Nox returned to the round chamber where he had left Lin and found her engaged in a strange activity. She sat on the stone floor, legs crossed, and before her floated a small sphere of pure Abyss. It was the size of a fist, completely black, with silver veins slowly rotating inside, creating a mesmerizing pattern. Around the sphere circled Nox's shadow rats, not attacking but seemingly dancing, obeying some inaudible rhythm. Lin was controlling them. Not like Nox, through command and submission. Differently. Softer. She seemed to ask them, and they agreed.
«You came back,» she said without opening her eyes. «I could feel your Shadow changing. You became… deeper. As if something else appeared inside you. What did you do?»
Nox sat down beside her, leaning his back against the cold stone wall. He told her everything. About the dream in which the creature of shadows spoke to him. About the second trial in the temple. About the guardian with the crimson eyes. About the dead Ravnes and the voice that whispered he was nothing. About how he defeated that voice simply by refusing to believe it. And about the new power he had gained: the ability to summon the essence of defeated creatures, their main ability.
Lin listened without interrupting, and the sphere of Abyss before her slowly rotated, pulsing in time with her breathing. When he finished, she opened her eyes and looked at him. In her gray eyes, full of silver sparks, there was something new. Understanding. And pride.
«You faced your fear and did not give in. That is… that is very important, Nox. The Abyss teaches me the same thing. It constantly whispers that I am weak, that I will not manage, that it will consume me. But I do not listen. I simply do not believe it. And it retreats. It does not leave, no. It just grows quieter. As if it admits that I am stronger than it thought.»
Nox looked at his sister and felt something warm spread in his chest. She was growing. Changing. From a frightened girl who hid behind his back in the slums, she was transforming into someone completely different. Into a warrior. A mage. An heir to an ancient and terrible power that did not break her but made her stronger.
«I want to try my new power,» he said. «Right now. Here. Will you help me?»
Lin nodded and with a gesture dispersed the sphere of Abyss. The shadow rats, freed from her influence, returned to their usual patrolling, scattering to the corners of the chamber. «What do you want to try?»
Nox thought. He had echoes of various creatures: goblins, the crawler centipede, rats. But the essence… the essence was something else. He closed his eyes and reached toward one of his servants, the shadow goblin standing at the far entrance to the chamber. He felt its echo, its empty shell filled with Shadow. And beyond it, deeper, he felt something else. A small spark that was the goblin's essence in life. Its main ability. Nox reached toward it, called it, and it responded.
He felt his body change. Not drastically, not like the full transformation Master Crow had spoken of. Just some muscles became slightly denser, the skin on his hands slightly rougher, and something new appeared in his eyes. He opened his eyes and looked at his hands. They looked ordinary, but he felt them differently. More grasping. More adapted for climbing, for gripping, for fighting in tight spaces. And his perception changed. He could see in the darkness as well as in light, and sounds that had been mere noise now formed a clear picture: Lin's breathing, the rustle of rat paws on stone, the distant drip of water somewhere deep in the catacombs.
«Your eyes,» Lin said. «They turned yellow. Like a goblin's. And your pupils are vertical.»
Nox blinked. He did not feel the changes in his eyes, but he believed her. He stood up, jumped in place, made a few quick movements. His body obeyed differently. He became faster, sharper, his reaction time improved. This was not immense strength, not draconic power. This was the essence of a goblin. A small, nimble creature that survived through speed and the ability to hide. And now that essence was available to him.
«How long will it last?» Lin asked.
«I do not know. The guardian said a short time. I need to test it.»
They waited. Nox paced the chamber, listening to his sensations, while Lin watched him with the interest of a scholar studying a new form of magic. After about ten minutes, he felt the changes begin to recede. Slowly, like water draining from a cracked vessel. His eyes, probably, returned to normal, his skin smoothed, and his heightened perception dulled. He was himself again.
«Ten minutes,» he said. «Maybe a little longer if I stay still. In battle, probably less.»
«But you can use the essence of any creature whose echo you have?»
«Theoretically, yes. I need to test it on others. On the crawler, for example. Or on the rats. Each has its own essence, its own main ability. If I learn to switch between them quickly, it will give me a huge advantage in battle.»
