Caledon shuddered awake, realising that he had fallen asleep on his watch. He had intended to establish a rotating watch, to ensure that they wouldn’t be caught off-guard by monstrosities which threatened to creep up on them.

  He quickly cast a cursory glance at his surroundings. He breathed a soft sigh of relief at the lack of errant grey hands threatening to pinch him into an abyss of darkness. From the telltale pinkish hue of the sky, it looked to be nearing dawn, the woods beginning to lighten.

  Hmm… Vale must be sleeping quite soundly. I haven’t heard her snores.

  Caledon smirked at the innocent thought. Vale was certainly a noisy sleeper.

  You didn’t expect it of her, with the pristine image of nobility that she took such care to portray. Albeit, constantly eroded by Shiver’s efforts to convince the girl to depart from her manners.

  Caledon chuckled as turned to check on her.

  In her place, he found a monster.

  Black eyes like the abyss, fixed his own. The ghoul bore a shape of an elf, with dark grey skin, and a hollow skull. Matted blonde hair fell in wisps from patches on its head that it clung to. Insects crawled within its maw, appearing and disappearing between its teeth.

  Caledon called his Phobia, letting out a shout.

  He welcomed the heat that flowed from his Phobia, as golden flames poured out of torch.

  They were unfocused, nothing as elegant or deadly as the blade of flames he had previously invoked, sharpened by his wrath when he killed Triol Revenant.

  Before the creature could react, he leapt towards it, his Phobia swinging towards it in a wide arc.

  “CALEDON”

  Zel bellowed, and he faltered at the unfamiliar break in his guide’s composure. He halted the path of his Phobia mid-swing.

  He blinked.

  Vale slept soundly in the monster’s place. A black skeleton reached over her, turning its back to him. Its hollow eye sockets angled towards the girl that it sought to protect.

  Ready to take the blow meant for its sibling.

  No.

  Caledon stumbled backwards, his hand to his temple, as a terrible chill came over him. He whispered under his breath.

  “It’s impossible. My Fear can’t be playing up. It only ever emerged when I was at ease.”

  “How many times must I tell you, boy. You do not have a Fear of comfort. You are a Fearshaper of corruption. Corruption is a distortion of everything you love, of reality itself.”

  Caledon sat in a heap, as his eyes lingered on the snoring girl.

  “You will not find refuge in discomfort. None of us, that have walked this path ever have.”

  “How, Zel. How do I differentiate between the truth and lies? I’m only in Trepidation, and it continues to grow worse.”

  His guide appeared in a flash of flame, the eyeball flying on draconic wings. For all that Zel mocked him, he heard his guide’s voice fall.

  “My voice will not always be able to reach you. You were lucky that it did, this time. A freedom for corruption? You are saddled with it now, boy. Perhaps you could do as the rat suggests, and descend to Serenity. The promise of freedom from your Fear awaits… does it not? Though perhaps…”

  The eyeball hovered, peering deeply into Caledon’s eyes. He felt like nothing he did could escape his guide’s judgment. There was nowhere he could run, for his lies would be pried apart instantly.

  “Your Fears were simply giving rise to your true desire. Perhaps, that is how you see her, in truth.”

  Caledon tried to stem the nausea that threatened to wash over him as he fixed Vale with his gaze.

  “I’m a danger to her.”

  It came out in a slight whisper, an admission that he forced himself to confront. Zel watched him, the sound of his soft wingbeats gently piercing the silence. There was no need for his guide to utter his agreement, that much was obvious. It was a small mercy that he didn’t.

  The temptation to leave Vale behind, so that he would no longer pose a danger to her, was overwhelming. But he knew, that there would be nothing to be concerned about if a Feardamned hand drew her into the abyss as it had their guide, Virgil.

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  He watched as she yawned, shooting him a tired smile. Looking in confusion at the skeleton that stood over her.

  “Good morning, Caledon, you’re up early. Should we continue our search?”

  He nodded, focusing on their objective.

  They had a popsicle addict to find.

  ---

  The routine of the search helped calm him. Caledon and Vale spread out at a small distance, but even as they did, Caledon was keeping an eye on his companion. As much as his Fear seemed to suggest otherwise, he didn’t want to risk losing Vale to the Dreadwood as well.

  “I never had the courage to talk to you about… your father.”

  Caledon choked, taken aback by the girl’s words. Their entire journey to the Archcity of Life had been fraught with uncomfortable silences, mercifully punctuated by Shiver’s antics.

  When the girl wasn’t brooding herself, that was.

  “There… is nothing to be said. It wasn’t your fault, Vale. I’m sorry for keeping a bit of a distance. I’m trying… to come to terms with it.”

  Vale nodded, as she continued to sweep their surroundings.

  “If there’s anything I understand… it’s this.”

  Vale had told them both, about how her Fear had awakened. Vetrian, using their mother’s love, to awaken Vale and her siblings’ Fears of death.

  “Still… I’m sorry.”

  “No. I’m sorry for avoiding you. For even making you feel the need to do this.”

  Caledon sighed in frustration. As he spoke with her, he could feel the revulsion at the edge of his awareness. He wished he could grab it and rip the inconvenient emotion from his being. To see her for how she truly was, unhindered by the sins of her family.

