Catharsis

Irena nodded. "His maniacal depression and wrath transcend mortal bounds. Child, if you experienced half of the things he has, you would likely go stark raving mad."

"It's that bad, huh?" Bertha said. "So is that the reason he's so mean to everybody?"

"Nay. Some people are like that because of the hardships they experienced in their lives. Others, however, are just assholes. Castellan, I'm afraid, belongs to the latter category."

The building was now close enough to make out in some detail. It was constructed of shiny obsidianite stone, and was only a few dozen feet in diameter. A short, slanted roof covered the building, and there was some sort of ornate mural carved into its sides, although it was still too far away to make out clearly.

Then they heard a child's voice say "You shouldn't have come here."

Irena and Bertha turned around slowly to see a little blonde-haired girl dressed in a plaid checkered skirt. To Irena, the child looked remarkably familiar.

"You're Castellan's daughter." Irena whispered. "The one who..."

"Shut up!!" the girl yelled. "Coming in here... making him upset... you should be ashamed!"

"Little girl, we didn't mean to do anything bad!" Bertha said. "We were just trying to..."

"Be quiet!!! People like you - always think you know what's right and wrong, but you're really just stupid! I'll teach you to mess around with things you don't understand!!!"

With an inhuman shriek, the little girl's eyes glowed orange, and then her skin erupted with massive warts and boils. Before Bertha and Irena's disbelieving eyes, the girl's body began to expand in size, climbling into the air and quickly becoming a giant tower of human flesh, covered with pulsating organs, quivering limbs, shrieking mouths and bulbous eyes. High up in the air, the mass terminated in a gigantic, frothing mouth lined with bloodstained teeth.

"Bertha, get out of here!" Irena said, standing between her and the monster. "You have to get as far away from this thing as possible, then leave the Spirit Realm! Hurry!"

Bertha however, could not move. Paralyzed with fear, all she could do was watch as Irena raised her staff into the air and twirled it about. A circle of energy formed around Irena and then shot toward the creature, slicing its side with a massive shower of green fluid. The thing roared in agony. As another circle of energy formed around Irena, the creature's mouth shot down to hover right in front of her.

"LOOK AT THE TRUE FACE OF HUMANITY!!!" the creature roared as Irena shook in fear. "THE HUMANITY YOU ARE TRYING TO SAVE!!! LOOK - AND FEEL!!!"

Irena released the energy disc at the same time the jaw lunged forward. It glanced off Irena's attack and snatched her in it's teeth, lifting her into the air.

"Run, Bertha!" Irena cried. "I... Aaaugh!!!"

With a juicy spurt of blood, the elder mage was silenced. But at the same time the monster's mouth glowed with the same energy Irena had been using, and the demonic thing froze, immobilized in mid-air. Bertha sobbed in terror. Death in the Spirit World meant physical death as well. Irena's last heroic act of magecraft was to ensure Irena escaped. If Bertha did not run now, Irena's sacrifice would be in vain. Bertha quickly pushed her paralyzing fear down to the pit of her stomach and...

1. ...tried to return to her body.
2. ...sprinted toward the dark building.
3. ...elsewhere, in the physical realm...

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