Measures: Page 1

In the weeks after being oh so thoroughly destroyed by Evyra, everyone was on edge. The entire vibe was bleak. There was a constant sense of anxiety in the air. Tius and Sarah could be heard muttering but stopped whenever I walked into the room. And I'm not even sure I wanted to know what they had on their mind.

Lexi and I were both worried, despite both of our attempts to hide it. But I saw the flicker of panic in her eyes whenever the alarm sounded. And in all honesty, I felt the same way. I just had to hope it wasn't apparent to the others. But despite the gloom, there was a light. Ash. No matter the circumstances, he was his usual bright self. He always managed to say something to lift the mood. I'd never say this to his face, but I think even Tius had a soft spot for him. The tiefling never raised his voice at him, even when he messed up during training.

That's another thing that changed. We started training, every day. We practiced our spells, our strategy, and our teamwork. The only days we didn't train were when we had people to collect. And when we did, none of us pulled our punches. Time after time, we took down our targets and brought them to the Guild.

But as the weeks passed, our dread at maybe encountering the dracolich cult faded into ambivalence, then an eagerness for a rematch. With every training session, our confidence and our abilities grew, but chances to really use them were few and far between. Even Ashton was eager to show those punks what we were really capable of.

4 months later.

Sarah swung her ax at me, roaring. I ducked back, swinging Vedra, in the form of a two-handed sword, at her legs. Sarah parried the blow away, moving her hefty battle ax around like it weighed nothing.

"Faster, Valentine!"

I growled in frustration and pulled my hand back to hit her with a few beams of Eldritch Blast. But fast as lightning, her hand whipped out, grabbing my wrist and twisting hard. The shock and pain instantly canceled the spell. She yanked me off my feet and tossed me onto the ground.

"Ow fuck!"

"You can't just rely on magic, Lucas. You have a weapon, and the ability to use it. That's a big weakness for most dedicated casters."

"I know, I'm sorry. Let's g-"

Just as I got to my feet. I felt a sudden sinking feeling. It was like I was falling. I stumbled back, feeling sick. Somewhere, miles away, I heard Sarah say something, though I couldn't make out what it was. My knees buckled, but I didn't hit the ground.

After a moment, the world stabilized around me and I stumbled forward. I opened my eyes, looking around. I had been quite rudely yanked into some kind of home office. There was a faint smell of charcoal.

"I hope that wasn't too unpleasant."

I spun around, seeing Samara in an office chair, petting a large black cat.

"Uh, what the hells?"

She grinned at me.

"Yes actually. Welcome to the first layer of Hell. It was a pain in the ass getting you in here."

"Why? I was kinda in the middle of something."

"Oh, just have some faith, will ya? I think I have a way to track down those cultists you've been looking for."

"And this couldn't have been a text?"

"No. I need your help for this."

"Is this going to result in my ****?"

She laughed.

"Let's get started."

She conjured a bucket full of white powder.

"Here, make this shape on the floor."

The image of a circle surrounded by various runes flashed into my mind. I sighed and set about helping her.

With pin point precision, we poured the fine white dust into the floor, drawing six symbols around a circle. When we were done, she clapped the dust off of her hands and pointed to the center of the circle.

"Alright, stand there."

With a sigh, I stepped into the ring.

"If I die, tell Lexi that I could have beat her in the trial even without you."

"Wow. That's so petty, I'm a little proud. But for real, have a little faith."

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"So, what's all this going to do, exactly?"

She waved her hand, extinguishing most of the candles in the room.

"It's simple, I'm going to use a nifty little ritual to push your spirit into every possible plane of existence, and look through your eyes to see where exactly our little cult friends are hiding."

"Wow, that sounds very dangerous in so many different ways."

My very valid criticism only elicited an eye roll from her before she began her work. Samara cleared her throat, and started humming a tune. As she went on, the white dust slowly darkened, turning yellow then orange, then red, and finally pitch black. She paused to look over at a book on her desk, and to speak to me.

"Don't worry. This-"

She gestured at the black powder on the floor.

"-is to bind you body here, while your soul does a little sightseeing. You will be perfectly fine. I promise."

She took a few deep breaths and started chanting in a language I'd never heard.

"Aftrav kodator met visla..."

I felt a cold wind sweep the room. These words felt... ancient, almost alien.

"Asht nosiv liman sprata khuru edova"

The was a deep rumbling, and Samara stopped.

"No no no NO!"

I tried to step forward, but I couldn't leave the circle, some kind of invisible barrier trapped me.

"Samara what's happening?!"

She looked around, panicked.

"It's him. He's hijacking the spell to come here."

"What? Who?!"

A sinister laugh echoed through the room. The voice was cold, it's words dripped with malice and hunger. Each word was like a blade, stabbing into my ears to attack the very core of my being.

SAMARA HELENA

In the corner of the room, the shadows deepened. From within them, a human hand, wreathed in oily black smoke, reached out.

Samara extended her arm towards it, unleashing a cone of purple fire. When it cleared, the shadows, and whatever monstrosity reached out from them, was gone.

"Leave him alone. He is not part of this!"

Again, the voice spoke, it's terrible cadence carving away at my mind.

SAMARA THE LIAR

"FUCK YOU!"

Samara let loose a burst of fire at another unnatural collection of shadows. I got the impression that whatever she was keeping at bay wouldn't be stopped so easily.

SAMARA THE COWARD

She roared, searching the room for any sign of that thing.

"I will tear your avatar to pieces!"

SAMARA THE FOOL

I couldn't leave the circle, but I wasn't going to do nothing. I willed Vedra into my hands, as a spear, and cast Light on her. The light seemed to help, destroying some of the darkness like fire to spiderwebs. But it was clearly not enough.

Again, the hand extended, this time from the space under a table.

SAMARA THE WEAK

This time, the voice was deafening. I covered my ears, but the voice seemed to exist within my skull. It kept repeating that phrase, over and over again, a thousand identical voices talking over each other with their deafening whispers.

SAMARA THE WEAK THE WEAK SAMARA THE THE WEAK THE SAMARA WEAK SAMARA THE WEAK SAMARA THE WEAK SAMARA THE WEAK

I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the roar of insults. But suddenly, there was another voice. Samara, whispering into my mind, her voice like a beacon of hope. I opened my eyes to look at her.

"Lucas, find a world with magic and keep your head down. I'll find you!"

I wanted to ask what she meant, or what she wanted from me, or even what that voice was, but I couldn't. So I just nodded at her.

She reached a clawed hand up and carved a glowing tear into the previously invisible barrier.

I blinked, and the chaos enveloped me.