\u201chEy, WhAt\u2019s WRoNG?\u201d<\/p>\n
The thing holding Ryoka\u2019s arm bubbled. A clicking, jittery mass of flesh wobbled, gripping her other arm.<\/p>\n
\u201c!!$GH -^*(@!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n It made a sound that screamed<\/em> in her ears. She had already begun screaming.<\/p>\n \u201cdon\u2019T yOU wANT to CoMe iN?\u201d<\/p>\n The first asked. Ryoka looked ahead and saw.<\/p>\n The vast, insectile hive bloated itself on the corpse of the building. Layers of wax and skin and detritus had built up, the product of such things overflowing again and again. Each dark charm she had taken for windows revealed itself now, gaping holes by which <\/em>things stared down at her.<\/em><\/p>\n Each one salivating, each figure twisted as the first. They gibbered and clicked and beckoned, mimicking the acts of friends as they led her inside.<\/em><\/p>\n For one moment she caught a glimpse of what lay beyond. She saw what had been tables and chairs and dining utensils to reveal themselves to her in all their gruesome truth. Eyes stared at her from beyond twisting forms which scrabbled themselves forwards with such intensity and longing that they made her sick.<\/p>\n Flesh scraped against the ground as it pulled itself forwards. Inside, she saw twisted forms, grasping hands, the only logical shapes in the world\u2014like hers\u2014<\/p>\n Upon the tables. <\/em>She gazed at the two holding her and screamed once more.<\/p>\n \u201cs%$h33 ^!)Nvs.\u201d<\/p>\n They realized she saw them at last. The buzzing grew louder. Ryoka tore free, leaving part of her skin behind in one of their grasps.<\/p>\n She turned to run, and the hive exploded<\/em> with shapes. They oozed from the windows, poured out of every opening imaginable. Calling for her to come back, come back!<\/em><\/p>\n Join us. She ran, screaming, as the wind, which had muted itself due to the power of this group, now howled, trying to pull her free. But they were still\u2014<\/p>\n Fae.<\/em> And the wind tore at her. Their fingers pulled at her. Be with us. Become us. Feed us. Let us v$#H!d with you\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n Ahead of her, the wall stretched ever higher. How had she bypassed it so easily? The figures could not get past it\u2014nor could she.<\/em><\/p>\n Ryoka ran left, down a street, pounding ahead as the shapes poured after her. She looked back and saw how they did not fit this\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n She nearly vomited from the sight of them but kept running. Their natures slowed them, but they didn\u2019t move right. They slipped across the ground, across the walls of the ruined buildings, through cracks\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cRun!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n She heard the roar. But she feared what the Dragon was, too. Was this the reality? Was Ivolethe\u2026?<\/p>\n