text: The shaft dropped a good hundred feet before Dhane reached the bottom. It was markedly colder down here in the spacious room. Stalactites hung like icicles from the ceiling, some massive, surrounded by hundreds of little knobby protrusions, others were broken and cracked.
  
  The room had an organic feel to it, the walls smooth and rounded. Mounds of rock reached up toward the ceiling, somehow glistening despite the complete lack of light. Water dripped from everywhere into little pools that echoed.
  
  Knock jumped the last few rungs, feet slapping the cold stone. Desley drew another symbol in the air, and the distant grinding of stone echoed from above.
  
  "See Mahai first," Desley said. "Then Mother of Shadows."
  
  "Mahai not be happy," Knock said then stood straight-backed with an overly serious expression that didn't fit the little green guy. He jabbed a finger at Desley. "You be fodder! No be here. No meat, no meat for you."
  
  "Mahai no talk like that," Desley said. "And we go back soon. Lost Shadow more important. If meat so great, you go back. I take blame. Now, come fresh Shadow."
  
  Knock pursed his lips in thought, then eyeballed the ladder. Finally, he shook his head. "Fodder needs two. Must go with fodder partner. Always."
  
  Desley led the way through a maze of paths. Many were interrupted with pits of spikes covered in illusions, others ran to dead ends.
  
  Round and round they went, following the stone that split off to new directions, over archways and makeshift bridges, down into short, winding tunnels.
  
  Anyone else would find this trek maddening, but Dhane loved this stuff, loved getting lost out in the unknown. He memorized every step of the way, an important skill for an explorer.
  
  Outside the fifth short tunnel, the area filled with a rumble of distant water. It seemed to be coming from the stone itself, from all around. Just another layer to the maze to disorient adventurers.
  
  Knock ran forward with gleeful steps. Desley called after him, though the little Cobalin ignored her and disappeared around another crook in the path.
  
  "Idiot," Desley said, shaking her head. "Never listen! I head fodder, but he be stubborn."
  
  "Do you have to work with him?" Dhane asked.
  
  "Yes. Per law of fodder. Partners in fodder, partners in life."
  
  They were married? He crooked an eyebrow and she glared back in reply as if any mention of it was too much of a reminder.
  
  They turned a corner and ahead, almost as if levitating in the air, was a woman. A scantly clad woman with delicate features, bent suggestively, her skirt barely covering her bottom, and huge breasts stretching the material of one red-laced bra.
  
  "Helloooo, strong adventurers," came a scraping, small, somewhat feminine voice. "I'm lost and scared. Pleasssse help."
  
  "Agh! Knock!" Desley yelled and her voice echoed down a chasm Dhane hadn't even seen, two steps away. A river rushed far below, the path, slick and angled toward the ledge.
  
  Knock jumped out from behind them. "It be perfect! Adventurers so dumb, so lusty for my busty, see statue . . . jump in my hole!"
  
  "No one jump in your hole, they not that dumb. Statue ugly!"
  
  Knock gasped. "Statue not ugly! Statue perfect."
  
  "Alright-alright," Dhane interjected, standing between the two Cobalins with their little green fists ready to duke it out. "How did you do the voice? You weren't over there."
  
  Knock grinned and hooked a thumb at his chest. "Sound illusion maker! You human, step on sound trigger. Is good?"
  
  Dhane examined the statue, carved from a stalactite. It was rough work, though, with the pieces of random clothing and the voice, it just might get someone to take a misstep.
  
  Of course, not for reasons of lust. No one went spelunking, looking for sensual pleasures. He finally said, "It'd probably work better if she was crying and less sexy."
  
  Desley clapped and nodded. "I say same thing! Less sexy."
  
  Knock frowned. "Don't like busty?" he said slowly, as if the words didn't make any sense. He pointed to Desley and shook his head. "She flat like board."
  
  "Am not! Enough of this, we going." She marched off, shoulders pinched, obviously caring more about Knock's opinion than she would admit.
  
  Desley rounded a stalagmite, drew a symbol on the wall, and pushed light into it. The stone wall opened to a massive bowl of a room, filled from ceiling to floor with misshapen stone towers, staircases ringing them, rooms on every floor with little windows. Everything was lit by torches and bonfires, giving the entire town an orange glow.
  
  Two male guards at the door had their spears at the ready. They were nice weapons that matched equally nice armor, black and glossy, reflecting the room's light.
  
  "Tatti adda dun?" one guard asked, evident by the inflection in his voice.
  
  Desley glared. "Here is fresh Shadow. See Mahai."
  
  The guard who had spoken looked over Dhane, then sniffed. "Burrah...."
  
  "Yes, but of Shadow, not Light."
  
  This seemed to surprise the guard. He squinted for a moment, then his eyes went wide. He shouted something and both guards straightened, stepped to the side, and smashed the butts of their spears against the ground at the same time.
  
