of chilling shadow‑marsh formed at its feet to slow its movements.
Her control proved vital, time and again rescuing Karrion and Raine from mortal peril. Had she not snared the flaming tail's renewed assault with shadow‑tendrils, Karrion's flank would have been torn open. Had she not cloaked the field in fleeting darkness, Raine would have been riddled by the dense bone spines.
But Thalia's complexion grew ever grimmer. Each spell drained more color from her pale face. Raine noticed her hand pressing to her chest more frequently, her breathing growing ever more rapid, as though every invocation of shadow energy was draining her life force.
Raine's heart sank. He knew this could not continue. Karrion's stamina was steadily diminishing, and Thalia's condition was worsening—yet the Aggregate showed no sign of fatigue. Though its wounds bled black ichor, its assaults remained fierce and unrelenting.
They had to find its weak point! Raine dodged another sweeping strike from the Aggregate and forced himself to calm focus, scrutinizing the creature. Its body was a grotesque, bloated collage, parts of various beasts fused crudely together, the seams rough and jarring. Perhaps its weakness lay in those fusion points? Or in the acid‑spewing wolf skull? Or in that throbbing tumor on its back, pumping like a heart?
Raine made several attempts, driving the tip of his blade—imbued with starlight—into the seams that appeared most vulnerable, but with little effect. The Aggregate's hide seemed covered in a resilient, elastic tissue; his sword could barely scratch it.
Time pressed on, and the battle grew more desperate and dangerous. Karrion's breathing came in ragged bellows, and his chainmail bore fresh dents from the monster's blows. Thalia's movements slowed, and once nearly fell to a flank ram—which Raine narrowly averted by yanking her aside.
"This won't do… we'll all die here…" despair welled in Raine's chest. His starlight magic was too weak, and his swordsmanship insufficient against such an opponent. What could he do? What else remained?
At that moment, the Aggregate seemed to sense their weariness and intensified its onslaught. It reared up, multiple limbs thrashing, its back tumor convulsing as if preparing a cataclysmic strike. Ghostly green flames and black acid pooled around it, radiating a pulse of terrifying energy.
"It's charging its ultimate blow!" Karrion roared, bracing with axe and shield for a head‑on stand.
Thalia gritted her teeth, hands interlacing to form her strongest shadow barrier.
Raine watched Karrion's resolute back and Thalia's pale yet determined profile—and a fierce, all‑or‑nothing resolve ignited within him!
He would not let them die. Not if he could stop it!
He shut his eyes and poured every shred of mental will, every ounce of determination, every drop of starlight in his veins toward the uncertain future!
He needed an answer! A way to turn the tide! Even the smallest hope would suffice!
Vvvvrrr—!
Something deep in his mind snapped open. A torrent of ice‑cold clarity shattered the dam of his consciousness.
This time, no blurred fragments, no chaotic whispers. A single, blazing vision darts through his mind like lightning!
He saw—the Aggregate's massive tumor atop its back, at the moment its energy crest peaked—a smaller vent at the tumor's lower left would glow an unnatural dark violet as its tissue became fatally brittle. That was the structural weak point! And it would appear only for an instant! Simultaneously, he saw its next attack pattern: first a sweeping, fan‑shaped blast aimed at Karrion, then a concentrated strike at Thalia's position!
"Karrion—three steps left! Thalia—brace for an attack on your right!"
No sooner had the vision faded than Raine roared at the top of his lungs, his voice raw from mental exertion.
Without hesitation, he launched himself like an arrow, channeling every last spark of starlight into his blade. The sword blazed with unprecedented radiance, a flaming comet in the black night!
His movement matched the Aggregate's attack to the instant!
Though Karrion did not know why, he trusted Raine and lunged three steps left on instinct!
The next moment, the cataclysmic wave of energy thundered like a tidal surge, obliterating the ground where Karrion had just stood—reducing the stone to dust!
The monster then pivoted, ready to hurl the remainder of its power at Thalia—
—but Raine had already sprinted to the Aggregate's flank! His eyes locked on the fleeting violet fissure at the base of the tumor.
"For Elara! For Thalia! For all we've lost!"
He roared and drove his star‑forged blade into that grotesque dark‑violet vent!
Pfsssh—!
Like puncturing a chamber of noxious ichor!
His blade sank deep into the creature's body!
AAARRGHHH!!!
The Aggregate's torture‑filled roar shattered the air as its pent‑up corruption exploded outward like a dam giving way, a torrent of malevolent energy lancing every direction!
BOOM!
A deafening detonation engulfed the clearing. The blast hurled Raine like a leaf in a gale, slamming him hard against a jagged boulder.
"Ugh—!"
Pain ripped through his body as though every bone shattered. Yet the truest agony was a backlash in his soul—
A torrent of mind‑splitting agony flooded through him! Stars whirled behind his closed lids; the world spun wildly. Then a bone‑deep exhaustion hollowed him out; every flicker of starlight in his veins felt snuffed. Each heartbeat stabbed like hundreds of needles.
He struggled to rise—couldn't even lift a finger. Vision blurred; ears roared.
"Raine!"
"Boy!"
He heard Karrion and Thalia's frantic calls, faint but urgent.
He tried to answer, but no sound formed. His consciousness slipped beneath an icy tide of oblivion…
In his last flicker of awareness, he thought he saw Karrion and Thalia racing to his side, and the Aggregate's broken form, charred and splintered…
They had won…
But the cost… was far heavier than he could have imagined…