The dungeon shifted again.
A sound echoed—like something dragging chains across broken glass.
🕳️ DUNGEON CORE: Twilight of the Rootless
Modifier: Mind Leech – Loss of memory upon contact
Phase 1 Active: "Denial"
"I don't like that," I muttered.
Lyra was already scanning the shadows. "We're inside a psychic echo. These things usually feed on time—but this one's feeding on identity."
"Meaning…?"
"Don't get touched."
Too late.
A tendril of shadow slithered down the wall—and brushed my arm.
⚠️ Memory Fragment Lost: "The Sound of Her Laughing"
-8 Willpower for 3 minutes
Skill Cooldown +20s
I fell to my knees.
"What… what was that?"
Lyra stepped beside me. Her voice was calm. "It took something from you. One of the things that makes you you."
I looked up. Fire pooled at my fingers—but it felt distant. Weak.
"I can't even remember what I lost…"
"You're lucky," she said, eyes hard. "Some people forget who they are entirely."
We moved in silence, deeper into the dungeon, every corridor folding into the next like the inside of a broken mind. Creatures moved just out of view. Memory-wraiths, some wearing the faces of the dead.
"They're baiting us," I whispered. "Trying to make us reach for ghosts."
"I've fought these before," Lyra said. "They lie with truth. Show you what you lost—and make you bleed to get it back."
"And if you fight?"
"They feed on the pain."
Great.
I clenched my fists. "I'm going to burn this place to cinders."
She looked over. "You always burn your way out?"
"Worked so far."
She laughed once. "Try not to cook me too."