“Kid…hey, Kid?” Someone is calling to me. But it’s like I’m underwater. The voice is so far away. “Hey, come on, Kid. Don’t tell me you’re not going to wake up now?”

“Mmm…?” I feel something hitting my face. It stings a little. The water becomes a bit less heavy and I manage to reach the surface. “Haaah?!”

“There you are!” When my eyes shoot open, I think I’m still dreaming. Because Mephis is in front of me. He ruffles my hair but the movement causes him to wince in pain under his black hat. “Thank the gods, I was afraid that I’d lost you there.”

“Mephis?” I bolt upright. What happened? Or right…I tried to use magic and ran out of energy. “How are you here? Did you beat Jarold?” Now that I am awake, I lift my head and get to my hands and knees. Mephis squats beside me, his breathing quiet. Examining him, I see that his face is even paler than I remember it, almost bone white, and I hope it’s just the moonlight making him look at way. The hilt of one of Jarold’s throwing knives still protrudes from his left shoulder. It’s sticky with blood. However, Mephis’s scarlet eyes are still clear. His mental fortitude is truly something else. “Did you win? We need to get you to a doctor!”

“Heh…nah, Kid. I didn’t beat him. Just gave him the slip for a bit. But he’s a pro tracker. You did a good job hiding your tracks. I did my best to cover the clues you missed. Still…he’s probably not far behind.” Mephis gives me a smile which should be painful. However instead of faking being okay, he seems genuinely happy to see me.

So Jarold is still coming.

“Damnit…I didn’t hide it well enough.” I say bitterly, disappointment in my failure washing through me. “I’m sorry, Mephis. I tried…!”

“You did fine, Kid. Really good. If it was anyone else, they’d never have caught the traces. But Jarold won’t give up. He’s not the kind to let go of a contract.” My guardian smirks and stares up at the bright moon. “You almost made it to Sines, you know that, Kid? Crazy…a five-year-old making it this far on their own. That fire in Boar’s Village, that was you, wasn’t it? As a distraction to cover your tracks? Heh…ruthless. I’m a little worried for you, but I guess I should be more worried for anyone that gets in your way in the future. Lian really created something special.”

“Mephis? Shouldn’t we go?” I notice that he doesn’t seem to be in any particular hurry. As a matter of fact, he’s perfectly calm. Composed even with a knife in his bloody shoulder. Even if it’s Mephis surely that has to be bothering him?

“You should go. Sines is just over that hill. Once you’re in town, ask for Romy and Mark. Show them the letter I sent you. Tell them that the Guild sent Jarold Westblade. They’ll understand. I think I remember them now. Lian had some pretty strong friends back in the day.” Mephis sighs deeply while stroking my hair a bit more. Then he rises to stand. And calls over his shoulder, “Hey, I’m trying to talk here. Can I have a moment? Surely even creepy stalkers like you still have that much human decency?”

“Hehe…the last time I let you talk, you almost gave me the slip. People say a lot of things about Mephis the Blood-lock, but I never expected you to be a coward who runs from a duel!” Jarold Westblade slides out of the shadows like a ghost. Standing in the edge of the trees, he holds a short sword in his hand, his dark clothes billowing in the wind.

“Funny...getting called a coward by an assassin who hunts children in the dark.” Mephis laughs dryly, putting himself between the man and me.

“Heh…semantics. I do what I want.” Jarold Westblade replies.

“That kind of philosophy will get you in trouble.” The Blood Warlock’s voice tightens and I know that a deadly fight is about to break out. He whispers to me through the corner of his lips, “Kid…I have to get rid of him. He won’t quit until he’s dead. But he’s too strong. So, I’m afraid this is goodbye.”

What? What are you saying, Mephis?

We’ll fight him together.

We can do this…!

“Says who? The man I’m about to kill?” The assassin seems insulted. Suddenly, Mephis shoves me back once more.

