The effects of excessive blood powder exposure aren’t known on humans. Given the small amount that can build up in the veins, we know that it can be fatal, but we have never had a chance to see what an excessive amount of them could do to someone. The reactions will likely be fatal, as is the case for all animals we’ve tested on, but there’s a chance of survival and possible adaptation...

Cherno and the others arrived back to the castle gates and were welcomed back inside. He paused at the grand hall and let out a low whisper while he looked over the many paintings present. After the quick inspection, he noticed two guards nervously standing beside a staircase to the left of the door Koshchei had first greeted them at. The group approached and the men straightened up.

“We’re here to perform a blood trial on Icara. Do you happen to know where she is?” Cherno asked them.

They glanced nervously between each other before one gestured up the stairs. “Icara is the one he brought in last night, right? She seemed like she was one foot in the grave when she walked into the room. We wouldn’t really deem to question the king, but I hope that trial thing isn’t too hard on the girl.”

Gwindon shared glances with the others and moved quickly up the staircase they pointed to. Fortunately directions weren’t really needed to find the room after that. The hall was barren of other paths until a set of massive door, still slightly ajar, appeared at the end of them. He stopped and found Lilith and Cherno short behind him. They all passed through the door together.

“Ah, there you all are!” Koshchei said, his arms folded down in his lap as he sat on the king’s throne. “I presume you’ve come to give Icara the blood trial? Long time no see, Cherno! She’s a bit distracted at the moment, but things will move along shortly, don’t worry.”

They moved around the table and finally spotted Icara in a heap on the floor. Though they couldn’t hear anything from her, she was visibly shaking. Her skin had taken on a much healthier tone than before, but now little red protrusions grew from her skull around the temples. As if made of blood, the protrusions seemed to pulse in rhythm with her heart rate. Gwindon set the device down and got closer with the others.

“What is happening to her...?” Gwindon asked, fists balled at his sides.

“Acceptance. The physical changes are bit stunning to me as well, but I suppose that’s normal for someone as unique as her. She is a hybrid that has been fostered and nurtured for a long time, evidently. To more directly answer your question, she has decided to accept the part of her mind that has grown thanks to being a hybrid. Rather than reject her demonic origin, she is embracing it. Rather simple, to do when I put it like that, but it has been quite the struggle for her.”

Icara lifted her head to Gwindon with a pained smile on her face. The halos in her eyes flashed and winked, shifting from near luminescence to a dull glint. With obviously great effort, she lifted herself to one knee and raised one hand in greeting. Lilith stood beside Gwindon and moved closer to him as Icara moved.

“H-Hello again, Gwindon. I’m finally feeling better!” She said through labored breath.

“Are you sure about that, dear? You don’t look alright... you’re starting to not look human either.” Lilith said, looking Over Icara’s body.

“I feel fine. Maybe better than fine, but I can’t exactly tell right now. There’s a weird energy running across my skin, it feels a bit like static. Strangest of all is that the sensation is going into my head as well. I can sort of feel something pushing in around my temples, if that makes sense.”

Cherno arranged the machine in silence for a moment before circling past Gwindon and Lilith. He walked right up to Icara and knelt down in front of her, holding his hand just an inch away from her forehead. She didn’t move to take his head away, carefully watching it instead.

“Mhmm, I hardly think a test is needed at this point. These horns are made from the same material I’d perform the test with. There’s no doubt about it, she has an excessive amount of aether content. Technically speaking, she should be dead already.” Cherno explained as he stood back up.

“Horns?” Icara asked, a shaky hand rose to her head and felt one of the pulsing growths. “What the... Koshchei, this is too obvious! They’ll know I’m mostly a demon now.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll only have rumors amongst the losers. Power breeds righteousness, I’m sure they’ll look past your qualities in time. Even if the church decides to condemn you, I’ll be by your side to defend you, Icara.” Koshchei offered with a smile.

“This is insane!” Gwindon interrupted them both. “You’ve been toying with her mind since you got here, and now even her body and soul are warped! I don’t care what your reasons are, this is wrong.”

“You seem to think I considered your opinion when I decided this.” Koshchei said with a smirk.

Icara shingly rose to her feet and glanced down at her hands. The veins in her wrists surged with blood and flexed in smooth pulses. As her breathing settled, her vision felt ever clearer than it had before. She flexed her fingers out and watched the veins steele down into her skin with a smile. Her attention lifted back to Gwindon.

“There’s nothing wrong. I can feel myself stronger now, and it feels like my head is calmed down as well. Even if there’s still a slight struggle, I can feel it growing weaker by the second.”

“You’re talking like your humanity is going to die, Icara. Is that really something you want to happen? Just become some mindless killing machine?”

