The old man wailed even louder. Eli woke up to see the banshee flying over the old Sebyan. She wasn't wailing anymore, she was actually giggling. If you thought her wails were unnerving, wait until you hear her giggle. It sounded like child's laughter. Only the child stemmed from some horrific tale about death and slaughter, and the child was the murderer.

She enjoyed torturing the old man. She didn't even look at us since she started toying with him. I looked for my bag to extract the golden chain from it. Now was the perfect chance to deal with her, once and for all. I reached for the bag by my waist. The potion Nag had given me had surprisingly survived the fall and the strong water current. The golden chain however, was lost.

I looked again in the bag, but I couldn't find it. I knew full well that it was probably resting at the bottom of the water, but I couldn't accept it. That chain was our only hope of defeating the fairy.

"Myles," Eli limped next to me. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I asked. "I'm looking for the d.a.m.ned golden chain!"

"That bag isn't too big," Eli said.

"I know!" I yelled.

"Then why are you still looking?" he asked.

"I don't know!" I said. "Maybe it's because the chain was our only hope of defeating that thing?"

"Banish her for now," Eli said. "We'll figure something out later. Can't you hear how he screams?"

I looked up, and away from my bag. The old man was thras.h.i.+ng on the ground, screaming his lungs out and tearing his white hair apart. The banshee was enjoying herself too much. She was giggling as she slapped him, touched him in different spots. Wherever her pale skin landed, the old Sebyan's melted.

I advanced toward the fairy, planted my feet firmly on the ground and shouted, "Electo!"

A faint silver stream of aura left my hands and shot at the banshee. The latter wailed as soon as it touched her, but it wasn't enough to banish her. I urged myself to focus once more, and thought of the happy memories I shared with the woman I loved.

"Electo!"  I screamed.

A faint silver stream left my hand once more and tickled the fairy. I wasn't concentrating enough. By then, the banshee had acknowledged my presence. She flew at me and punched me in the temple. Her frozen knuckles. .h.i.t me square in the jaw and felt the room turn around. I fell to my knees.

Screams and wails filled my head. I heard my comrades and my beloved cry out for help. I felt that anger and helplessness once more. It was a strange feeling though. I'd lived through those memories too many times I guess. I felt somehow detached, as though it was an episode of my life that didn't affect me any longer.

The banshee flew at Eli and hit him as well. I heard him scream behind me, but I wasn't there. I felt as though I was observing the scene from above, my soul floating, looking at the banshee enjoying her time taunting us.

'Myles,' Eva's consciousness reached out to mine. 'Myles,' she called out again.

She was somewhere far. She was speaking to me, but I heard it as though she called out from the bottom of a hill. Her voice was faint. I could barely feel her presence.

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'Myles, snap out of it!' She called out.

The banshee was flying toward me, ready to land another blow. My eye suddenly regained focus, and I saw the ghastly figure approach rapidly. I rolled to the side to avoid her punch. I turned just in time to see her execute a somersault and fly back at me.

'Use your Essence, stupid!' Eva cried out to me.

I braced for impact. I reinforced my arms with Essence, and brought them before my head. I waited for the banshee to land her next hit. The next punch threw me a few paces backwards, but I didn't fall, nor did I feel the backlash her blows had on me. I immediately turned toward her, arms outstretched.

"Electo!" I screamed.

My Essence jolted out of my open palms and flew at the fairy. The latter didn't know what hit her. She was in the middle of performing another somersault. The spell connected and the banshee wailed. A bright green light illuminated the room, causing me to s.h.i.+eld my eye with my right arm. Next thing I know, Ofelia disappeared.

I looked at Eli who was on his knees, sweating profusely.

"Thanks," he said. He was out of breath. "Check on the old man, will you?"

I nodded and walked toward the Sebyan. He was lying on his back, wheezing and coughing. By the time I reached him, I instinctively flinched. His face had patches of dark purple on them. His eyes were gouged out. His legs were both bleeding. The dark green skin on them had peeled. He was in a terrible condition.

