Alex looked around at his friends.

They’d all come such a long way in the last few months, but now that the thing they’d been working toward was finally here, he felt extremely nervous. Mark and Sarah had all but caught up in levels, while his and Sam’s levels had started to slow down as they passed the general monster scale, and fights became easier.

Their normal group of five was bolstered by the accompanying four mana spinners and Jonathan. He glanced at the berserker, finding it odd how the older man could be so completely at ease.

Jon was crouched a few feet away from the group, one greataxe buried into the ground and the other held in his hand. With his free hand, he ran his fingers through the blackened dirt, lifting it into the air and letting it run through his fingers.

As much as he might not want to admit it, Alex knew Jonathan was what their team had been missing. The man was a machine. A hard worker, an amazing fighter, quiet and dependable. His one flaw may have been that his rage wasn’t able to be contained once it was unleashed.

“All right, let’s get ready to move. Everyone, come over here for a second, and we’ll run through the information Lin gave us one more time.”

“I still feel like she should have been put under more of a guard,” Olivia grumbled as she walked over.

“I agree,” Jonathan said, no doubt remembering her effect on his mind.

“The spinners will be fine,” Alex assured them. “Their Willpower is likely high enough to notice any tampering, and the few on guard can use the barrier spell circle on top of their normal webs. Now, let’s focus on this.” He crouched down and removed a roughly drawn map from his spatial item. He set it on the ground, and Valtherion moved to his side and rested next to him. Using his wand, he traced lines across the map for emphasis.

“Lin said three pylons are spread out in roughly these locations. Here, here, and here. The sect is helping to protect these and anchor them to ley lines through forbidden techniques. The pylons allow the aspects to connect directly to the mana of the Rift and also help conceal the exact locations of the aspects for protection during the convergence.”

“What is the forbidden technique?” Sarah asked.

“She didn’t really know herself, other than the aspect, and those who had already transitioned to the Night. She thinks that it would help them come closer to the peak. Whatever the hell that means. I did ask her if it would make them stronger or more dangerous, and her answer was an absolute yes. We need to go in carefully and make sure we’re not taking unnecessary risks here. She said that only the most trusted disciples were allowed near the aspect of concealment and that Unity allowed even less into its inner circle. Even if you see someone’s level is low, whatever this technique is, it might make them stronger than they appear, so be on guard.”

“What about the terrain?” Jon asked, peering down at the map.

“There isn’t too much we can know specifically, since the border area is so clouded. The mana is also so thick in there that I can’t tell much of what’s happening. Lin said that Concealment is Rakshasi’s manifestation and mastery of stealth, illusions, and deception. It can hide in plain sight or obscure entire regions, which is part of why visibility is so low around here.”

“So what, expect traps? Mind games like what Lin can do?” Mark sounded unsure.

“Probably both. But again, we know that the convergence isn’t set to begin until this evening. We can take our time getting through the terrain, scouting, and making sure that we hit the outermost pylon hard. That’s the first step in this plan. We take out the closest pylon, which she called The Spine, and it should disrupt the area-wide magic enough to let us find the aspects while they’re starting the convergence.”

“Sounds easy,” Mark said.

Sarah slapped him on the arm. “Why would you say that?”

“Okay, so get into the fog. Avoid traps and illusions, destroy the pylon, find Unity, kill it?” Jonathan reiterated.

Olivia spoke up then. “We don’t really need to kill Unity. Nox’s ability, [Consume], should do the work by consuming the aspect itself. As long as we can get Nox to it, we should be good.”

“Then we pull out as quickly as possible. Lin said that it’s likely to be crawling with Night spawn and a few of those inner sect members. Our goal isn’t to wage a full-scale fight against them. It’s to get in, hit Unity, and get out. Val, for now you’re going to fly overhead and try to stay hidden. Everyone got it?”

There was a round of agreements, and they set off toward the convergence site. Olivia and two of the mana spinners moved ahead to scout.

Mark and Jonathan walked at the front of the group, with Alex and Sam behind them, and Sarah and the remaining two spinners in the back. They created a bit of distance between each layer of the formation, unwilling to clump up in case of a trap or ambush.

