An ear piercing shriek rings throughout the woods as the aqueous blob manifested from the well snatches at an elf’s feet. The spear wielding elf loses his voice screaming in agony as his ankle is dissolved at the point of contact, he loses balance and falls face first into the awaiting streams of acid and slime.

Valery and her team struggle to keep distance from the monster, yet we lie at its foot, the weight of her carnal commands racks through every fibre of our being. King, unbound by the weight of the pact doesn’t suffer the same agony I would if I were in control, for that I’m grateful.

With her fingers clinging onto the fringes of consciousness, she commands the Seeker Blade to run interference on any neutralizing attacks from Valery’s team, snapping at any rise in mana or even a twitch of an enchanted weapon.

She picks herself up, resisting Valery’s constant chant of carnal to take a stand— failing that she balances herself on one knee and smirks up and Valery, “You’re fortunate you know, I can’t give it any commands thanks to you screwing up my work so I can’t deliver the death you truly deserve.” She shrugs and adds, “But I suppose I can’t stop it from going on a killing spree either, this close to Hescaria I suppose Lumina wouldn’t want precious subjects melting into nothingness within a Murkling.”

Valery makes a point of screaming her carnal, as though volume would have anything to do with stopping King. King sneers and pulls on mana from within, she mutters something under her breath— an insult and curse to Valery rather than the chant of spell crafting I was expecting but nonetheless, an aura carries throughout our body, reviving the strength in our arms and legs.

King is about rising to full height when a flurry of icicles snaps into muscle, gut and bone, knocking us back several feet and giving Valery’s team a chance to mount an attack on the Murkling.

“Freeze the damn thing!” I hear one of her mates scream as torrential waves of water manifest from wide glowing blue circles and shoots at the Murkling.

Within the Soul Crystal I leap out of my comfort in the Desert Divide and push against the edges of my confinement. Desperation racks through me, this could be the last chance I have to turn things around, to take back my body and set things the way they’re supposed to be.

Outside Valery and her mates find the Murkling resilient. It shifts away from their icy strikes at the torrent of water— any attempts to lock the monster up in frost are met with unpredictable twists and dodges as it slithers out of the way. The monster is quickly adapting too, sacrificing parts of itself to launch at its attackers.

‘A bit more mana and it’ll replicate.’

King’s voice rings closer than ever, no longer the distant howl carried by the wind and skies, but as though she stands right beside me. I stop slamming my fists against the Soul Crystal I listen, biting my lip waiting for her to say something else so I can find her and pull her back where she belongs.

Fuck, she’s not saying anything. Outside she’s willing herself to stand and get to the Murkling— the only reason it’s not down for the count is because Valery’s too busy holding us down with carnal, something I thank her for by the second. As much as I hate the painful and unexplained power the language has over me, it’s currently the only thing giving me a chance to take back control.

“King!” I call out, wishing to hear her voice once more.

‘What do you want, Nil? This isn’t the time for-’

“Just run, there’s no need to fight now is there?” A weak argument but one that stalls her enough for me to hear her voice coming from, not beside me, but above. My crystalline prison is endless when I choose, I can manipulate the environment to a degree and come up to the edges when I wish but the top and bottom are parts that have gone undiscovered.

‘What are you talking about? We need what’s in this base if we want a chance surviving this war, you think I’m at full strength in this demon body? I’ve forgotten over half my best spells and rituals in the thousands of years we’ve been lost. We need the knowledge.”

It’s hard to argue with that so I don’t, I know where to go now. Narrowing my eyes at the top of crystal I will the sands into a pillar under my feet and rise, reaching out for freedom as she rambles on, cursing Valery and the elves for their interference. At the same time, I pull closer to her voice— a wispy Blood Orange light flickering in and out of existence with each pause.

Someone slams into King, knocking us back onto the ground. Looking through the Crystal I find a livid elf with a mace over her head ready to swing. Seeker penetrates her unprotected skull, but not before she slams her gleaming weapon into our stomach— shredding winds take apart our gut, eliciting a wince from me and a pained scream from King. The wisp’s light brightens as it plummets towards me— King’s consciousness coming down to rest— as it does I grin and snatch it, but my fingers slip through. Despair races through me at this but keeping my head up I find an opening still, one King’s wisp begins to rise towards.

I gasp, recognizing what I need to do to escape. I leap off my pillar of sand and pull all the reality manipulating abilities I’m granted here to make myself a wisp, to return myself to what I am— Essence.

I soar through the space left, racing King as she rises beside me.

‘You don’t want to do this Nil!’

There’s an emotion I haven’t heard in her— fear, panic, desperation.

‘I think I do. If you’re good, I’ll let you out to play once every hundred thousand years.’ I’m only above her by an inch, but that’s enough.

‘Hahaha! Fine, have it your way then.’ To my absolute shock she stops rising, letting me soar ahead as she descends and takes form in the confinement of the Soul Crystal. Her voice becomes a distant thought from this height now, ‘You got your chance fair and square, glad you took it, there wouldn’t be another one. Fair piece of warning though, out there, that Murkling won’t recognize you as its master.’