  Desley moved past the guards and down an enormous staircase that led into Dedu Tedu. There were hundreds of Cobalins, climbing the stairs of towers, arguing, training in courtyards, cooking, and bartering at merchant booths.
  
  The ceiling was a storm of smoke, constantly undulating, and something else. It seemed to be aware, an entity of its own, watching the small Cobalins and now Dhane.
  
  An icy chill ran down his back and he looked away. "So," he started, making sure they were out of earshot of the guards, "those guards don't seem to do much, but they have really nice gear."
  
  "Yes," Desley said, "they royal bloods. Guarding entrance is great honor."
  
  "But why don't you guys have better gear?"
  
  "Fancy armor not useful. Would attract more adventurers, more riches to find, more evil to commit."
  
  "And you're okay with being fodder?"
  
  Desley raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Of course! Great honor, more than boring guard duty. See surface. Breathe free air."
  
  Pathways broke away from the stairs, running across random bridges, some tiny, barely needing a bridge at all, others arched between buildings and towers. And despite the great distances between the bridges and the floor below, none of them had handrails or anything to prevent someone from falling.
  
  The Cobalins didn't seem to value life at all. While fodder pits made some sense—a small sacrifice for the ruse, to hide a civilization—their construction efforts seemed to invite death by accident.
  
  Desley turned onto an offshoot path highly adorned with precious metals, symbols, and flowers that were drooping over the edges of their pots with wilted petals.
  
  This path had a guard in shiny armor, standing at attention. He didn't react to Desley, nor did he seem to care that a human, twice his height, was with her. Knock, on the other hand, got a curt nod.
  
  "What was that about?" Dhane asked him.
  
  "Tugi is great wizard," Knock said. "Has slain all foes of Cobalin—dragons, en demons, en great boars. He—"
  
  "—is in Knock's role-playing group," Desley finished.
  
  "You role-play?" Dhane asked. "Like dungeon master and players?"
  
  "Oh!" Knock said and lit up. "You know this? You play game of imagination?"
  
  Dhane thought about it. Of course, he had played D&D and Pathfinder and even one for Star Wars, though up until that point, it was as if none of those things had happened. His past life was a dam of memories, leaking through, turning the turbines as those experiences fell away.
  
  The adventures were still there: the fun, the excitement, the exploration of creativity. But the people? They were just blurs. No-named blurs. . ..
  
  Dhane finally replied, "In a past life." The words stirred an odd emotion of sadness mixed with a sense of not caring. It was a life that clearly defined him, and he should feel something for it, though instead, it was the past and this was now.
  
  Knock nodded, then smiled. "You must join group. You could be . . . Cobalin. Haha! Yes! The group already play human, so it works."
  
  "Knock," Desley said, "he no want to join stupid imagination game."
  
  "How you know? Dhanie? We meet after Taco Tuesday."
  
  Dhane laughed. Cobalins had Taco Tuesday? He shrugged. "Maybe."
  
  Knock hit his chest with a fist and smiled, then smiled wider at Desley's dismayed reaction.
  
  The path led to a bridge that swerved between three towers, using the towers as support. Dhane swallowed hard and took the full width of the bridge while Desley and Knock casually walked side-by-side. Luckily, no one was traveling in the opposite direction.
  
  The bridge led to a dome building, cut from white stone, maybe marble. It was smooth and glossy, reflecting firelight and the shifting, shadowy form from the ceiling.
  
  Desley stopped by the door where another guard waited, then turned to Dhane. "Mahai is leader and savior of Dedu Tedu. He welcomes those of Shadow, serves mother, and want to know you. I know of no other like you, an adventurer and Shadow, a kind person. Just know, Mahai sensitive about his size. You no mention."
  
  And with that, she motioned to the guard and he opened the door. The four of them, including the guard, stepped into a foyer with a brass bell hanging in the wall. The guard rang it three times, then stood at attention.
  
  Beyond the foyer was a room far larger than it had appeared outside. Everything was sculpted with precision and a mind toward art and creativity. Flowers reached toward a ceiling of glowing light, as if a piece of the sky had been stolen for this single room.
  
  Hundreds of tiny statues of people, of creatures, of imagination, held flowers perfectly chosen for their colors and textures. They almost seemed to glow with life, far different than those flowers at the start of the path.
  
  There were winding trails, smoothly cut from stone, that circled the room, up the sides of the walls to higher gardens. And from above, from those gardens, large golden eyes watched.
  
  White scales caught the light as the form glided from behind the decorated walls. It made no sound as it moved, like a serpent, gliding through water unnoticed. Except, soundless or not, it was impossible to ignore it for its size alone demanded attention and respect.
  
