Blind World Collab submission

Team 1

@remi-le-oduen - Writing, ideas

@plasmarift - Writing, ideas

@thenorf - Art, ideas

@hekillzalot - ideas

Submission type - illustrated story.

Title - Out of the Fog

Out of the Fog

Part 2

Claud tramped through the forest. The sound of crushed twigs and shrubs heard with each footstep. He had no direction in mind; only the goal of leaving this forest. It was obvious to him he had been too trusting. Not just of Alice, but of everyone. Who could he trust? How could he know? Perhaps this fog wasn’t as dangerous as his new acquaintances had explained. After all, a fog that could transport you to new worlds while keeping you out of your own was ludicrous. A ridiculous fairy tail. The world was full of monsters; that was the only truth he was certain of. When he took a moment to stop and catch his breath, there was only silence. His surroundings were unremarkable and looked like everything else he had passed on the way here. The fog prevented him from seeing things in the distance and the level ground made it so he couldn’t get a vantage point above the fog. Even climbing a tree couldn’t help as the fog reached just as high as they did. Claud felt he might as well have been staring into a void on all sides. While trying to think of what to do next, he began hearing a strange wind blow through the trees. It gradually grew into distorted whispers. Claud ignored them at first as he thought he was simply hearing things, but the noise they made slowly grew to where he could no longer pretend their words were a trick of the mind.

“Help me. Somebody, help me.” These words seemed to come from behind a tree, as if the person saying them was always just out of sight. The same for all the other voices that came with the wind.

“Play with me.”

“I have food if you want some.”

Claud was perturbed by these unseen guests. He readied his gun. Soon, the whispers became more personal. They reached out to him one after another; some speaking from the ground, from above, and from right behind him. 

“Dear child. It seems you are lost. Do you need our help?”

“Your trust was broken, was it not? Do you desire revenge?”

“You desire power. Power strong enough to destroy your enemies.”

“Your scars are not just physical. They extend down into your very soul. We can heal you. Set you free.”

Soon, the eerie perpetual silence that had permeated the forest from before had turned into a cacophony of temptations until, soon, Claud could no longer make them out. Tiring of the annoyances, he yells, “Leave me alone, you demons! I don’t need you! I don’t need anyone!”

With these words, the cacophony ceased and fog pooled around Claud’s feet. An alluring voice echoed forth.

“Perhaps you are correct. You do not need our help.” The fog rose upward, as if to look Claud in the eyes, “Afterall, you are strong. Not weak like all the others. You desire, but one thing. The death of all vampires, do you not? The very beings that are destroying your world and the ones that took so much from you, that broke you.”

The fog morphed into the form of a woman. Claud pointed his gun at her.

“Be at ease, Claud.”

“How do you know my name? Or what I want? You know nothing about me.”

“We are here to help. We cannot harm you,” the fog woman says, floating around to his side.

“And why should I believe you? I heard you’ve done terrible things. Those wired beasts were your doing, correct?” asked Claud, still trailing his gun on the fog woman.

“It was unfortunate,” she said with a sigh. “We tried to help them, but they were not strong enough to handle the power we gave them.” The fog woman backed away from Claud. “I ask that you only listen. If you are still weary of my words when I have finished, then we shall depart.”

Claud does not lower his weapon. However, he visibly relaxes a bit.

“We give substance to dreams. Give means to the meaningless. We embolden reality,” she pauses and looks Claud directly in the eyes. “With our help, you can rid your world of those vile monsters.”

“What do you get out of helping me? What’s your price?” he asks. A stifled laugh is heard.

“What could we possibly take from you that you haven’t already lost? Your life perhaps, but what good would that do us?” the fog woman drifts to the left, “We seek only to create. That gun you brandish so hastily was made with our help.” 

Claud takes a moment to look at the gun and then back to the fog.

“Besides, does it matter anyway? Wouldn’t you give anything to see the vampires dead?”

Before Claud can respond, the wind picks up. “Let us show you a sign of good faith. Follow the fog. It will lead you back to your world.”

