A

  short while later, the three of us were out of my private halls and back in the tunnel surrounded by a dozen skeletons.

  "Book. What are we doing?" I was getting irritated. The old book had grumbled the entire

  way to the tunnel about how it wasn't a patient being, but now that we were here, it didn't seem to have a

  plan. Its eyes simply scanned from one corpse to another, indecipherable mumbles emitting from its cracked lips as it looked around. I sighed.

  "Do we need to leave you for a while? I don't mind if you need some

  privacy."

  "Hush, child. Let me

  think."

  That's what it'd been doing.

  "I can sense something. The walls seem solid, but they feel odd. There is something wrong here." The book continued mumbling to itself, its covers rattling as it did.

  I reached out with my [Fey Senses][Detect Magic]

  My head swimming, I recoiled as quickly as possible. "What does this mean, book?" It was as if the abyss were mere inches beyond the tunnel's wall.

  The book grew silent. "I do not know."

  Laughing a bitter laugh, I said, "What, the great book doesn't know something? I thought you were all knowing?"

  Shuddering in my arms, the book hissed, "Insolent boy. Would that I had arms with which to beat you."

  I laughed again. "It wouldn't be the first time I've been beaten. Surely, it won't be the last, either."

  "Why would my maker pick someone like you to be her pupil? So much self-will."

  "Because there's no one else like me. She enjoyed the challenge."

  "There are many like you." The book huffed. "Imp. I'm beginning to wonder if we ought to smother the wretched Shadowspawn in his sleep. Perhaps I

  could teach you instead." The book wiggled its covers threateningly. "You could be magnificent."

  "Over my cold, dead body," the Imp hissed back. "Master is my Master, not you."

  "I do not see what you see in him." The book clacked its covers together. "So be it."

  "Oh, great, noble book, I disagree with your

  assessment of me." Holding the book up so it could see me, I affected a smile. "While I agree that I am quite the wretch.

  Orphan. Scoundrel. Former master of the black arts. Spawn of the Dark Lord. I am also a prodigy

  after all. Would you truly find one as great a student as I to teach in this world? And if you were to teach me, what would the histories say? How great would the teacher of such a being as I be?"

  The book scowled. "The histories will say nothing if you stay locked within this vault. Which is what will happen if you continue to earn my ire."

  I lifted a hand to my head and rolled my

  eyes back. "No... that will not be... The visions come to me! I can see them so clearly!"

  The grimoire pursed its lips. "Go on."

  I pretended to shudder. "The Great Grimoire. Written in the history books as the finest teacher ever known to the Ten Kingdoms. The wisest of minds. The sage of sages. Known far and wide as the one true teacher of magic in this world."

  "Hmmm..."

  Slowing my convulsions, I added, "That is how I will rise again to meet my full potential. That is the path before me. Before us both, if you'll have me."

  "And why should I?"

  Thinking quickly, I said, "Without

  you to guide me, this world will come to ruin. We will all be lost." I shuddered a final time and

  pretended to come back to myself. "You are the keystone holding this wretched world together."

  "I see. You are wiser than I had believed." The book seemed

  to miss my obvious sarcasm. Probably a good thing. "You will grow strong under my

  tutelage."

  "That's all I've ever wanted, great book."

  "A fine desire." Snapping its covers, it said, "Now, lead me to the wall. I have research to conduct." The book shifted in my

  arms, pointing its spine at a dark spot on the tunnel's wall.

  "There. Take me there."

  Walking to it, I said, "Now what?"

  The book

  mumbled to itself for a few minutes, seemingly heedless of my question.

  "Book, what do you see?"

  "It is as I thought."

  "Which is...?" Damn thing couldn't help but be cryptic.

  "Watch your tone, boy." The book shifted in my hands again. "I wish for you to cast a spell."

  Finally, some magic. "That's something I can do."

  The book's brows furrowed. "Use this spell. I wish to see what is beyond this wall."

  The book's covers opened, and a piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the ground.

  Angra reached down, picked it up, and handed it to me.

  "Thank you, Angra." Holding it up, I read the page. As I read, I felt a small bit of power into me, and words appeared in my mind. [Shape Earth]

  "I am sure."