She shrugs and crosses her legs on a large extravagant throne— one I recognize well— manifested from my falling sands. ‘What can I say? Different soul, different master, and do know I can’t command it to stop anyhow, not that I would if I could. Another thing to note, I’ve been in here for hundreds of years, I’m a very patient King, you can attest to that, and so, I know you’ll be back in here one day, asking…pleading for sire you bail you out of another mess.’

Freedom looms ahead so I barely listen to her rambling. The light of the moon strikes my eyes as I rightfully take the reins of my body— pain is the second sensation that racks through me, Valery is still cursing carnal at me— I’m paralysed.

The Murkling lets out a squelching roar, one I didn’t think it was capable of but understand the meaning nonetheless. It senses its master’s absence and rages.

“Valery! It’s me! Stop, let me help!”

The expected relief fails to come, the throbbing pains continue and the Murkling sneers— the shapeless monster glows ominously at me— and stretches out towards me, bounding over and under pressured water attacks and tanking ice shards all to approach.

Fuck, this is going to hurt.

For whatever reason— King’s shenanigans most likely— the Murkling makes to pick me up, boiling my skin at its touch. It’s only thanks to [Armoured Form] that my bones and flesh are spared the sizzling.

The Murkling, now with me in hand— aqueous appendage— it roars into my face and starts slithering towards the well. Valery lands right in front of it, crossbow plucked, set and aimed right at my head, the arrows metal and frosting tip tell me it’s not meant for me and better yet, she’s stopped speaking carnal.

“Now!” she orders her men and I turn, frantic to see five of them standing a distance from one another and in a circle. As one they chant and Valery lets loose her arrow— I curse, figuring this isn’t her letting me go, it’s a trap.

Seeker intercepts the arrow but instantly falls out of the sky a frozen hunk. Pushing against the searing Murkling eating out the insides of my wounded gut, I struggle to free myself of its grasps. Essence roars through my muscles and I tear through the slimes binds and tumble out, free but under Valery’s glare.

She doesn’t bother to say a thing as a blast of blue light happens to life above me. The hairs on my neck stand as the round, intricate magic circle booms and vibrates with mana as dense as what I sensed when Gerim fought back that Dawern.

‘Collaborative casting. It’s what make elves and humans such powerful nuisances.’

There’s a slight chuckle in King’s voice, she’s enjoying this thoroughly.

“Valery, wait!” My plea falls on deaf ears, Valery doesn’t have to do a thing as the circle hums with power and sets its magic upon the Murkling and I.

***

I wake up with a start, gasping desperately for air, for warmth to spare me the shivers running through my bones. Aching, I let myself fall back into the comforts of the bed and duvet as my joints tremble— I never thought I’d long for the heat of the Fire Divide as bad as I do now.

“Shhh, shhh, it’s alright, I’ll keep you warm.” Bothered with the crippling cold I don’t question King’s warm arms wrapping around me, tossing over more folds of the duvet over me and pressing my head into her bosom. Her fingers stroke around my scalp with practised ease, guaranteeing that I sink even further in her embrace.

“W-what happened?”

“Hm? What else? Exactly what I said would happen and sooner than I thought too.” She snorts into my hair, tickling me with her breath as she continues caressing my head.

Feeling a tad warmer now I recognize the room we’re in, the bed most especially. Long, dark curtains cling to the post, giving a full view of King’s imperial bedroom. Over to the corner I spot the wall she shoved me into the first time— the enchanted surface made sure to keep me in place while she had her way. I gulp and shirk away from her embrace.

She follows after me, shuffling so she straddles my leg under the duvet and intertwining our fingers as she leans in, “It’s too late now, Nil, too late to go back.”

Terror shivers through me at the meaning behind those words, “No, I’m not asking for your help, I don’t need it.” I shove her arms away and free myself from her, the cold comes back full force but I grit my teeth and bear it.

She sits up, watching me tumble out of the excessively large bed to crawl away— the cold in my bones keeping me from using my legs without excruciating pain— she lets out a hearty chuckle, like she would at a jester’s dramatic tomfoolery.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“I mean it.” I groan.

“Don’t say things you’ll regret either.” She walks over to squat beside me and pet my head, “You’re a fool if you think you can do this without my help.”

“I’ll die trying.”

She hisses and grabs a handful of hair, “And take me with you? No, I’ll end you before you drag me down because you’re too full of pride to take my help.”

Wincing at her tug, I meet her eyes and glare, “Except you’re not helping, you’re controlling, using, just like you always have.”’

“You didn’t have a problem with it when we were mortal, why now when we’ve got all of eternity?”

“I was…I was lost, confused and unwilling to face the world’s harsh realities. I let you tell me what to do because I thought you knew what you were doing, but all you did was get us killed and locked up in a torturous wall for a thousand years.”

She lets my head drop and beckons on a chair to sit in cross legged. “Is that what this is about? Self-realization? Discovery? Is that why you want to return to Reais so bad?” She scoffs, “It’s easier there isn’t it? Don’t look so cross, I would’ve thrived, achieved Blood Orange long before the Lord Crimson battle royale if I were in control.”

“I would’ve too…if I remembered who I was.”

“Don’t you mean who you are?”

“No.”

She scoffs again, “And now you think you can make it here. Tell me, what is your plan? Key me in on your brilliance and after I reveal your foolishness, you’re going to tell me why I, King, shouldn’t correct your mistakes with force. I’m being kind just listening.”