A gentle wind carries the fog forward. Claud felt as if his body were being pulled by the wind. He followed it, leading him in many strange directions that seemed to zig zag. Before he knew it, he was face to face with the edge of the forest, his home just beyond the tree line. But, as he approached, he saw in the distance a patrolling party of vampires, along with their human foot soldiers and beverages enchained to their side. Claud clenched his fist in rage and prepared to take aim at them, but the fog spoke up, “Stop! Even with your new weapon, there's too many of them. You would be lucky to escape such an encounter alive. Remember my words,” the fog said, placing special emphasis on the last three. “You are not weak, Claud. Only the strong can utilize our gift. Imagine your enemies destroyed. Their kind removed from existence. If you truly desire it, do as I say now,” said the voice, pausing for a moment, “Take a deep breath.”

Claud closed his eyes and breathed in. The fog in the surrounding area was drawn into him, catching the attention of the patrol party. No sooner had his breath ceased, Claud fell to his knees in agony, muffling screams; it felt as if something was burrowing out of his chest. He heard the voice whisper once more. “Let it be born, Claud. Your destruction. Your reality given form.”

With one last scream, an entity emerged from Claud’s chest. It towered over the trees with a lanky, scarred humanoid body. Its face was sunken in, though it was difficult to see as it was hunched over and hung its head low, as if it was tired. The giant took no time to glance back at its creator and walked toward the patrol party. Claud’s pain did not cease as more tall figures were brought forth, five in total. Only then did the pain subside. Claud reached down to his chest to find it undamaged, as if the creatures never came from there to begin with or perhaps did not come from the physical part of him. He struggled to his feet and watched the newly born creatures engage the patrol party.

“Aren’t they magnificent?” the voice marveled. “One of our finest creations yet.”

The vampires charged at the giants, attacking their legs while others fired muskets at them, all to no avail. The creatures were unfazed by the attack and proceeded to step on and swipe at the vampires, one of them even tearing a vampire in half with its hands. Claud smiled a bit as he watched the vampires struggle in vain against the superior creatures. The desperation on their faces was apparent even as Claud watched from far off. While the giants were slow, they were incredibly strong. The only vampires left alive were the few smart enough to forsake their hubris and run. For once, he thought, they knew what it was like to be weak, to be hunted, to be outmatched. However, Claud’s happiness was short-lived, as the creatures began crushing the abandoned humans underfoot. They were still chained to each other and were too panicked to all move in the same direction to escape.

“Wait, stop! You’re supposed to kill the vampires, not them!” He yelled.

“And they succeeded. However, humans can be turned into vampires, so it’s only natural they would eliminate a potential threat,” the voice whispered.

“This isn’t what I wanted!”

“Isn’t it so that, once we have what we desire, it isn’t what we imagined it to be? You hated the world and so too does your creations. You desired death and death does not discriminate.”

“You’re just twisting this around. You planned this from the start!” Claud says punching at the fog.

“And you accepted it knowing the risks. You never considered that others would be paying the price.”

The giants finished killing everything in the area and, in unison, slowly turned their bodies to face the same direction. They walked off without a word. 

The voice chimes in excitedly, “Oh! They’re heading to the nearest settlement to continue.”

Claud grabbed the plasma rifle he took with him from the other world. It took him two attempts to steady his breath and hands before he could aim properly. Fortunately, the target was too slow to escape and too big to miss. The sharp sound was muffled by the fog, but the barrel spat a bright flash and the charge flew at the giants. However, the impulse that could tear a man's chest apart made no scratch on the monsters Claud had created. He heard laughing coming from behind him as he pulled the trigger again and again even when the rifle started making warning beeps and a red light appeared on its side. But the giants did not even flinch, continuing their ominous stride. 

“Like I said, our finest creations yet,” the fog woman said with a smile.

“You… you’re worse than the vampires,” Claud says emotionless.

“And are you any better than them?” the voice questioned. “Well, what do you plan to do? Do you intend to charge after your creations or, maybe, you would like to create more.”

Claud felt pain in his chest once again and fell to his knees. He forced himself back to his feet and, clenching his chest, ran back into the fog forest.

…

“Alice! Veri! Corey!” Claud ran through the destroyed city, calling for the others. He did not care that it could attract Wired Ones or whatever Corey called them. But no one responded, only echoes jumped between buildings, drowning slowly in the fog-covered windows. Claud suddenly stopped. Fog-covered windows? This is different. He looked around and noticed that there was more fog now. He was not a fool and quickly realized it was somehow connected with what he did. He could only hope these new monsters he created will not appear here. Suddenly, he heard a clang from behind.

“Stay where you are.” 

“Alice!”

“I said stay!”

