War

We attacked the Game Master's castle. I got separated from the others pretty quickly. He had giant living statues in his castle. They were stupid and slow, but still proved formidable. I decided to test out the magic cards on them. "The Stone Hands" instantly equipped the statues with huge stone gauntlets. They would've weighed down a normal person, but it just made these things even deadlier. Had to disenchant that one. I'm not sure what "The Dark Dream" does, but I assume it's some kind of illusion because the statues started freaking out. "The Giant" made me grow really big. It was fun at first, but I soon realized that I could fit through ant doorway, so I had to disenchant again. "The Sword Of Damnation" is exactly what it sounds like; a really big sword. I wielded it for a little while, but I'm not too fond of two handed swords so I disenchanted that one too. I'd rather not tell  you what "The Iguana" does, and I ran out of statues before I could use "The Opossum".

I eventually found the big man's thrown room. The Jokers were waiting there for me. They allowed me inside in exchange for the cards. They told me all my questions would be answered if I did. I agreed. They took back the cards and vanished. I entered to confront the Game Master once and for all.

"It's nice that the two of us can finally talk," He said.
"You know why I'm here," I said. "I'm going to kill you. But first, I want you to answer my questions."
"Ask away," He said.
"Why have you been trying to kill me?" I asked. "Why do the other Fears want me alive? What is The Vision?"
He chuckled behind his mask. "You truly don't understand what you are, do you?" He asked. "Very well, I'll tell you. I'm sure you're aware that there were once more Fear, some of whom no longer exist. The Vision was one of them. She was the Fear of Destiny. She was one of the greatest Fears of all, until her betrayal."
"Her betrayal?" I asked.
"She committed an unforgivable act," He explained. "Something I could not overlook. So I eliminated her."
"What did she do that was so horrible?" I demanded.
"She bred with a mortal," He said.
"What?" I gasped.
"I spent centuries having my emissaries in the human world hunting down and killing her kin," he continued. "In the end, there was one member of her family who eluded me."
"It can't be," I said, taking a step back. This was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much to take in all at once.
"It is the truth, Benjamin Malkator," He said. "You are more of a Demi-God than you truly realize. You are the last living descended of the vision, and only by killing you can I erase her from existence!"

And then there was fighting. I was on the losing side. Fortunately, a giant wooden hand pulled me out of the fire. Ren, O'Zalia and Hiroshi jumped in just in time to save my ass.

"Hahaha!" He cackled. "The Samurai, the Illusionist, the Thorned Prince, and the Vision, together again. It's just like the battle of the Demi-Gods, is it not?"
"I guess you could say that," Said another voice. A wall across from us collapsed as Quan burst into the room. "Except this time, there's a couple more Demi-Gods entering the fray." As he said that, a swarm of crows flew through the hole he had made, and then they merged together and became Crow.
"Wait, you can shape shift into a flock of birds?" I asked.
"First off, not birds," He said. "They're the Convocation. "Secondly, when it comes to weird things the Convocation does to my body, I generally don't ask because I know the answer will make no sense."
"Well, it's good to know that we have such a large party," The Game Master chuckled. "All the more fun for me."
"You're forgetting someone," said a new voice.

Estren was sitting up on a chandelier looking down on us all.

"Eight of Clubs?" The Game Master asked. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I've come to turn in my resignation," Estren said. "You see, I hate you. I hate you so much, that I would willingly burn my soul in the fires of hell for a chance to murder you."
"You'll pay for this insolence, you bastard," The Game Master Hissed.
"The eldritch abomination inhabiting my body disapproves of you language," Estren said. "How would you like to meet him?"
"Estren, no!" I shouted.
HELLFIRE then took over. "Estren has made his choice, Vision," It said. "He's given me control of his body in order to eliminate this foolish slaver."


And then the fighting continued. In the end, even the seven of us were no match for him. We managed to deal him some damage, but he retaliated strongly. I took a blow to the head and passed out for a few minutes. When I came to, I was outside and several stories above the ground. Crow had me by the arm with one hand, and was holding his whip with the other. Alexander had hold of the other other end of the whip and was carrying us through the sky. Strong crow. I looked behind us and immediately wished I hadn't. A giant white dragon with black and red markings was chasing us through the sky.

"What the fuck is that?" I said, astonished.
"Apparently he can transform his mask into a dragon," Crow said. "I know you kind of wanted to end this all here and now, but the Convocation says they can access the Shore again and I they say we should retreat."

I didn't want to. I wanted to turn back and give that bloody wanker a piece of my mind. But Crow was right. We didn't stand a chance against him. We needed to get the hell out of there. I nodded up at Crow, and next thing I know we were flying over a massive beach that stretched as far as I could see. The air was filled with birds. So many birds that I couldn't see a speck of the sky beyond them. I saw every bird in existence, and birds I thought could only exist in fairy tales. There were birds as large as buildings and smaller than gnats. The sight of all those birds filled me with fear.

"Don't worry," Crow called down to me. "They won't attack you. Not while I'm here."
"The last time I heard those words, I was kicked through a portal," I informed him.
"Don't worry, I won't do any kicking," He reassured me. "This time, you'll be dropped through a portal."

Before I had time to inform him that that didn't make me feel any better, I had been dropped through said portal. I found myself lying on my back in afield somewhere. I fell asleep shortly after that.

I woke up to see Estren staring down at me.

"Hello, my friend," He said.
"You made it out?" I asked.
"I escaped with Ren through the Crumbling Castle," He informed me. "I tracked you down shortly after.
"How are the others?" I asked.
"There were some casualties," He informed me. "All the Demi-Gods and a few others made it out."
"Myrir?"
"She's fine," He assured me.
"What about HELLFIRE?" I asked.
"He's still inside me," He said. "I can keep him suppressed for now, but I can't keep it up forever. I'm afraid I must go. But before I do, I should inform of something your new mask can do."
I don't know how I keep forgetting that I have a mask now. "What can it do?" I asked.
"It can connect to internet from thousands of miles away, and can share that connection with any nearby computer," He said. "As long as you have it, you'll always have internet access."

And then he left. I'm gonna try and get my bearings, then I'll go find Daniel. I read his blog, and I'm glad to know he somehow survived his fight with the Archangel.

Anyway, I'm out. Bye for now.