It was weird.

The voice rang inside Kael’s head. It was an eerie whisper, like his own voice when he read to himself. At first, he thought he had imagined the voice, but it rang again. Asking the same thing only louder, more distinct and with a smooth but chilling deepness. Kael knew instinctively that it was the rabbit. His mind, however, refused to process it.

It was impossible.

There were only two methods that would allow one to communicate directly with their beast. The first, and most common, required a creature that could already physically speak. The second, only occurred when the bond between tamer and beast grew so powerful that it transcended into a Divine Link. It was something only found in the legends his father had told him. Supposedly, it required that the two souls to became so familiar with each other that the Heavens decreed their bond sacred and formed the link between them.

However, none of the conditions had been met. The rabbit couldn't physically speak, and the contract had definitely not transcended into the divine. Heavens, they had just formed the link seconds ago so their souls couldn’t be so familiar. Yet, the feeling persisted—becoming stronger. They were connected.

In a way, it felt like his bond with Leggy, but if he were to compare them; Leggy’s bond was like a thread of silk; the rabbit’s was like a mountain that only kept growing.

The influx of information and new connections being created in his mind—only compounded by the arising questions—paralyzed him. Scared him. There was no pain, but he could feel the minute changes. The wiggling inside his brain contracting as the rabbit spoke.

“Are you all right, kid?” It said, almost sounding concerned.

All Kael could do was stare forward—into the rabbit’s beady eyes. No, I’m not okay. He thought. It’s all your fault. You did something with the circle. Something that wasn’t a binding.

Kael’s mind shifted, thinking of the circle. It had five layers. Even renown scholars could only dream of creating or witnessing one in their lifetimes, like he had. He had even been subject to its effect—not that he was very happy about that. Still, his first thought was to draw and study them, yet something pushed him to control the qi in the link stone first. He didn’t know what it was, but it was the same feeling that woke him. The one that caused the convulsions and led him to Brin.

So it was him. Kael thought. He was guiding me there…but how? More questions littered his mind. He wanted to ask what the layers of the circle did. Why the binding light was red. What they had done to him. How he had guided him. However, all those questions shattered and were replaced by a more important one.

“What are you?” Kael asked, his voice trembling.

##

Eztli sighed in relief as the boy spoke. He had grown worried that he had messed up the runes and caused the boy to lose his mind. It had been so long since he last created a binding circle as he had exclusively used his Blood Art for the past thousands of years that it was possible he made an error. Though the feeling was washed away by the sudden realization that the boy was only in shock.

He smiled and looked at the boy. His mind momentarily overlapped him with Rhett again. It was too vivid that he lost himself in it. "Rhett, don’t you recognize me? It’s me, Eztli, your master?” He said, approaching the boy enthralled by the illusion.

“Stay away.” The boy screamed, sending a command at him. “What did you do to me?”

A binding energy shot at Eztli, causing great pain and the will to obey. Something he had never felt before. It broke him out of his delusion and to another. Wes appeared in front of him, commanding him to bend at his will. Laughing and sitting in his throne. Anger spreading through him.

Immediately, it sent his soul energy into a frenzy, attacking the boy and overriding his command. The boy grabbed his head—pulling at his hair—and bellowed blood curling screams. Then the backlash struck at him, stopping his frenzy shattering the illusion completely.

Eztli shook his head. What the fuck happened? He wondered, glancing around at the boy—fear filled his eyes. His mind tried to merge him with Rhett, but he refused. He is not Rhett. Just some random kid. One that he owed his life to; And almost killed.

Closing his eyes, Eztli inspected his soul. It shone brightly and had taken the shape of a rabbit—no longer fuzzy like before. Focusing, he noticed a thin red ribbon that wrapped around his soul’s leg. Following it, he sensed a small sphere of light attached to the other end. The boy’s soul. Unlike his aged and transformed soul, Kael’s didn’t show the slightest hint of shape. Still a kid. Eztli thought as he looked for inconsistencies in the connection.