As they got closer to The Spiral territory, they could see a wall of fog and smoke. To Alex’s left eye, it seemed alive, two kinds of mana floating and intertwining as it drifted through the air. Some of the mana was black and seemed to be heavy as if dripping, which he had come to associate with the Night. The mana reacting with it, though, wasn’t something he’d seen before. The light, airy sort of purple mana almost seemed translucent to his mana sight.

Mark and Jonathan paused when they reached its edge, looking back at him with concern.

He nodded and waved them on. “Go on. Liv and I went in a few days ago, and it’s harmless. Just an abundance of mana.”

They pushed forward, and he clenched his jaw as he watched them disappear within the mist. His Heavenly Eye was overwhelmed in a way that he hadn’t felt since he’d gotten it. The amount of mana was almost suffocating and made him feel like it was closing in on him.

He took a deep breath and inspected the terrain once they pushed through the initial wall of obscuring fog.

It was just as eerie as he remembered. “Keep moving, follow the route, and watch for any signals. Stay low,” he whispered to Mark, who had stood and was staring wide-eyed at their surroundings.

His friend regained his wits and continued to push forward with Jonathan. Just as he’d warned them, the group carefully avoided stepping on the grey patches of ground. They looked soft and almost seemed to call to Olivia while they were scouting The Spiral.

It had only taken them witnessing a single creature stepping into the patch of inviting, cushioned ground to immediately understand the danger. Spikes shot up with enough force to skewer the monster in several places. It was lifted off the ground and the patch of grey ground drank the blood that spilled onto it.

That wasn’t the only unnatural thing in the alien landscape. The tree's branches were twisted into tight curls as if they were made of rubber or ribbons. There were crystals that had sprouted all around the land, most often focused near the trees themselves, but they all leaned toward the center of the area, as if drawn toward the convergence.

They made it through the densest patch of grey ground, opening back up to more neutral grey-black that was normal for the Night. His eyes scanned the surrounding area, and he allowed the two halves of his consciousness to run through scenarios and check his readiness.

“Wait, hold,” Mark said urgently.

Everyone froze, and the entire area felt so empty. It felt wrong, like there should be creatures of the Night everywhere, ready to jump out at any moment.

A small tendril of blue mana threaded through the fog at their feet, and Alex connected his mana to it, ready to hear the spinner's message.

Confusion. Too much mana. Loss of mana web. Unnatural.

The thoughts were jumbled and came quickly.

“Spread out some. Move forward until we meet up with Olivia and the spinners,” he said. Jonathan and Mark split in opposite directions, moving at a 45-degree angle toward their scouts. Alex, Sam, and Sarah moved up to walk between them, keeping low and moving warily.

They moved up a small rise and found Olivia crouching on the ground near one of the spinners.

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“What is it?”

“Take a look at this. Everything looks fine, but the mana that passes this area here,” she pointed, “it just completely disappears around there.”

From behind him, Sarah gasped. “The ground there isn’t real,” she said in a shaky voice.

“What do you mean?” Olivia tossed a small pebble at it, and it bounced on the ground before coming to a stop.

“Stop,” Sarah hissed. “I’m telling you, it’s not there. It’s an illusion or something. I can see the auras of maybe 15 creatures down there. They just all rushed at the pebble you tossed down the hole.”

“Well shit…” Olivia said. “That’s a nasty bit of magic.”

“Okay, Sarah, can you move up here with Olivia? If we make any kind of contact, use your [Disengage] quickly and come back to where Sam and I are.” He turned to Olivia. “You guys move slow and careful.”

She nodded, and the group made their way around the 30-meter-wide pitfall trap. The fog that hung over the ground interfered with his mana sight, causing the illusionary floor to look identical to the rest of the ground.

Once clear, the trees around them grew more plentiful. Alex stepped closer to the front line and waved Sam to follow suit. “Stay close, the fog is getting thicker.”

“Something feels off,” Jonathan said.

As if on cue, one of the nearby branches on either side of the group, unfurled like a frogs tongue, and latched onto exposed limbs. Sam’s wrist was grabbed, causing his staff to clack against the dark wood as he was yanked several feet to the right. Mark’s ankle also got pulled from under him, thudding heavily to the ground, his armor made the most noise they’d heard in the last half hour.

To their credit, everyone reacted quickly. Jonathan lunged forward and cleanly sliced the branch that had grabbed Sam, while Mark deposited his hammer and removed a sharp blade, and hacked at the one that had latched onto him.

