Have you ever sat down somewhere and just thought about the reasons why you were there? Just allowed yourself to think about the events that led up to this moment and wonder why they occurred, what their significance in your life was and what the world would be like if everything had turned out differently. In this case, Jordan allowed these thoughts to drift through his mind as they flew through the air – heading towards the small village where Mianite did his old experiments. Nobody spoke directly about where they were going, knowing that it would only set off another argument between Caitlin and Mianite, who had clearly not left these terrible events behind them and moved on.

Each of them had their own angel wings and were gliding through the night sky as a group, flanking one another as if they were a legitimate flock of birds migrating as the weather turned cold. Jordan flew at the back, claiming to be guarding the rear but really just wanting some time for himself where no judging eyes could watch him. It was strange for Jordan, flying without Ianita on his back – giggling and laughing at the various antics of the animals under them or quietly marvelling at the beauty of nature as Jordan pointed it out. A sad smile haunted Jordan's face as he scanned the landscape beneath him, his gaze sweeping the savannah in search of the tell-tale mountain range that Mianite said marked the entrance to the village.

Nobody cared to admit it but they were all worried about one another, with the focus of concern being Ianita and by extension Caitlin. The blood pact with Ianita was clearly affecting her more than she wanted to let on, with the beats of her wings becoming slower and more sluggish as the flight drew on – her face blank in order to conceal her emotions but her eyes screaming with pain with each minute that went by. Sonja flew close to her, waiting to catch her in case she passed out and tumbled out of the sky. They couldn't afford to lose the only link to Ianita's location as Tucker said. The range of scars on Caitlin's body worried Sonja a great deal, with her struggling to tell which ones were fresh and which ones were from previous encounters and battles. Tucker and Mianite flew side by side, discussing battle plans and offensive strategies to make the most of the spare time they had as they flew. Wag and Martha flew in silence, forced next to one another by the formation but Martha refused to speak to Wag, still not comfortable with his crimes and brushing off his attempts to start a conversation.

"There are the mountains! Let's fly down, circle the area and find a safe spot to land – do not break formation."

Moving in unison, the group flew down and circled the small village – the site of abandoned buildings eating away at their confidence and fuelling their unease as they landed just outside the forest that circled the town. The trees would hopefully shield their landing but there was no way to be sure that the Shadows did not have eyes everywhere. Judging by Caitlin's current state, the demonic creature was occupied with Ianita and so would not come after them. That didn't stop the group from jumping at every shadow that moved in their peripheral vision. Jordan grabbed his sword from its sheath and held it carefully by his side, his arm in the prime position to strike if anything attempted to jump out at them. Walking as a unit, with people covering all angles, the group made their way into the village – checking nook and cranny but finding no signs of life. The village was completely deserted and Mianite didn't look surprised.

"Where is everyone?"

Mianite gestured for the group to follow him, making his way past the empty houses and venturing behind what the group had guessed to be a small church. Behind the church was a graveyard. There were hundreds of graves, all neatly dug and given makeshift gravestones made out of stones – each of them saying the same thing: "I'm Sorry."

"How does showing us a graveyard help us find where Ianita is being held?"

Tucker spoke up at this point, an uncomfortable expression crossing his face – clearly, graveyards creeped him out. Mianite merely shook his head and grabbed a shovel, heading towards the centre grave and beginning to dig it up. Jordan winced at the thought of having to move a dead body out of the way but thankfully the grave was empty – except for a staircase. If that wasn't a major warning sign that something fishy had been going on down there, then Jordan wasn't sure what would be. They all walked down the stone steps, their shoes slipping on the mildew and the damp walls sending shudders down their spines each time they had to grab onto it for support. The staircase seemed to go on forever, descending further and further into the earth until all the light they had to see by was the torches they had hastily made.

The flickering torchlight made everything more sinister, the shadows on the walls forming into creatures that normally lurked in the group's nightmares. Soon they reached the bottom and the sound of running water filled their ears. Clearly, they were near an underground stream that whoever lived here before used as a water source – you had to give whoever lived here before points for ingenuity, even if they were sadistic tormentors. Soon they emerged into a room lined with doors, each of them identical entrances to what looked like cells. The cells were pure white, the walls made of some unknown fabric that couldn't be easily damaged. There was a small bucket in the corner that clearly had not been emptied since the last time it was used, the stench causing Sonja to gag. A pair of broken chains hanging off of the wall was the only indicator of what had gone in this room – the damage wasn't due to rust, instead due to immense power ripping them apart from the inside.

Each of the cells had the same interior, except for one – whose chains were shattered beyond repair and blood splattered across the walls, the dark crimson stains a haunting sight as the group's imaginations went wild in an attempt to understand what went on here. Mianite shifted from foot to foot, clearly nervous at being somewhere that he recognised.

"This is where I started my experiments. Originally it was just an attempt to create a version of dark magic that wouldn't go out of control or taint the user. I used people who were going to die regardless of what happened so this experiment was a last ditch attempt at saving their lives. After a while I realised my experiment wasn't working in the way that I wanted, I changed tacks and decided to take a risk by using a healthy, living person – clearly, the magic couldn't repair the damage caused by the illness. So I found a child living in the forest, alone and traumatised by something she had seen."

Mianite's gaze shifted to Caitlin, who was glaring at him furiously – clearly not happy to have her backstory being explained in such a way. Sonja and Tucker stared at Mianite in shock as their minds whirled to comprehend the logic behind his actions. How desperate did you have to be to experiment on a child, no matter what state they were in? Martha put her hand in Caitlin's shoulder in a gesture of comfort but also as a restraint in case she tried to murder Mianite where he stood. We needed answers not a dead friend.

