The cold air hit Eldwin in the face as he descended into a dark stairwell. Voices echoed ahead of him. He could hear his mother and Kirk talking as if nothing had happened. He knew his mother wouldn't do anything to hurt them on purpose, but this man who was leading them down into the pits of darkness should not be trusted. "Hey, Rax," he heard his mother's voice. He held his breath, waiting for her words, "How much further down again?"

"To be honest, I am uncertain. It's been a while, but at least it's a straight shot." Eldwin sighed a breath of relief; from the distance, it sounded like they weren't close to one another yet. "Eldwin," the teacher spoke, catching him off guard, "have you been watching the walls as you walk downwards? It took quite a few years, but I made it my life project to write out who I was and how I came to be the way you see me now. From living as a street rat in Anderil to living as Alfred in this world."

"So, what should I call you?" Eldwin snarked as he looked at a picture with the man in the brown breastplate standing beside a woman with green hair, a daughter with green hair in pigtails, and two more minor twin boys. "Um, Alfred." He spoke with uncertainty. He watched as the light stopped before heading back in his direction.

"You can call me Abraxas if you wish. That is the name I was born with, and I see no reason to keep up pretenses unless you wish to continue calling me Alfred or Mr. Del Mastro." Eldwin shuddered; he didn't like calling the teacher by either name, but at least Abraxas was cooler than Alfred. "What can I do for ya?" The teacher asked. Eldwin looked up into his face. So many conflicted feelings fought to take over, but he didn't know which one to give in to.

"Who is with you in this picture?" Eldwin trailed off as Abraxas turned and stared at the painting. A tear appeared in his eye, and he wiped it away.

"That is a picture of my family. The woman I met after working at the palace and our three children. My sons grew into fine warriors like myself; however, after I sent them to aid the war efforts in Regina, I never saw them again. My wife died in my arms from an illness she had been battling days later." 

Eldwin stared at the picture; the woman was hauntingly pretty. Movement from behind him pulled his mind away. Turning his head, he stared back into the darkness. It was so thick he felt he could wear it. "Shall we continue?" His teacher asked, pulling him away from his thoughts, "We still have a lot of ground to cover, and there is no telling how far your mother and Kirk have gotten at this rate."

 "Alright," Eldwin said as Abraxas moved back down the steps. Eldwin looked back. Not seeing anything, he shrugged and continued down the steps. Eldwin followed Abraxas' light as the sound of something dragging on the floor behind him met his ears. "Um, Abraxas," Eldwin said as the sound grew louder with each step. "I keep hearing noises." He felt a strong hand wrap around his wrist and pushed him past him down the steps.

 "Keep moving," Abraxas shouted as Eldwin leaned against the wall to keep from falling. Eldwin Eldwin jerked his head around and watched as a black hand reached toward Abraxas. The teacher jabbed the sword towards the hand. A scream sounded from the darkness as it shot back into hiding. Abraxas spun on his heels and pushed a hand against Eldwin's shoulder.

"What was that?"

"No time to explain; keep moving."

 Eldwin bolted down the steps with Abraxas' footsteps falling fast behind him. Rocks flew past him as a hand shot through the wall and grabbed at him with outstretched pitch-black fingers. Eldwin ducked from the debris as Abraxas stabbed at the hand, sending it back where it had come from. Eldwin's heart skipped a beat as he watched the spindly fingers reach for his leg. A stern grip grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out of reach. His back hit the wall of the stairwell as he watched his teacher slam his blade into the creature's palm to the hilt. 

Abraxas!" Eldwin shouted as he reached with a handout, hoping to grab his. He knew the teacher could take care of himself. From his skills and the wall, he was a trained warrior and possessed great power and skill he wished he possessed. Eldwin gripped his bracelet and raced toward Abraxas. He didn't know how, but he had to help. Pulling it off, he felt a cold sensation shoot through his veins. He gritted his teeth. At first, it stung and took his breath away. The colder his body got, the easier it was to breathe.

Imagining his ice appearing in his hand, pushing his fist forward, raising it, and slamming it down quickly. A loud thud followed his movements. He silently prayed that he had done something to the monster, not his teacher. A shrill sound came from the teacher's direction as the ground shook. Eldwin opened his mouth to call out as his teacher appeared before him as if he was jumping several steps at a time. The hand shot out and closed at the teacher's back. Eldwin watched the teacher swing around, severing several of the monster's fingers.