Alex activated his [Spell Storage] to block another one that went after Jonathan with his stored barrier spell circle.

“Step closer to me,” he said, mentally cataloguing the range that the branches were reaching. Several more branches were hacked away or blocked, but when the group formed a tight line, they remained out of reach on both sides.

“Jesus,” Mark breathed.

“Why didn’t the scouts warn us?”

“I think they’re alive,” Alex said, nodding to the tree. Between the three uppermost branches was an odd-looking antenna that was a dark pink. It moved back and forth, twitching toward their group. “Maybe they track mana? It’s the only reason I can think of why Olivia and the spinners got through.”

“Makes sense,” Mark said. “They never went after you in that scuffle.”

Alex nodded, “True.”

“Shit, they’re all around us,” Jon said.

He looked around, and the warrior was right. They’d moved steadily deeper into the forest after the pit trap, and the trees had become more and more dense.

Fuck.

“Give me a second,” he said, letting his mind run through possible solutions. He took a breath and removed his jian while taking a large step to the right. Even though he was well out of their line and closer than Sam had been, the tree didn’t react, confirming their theory.

Of the current group, he was the only one who could suppress their mana and move through the trees freely.

What if that’s the opposite of what we need?

He moved to the front of the group and activated [Mirage] before pushing his second consciousness toward it. Cautiously, the second Alex started to move forward and carefully noted the distance between the nearby trees.

It’s a shame I just learned that new technique from Lin, and don’t even get to use it. I actually need the mirage to show its mana.

His second self made it a few yards before a tree whipped out and scattered the illusion into motes of light. The group move the same distance, their path determined by the sacrifice of his image.

“Okay, this might take a second, but we’ll get through it with minimal injuries.”

They continued the pattern over the next quarter-hour until Alex’s biggest fear came true. The screech that cut through the air caused his blood to run cold and his head to snap up. Perched atop a rise, a screechmaw looked directly at his mirage while calling out in alarm.

Before the screech had gone for more than a few seconds, a blue streak pummeled it into the ground.

Flapping wings and coiling scales made it hard for Alex to see what was happening from their distance, but things became quickly clear as Valtherion beat his wings in power downward strokes.

His enhanced size and increased wingspan were plenty powerful enough to coil around the round monster and begin to carry it into the air. At first, their ascent was wobbly and bobbed up and down with each powerful wing beat. But as they gained height, Val moved south, away from the group.

After recovering from its dazed state, the beast had begun to slap its small, spindly limbs against Valtherion’s body, screeching at its maximum volume.

Once they’d gained enough space, the entire group stood still in the woods, waiting to see if any monsters answered their sentry call.

None came and the only distant sound that could be heard was the change in pitch from the screechmaw as Val dropped it from on high.

From his view, Alex saw a small black dot break from the blue streak and fall toward the ground.

“That’s a bad Oreo.”

Alex’s nervousness came out in a chuckle at his companion’s comment. He’d originally compared the screechmaw's shape to an oversized Cheerio, but it was unsurprising that Val would see an oversized Oreo, especially with its coloring.

Great job, buddy!

Alex pushed along feelings of relief and pride and felt the feelings of pride and satisfaction returned.

They crossed the last of the distance to the base of the hill and the far edge of the trees. Olivia was waiting for them with wide eyes. Neither of the mana spinners could be seen around them.

“What took you guys so long? How did the Screechmaw find us?”

“I had to use some mana to get through the forest. It’s fine now.” He quickly explained the situation with the forest to Olivia, in case they had need to retreat back through the zone.

“Damn, I’ve never heard of something like that. I was looking for shadowy monsters, not monster-trees.”

He shook his head. “Nothing to do about it now. We’re almost to the first pylon, right?”

“It’s just over the rise, but umm…. Well, you should see for yourself. It’s pretty gruesome.”

He could tell by her pail complexion that something was wrong. “Spread out and stay here,” he told the rest of the team. Before they moved he passed a message to the two spinners who had been trailing their group, largely unbothered by the trees, and told them to fortify their position. “Liv, take me up.”

His thighs burned as they used their hands and feet to get up the steep incline. He looked down over the clearing and felt the sudden urge to throw up.

Unlike the rest of the area they’d pushed through, the small crater below was complexly devoid of fog. He could tell the reason for that, instantly.

