When I emerged from my slumber, an unusual high pitched squeal faded in and out of my ears— the castle siren.

Why the hell did I play The Game?

Echo, Zolona, and Mara were still asleep. I beat everyone out of The Game, which meant it was up to me to solve the problem. Crap, that was something. Even if I could prove I was top dog, no assistance could be a huge risk— especially not knowing all the details.

Exiting Zolona's room, guards laid everywhere. Some still drew breath while others were covered in blood— hearts forever stopped. Stains coated the floor and the walls in an array of red and brown, blood gleaming off the floor.

Guard laid awake sitting in a corner. Blood oozing from his abdomen, he struggled to keep consciousness.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked.

The guard's breathing was shallow, and he coughed up blood as he gave me his words. "Three prisoners... escaped. One was taken out quickly. The other two... No... no one has stopped them."

I knew exactly who the remaining two prisoners were, but I wasn't sure how they escaped. Echo didn't do it. He was with me all day besides when I was in the dungeon alone. Maybe there was something I missed, and Echo did let them out. That Lilliana girl did say he was loyal to his friends. But, if he did, it contradicted my skills and image.

My face turned to a scowl, teeth clenching together in my mouth. "Damn it! Where were they last seen?"

"The mines..." the guard's voice was barely above a whisper.

My eyes widened. The mines were dangerous: a dark, cold place filled with creatures only found in nightmares. Why the hell would Ember and Dusk be so stupid and go in there? Zolona made it forbidden for anyone to go in there a while back— she couldn't remember the date— because one particular creature had the power to deceive and murder entire groups of people. I just hoped they didn't wake it up with their little escape plan.

I headed down the east hallway and turned right to head down another flight of stairs. The silver gates to the mines were flung open, fresh blood coating the handle of the door, and a guard by the side of the gate that laid dead. I grabbed the guard's crossbow and took a deep breath.

Time to rally those prisoners.

The mines looked vaguely familiar. Little light besides a couple candles and a torch on the wall lit the hallway. The white walls were so vague, yet I knew I'd seen it before. A chilling gust of wind rushed past me. A dark presence lingered in the bloodstained walls, fresh blood coating the brick. Cobwebs glued to my fingers.

Crap... this is where I just was in The Game...

The sound of droplets falling echoed through the hallway, but I knew them for what they were: blood, red and stain coated across the rock, dripping down onto the stone floor.

Two voices whispered in front of me, their footsteps drawing closer.

"Are you sure this is a way out, Dusk?" Ember's voice shook.

"I'm probably sure," Dusk paused. "Note the word probably."

I ran toward the sound; my soft-sole shoes weren't going to give my location away.

"Why do you suppose this place was locked?" Ember asked.

"Don't care. If it's our ticket out of here, why not use it?" Dusk asked.

A growl lingered from behind me, an inhuman and dreadful yowl from a creature of the night. I pointed my crossbow that direction, prepared to take my shot. Something brushed against my leg. I pulled the trigger, firing a shot high enough to hit a human's head.

Just Suerte. His glowing green eyes pierced through the darkness around me. I relieved to see him.

"Crap, you scared me a minute there, you silly kitty." I sighed with relief.

Crkkkcrrkkkscrkscrk...

Scratching along the wall, and definitely not from the cat by the shocked look on his face, a distorted echo of a voice came through the mines. This would be where I'd cue the strings. That was the sound of the voice: a tiny string orchestra screeching as it scratched its bow along the wall.

Damn... we woke it up. I couldn't remember the name. All I knew was it was bad.

I ran down the hallway, gun in my hand. My heart raced. Zolona would kill me if Ember and Dusk were annihilated by this thing. She wouldn't be able to make progress with Echo if he didn't trust us.

"What the heck is that?" Ember's voice echoed.

"I don't want to find out," Dusk said.

When I reached them, the demented sounds finally subsided. Where the hell was it? Crap, it wouldn't be good for it to just disappear.

Ember stood in terror, clutching a dagger in her hand. "I knew you were a monster, but I didn't think you were that dark."

"It's not me. It's..." I looked to a wall behind Ember to Suerte, text and drawings written out for all to see.

"What's that?" Dusk asked, firmly grasping a knife.

"A warning," I said, "Beware the Mors Rubrum. It consumes those with darkness to destroy the ones they love in violent manners. Once it takes a host, only Light Bearers or Demons can stop it. With its sharp tongue and claws, it subconsciously rips the soul out of the person until nothing remains."