"Sister," he whispered. "Forgive me sister…"

I knelt next to him. "Hey old man, can you hear me?" I asked.

"Who's there?" he whimpered. "Is it you Toria?"

I heard Eli walk next to me. I looked up at him. "Man, that's terrible," he said.

"He won't make it," I said.

"Toria, sweet sister, forgive me…"

"Hey! Old man!" I yelled. "It's me, the human you just tried to kill!"

The old Sebyan turned his head toward me. His empty, bloodied sockets made me wince. "YOU!" he said. "You brought doom upon us all!"

"I just banished the d.a.m.ned thing," I told him. "How can we get out of here?"

"There's no getting out!" the old man said. "You'll stay here for the rest of your lives… Haaahahaha…"

His laughter went on for an abnormal amount of time, interrupted only by fits of b.l.o.o.d.y coughing. When he finally stopped, Boon was back to his delirious self.

"Toria, please forgive me, these old bones couldn't protect you…"

"Do you know anyone by this name?" I asked Eli.

He shook his head.

"How old is your daughter now, I wonder?" the old man went on. "I hoped you named her after our mother. I'm sorry…"

The old man started crying. There were no glands to produce tears for him, but his whimpers told us of his pain and suffering.

"We should put him out of his misery," I told Eli.

"Can't you let an old man die in peace?" he shot at me.

"Is this what you call peace?" I shot back.

Eli was about to answer but the old man had suddenly jumped at me and held me by the straps of my armor.

"Kill me," he begged. "I've suffered long enough, don't you see it old friend? Why punish me for so long? Tao, please, I'm begging you old friend, kill me."

"What do you say now?" I said. Eli remained silent.

"KILL ME!" the old man screamed. "KILL ME, YOU COWARD! YOU'VE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

He let go of me then fell back to the floor. "Oh my sweet Ella!" he said. "You'll grow up an orphan, oblivious to the fate of your father…"

"I've heard enough," Eli said. "Put him out of his misery."

I obeyed. I picked a knife from the floor. It was one the old Sebyan had in his pockets, one he had tried to use against me. I held Boon gently on my lap, then put the knife to his throat. The old man gasped as blood came rus.h.i.+ng out of the wound. He gurgled, gasped for breath. He tried to say something, but the words, as well as his life, were snuffed out of him.

I lay him on the floor then stood up.

"Now what?" I asked.

Eli had grown quiet. His eyes were out of focus. I waved my hand before him and he finally came back to life. He blinked at me, as though he barely remembered where he was.

"What happened to your neck?" he asked.

I brought my hand to the spot where the knife had cut me. Blood had stopped seeping from it. It was a superficial wound.

"That crazy old Sebyan tried to kill me," I said.

"I bet you used that name in front of him, did you?"

I grunted in response. Eli smiled but didn't pursue the matter any further.

"Do you really think there's no way out of here?" he asked.

"Impossible," I said. I was playing with the hunting knife in my hand, turning it around my forefinger. "They must have a way to get people out of here."

"What's this place anyway?" Eli asked.

"It's a prison," I said. "Mostly to put heinous criminals in. This old man must have been the worst, to stay here for so long."

"That vault we saw earlier," Eli told me. "Maybe we can get out of here from there."

"And how are we supposed to get there?" I asked. "It's at least thirty feet high. Let's look around first. We may find a simpler way, and more importantly, we need to find something to use against the banshee."

"I thought you already found one," Eli said. I didn't like the naïve smile he gave me.

"The current was too strong," I said. "The chain must've slipped from the bag and fell in the water."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Eli said. He was grinning at me, looking at my hand.

"What?" I said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I looked down to see what Eli was grinning about. I was holding a knife that the old Sebyan had thrown from his pockets. Upon closer inspection, or rather, upon gaining back my senses, I realized it was a golden knife. My heart jumped.

"That settles one problem," I grinned back at my skinny friend.

I fumbled in my pocket and drew the potion Nag had given me. "Take a gulp from this," I said. "It might be better than the nap Boon had suggested."