"HAHAHA."

Arvid and the rest cackled as the jester performed her routine. To be fair to her, to get that lot laughing so boisterously her performance must have been exceptional. I had no interest in it though.

My subordinates could rest and enjoy their downtime, but being away from a battlefield did nothing but leave me restless. It was where I belonged, where I called home. I obviously couldn't spend my entire life on one, there weren't enough wars to fight, but time away from the field should be spent honing skills not watching some chicken-like creature spin ridiculous tales.

"HAHAHAHA. The bastard!"

I would leave them to go train, but that would just shatter my already shaky position. I didn't connect with any of them, we barely spoke outside of orders and confirmations. Even though I was the technical leader, I was very much an outcast. The only one that even bothered to pretend they enjoyed my presence was Sindre. Though that's just because his clan were one of the few that knew who I really was. He made no effort to hide the fact they sought to invite him into their fold. They couldn’t do it openly, but two ‘friends’ just getting along with each other seemed to be fair game to them.

"Dalric! Why are you all the way up here? That ayalmi is hilarious."

And here he comes, Laekna floating behind him.

"She is, but I need to review our last battle and I doubt I’d be able to do that down there.

Sindre took a healthy swig of the drink in his hand, “What are you doing that for?”

“I review every battle, but this time we suffered two casualties in what should have been a comfortable rout."

He scoffed, "Oh come on. Ísturn is a fortress city, we weren't expected to conquer it alone in the first place."

"We weren't given orders to, but we had 19 giants in this unit. That was more than enough."

"They call you The Butcher, but they really should call you The Perfectionist. Can't you at least celebrate the victory?"

Celebrations lead to contentment. Contentment lead to complacency. Complacency lead to death. Those words were practically etched into my skull. I couldn't say them though, it was a point that nobody around me agreed with. Every dish came with a side of revelry with these lot.

"I am. Usually I'd be training right now, but instead I'm with all of you for this little victory party."

Sindre gave me a sideways look. I was clearly stretching the definition of 'with' as within the sizable amphitheater they commandeered for the show I sat more than halfway up the stairs while everyone else was at the front. I was still here though, that should count for something.

He shook his head, "Anyway. I just got news that Endalaus surrendered. We'll be heading home after this."

Oh, that's just great.

He sat next to me, "Got any plans for when we're out of this frozen wasteland?"

Back to training.

"Not yet. This was my first deployment as a Minor Captain, I have a lot to go over. I imagine you'll be off to one of the mountains to try and whoo one princess or another though."

"Hehe." He chuckled, "I just might. You should come too. The ladies will go crazy for the first Captain under a hundred ever. That's a pretty big deal."

"I'm ninety-eight and only Minor Captain."

"Still. You're the first. Think of all the sweet sweet women in Vakebakker just waiting for us. With their thick, powerful thighs and their…"

And there he goes. The only thing Sindre cared about more than looking good on a battlefield was looking good for women. He was a fairly gifted fighter, but his lust would ruin him one day.

"...I heard the second daughter of Lord Nyberg has the most beautiful abs you'd ever see. They're like sculpted jarlon. Just imagine what it must feel like ins—"

I'd heard enough, "Looks like the show is ending.”

The ayalmi bowed to receive her rowdy round of applause. She’d clearly made quite the impression. I briefly gave her a few claps myself just to keep with the mood, but now that she was finished though, it was my cue to leave.

Sindre stopped me as I stood up, "Leaving already? You're not going to share the news with the rest?"

"I appreciate you telling me, but until I receive an official report I can't do that."

“Y—”

I stopped him before he cut in, "I'm almost completely sure you're right, but rules are rules. Things could have changed in the time it took for you to receive that tidbit."

In truth, that was about as likely as the sun falling from the sky. Sindre’s clan was directly involved in leading this war. There was zero chance they didn't have a complete picture of the campaigns ongoing. That very fact, however, was the reason I didn't feel a need to address the rest. Our piece of the campaign was over. I'd likely never see any of them again, our paths simply didn't align. The next time I'm released they'll still be footmen and I'll be more than just a Minor Captain.

Sindre called out to me as I left, "The offer still stands when you're ready!"

"I'll think about it."

I genuinely would, even if there was no chance I could ever accept. My hundredth winter approached and I had still yet to feel the touch of a woman. A part… a big part of me was envious of Sindre. He could live his life mostly carefree, indulging all he wanted. I had no such luxury.

I wonder what those abs would feel like…

“You’re doing well.” Laekna chimed in, pulling me out of my daydreams. She’d just been silently floating around previously so I forgot she was even there.

“I can’t really afford to do anything less than that.”

“You could. You could have left immediately and washed your hands clean of all of them, but you didn’t. You’ve even made a connection with one of them.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. We just speak every now and again. He’s just… wait. This doesn’t make sense.”