"The experiment was... bad. As much as it worked, it gifted the child with the ability to manipulate the darkness to her bidding instead of it warping her mind. I let the child go free, with her new abilities she wouldn't starve and would be able to live a full life. I thought that was it. At least that's where the last of my memories of this place end."

Everyone turned expectantly to Caitlin, wanting her to continue the story despite the fact she looked like she was one wrong word away from murdering every single person in the room in the blink of an eye. She sighed, fiddling with her knife as she spoke:

"I don't remember a lot from that first experiment, but I remember before and after clearly. The bit in the middle is a haze of agony and screams that I don't like to draw back to the front of my mind. The experiment left me with phenomenal abilities but these came at a cost. Within my mind, another being had been created – calling himself by the name Shadow. He's still with me nowadays but when I was young he was a lot more bloodthirsty and a lot harder to control. Sometimes he can... take over my mind when I'm in extreme pain or during times of mental weakness. A bit like how The Shadows took control of Ianite and Tom.

After Mianite left me alone, I led my own life and avoided as many times as possible. Once I escaped from here, Shadow took over for the first time, slaughtering all the townsfolk and leaving a trail of blood and death behind me. That's why there are so many graves upstairs; I dug them once I took control again. However, soon the tales of what happened to this town began to spread and people wanted to hunt me down. A scientist found me when I was at my weakest and chained me up in that cell over there. He took samples and attempted to replicate what Mianite had done into another person. Every person he tried it on died. They ripped themselves apart in an attempt to get the creature out of their mind.

The only answer he could find was to put it into a stronger mind, someone who could withstand such immense magical power. So he laid a trap to catch one of the gods. Ianite had a vision that warned her away from coming to my rescue so it was left to Dianite or Mianite to come and try their luck. Dianite was coming to seek vengeance for the townsfolk anyways since they were followers of his. However, he lost his champion days before he planned to set out and decided not to come. That left Mianite. He came in and the creature lunged at him, sinking into his bloodstream through the various scratches and cuts he had sustained in trying to get into the building – travelling straight to his brain and taking control.

Mianite was no longer Mianite by that point. He had been infected and every other version of him was slowly being tainted the longer that the creature retained control. That's why your Mianite from the old world was so far gone. The problem originated here; there was nothing you could do to save him without following the prophecy. The creature controlling Mianite found me still strung up in a cell and tortured me in an attempt to gain as much information about the world and the other gods as possible. I told him nothing. After a while, he went too far. Almost every bone in my body was broken at once and my internal organs were bleeding. I should've died but Shadow didn't let me. Mianite discarded me and forgot about me until I met The Shadows in your world."

Jordan sat on the cold floor of the cells, listening in rapture to the stories being told – all this information suddenly coming to the surface all at once. All that prying and the leading questions over the past few months had revealed nothing but now things were starting to add up. The main questions still remained unanswered, though.

"Where is the scientist now? Who is he? How do we defeat The Shadows?"

Wag listed these questions out loud, desperate for more answers but Mianite and Caitlin shrugged, neither of their stories could answer the questions – they merely explained the past, not the present. Despair settled over the group like a cloud, the depressing fact that they were no closer to finding Ianita and Tom squashing their hopes. Normally they'd be enthused to learn more about Mianite and Caitlin's pasts but today just wasn't a good day for it. However, a timid voice brought them out of their sulking:

"I feel like I can answer at least two of those questions."

The group spun around to see a man dressed in a mucky white lab coat, with mousey brown hair and light blue eyes that hinted at buried secrets. He was wearing a pair of goggles on the top of his head and his hands fiddled with a set of tools that he was passing from hand to hand. Once everyone had finished openly gawking, he spoke quietly.

"My name is Devisor Gaines. I created The Shadows. It was the biggest mistake of my life and I've spent over a decade down here in an attempt to make up for my crimes. You're the first people I've seen in a long time."

The silence continued until Caitlin suddenly moved, lunging towards Gaines in a clearly vicious attempt to beat the life out of him. After all, he was the reason she had suffered so much if you ignored Mianite inspiring Gaines in the first place. Martha's comforting grip became one of restraint, pushing her down to the floor as Tucker and Wag helped pin the furious girl to the floor. It took all of their strength to hold her there, though it wasn't for long. The shadow tendrils snaked out from her hands and latched themselves onto those pinning her – squeezing their muscles in a painful grip until they let go with a cry. She lunged upwards, darting past Mianite and Jordan before raising her knife and holding it against Gaines's throat – pinning him against the wall with a ferocious expression on her face. His face contorted with surprise and recognition as he stared at the person who was about to kill him.

Luckily, fate intervened. Fate, in this case, was in the form of a massive blast of agony transferring between Ianita and Caitlin. The knife clattered to the floor and Caitlin hunched over in pain, clutching her skull in clenched fingers. A cry of pure agony escaped her lips as the blood drained from her face, leaving her cheeks a sickening white. Tears leaked from her eyes that were flickering between light and dark, blood seeping out of her nose as she swayed from side to side. Gaines dropped onto the ground again, coughing and spluttering before grabbing a needle from his lab coat and injecting it into her neck, causing Caitlin to stop and stare at Gaines before passing out straight onto the floor.

They all stared in shock at Caitlin's prone form, not realising the strange smell in the room until it was too late. They all swayed in place as the gas numbed their minds and infected their senses. Soon, one by one they began to drop to the floor like flies, unconscious.

A/N

Time for the endgame.

Vote, Comment and Share to spread the love for the big finale coming!

Much Love,

Caitlin