There are various spheres of energy, each of them starts with sensing that kind of energy and moves on to create and control it. Fire and Lightning are the two most commonly learned though others exist. - Antonio Ravnos

Adrian

I open my eyes, I am not at the bank. Me-but-not-me is sitting in a chair across from me at a table. The table seems to be made of a dark wood, I can’t tell what kind. We seem to be superimposed on top of a blanket of stars.

“You need to be more careful.”

Does she mean the theft?

“About what? The dragon’s blood?”

“That too, but I mean about passing on my warning. You may have said too much. If they think that you will never give in to them they will simply attack. We are not ready for that. You cannot trust them.”

“I don’t even trust you, why would I want more people in my head?”

She smiles, “but you do trust me. You followed my advice, if you did not trust me why follow it?”

“It was good advice.”

I look off onto the stars within my mind, a patch of them seem dimmer than the others. Why would they be? Why did I even look over there? They must represent something, and me-but-not-me wants me to ask.

“Why are we here over the stars?”

“Each of the stars in a tiny fragment of us, I can show you the state of our mind and soul this way.”

“Then why are some parts dimmer?”

“They are pieces that are hurt or have not awoken yet.”

“Not yet awoken? How can I have injuries here?”

“I am not the only embodiment of something within you. The other is still too weak, injured by your recklessness.”

“Another, is it going to be as cryptic as you?”

“No, I think you will like him in time. It is almost time to let us wake. Be warry tonight, when danger comes rush to our friends.”

I open my mouth to ask why but no sound comes out. The dream fading into grey nothing. Dammit why does me-but-not-me do this? Now I have more questions, what other being is in me? How did it get injured? What are you warning me about?

I wake up again, this time in the bank. It is almost dusk, which of the sisters should I ask to help me? I walk out into the lobby of the bank, Bryan and Abagail are still here going over the pages I managed to write before sleeping. Talia is here but Lysan is not; I guess I will ask her then.

“Kythia said that she was feeling sick, could you help me in the watch Talia?”

She looks up from helping the other two learn elvish, “I will. Did she say why she couldn’t help?”

I shake my head no, and she stand up. “No point in waiting around. Lysan will care for her while we are gone.”

I walk to the door and she follows me out, the streets are slightly emptier than they should be. I don’t need to think about that. We arrive at the palisade wall, though neither of us has spoken a word.

The guards at the wall look at me as I approach but unlike yesterday do not come near me. They just stay and watch the empty streets. This is going to be a long watch, should I try to talk with Talia? It’s been a few hours she doesn’t seem to have calmed down though.

No, calm could describe her. She is upset, but cold. She isn’t lashing out and is just following me. She doesn’t seem to want to be here.

“Your upset.”

“Did you figure that out on your own?”

“It took a while but yes. What is bothering you?”

“You.”

“I need to be told more than that.”

“Ever since we arrived here you have been acting as the other nobles. You have told the Althaen that my sister and me are yours. I understood the duel with Thraen, and the talk with Trían but why do you treat us this way? Then you go and steal, where is the respectable man who buried his friend?”

“We talked about the theft, yes stealing is wrong. I will still do it if I have to. But what do you mean by my treatment of you?”

“You command us to work. You play with all our safety to be here enjoying yourself.”

“I have not commanded you to do anything, I have only ever asked.”

“Yes, you ask, you use kind words but you expect us to follow. Why else would you use the word servant?”

“The same reason that I said I had claimed you. Because you asked for me to protect you and you sister from these nobles. I cannot do so by fighting and killing the lot, so I have to do it by fooling them.”

She does not retort, have I said too much?

“So says the young master of the worldshapers.”

“What do you mean, worldshapers?”

“You claim you are of House Ravnos. How can you not even know what the title of your family is?”

“Title? My family has never been nobles.”

“If the Ravnos don’t count as a noble, nobody could. A small clan of the most powerful mages in the world. The clan that threw all of the other Houses out of their world.”

“Powerful? Throw others out of a world? I don’t know what happened in the past but even grandpa can barely do more than teleport, we don’t have that type of power.”

“Yet you have their trait, inexhaustible manaless magic. You act the part, prideful looking down on the other nobles. Do you think I am blind?”

“No, I thought you would recognize my act for what it was, a disguise. Do you think I like to act like this? No, the Althaen disgust me. I keep this act up for your protection and the protection of my friends. If you think I am demanding you do something sorry, you can tell me no. I will not force you to do anything; you are a free person regardless of the act to fool the Althaen.”

“I don’t believe you, you enjoy your ‘act’ too much. Do you get a kick out of messing with us?”