Claud froze, mid-turned to where her voice came from.

“Why are you back? Couldn’t find a way home, just as you were warned?”

“No. I made it back. I wished I didn’t.”

“What?”

“The Fog. It tricked me. No, I let it trick me. It made me take its power and create… something even worse than vampires.”

Alice paused. “Come here.” She finally said. Claud climbed through the window. There was less fog then outside, but it was still covering the floor up to their knees. Alice was holding a plasma rifle. 

“How do you feel?” Claud asked awkwardly. Alice turned away, pretending to check the street outside. It took her some time to answer. “I’m fine. Corey gave me his blood.” 

“I… I am sorry.” Claud hesitated, then continued. “I always paid the blood tax, you know. For all my family, so that none of us had to feed those bastards… Sorry.”

Alice shrugged, but turned to him, Claud lowered his scarf, revealing two deformed scars on his neck. Alice frowned. “One day, they still came. Three of them. Barged in our house. I tried to fight back, but… What could I do against their strength? I wouldn’t be able to take down one, much less three. They said that if I just let them take my blood, they will not touch the rest of my family.” Claud sat on the cracked floor, hugging his knees. “And I gave up. You can guess what happened next.”

Alice gulped. She knew that Claud lost all of his family, but he never told it in detail. She sat next to him, hugging him. “You know I always wondered how things work. I thought that maybe if I became one of them, it would let me understand how their bodies work and find some sort of weakness. Sorry for not telling you.”

Claud shook his head. “I wouldn’t have agreed to that at that time.” He hugged her back and added. “And I should have understood your reasons, that it was something that only you could think of.”

A faint smile ran across Alice’s face. The silence filled the empty building. Through the veil of the fog, Claud could see the same platform they used to travel from here. “Where are those two?” 

“They returned home, as we’ve planned. They will try to get some information and then will come pick us up.”

“Good. I will go too. I should have listened to you. We must try and get rid of the Fog.”

“Even if it means we will not be able to return home? Or if it will kill me? Or you, now that you made a pact with it?”

Claud paused, then nodded. He wanted to say something else when the platform on the floor started glowing with red light. A few seconds later, a familiar pair appeared in its center.

“Claud! It is most delightful to have you back with us!”

Claud chuckled. “I am glad to see you both too. Got any news?”

Veri sighed. “A part of me still refuses to believe in this. But I tried suggesting to master Wistry the idea of using the black hole generator against the Fog. He… laughed me off. But he was scared. I saw it, felt it.”

“We rushed here as fast as we could.” Corey added. “Probably outran our arrest order by mere minutes. By the way, Claud, your rifle is depleted. Let me recharge it. Did you face more Wired Ones?”

“No, it's… a long story”. Claud handed him a rifle. “What do we do now?”

…

When the light from the teleportation faded, Claud saw the interior of the station. This time, there were more people though, everyone had weapons. But not one of them had their weapon ready to fire. After all, no one expected two people, one of them bound to a wheelchair, to provide much resistance. 

“You! You both are under… Wait, who are they?”

Alice's movement was too fast to track with human eyes. Claud's hand still itched under the patch Veri put on it. Corey suggested that he will be one to give Alice more blood, but Claud felt he needed to show Alice that he truly regrets his words. Even if it meant weakening him to some extent, Alice with her vampire abilities will be much more efficient in this situation. 

Taken by surprise, the station guards fell one by one. Corey and Veri exchanged painful looks, even though Veri was not shooting - Corey demanded that she will not do it unless absolutely necessary. 

“Let's go! The vault is this way.”

They almost reached the vault when the siren roared throughout the corridors, as if chasing them. The guards of the vault readied their guns, but relaxed when they saw familiar faces. 

“Hey, Corey. What is going on?”

At this moment, a voice rang from above, making Claud and Alice look around desperately. 

“Attention all personnel! Corey Llumis and Veri Franstein were corrupted by the Fog. Kill them on sight! I repeat…”

Before the guards could process what they heard, Corey shot twice. His second shot went too high and he cursed. The guard took aim, but Claud was faster. 

“Where's this voice coming from?” He shouted. 

“It's a loudspeaker. A machine!”

“Damn, it scared me.” Alice whispered as Veri connected her wheelchair to the large door with wires. 

“We need to defend here while Veri deals with defensive protocols.” Corey was looking intently down the corridor they came from. 

