Volume 2, Chapter 12: The White Prism

{268 Days Remaining}

“So let me get this right, master. We are just going to sneak in and kill everything and everyone that moves?”

I gave Veena a small nod.

“Sounds plausible,” she said. From the tone of her voice, I could not tell whether Veena was being sarcastic. Well, okay, perhaps I could just a little, though her noninflected tone and face gave me no clues.

“We shall start with this hideout, Veena.” I did not need to turn to my left and look at Veena to know that she, at the very least, agreed with me on this point.

After traveling for two days in which I carried the squirming Veena for the majority of the journey, and through uncommon paths to remain unseen, we had arrived at our target location—one of the branches of Malice. It was located in the edges of a forest, close to a major city in the eastern region of Shail Kingdom. We were in the deep south of the region.

“You know something, my Dark Master?”

I didn't reply, for I knew that it was not really a question. I merely waited for her to continue.

“This place brings back memories,” Veena said, her voice containing a mix of emotions I could not sift through. Close beside me, she looked onward at the small hut down below from the branches of the large tree. “It was the place where I had first trained, one of the two Shadow facilities; the facility for initiating Novices.”

There was a small pause before Veena turned to look at me, her eyes sparkling. “Now then, shall we go cut off some heads? I brought some of my most beloved weapons along for this occasion.”

I was no longer surprised at Veena's emotional state which could, at any time, change in a one eighty degree direction, and then back to three sixty degrees. That is, if one could ascribe emotions into the degrees of a circle. I digress though.

I watched with a little mirth as Veena nimbly climb down from the tree and head toward the hut, a scythe-like weapon held in both hands. The weapons' edges were two feet wide and stopped short in front of her hands.

Before the two men escorting the small child even knew what had hit them, they were both down, each with a deep gash on the back of necks, which drooped down lazily. The weapons had not went through all the way, so the two men were only half-beheaded.

Next to die was the small child. He was killed almost instantly after the two men had hit the ground. Not even one of them had the time to scream before they died, their bodies lifeless and their mouths still forming the words they were about to voice in their conversation.

When I arrived at the place where Veena was cleaning her weapons on the clothes of the fallen man, I heard her muttering to herself.

“...used a damn child too...”

I briefly wondered what Veena meant by those words. It was most likely nothing though, probably just a small regret for killing the child.

“So, you never told me how old you are, Veena. Twenty-three?” I ventured a guess.

Sheathing her scythe-like weapons to the sides of her custom-made sheaths, which were bound near her waist by leather straps, Veena looked at me in a strange way. “You should never ask a woman her age. It is in the assassin's code.”

“...”

I could not tell whether or not Veena was joking, so I remained silent. I looked at the lifeless body of the child and the two men, looking for any interesting items on them. I found nothing worth of note, but I did notice a few strange things.

“These two men were probably just some small guards escorting the child; an initiate, by my guess. They had no skills to speak of, not even able to defend back when they saw me. Slow and clumsy, just small guards.”

“I see. What are those marks on the child's hands?” I asked, looking at the black, snake-like marks.

Veena came over to look at them. “Strange...I do not recognize it. It does not look like a mark of the Shadow or any belonging to Malice. Something else, perhaps...”

“Very well. It is of no use figuring out the unknown. Let us proceed.”

We entered the small, empty hut. I looked around, observing the barely furnished room. The hut was small, only two rooms to speak of, one smaller room for sleeping, and one for eating and various other tasks. Although the larger room was barely furnished, there were many, many food items. Too much for a small hut such as this.

Veena stood at the middle of the floor which was covered by the hides of various small animals. Then she removed the hides, revealing a hidden trapdoor. She put her fingers in the small gaps at the edges and opened the door.

Looking at the opened door, there was an iron ladder leading down to the underground facility of the Shadow branch of Malice, or so Veena had told me. I climbed down the ladder, following Veena.

At the end of it, we arrived at an underground chamber, which was a circular room. There were four evenly spaced doors in the chamber. There were no enemies present, however.

“Not to worry, this place does not really have much people. They are all most likely in the other rooms overseeing the novices. Let us eradicate this branch now. I agree with your point that to destroy an organization, we must first start with the roots.

Veena went toward one of the doors and carefully opened it. The door led to a wide underground passage, which branched off into two different directions. That was all I could tell from the end where Veena and I both stood.

I followed Veena as she led me along the dark passageway, which was only lit by a few torches to the sides of the walls. She turned left and almost bumped into a patrolling guard. Before the guard could even yell out, he was quickly silenced with a quick jab to the throat from Veena, and a follow-up with a dagger which instantly appeared from the folds of her clothing.