"Geez, and I thought my nightmares were scary. This is just a legend right?" Ember asked.

"I heard it come down this hallway. Where do you think that noise came from?" I asked.

"I didn't see anything. Is it invisible?" Ember asked.

I smiled. "Either that or it could be the cat."

Suerte hissed at me, obviously not pleased by my response.

"Hey, babe, you got any ideas? You're being kind of quiet..." Ember placed a hand on Dusk's shoulder.

"Just thinking, that's all..." Dusk said.

"Screw you two. Just come with me so I can deal with this before placing you back in your cells." I pointed my gun at them.

"Not like we need your help, Numbered," Ember said.

"Really? Who's the one with experience against this beast?" I asked.

"Your cat," Ember said, pointing to Suerte as he walked back to the castle.

I chuckled. "He's not my cat, hellhound. He's a familiar."

"Just put us back in our cells, and we'll all be good to go, right?" Dusk asked.

"Dusky, what are you doing?" Ember asked.

"Relieving the situation. Guess this was fun and all, but this is enough, right?" Dusk asked.

Ember tilted her head. "You okay?"

"Never better." Dusk glanced at me with deep chocolate brown eyes.

I raised my eyebrow. "I thought your eyes were hazel."

"The light's playing tricks on you. Of course they're hazel," Dusk said, playing off my statement like I was insane. Ember looked at his eyes too and look a step back.

Damn, I should've known. He held a knife in his right hand, and the way he had it out was ready to attack like a predator. I focused and touched his right hand with my left one, burning him with light. He cried in pain as I picked up his knife.

I attempted to stab him with the knife when he turned it back on me. I moved my head out of the way as the knife was plunged next to me and into the ground.

"You're more observational than I remember, Enchantress," Dusk's voice said, multiple sounds coming from his throat.

"I faced you before... ?" I asked, charging light again in my hands.

"Such a pleasure too. You and Zolona wouldn't have done it alone. Not without the wind..." the distorted voice continued, "But this is where your light dies."

Dusk pinned me against the wall and grabbed my throat. His sturdy, strong hands slowly choked me. My hands released my crossbow, dropping it onto the ground.

"Dusk, let go of her! This isn't you." Ember flung herself on top of him but she was quickly flown off.

She's trying to save me?

"Go to Hell," I told the monster, breath barely grasping out of my lungs.

"Please." Ember took my crossbow from the ground and aimed it at him.

"Kill me and he dies too." Dusk's face formed a twisted smile.

Ember lowered the weapon and sobbed.

Dusk raised his knife. I closed my eyes. Then came silence. I wasn't dead. Dusk's grip on me loosened as soon as a clanging noise echoed in the hall. His knife dropped to the floor.

I wiped sweat off my forehead. "Zolona if you hadn't..."

I opened my eyes and rose from the ground, looking at Ember, who still held the crossbow.

Ember's lip quivered in shock. "I can't believe you just did that."

My eyes widened.

Holding a tray with a dent in it was Echo. "What were you thinking? Killing guards, escaping through mines... I can't let you do that."

My jaw dropped. He actually saved my life. Dusk laid beside him. Crap... did that just happen?

Ember barely found the words. "You... you just knocked him out."

"Ember, he would've killed her, and you weren't getting through to him. All that blood... I can't let you escape that way. It isn't right" Echo said.

"I've never seen that side of Dusk before..." Ember sighed.

"That's why you should stay here. You're my sister. I don't want you to get hurt, but aren't you the one who told me not to run away from my problems?" Echo smiled.

Ember put the gun down. "Yes, I was."

"Wow... this is interesting, but how do we remove the monster from Dusk?" I asked.

"Zolona told me to give you this," Echo handed me a vial, "She says it tastes like death, but it'll work."

He sighed.

"What?" Ember raised an eyebrow.

Echo lowered his head. "You found a side of Dusk you've never seen before, but I found a side of myself that's brand new. I'm terrified of it."

"I'll fight off whatever you're afraid of. I'm your sister. Even if I'm angry about this, I care about you," Ember said.

"I'm just trying to get to know our family better," Echo smiled.

"When will you be back?" Ember asked.

"I don't know," Echo paused. "But when one of us is done with all of this, we can meet up with each other."

"I don't want you to get hurt. I can't be alone again," Ember said.

"There's a silver lining..." Echo said.

"You're hopeless," Ember shook her head.

Echo chuckled. "Guess I am."

"And you're still pretty stupid. You could've gotten yourself killed," I poured the liquid down Dusk's throat, "This will hold that monster?"

