As you run to the throne room you think many things like "What does Calus want?" "What if something has happened?" and "Why is the run from the hanger to the throne room so long?!" When you finally made it to doors panting they opened and you made your way in front of the throne and kneeled in front of Calus.

"Rise," he says

You do and say "So what have you called me back for my lord?"

"One thing, a report on how your mission is coming along"

"Oh quite well so far only one attempt on my life," you respond casually

"You were almost killed?"

"Yes, a criminal syndicate known as the Kell's Scourge sent an assassin after me one morning I killed him but the Kell I talked to feared there would be more."

"That is... Problematic," He muttered then he turned his attention back to you "As much as it pains me to say this, we need the Eliksni's help in defeating Ghaul if you die I fear that this mission will not bear fruit and so because of that I will be sending Feltroc and Valus Nohr back with you."

"My liege I must decline this as the Kell that I have talked to about the assassination attempt has already said that I might get bodyguards and I'm sure other Kells will follow."

"This is not your choice and thinks of it as a team building exercise it will also be good for them to be off the ship as I fear they are no longer used to being on the field."

"... I understand my liege, when do you want me to return?"

"Tomorrow morning, you need some rest, but before you go is there anything else of importance that has occurred?"

"I believe that the mission will be a success if things continue as they have."

"Good, good, and have they decided on a shadow?"

"Not that I am aware of, but my liege if I may ask a question?"

"Continue,"

"Why automatically promote members of new allies, like me, to such a high position in our ranks?"

He leans forwards and smugs before saying "Simple if you promote one of their own to a high position then they will be happy and more willing to help."

"So you did not expect me to do good at my job then?"

"In truth, no I did not expect much of you but you have presently surprised me and if I could have chosen my shadow from Earth with seeing what you are now, I would have chosen you."

"You flatter me" you chuckled before turning to leave

You look behind you and say "Would you like me to go tell Feltroc and Nohr the news?"

"Yes then go get some rest you will need it if you are to deal with those two."

"That is not very reassuring," you muttered to yourself as you leave the throne room.

As you walk towards Nohr's room you could not help but let your thoughts wander before a curiosity overtook your mind.

"Hey ghost"

"Yeah?' it responds as it phases into existence beside you

"You know how we use the light right?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there also darkness?"

"Your ghost was silent for a long time before saying "Yes there is...why?"

"Is it possible to use the dark in the same way we use the light?"

"You're not thinking-"

"No of course not but I simply want to know if I ever have to fight people blessed by the dark if they will have the same powers as ourselves."

"Ok good, Truth be told I do not know I only the dark existences I know not of what it can do, why do you ask."

"Just a nightmare I had last night"

It was silent for a moment before saying "Oh ok"

As you continue to walk in silence towards Nohrs room the tension after you and your ghost's talk was cuttable but you just couldn't get that nightmare out of your head.

*Last Night in the Nightmare*

You open your eyes and saw blackness but not empty no far from it something was just out of sight wanting you to know it was there but not wanting to be seen. You felt helpless here in this dark it felt as if you were in the deep sea you couldn't feel your light that feeling you have become so accustomed to is now gone and in its place, fear, fear of what lurked behind that curtain of shadow fear of this nightmare as you haven't dreamed since you were chosen by The Traveler, and fear of the many, many luminescent eyes staring at you from that blackness and then a voice not from where the eyes were but as if it was in your mind a kind and gentle but also dark as if night was given to ability to speak.

"We wait for you, oh dreamer ours, dive, dive so we may talk in person, so that we may make your wildest dreams come true."

When you woke a feeling of uneasiness consumed your entire being for the rest of the morning you contemplated if what you saw was a dream or something more sinister, and if it were real then who or what contacted you and what did it want? You wanted answers and where better to go then The Leviathan and its massive libraries.

*Back to the Present*

"-N)! (Y/N)!" you ghost was floating in front of you yelling your name

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok you just kinda phased out there for a second."

"Oh yeah, I'm fine just daydreaming," you say as you plaster on a fake smile.

"Ok, I thought something was wrong there for a second."

After about a minute more of walking, you arrived at Nohr's chamber and knocked on the door after a minute she answered.

"Yes?"

"Calus wanted me to tell you that you will be joining me as my bodyguard, we will be leaving tomorrow."

"A little short notice but it will be nice to be back in the field."

"I will be seeing you tomorrow then?"

She nods before closing her door and you turn and leave to go to Feltroc's room and the conversation basically went the same (Also the Author didn't want to write down what is essentially the same conversation twice.) after that you made your way to the libraries when you arrived many psions were there so you went up to one and asked if they had anything on the darkness and surprisingly it nodded and beckoned you to follow it, it leads you to a older section of the library and picks up what looks like a very old and very big book it proceeds to say

"This book contains everything we have on The Darkness if you can't find what you need in there it doesn't exist."

"Ok thank you," you say

The psion nodded before leaving to go back to do whatever it was doing before you open the book and thankfully it had all the chapters labeled and the page numbers on the first few pages and you found two that interested you. The first being Minions of The Darkness and the second being The Formless One you opened to minions of The Darkness first after reading for awhile one passage caught your attention

"While many species have worshipped The Darkness in one form or another The Darkness itself rarely ever directly interferes with the material world instead leave those few it has contact to spread its message of carving the universe down to its final perfect shape one of the most well known are The Worm Gods, massive serpent-like creatures who instead of doing the work of The Darkness themselves try to convince others to do so, there are five known worm gods, Akka The Worm of secrets, Eir The Keeper of Order, Ur The Ever-Hunger, Xol, Will of the Thousands, and Yul The Honest Worm. Their last known location was trapped near the core of a large gas giant called Fundament a vast ocean planet."

You look at that last line "A vast ocean planet" and that nightmare you felt like you were in the water and that creature that talked to you the "Worm God," it told you to dive now this isn't concrete evidence but it is the only evidence you had to go off of so at least you know where you are going after this mission.

Word count: 1427