Lexie's next encounter with an Eldritch was with a creature that looked like a three-headed dog, with snapping serpentine tails. Its abode was a sandy dune, and when they appeared on it, it greeted them by running around them in circles, whipping up so much sand it felt like it was choking them.

"It's a R'Kyrus," Naem said, using his void powers to shield them from the sand.

"What's its problem?" Lexie asked, holding his hand.

"It's infernally curious," he said. "And it likes to lick things."

"Oh. That's not so bad."

"If we allow it, it will jump on you and lick your face unceasingly until all that's left is bone."

"Oof. On second thought, yeah, that is bad."

"It's the next in your soul line. Are you ready?"

He turned to her, and Lexie nodded, closing her eyes and psychically connecting.

She was immediately washed in a sea of questions that needed immediate answers. The questions ranged from mundane to profound, in every language imaginable, and the more they poured in, the more her skin itched to find the truth.

It was a maddening itch, combined with a lot of foreign emotions that assailed her. The prevailing one was more hunger than curiosity. Even hunger felt like too mild a word for it; there was a desperation there, a chaos of constantly searching but never finding, living in permanent dissatisfaction.

She was then transported to a scene, just like with the resentful Eldritch, where she observed that the dog creature was digging the ground. Except it wasn't ground. It was other, bigger monsters that had fallen on the earth, their limbs torn from their bodies and scattered all over. The level of carnage spread far and wide, their dark blood staining the sand, but Lexie couldn't even be horrified at what she was seeing, nor could she be horrified at the blood staining the creature's mouth.

All she wanted was more.

More of what, she couldn't tell you. She felt a deep-seated dissatisfaction, a hunger that could never be sated. That was why it kept digging into the bodies on the floor, rending even more flesh from bone, trying to find if there was something that lay beneath that could quench the infernal hunger.

Lexie walked closer to the creature. The frustration was stark on its face, and she thought she could taste elements of grief and anger, too. She wasn't sure, because she couldn't read its emotions very well. The species was too far mentally for her to fully grasp.

What she did understand was that it was searching and it would rip apart anything that stood in its way.

Maybe it wasn't even sure what it was searching for. Something. Everything. It wouldn't stop until it found the thing, and the scars on its body were a testament to that fact.

Because it was bleeding too. The fight against the dead monsters had been hard won, and it wasn't even sure it wanted to fight, only that if it was fighting, it had to win.

At that point, Naem pulled her out of the soul rather than waiting for Lexie to disconnect herself.

"Are you okay?" Naem asked.

"Yes." She turned to him and took a deep breath as the creature's emotions kept washing over her, and it kept kicking sand at their void shield. "What species is that?"

"It's a pure Eldritch," Naem said. "Like the V'Sala."

"How are pure Eldritch made?"

"That's an ancient secret that I cannot tell you."

"Okay, so how are other impure Eldritch creatures made?"

"Each one is different. Sometimes they sell their souls to an Eldritch, and if the soul is powerful enough, they can become an Eldritch minion. Other times, if they die with enough darkness and chaos, they become Eldritch too."

"I see."

"But we've never had something like you before."

Lexie glanced at him. "Really?"

"Really. We've never seen any instance of a stitched soul with only the mildest of Eldritch essences growing into what you are. That's why it was such a shock to your father and me."

"Maybe it happened because there was too much chaos in my soul. Because of all the soul deaths and revivals."

"That wouldn't be enough," Naem said.

Lexie thought about it and shrugged. She wasn't sure what else it could be after all, and so she moved on to her next point of inquiry.

"Tell me more about the cult that wants to make itself part Eldritch. How do they do that?"

"I can't tell you."

"Okay then, tell me how dungeons speak to each other. Is it in Eldritch tongue? Which of them? Can I learn to talk to them now?"

"No."

"Okay, can you teach me to get better at Eldritch intent? Just so I can finish up my defense deck with some attack cards? Also, can you tell me how to create a card that kills light?"

Naem cocked his head. "Are you extra curious today because of your encounter with R'Kyrus?"

"Maybe."

He raised a finger, and they were back into the dream world. "I believe our encounter today is done."

"Oh come on, you can't even answer one of my questions?"

Naem paused to think about it, and Lexie's hope built.

He shook his head. "No. I can't."

Then he pushed her out of her dream.

Lexie got busy for the rest of the day and really for the entire week. Naem turned up the soul exercises, and she saw two creatures in the next dream. Both times, she managed to dissociate herself without his help. She was getting better at it, stronger. She was also getting better at bouncing back and recovering after each encounter, and maybe that was because she was now better at understanding Eldritch.

Not just in a logical sense of comprehending how they thought, which was in pretty simple, straightforward patterns.

But there was a flavor and feel to them as well that she started recognizing, as she recognized the particles within herself. The ones on her soul line at least began to feel familiar, and she felt herself often sitting with and ruminating on their essences for hours at a time. Especially with the pure Eldritch, there was earnestness to them, a kind of innocence. They were single-minded in their hunt for destruction, but there was a disturbing lack of guile about it that made them feel genuine and started influencing Lexie's thoughts, too.