“It’s better than trying to reject the power you’re given. Even when you could have fought and escaped or killed Daylon, you just let him capture you. Don’t you remember the feeling of being a hybrid yourself? The raw power in hard to describe, but it just feels like every function in my body is stronger. Why didn’t you keep this power, Gwindon? Were you just scared because your kingdom fell from grace with it?”

“My kingdom fell because the demon died, Icara. The shock of trying to control so many people drove all of us mad, it wasn’t anything to do with power at all. What do you think that means for the fact your demonic half has been this strong?”

She took a step back and grasped one of the horns in her hand. A slight tremor rattled her grip for a second before she stared at the floor. No rebuttal came to her mind, too clouded with doubt to think of something like that. Koshchei watched him with a glare until Cherno slid the machine forward on the table.

“Well I’d hate to have wasted the trip here. Since Icara is a guaranteed pass on the test, why don’t you try it out, Koshchei? I’m sure you could use some evidence of your humanity to dissuade naysayers to your use of Icara as a field commander and warrior, don’t you agree?” He suggested with one hand on the device.

“I don’t think such a measure will be needed, alchemist. Compared to Icara, my appearance must be rather dull, don’t you think? If I do happen to attract some negative rumors in the future, I’ll be sure to enlist your aid then. For now, I’m terribly sorry about the wasted trip, and will happily offer you a modicum of money. You do have to leave immediately, however.”

“Are you scared of the needle or something? Don’t tell me the king is frightened of just a little prick on his royal finger! Take a step down from the throne and—”

“Would you like to be thrown from the castle, Cherno? I can easily arrange your business be burned as well. Get out of here immediately or I will lose my temper entirely and do something very unfitting of my station.”

Gwindon looked at Cherno, amazed at the cool face he could maintain after a threat like that. He moved beside him and put a hand on his sword, glaring back at the king. Koshchei let out a sigh and stood up, but froze in place as he watched Icara move between them and him.

“What kind of king threatens someone so easily like that? You’re losing your head if you can so casually say things like that. If I’m supposed to be working with you to better the kingdom of Alastair, I don’t want you making idle use of that power.” She confidently questioned him.

His fist clenched tight to his side, and at the same moment, Icara faltered. She felt her head get lighter and her limbs weak, driving her down to the floor. He moved down from the throne and stood in front of her, looking over the others with a focused stare devoid of the civility he had kept up before. Moving away from Icara, he approached the door to the hall and gripped onto the knocker.

Despite the impressive size of the door, he slowly closed it shut before turning back towards them. “Cherno, can I ask why you’re so determined to get a sample of my blood? You should know full well that I’m just your average royal at this point. Don’t you remember testing me a while ago?”

Gwindon swallowed hard, the atmosphere growing oppressively dark. He pulled back to Lilith’s side and stood between Koshchei and her, his hand gripping onto one of hers. Both of their hearts were racing fast as they watched Cherno place a finger casually to his chin and then bring the hand back down on the device itself.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, I must have misspoken all those years ago. Your trial actually had a very bizarre quality to it. When I applied the powder to your wound, it didn’t cling at all to the blood you had, which is what should happen to when it comes in contact with blood. At least, that’s what would happen to the blood of a normal living creature. It just seemed so silly to me at the time, how could you produce results impossible for any living creature?”

Koshchei slowly walked around the table towards Cherno, a cold and piercing gaze focused on him the whole way. A few feet before meeting him, Icara once more came to their defense and stood in front of him. The quick move was astoundingly quick, but she was out of breath by the time she stopped.

“W-Wait a minute, Koshchei... let him speak some more. I don’t know entirely what’s going on, but I feel like something is wrong here. Shouldn’t the demon have died in that accident when I was created? But then, how can I...” Her voice drifted off and she yelped suddenly.

Icara collapsed to the floor and gripped one of her horns in pain. Koshchei tilted his head to the side and watched as she struggled to stand up right. Silence nearly claimed the room except for the sounds of her rises and falls. After he watched the fourth such attempt, he let out a contemptful sigh and strode next to her. His hand flashed to her wrist and gripped it tight.

She lost most of the color in her eyes and her body went limp on the floor. Cherno finally showed a sign of fear and stepped back from the display. Koshchei looked from Gwindon and Lilith back to him before holding up Icara’s body from the ground with only a slight hint of effort.

“I believe she was right about one thing, a king should have to make threats in order to get what he wants. This deserves special attention from me, and I won’t shoulder the responsibility to my guards.” Koshchei said before he lifted a fist to accentuate his point, a grin spread across his face. “Not to mention I haven’t really felt this strong in over a decade, so I’m itching to use it on someone.”

Gwindon drew his sword and leveled it at him while Lilith pushed back and brought out two of her own swords. Cherno moved down the table and towards the throne, his eyes narrowed onto Icara’s limp form as he pulled back. Koshchei let Icara fall to the floor before he raised both his fists to fight.