April 19th

Year 2120

The Gap

Southern Wastes, Gartaena

Merdilen and Kayline headed back towards the shadow city, ready to strike once again at its ruler, Jrondelon Herdeen, the liquid matter Manipulator. The city was in chaos. People filled the streets, all curiously trying to see what was going on at the palace. Soldiers ran between the people, frantically searching for the two people that had just tried to kill their ruler. That meant there would be fewer soldiers protecting Jrondelon.

Merdilen Transmutated his clothes into simple farmer robes, raising a hood over his head, and did something similar for Kayline. No one would stop to check on two random farmers among all the population.

"How are we going to deal with all the remaining guards?" Kayline asked in a whisper. "You thought of something, didn't you? Please tell me you did."

"Yeah, I have a plan," Merdilen whispered back. "And if it works, we'll have killed two birds with one stone."

Kayline cocked her head, looking at him with a questioning look, but he didn't elaborate any further.

They kept walking towards the palace at the very center of the city, and soon arrived. As most guards were searching the city for the intruders, there were much fewer guards than there should have been, but they were still too many to fight. Behind the guards, the fallen tower lay, at the middle of which stood Jrondelon Herdeen himself.

"Showtime," Merdilen said.

To that, they climbed through a nearby alleyway to the top of a building, and jumped towards the fallen tower. Kayline boosted herself with her Manipulation, jumping high over all the guards, and Merdilen did the same thing by Transmutating a massive spring under his feet. They both fell inside the base of the fallen tower, standing perilously on one of the bridges. Without missing a beat, Merdilen Transmutated, blocking off all entrances.

Jrondelon spun at them when they fell, surprised, but then he saw that all entrances had been blocked, and grinned.

"You're trapped with me," he said in a strong accent, preparing to Manipulate.

No, Merdilen thought. You're trapped with us.

With that, Jrondelon Manipulated, and all the lava in the room rose once more, shooting towards Merdilen and Kayline. But this time, Kayline was ready. She Manipulated, shooting air towards the lava, pushing it backward and creating a small bubble of air where both of them were. They started to dash towards Jrondelon, Kayline pushing lava aside in her wake, until they finally got to the surprised man.

Merdilen sprang at him, putting his sword against Jrondelon's neck.

"Y-you can't do this!" he exclaimed, now scared. "My whole army will kill you if you do!"

"I fear no army," Merdilen muttered at the fallen ruler. "Not anymore."

"Don't kill him," Kayline reminded him. "Try to somehow extirpate the Manipulation from him."

"I-I will be good! I will serve you!" Jrondelon exclaimed.

But, as he did so, he Manipulated the lava strongly in a certain spot, and it burst through Kayline's Manipulation, shooting towards Merdilen. It was a basic rule for any power: the smaller the surface, the stronger and more concentrated the power would become, as it was the same amount of power divided in less space.

To that, before the lava reached them, Merdilen ruthlessly slashed at the man's neck, killing him. The lava all around them fell harmlessly back into the pits. Kayline gasped.

"You said you wouldn't kill him!" she scolded him.

"My life was on the line," he countered. "It was either me or him."

In that moment, they heard something. The blocked entrances were booming and shaking, as if something extremely strong was pummeling against them from the other side.

"Those walls won't last much more," Kayline mentioned, trying not to show her fear. "If you're going to do something, do it now."

"Right," he said.

With that, he Transmutated the ground, raising a feet-wide tower from the ground, with him atop it. Kayline jumped to the top of one of the walls, ready to see whatever he was planning to do. The tiny tower kept going up and up, until Merdilen could be seen clearly from up to several blocks away.

"People of Gartaena!" he exclaimed, addressing the whole city, although Kayline was unsure of how many people could actually hear.

The whole army outside the tower stopped, looking at the suddenly-formed tower and the man atop it. They looked shocked, in awe.

"I well know whom you worship," he continued. "Morkilen Farenthar, one of the two Transmutators that lived during the Transmutation War. The strongest Transmutator of all time. I was sent by him. My name is Merdilen. Merdilen Farenthar," he lied, while flashily Transmutating his farmer clothing back into his usual black attire. "And I am the Heir of Morkilen. The Heir to the Transmutation. I am a Transmutator myself. And therefore, you must bow before me."

