Into the Fog of Fire
Ash spiraled lazily through the smoke-laced air. Charred remnants of buildings groaned under their own weight, some still crackling with flickers of stubborn flame. The sky above was a heavy, molten gray, clouded by the breath of war and ruin.
"Hey Elias... they are good!" Frank called out, voice strained with conviction. Then, after a beat—"Well, maybe not her... but we could scrap," he added, nodding toward Astrid.
Astrid twirled her blade with a grin, then narrowed her eyes. "Now what's that supposed to mean?!" she barked, stepping forward.
"Stop!" Spike's voice cut through the air like a knife, halting Astrid in her tracks.
Frank's eyes were steady as they returned to Elias. "Look, we just need to meet the others."
Elias narrowed his gaze. "And then what? Leave our backs wide open for them to stab us on?"
"You guys are good people," Frank replied, looking between Spike, Bill, and Astrid.
Astrid gave a short laugh. "Huh? Maybe you hit your head somewhere before all this."
"Astrid," Spike warned.
"Why do you say that?" Spike asked Frank.
Frank hesitated, the smoke dancing between them. "Because you helped us get out of that building... you guys helped me."
Elias sheathed his blade, then sighed. "Sorry for the earlier rattling. Just wanted to be sure."
"Hey! Why am I always the dangerous one to you people?!" Astrid pouted, twirling her blade again.
Around them, buildings were reduced to skeletons of what they once were—crumbling walls, twisted rebar, and scorched stone. Fire licked the edges of broken windows, and embers floated like glowing insects.
"People like those followers would've let us die back there," Elias continued, his tone serious, eyes on Astrid. "But you didn't. You chose to save someone."
"Don't get the wrong idea," Spike retorted sharply.
"Yeah, we shouldn't," Frank muttered. "You didn't do it for us."
He pointed at Bill and Astrid. "You did it for them."
Astrid blinked. "What?"
"So you didn't save me to save me," Elias added, tone probing. "You did it to plan your escape, huh?"
"Spike... Bill helped out... yeah, but you—" Elias leaned in. "You did it to gain leverage."
"What?! How!?" Spike snapped.
"What's he talking about, Spike?" Astrid asked, stepping beside her.
"I planned on getting us the hell out of this shithole, okay?!" Spike finally blurted.
Silence fell like ash.
"You... you did what?!" Astrid's voice cracked.
"Why, Spike? Why did you have to do that?"
"They helped us, yeah," Spike answered, her tone rising. "They showed us a way. But is this what you want to do forever? Live in chaos, fight for scraps?"
"She's right, Astrid," Bill added meekly.
"You! You too?!" Astrid reeled.
"Hey, maybe we should do this some other—"
WOOOOOSH!!
A pulse—no, a spine-crushing wave of something—washed over them. The debris around them trembled. Sparks scattered from a nearby flame.
"What is that?!" Bill's voice cracked as his drones snapped to life.
"It's coming from the town's entrance... something's off," he muttered.
Frank's body stiffened. A drop of sweat traced down his cheek. Across the way, beyond the flaming wreckage, stood a dark, humanoid silhouette.
"Huh?" he breathed.
The figure raised a hand.
You... are... mine.
Red eyes flared.
"Gah...!" Frank gasped as the thing advanced. "Eli...?"
He turned—but no one was there.
No Elias. No Astrid. No Spike.
No fire. No rubble. No town.
Just a dark, endless void of mist and silence. A suffocating fog curled around him, swallowing the world.
"Where am I?!" he shouted.
He reached for his sword—gone.
The figure stepped closer. Its height loomed. It stared into him with soul-piercing eyes.
Then—GRIP!
Its hand wrapped around his neck.
"Ghh—GURGH!!" Frank struggled, kicking and flailing.
You... are... mine—
"FRANK!!!"
Elias's voice shattered the illusion.
Frank gasped, falling forward onto all fours. Huff. Huff. Huff.
"Is he okay?!" Bill shouted.
"You were choking yourself out, man!" Elias cried.
"I... I'm okay... I think..." Frank coughed, rubbing his neck.
Was that... just in my head?
"Spike says she knows who's behind this mana burst," Elias said grimly.
"What...?"
"Whatever your team's doing, they have to do it now," Spike urged.
"Why?!" Elias demanded.
"It's Jack," Astrid said. "This outburst... it's his."
"What do you mean?!" Elias helped Frank to his feet.
"Your team walked into our base blind," Spike muttered.
She offered her hand to Astrid.
"Don't!" Astrid slapped it away. "We'll talk after this."
"Hey Astri—"
"I don't wanna hear it, Bill. Move on."
"Wait... what's Jack's skill?" Frank asked, rubbing his neck.
"No time!" Elias shouted as they broke into a run.
They raced through ruins—burnt stalls, cracked pavements, walls peppered with claw marks and blood smears.
Frank's eyes locked onto a small bloodied hand poking from a pile of rubble.
Tch!
"Frank?"
"...Nothing."
"Actually—Elias! There is something."
Elias slowed beside him. "You don't need to say it. I know."
They ran.
"I tried warning them about the people here," Elias muttered. "But they assumed the place was overrun by Vance's followers."
"And...?"
Elias's voice was quiet now. "Every one of them. Every child. Every elder. They all believed in Vance."
Behind them, Spike remained silent. The weight of Elias's words sunk in.
WHIIISSHH!!!
A deathly chill raced past them, tingling every nerve.
"It's here!" Bill yelled, drones swarming.
A cold mist stretched like a wall in front of them.
Astrid reached out—"What is this...?"
"He's never done this before," Spike whispered.
They stepped through.
The air warped. The flames behind them vanished.
They were at the town's entrance.
"So it was like a barrier," Frank muttered.
SWWIITT!!
Something flew by. Frank blocked just in time.
THOOM!! He spiraled backward, landing on his feet.
"What the—"
SHWIIING!!
Elias spun and sliced through another creature. A grotesque hand thudded to the ground, split clean.
Smoke. Shadows. Blood.
SLIITHHER... The hand retreated into the ground, the cut seared across its length.
Then—
"I SEE YOU FIVE FINALLY CAME TO JOIN THE SHOW!!"
The guttural voice ripped through the air.
Behind Frank... stood Jack.
A twisted grin carved his face.
All around him, black tentacles sprouted from the earth, writhing like serpents. One gripped a Vance follower.
SQUUUUIISH!!
The head burst like a melon. Blood sprayed. A faint glow lifted into Jack's mouth.
"What are these things?!" Tayla cried, blasting green bolts from her bow.
The hands grabbed knights—La Jaran soldiers—screaming for help.
ARRRGH!—SSQQUUIISH!!
Another head gone. Flesh and bone painted the battlefield.
"Wha...?" Frank muttered, paralyzed.
Elias, Spike, Bill, Astrid—all frozen in place, eyes wide.
The battle had truly begun.
And the nightmare... was just getting started.