  "Hello Desley and Knock, I see you have brought me a guest," a smooth and deep voice resonated throughout the room. It spoke perfect English, and even so, Desley seemed unaware.
  
  "Yes, Mahai. This Dhane, fresh Shadow, lost Shadow. Bring to you and mother."
  
  "Thank you, Desley," Mahai said, entering the main room. He was a dragon, of sorts, without wings. A giant snake with a mixture of white scales and blue feathers. He curled in the air, head as big as any human, probably could kill Dhane in one bite. "Now please, return to your position on the surface."
  
  "Yes, Mahai," Desley and Knock said at the same time. They turned and Knock slapped Dhane on the butt, then gave a him crooked-tooth grin. He whispered, "No you forget, Taco Tuesday."
  
  Mahai dismissed the guard with the others, and once they were alone, silently considered Dhane, looking at every fiber of his being from giant, golden eyes, a gaze that seemed to burn.
  
  "I can see the Shadow in you, human. It is a strange thing, unformed, yet unmistakably present. Tell me, why did you not choose a divinity of Light?"
  
  "I didn't get to choose," Dhane said. "When I approached the Lion, he said I couldn't choose two divinities. But I never chose a divinity."
  
  "The Lion? So that would have been your choice?"
  
  "Yes."
  
  "You say that with such confidence. Well, I appreciate your honesty. Though life as it were, never seems to go as planned, does it? If you did not choose a divinity of Shadow, then it would appear you were chosen instead."
  
  "But why?"
  
  "That is not for me to know. Your fate is outside of my domain. The divinities are always locked in balance, perhaps you are the pawn that reaches the other side, the pawn that can offset the balance and become something new."
  
  "I really don't understand. Not this world, not the Cobalins, not why you send Desley and Knock to be fodder for adventures. I died and now I'm standing before . . . a dragon?"
  
  Mahai laughed a booming sound. He unwound himself and shifted down toward the ground, changing his shape to a man with impossibly white skin, and eyes larger than natural. He stood naked, blue feathers running down his sides, and . . . nothing between his legs.
  
  "A dragon, you say?" His voice a deep baritone, yet singsong and smooth. "I am no dragon, lost Shadow. I am a Volantes Serparie, servant to the Shadow divinities, savior to the Cobalin."
  
  Mahai held out his hand. "Please, Dhane, walk with me for you have much to learn and the Mother of Shadows to meet."
  
  Dhane accepted Mahai's hand; it was very warm to the touch, a warmth that seemed to spread from his hand, up his arm, and into his chest. A calming warmth, like the divinities on the mountaintop.
  
  Mahai didn't let go and instead walked with Dhane up a smooth, curving path. "I am touched for your concern of Desley and Knock, they are good souls. But you do not understand this world. Of course, this is of no fault of your own. I can only imagine the confusion you've had to bear.
  
  "You see, most here are like you, in the sense that death brought you to this world, this plane of existence that transcends the physical. All souls who persist here, come from one plane or another.
  
  "Most people, however, are granted knowledge from their divinity. The mere fact that you are of Shadow instead of Light, despite arriving atop of Paradeise Vono, the Heaven's Mountain, speaks of great powers in the works."
  
  Dhane thought about that for a moment. "Why does it matter so much that I'm of Shadow?"
  
  "Because Gameus does not permit the divinities of Shadow to new, human transcendents. For you to be of Shadow must have taken a lot of effort from the Mother to tilt the game in her favor."
  
  "But I don't want to be of Shadow. Isn't Shadow evil?"
  
  Mahai laughed. "No, Shadow is merely the counter to Light. They both exist in balance. It is this balance that creates the game that all souls here play, fighting for their side. Morality does not play a part, for this is a game with objectives, successes, failures, and no permanent ends."
  
  Mahai stopped before an archway. "You wanted to know why Desley and Knock are fodder. They distract the players of Light from this town. The Cobalin were defeated and scattered. I brought them here and now protect them. And through the powers of the divinities of Shadow, should they die as fodder to adventurers, they'll be given life again."
  
  "If balance is so important, then why the change now?"
  
  "I cannot say in full confidence, though I imagine the game has evolved. There are moving pieces far outside my ability to see. All we can do is play our part."
  
  Mahai released Dhane's hand, then drew a series of symbols in the air in front of the arch. The lines melded together, merging bits of light and color until they expanded into a black liquid that gushed out from the middle of the arch and ran to the edges, forming what appeared to be a portal.
  
  "The great mother," Mahai said, "shall imbue you with knowledge so you can take your place on the game board. I imagine I'll be seeing you again someday, young Shadow. No matter what the divinities do, you are born here to live as you wish, and so I can only hope when next we meet, we'll be allies."
  
  "Thank you, Mahai."
  
  "It was my pleasure," he said and gave Dhane a small push through the spiraling, black water.
  
