Book 3: Chapter 78 (1/2)

Vur groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to lift his head, but something holding his neck down stopped him. When he attempted to raise his hands to touch his neck, a heavy resistance prevented them from moving more than an inch. Though he didn’t have any trouble seeing in the dark normally, he couldn’t see anything but darkness in front of his face. He arched his back, but his waist seemed to be tied down as well along with his legs. His brow furrowed before relaxing, and he cast a spell. “Poison body.”

Nothing happened.

Vur took in a deep breath and concentrated his mana on his throat before exhaling. Instead of a dragon’s breath, nothing came out except for a wheezing sound. Before he could try something else, a familiar voice broke through the darkness.

“Vur?”

“Stella?” Vur asked. He wiggled, but the restraints that he couldn’t see were still preventing him from getting up.

Lights flashed on, and Stella flew up to Vur, hovering over his face. He was lying on some sort of table, fettered by red chains. Stella tilted her head. “What are you doing in my dungeon?”

“Your dungeon?”

“You know, a place you keep prisoners of war and traitors to the throne,” Stella said and nodded. She paused, her wings freezing in midair. “Wait. What are you doing inside of yourself?”

Vur blinked and tilted his head as much as the restraint on his neck would let him. “I’m inside of myself?”

Stella blinked back. “You aren’t?”

“Am I?”

“Hmm.” Stella scratched her head and frowned. “Well, there’s one easy way to find out.” She turned her head and cupped her hand over her mouth. “Deedee! Get over here!”

A few moments passed before the room shook. The tiles on the floor contorted and warped as a boulder rose from the ground. Two diamond eyes appeared on the boulder’s surface. “What do you want?” Diamant asked in a voice that sounded like a sigh. His eyes widened when his gaze landed on Vur. “Is that Vur? What’s he doing inside of his soul?”

Stella nodded. “Yep,” she said and landed on Vur’s forehead. She sat down and crossed her legs, leaning forward to look down into his eyes. “We’re inside of you right now.” Without moving her head, she waved her hand at Diamant as if she were flinging away a booger. “You can leave now, Deedee.”

“Guys! Guys, guys, guys!” A gust of wind stormed into the room and slammed into the wall behind Vur. A green boulder materialized from the wall and fell to the floor with a thud. “Guys! We’re being invaded by red people!” Zilphy rolled up and shook herself off. “Sheryl’s raining fire on them, but there’s a lot!” She paused when she saw the table. “Is that Vur? Hi. Fancy seeing you here. Why are you tied down? Is that a thing you like to do? Was I interrupting something weird? Sorry.”

Stella tilted her head. “We’re being invaded? Someone’s invading Vur’s soul?”

“That’s right,” Zilphy said. Stick-thin arms sprang out of her surface, and she raised them up into the air while spreading them. “There’s a huge freaking army out there. There must be millions, or even billions of them!”