Lin thought, and the familiar spark lit up in her eyes. She had an idea. «What if you try to summon the essence of a creature stronger than a goblin? Not here, of course. Somewhere deeper in the catacombs, where more dangerous creatures live. You said your servants found some caves with deep crawlers and other things. What if you defeat one of them, get its echo, and then summon its essence? You would become much stronger.»
Nox looked at her and smiled. «You want me to go hunting underground creatures for their essence?»
«Why not? You train here every night anyway. Why not combine the useful with the useful? You will become stronger, gain new servants, and test the limits of your new power. And I will go with you.»
Nox shook his head. «No. You will stay here. This is too dangerous.»
«Nox.» Lin stood up and walked over to him. She was a head shorter, but she looked at him as if he were the younger one. «I am not the girl you hid behind your back in the slums. I am an Abyss bearer. I can create weapons from pure void, I can absorb magic, I can control shadows, though not like you. I have trained every day while you were at the academy. I am stronger than you think. And I am not going to sit here and wait while you risk your life alone. We are family. We fight together. Or not at all.»
Nox looked at her and saw in her eyes the same determination that burned in him. She was right. He could not protect her forever, keep her in a shelter like a fragile vase. She was a warrior. A mage. His sister. And she had the right to fight beside him.
«Alright,» he said. «But you obey me. If I say retreat, you retreat. If I say hide, you hide. No arguments. Agreed?»
Lin smiled, and her smile was like a ray of light in the dark catacombs. «Agreed. Now show me where we are going. Your rats have probably scouted everything already.»
Nox nodded and mentally called one of the rats that had been exploring the deeper caves. It transmitted an image: a vast cave, filled with a strange, glowing mist, and within that mist moved shadows. Large, much larger than goblins. With long, flexible bodies and many limbs. Deep crawlers. An entire colony. And among them, one especially large, with a chitinous armor that glowed faintly in the dark. A queen. Or a leader. Or something else. But clearly stronger than the rest.
«I know where we are going,» Nox said. «There is a crawler colony. And one of them is special. If I can defeat it and get its echo, its essence will be much stronger than an ordinary crawler's. But it is dangerous, Lin. Very dangerous. Are you sure?»
Lin looked at him, and silver sparks danced in her gray eyes. «I was born in the slums of Ravnes, Nox. I have survived hunger, cold, gangs, mutants, the Moon Goddess's hunters, and the Harbinger. I am not afraid of some underground creatures. Lead on.»
They moved deeper into the catacombs. Nox walked first, his Shadow muffling the sound of his footsteps and blurring his silhouette. Lin followed, the Abyss on her wrists flickering in the darkness, ready to burst forth at any moment. Around them, invisible but perceptible, moved Nox's shadow servants: goblins, the crawler, rats. They were his eyes and ears, his first line of defense. And today, they would fight beside him.
The journey took about half an hour. They passed several forks, went through a narrow passage where they had to stoop, and finally emerged into a vast cave. From within came a strange, vibrating sound, like distorted singing echoing off the walls. And a smell. Sweetish, cloying, making his head spin. Nox stopped at the entrance and signaled Lin to freeze. He closed his eyes and reached out to his servants. The rats already inside transmitted images: dozens of crawlers, large and small, crawling over the walls and ceiling of the cave. In the center, on a mound of some organic material, lay the queen. Huge, three times the size of an ordinary crawler, with chitinous armor glowing with a soft, greenish light. It did not move, but Nox could feel the power emanating from it. Ancient, patient, hungry. This was not merely a beast. This was a guardian. Or a priest. Or something else Nox had no name for. But he knew one thing: if he defeated it, his power would increase many times over.
He opened his eyes and looked at Lin.
«There is a queen there. Very strong. I will go first, distract it. My servants will handle the other crawlers. You stay behind and cover me. If you see me getting cornered, use the Abyss. But be careful. Do not exhaust yourself. We do not know what it is capable of.»
Lin nodded, and there was no fear in her eyes. Only excitement. The same excitement Nox had seen in her in the slums when they had faced an entire gang together and won. He smiled, drew his mother's dagger, and stepped into the cave.
The battle had begun.