Echo nodded. "It'll be asleep for a few hours so we can leave."

"You're stressing me out with this magic crap," Ember said.

Echo's eyes widened. "I'm stressing you? You tried to break out of the castle."

"You mean the prison," she lowered her head.

Mara came into the mines with four guards who took Ember and Dusk back into their cells.

I only gazed at Echo, completely in awe. "Wow, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I," Echo said, still surprised.

"Were you scared?" I raised an eyebrow.

Echo nodded. "Dusk is a rebel sometimes, but that... that was something different."

"How did you know where to find me?" I asked.

"I woke up a little bit after you did. Suerte led me to this place. Those challenges can really help discover things, can't they?" Echo asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of things?"

Echo sighed. "Things you didn't know about yourself. Things you didn't know about others."

"Sometimes it doesn't all seem real," I added.

"It's hard to tell what's real and what's not," Echo lowered his head.

I sighed. "I met a priestess. Her name was Lilliana."

Echo's looked back up. He immediately glanced at the scars on his wrists, one burning underneath his Mark of Protection. "Oh... well, what did you think of her?"

"She told me you're loyal to your friends. Why didn't you help them escape?" I asked.

Echo smiled. "That's not the kind of person I am. Ember and Dusk wanted to escape with violence, but murder for personal goals tears at your soul. I couldn't let them think killing was the way of solving everything. When Ember couldn't get Dusk to listen to her, I was terrified he'd hurt her. You're the same way. You're stone hard because you don't want to get hurt."

"How did you know that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"The woman with silver hair told me," Echo said.

My face became grim, almost like this was a dark secret I didn't want shared. "I met that woman."

"And?" Echo asked.

"She told me to stay true to who I was," I sighed.

Echo smiled. "You had to know her if she knew so much about you."

I folded my arms. "I guess so."

"She also told me you can see memories. That's pretty cool," Echo was amazed.

"It always comes at a cost. Magic always does." I released a heavy breath. "Thanks, for what you did back there. I guess I can say I don't one hundred percent hate you now."

"Guess I can say the same thing," Echo's smile widened.

I rolled my eyes. "I did insult you earlier. I kind of feel like I should apologize."

"For which insult?" Echo raised his eyebrow.

"The one I said about you not being my ally."

Echo looked at me with confusion. "I thought you don't make allies."

"I said I couldn't make friends," I clenched my teeth.

"Zolona wanted us to get some rest. We've got another busy day tomorrow," Echo informed.

"I guess so. Be prepared for me to throw more knives at you for target practice tomorrow. This 'allies' things is just a phase, I'm sure of it," I said.

"By the way, congrats on winning The Game tonight," Echo smiled before he walked away.

Did that really just happen?

I had to be dreaming. There was no way he could've saved my life. Now we were allies. I thought I'd never see that coming.

I couldn't help but wonder about the mysterious women I had seen. I was curious about the one in the black dress, and now the one with the silver hair. They were polar opposites, but I felt like they were connected.

I had to find a way to get my memories back. If these two people knew me somehow, I needed to know where, when, how, and why. I couldn't stand people knowing crap about me I didn't or not knowing important information. The way Echo handled things seemed like it wasn't real, but it worked.

Everything had gotten stranger. I knew I had someone who was connected to me because of her silver hair. Maybe I would be able to find out who she was. Somehow, I'd been in the mines too, and the pictures on the wall weren't in handwriting from me or Zolona. Someone else was there.

I also knew whoever the woman in the black dress was, she said I'd remember her, but how? I didn't know how to find my own memories with my powers, but I did know how to get into others' memories. I didn't know what I had to do, but I needed to tell someone about my problems. No. I didn't need that. That would show weakness.

I wandered into bed, hoping I'd be able to recognize more from inside of my dreams.

To my surprise though, after unlocking my door, my familiar sat on my bed, a grimoire underneath his silky black-fur body. The cover was black and silver, gold-edged pages marked with bookmarks ready to use. In gold, raised letters the word "Daybreak" was etched into the leather cover.

"Suerte, what is this? Where'd you find this boy?" I brushed the cat off the book and gripped onto its cover.

I looked at the cover's fine print, written in an unfamiliar language. The vowels and consonants looked jumbled when compared to English, but I assumed this was a language used in practiced magic. Zolona had dozens of books with translators in her library of artifacts and literature...

Crap...

There was only one thing I knew would help me, and I didn't want to show off some of my cracks in my personality, but I had to do it to succeed. I'd have to ask for help.