Entering the building, Shiver quickly realised that she struggled to find the words to describe the room before her. While from the exterior, it looked like any other mansion she might find in Brimstone’s upper circles, the inside of it departed from any point of reference that she had.

  Shiver had initially suspected it to be the headmaster’s residence – after all of her searching, she still hadn’t managed to find it. She wasn’t surprised, the academy was enormous, and it would take days of systematic searching to get anywhere.

  Rather than containing a myriad of rooms, the moment that she stepped inside, she was greeted to a single, empty area. Occupying the entire wall at the far side of the room, was a seamless, inky black surface in the shape of a rectangle, angled downwards towards the floor.

  A single dark, stone pedestal emerged from the very centre of the room.

  "Any thoughts on what we’re looking at, Popsicle?"

  Her guide languidly moved about the room, inspecting its elements closely.

  "I have no idea… we should be careful, Shiver. I don’t think we should be here."

  Together, they approached the strange raised column. As Shiver moved closer, her eyes fixed on something inserted at the very top of it.

  That almost looks like… a key.

  Her heart started to beat with excitement. Perhaps this would reveal something, in the Floors of Delirium. Or unveil another section of the academy.

  The possibilities were endless.

  There was only one question that remained…

  To turn, or not to turn.

  ---

  "Shiver, we should get back to Vale and Caledon. I’m sure he’s completed his acknowledgement by now. You’ll all finally be ready to create your Fearcores!"

  Shiver nodded along, but her mind was fixed on the structure that rose in the middle of the room.

  The pedestal.

  She had combed through the entire room, looking for hints as to its purpose. However, the room was empty, deprived of any clues that would have shed light on it. It was devoid of furniture or any other signs of habitation. Shiver stared at the solid black rectangle that was angled downwards, attached to the upper portion of the wall. Her efforts revealed nothing.

  All except for one single message, carved into the pedestal itself. As if it was a last-ditch effort to beseech anyone who approached it.

  The message read:

  Our saviour’s final compromise was forged to protect us from ourselves.

  Our pride and greed were unparalleled, and their only mistake was born from love.

  It will not be sufficient. There are those that seek to pervert their will.

  In our saviour’s kindness, our destruction is writ.

  My Inheritance will be twofold. A final, vain attempt to honour their intention.

  From a petty elf who fell to greed and pride herself.

  Serenity will be brought within reach of the humble. An Archcity for all.

  The Singer will be silenced, only to be awakened when we stand on the brink.

  Until Insanity stirs, silence will be our salvation.

  Only then, should her voice be returned.

  Shiver’s heartbeat began to race, as they finished flicking between the words.

  It was a cryptic warning.

  "What is the point of a warning if its readers don’t understand it? People should learn to write clearly."

  "Mm! I agree! Although perhaps…"

  Shiver watched as Icey trailed off.

  "Perhaps… its only meant for certain people’s eyes. Those that already know what its writer speaks of. Maybe, the she wanted to avoid revealing anything."

  "Why would she do that?"

  "Maybe… the knowledge itself was dangerous."

  Yet the temptation, to walk up to the pedestal and to twist the key with a small flick of the wrist was overwhelming.

  Just to see what it did.

  Shiver let out a sigh.

  "Where’s Pevir when you need him. Urgh, Icey, can you remember the words? We should tell him what it says when we get back."

  "Of course! I have an excellent memory."

  The little ice cube’s voice shone with pride. Shiver’s eyes narrowed.

  "Oh is that so?"

  "Uh… my rote memory is great…"

  "Mmhm, mmhm."

  "So you’re leaving the key alone?"

  "Well…."

  "Shiver!"

  "Oh alright, Popsicle. Since you’re so concerned. Wouldn’t want to doom us all with a casual flick of the wrist. Although… that would be pretty exciting."

  The ice cube quivered in fear.

  Shiver’s eyes flashed as she recalled the final two lines of the entry. Those were the clearest, at least in relation to the pedestal’s purpose. It warned not to return the Singer’s voice, that silence would be their salvation. Until Insanity stirred, that was.

  It certainly was tempting, but she was getting distracted. Forgetting why she had even thought to explore beyond, in the Floors of Trepidation and Delirium.

