grant you a new ______

Once the queen traveled a good distance, the three began to move.

“I’ll start singing a hymn again once we get close,” Lucian said, grip tight on his staff. “I… I admit, I’m started to feel light-headed, but I’ll try to hold out until we clear them all.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Zane punched his fist into his other hand. “I’m starting to get a second wind. Shay, hang back once we get close.”

“Fine, fine. Not getting any argument outta me.”

Zane wished Shay argued. He was exhausted, and despite Lucian’s ‘I’m only a little tired, I promise!’ Zane saw how Lucian’s hands trembled and how the light of his staff wavered every now and then. They’d need to take care of the apparitions quick before the spirits tore them apart. The least Shay could do was pick up rocks and throw them at the stupid things.

“—Here.”

Zane stopped Shay. Lucian took his cue and hummed again, lulling the queen into a light sleep. “Right—okay, that should give us a few minutes… so, what’s our plan?”

“The one I ran into seemed pretty pissed,” Zane said, “So they’re probably apparitions of rage. Hitting them worked wonders—so follow my lead.”

“I’ll try my best…”

“C’mon, man, at least act like you know what you’re doing.” Was it so hard for this guy to rile himself up for a fight? Zane struggled to think of anyone else who shied away from fighting—not even Vitam’s Calm matched Lucian’s passivity.

Well, whatever.

Zane warmed up, swinging his fists before charging through the opening, Lucian hot on his heels.

The apparitions surrounded the two—but if they wanted to clear the area before they lost this war of attrition, Zane needed to gather their targets into one easy herd.

He cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Hey! You’re all enjoying your nice, peaceful silence? We’re here to ruin it! Nothing good for any of you, anymore!”

Punching multiple apparitions at once seemed much more efficient than tackling them one at a time. Lucian waved his staff around, a white light exchanged for red as he shredded through each clump of emotion like butter.

But a lot of them flitted about, charging for Lucian’s back—giving Zane a good target. He dug his heels in the ground and punched through three at once, screams of rage petering into the darkness.

Each death left behind a scalding puff of steam. Zane stumbled out of the way of one as an apparition slammed into his back, a burning sensation irritating his wounds as he swung himself around and smashed the thing to oblivion. The area devolved into chaos—scalding hateful lights surrounded and swatted at the pair, only to be punched right through when they approached. And when they broke through, the apparitions bodies hot as an inferno, they had seconds to eliminate the spirits before they left burns.

Several lights congregated overhead. They dropped down and smothered Lucian, who screamed, voice rich with agony.

Zane punched the mass of apparitions—and, without realizing, the living daylights out of Lucian. He groaned and dropped to the ground, leaving the last remnants of rage for Zane alone.

“…Shit.”

Zane ran. The shimmering emotional forms provided a bit of light, enough for points of stalactites lining the cavern ceiling to make themselves known.

Just enough to—

Zane slammed the wall—then wailed on it, until the entire cavern shook. As the apparitions reached him, the pointed arrows of stone and sediment pierced their bodies, bringing silence at last.

But there’d be no time to relax. A familiar hiss made Zane’s hair stand on end.

The queen approached Lucian’s unconscious body—Zane hadn’t noticed when it woke up, but by some miracle of adrenaline, he dragged himself over and threw his arms up.

Even then, Zane would be of no threat to the massive Spark. It bore its mandibles and chittered over and over—Shay’s shadow loomed in the distance, moving away. Zane grit his teeth and waited for the damn thing to do something. He wasn’t sure if he had it in him to rescue the both of them, but if it came down to him or Lucian, then—

The queen hummed.

…Hummed? “These things can hum?” Zane wondered aloud. The Spark Queen shoved him to the ground, rubbing its mandibles through his and Lucian’s hair before it abandoned the pair to claw at a specific point in the wall once more.

“Is it… does it know we’re trying to help?”

Shay approached, scoffing at Zane’s words. “The tree huggers’re surprised their monster friend has feelings?”

Zane bit back the awful thing he wanted to say, opting for something less combative.

“And the guy who didn’t raise a fist is gonna badger me while I have a headache and a lot of rage to go around?”

There, better. Shay gaped, ready to argue, but Lucian shot up and effectively cleaved their argument in two. “Whuh!? I think the world faded for a second there… did I miss anything important?”

Zane pointed at the queen, his own exhaustion driving him to lie on the cold cavern floor. “I think she gets what we’re doing. And if that’s the case, I’m advocating for setting camp. We keep going like this, and we’re done if we end up fighting like that again.”

“You’re telling me,” Shay said, flopping next to the pair. Zane tried not to bitch and moan about it, but come on, why was this guy acting like he did something? “I brought some small pillows with me. You two take ‘em.”

…Okay, maybe Zane took that insult back. Though he knew Shay likely just wanted him and Lucian in fighting condition, he still accepted a pillow, as did Lucian. The warmth of Rage kept them comfortable enough, and the trio settled into an indent in the ground.

Lucian slept close to the queen in case he needed to use magic to quell her again, leaving Zane stuck with Shay. But for once, they didn’t argue. Shay called it a night first. He clung to his satchel like a plush toy a child latched onto. The sole comfort afforded in a dark, uncomfortable place.

Still, something bugged Zane.

Apparitions formed from concentrations of emotions. At places like graveyards or battlefields, it made sense to find them. But why would abandoned caverns lacking even wildlife attract concentrated Rage?

Secrets slept here. And, for some reason, Zane felt drawn to them—to whatever truths Udrefaust sheltered beneath its soil.