“Can we help her?” 

Corey shook his head. 

“Corey!” Veri’s voice was trembling. 

“What is it, dear?” 

“He is here. Wistry. He is in the system too. He… merged himself with it.”

Corey bit his lips, preventing a curse from escaping his mouth. He gently put his hands on Veri's fragile shoulders. 

“Dear. I know you are afraid. I know he is your teacher, a person whom you trusted and respected. Whom you relied on. But he betrayed you and all of us. You are a better psycker than me. You are the only one who can face him. You can do it. Just believe in yourself, as much as I believe in you.”

Veri looked at him. “It was an awful inspirational speech.” She smiled. “Thank you.” After that, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 

“Corey! We could use some more firepower here!”

Corey patted Veri's shoulders once more before turning to the corridor where the loud thumping of many boots was already audible. 

… 

“Damn it, Corey. Give me your gun and concentrate on reloading!” Alice growled, changing places with the scrawny man who once again landed a bunch of shots in the walls. 

They used a corner of the corridor as their cover, shooting almost blindly. For now. They were able to hold off the attackers, but they were running out of ammunition. A few more minutes and they will be forced to use swords instead of rifles. 

Behind them, something heavy clanged loudly. 

“She did it!” Corey jumped with joy and ran towards Veri. She sat in front of the opened door. Her pose looked triumphant and confident, but when she turned her chair, they saw streaks of tears on the girl’s face. 

“It's over. Let's go.” 

Suddenly, they heard wild screams from the corridor entrance. Claud looked over the corner and jumped back, cursing. 

“There’s a horde of those Wired beasts. And there are vampires.”

“What? They are not supposed to act together!” Alice tried to look out too, but Claud stopped her. 

“The Fog.” Veri wiped her face with her sleeve. “Wistry threatened me with it. That it will send its creatures against us.” 

Claud remembered the giants and shivered. No, they will probably destroy the whole place, and according to Veri, the Fog needed that machine hidden behind the door. 

“What about me?” Alice asked. “Can it control me too?” 

“It would have done it long ago if it could. Your reasons for becoming a vampire were different and your pact was not made directly with the Fog.”

“Let’s get inside before they come here.” Claud ushered everyone towards the door. As soon as three others stepped inside, Claud tried to close the door without going with them. Alice stopped him.

“Claud! What are you doing?”

Claud tried pushing her back from the door, but Alice held on tight. 

“I made a pact with the Fog. I can't risk it gaining control over me. Besides, we don't know if one of these Wired people can open the door too. I will hold them off. You take care of Veri and Corey.”

He pushed her back with all his might and shut the door with a loud sound. He turned to face his enemies. At this moment, the corridor started to fill with Wired beasts. Among them walked a bunch of vampires, blood dripping from their blades. One of them stepped forward. 

“Give it up, human. And maybe we’ll let you join us.”

Claud shook his head. 

“You cannot win this fight.” 

“Sometimes” Claud pulled off his scarf. He knew he was too weak to survive it. But for some reason, accepting it made him feel… free. “Sometimes you don't fight to win.” 

…    

In the room where the device was stored, Veri immediately locked the door. In stark contrast to the immense power of the device, the room is fairly small. There is a large hangar door on the back wall and computers and large machines of different sizes against the side walls and surrounding the device. The device itself was a large metallic sphere with various wires connected to it. Veri wasted no time interfacing with the nearest computer. Corey and Alice moved cautiously around the room, looking for anyone hiding in wait for them, as well as looking for weapons or anything useful. Under normal circumstances, Alice would be entranced by the technology in this room, yet she couldn’t help looking over at the door and the sounds of gunfire and blood splatter coming from behind it. 

“The device isn’t finished,” Veri said. “It’s almost complete, but it can’t open stable portals yet. That explains why master Wistry wasn’t using it yet. I was hoping we could send you and Claud back before using it. I’m sorry, Alice.”

“It’s alright,” Alice said, trying to console Veri. “We didn’t expect we’d be able to go back anyway, but does this mean we can’t use it on the Fog?”

“It should still work. The gravitational anomaly doesn’t need to be stable.”

Alice breathes a sigh of relief.

“So how do we use the device to stop the Fog?” asked Corey.

“It’s surprisingly uncomplicated. If we were opening portals, we’d need the device to activate very specific gravity fields and compensate for the gravity waves produced by each field so they wouldn’t interfere with each other in unprecedented ways.” 