“Go on, Kid. Town’s right there. I’d prefer if you didn’t see what comes next.” He continues to talk softly to me, ignoring Jarold Westblade. When he turns his head slightly to look at me without losing sight of the enemy, all the objections in my head crumble to dust. He’s crying openly, the tears dripping from his scarlet eyes and falling onto the dirt without stopping. He’s serious. He’s really serious about this.

“What are you going to do?” I whisper softly to my guardian. No…my father. Even if it’s not by blood, he has raised me. That is how I will think of Mephis from now on.

“Just go, Kid. Don’t come back without Romy and Mark.”

“Will I see you again?” My voice trembles as Jarold Westblade grows suspicious in the distance. Mephis shrugs and laughs.

“You didn’t have time to read my letter did you, Kid? After you get to Romy and Mark, give it a read. You’ll understand then. Now…GO!” He gives me another push and I hesitantly begin to stumble away. However, Jarold Westblade does not make it so easy to escape.

“Hah! Same trick twice? Have a little respect!” The assassin rushes forwards. He really is like a ghost, moving even faster than Mephis. One second he is by the treeline, and the next, he has already appeared in front of us. He raises his sword high, aiming for me. However, Mephis steps into the path of the blade. Suddenly, I realize that something is missing. His hands are empty! Where is his sword?

My father…he doesn’t even have his blade.

All the blood rushes from my head and I want to turn back, but it’s too late. I am already running away. I am a coward. I tell myself it is because Mephis seriously ordered me to leave, but that isn’t the truth. I am too scared to try to fight this terrifying assassin. Behaving like a real child. My pulse beats wildly, the knowledge that I will be chased once he is done with Mephis puts speed into my dead legs. I should just run without looking back. But I can’t stop peeking over my shoulder. To be honest, I do not understand why it even matters if I run. Jarold is too fast. No matter how far I go, if he kills Mephis, he’ll catch up to me in no time.

“Hehe…HEHEHE!” Suddenly the most unexpected laughter breaks out in the air. I expected Jarold Westblade to be the one chuckling, but then I see Mephis shaking. He’s…laughing? A squishy sound comes out as Jarold’s deadly short sword finds Mephis’s injured shoulder and a gout of dark liquid shoots out.

*Shing*

*Puchi*

Mephis’s arm falls to the ground.

He’s bleeding everywhere.

The stump that remains of his arm is like a fire hydrant squirting blood until it runs out.

The wound is fatal for sure.

My heart clenches, growing cold. I was so sure that Mephis would have some hidden trick, maybe magic of some sort to stop Jarold’s blade even without his sword. But now, I realize he was just bluffing so I’d believe he’d be okay and run away. He was just trying to give me a chance to escape from a dead end. Time freezes, and I know what will happen without peeking at the future. Any second now, Mephis will crumple…and…die? Mephis is really going to die?

“Wow…laughing after I’ve cut off your arm? I thought you were a coward, but maybe I was wrong…” Jarold Westblade grunts as he swishes his wicked short sword. The blade is red with Mephis’s blood. “Everyone is so afraid of you, but you still bleed just like a normal person. Today…I’ll show them that the one they should be afraid of…is me! Jarold Westblade! The Blood-lock killer!”

“Mephis!” I can’t run. I can’t leave after seeing this. Maybe I’m not such a coward after all. Useless maybe I am useless. But I can’t look away from the man I acknowledge as father in his last moments.

*Badump*

*Badump*

My heart pounds as I watch Mephis arch his back and laugh. It probably only lasts for a second or two. But to me, it’s like he’s laughing for a lifetime. Jarold Westblade draws back his blade for the finishing blow. However, he pauses as the one-armed man in front of him abruptly lunges forward and draws them close. Too close to strike, the two of them become locked in a bloody embrace.

“Hehe…you really don’t get it do you?” Mephis’s voice is chillingly cold. Yet at the same time, his words burn with a primal challenge, a ferocity that he never, ever, showed to me. “All this time, you’ve been asking me to show you why people fear me. You shout whatever you want like a big black crow, screaming your lungs out and throw a tantrum when I don’t pay attention to you. Compared to you, that kid is a hundred times the man you are. Pathetic…”

“I’m pathetic?! You think I’m pathetic!” Jarold Westblade struggles to free himself from my father’s one-armed bear hug. Blood from Mephis’s stump squirts everywhere, until both men are covered in it. “You’re the one about to die without a grave! Don’t worry, I’ll send the kid after you once I’m done taking your head from your pathetic corpse!”