  I wasn't. "And if my life is in danger?" Unlike skills, spells and rituals would not stop draining my essence when I ran out. If I weren't strong enough, the spellform would consume my spiritual body until nothing was left.

  "Then you were unworthy of my teachings. Nothing lost, nothing gained."

  "Master is too worthy!" Angra stamped her feet.

  The book snarled. "Silence, pet."

  Angra huffed, but when I glared at her, she didn't say anything else.

  "What say you, boy? Do you wish to prove your worth?"

  Without the book, I was trapped here. I didn't have much of a choice. I had to be strong. Nodding, I said, "Alright. I'll try."

  "Do. Or die."

  My scroll unfurled. Black words etched themselves onto the page:

  You receive the quest [What Lies Beyond]

  [What Lies Beyond]: Beyond your beloved vault lies the unknown. Open the path and seize the knowledge beyond.

  Reward: Gain a Level

  Placing the book on the floor, I took a deep breath.

  Gripping the scroll tightly and focusing inward, I dipped down into the waters of my spirit and observed the essence contained there. While my vita, or life essence, felt

  about the same as it did before—pitifully minuscule—my mana felt stronger than it had

  earlier. While it wasn't overwhelming by any means, my mana was far more plentiful due to the old ring that Selene had left for me.

  If I survived, it would be thanks to the ring.

  Concentrating, I pushed power through

  the atrophied pathways connecting my body and spirit to one another. At first, my mana refused to

  move. I strained. My mana swirled within my spirit. Guiding it with my mind, I pushed it toward my physical body, but it struggled to move through my mana pathways like water moving

  through a funnel that was far too small.

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  However, after a few painful moments, my channels relaxed and allowed my essence to flow, if only slightly. My ashen skin darkened as my black essence filled my body. Directing it with my will, I pushed it into my hand, the same one holding the scroll. The paper began to smolder as my mana infused into the page.

  I reached a hand forward, pressing my palm to the cold stone of the tunnel. The paper ignited, filling the space with acrid black smoke. Taking another deep breath, I prepared my mind. When the lost bits of the scroll burned away, I cast the spell.

  [Shape Earth]

  I felt the spell leave my mind as its magic

  cascaded through me. Every hair on my body stood on end. My channels burned, my spirit quivered, as every ounce of mana in my corpus and animus was wrenched out of me. The instant my vision swam and stomach roiled, I could feel the world begin to bend to my

  will.

  The stone rippled and bent under my hand. Feeling a surge of energy and confidence as my spell began to take hold, I pushed my will

  into the stone. The stone obeyed, rippling outward at my command. My vision dimmed as the rocks and stones began to move

  and twist, forming intricate geometric patterns that danced and

  swirled beneath my touch.

  Finally, just as I could feel my mana reserves give out, the spell began to eat away at my limited life force. The urge to

  vomit hit me hard, and my chest burned. I doubled over, my vision black, and my stomach in my throat. Just barely, I managed to keep my focus on the spell.

  "Master!" Angra cried out. I felt her scramble onto my back, then she leapt onto my shoulder. Her tiny, warm hands grabbed either side of my face, and a small ripple of power entered me through her fingers.

  [Healing Touch]

  Like an ice bath, I could feel her energy flow into me.

  As her life force filled my spirit, I could feel the searing pain of the spell

  dull, if only slightly. Her hands grew weak on my face as her energy

  flowed from her soul into mine. A moment later, I was weak, but I didn't feel like I was going to

  die any longer. Even still, I was at my limit.

  Focusing inward, I descended further into my

  spirit. There, I scoured every inch of me, looking for any hidden reserve of power that could bolster my meager essence. Deep within, I could feel the missing pieces of myself, hiding in the shadows at the edge of the void. Searching, I found something. Far at the edge that separated me from not me, there was a flickering sigil representing a

  power that I could just barely remember...

  I reached for it... straining...

  until...

  Flames exploded from the sigil. For an instant, every inch of my spirit was illuminated in blood-red flame before my mind was violently thrust back into the physical world. Flames wreathed up my arms as my inner

  flame surged forth. For an instant, [Shape Earth]

  was empowered by the flames. The wall tore open, revealing a great darkness beyond. Then, the flames went out.