I turned to look at Laekna, but suddenly she was gone. Suddenly everything was gone.

…

..

.

Dalric shot up. For a moment he thought about the dream he just had, but that moment sharpy passed when he took in his surroundings. Eight towering shields loomed around him as he blinked clarity back into his eyes. Though there were only eight shields, twenty people surrounded his bed. Most notably was Ryku, who stood closest with four devil glass pieces in hand.

“Dalric?”

What happened?

His memory was foggy and his head ached tremendously. He remembered briefly chatting with Ryku about how his information gathering was going, which was a mixed bag, but everything after that felt clouded. His body felt absolutely destroyed as well. He clenched his fist a few times and it felt like his muscles were creaking into place.

Wait.

He reached up and plucked the Devil Glass out of his head.

Devil Glass? In my head again… Oh!

His memories rushed back, compounding the headache somehow. The Gods had come again, much sooner than he expected. It made sense though, he was foolish to assume they wouldn’t return so soon. The contract stated they could control him for two hours every day. They never used it as such before, but they just never had a reason to. They did now and they won’t stop here, they’ll come every single day until they can make him submit. He had a means of fighting back though.

Dalric eyed the Devil Glass in his hand then looked over at the four in Ryku’s, “How long have I been asleep.”

The shields around him lowered as much of the room collectively sighed.

“And what did you tell them?”

Ryku placed the pieces down, “The truth. Last night your ahjer violently spiraled out of control and you asked me to stick those in you to calm it down. It’s..5:23 so you’ve been out for roughly seventeen and a half hours.”

Hmm. A part-truth.

“Seventeen hours...” Dalric slowly moved to the edge of the bed, “You all can go now.”

They only hesitated for a second before the nineteen others in the room slowly marched their way out. Once they were gone he attempted to place a barrier around the room. Fighting through the headache was annoying by itself, but once through he found he was once again devoid of ahjer. Which was probably also contributing to the painful state of affairs in his head.

I suppose five of these would do that.

He tossed the piece he held onto towards Ryku, “Do you know any spells to prevent eavesdropping?”

Ryku caught it and placed it with the others, “Yes, give me a moment.”

His ahjer shout out and coated the floor, walls, and ceiling. It briefly flashed black, transforming the room into a black box for a fraction of a second, before the spell settled. Daric couldn’t do much prodding without any ahjer to use, but his ahjer sense rated the resulting barrier highly. The spell felt quite different from the other standardized ones he’d been seeing, it was more complex in its use of ahjer. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but the results seemed adequate.

“‘Out of control ahjer’ you said, is that what you truly believe?”

Ryku pulled up a chair, “No. I believe something or someone was—is trying to control your mind. You’re interested in Devil Glass because you want to use it as a counter.”

Wellll then.

“So you lied to them?”

“No. That’s what I believe, but I don’t know if I’m right.”

“Of course... So why did you lie?”

“I—yu..b—.” Ryku took a deep breath, “Having that many pieces affecting you at once was killing you. I needed to take them out, but I didn’t know if you were in control of yourself or not. If you weren’t and I was alone, I don’t believe I’d be alive right now. I needed their help, but to get it I needed to give them a suitable explanation for why. I didn’t want to overspeak so I went with the closest thing to the truth available.”

My. You’re really making your case hard to deny at this point, aren’t you?

Dalric smirked, “You did well. Drop the formalness though.” He extended his arm out then rolled his wrist. Every piece of the movement felt like grinding stones, “Killing me may be an exaggeration, but this does not feel pleasant.”

Ryku only relaxed a little in his chair, “They would have killed a regular person by now. Three of them could completely halt someone’s metabolism. Five is…”

“I’m aware.” He continued to flex and contract different muscles, “Next time you can remove them after two hours.”

“Next time... Why two hours, if I may ask?”

Dalric stood up on his notably unsteady legs, “That’s the time limit.”

Ryku stood as well, “Time limit?”

“Don’t worry about the details just yet. Which door is the bathroom?” Ryku pointed it out and Dalric slowly wobbled towards it, “I’ll be in here for a while. Come back about an hour before midnight.”

Ryku took a deep breath once he exited Dalric’s room. He hadn’t felt so on edge in years. Since Dalric had freed him and the rest at the bottom, he hadn’t experienced the absolute domineering presence he first felt. During their climb up, he felt much more like a man. He was still exceptionally strong, the ease with which he single-handedly tore through the Baron’s men proved that. The others still constantly talked about it in awe. He wasn’t a titan in human skin anymore, however. Just a powerful human. Powerful enough that Ryku would still gladly be his student, but not as powerful as he first imagined him to be.

