Ratface was wandering the mansions halls. The monsters were being held on the outer layer of barriers, so they were all taking a moments respite.

  She’d assumed that the barriers needed to be constantly charged but it turned out their design was a little better than that. The mages had been providing a spark rather than fuelling it. The rest came from the ambient mana in the area. It was similar to lighting the gas on a cow patty. The bad air around it would keep it burning once the initial spark happened. It was why sewers were so dangerous for fire magic users.

  Of course, it would leave the mana in the air dead until someone managed to rejuvenate it. Not a bad trade off, the demon in the area was making the ambient mana here thicker anyway so no doubt she could fix that problem with ease. The rune crafter who’d inscribed them must have an intimate knowledge of the area.

  Ratface paused, this wasn’t anything that she knew, where was the information coming from?

  It’d be more accurate to say she tried to pause. Her body had kept walking even when she tried to stop. She tried to work out what was happening. Why couldn’t she give herself orders? The thought slipped away from her, and she chased it down.

  It had started after they’d got into the mansion. Halmir had suggested they wipe the pollen off of them and she’d agreed and gone to find somewhere to wash up. Yet when he’d gone out, she’d decided to wander instead. The pollen had been itchy on her skin, but she’d stopped even feeling it. Instead, she’d gone and asked about the demon. Claudette, she insisted to her mind. She’d tried to check on Claudette and found out she’d been put in the same room as the core defence to rest. She’d remembered smiling at that, her two targets in one place.

  No, they wouldn’t be targets, they should be what she was defending. She’d tried asking where the core was, but no one had given her an answer so she’s started wandering searching for it. She felt at the flow of mana in the air to get an idea of where it was.

  She shouldn’t be able to feel mana. That was all wrong. The thought all felt like they were coming from her but with a different background. It was like she was in a dream. The rules made up to suit the world rather than her.

  She drifted back to the pollen. The answer was there. It had come from one of those demon plants, hadn’t it? She’d had the same when she first came to the forest. Nothing weird there, just itchy.

  No, No! The answer was there.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  She held onto it. The plant had been… wrong. Infected right? Infected by the kudzu. The pollen had hit her, and something had seeped in. A part of her recognised that as mana now, which was alarming.

  Something inside of her had reached out and grabbed it and then it had started guiding her. Each decision feeling like it was hers, but it hadn’t been.

  It had been the glamour.

  Her body sighed and stopped. It stopped in the hallway. There was a mirror there and it spoke to her.

  “We were doing so well,” it wined. It was her voice but the way it spoke was different. Haughtier.

  “I have to admit I’m impressed. We’ve pulled this trick with goblins before, and they never realised even after we left. Thought it was some mental break or something.” It shrugged. “Not that it makes a difference.”

  It started walking and Ratface tried to wrest control of her body away from it. She might not have bothered. This was a contest of mana, and the thing was made of the stuff.

  “Just sit quietly my dear, a quick slash of the knife and this will all be wrapped up. The witch’s forest taken care of and you delivered back to the elves. I can finally stretch my legs again. It’s been unbearable being stuck in here. Having to pretend I was dumber than I was so that the other glamour didn’t attack me properly. Nasty little runt.” She felt her body smile.

  “You won’t believe how happy I was when you sent her off to help Halmir. Cutting her out was so satisfying. I wonder how much it hurt her? I know how much it hurt you. A small pleasure for me while I was waiting. It’s almost a shame she’s gone.”

  Ratface paused at that. It thought the glamour- she caught herself before the thing could catch the thought. If its thoughts bled through to her then it was only natural to be the other way around. She searched around her body looking for a weakness. None that she could find so far. She was covered in the pollen, and it seemed to empower the glamour.

  She didn’t have time to search for it. They were getting closer to the core; she could feel it through the glamours senses. She wasn’t going to make it in time.

  “Ratface, there you are,” said Halmir. He’d come out one of the doors attached to the hallway. “I’ve been looking for you. You still haven’t cleaned up.”

  “I got lost,” the glamour lied. She felt it casually reach for her knife as she walked closer. She tried to smash it out of the way, to let Halmir know, but nothing happened.

  Halmir bared his teeth.

  “Yeah, I imagine that happens when its your first time in a place.”

  The glamour paused.

  “How’d you know?” it asked. It felt confident even with its cover blown.

  “She felt weird when I tried to teleport to. After that it was me who suggested cleaning up instead of her, I remembered how quick she was to clean herself after the plant last time.” He smiled. “It was right now that you really let it slip. Ratface would never admit she was lost.”

  Ratface paused at that. She wasn’t sure she liked how that painted her. The glamour chuckled.

  “So, what now?”

  “Well, now I kick you out.”

  “Oh?” the glamour said, “what makes you think you can?”

  “It’s simple, your outnumbered.”

  Halmir teleported to Ratface and slashed at her shoulder. The glamour danced back, a wide grin on its face.

  “Alright, we’ve got some time. I’ll play.”

  It rushed at Halmir. Ratface could feel the cruel smile it had on her face.