AN: Again, a ridiculous gap between updates. I appreciate those of you who continued to leave encouragement even though I hadn't updated in months! It's because of you folks that I actually stirred up the energy to punch out a new chapter. Y'all are great.

Let me just say up front that I know this isn't much of a chapter, and I know how much it sucks when you've been waiting on an update for a long time and it fails to deliver. But don't worry! I plan to come back very soon with a 12th chapter in which stuff happens. I just really wanted you guys to know that I hadn't forgotten about this story, but I really don't have it in me to crank out a serious chapter tonight, and I was afraid if I put it off it wouldn't happen at all. So forgive me, and keep your eyes peeled for another update soon!

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Several minutes pass before Kartik pulls back and looks at me. The panic in his eyes frightens me more than the monster had, for I have never seen Kartik show anxiety so openly.

"Are you all right?" he asks, his voice a gruff half-whisper.

Though not completely certain of my answer, I nod slowly and heavily, loosening my hold on his forearms. "Are you?"

He ignores the question, his manner uncharacteristically jumpy and nervous. "Did you see it? Did you see what it was?"

I shook my head. I hadn't seen anything. But the overwhelming fear projected by whatever it was still coursing furiously through me. I tremble uncontrollably, my knees soft and unsteady. I feel weak, nauseated, anxious. I can't shake it off, no matter how many deep breaths I try to take.

"Do you think it was the creaure Lenora spoke of?"

That is something I am certain of. "Yes. I haven't a single doubt that they are the same. The fear…the creature created that fear. It has it's own source of power. I…bloody hell, what am I…" I trail off, suddenly short of breath, not wishing to further ponder what might face me next.

I am shaking, shivering, longing to wake up from the nightmare. Now safe in my bedchamber, the fear begins to ooze out of me like tar, slowly and thickly. I gradually begin to feel lighter, calmer. Yet I don't lose the sureness that I never, ever want to set foot in the Realms again. I am just a child. I can't face that creature again. I can't do this anymore. I want to rid myself magic entirely, to crawl beneath the blankets on my warm, safe bed and never resurface.

I feel like such a coward that it makes me sick, but I have no more energy for bravery. I fall into Kartik's arms and weep quietly, not bothering with propriety or courage or strength any longer.

He strokes my hair as my tears dampen his shirt, his body still somewhat tense. "Not just fear," he murmurs after some time, pulling me closer. "Utter despair. Do you not feel it? I feel as if I want to crawl into a dark corner and die."

I realise that he is right. Oh, God, what have I come up against? How can I battle a creature that inspires so monstrous a fear and so deep a despair that it brings its enemies to their knees? And surely those were not the only powers it posessed. Certainly it is hopeless. Certainly I can do nothing.

Though I can barely sum up the energy to do so, I use a little bit of magic to push the creature's power from our bodies. The change is excruciatingly slow, but soon both of us straighten, as if a great weight has been lifted off. I feel a warmth cross over my face as I begin to realise how improper our embrace is – and how very little I care.

"Well," sighs Kartik, his voice considerably brighter. "It wasn't all I'd expected to be. But certainly worth the trip."

"How can you say that?" I demand, amazed that he can still have a sense of humour. "We barely escaped with our lives!"

"Precisely," he answers, his fingers absently tracing the line of my collarbone. "We got a glimpse of the adversary we face, but escaped mostly unscathed. Besides, the visit wasn't all bad."

He is smirking, and it irks me that he can be so light-hearted about what just happened. Then again, he is not responsible for whatever havoc the creature wreaks.

"Oh, Kartik, what am I going to do?" I sigh, my voice shaking as my hands fist into the muslin of my gown. I am still overwhelmed by the urge to simply give up. After all, I didn't ask for this to happen to me.

"We will go to Brighton as planned. We will meet with your friends. All of us, for we are now a collective. We must be united from the start."

"And then?" I press, needing some comfort, some assurance that this will have a happy ending.

"And then," Kartik echoes, and I know by his long sigh that I'm not going to like his answer. "We are going about this too blindly, Gemma. We need information. We need help."

I hold his gaze, daring him to say it. His eyes don't wander from mine as he speaks. "We cannot avoid them any longer. We must make contact with the Order."