"Blood control," Abraxas said at last as he landed beside him. Eldwin cocked his head, wondering what he was talking about, "Do me a favor tho, don't use that power anymore without permission. That can be a deadly ability if used on the wrong target." Eldwin turned and pounded down the steps, two, maybe three at a time. The air around them began dropping in degrees as frost coated the paintings.

"I wasn't aware I had used this power. I'll try to be careful."

 "That's all I ask. When we get to safety, I shall help you explore your powers so you don't have to worry about it." Eldwin glanced down at his hand. So much of this didn't make sense. "We can't stay here long; Angie will return soon." Eldwin whipped his head around to his teacher and watched as he passed him. Swallowing a limp in his throat, Eldwin bounded down the steps two at a time. He didn't want to be destroyed by this Angie monster, but perhaps dying would be a quick way out of this mess.

 After running down what felt like a hundred steps, Eldwin doubled over, panting hard. He placed a hand against the wall and felt the surface freeze over. He turned his head and, through the ice, noticed the identical twin brothers with two dragons that had scales the same color as their breastplates. He went to look closer, and Abraxas' voice reverberated toward him. "Keep moving. We won't be safe until we arrive at my homestead!"

 "Who is..." Eldiwn trailed off as the hand shot through the wall once more. He imagined the stairs turning into an icey slide as the temptation around him dropped even further. The ground below him turned into a slick surface. He fell on his bottom and began sliding. A female's scream sounded through the darkness.

"Rax," his mother cried out. Loud banging came from the darkness around him. Anxiety rose through him as his heart pounded hard against his chest. Rocks pelted his head, causing him to throw both his arms over his head. A roar shook his core as sweat began beading his forehead. He couldn't die, not yet. He wasn't ready. Eldwin closed his eyes as he felt pain shoot through his arm, causing him to cry out. 

"You're almost at the bottom; hang on," Abraxas answered somewhere below him. Eldwin opened his eyes and saw a red-glowing pair stare back at his own. Eldwin screamed as he slid under a pair of outstretched fingers, waiting for its prey. Light began filling the ice-covered chamber, allowing him to see a glob on the ceiling following him. It was almost circular, yet he could make out a face. The face was as pitch black as the rest of it, with glowing eyes in the middle and teeth peeking over what he assumed were the upper lips of the monster's mouth.

The ground below Eldwin began shaking as the monster sent its tentacles down to him. The ground broke away as the black, slimy substance wrapped around his waist and jerked him closer to the ceiling. The monster opened its maw and dragged the struggling boy towards its mouth. "Kolleeza!" Abraxas cried in the darkness. The beast let out a loud, shrill hissing as it released its prey and disappeared higher up through the cavern.

Eldwin fell downward for what he thought lasted forever. Once he hits the ground, he will be dead. Gritting his teeth, Eldwin formed a fist, allowing the coldness to engulf him. He couldn't let that happen. "Rax," his mother screamed once more. Eldwin rolled over in the air, hoping to find a way to use his abilities to break his fall. Tentacles shot up around him. He glanced around, counting at the last eight, making the creature either related to a squid or, worse, an arachnid. Eldwin's eyes widened as the tentacles wrapped around him, dragging him toward its gapping mouth faster. He tried screaming and squirming. The tentacles held tight and wrapped around his mouth. He was going to die for sure.

 A foul stench of death and rotten flush rushed toward his nostrils as he was dragged closer. Eldwin closed his eyes, waiting for death. Hopefully, the monster will kill him in one go and not force him to suffer. A shrill whistle sounded from somewhere in the distance. He felt a dark abyss below him as the tentacles stopped moving. Eldwin glanced down and started struggling more. He was close to the creature. He could almost see down its throat. Perhaps a quick, painless death won't be in the card for him after all.

 Closing his eyes, he waited for the right time to strike the monster, hoping he could time his abilities to freeze the creature. Eldwin gritted his teeth when he felt the tentacles slacken around his body and the sensation of him flying. He watched as the solid wall before him lightened until the tentacle raised him into a cavern lit by several torches. Abraxas stood by with his mother standing beside him, kneeling and rummaging through her backpack.

 The tentacles set Eldwin in front of Abraxas before retreating into the darkness. Eldwin glanced around. The cavern was well-rounded at the top but huge so that a large animal would fit inside. "What—what just happened?" Eldwin asked as he leaned forward, hands on his knees, panting.

