Chapter 32.5: Family Trip to Hell, Courtesy of Rissa

I hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath from my chest. My ears rang, my vision spun, and the sand beneath me was cold—too cold for any beach I’d ever known. For a moment I thought it was night, but then I realized the sky wasn’t truly dark. It was… thick. The air itself pressed in around us, heavy and brimming with something unnatural. A dense haze shimmered in the faint light, not fog, not mist, but something alive.

I pushed myself up on trembling hands, coughing. “C-Cassian?”

He was already on his feet, broad shoulders tense, storm-colored eyes scanning the horizon. His blade hissed free from its sheath, steel glinting faintly through the haze. “Stay close, Serine,” he said, voice steady even though the unnatural air coiled around us like smoke. “I’ll protect you.”

Something shifted at his side. A muffled voice rose, echoing from the bag slung at his hip. “Well, this is a depressing view. Honestly, I’ve woken up in tombs with better ambiance. My Lord Cassian, if you’d be so kind… let me out. I’d like to see this delightful disaster for myself.”

I blinked, startled, until Cassian reached into his bag.

“Arkanthos?!” I gasped.

Cassian handed the skull to me without hesitation, and my arms instinctively wrapped around it, holding it close against my stomach like a fragile treasure. The bone was cold, but the voice that came from it was as warm and genial as ever.

“Serine, my sweet, you wound me. Sounding so surprised—as if our dear Rissa wouldn’t plan ahead.” The skull’s teeth gleamed in a grotesque grin.

My heart thudded as the realization sank in. “So that’s it… Rissa must’ve given you to Cassian. She knew. She always knows.” A mix of fondness and irritation welled up in my chest. “Gods above, that woman—she never tells me anything. I swear, when I see her again, I’ll give her an earful.”

“Join the club,” Cassian muttered, eyes never leaving the shifting haze beyond. His grip tightened on his sword.

I looked down at the skull in my arms. “Arkanthos… do you know where we are?”

“Oh, that I do,” the undead answered without a beat of hesitation. “This delightful brume pressing on your lungs, this magic that bites at the skin? It could only be one place. My children, welcome… to the Continent of Shadows.”

My blood turned to ice. Even Cassian faltered, just for a moment, lowering his blade a fraction.

The Continent of Shadows. We all knew the stories. Every scholar, every bard, every terrified child whispering by candlelight. No one returned from there alive. It was said to be the cradle of the undead—their kingdom, their graveyard, their empire. Monstrosities that could not die, horrors that reasoned like men but wielded powers to unmake the world.

I tightened my grip on Arkanthos’s skull, my arms trembling. “Then we’re— we’re dead, aren’t we?”

The skull chuckled, a sound far too amused for our situation. “Dead? Not yet, dear Lady Serine. If Mistress sent you here, it was for a reason. Trust her. She has her methods.”

Cassian’s jaw tightened. “Or maybe,” he said grimly, “she just panicked. She teleported us anywhere she could, and this was it.”

That thought dug sharp into my chest. Because he might be right. Rissa always protected us, always shielded us from the worst, but she’d never once trusted us with anything. We were her little strays, her “puppies,” not her equals. Maybe this wasn’t a mission at all—just an accident.

Arkanthos laughed again, louder this time, echoing through the haze. “Tell me, children. Has Rissa ever done anything without purpose?”

Cassian and I exchanged a look. The answer was immediate. “…No.”

“Exactly,” the Arkanthos said, his hollow sockets almost twinkling with amusement. “I don’t know what my Mistress intends, but I know this: she wouldn’t send you here without reason. So, my young friends… you’d better be ready. Whatever comes next, you’ll endure it—for your own sakes, and for hers.”

The words weighed on my heart, but instead of fear, I felt something else rising—something fierce and unshakable. All this time, Rissa had carried us, shielded us, treated us like her little kids… but maybe now it was our turn.

For the first time, I could protect her. I could stand for her, just as she had always stood for us. No matter what nightmares lurked in this cursed land, no matter what it cost me… I would help Rissa. With all my heart, with everything I am—I would not fail her.