  Out of luck this time, Shiver. Nothing to help put the Highlord of Brimstone into the ground.

  With a sigh, she tore her gaze from the tantalising pedestal and plucked Icey up from the floor below.

  Then she strode out of the building, leaving its cryptic message, and the key behind.

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  ---

  "Shiver you’re back! What did you find?"

  Vale and Caledon rose to their feet, watching as Shiver returned from her expedition into the Floors of Trepidation.

  Vale frowned with concern, as she saw the girl squeeze her temples. Even Icey, who had zipped forwards in her excitement was lethargically drawing up the rear.

  "I hate riddles. The floors ahead are empty."

  Vale and Caledon exchanged a glance of confusion.

  "Riddles? Empty?"

  Shiver nodded. Recalling what she had seen. In the Floors of Trepidation, the multitude of doors leading to their own isolated pockets of reality that contained the dead remains of creatures. The Floors of Delirium, which seemed to house an academy in itself. The grandstands, the battle arena, the strange glass tanks. Finally, the mansion that housed the mysterious pedestal, and the message.

  Caledon frowned, his mind awhirl. The hints were there as to the nature of the future stages of Fear.

  All that was left to do was to put them together.

  "We should share it with Pevir. He’s down in the basement, I told him not to go off by himself, but there was no stopping his curiosity. Perhaps he’ll be able to shed some light on what it means. The Singer…"

  Caledon shook his head.

  "I’ve never heard of the term. I wonder if it refers to a powerful Fearshaper of old. With a Fear of sound, perhaps."

  Vale raised an eyebrow in response.

  "Curious… and she’s been sealed away? Will turning the key unleash her? And lead to our doom?"

  Shiver shrugged.

  "My guess, is that the message was written by the Academy’s founder. It spoke of an Inheritance, and bringing Serenity within reach. That could refer to the academy, and the Archcity of Fear more broadly. The second part of her inheritance is still a mystery."

  Shiver’s gaze fell on Caledon, and the boy swallowed as he faced the full brunt of its intensity.

  "How was your dream, lordling? Sleep well?"

  He paled, and forced out a small nod. Examining him more closely, Shiver noticed that the fatigue of the past day had caught up to him. His eyes looked hollow as if he had endured many a restless night.

  Caledon shivered, as he thought back to his nightmares. Posing as pleasant dreams, leading him away from the true nature of his Fear. Those pleasant dreams of the past were lies in themselves, and they had sapped him of his energy. He wondered what would have happened to him, if he never realised that they were lies.

  "Damn, I was hoping to leave you behind. Anyway! Vale, there’s no sign of your brother. Before telling you about my nightmare, I saw him head in the direction of the Floors of Trepidation. He was nowhere to be seen."

  Vale just shook her head.

  "Let him do what he wishes. We should focus on our goal."

  Embracement.

  The final step, before they left Anhedonia behind them and welcomed Trepidation.

  All they had left to do was to create their Fearcores.

  Vale turned to the wishbone that stood perched on her shoulder.

  "Lord Quietus, if you would be so kind to do the honours?"

  "Why of course, my guide. You were wise to select me to explain your next path towards progression. The nex-"

  "You’re finally ready to descend to the next stage of your Fear! Well done everyone!"

  Icey excitedly circled the group, weaving through the gaps in their feet, her excitement infectious.

  "Why I say-"

  "Thanks to acknowledgement, the first stage of Anhedonia, your Fear is now within your awareness."

  Shiver exchanged a glance with Vale. All of them recalled the strange sensation of something running through their veins once they had acknowledged their Fears. Shiver spoke.

  "That strange sensation of something circling within us… that’s our Fear?"

  "Close! What you’re feeling is Alarum. Think of it as your Fear made manifest. Although it is within your awareness, it is dispersed within you, and it can’t be harnessed as it stands. Before you do, you must create your Fearcore. It will act as a vessel for your Fear, and it is what is required to bring your Fears into reality!"

  Caledon felt a shiver run down his spine at the little ice cube’s words. Even growing up around his father, the thought of breaking the rules of the natural world, bringing into reality something that existed only in his dreams, or more accurately, his nightmares, spoke directly to his passion for creation.