Eztli sighed when he noticed the small tear in the ribbon and a distinguishing mark on the boy’s side. Master. Hurriedly, he checked his own ribbon only to find the word “Servant.” He laughed to himself. In his emotional state, he had forgotten to modify the base layer of the circle and entered a master servant relationship with Kael. Although even then, the connection seemed too strong for some reason, like if it was reinforced multiple times. That should have kept anyone else under the “master’s” command, however, Eztli’s soul was too strong and old. When he felt the kid’s command, his soul refused to obey and frenzied. The effect was only increased by the strong pride embedded in him and the weird tear in the ribbon.

Guess I did fuck up on the runes. He thought. Well, it will do for now. Not like I plan to keep it forever. He was only binding with him in order to communicate and help heal him. After he refined his body and activated the bloodline within, Eztli was leaving. By then he would have regained enough strength to break the binding without struggling.

“Sorry about that kid.” Eztli said, inching forward. “I didn’t thing the binding would end so…weirdly.”

The kid cringed back and almost sent another command.

Stop. Eztli sent his own before the kid could; a benefit of his strong soul.

“If you send a command the pain from before will return and I would frenzy again, probably.” Eztli explained. “I don’t mean to harm you, kid. I’m goin-”

“What did you do to me?” Kael asked, still holding fear in his eyes. “How did you guide me to you when Brin attacked you? And how come you can command me? I’m your master. I bound you. So that can’t be possible.”

Eztli burst out laughing. This boy really is amusing. He thought. He thinks he bound me. "First, you are not my master. I allowed you to bind me as a form of repayment for saving me.” He said, hopping towards him.

"Repayment? You bound me and almost killed me. That’s repayment for you?”

“That was an unfortunate side-effect caused by a…miscalculation on my part. As for the other thing you felt, that was probably caused by your persistent attempts at binding me. It created a lingering connection that guided you when I was dying. Even I couldn’t have predicted that. However, you saved me and my true intentions were to help heal your leg.”

Kael’s eyes wend wide and filled with hope. “You can heal me?”

"Yes. I will teach you an art that will heal you instantly. Onc-“

"W-wait, heal me instantly? You are trying to trick me. That’s impossible. Only a precious herb could do that."

“Boy, my Blood Art can heal you better than any herb. Even if you were to cut your leg off you could grow another—provided you have enough time and reached a high-level mastery.” Eztli said proudly. “But for the severity of your wound, as long as you master the first level it should be fine. Hell, even a rare grade one herb should be enough to heal you twice over.”

Kael trembled. "Y-you have seen such a precious herb?"

Eztli’s eyes went wide. He’s this surprised over this low-grade herb. He thought. Just what backwater place am I in?

"Boy, where are we?"

"In the Reigned Phoenix Sect."

"No, I mean what continent?"

"Oh, we are in the Loras continent."

Loras continent? Eztli searched his mind, but found nothing. It had been so long since he paid attention to what happened in the world. He had left it all to his loyal puppets as he worked obsessively on his body and the soul transfer process.

"Did it have a different name before?"

"Well, I think about a thousand years ago it was called the Teal continent.”

Eztli shivered as he heard the name.

I find myself once again in this cursed continent, he thought.

The Teal continent. The place of his birth. Where the Blood Legacy sect—his sect—had been located and destroyed. The place where he spent the lowest point of his life. Starved, weak and on the verge of madness. The Cursed Maze. Eztli felt as a clash of emotions ran through him. He felt pain, fear, despair, and—strangely—hope. Even if he did almost die, he overcame death. Rose from certain doom and became the emperor of the world. Now here he was—at an even lower point, stuck in the body of a rabbit, his strength all but gone—in the same continent. But he would rise again, like he had before. He had something he didn’t before. Knowledge. With it, he would become emperor again.

“So, can you really heal me?” Kael asked, bringing him out of his memories.

“Y-yes. Once you train in my Blood art, you will feel the healing start immediately.”

“Can you teach me right now?”

Eztli glanced at Kael. He wanted to just teach him and get over with it so he could clear his debt, but he was too tired. The wounds from the beating, his old memory of Rhett, the binding, and the frenzy all took a heavy toll on him. He just wanted to rest, so he lied. “You are too weak from the attack and binding. If you start training now, you would only kill yourself.” He said, sighing. “Rest, I’ll teach you tomorrow.”

With that he ignored Kael—who still shot him questions—and hopped off to a corner. Slowly, he drifted into a deep sleep.