That is, until last night happened. It was only for a moment, a brief fleeting moment, but in that moment Ryku felt the power of a volcano erupting out of Dalric. The composition of it felt different than before, but the imperious fierceness remained. It was a clear reminder of why he needed to do his very best to win the man over.

The only thing that could have ruined that was the potential reality that Dalric didn’t have control over his own mental facilities. He had almost squeezed the life out of Ryku before he crashed on top of him and Ryku didn’t know at the time if that was his own reaction or a sign he had lost his battle with whatever sought to control him. Ryku kept it calm outwardly, but anxiety racked through his body when he began removing the Devil Glass. It got even worse when it was just the two of them, at any given moment he could have been eliminated. In the end, his worries were only partially founded. Dalric had all but confirmed his theory, but his reaction recontextualized the death grip into just an aggressive hug. He was himself. For now.

There would be a next time.

“Ryku.” The deonon approached him, “Is everything fine? He had five pieces in?”

“Adlartok, we’re good. It was just an emergency thing.”

“For seventeen hours?”

“He’s a stronger man than most. You’re aware.”

“Still..to survive something like that…”

Ryku laid a hand on his bicep, “He’ll be fine. Instead of worrying about him, we should worry about those mountains of folders we have to double-check.”

Adlartok let out a pained chuckle, “Ah…”

“Now.” Ryku gripped his arm before he could get any ideas, “Let’s get back to work.”

“Of course.”

Six and a half hours later.

“I got it.”

“Repeat it to me.”

“Once I see the color of the marking switch from blue to red, I immediately activate the devil glass and stick exactly five pieces in. Once you’ve fought the...pressure? off the color will go back to blue and I can take them out immediately. If it doesn’t go blue, I leave them in for two and a half hours and then remove them.”

Dalric relaxed in his seat, “Alright. Good. How far are we away from midnight?”

“Five minutes.”

“Okay. If anything goes wrong, you immediately run away. Call for help. Understand?”

Ryku hadn’t been too nervous when he first returned to Dalric’s room, but Dalric’s own unease made him tense. The plan was straightforward enough. Dalric had tattooed a black and blue marking around his entire neck, its color denoted if he was him or he was being controlled. The moment Ryku spots a color change, he begins his part. If Dalric successfully fights the ‘pressure’ off, Ryku’s part ends quickly, if he doesn’t Ryku sets a timer and finishes his part later. Simple. There wasn’t much room for something to go wrong.

“I understand.”

Obviously, he didn’t know everything there was to know about the nature of the ‘pressure’, Dalric had been purposely vague about it, but he felt fairly secure in his assumptions. Whatever it was, it wasn’t strong enough to overpower Devil Glass. As long as he didn’t miss Dalric’s head or something equally ridiculous, everything should be fine.

“Time?”

“11:58.”

Dalric fidgeted in his stone seat, the suspense was getting to him. Or it could just be that the chains were uncomfortable. Ryku felt like it was a mix of the two, though which was the greater contributor he couldn’t tell.

“11:59.”

“Less than a minute now. Focus up.”

Ryku was ready to go. He had a Devil Glass piece in each hand and twenty more attached to different parts of his body for easy access. All he needed was the sign.

“Any second now. Remember if anything goe—”

Now!

Ryku immediately activated the Devil Glass and shoved five pieces into the crown of Dalric’s head. Finished, he backed all the way up. He didn’t need to, Dalric’s ahjer didn’t spiral out of control this time, but nothing was lost erring on the side of safety. He peeked over at Dalric’s neck, but the markings still flared red. He’d give it a bit more time before he assumed this was scenario two. He checked his watch and if five minutes passed without it flipping back to blue he’d set the timer and take a seat. He’d prepared some folders to go through in case that was the path things progressed down.

It wasn’t.

Less than two minutes after the marking turned bright red, their dark blue color returned. It was scenario one. In theory, that meant all was well, but for some reason, this series of events made him more anxious than the alternative. This was the result they hoped for, but it didn’t feel right. It felt too easy.

Ryku steeled himself anyway and began to remove the pieces one by one. Again, once he got down to the last one, Dalric burst to life.

Did it work?

He hastily removed the last piece and slowly edged from behind Dalrci to in front of him. He halted as soon as he got a glimpse of his face. It had… everything on it, excitement, confusion, shock, relief, loss, hope, fear, joy. Ryku had never seen a face hold so many varying emotions.

It turned to him, “It worked.”

A few seconds passed before he realized Dalric was speaking to him, “Oh! Yeah… It would seem like it did.”

“It worked.”

Ryku didn’t know if he was supposed to reply to that one. So he didn’t. He instead began unlocking the chains that bound Dalric. Dalric barely moved a muscle as he did so, still experiencing a tide of conflicting emotions. When Ryku was done, he backed away and took his seat. He’d quietly wait for when Dalric was ready.

“It worked.”