Sometimes, she found her mind drifting and thinking about why certain things were wrong. Why should one have to bank their curiosity or their madness? Why did they have to hide and control grief?

She would almost instantly catch herself, saying, Because then the world would sink to chaos, and that would be a bad thing.

Would it? It was a retort from the tiny voice at the back of her mind, the result of the Eldritch being inside her. She knew because she was getting better at soul scooping, too, and was more capable of identifying the dark thoughts and relegating them to their soul bucket.

While it concerned her that she had them, she was comforted in knowing she could recognize them for what they were, and she wouldn't act on them.

So at least that was something, but the growing Eldritch within her was making her uncomfortable enough to start searching for answers on her own.

The first thing she did was look up the cult Naem mentioned on the Undernet, trying to find more about them. It took her about an hour to find anything useful, since the Undernet made searching for anything without a specific code difficult, and Lexie didn't know the forum code for Secret Eldritch Necromancy Cult.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

But Lexie eventually stumbled on some articles written by necromancers about ascending the body and extending the lifespan of the soul. She read the article, and it felt like the feverish rambles of a madman, but it was essentially about connecting your consciousness back to the origin of everything and transcending life to become the new gods.

Yeah, it was a lot. Lexie was about to search for a forum linked to the article, but before she could, she was automatically rerouted to a different forum.

"What the heck?" she muttered as the unnamed person said,

<Have you been avoiding me, Lexie?>

Her heart thumped, and she nearly dropped the phone. It was the chess guy. She knew it was him even though the profile was different.

Who was this person? How did he find her?

<I hope I didn't say anything to offend you. >

They might be a psycho. Better play it cool.

<No, you didn't offend me. I just didn't have any more questions to ask you. >

<Then why are you searching for the Ascendants?>

<Who?> Lexie asked because she couldn't resist asking.

<The article you just read was written by one of them. >

Okay, now this was supremely creepy. How did he know what she was searching for? Isaac told her she couldn't have been hacked, but she had to have been.

Oh, she was so going to complain about this the next time she saw him.

For now, she had to put a stop to this. She was about to shut down the phone and trash it entirely when he said,

<I know a lot about the Ascendants. >

Lexie hesitated before she responded. You do?

<Yes. Fascinating group of humans. They were wrong about some of the things, but right about other things.>

<And I should believe you, why?>

<Because I would have no reason to lie to you.>

But he apparently had reason to stalk her.

<What do you want from me exactly?>

<I can help you find your Uncle, too. That was why you were asking me about dungeons and Eldritch, wasn't it?>

Shoot. Lexie hated that she couldn't just shut down her phone after that. The possibility of getting closer to rescuing Uncle Max had her hand lingering on the close button long enough for him to say,

<I know how to find the dungeon he's in. I can help you get him out easily if you want.>

It can't be that easy. It's some kind of trap.

<Tell me how.>

<No, that wouldn't be fair to me now. Come play another game with me. Then I'll tell you.>

Yeah, absolutely not. Lexie finally ended the conversation, shut down her phone, and stuck it back in inventory just for good measure. On second thought, she pulled it out of inventory and put it in her bag instead. She didn't want to take the chance that whoever or whatever was talking to her could hack her system even more by entering her inventory.

She immediately texted Isaac about the whole encounter, but he didn't know how the man had gained access either. He was clearly bothered by it and asked her to bring the phone to him when she was on winter break, so he could check where the breach had come from.

Lexie decided not to use the phone till then. She swore to herself not to text the chess guy back either, no matter the temptation. She wasn't going to fall for his lie. Saving Uncle Max could not be that easy.

Lexie also called her dad and told her what happened, also telling him that she had a phone that could connect to the Undernet.

Aiden was mad and immediately demanded the phone, but she said she would take it to Isaac. She also promised she wouldn't use it until they figured out what was going on, and that seemed to calm Aiden down.

Perhaps the best thing about starting to understand her Eldritch side was that she perceived intent more easily. For example, while she was waiting for Torin to finish sparring with Shadowbane, so they could have their training session, she finally got an intent that seemed matched to the latter's power.

Seize the End.

She figured that had something to do with creating a void of some sort, although she didn't know exactly how to do that.

Another time, while sparring with Astrid, she got an intent that seemed related to Astrid's power and could possibly make it so that she could carry more than one thing at once:

Lessen all Burdens.

That one was easy enough to figure out a pathway for.

Lexie found it while searching through the Fable book she'd gotten from the World Library in Capital City. The pathway worked to link all the things being carried and establish them as a whole, thereby reducing the weight of each individual item. It was essentially wrapping everything up in a force field and making the force field weightless. It was highly effective but took a bit of maneuvering to pull off.

Lexie waited before she gave the card to Astrid. She wanted to ask Naem first and ensure that it wouldn't have any nasty side effects. She also wanted to ask for his help with making the void card, so she took a blank card for that as well.

Without access to the Undernet, Lexie knew there was no way she could figure out how the void pathways worked unless she asked Naem, or Shadowsbane, and he certainly wouldn't be inclined to tell her. There was nothing about it in the Fae books.

