Into the Darkness

It was the worst pain I'd ever felt. There are no words to describe it. The sky flashed brightly and there was a scream. And it wasn't just me. It was all the mages, and our familiars. I am glad I was the only one that could hear my familiar at that moment, I am sure they were all crying out in pain just like Fen was..

Through the pain he told me.. Lumina. Where was Lumina? We searched in the darkness and thankfully someone else had found her. I tried to heal her but nothing, no response. The surgeons tried to heal her but found only darkness instead of organs. I tried to use my light magic on her, to chase away some shadows, but I was thrown backwards.

Then between us.. we conjured a scream from Lumina. Heartwrenching in how much pain and suffering it held but holding a spark of hope. Maybe we could save her life.

It was then that Fen whispered to me, told me of a way we could help her. I looked ahead of me and saw Zolitaire's eyes widen at the same time, she too had heard the call. Finally Doktor Science tore off to where we needed to go. We had been fractured before but now we stood as one, we would find a rift and bargain in one voice.

It is not my place to detail bargains others enter into but our ritual ended in a possible solution. I could have cried in gratitude but we still had a lot to do. Lumina was caught in the darkness, trapped in her own mind and we had an item that would allow six people into her dreamscape. Our bodies would be vulnerable though, they would need protection, without our consciousness in them they could be killed easily.

But it was a price we were willing to pay, we would not lose one of our own.

I had my doubts about entering the dreamscape. I cannot harm anyone, what if protecting myself from Lumina's nightmares would damage her mind? Wouldn't I be useless compared to someone more willing to fight? But Doc shook me out of it, he implored me to come, he reasoned that my voice may reach her, I am one of her students and light aligned like she is. In the end we chose our six; the four mages Lumina watched over, Stalwart and Warden. I couldn't have asked for finer people beside me.

We were barred by darkness we had to convince her insecurity and her negativity born of the weapon that slew her to let us through, to trust us. I will not detail more of what happened to us as grand an experience it was. It isn't my story to tell, it was Lumina's mind and I won't divulge something more personal. What I will say is that we almost failed, I could feel it, my life draining away as we struggled to achieve our goal to free her..

We awoke by the rift we'd used to help enter her mind surrounded by utter chaos, but most of the fighting didn't register at all, the only thing I heard was that one deep breath. That inhalation that let us know she was alive. Tears stung the corner of my eyes from the nightmare, the relief and the exertion. All I wanted to do was check on my mentor but I still had work to do to make the area safe. Four had opened the rift so four had to close it.

As the light of the rift faded I reached out for Zolitaire's hand. I grasped it firmly and all the friction of our first ritual together was forgotten as we smiled weakly at each other.

"We did it"