  “To tell you the truth… I… feel…”

  The thought of sharing the ugly feelings that he was cursed with, terrified him. To face her disappointment, or worse, her guilt, for comprehending what she had imposed on him, even if unintentionally.

  “I feel this sense of… hatred, I suppose. Revulsion. Please understand, it’s irrational. Something I have to work through, and I’m confident that I will.”

  Caledon waited for her response, as the tension built along with the length of the silence.

  “Of course, I would understand, silly.”

  He stared at her in surprise.

  “We’ve already seen it once, haven’t we? Just look at Shiver. She still took time to warm up to you, even after she found out that your father saved her family. Emotions are… stupid.”

  “That, I can agree with.”

  They shared a soft chuckle, as they walked deeper into the Dreadwood. Sharing his thoughts with her… it gave him an overwhelming sense of relief. That she saw a glimpse of how he truly felt, and understood and accepted that part of him.

  I’m getting so caught up in this… Where are we headed? I lost track of our orientation for a moment. Though it’s a pleasant surprise that she took it so well.

  “Hey, Val-“

  Then, his words were interrupted with more soft laughter. Caledon turned to Vale, curiously.

  “I found it funny. When we were trying to outdo each other’s apologies? Look at how sappy we’ve become. Just how many times have the both of us said “sorry.””

  She shot him a smile filled with mischief, his heart skipped when he met her gaze.

  Caledon couldn’t help but return the girl’s grin.

  “I missed the days when Shiver had a dagger to my throat. They were simpler times.”

  “Don’t let her hear that, you might find yourself in a similar situation again.”

  They exchanged a smirk. Vale continued, pursing her lips.

  “Besides, if you recall… I was the only thing that stood in the way of her blade. I don’t think I’ve received sufficient gratitude, Lord Brimstone.”

  “Oh? What would you have me do?”

  Vale’s smile brought a slight blush to his face.

  What are we doing?

  Still, there was a part of him that yearned to reconcile with Vale. To push past the ugly feelings that he wished to rid himself from. That she had seen his ugly moments in his moment of vulnerability, and accepted them, was beyond all of his hopes. It felt like they could finally begin to reconcile in truth. To move past the scars of his father’s death.

  “Ok… tell me a secret.”

  Caledon raised a curious eyebrow, even as Vale turned away, scanning her surroundings briefly.

  “A secret? Any?”

  “Mmhm. I’d like to learn something about the inscrutable, noble, Highlord of Brimstone, as an exchange for my mercy and kindness.”

  Vale fluttered her eyelashes at him, and his blush deepened.

  “But wouldn’t that ruin my air of mystery?”

  Vale stared at him flatly, and he coughed into his hand.

  You know… she has a point. She’s from a lost house of Fearshapers of death, and from what we know Shiver’s mother may be connected to the Archcity of Fear.

  I’m most definitely the least interesting of the bunch.

  “Alright, alright. Hm… what about…”

  Caledon paused, as he wracked his brain, thinking of something he could regale the Lady from a lost house of Fearshapers of death.

  There was one thing, that came to mind. That even the nobles he met were curious about.

  “How much do you know about the eternal phoenix? Sale, my father’s guide?”

  Vale’s eyes widened, and Caledon grinned.

  Success.

  “Not much… what was she like?”

  Caledon chuckled, drawn back into fonder memories.

  “Kind. But harsh and strict at times. My sister Viveria took her healing for granted so often, that when she eventually left, she would wail so loudly at the cuts and bruises of her misadventures, father would have to stuff her mouth with sweets just so we could get a good night’s sleep.”

  Vale smiled, and he felt his heartbeat stutter.

  I’m acting like a teenage boy, eager to impress a girl.

  “And the secret?”

  Caledon laughed, as he shook his head.

  “Oh, that. Sale’s farts smelled like burning cake. A secret I haven’t told anyone.”

  Vale rolled her eyes so hard, Caledon thought her eyes were at risk of popping out of their sockets.

  “That, was your grand secret? To impress me? The best you could come up with was phoenix farts?”

  Vale snorted, her laughter ringing out into the forest. Caledon frowned.

  Wait, what are we doing? We need to be keeping an eye out for Shiver.

  His hearing… dulled. It felt as if he entered a room that absorbed all sound that was emitted from within it.

  “Vale, do you hear that?”

  “You are so adorable, Cally. Trying to impress the girl, whose kin murdered your father? You like her, don’t you? You twisted, twisted boy. Corruption is a fitting Fear for you. Perhaps you’re almost as fond of her, as you are of Sale?”

  He froze.

  The words were uttered from Vale’s lips. But in place of her bright, lavender eyes, were the dark hazel that he recognised.

  A familiar smile, painted on her face. The same smile his mother, Appella Brimstone had worn when she jealously curled her arms around his father’s torso upon returning from the Archcity of Dreams.

  “Looks like I got you this time. Cally.”

  He recoiled from Vale, his Phobia ineffective in his hands.

  When he blinked-

  The Dreadwood disappeared.

  He whirled, desperately searching for a means to gain his bearings. To discover where he had walked, under the influence of his Fear-induced hallucinations.

  All that Caledon Brimstone was met with, was a world of shadow and silence.