They scrambled up the spire, boots slipping on broken stone, tired hands grabbing any crack or jutting brick they could find. Dario’s breath came in ragged gasps, chest burning with each pull. There was a slight breeze, pleasant on his skin but carrying dust and the unfortunate smells of death and decay. Below them, the ruins of the collapsed terrace were still shifting.

  Nika was first to crest the spire’s edge, leaping across and reaching a hand out to help Dario over the gap. Half the dome still arched overhead, while the other half yawned open to the pillar’s light. The stone walkway curved where the dome met the institute’s upper walls, leading to the opposite end where they could climb down into the hall.

  “Just… give me... a second…” Dario panted, hands on his knees, chest heaving. His legs were shivering like a frightened rabbit. He looked back out over the square and its streets, looking for any shape larger than a hound or cat, some of which still stalked the grounds. He could have sworn there was something bigger, but through all the chaos it could have well been his imagination.

  Once again, there was the sound of shifting stones. How long was it going to take that damn pile of rubble to settle? But when he looked over at it, his blood ran cold as he spotted a black claw. It flexed and a pile of stones rolled away as Uso’s mess of claws and tentacles rose up from the rubble.

  Dario let out a choked sound.

  “An entire damn building wasn’t enough? How tough is that bastard?”

  Even Nika’s usually neutral expression was a mix between surprise and rage as Uso’s warped laughter echoed up the walls.

  “This is a poor place to fight it. We must get inside,” she said, running ahead across the glass-covered path that curved all the way around. Dario followed, feet sending shards clattering down into the hall below.

  Uso’s taunting continued, the voice seeming to come closer as they ran, though it was hard to tell. Dario looked at the mound of debris ahead, leading down into the hall. They were about halfway there. He could really use a moment to rest, but now was the time to push-

  A black claw slammed over the lip of the rooftop. Uso’s bulk rose into view, black carapace and wet tentacles gleaming in the pillar’s light. Its laughter seemed to shake Dario’s bones as it hauled itself onto the walkway, legs spreading like it was a giant insect.

  Nika didn't slow down, lunging forward, obsidian Ki bursting from her fists as she struck at Uso’s claws with a roar. The impact knocked it aside, but Uso barely staggered. His claws flashed, forcing her to twist aside. She pivoted, came up low, and threw another heavy punch, but a tentacle slammed down, driving her back.

  Dario grabbed for his last arrow despite knowing that it would be futile, but then his eyes widened as he noticed it - a build-up of angry-red Ki in front of her chest. He grinned. So Nika was also learning to use their own tricks against them. Not bad.

  Yet Uso’s laughter continued as his twisted frame advanced. A shroud of dull brown Ki unfurled from him, swirling low across the rooftop like choking smoke, hiding his movements from Nika.

  She dropped into a crouch, head swiveling as she searched for signs of motion, but the brown haze obscured everything beyond arm’s reach. She ducked instinctively as a tentacle swept past, the gust of wind rattling broken glass strewn across the walkway. Another claw slashed out from the shroud, barely missing her cheek.

  Dario hesitated, heart hammering. He couldn’t move like her, couldn’t help in that close fight, but he could see the shifting movements through the cloud of auburn Ki. Focusing on reading the movements, as well as the fine control of his Ki, he managed to place a flash of white light ahead of each attack, illuminating the claws just before they struck.

  “There!” he shouted hoarsely, casting a flare to Nika’s left.

  She spun, catching a descending claw on her forearm, dark Ki bracing her skin. The impact shivered up her arm and drew a line of blood, but she stayed upright. Another flash lit a tentacle whipping in high from the right. She rolled under it, came up in a tight pivot, and slammed her elbow into a knotted mass of tentacles, red Ki spreading from the blow.

  Uso hissed and backed away a step, but the Ki fed by her anger was already mixing with her own obsidian energy, creating a swirl of red and black that gathered around her fist. With a cry, Nika lunged forward between the claws and struck directly at the monster’s core.

  But in Uso’s bulk, a wave of dirty brown Ki smothered Nika's red smoke and it seemed to cancel the effect, her blow landing without doing much damage.

  “You think to use anger against me?” The monster laughed like the beating of drums. “Rage and despair, deceit and hatred, these are all ours, don’t you see? We’ve held them close for hundreds of years, you foolish Clay.”

  Dario cried out, but Nika was too overextended to dodge. A sharp claw cut deep, all the way across her chest and up along the side of her head, blood spraying.

  Then a tentacle snapped around and struck her in the side, blasting her off her feet and sending her hurtling down into the great hall below.

  “No! Nika!” Dario screamed as her limp body disappeared over the edge. She’s tough, he told himself as cold fear gripped him, she’ll survive. She has to.

  Uso’s hulking mix of claws and tentacles shifted in the brown fog, the old man’s empty eyes like dead coals locking onto him. “What about you, boy?” the demon rasped. “Tell me your sweet little dreams. What do you ache for?”

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  Dario stumbled back. His boots scraped across broken glass, mind clawing wildly in search of an exit like a rittel caught in a sack.

  He couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with this ridiculous thing. He needed a way down. Fast. His eyes darted to a split in the rooftop stones right near the dome’s edge. He dug into his pouch, fingers closing around the strong fibers of a vine.

  This better work.

  “My dreams?” he stammered as he sidestepped in the direction of the crack, letting the cold despair fill his veins again, black smoke bubbling up. “Isn’t that a bit much, for a first date? I could tell you about that one time I shat my pants, it’s kind of a funny story-”

  “You smell of lies and tricks, boy!” Uso rumbled, approaching faster.

