The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [109] The Demons You Know

Bjorn had lost track of the time he had been down in the tunnels. They were strangely vacant of any monsters; the only ones he had ever seen were Sanguin Travelers that presumably brought him down there to begin with. He didn't find any tunnels that lead directly to the surface but there were miles and miles of underground caverns and he had only mapped out a small chunk of them between dives into the blood maya.

"Am I going to have to be the one to ask why we haven't needed to eat in, well, since I became a part of this trio," Isin asked mentally. "I have all of Bjorn's memories now and I don't remember anything about not needing sustenance."

"What are you talking about? I ate... I ate. Huh." Bjorn stopped walking. "Wait, Failsafe what is going on?"

"I don't know. As far as I know you do still need to eat and drink but your systems are all perfectly alright. No illusions slowly starving us or mind magic making you think you're okay. Neither would work on me and the fact that Isin noticed means he also isn't affected."

"But we have been down here at least a month right? I don't even think I have slept. Everytime we leave the maya I just start wandering around the caves until I can dive again."

"I have a theory." Isin said. "Higher Plane Energy is a part of a higher realms laws. When we go I feel the maya in my mind too. It isn't malevolent, it is loving. It wants us to stay and let it in."

"You think it is rejuvenating us?" Failsafe questioned.

Isin shook his head, "Well, not on purpose maya isn't alive to make decisions. The voices are likely just manifestations of our own subconscious being influenced by a foreign energy. Like a dopamine or drug. It is us trying to get us to stay, not the maya itself."

"That makes sense but that could also mean that we are keeping ourselves from reaching the magic crystal as well." Bjorn said. "Wait, that means we are keeping ourselves from the crystals."

"Yeah you just repeated yourself," Isin said.

"Because I understand it now," Bjorn said as he turned around to head back to the blood maya. "Maya feels benevolent because it lets people do what they desire without feeling the consequences of those actions. It is the ultimate enabler. This entire time I have been trying to shut out the maya. Not just from my core but from my mind."

"Yeah, because if you don't we are dead." Failsafe said.

"I have more than one mind or else I wouldn't have the buzzkiller himself tagging along," Bjorn said.

"I didn't have months to come to terms with what was going on." Isin said in his defense. "One second I was facing my mortal enemy then the next I was a monster living in a cave thousands of years after the fact. Sorry if I am not mister sunshine."

"I accept your apology," Bjorn said flatly. "Do better."

"Wait, if I am understanding you right you are going to let the maya into one of your heads," Failsafe said. "That is completely foolish, you are the main mind of this body if you get corrupted..."

"Then I have you and Isin to protect our core." Bjorn continued. "If things get iffy Isin, cut my heads off and take control of our body. I know that you can since you dragged us out the first time. Your consciousness and mine are separated somehow."

"If he is incapacitated I think I can control us," Isin agreed. "It's crazy but I don't see another way."

Bjorn made it to the wall of blood maya. It was as ominous as a pool of demonic energy could be. But if everything went according to plan. This was the last time he was going to have to enter this corrupting demonic soup. Bjorn took a long breath then turned his heads to Isin and Failsafe, the former nodded while the latter looked unsure.