  I released the spell.

  My ears rang. My lungs burned. Darkness filled my eyes. My brain tried to remember how to think, but it was futile. I was spent.

  Slowly, sound

  began to make its way into my mind, and my vision returned. Once I could move, I sat down.

  Through blurry eyes, I saw that I had torn open an aperture into the tunnel about a yard in diameter. The stone around us crackled and popped, and the tunnel shook as

  the spell's magic faded. And there, behind the hole, was something that wasn't there before. Something that took my breath away. "Book... Are we looking at what I think we're looking at?"

  The had flopped over onto its back at some point during the process. It was eyeing the opening warily. "What is it that you think you're seeing?"

  Looking at the opening, I did my best to slow my pounding heart. Revealing in the opening, maybe three or four inches into the stone, was a swirling black nothingness. "Is that... is that the abyss?"

  "It is."

  "How? While deep in the Depths, my vault is hardly deep enough to brush the abyss. At least, it wasn't before..." This was impossible.

  "Yet it is now." The book laughed. "Something new!" Its covers fluttered. "Even if you nearly died, you did well, my student, and you revealed that which I wished to see."

  "Great. Yeah. Thanks." I wiped spit

  from the sides of my mouth. I didn't have it in me to give a snarky

  reply, choosing to lie back instead. So much for my freshly washed body

  and clean clothes.

  "Mhm, your pain was well worth it. Imp, let your master rest. Pick me up and hold me near the hole he made."

  My head lolled toward Angra. Her red skin

  was pale and clammy, and I could feel through her [Lifelink]

  Snatching up the book, she shoved its

  face into the hole I'd made. "Don't ask for anything else, you wicked thing."

  The book mumbled something I couldn't make out as its face nearly touched the abyss.

  Watching as it did whatever it was doing, I couldn't wrap my head around the abyss so near to my vault. How could this be? I knew the theory that the abyss would slowly consume the world, but that was supposed to take millennia. How long had I been dead? And how could I preserve the vault against the encroachment of the end? While my enchantmentswould keep it safe for a time eventually, it would be consumed by the grand consumer.

  "That is all. Pull me back, imp."

  Angra snapped. "I should throw you in."

  "You could, but then you would ensure your dear master's death."

  She hissed and pulled the old thing back.

  "Book. What do you think?"

  "I think that you were an acceptable

  sacrifice."

  I wanted to say something, but I let it go.

  Angra, however, smacked the book.

  "I will need time to analyze these findings. I do not have an answer for you yet, little lord. All I know is that your pain was necessary."

  "Of course it was." I spat out. I'd always been a test subject for Aughra as well.

  As the echoes of my voice faded, my scroll unfurled in the air once again:

  You complete the quest [What Lies Beyond]

  You reach level 2.

  +2 Strength, +2 Resilience, +3 Agility, +3 Power, +3 Will

  I lay my head back. It was

  like training with my old master all over again. As the magic of the spell faded, I watched as the hole began to curl inward again until it

  was like it never existed.

  "So, what now?" Angra sounded anxious.

  "Nothing. We are within the Abyss. Or next to it. There is no leaving."

  I sighed. "Great."

  The imp

  spoke. "Okay, so we can't leave, which means Master's going

  to starve to death. I'm not okay with that, not one bit."

  "There is nothing to be done."

  She put her hands on her hips. "None of that, you. You're

  going to figure something out, book, or I'm going to find a way to pull

  your pages out one by one until you're empty. You got it?"

  "Are you threatening your better?" The book sounded amused.

  "My

  better?" Angra growled. "Yeah, right. You think I don't remember when

  you were chained to a shelf with the other dumb grimoires? The only

  reason we kept you was because we thought you were fun to read when we were

  drunk."

  "And I only spoke because it amused me to talk down to you fools."

  Angra shoved her little finger in the book's face. "All of you books act like you're so special, so smart and full of

  yourself, but you aren't. You're just paper and... and... all talk."

  She huffed. I knew her well enough to know she was frustrated that she

  couldn't think of something better to end on.