“If you don’t want to be near me then go back to your sister. I’ll keep this ruse up to keep you safe if only because I said that I would.”

“I’ll leave then, not that I have much of a choice. Your slave or theirs.”

She turns to leave.

“Talia, know this I will not touch you nor will I force anything upon you unless you want me to. I am not the monster you see me to be.”

She pauses for a moment in her steps, and then she is gone having turned a corner I can see her no more. This is almost the worst thing that could have happened. Shit, why did it have to go so wrong? Does her sister feel the same? Does K think that as well?

No, she has been happy. Or is it an act as my act is to the Althaen; a way to fool others for your own protection? Why do I have to fool these nobles? When can I be myself again? I sigh and stare out over the empty street, the other watchers do not approach or talk.

Near midnight I look up at the moon, at least the moon is always here, even in the day you can find it if you look closely. I see an odd shaped cloud pass by. No, the air is still, a cloud couldn’t have been moving that fast.

A moment later another shape passes by the moon. Something is wrong, I can’t explain this in Althaen. I hear a crash behind me, I turn. The nearby torches illuminate a reptilian beast twice the size of a horse, it has no front limbs only wings and hind legs. Its head bites at a nearby soldier ripping off an arm. I can’t see the tail, but I guess that it is bladed by how there is a gouge in the wall near it.

This is bad, no worse a humanoid shape is riding the creature. Is this what me-but-not-me was warning me of? Dammit I wouldn’t have left the bank if I knew. Ok, I need to kill this and run back to the bank. Bryan and Abagail are not ready to defend themselves. Hell, I’m not either.

It hasn’t noticed me yet. The armless soldier is now dead, and the rider is yelling at the mount. I pull the rifle off my shoulder. I’ve twenty-five in this side of the magazine, another twenty-five after, and two pistols each with fifteen shots in each of them. Is this enough?

I draw on spatial aim as I focus on the eyes of what I expect is a wyvern. Blind it, snipe the rider and pick on it while the soldiers distract it. I fire and the thing lets out a yell of pain. Its left eye is out of commission. I swiftly aim for the other before it fully turns to me, the creature gives another cry of pain and charges at me.

I run to the side, the creature’s rider has fallen off. It fell into the light of a torch, a hobgoblin. Some sort of war cry happens behind me, I run to the side dodging the wyvern’s tackle by only a few inches. It starts to sniff, I have to blind its nose too.

I will a gout of flame towards the creature’s face. A sizzling sound comes from it, I fail to notice the still burning wood as I move around a corner. Several soldiers rush past me, I think some of them were sneering at me. Go ahead, I’m going to live.

The wyvern claws at what was once its rider, the hobgoblin is now dead. It’s trying to find me but I’ve taken its eyes and nose. I don’t know where this thing’s vital organs are, but the skull is too think to be broken by a single 5.56 round. That is all I have though so I start to release rounds into its torso as the soldiers start to crowd around it.

Most of the soldiers have been ripped in half by the time I finish emptying the magazine, that’s twenty-three holes in this thing's torso. How is it still killing them so fast? A red skinned midget pops over the wall in my sight, shit their reinforcements have come. A few of the soldiers move to block the goblins; the rest continue to contain the beast, mostly by their bodies. Why are these men throwing themselves at their death?

I had to dump the other side of the magazine into the wyvern before it stoped moving, over a dozen goblins have climbed the wall now. Guard the wall like the Althaen want me to or run? Why am I asking? I run through the only path were I wouldn’t be blocked, by the wyvern’s corpse.

Screams of pain and laughter of evil men echo through the night air as I run to my friends. I see Thraen, now whole, toying with a goblin as it slowly dies. Elsewhere the goblinoids doing the same to soldiers and survivors. Both of these groups sicken me, just kill you foes and be done with it.

I turn a corner and have the bad luck to be met with a half dozen green goblins. At least they are the smallest and weakest. I don’t have time for them, I sidestep the first of their spears thrust at me and grab one by its skull, it screaks as black tendrils extend from my hand before it dies.

I feel two blades strike against my back, the chain shirt stopped the cuts. I release the dead goblin from my grasp and move its axe to my other hand via Translocation Grasp. With a swing the axe is buried into the neck of another. I let go and back away from the three now behind me.

The three flee rather than continue to engage me, they’ll find easier prey tonight. I continue on my way to the bank. It’s been over twenty minutes, if a wyvern got there I’m not sure the trio can handle it. I only beat one using a wall of human shields, they don’t have idiot soldiers for that.