“This is beginning to sound complicated,” retorted Corey. Veri was visibly annoyed, but continued.

“We wouldn’t need to make specific gravity fields. Just really big ones,” Veri said, finishing her monologue.

“How’re we going to get this to the Fog if we can’t make a portal to it?” asked Alice.

Veri takes a few moments to continue going through the data. 

“We can utilize the gravity functions of the device to propel it. It was even built with the capacity to withstand the conditions of outer space. It can be piloted like a small spaceship,“ said Veri excitedly. “I don’t know why these features were added, unless master Wistry was planning to spread the Fog to other planets.”

“Wait. Can we activate the device remotely?” asked Corey.

There is a long pause. “No,” said Veri solemnly. “There’s an autopilot function, but it’s only for piloting, not for activating the gravity functions we need. Even if there was one, it’d be too risky. The Fog might interfere with it,” Veri said matter of factly. “After all, the technology that went into making it came from the Fog. It’s not just going to stand by and let itself be destroyed.”

There’s a moment of silence as the group realizes what this means.

“It seems that one of us must sacrifice ourselves,” said Corey. Veri disconnects from the computer.

“Couldn’t we teleport the person back here before it activates?” asked Alice.

“No…”, responded Veri. “You can’t just teleport from anywhere to anywhere you want. Otherwise, we would’ve teleported you directly to the station when we first met. There’s no teleporter on board the device and we don’t have enough time or manpower to install one.”

The question of who would go now weighed on everyone’s mind. The group looks down at the floor. Death was a possibility before, but now it was a certainty.

“It only makes sense that I pilot it,” said Veri. “I understand how it works better than anyone else here,” she said with a calm tone, yet she could not hide her fear.

“With me being a vampire, my body’s stronger than a normal human. It’d probably be better if I did it,” Alice said. 

“Neither of you are going to die today. I’ll go,” Corey said with a stern voice.

“That’s insane. You don’t even know how to pilot it,” Veri retorted.

“I may not be a genius like you, but I am a fast learner. Besides, aren’t you forgetting?” he asked. “The Fog won’t stand by and let itself be destroyed. These were your words. The Fog will no doubt go after the pilot too.” Corey points to his helmet. “Without my earphones, I’m deaf. The Fog can’t tempt or control me if I can’t hear it.”

Veri moved closer to Corey. “I’ll be fine,” she said in a gentle voice. “The Fog would only start affecting me once I enter the atmosphere. I’d only need to resist it for a little while.”

“I’ve seen you almost get overwhelmed countless times. That’s never happened to me. I apologize, but I will be the one to go.”

Corey walked over the device, removing the wires and looking at it intently, trying to uncover how to open it.

“You shouldn’t have to sacrifice yourself! We can find another way!” yelled Veri.

“You’re a gentle soul, my dear. Always trying to save everyone,” said Corey, smiling. He looked back at her. “It’s what I love about you the most.” Corey walks over to her and kneels down. “But you were never too scared to do what was necessary. Please, don’t change now.”

Veri begins to cry. Corey puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“We’re out of time. Claud can’t hold them off forever. Tell me what I need to do and be quick.”

Veri nods. She opens the device and explains to him everything about activating the gravity anomaly and piloting. Anything else he needed would be conveyed through coms. The device was intuitively designed so it didn’t take very long to explain everything. Before entering the device, Corey looks to Alice and says, “Once I take off my headphones, go to Claud.”

Alice knew it would be the last time the two of them would ever talk so they’d want every moment they could have together. Alice opened the hangar door leading to the airlock, guarding the device against incoming attacks. The device lifted off the ground and floated like a bubble. It went out the hangar door and to the airlock. Luckily, the airlock door was designed with the intent of transporting large equipment to the outside of the space station. Within a minute’s time, the device was jettisoned out into space. Veri kept her attention on the outside monitor as the gravity device barreled toward the planet. 

“I wished we had one of these during our patrols. Can you imagine floating around in this instead of your wheelchair?” Corey asked.

“It would have been a lot more enjoyable. Make sure to decelerate as you approach the planet,” Veri said, shaking. “I don’t want you crashing into it.”

“You think the Fog can feel fear? If it had a face, I’d love to see it all terrified when I show up.”

