"We need to leave!" The reality of the situation gave Lotor enough clarity to ignore his decisions regarding the Altean.
Allura, still obviously shaken by watching the murder of one of her people, looked flabbergasted. "How?! You just killed our only hope!" Anger flashed across her face.
"Trust me. He was the power source." The words sounded bizarre even to his own ears. Amidst the panic, the distant thunder morphed into a heightening drone. The world hummed steadily, and lightning struck far too close. "This world is collapsing." He tightened his grip around his sword. "Allura, you need to get us out of here, please."
She looked torn. "What about any other Alteans here?"
Another blast erupted east of the storm, shaking the rocky ground further. Lotor lurched, cycling through ideas. Volcanic ash plumed into the sky which shattered like glass. An event horizon of emotion and memory loomed just off of consciousness, feeling like a massive sheet of tangled shreds: the last remnants of souls trapped here eons ago.
The realisation explained the strength of his own doubts. Fear spiked in his gut. He gripped her shoulders. "They are dead, Allura. Like him. I killed a facsimile. Please…"
It is coming. You are a fool.
"How?" Allura finally asked. "How do we leave?"
Thoughts were falling into place easily. His doubt became background noise as the gears in Lotor's mind started churning. "Concentrate. Open a wormhole," he ordered. His hair on the back of his neck stood as soon as the words left his mouth. Lotor could feel a presence targeting him.
A chilling whisper entered the din. It was not Lotor's usual company despite sounding eerily similar. "Weakling. Stupid. I should rip you apart."
"I can't without a teleduv!" Allura spat as if he were insane, cutting through the pandemonium.
"Just believe me, please!" Lotor pleaded. An intensifying sense of dread surged in his chest. Lightning struck high above them, ripping through the falling sky. He met her eyes. In a split second, he felt that every one of his uncertainties were laid bare against his will. He resisted it
Time slowed. Please. The words were unspoken but clearly understood. She seemed to make a decision.
"I will." She faced the east. A look of resolve hardened her beautiful face. It was desperately at odds with the ambiguity lacing her words.
Lotor turned his back to her as she knelt. He raised his blade into a defensive posture and stood ready to defend their only hope. Whatever was out there, was close.
His blade sliced cleanly through a shadowy wolf. Its body toppled onto the past dozen that had attempted to cross the pass. It ignited in a roaring blaze. The sky overhead was dark, a shade of deep violet.
Lotor spun to the right to evade a heavily clawed foot. His outstretched leg caught the animal across the neck, sending the beast rolling down the stony hill. A chorus of howls erupted from that same direction. Hundreds of raging crimson eyes were scrabbling over the loose rocks. Occasionally, one would burst into flames but otherwise they were indestructible.
He spared a glance at the princess. She was kneeling in the middle of the pass. Deep concentration etched over her face. Ripples of energy snaked slowly over the terrain towards her epicentre.
Lotor was unable to contemplate more. A beast launched itself over another and landed squarely in front of him. He evaded its mouthful of fangs and decapitated the creature moments before having to roll out of another's powerful charge.
Exhaustion was gnawing at his already depleted reserves. Use the strength all around you. Stop being an idiot. Lotor ignored the pain and temptation.
Instead, he quickly fell into a trance of battle, drawing on centuries of experience. Shadows in countless hideous visages fell in heaps before him, toppling over the crags and sending plumes of dust in their smoking paths. Lotor could have closed his eyes. A burning instinct drove his hand, guiding his skill with greater precision and speed. The sensation emanated from Allura, but he doubted it was purposeful.
It did not matter as the heavy blade swathed through the smoky air. Seconds piled over each other until minutes of the gruel had long since past. His muscles ached and each breath was leaden with ash.
Urgently, he turned to interrupt Allura with a warning when a horrific screech pierced Lotor's ears. His thoughts vanished, replaced with black fear.
"You are fools!"
The shadowy figure from before crested the hill. Wrath incarnate shown in every facet of its appearance. Roiling smoke wafted off its form like tentacles, each moving of its own accord. Deeply set crimson flames bored through Lotor's soul, stripping through his every wall.