  Dario spun around to jam the vine deep into the crack between the stones. It felt like his head was about to split in two as he flexed his mind to move the black smoke to shield his back while simultaneously pumping verdant Ki into the vine. The green energy slid through his seams and out from his stomach, a thick band of it streaming into the plant. It shot up like a weed, roots thickening and twisting between the stones. At the same time, a claw struck from behind, its sharp tip piercing his wispy shield and stabbing him in the back of the shoulder.

  “Gaarh!” Dario cried out as he pushed himself forward, then kicked off the rooftop and, with a sickening lurch in his stomach, dropped down into the great hall.

  His hands just barely closed around the tip of the vine, pulling it down with him, all the while keeping a thick stream of energy flowing into it. The new length of vine was pulled immediately down as it grew, only slightly slowing the speed of his fall, wind tearing at his face as he let out a mighty scream.

  “AAAAH-”

  The unforgiving stone floor of the hall was coming right at him and he desperately squeezed his lower seams, until the final puff of green Ki had gone into his vine. There was a sharp snap as it pulled taut, a flash of pain in his shoulders as he sank down a few inches, but still he held on. His fall turned into a swing before his hands finally slipped, sending him crashing down onto the floor.

  The impact rattled his bones and there were a dozen aches crying for attention, but he could already see Uso scuttling round the edge of the dome. There was no time.

  Nika’s limp body had landed on one of the many mounds of debris and he rushed forward, cursing and limping as flashes of pain shot through his legs. Her tunic and face were covered in blood, but Nika was tougher than a boulder, she would still be alive, had to be.

  He grabbed her under the arms and began to drag her towards the door at the other end of the hall, lungs burning and every limb throbbing with pain. His boots would skid over broken tiles and each time he slipped or stumbled he grunted with pain, before gritting his teeth and pushing on.

  There was a sweet wave of relief as he passed the doorway but the hallway still stretched long and dark, the dirtied light of the Pillar barely reaching the far end. The air was filled with dust and the taste of old stone.

  Behind him, howls echoed through the great hall, and a quick glance showed more red-eyed cats and beetles cloaked in swirling black Ki dropping down from the roof onto the mound of debris that would lead them quickly down.

  “Shitshitshit-” he hissed as he dragged Nika faster, muscles screaming in protest. Finally, there was the alcove. He put Nika down with a whispered “Stay with me” before lunging for the crystal in the alcove.

  ‘The key to this place is humanity’s grace’, the lettering read.

  “Shit, okay, empathy, empathy, come on Dario, you can do this,” he muttered as he tried to steer his panicked thoughts in the right direction. The clicking of claws of stone already echoed through the hall and the pressure really wasn’t helping.

  Then his eyes widened and his head snapped back, taking in Nika’s unconscious form. He wanted her to be fine, she had to be, he wanted the best for her, was going to help her, heal her, bring her back…

  “Yesyes-” he hissed as finally a swirl of purplish blue arose from his chest. Taking hold of it with his mind, he didn’t hesitate to push it all into the crystal, which lit up and-

  The grinding sound of shifting boulders had him turning back. Where before there had been only a smooth marble floor, now a stone slab rose, revealing a flight of stairs leading down into the dark.

  Dario grabbed Nika and dragged her down the stairs, eyes burning with golden Ki as his head swiveled around, looking for… There!

  He put Nika down and lunged for the crystal, once again using thoughts of Nika’s pain, wishing he’d been able to prevent this until he had enough purple-blue Ki to activate it.

  With a great sigh of relief as the stone shifted down again, he then dropped down onto the stairs, catching his breath. The air was thicker down here, like the inside of an old well, but at least he was free of Uso’s constant rumbling laughter. As soon as he felt like his lungs weren’t about to collapse anymore, he turned his attention to Nika’s condition.

  His hands fumbled with the clasps on her pack, fingers trembling. He rummaged past spare tunics and shards of dark stone until he found a wrapped bundle of bandages.

  “Please be alright,” he muttered as he peeled back her tunic, wincing at the deep gash across her ribs. Her dark skin looked unusually pale due to the loss of blood. She was still alive, thank Tenjin, but she wouldn’t be for long without help. He yanked the bandages free and began winding them around her chest, hands moving fast but carefully, like when he used to do for young trogs that had gotten tangled in wire. From the white and burgundy Ki that ran through them, these bandages should be the fancy kind that helped to stop bleeding.

  After he tied the final knot, he dug into the small side pocket of her pack, coming up with two healing pills. His eyes darted from her pale face to the blood running down his own arm. His shoulder burned as if it had just been stamped with a branding iron, and every muscle felt like mush. Still, he put one pill back in the box, forcing the other between Nika’s lips, massaging her throat until she swallowed with a weak, strangled couch.

  He checked her breathing and wiped the worst of the blood from her face, bandaging the cut there as well. It looked like it would leave quite the scar. It took another bout of grunting and huffing to carry Nika down the rest of the stairs and place her gently with her back to the wall. With that done, he let out a long breath, allowing himself to rest his head to the back of the cool stone with closed eyes for a few counts.

  What a damned mess this was. The beasts had been right on his tail and that unkillable parasite not far behind, so it would be obvious they were hiding here in this basement. This didn’t look like a place with many exits, so the odds were that they were trapped. They’d have quite the fight on their hands if they ever wanted to get out of here. Finding a better way to fight that demon would have to go way up the list.

  It felt like his guts were tied in a knot as he considered that. How much time did he have left? A day, maybe two?

  He let out a weary sigh, holding his head in his hands. What a damned mess. Getting out of here in a day? It felt like he could only laugh at that ridiculous idea.

  How were they going to get out of here at all?