  "Yes.

  Yes, I am." The book said, its voice dripping with condescension.

  "However, I understand your concerns, small servant. This is not the path I wished for."

  I spoke up. "Is there truly nothing we can do? I've traveled through the Abyss before. Why not this time?"

  "Most magic that utilizes the Abyss merely brushes upon its edges. While I'm not completely certain, I am certain we are past the veil. We would need something tied to the surface world to escape now."

  I thought about any other options I had. "What about the teleportation circle in the Great Hall?"

  "The teleportation circle... That's it!" The book fluttered on the ground.

  "Will that save Master?"

  "Worry not, little imp. You will not be forced to watch your precious master starve." The book flopped its way to me. "Pupil, take me to the Great Hall. I will grant you use of another one of my

  precious pages so that we might leave this place. I will even grant you a measure of my power to do so."

  "You

  want me to rip a page out of you?" The little imp growled like a dog. "Oh, I'll

  enjoy it."

  "No." It responded. "I shall remove it myself and infuse it with my mana. And you won't be touching it."

  "Sounds fine to me." I wobbled my way to my feet. "Let's get going." I took a step, but the book stopped me.

  "Hold."

  The book's voice boomed. "I have another idea. Turn me so that I may survey the death wrought by the little

  one here." I picked the book up and turned it so it could see the skeletons once again. "Excellent..." The grimoire

  mumbled to itself as it surveyed the scene. Then, it fluttered in my arm violently enough that it fell.

  Flopping onto the ground, its chain unlinked. Working its covers like wings, it crawled toward one of the bodies. Once it arrived, it was still for a few moments, then it turned and crawled to another. In this way, it went from body to body,

  murmuring to itself all the while, before stopping next to one in the corner. Standing itself upright, its pages fluttered softly on an unseen breeze.

  "This one," the book shouted.

  [False Body]

  A

  pulse of force rippled from the book and filled the dusty air. Nothing happened... at first.

  Slowly, the skeleton began to twitch. An arm moved, then a foot. Its torso writhed. Then, it

  moved its arms, each bone rattling as it pushed itself upright.

  "What

  are you doing?"

  "Watch and learn." The undead thing stood, its dry bones

  creaking with every movement. After standing, it reached down and

  picked the book up into its skeletal hands, which clasped around the

  object like it was a lover's memento. Twin red pricks of light flared to life in the

  creature's eyes, and its mouth opened in a mockery of speech.

  "Ah,

  this is so much better. No longer am I bound to be carried like some manual in the hands of a child," the skeleton said with the same

  grumbling voice as the book. The red dots seemed to narrow in delight.

  "I don't remember that spell."

  "You wouldn't. Your training was never comprehensive enough to know everything I know."

  Anger welled up in me. How much had Mistress Aughra hidden from me? Even in death, she was infuriating.

  "No offense meant, student. You simply have more to learn."

  "I suppose so. But, is this necessary?"

  "Surely you see the benefits of my new state. After all, now I have limbs

  with which to wield the weapon that is knowledge!" The skeleton raised

  its arms and flexed its nonexistent muscles.

  I

  certainly couldn't deny that being free of the heavy thing would be nice.

  Even after gaining a level, I was still far too weak to carry much

  more than myself.

  The skeleton

  shoved the book into its ribcage, causing the lower ribs to bend

  precariously. Then, it walked to the middle of the tunnel, centered between the other corpses.

  [Mass Animate Dead]

  There was another

  pulse of force, then each of the other skeletons began

  twitching. Even the pile of gnawed bones in the corner began to assemble itself,

  and the two arms sticking out of the rubble clawed.

  Within seconds, eight skeletons and two arms stood at attention, waiting

  for the book's orders. That spell I remembered. A wave of nostalgia hit me as I remembered being

  able to perform similar feats in the past.

  "These

  minions will guard the Vault while we are away." The book-skeleton

  turned on its heel, brushing by me as it moved past. The skeletons

  followed, their feet and fingers clacking on the cold stone. The thing called out over its shoulder as it walked into the darkness ahead. "Keep up! It's time we see the world."