He’s still holding on. To buy me more time. I should run. I’m dishonoring his efforts.

Those are the thoughts I think in my despair as I see Mephis dying not twenty paces from me. But then he turns around, one hand clutching Jarold Westblade’s sword arm. He sees me watching and I see the same smile he had before. Absolutely unafraid in the face of death.

A real man.

My father.

Wait.

This is wrong.

Even if he isn’t afraid of dying, isn’t he scared that I am still watching?

“Kiddo…take my glove. I won’t be needing it anymore.” Mephis nods towards the stump of his arm on the ground. He holds Jarold Westblade in place. The assassin growls like one of the wild beasts we used to fight, but Mephis is determined not to let him go. I hesitate for a moment, but when I see how hard Mephis is shaking, I burst into a run. Back to the spot where Mephis lost his arm.

“Tch…kid if you had run, you might have at least lived a little longer. But now, once I finish this worthless Blood-lock, you’ll be following him to the underworld right after!” Jarold Westblade taunts me as I come near, but he is unable to break free from Mephis’s iron grip. “Oi, Blood-lock, aren’t you just stalling now? Hurry up and let me kill you! No one can survive this kind of blood loss, why are you wasting my time!”

“Take the Bloodstone and go, Kid. Don’t worry about this guy. He talks big, but he won’t be bothering you.” Mephis grins and his teeth are dark with blood. He headbutts Jarold Westblade in the nose when he struggles.

“Ahhk! Damnit piece of crap!”

I go to the severed arm on the ground. It makes my stomach a bit uneasy. But I bend down and do as Mephis says and remove the glove from it.

“There you go. Think of it as a birthday present. Hehe…I like that.” Mephis chuckles and then jerks his head towards the hill. “I’m glad I could get you something. And your mother is the one who made the Bloodstone for me, so it’s fitting that I’d pass it on to you. The Bloodstone won’t work as well once the seal is broken, but it will still amplify your magic a little.” Reluctantly, I stare at the glove in my hand. The soft weight of the stone inside feels heavier than normal.

“But this is yours…” I whisper.

“And I’m giving it to you. So now it’s yours. Happy birthday!” He says with a wide grin. Jarold Westblade curses us, but we ignore him. “To be honest, I was going to buy you something more suitable from town. Then this bastard found me. Heh, if only I realized, this is the perfect gift for a mage. Now go up that hill. I’m about to give a demonstration.”

“Demonstration?” I’m numb, not understanding. All I can see is the stump where Mephis’s arm should be. My vision is growing grainy, like the signals between my eyes and brain are being disconnected. It doesn’t feel real. Am I dreaming? That’s what this has to be, right? Just a bad dream…

“I once told you, that my magic is inconvenient.” Mephis stares into my eyes as if memorizing my face. Even though he’s still just as tall as ever, in that moment, he seems smaller than I remember him to be. Human…mortal…and fallible. “The reason I never showed you my magic is because…as the name implies…Blood Magic requires a sacrifice. Jarold Westblade has just so happened to provide that for us by cutting off my arm. Alright…that’s enough. I’m getting tired. Up the hill, and when it’s over…remember, go to town. Romy and Mark. Got it, Kid?”

“I don’t…understand…” My voice trembles, but Mephis just urges me onwards gently.

“Go on…you’re a special kid. I wish I could have stayed with you a bit longer, but I was only holding you back. Heh…someone like me, pretending to be a…” Mephis stops talking abruptly. He swallows loudly, “Well, anyways, read the letter I sent you. And pick a good name for yourself. Can’t have the townspeople calling you Kid forever. The other children might bully you. Not that I think they would have the guts. Has it really been five years? It feels like the blink of an eye to me.”

