FOR THIS
The troll landed in a heap in the middle of the building. He tried to stand and roared in frustration, and the stone around him warped and wiggled.
Seymour stared. “What in the actual fuck…?”
The ceiling collapsed inward, crushing the troll. The segments between the doorways broke off and stretched up, meeting in the air above the sunken ceiling. They twisted together tighter and tighter until there was no space left between them, and…
Huh.
It looked like a stone ice cream cone.
The stone shifted again:
hA Ha hAaa
I WiNnn
hOmE nOw pleeaSe
“Holy shit, Izba.” Seymour laughed hysterically. “That was… That was… Wow!”
heLp SHILOH
HELP
HELP
HELP
The word repeated, getting bigger and bigger each time.
“He is very hurt!” Day meowed.
Sariel turned around, quickly rushing back. “We are coming!”
Shiloh was on his side, his body twisted into several weird angles. He did not appear to be conscious, but he was breathing at least. Blood pooled around his head in an ever-growing puddle, and the unusual positioning of his body was due to both of his legs being quite obviously broken.
“What the fuck happened?” Seymour slipped out of Sariel’s arms.
“It appears the troll crushed him.” Sariel kneeled and several of his golden muscular tendrils wiggled out to curl around Shiloh’s legs and hips, perhaps in hope of stabilizing his many injuries. “I will heal him enough so that I can move him safely, but we must leave this place as soon as possible.”
“Sooner the fuckin’ better.” Seymour looked around the vast maze.
The lantern men were tirelessly fighting the dwindling horde. Most of the monsters had died or fled, and what few had shown up to join the fight seemed to have also run off.
Including the imp with the brain.
“Did any of y’all see what happened to the brain?” Seymour asked suddenly. “I saw it for a second and then nothin’.”
“The brain?” Day stared. “I… I don’t remember.”
“I saw that snake lookin’ guy with it!” Seymour pointed back at the building behind them, hope fluttering through his chest. “He had a brain! Fancy, shiny lookin’ brain! It had to be Talos’s. It was glowing and was all gold and shit! Okay, I guess it was technically bronze, but?—”
“Seymour,” Sariel said, his tone gentle but firm.
“What?” Seymour waved his arms. “That was it! The fuckin’ thing I need to finish this shit! You remember, right? Crazyfaeries, your demon boss? Did you see where that guy went? We could?—”
“Seymour.” Sariel’s eyes blazed. “Shiloh is very badly injured. I am injured as well. I am trying to heal him.”