Before the man, whose throat had a dagger pierced into it, could fall down onto the ground, Veena quickly caught him, softening the fall.

I guess she is doing all the work so far, I thought wryly to myself.

“We can just leave the body there. By the time anyone finds his corpse, we will probably be finished or we will both be dead,” she whispered to me.

“Alright,” I said softly, following Veena toward the end of the next passageway. At the end of it, she stopped in front of the door.

“This door leads to the training quarters where the majority of the people in this branch are at. You can lead now for once, and I shall guard our backs.”

I nodded toward her and proceeded to open the door. I drew my longsword free and held it ready with one hand. Before I could enter though, I felt a slight push from behind me, causing me to step foot inside the room.

“I am sorry,” whispered a woman's voice. It was Veena's.

Then I felt a burst of extreme pain through the bond I shared with Veena.

What is happening?

That was my last thought before everything became dark. Before everything became quiet. Before unconsciousness hit me.

<><><><><>

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself encased in a transparent, white prism in the middle of an empty room. There was a small measure of space to move around a little, but that was about it. As I looked further at my surroundings, I noticed that the prism was floating, held by some sort of unknown magic. I also noticed that I was naked, stripped of everything I owned. All of this, I could see inside the underground chamber due to the light coming from the torches on the walls.

I punched the walls of the prism, but it was to no effect. It did not even budge a tiny bit even though I used all of my strength. I tried another method, but thinking of this alternative choice, it finally dawned one me that I could not feel my magic.

I looked around the room for any hints of what had happened, but nothing. It was to no effect. The only thing I noticed that was vaguely interesting aside from the prism I was trapped in was the opened door of the chamber. That, and I was beginning to hunger.

Probably half an hour pass by with me uselessly beating on the prism with my bloodied fists before a slender figure in a black garment came walking through the open door, stopping just a few feet in front of me.

The slender figure proved to be a male of perhaps over forty years of age or so. He was dressed in a rich looking, black robe with a loosely tied belt, upon which a dagger was strapped to it. His face, though worn down by age, was reminiscent of the handsome looks he must have had as a youth. The surprising thing, however, was that the man's eyes were similar to Veena's eyes. They were violet, slit-like eyes with a twinge of golden.

“I see you have been up to some useless things, Verath. Do you mind if I call you by your name, oh bodyguard?” the male said in an emotionless voice. A cruel smirk formed on his face as he continued speaking. “Forgive me if I am being too familiar with you. But we do have a relationship since you have exchanged a Dark Fealty with my daughter.”

His words confirmed my suspicions, and I hid my surprise underneath my indifferent exterior.

“I also suggest that you cease hitting the prism. It is resistant to all physical attacks.”

“Why have you not killed me?” I asked.

“Hmmm...let's just say I found it surprising that I could not skin you no matter how much I tried.”

“You were trying to skin me?”

“Why so curious? You have never skinned the fallen foes who have given you much trouble? I would have thought you would also take delight in that, seeing that you are a monster.”

“When did I ever give you trouble?” I said. With that one word, I realized that Veena had spoken of my secret to her father. She had also most likely set up this trap after I had spared her life and made the bond with her. Bloody ashes, I swore to myself.

“When the assassins I sent after you failed in their tasks,” Veena's father coldly said. “It is a shame that my daughter failed to kill you even after using death magic. It must have been weak due to your nature. Nevertheless, I was prepared for that small chance of failure, so it is why I had her bring you to this location. That, and I was interested in seeing your appearance for myself, instead of just hearing it for myself. You seem smart, monster, so I do hope you can figure out the rest yourself.”

His words told me much as to what had happened to me. Or at least I could fill in the scenarios from that. I did not know what death magic was, but it was probably some magic that had attacked me through the bond I had made with Veena—her Dark Fealty.

I had felt an extreme burst of pain through that bond before I became unconscious. And now that he had mentioned it, I could no longer feel the bond between Veena and I.

Had she died from using death magic?

I sifted through my memories, trying to figure out the pieces to my puzzling situation. After a few seconds, it hit me. He had called me bodyguard! That one word had revealed many connections.

I remembered what the Third Minister of War had said to me. “When comes your turn to roll the dice of fates, do it with the belief that you will die tomorrow.” He had then imparted after some praise: “I also commend you for accepting this task without hesitation, or even knowing what is to come.”

I was now very sure as to what had happened to me, but I figured I should make sure of my guesses while Veena's father was still in a mood to answer.

“Tell me, is the Third Minister of War working for you?”