That terrible feeling of violation scalded his thinking.
Fight!
He rushed forward. Now being armed with sword; it gave him confidence, lifted his soul. He feigned high before pivoting his right foot to change course towards the creature's chest.
The wraith was quick. It batted the weapon aside with a smoke tentacle. Another darted under Lotor's swing and impacted with the prince's ribcage.
He barely had enough time to suck in a breath. He took two steps back, regaining his footing before launching himself forward again this time moving in a semi-circle to move himself between the creature and the princess. A flurry of fast strikes directed towards the wraith's would-be shoulder sent the thing backward.
The small victory only lasted a moment. It screeched horrifically and whirled, closing the gap Lotor had just created. It smashed a ghostly, smoking staff into Lotor's horizontal block with otherworldly strength. Lotor was forced onto his back foot as the vibration shook up his arm and clattered his teeth.
A coiled tentacle drove forcefully under the lock, once again. It connected with his ribcage again, sending him sprawling backward and rolling nearly through Allura's epicentre.
Lotor quickly recovered, gritting his teeth against the pain. He would not allow the attack again. He rushed forward, noting his lost ground. However, the creature was clearly focused on him.
The prince threw himself into another brutal attack, this time, sparing none of his own strength and swinging ferociously. His arm snapped downwards in a lightning fast attack on another low coming tentacle. He was surprised when the blade cut through the smoke as if it were real flesh.
The sudden loss of one of its tentacles seized an initial attack towards his face. Lotor still ducked on instinct before quickly turning the defensive pose into another attack on an incoming tentacle from his right. His sword cut satisfyingly through another appendage.
He was close enough now to take on the beast. Lotor sprung upright and landed a heavy kick to its abdomen. With a grunt, he spun his sword and intended to drive the blade home.
His advantage was cut short instantly, and he was knocked off his feet by a wave of energy erupting from the wraith's sizzling talons. Its last tentacle snapped across his wrist and curled violently. He was sent flying across the stony ground even before landing from the initial attack. A harsh pop sounded from his wrist and his back smacked wetly into the ravine's craggy walls.
He grunted and forced his legs to fold under him moments before a net of oily smoke tentacles overwhelmed him like an ebony sea. His vision eclipsed and his throat closed from the ashen air.
The sickly voice grated over the din of howls. "I am quintessence incarnate. Submit. I devour." It held the same melody of scraping iron against rock.
An invisible hand clenched over his throat; another, a spiritual one, gripped his heart.
"Lay yourself bare," it commanded.
He dug his heels in deep. Focus. This was no longer a battle of flesh. It was something, new altogether.
Focus. Lotor imagined blast doors falling over his every thought. That familiar spark reared itself in the back of his mind. It was not the angry brilliant red spark from his original encounter with this wraith. It was the gentle, steady river that always accompanied Allura. He focused on that inner strength.
It dwelt like a mirage, only a handspan away. Lotor reached for it.
A flash of lightning struck with an ear-splitting crack. The moment vanished and his novice talent withered. White heat flooded his vision. His muscles contorted free of his will. His father's laugh echoed from memory. It was harsh. Images of hell burst to life before him in fragments of memory. His soul stretched terribly. He suddenly felt ages old.
You are weak.
That voice, Lotor recognised as common. He thought, it is not enough. I am not enough. I will never be enough. Lotor could have sobbed, not for the physical pain but for the truth of the words in that moment. He thought of his mother, one so full of skill, yet still dispossessed of what he desired.
You can be enough.
No. I can never be enough. The truth hurt. He shut everything out, spurned attempting to escape. He gave up in fey despair. Words and voices erupted in a raucous chorus. They were memories given life by this horrid place. The wraith drew closer, leaning forward as if to truly consume him. Time slowed. The burning ash circling around them seemed to freeze mid-air. Flames ignited all around him and the monster. It opened its putrid maw. Lotor was burning. His last thought begged the princess to hurry.
Gathering his strength, he wrenched his muscles to life, not bothering to tap into the twisted power swirling around them. It would betray him if he used it. He screamed.