  A glacial cold shot through Dhane, vein by vein, through muscles, into his bones. Something roared through him, reverberating deep within his chest. His ears knew only that singular, scraping noise. It lasted forever and mere seconds at the same time, and when it stopped, he stood in a void of darkness.
  
  "Come, my child," said a female's voice. It spoke in his head and out, like an echo, two voices at once. It came from ahead, but he couldn't see anything.
  
  Dhane sucked in a deep breath, his heart a drum to a fast tempo. He walked forward, the ground so smooth it seemed to not exist at all. It gave off no sound, had no texture, like walking on a cloud.
  
  Oh, shit brownies. . . . A massive spider seemed to merge from the shadows. Her body, thirty feet tall, built as if stone, her eight gleaming eyes, like rubies. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat, then took a quick glance behind, as if there would be an exit he could sprint to.
  
  There wasn't one. Of course not. For better or worse, he was now here and entirely vulnerable to the Mother of Shadow's decisions. He stilled himself and looked at the spider again.
  
  It didn't move, not one tiny bit, like they were in an eternal staring contest, his two eyes trying to stare into each of her eight.
  
  "Down here," said the voice in his head, a seemingly tiny voice.
  
  Dhane looked down and there was a pedestal. He had completely missed it, no doubt because of the massive spider ahead. Upon the pedestal stood a silver and red spider, almost as if it were made of metal. It gleamed in a nonexistent light.
  
  "Not what you were expecting?" the spider asked.
  
  Dhane jerked back. Oh, how he hated spiders! The big one was bad enough, though at that size it was far less creepy. Perhaps the fact that it still didn't move, because . . . Gah! He was stupid. It's a statue.
  
  Ever since he fell into an old wine cellar, falling into hundreds of the creepy crawly things, and how they got beneath his coat and in his shirt and down his pants, running across his skin and biting, biting, biting! The mere thought, the glimpse into that tiny experience, was enough to lock his muscles in place and clench his jaw to the point it throbbed.
  
  "I know this memory," the voice said. "I'm sorry you had that experience."
  
  "What do you want?" Dhane asked, voice tense.
  
  "I'm afraid I have cheated you. I knew your life, your passions, your curiosity, your determination, your honesty. I knew you would hate the very sight of me. And yet, I stole your choice in divinity.
  
  "I did not do it with casual deference, a fleeting choice. It weighed heavily on my mind far before you made it to Olindale."
  
  "Why?"
  
  "The divinities of Light are changing the rules. They don't see Shadow as a balance, but as a hindrance to their power. This world is bound to unravel for those of Shadow, for Desley, for Knock, and for the other hundreds of thousands who wish to stay in this world.
  
  "It is for the world that I acted, for those I'm responsible for. I only wish to maintain the balance and don't expect your service to me. Instead, I want you to be both, of Light and of Shadow. I want you to witness the change of power and be the force that can protect those needing protecting, no matter what affinity they belong to.
  
  "I've seen the hearts of thousands of souls, and it is you, Dhane, that I trust with this."
  
  Dhane let out a breath. "How can I live up to those expectations? I don't know anything about this world. I don't have any power to protect or balance the war between Light and Shadow. That just seems too much...."
  
  "You won't be alone, Dhane. And the game is eternal. There is time for you to learn and grow your influence. I believe in you. But . . ." the silver spider said and turned away, "if you cannot, I will remove my touch on your soul and deliver you to Gameus. If that's truly what you want, what you can live with now knowing that if you do join the divinities of Light, Desley and Knock will forever be your enemies."
  
  "You're manipulating me."
  
  "I am. And I'm truly sorry. But is what I ask so out of character for you? While this is a game, it's something that all species, all entities are excited to participate in. Though when one side destroys the other, the world breaks, the point of you being here, goes away, and what happens after that, not even the divinities know. Not even Gameus—so distracted by his desire to leave, that he has let this all happen under his watch—knows what happens if our world breaks.
  
  "The divinities of Light have forced my hand. I cannot wait for the impending doom of those I care about. Will you help?"
  
  Dhane ran a hand through his hair. Mere hours ago, he was walking across a street for ice cream—ice cream—faced with the hard choice of vanilla or mint chocolate chip.
  
  Now a spider was asking him to save a world he knew nothing about. But the spider did know one thing about him, that whether or not she had moved to steal him from the divinities of Light, he wouldn't stand for unfair play. The only problem was, if she hadn't acted, by the time he discovered the problem, it might have already been too late.
  
  He looked at the Mother of Shadows, really looked at her. Every part of her body made him want to smack her with a rolled-up newspaper. And yet, what she wanted from him was sincere and honest.
  
  If she knew him as well as she said, then she already knew that there wasn't a decision to be made. He would do what he had to do because that's just the person he was.
  
  Finally, he asked the only question that needed to be asked.
  
  "What do I do?"