His eyes widened a little at that. “Strange that you would know that...ah well, it does not matter. The Serle family and all that is related to him will fall soon anyway.”

“I am unsure of one thing, father of Veena. Why did you send assassins after me, even before I was chosen to become Calina's bodyguard.”

Veena's father gave a small chuckle. “The girl must not have told you that she has been wanting you as a bodyguard for quite a while even before you went on your little subjugation task.”

Strange, I thought to myself. Why had she tried multiple times to make me leave then. Was it because she decided not to put me at risk due to assassins?

“What is this death magic you speak of?” I asked.

“I am disappointed. You do not seem to get the bigger picture of what I have told you.” Veena's father gave a small sigh. “Ah well, no matter. That death magic you speak of is just a little magic that works through our family magic: Dark Fealty. You must be regretting forming a bond with my daughter now, eh? I would love to see the face on you had you met her, but alas, she is dead now. It is alright, though. She was just one of my many expendable daughters. And my gamble with her has succeeded in luring you here.”

“I see...”

“I found something interesting though. It seems, from the reports of some of my spies, Veena had a sort of fixation with you after you chanced meeting her and defeating her at the Tournament of the Wolf. I had planned on using her to get closer to the Serle family.”

Veena's father let out a small chuckle before staring at me. “Is it not strange how fate works out sometimes?

He continued looking at me with curious eyes, though his voice was colder than ice as he spoke. “I must admit, it is quite a nice feeling to tell a monster a few of my plans. Feels quite good gloating, haha. Now that I have answered a few of your questions, you should answer some of mine. What are you? And why are you so fixated on my organization? It is unbelievable that a monster like you is mixing among humans in our lands.”

“Knowing that I will die, why should I tell you anything, human.”

There was a pause before Veena's father addressed me. “I can see that you are determined. Very well, I shall leave you to think upon your words for a day or two before coming back. Hunger and time alone does a lot of things to a man, or should I say, monster. You have, after all, been sleeping for two days straight.”

Veena's father then left the chamber, softly laughing to himself.

Once more, I was entirely alone in this small, empty underground chamber lit only by a few torches. My fists were raw and bloody from beating at the white prism, but the blood had already dried and the wounds healed—from the beating, I found out that I was a fast healer even in my human form. This was the only optimistic thing in the dreary situation I had gotten myself into.

I had been an idiot for trusting Veena. I should have abandoned what had remained of my human sentiments when I had become a dragon.

Anger, cold in nature, flowed through me as I continued beating at the white prism. My fists rained down upon the prism like a storm, but in the end, they were all ineffectual, only reopening the wounds on my fists. The white prism did not even shook from my furious assault. It merely remained floating, as if laughing at my futile efforts.

My sense of time became distorted as the hours passed by. The only change in the scenery in which I was stuck in were the hooded guards who quickly came in to change the torches, and hurriedly left as quick as they had come in.

I felt powerless. My magic was cut off from me and all of my strength as a dragon was useless before this mysterious white prism. Veena's father had said it was completely resistant to physical attacks, so I assumed that the prism would break under a magic attack. But as I was now, cut off from my magic, I could not do anything without outside help.

There was no one to help me. I doubted even my brood-keeper knew where I was since I was effectively cut off from all magic. The invisible blood mark on my stomach was as useless as everything I had done. I also had doubts about the eldest helping me even if he knew where I was.

Fully realizing the situation I was in, my cold anger left me as suddenly as it had taken over me.

I sat down uncomfortably inside the white prism, thinking of what to do next. Nothing came into mind, however. There was not a single thing to do except wait until Veena's father came back. That, and beat at the prism ineffectually.

What was this white, transparent prism anyway? Was it some sort of magical trap? If so, it was one of unimaginable strength.

Nothing could be fully immune to physical attacks though. It was too mind-boggling to imagine such a thing. I could only assume that Veena's father had been lying in suggesting that. I took a short breath—I could only try.

An hour passed by as I continued beating at the white prism with my fists while ignoring the constant stinging pain. For variety, I also kicked at it, but it was less effective. The small amount of space inside the prism left me only able to half-kick at it. There was just not enough space to maneuver, let alone sit comfortably.

A small red puddle was forming at the bottom of the white prism as my scarlet blood continued dripping down heavily from my fists, legs, and feet. My entire naked body was covered in red patches, a few of them dried, but most of them still wet. Still warm.

My skin had torn from the relentless assault upon the prism and the whites of my bones were showing. I grimaced in pain as another punch connected my bones to the prism.

A few more minutes passed before even the hardness of my bones failed against the white prism. The final punch had chipped off pieces of the bones, a few of which had fallen into the growing puddle of blood beneath my feet.