Naem was all business today. Before she could get anything out beyond a greeting, he said, "Today we're going to be meeting with something that will be reminiscent of the Trechtl."

Lexie's stomach sank. She hadn't wanted a repeat of the resentment creature so soon.

"It's called a Flajta. It's not from the human species, and it is more powerful than Trecthl. It also can morph and manipulate consciousness."

"What does that mean?"

"It can supplant its consciousness into other life forms, usually plants, which means that it can also trap you in its mind if it wants."

"Oh. So like a V'Sala but worse."

He nodded. "Yes. You should be fine as long as we maintain a link. Then I can pull you out. Just do not go too deep too quickly."

"Alright," Lexie said with a deep breath. "I'm ready."

Lexie was then taken to another forest where a tall, tall tree stood in front of her, extending far into the sky. Apart from its height, it looked like any other tree, though it gave her an overwhelmingly eerie feeling.

"Ready?" Naem asked.

Lexie nodded. She connected with the sentient plant, and she was immediately pulled in.

She was in its world, but instead of watching, she was the tree.

Her feet were rooted to the ground. Her children were spread all across the lands, planets multiplying, many, many, many, but fewer and fewer and fewer each decade.

Wrath and grief mixed in one.

Her children's blood had been spilled over many, many years. Many millennia. She kept giving more and more, and more and more and more and more and more–

AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE!

EVER MORE!

THEY KEPT TAKING AND DESTROYING AND TAKING AND DESTROYING AND TAKING AND TAKING AND TAKING!

Lexie screamed as waves of grief crashed over her so heavily that she felt like she was drowning. It was mixed with fury, with pain, with so much emotion that it was bursting out of her. It had been building for a good while, decades, millennia, eons. The tree was older than she could fathom; its power was more vast than she could imagine.

Her feet were rooted to the ground. She could not save her children. So powerful yet so powerless. Nothing to give but grief.

It unleashed in bits, the squealing of terrorizing plants all over the land. Though her feet were still rooted in the ground, she felt it moving, felt it spreading across a foreign land, entering the psyche of the plants there, wreaking the havoc that it was supposed to wreak.

It was destroying little animals, sprites, gnomes, smaller elves. They all wept for her, but it wasn't enough. The rage Lexie felt was endless. She didn't feel pity for them, for they felt no pity for her when they continued to take from her. She did not glory in their death, but neither did she mourn them.

This was justice. This was what had to be done. Chaos must reign.

Amidst the sea of darkness and rage and everything else, Lexie thought she saw someone familiar.

A white haired man with dark skin and eyes like Xena's.

Xena.

The thought of her best friend was like a piercing light through the darkness, reminding Lexie of where she was, who she was.

Instantly, the grief threatened to drown her out once more, but Lexie drew it into herself, her Eldritch. She held onto something that she'd forgotten she was holding onto, the glass card that was now glowing, differentiating in her hand. She wasn't sure what she was creating, but it was governed by the recent intent echoing in her mind.

Seize the End. Lessen All Burdens. Kill the Light.

She drew the grief into herself and hurt for all her children who were dead and had suffered. All the Eldritch who were also suffering. There was no room for love or compassion here. Only room for revenge.

Seize the End. Lessen All Burdens. Kill the Light.

Lexie's intents continuously echoed as she envisioned the pathways of the card that would appear in her hand. She drew more inside her and transferred into the void she was creating. A void that removed light and destroyed chaos.

It was too much chaos to expect any object to carry, and the card shattered in her hand, refusing to be created. Lexie pushed more of her soul into it so it mended again, creating something that was undeniably Eldritch but also undeniably human.

Light. She fed her emotions into it, giving her translation of light as she sucked out the creature's driving light. She gave it the hope that she might one day see her children alive again. The creature did not understand it at first. It thought only of pain and had no hope for an end to the suffering. But that light that Lexie gave was enough to draw it back from the brink.

The creature quieted down once it started to touch Lexie's consciousness, experiencing that hope for itself, touching Lexie's memories of Xena and Dewie and her father.

Lexie. She heard Naem's voice, but it sounded like it was from far away. She didn't focus on it right now. She focused instead on trying to get the creature to stop. She was inside its soul, so it made it easier. She felt everything. She felt the rage trying to fight back, the chaos expanding, but she calmed it, siphoned it, transformed the restless energy into something else. At the same time, it was exploring Lexie's consciousness, fascinated by her.

"Lexie, you must come out of there," Naem said. "Stop fighting me."

The soul of the creature didn't want to let her go. She was the light, and it continuously pleaded with her. Don't leave just yet.

Lexie didn't leave. She couldn't leave it alone. She attached her soul to the creature and fought for its relief from insanity. She fought to siphon out its light, giving it something else to hold on to. It related to her Eldritch side, but it was drawn by her human side. It wanted to consume her.

Lexie watched the scene around her. She could feel its influence retreating from the trees in the distance. The crying sprites were getting up, gaining the strength to run away.

Lexie saw the dark-skinned man frowning with his sword of light at his side, eyeing the beast as it finally backed down.

"Soulspawn! Enough!"

That was the last thing Lexie recalled, and she realized she'd never heard Naem scream like that as she passed out.

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