“Mephis?” He’s starting to sound delirious. There’s an awfully large pool of blood underneath him and Jarold Westblade. My knees wobble, they won’t obey me. I try to peek into the future, but I don’t have the mana. If I could just see ahead…

“GO! JUST GO ALREADY, KID!” His sudden scream startles me into moving. Before I know it, I’m running. Away, away away, I sprint with tears dropping behind me. From behind me, I can hear Jarold Westblade laughing as Mephis holds him back.

“Keep running, Kid! Make it fun for me!” The assassin yells as I leave. I go all the way to the top of the hill, where Mephis told me to go. As I turn around, I can still see them, a warlock and assassin locked in a deadly immortal embrace. I catch Mephis’s eyes on me. Even from here, I can see the red irises gleaming in the night. He winks at me. Then he lets go of Jarold Westblade. “Hehehe…it’s about time for this farce to end! Finally run out of steam, Worthless Warlock?”

The assassin gets his blade free. He whirls in a deadly circle, intending to take Mephis’s head off at the neck. But then the warlock screams out an incantation. It is incredibly fast. So fast that I am not entirely sure what words he says. A magic which he has learned by heart to the point where I think it is almost as fast as a silent incantation-

[Blood Witch Who Rules Over All Lost Souls,

Grant My Desire At Any Cost!

Destroy Everything With My Sacrifice!

Make Me A Fiend!

-Blood Offering]

*Kacha*

The glove I clasp tightly in my hands suddenly makes a breaking noise, like something inside has cracked. Before I can even look down, I see something happen in the distance. Mephis’s severed arm…liquifies. It looks like it just melts into a puddle of blood. Then Jarold Westblade’s sword slices through Mephis’s throat.

“Nooo!” I cry out even though I knew it was going to happen. A pathetic keening comes from my throat and I can’t make it stop. I really am just a useless child. “Nuuuu…”

But Mephis does not fall. His head does not fly off. Blood squirts out, but he stays upright like some sort of vengeful god. Jarold Westblade attacks again and again, his sword dancing until the glint of moonlight reflecting off the blade creates a web of sword-lines. Each strike hits true. But the Blood Warlock is an immortal scarecrow hanging from invisible strings. His body refuses to fall, as if he is not vulnerable to mortal wounds.

“W-What the hell are you?!” He screams in shock as Mephis’s red eyes snap open and he reaches out with his remaining arm. “How…how can you not be dead?!”

“…”

I can’t hear what Mephis says, if he says anything in return. But I see Mephis’s arm snatch Jarold Westblade’s throat and then the bubble of red, pulsating energy which erupts from them both. It keeps expanding until it blocks everything from sight. All I can see is this red blood dome that swallows up the ground, sky, and enemy. My father disappears. At the last moment, I see him glance back at me. He disregards Jarold Westblade, who is still trying to cut him in vain. His face is no longer the Mephis I know. It is cruel, the lips stretched out to the sides into a demented grin instead of the gentle smile I once knew. The red irises have swallowed everything, almost all the white in his eyes has turned crimson. I shiver before the gaze of what my body instinctively recognizes as a demon. Then the blood dome blocks him from sight.

Mephis?

What did you do?

What is a Blood Offering?

*Pwhoosh*

A split-second passes-

The blood dome expands outwards and then turns translucent-

It shatters-

Something shoots into the sky at terrific speed and disappears into the stars-

*Tsssss*

All the bloody mist from the mist shoots out in every direction and begins to fall to the earth.

It’s raining.

Raining blood.

My open mouth is filled with the taste of copper as the rain falls on my tongue. For a full ten seconds, the red rain comes down until the skies clear. When it is done, there is no trace of Mephis or Jarold Westblade. Just blood…everywhere. I have no idea what happened. I just know that my father has given me the most amazing demonstration of magic possible on my fifth birthday. A spell with the most wonderful result and the most terrible price. He saved my life, but at the cost of his own. Even though I didn’t see a body, I am certain of one thing.

Jarold Westblade will never bother me again.

“Thank you. Thank you, Father!”

I’m sorry I never told you how much you mean to me.