All during this time, as the sound of loud smacks from my assault on the prism pervaded the air, not one person had come to check on the noises. It made me believe that no on one was guarding me. It was laughable and only just, for I could do nothing to these humans, trapped as I was in this unbreakable prism.

Hunger was also beginning to rear its full head at me. Along with the pains from my wounds, there was now also the pain of hunger to consider. Laudable, really.

“I guess I shall die trapped in this white prism,” I said, finally admitting to myself of the reality of my situation.

I stared at my blood dripping down the transparent wall of the prism. I stared as my blood dripped down in a steady flow from my multiple wounds, most of which were showing the whites of my bones. They fell down smoothly, contributing to the growing blood puddle beneath me.

Hah, I thought to myself. If I did not die from hunger, then I would drown in my blood.

My headaches were continually getting worse. A few more minutes passed by as the pain grew worse and worse.

Then I fainted, the pain, hunger, and blood loss finally catching up to me.

<><><><><>

I opened my eyes and found myself surrounded in a sea of pure darkness, where not one speck of light reached me.

Was I dead?

Then I felt my flesh tingle with fear and this fear flowed through me as the pure darkness enveloped me like palpable fog that had took hold of me, binding me tightly. The place finally dawned on me. It was the place of my other self, or so he had called himself.

Two glowing, red eyes came into view in front of me, just a few feet away. They were, like last time, the only source of light in this darkness.

“So once again, you are at death's door,” my other self said. His voice was intensely cold, dark and seemed to come from all directions, as if the sea of pure darkness around me had been given life and voice. “And to think that I believed we would only meet until you had given up your foolish humanity and have embraced death.”

An area of darkness around me disappeared, shedding a small light, and revealing a shadowy figure that had all the proportions of my human form. His whole body was made out of darkness except for the pair of glowing, red eyes. And they gazed at me with indifference.

“Each time you are near death's door, I gain a foothold. This time, you are even able to see the outline of my form. Your human sentiments, your emotions, all of them make you incompetent. Now watch as I have watched you.”

The shadowy form of my other self raised his arm, pointing his hand at me. Out of nowhere, chains made out of darkness bound themselves to my legs, arms, chest, and waist. My whole body was trapped in chains. I could not even move an inch. I could just barely breathe. I felt suffocated. Even worse than what I had suffered in the white prism.

“I shall be the one in control now, and I shall be the one to get us out of this situation.”

<><><><><>

Bound in the chains of darkness, I watched through the eyes of my other self. Our memories and vision were both connected to each other, I found out. It felt strange. Eerie. I felt all the sensations as if I was back in my body, except I was not the one in control.

No...the one in control was him.

<><><><><>

{266 Days Remaining}

I flexed the fingers on both of my hands, and stretched out my legs as much as I could inside the small space of the white prism.

Good, I thought to myself. They were still in working condition.

And for the most part, the wounds on my body had also stopped bleeding, though the whites of my bones were still showing.

I could already feel vestiges of my magic flowing back into me, despite being cut off from it by the white prism. It was laughable that my other self could not use even half of our potential. If he could, we would have never been in this situation in the first place.

Even I had not explored the depths of our magic and power. But for the moment, it was enough to break through this weak trap. I felt a small amount of contempt that my other self—my weaker self—could not even hide his magic.

That bitch assassin, Veena, had been faking her reactions from the start. Since our first initial meeting, she had already sensed the magic within us. It was in plain view for anyone trained to sense magic. If my other self could have hidden his magic, only others of the same level as him could have sensed it.

Feeling that a sizable amount of magic power had returned to me, I summoned the flames which were probably unique only to us. The jet-black flames covered the entirety of my right hand. They were unlike normal flames, giving out a slightly cold sensation.

I placed my palm on the surface of the white prism, and the black flames spread quickly, covering all of the white prism in a few seconds. Then the prism disappeared, as if it had been devoured out of existence. Then I dropped about two feet down, landing lightly onto the floor of the chamber.

One of the many unique essences of fire—

The Flames of Interitum, a fire that obliterates all that stands in its path, a devourer of life and existence itself.

I did not know where my knowledge of this stems from, but I did not really care. Unlike my weaker self, I was not very curious.

Power was power.

And I would use this power to kill everything and everyone that stood in my way.

Starting with Veena's father—the one who had put me into this situation. Though I was a little grateful, for it had allowed me to gain a foothold.

But it was not enough. I still did not have much of a hold. My time here was limited, but I would make use of this limited time.

It was plenty.

Volume 2 (Chapter 13)