  His excitement was abruptly halted when he caught sight of Shiver’s piercing gaze. Where he might have planned to use Fearshaping for creation, Shiver’s intentions were clear. As was her target.

  "Succinctly explained, colleague. In order to do so-"

  "It will be most effective when the creation is carried out in the presence of the object of your Fears. Shiver, for example, should be surrounded by the cold. But beware, if you surround yourself with too much, seek to take in too much of the object of your Fear, you will expose yourselves to great peril-"

  Icey hesitated as she turned her gaze towards Shiver and Vale. They smiled innocently at the ice cube.

  "W-wait a minute. Why do I have the feeling that you’re ignoring the warning?"

  "We haven’t the slightest clue what you’re talking about."

  "No! Your descent into your Fears will become more perilous than you can imagine! You might create a vast core, but it will come at the cost of your sanity. Your descension will be more challenging. Hallucinations will plague you, HAUNT you! If you fall to them, you’ll, you’ll-"

  "But…"

  Shiver pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows at Vale, who nodded in silent agreement.

  "We get a vast Fearcore. Sounds like a deal to me."

  Icey sighed helplessly. Perhaps her words of caution weren’t going to be the best received by the two of their number that had ambitions to fell Highlords.

  "Bah! Well I say, colleague, you must have taken leave of your manners."

  "S-sorry Lord Quietus."

  "As I was saying… As you theorised, those ingenious rooms, modelled after various Fears might just carry such a purpose. To aid you with embracement."

  Caledon frowned in thought.

  "You know… I’ve been wondering. What happens if a student possesses a Fear that isn’t accommodated for? What if they don’t have a room of descension that applies to them… like if you had a Fear of-"

  "Naive lordlings from Brimstone, perhaps?"

  Caledon stared at Shiver. She shrugged her shoulders.

  "What? Just trying to be helpful."

  "If the student possesses a Fear that isn’t accommodated for… The academy provides."

  Shiver raised an eyebrow at Icey’s uncharacteristically sage statement.

  "Anything you’d care to share with us?"

  The ice cube coloured to a darker shade of blue.

  "N-no, nothing. Just something I heard about!"

  Shiver’s eyes narrowed further.

  "Sure it was. Where exactly did you hear it from?"

  "And what would that mean, Icey?"

  Icey slid up to Caledon as she cowered from Shiver.

  "I think it means that the academy’s rooms are capable of evolving to accommodate new Fears that it encounters."

  Caledon gaped in response.

  "How would something like that be possible? It makes the academy feel like a living, breathing…"

  "Wish."

  The group turned to Pevir, who walked triumphantly through the doorway, his confident stature only slightly undermined by a tome half his size that he was struggling to carry.

  "While you young ones were absorbed in your descent, I’ve been busy trying to unravel the mysteries of this place."

  He dramatically adjusted his round, copper glasses, which caught the light, blinding them with their brilliance.

  Caledon blinked the spots from his eyes.

  "This book here details the history of the Academy of Anhedonia. Much of its contents have been destroyed, but I came across a curious section which says that it was the result of a dying wish of a particularly strong Fearshaper."

  Pevir turned the pages to the section he was seeking.

  "Let’s see… This right here. “The arrogance of the archaeologist’s guild has led to the perpetuation of false accounts-“ Wait… that’s not the right section… Ah here it is: “the Academy of Anhedonia was born of the wish of the former leader of the Wings of Isephene – Dalaria Icewing. A Fearshaper who had reached Serenity. Towards the end of her life, she performed a miracle, spontaneously constructing the Academy, bringing her dreams to reality at the cost of her own life, her final Inheritance. Of the final Inheritances of Fearshapers on the public record, it numbered amongst the most impressive of them and was undoubtedly worthy of her name. Thus was the basis for the Archcity of Fear created."

  Caledon gulped, exchanging a glance with Vale.

  Just how ridiculously powerful did Fearshapers get? Father was not capable of anything close to a feat like that.

  "So you’re telling me that a Fearshaper that reaches Serenity will be capable of feats like spontaneously creating this academy?"

  Shiver hopped off the step that she had perched on.

  Her smile grew into a familiar devilish grin. Caledon gulped.

  "I suppose we shouldn’t dally then. Last one to descend is a rotten emberhare!"