"Rax, catch." Eldwin looked at his mother as she dragged a big red and white hunk of meat out of her backpack and tossed it toward the men. Eldwin looked at Abraxas and watched as he picked it up and headed toward the cavern's edge, where the monster awaited someone who fell in.

"Eldwin, I would like for you to meet Angelina. She's one of my best pets and the first guard of my sanctuary."

"She does her job, great." Eldwin huffed.

"Indeed she does," Abraxas smiled as he threw in the meat. "I'm afraid, due to the change in worlds, she hasn't been able to get out and hunt like she would use to. The poor thing attacked us because she was starving." Eldwin peered over the edge and watched as the monster swallowed it whole. "Now, Angelina. Please tell the others that I am home, and more than likely, Sari will be staying home when I cross over to Anderil."

The monster let out an ear-piercing roar that caused rocks to call from the ceiling before disappearing further into the blackness. "Why did you name her Angelina?" Eldwin watched the teacher glance over at his mother from the question as a smile displayed on his face. 

"Let's say someone close to me named her that. Angelina liked her name, so I allowed her to keep it." Eldwin looked away as Abraxas began glancing around the room where they resided. "I hate to say it, but avoiding Angelina was easy. Evading her causion, however." Eldwin jerked his head up as the walls and floor began shaking. He watched as Abraxas walked over a solid wall and placed his hand on it. A hand appeared under him before allowing the doorway to open in the wall.

"Master," Kirk said, causing Eldwin to whirl his head around, "You don't mean."

"Who..." Eldwin trailed off as white stringy hair began forming at the bottom of the pit.

"I would start running before Cassy sees you; also, she's part Gorgon," Abraxas stated as Eldwin watched his mother scoot past him and into the darkness of the new cavern. "Don't look into her eyes." Eldwin and Kirk exchanged worried glances with one another before they squeezed into a single file through the new opening. Eldwin ran in front of Kirk as rocks began falling over their head. Hands shot down through the ceiling; Eldwin watched as Abraxas jumped over several fingers that appeared under him and even ducked under ones coming through the ceiling. Eldwin tried matching his teacher's movements as he passed each obstacle.

A loud explosion sounded as rocks fell onto Eldwin, knocking him to the floor. Air was knocked out of his lungs as a stone cage of fingers began descending toward him. Eldwin's heart beat fast as he watched the hand lower toward him. He put his palms on the ground and tried forcing himself to stand, but the monster was too quick for him and began pressing its palm into his back. Eldwin squirmed from the pressure that was being applied as the pressure became too unbearable. It would be a matter of time before every bone began breaking under the pressure.

A loud swoosh came from above him as the pressure lightened. He jerked his head upwards as he watched Kirk land on the other side of the hand, holding a katana in his hand. The fingers that had him caged exploded and flew into several different areas, allowing Eldwin to rise to his feet. He watched Kirk put his sword back into his bracelet before swinging his head in his direction. "Get a move on already, morron. Before we die would be a great start!" A smile twinged at Eldwin's face. It was about time he started acting like himself again.

Nodding, Eldwin ran past Kirk and listened as the other boy's footsteps fell in sync behind him. The earth trembled, and he almost fell as he descended the windy path the teacher and the head put them on. After running for ten minutes, Eldwin noticed a raised panel in the ground as Abraxas headed toward it. He opened his mouth to warn his teacher as Abraxas reached for his foot and slammed it onto the pressure plate. "Eldwin," the teacher shouted as the ground began opening up, "jump here!" 

The sounds of gears clicking and rock rubbing against rock meet his ears. He whirled around, searching for the source, but the sound grew louder as he drew closer to the hole in the wall, along with the roar of rapidly running water. Arriving at the hole, he stopped and sucked in a deep breath before turning around. The sound of Kirk's steps was becoming more frantic. He grabbed at his bracelet once more. If Kirk led the monster to them, it was his turn to repay him.

Eldwin watched as Kirk rounded the bin with a monster with long white, stringy hair and albino snakes scattered throughout, rounded the corner. "What are you doing, nerd? Don't look at her eyes, remember!" Kirk bellowed as he closed the gap between them. "Jump, I'll be right behind you!" Eldwin turned away. He wanted to help, but Kirk was right. There was no way to do that as things currently stood. Gritting his teeth, he jumped into the hole as blackness surrounded him before submerging into icy cold water.