All of the black and purple mana that hovered and twisted at their feet in the fog, was coalescing into a tight ball at the center of the crater. The mana hung suspended over a tall crystal that reminded him of the one they had to shatter in the teams event.

The largest difference with this crystal was that it was a deep red and all around its base were human bodies. The scene was hands down the darkest image he’d seen thus far in his time as an awakened.

Blood and bodies lay sprawled at the base of the pylon, with minor crystals sprouting from the ground and spearing each of them. The mini crystals pulsed with mana and fed into the pylon. Suffusing the entire scene, however, was the blue energy he’d come to recognize as pure and unaffiliated mana.

It leaked from the ground under the pylon and was quickly absorbed by the twisting mass of Night and Illusion mana over the crystal.

“Holy shit,” he gulped down the bile in his throat. Taking careful note of the open area between the pylon and the outer, raised ring of the crater, he began to formulate a plan.

“It seems way too clear, doesn’t it?” Olivia whispered.

“Yeah,” he said absently. His eyes fixated on the first ten meters of distance at the entrance to the crater. It was a pitch black section of ground, completely surrounding the space. If they wanted to get close enough to the pylon to destroy it, they’d need to cross the area.

He nodded and motioned for them to go back down the slope to the team.

Mark and Jonathan both looked at him patiently when he slid to a stop, while Sam’s eyes flicked back and forth.

“Well, that’s messed up.” He said simply, shaking his head and describing the scene ahead. He didn’t spare the details, and at the end, described the black ring of earth. “Liv, can you ask Nox what it is? If it’s anything like those grey patches of ground, we’re going to want to find a way to get over it…”

“Yeah,” there was a moment of silence. “I can’t say that— what? Seriously?” She turned her attention back to the group. “He says it’s called Triskürm? Shh, I don’t care if I’m saying it wrong. He says it’s a step directly from the physical plane to the Night. If you touch it, beings of the Night too powerful to enter this world will latch onto your dreams and pull your soul in?”

“Fuck,” Alex said.

There was a mix of reactions around the group.

“Okay. So definitely not touching it. Alex, can you just blast the thing?” Mark asked.

“I guess I can try. We don’t have any pressure right now, so I could set up the spell as long as you can watch my back.”

“Yeah. Yep, yep. I like that idea,” Mark nodded enthusiastically.

Jonathan gave him a look but stayed quiet, content to let Alex make the decision.

“The only thing I’m worried about, is that if it doesn’t work, then we’re going to be screwed. It will take enough mana that a single screechmaw is going to be the least of our problems.”

“We’re already anticipating a fight, right? So why not?”

“We were only expecting them to be alerted after we destroyed the pylon,” Sarah chimed in. “If Alex takes the shot, and we are defending him while he prepares it, what happens if it doesn’t work? We won’t have time for another shot or to cross and attack it directly.”

“I say we push in,” Jonathan offered.

This piqued Alex’s interest, as the warrior hadn’t spoken much since the mission started. “What’s your logic?”

He shrugged. “When we wanted to catch someone off guard in a raid in the military, the assault was always fast and quiet. When you kick in the door, the team is already moving, and the faster you get in the room, the safer you are.”

“Hm, I don’t know,” Alex said. “That makes sense, but this place is twisted. It’s not like walking straight into a building. Olivia, what do you think? Does Nox have any suggestions for how to get over the Tri… Tirsk… whatever it’s called.”

“There isn’t an easy way. The mana turns the space itself into the doorway. The only way to close it would be to have another source of mana be able to smother it completely. Can you do that with your magic?”

Alex’s thoughts ran through multiple scenarios quickly. “I don’t know. We could build something to move over it if we could kill some of these trees. Maybe I could use the barrier spell to let you guys hop across, but the timing on that would be really tricky…” He tapered off, mumbling to himself. After a few moments, he nodded up the hill. “Let’s get over the ridge and a bit closer to it so we can take a closer look. I’ll think of something,” he said confidently.

Maybe a ritual? I could use threads… no, if it’s the Night, it’ll probably absorb the mana…

His thoughts continued to churn as they moved. Sam stayed close to his side, holding tightly to the turtle totem that hung wrapped around his staff. The set of his jaw and tension in his brow as they crested the hill and descended into the crater spoke of his own concentrated thoughts.