Outskirts of Sayang, Kingdom of Arsalan:

Sam lay on the ground writhing in pain while Utar knelt beside him, chanting a healing miracle. Thanks to his apprentice, the Priest had managed to escape the forest unscathed. The fight between Pontiff Sullivan and Theolonius Stalwart was devastating. The entire forest was now dust and ash.

Sam had carried his master out of harm’s way. He wasn’t injured by the last shockwave that decimated the forest. He was a healthy boy before the eclipse, before the song. Everything changed since then. Sam fell to the ground, screaming his lungs out, crying out for help. No matter how many miracles Utar tried on his apprentice, none worked.

So Utar knelt near the young man, and kept chanting, helping him through his pain. He was both worried and excited for him. He knew he’d been chosen to compete in the Holi Wars, but against whom? He looked at the battleground’s direction, hoping the Pontiff had retrieved the bones. Competing against that madman meant doom. He didn’t favor anyone’s chances.

Sam groaned and brought the Priest’s attention toward him.

“Sam,” Utar whispered. He was afraid to startle the new champion. “Sam, my boy, how do you feel?”

Sam opened his eyes and squinted at the man beside him.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You’ve been chosen, dear boy.” Utar beamed at his apprentice. He felt a mixture of pride and apprehension. Having a new champion to train wasn’t an easy task. Power easily corrupts them.

“Yeah,” Sam said. He tried to get up but his muscles gave in under his weight.

“Don’t move,” Utar urged. “You’re still adjusting. Do the basic breathing exercises we’ve been practicing.”

Sam obeyed and lay down on his back. He regulated his breathing and concentrated on the energy running through his Conduits. After a dozen calculated breaths, Sam opened his eyes. His breathing had become ragged. His heart beat faster than ever before.

“How is this possible?” he asked his master.

“What? What’s possible?” Utar was as puzzled as his apprentice.

“The Fragment’s gone,” Sam answered, “yet, I feel more powerful than before.”

Utar’s lips extended into the widest smile he could pull off. “You’ve completely merged the Fragment into your soul!” he said. “There’s no stopping us now boy. Not even with that madman summoning the Moon.”

“But,” Sam looked at his master, bewildered. “Didn’t you say it took months, even years to fully merge with the Fragment?”

“I don’t understand it more than you do boy,” Utar replied. “But we have to get to Mount Condurr now. If we are to beat that madman, we’ll need Osmen’s help.”

“When do we go?” Sam asked.

“Now, if you’re willing,” Utar said. His smile hadn’t faded. “We’re in enemy territory here. The Church will be delighted to hear from us once we get back from that mountain.”

Terre Beilly, The Capital of the Independent Republic of Boligne:

A girl named Heda woke up after a horrific nightmare. She groped around for her glasses but her hand caught a strange object. It was the golden fruit she’d just dreamed of.

“Linda!” she called out from her bed.

Soon after, a tall woman in a maid dress rushed in through the oaken double door, into Heda’s room. “Yes, ma dame,” she said and curtsied.

“Get my father here,” Heda said. “Tell him I’d dreamt of the song.”

“Yes ma dame,” Linda bowed low then hurried out.

Heda was then left to her thoughts. She was a young woman, twenty moons, and quite tall compared to other women in her country. She was of noble birth, and lived in a mansion at the highest hill of Terre Beilly. She stormed out of bed, naked as her mother bore her. She stood by the window overlooking the city below, fruit at hand.

What was that she’d just seen? Her father had been managing the family affairs ever since his father died forty moons back. He’d done a great job at that. Why would his business fall? Better yet, why would Boligne fall to the country they resisted for so long?

That song she heard didn’t bode well after all. The women, or to be more accurate the crones she saw told her of her fall and her country’s destruction. Unless she could do something about it… They’d given her the fruit, asked her to come and seek them. But where would she even begin the search?

She shook her head and her short red hair scraped against her lean shoulders. She mustn’t think of all that. What nonsense was that anyway? Sisters of fate, who’d believe that? She waited for her father by the window, observing the sleeping city. Then something caught her eye. There were hurried movements by the market place at the city center.

She pushed her forefinger against her nose, a reflex most people who wear glasses have. She’d wanted to have a better look at what was happening down there. She realized, to her astonishment and joy, that she didn’t need glasses anymore. She could now see perfectly. She could even see what was happening in the market place in detail.

A woman, who’d been dancing as she observed her, caught her attention even more. She sensed death looming about her. Heda opened the window and leaned against the sill to have a better look. The fresh breeze of early morning, right before dawn, hit her face and made her short red hair flutter.