“It.. would probably be ugly,” she said, trying to focus and trying not to lose control. “You're doing great. You’ll be there soon.” Veri struggled to hold back tears.

“So what are you going to do afterwards? With master Wistry gone, you could be the new leader up there. You could rebuild the world and make it a utopia. Sounds romantic, doesn’t it?”

“It’d be a lot of work. I don’t know if I could do it,” Veri couldn’t help, but start sobbing uncontrollably. She spoke between sobs, “you remember how I told you to enter the planet’s atmosphere, right?”

“I remember,” he said. “I remember all the good times. There were plenty of bad ones, but the good ones made it all worth it. Remember them for me, alright?” said Corey, shedding a few tears as well. “I’m getting close to the atmosphere. I have the coordinates you gave me. I’ll be taking off my earphones soon so we won’t be able to talk.”

“Corey, I don’t know what to say. I want to say something, but I’m not good with goodbyes.”

“Maybe it won’t be goodbye forever. With all the other worlds out there, maybe there’s an afterlife world,” he said smiling. “And I’m not good at goodbyes either. You only get good at something with practice and now is the perfect time to start.”

Veri took a deep breath, “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too, my dear. Stay strong for me.”

With these last words, the coms were disconnected. There were a few moments of silence.

“Alice, go to Claud. He needs you,” Veri said, still staring at the monitor. 

With this, Alice wasted no time opening the door and bolting down the corridor. 

Alice made her way back to the corridor they left him at. Even though they had won, it wouldn’t be a true victory until she saw that Claud was safe. She arrived at the door. Opening it, she saw numerous bodies littering the floor, both of wired beasts and vampires. Only four were left standing; three vampires and Claud. His back was to the door, facing down his last opponents. She felt immense joy, calling out his name. He turned his head slightly to look back. She had been so panicked before that she hadn’t noticed the claw marks and puncture wounds all over his body. His clothes were drenched in blood. Wires were interwoven with his legs. He was shaking, barely standing as he clutched his sword. Despite his weakened state, the vampires were wary of him. Before Alice could take action, the space station violently shook, followed by a deafening explosion. Claud was knocked to the floor while the vampires were all taken off guard. Alice took advantage of their confusion and aimed at them with her plasma rifle. Claud was right; if the resistance had these weapons, the vampires wouldn’t have stood a chance as all it took was one shot each. Too bad Claud had already used up his ammo by this point. Alice ran to him. She practically slid into position next to him and helped him lean forward, cradling him.

“Claud! Can you hear me? Are you alright?” she screamed, unable to stop herself from crying. “Come on! Say something!”

“Is it over?” he asked weakly. His body shivered and his breathing was labored. Blood dripped off of his clothing like he had been bathing in it. His face was severely cut up. It was emotionless and pale as a malnourished vampire. He stared blankly at the ceiling as if he didn’t see her. 

“It’s over. It’s all over,” she said crying. “The Fog is gone. It’s all going to be alright now.”

“Good,” he said, as if through a cough. Claud tried to say more. All he could manage was a whisper, “I’m proud of you.” No further words were spoken despite him moving his mouth to say more. Soon, it stopped moving altogether. His breathing and shaking began to noticeably slow.

“Claud! Don’t die on me! Not now!” she screamed in desperation. “Not like this…” She lowered her head close to his. “I’ll save you…” she whispered, moving his neck into position. “Please forgive me.” She tried, but failed to make her fangs appear. The destruction of the Fog had made her human again. With this, she held on tightly to Claud in his final moments.

Sometime later, the surviving crew members on the space station reached out to Veri, seeking her guidance. Some of the technology on board no longer worked as intended. Luckily, vital systems remained intact, though the teleporter no longer worked.

“Prioritize storing and rationing our food and water,” she said, “After that, evaluate all the technology on board and we’ll begin discussing methods of returning to our home. We can finally start to rebuild.” Alice stood at her side, both of them having lost someone precious to them.

Elsewhere in the worlds, the giants once born of hatred took their final destructive step and fell to the ground, becoming wind. All the vampires became human again. The wired beasts lost their aggression and hideous forms. And the wires, that once entangled them, fell away, now no more than simple litter to be forgotten. The supernatural gifts and curses that had been scattered by the whims of sentient life and the parasitic reach of the Fog were no more. And the tainted gateway that once connected all the worlds had, much like a morning fog, vanished with the dawn of a new day.

The End