She enjoyed it. It had been so long since she’d ever dared open that window. She’s been a frail, sickly girl ever since she dreamed of the song for the first time, three months ago. Now, she felt as though a new life had been injected into her. She looked at the woman once more. She was still dancing with a bunch of other men, all drunk, all possibly willing to get some privacy with the dancing lady.

A man advanced and caught the woman by the hips, swaying her right and left. She’d taken the advance quite positively. They danced and laughed, while his jealous drunken fellows watched them from the corner of their eyes. Then suddenly, one of them advanced, knife in hand. He’d first stabbed the woman in the neck, then in her stomach, then in her back, several times.

He went for his friend but the latter was stronger. He’d wrenched the knife out of his friend then proceeded to gouging out his eyes before cutting off his manhood.

‘Boligne has indeed fallen,’ Heda thought.

She turned away from the window then headed to her wardrobe, picked up a night gown and put it on. Her father was on his way. She also knew he was about to knock at her door.

“Come in,” she called out before her father had put his knuckle on the oaken door.

“Did you hear it too?” her father asked as soon as he got in.

He’d noticed his girl’s been out of bed. Then he noticed the open window and his daughter’s calm demeanor. He rushed to the window, his face contorted in a grimace of anger and reproach.

“Must I always tell you to never open this window?” he asked.

“Relax, papa,” Heda said. “I can see the mole on your upper lip. Take this statement and mull it over.”

The father stood there, eyeing his daughter. His face relaxed into a smile. Then tears streamed down his neatly trimmed beard.

“But, but how?” he asked.

“Maybe we should ask your friend, Stefan?”

“That man will never step foot in this house again!” her father hissed.

“Papa,” Heda spoke. She tried to sound tender, helpless and in need of her father’s protection. “I’ve had the strangest dream tonight. Only Stefan can give us answers.”

“That man almost killed you Heda!” her father protested. “I will hear of this no longer!”

“Before you go,” the girl said before her father turned and stormed out of the room. “Come observe this with me.” She motioned to the window she had opened.

“What is there to see but filth and immigrants crowding our streets?!” he asked.

“Life!” Heda answered. “And death, desire, ambition, fury, lust, the list goes on papa. I’ll show you why I need Stefan, and you’ll agree to bring him over once you see this.”

The father obeyed. This new version of his daughter delighted and scared him at the same time.

Forest of Sayang, the Arsalan Kingdom:

“Here we are again, old friend,” Theolonius addressed the Pontiff. “We don’t seem to succeed at killing each other.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Sullivan muttered. He was tied down, face on the burnt dirt.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Theolonius said.

He was collecting some ash in a phial. Theo always carried phials and other empty vessels with him. You never know what you can stumble upon, he’d repeatedly tell his followers.

“Yeah, you just want to kill me,” Sullivan said. He was struggling to free himself from the binds. The more he struggled, the tighter they became.

Theolonius chuckled. He sealed the phial in which he collected the ash of the fallen Phoenix then turned to his friend.

“I do want to kill you,” he said. “But not until you witness the destruction of this world.”

“Why not leave it to Eva?” Sully asked. “She’s got the same motives as you.”

“Yes, perhaps,” Theo answered. “But not the same powers, or vision. My world will be better after I reconstruct it. Your continuous speech about humans being weak and deserving of pity, mercy… Who are you kidding Sully? Look around you!

“We’ve destroyed an entire forest to get our hands on a pile of withered bones! What will you do now? Pray that your god will forgive you? We are wicked, evil. We deserve to die, every last one of us!”

“But not you!” Sully retorted. “Not the great Theolonius Stalwart, the man who conquered death! The man whose vision is to create yet another world ruled by fear from a tyrannical god!”

“That’s what humanity needs!” Theo said. “Don’t you see it now? We fight for power. We pursue our dreams while the clock ticks for each and every one of us. What if we didn’t have dreams, huh? What if we just lived for the sake of the betterment of this world? We can’t live without rules Sully. And we can’t live without a ruthless enforcer of said rules!”

“And you’re the enforcer?” Sully scoffed.

“Yes,” Theo said. “This will strike you as crazy. Most people call me crazy. Hell, even my devoted followers call me the madman to my back. You don’t see me crying over it. I have a vision of a perfect world, where there is no hierarchy. Everyone’s equal, and everyone uses magic for the betterment of this planet we’ve spent countless millennia destroying!”

“You can’t take people’s free will Theo!” Sully said. “It’s in our nature. You can’t beat nature Stalwart!”

“Watch me!” Theo said. “I’ll be sending you to your masters now,” he went on. “Say hi to Nari from me.”