It was a massive gamble. Either they would actually obey him as the descendant of a supposed god, or they would hate him even more for his seeming blasphemy.

He's making himself a god, Kayline thought, frowning. He's making himself look like a deity before these people. She wasn't sure if she liked that. If it worked, he would have way too much power. Too much power for a single man to handle.

After several tense seconds, they began to actually bow before him, slowly, one by one. It had worked.

"What do you wish us to do, Holy One?" one of the army officers asked.

Merdilen grinned maliciously. It had been so easy. He almost felt the urge to laugh at how simple it had been, but stopped himself, lest they think he was mocking them.

"I have one command for your army, officer," he replied, trying to sound as divine as possible. "There's an enemy army hunting me down, trying to eradicate the Heir to the Transmutation. I want you to go with your army and defeat them. They should be somewhere to the southeast of here."

"We shall do as you say, Holy One," the officer said, and started giving orders to his soldiers.

"The rest of you, you are dismissed," Merdilen told the astonished and still-bowing populace. "You shall receive my call when I need your aid once again."

The people stayed for a few more minutes, staring at Merdilen, until they finally started to retire from the place.

Merdilen started to Transmutate his tower back into the ground, lowering it. He headed towards Kayline with a smile. But, she didn't smile back. Instead, she looked worried, even a little angry.

"You made yourself a god," she said with a shake of her head. "Something no human should ever attempt to do. And you... you ordered the whole Fergahnian army killed."

"I didn't order them killed," he countered. "Just defeated. There's a difference."

"You know as well as I do that those shadow monsters will have no mercy with those poor Fergahnian soldiers."

Merdilen remained silent.

"...At least, we get to live another day," he finally said.

"By the blood of innocents," Kayline muttered.

"They were not innocents!" Merdilen exclaimed, getting angry. "They knew damn well what they were getting themselves into!"

"Calm down," Kayline told him with a disapproving glare. "You don't need to get angry."

Merdilen thought about replying something, but stopped himself.

"...Sorry," he finally said. "Now let's leave the city before anything else happens. We've got a fortress to reach."

Kayline stood in the darkness, watching the night during her night guard shift, making sure they weren't attacked by anyone. There had been a time, about a week ago, when they'd been attacked by shadow monsters nearly every day. But that time seemed to have passed. Most shadow monsters were tamed in the territory they were now in, and with Merdilen making himself some kind of god, no one would dare attack them now. She should have been glad that Merdilen had that much power and influence now, as it would mean they'd be way safer from now on. But she wasn't.

Merdilen had ordered the Fergahnian army killed. And, even though a few hundred shadow monsters probably wouldn't be able to completely annihilate the thousands of Fergahnian soldiers, most of them would die. Merdilen... was now guilty of mass murder. But he didn't seem to worry about that. He seemed to genuinely feel that was the only way.

They asked for it, he had said earlier when she had once more confronted him about it. It's their fault this is happening. And, in a way, he was right. Merdilen hadn't been born this way. He had been born an excellent person. But, due to all the hate the world was throwing at him, he was slowly becoming eviler and eviler. Maybe... maybe if they had at the beginning shown him support instead of hate, things would have been different. The world hadn't worked that way. Merdilen was different. And humans hate what is different.

Due to their own prejudices and attitudes, they were now creating what they had most feared. They were creating the very thing they had sworn to destroy. They had created a monster. And there was no way back now, not anymore. Deep down, Kayline knew it. Neither of the two factions would back down. They would fight until one of the two was destroyed. And the world would be the one to be destroyed in the process.

Kayline was the only one close enough to Merdilen as to do something about it. But, what? She now knew it. Power was corrupting him, was making him ignore the consequences and just do what he felt he had to do. She now knew something, something she had been trying to ignore for the past few days.

Merdilen couldn't be allowed to reach Morkilen Farenthar's fortress.

Kayline had to make him see reason again, make him give up the ways he was following. She knew there was still hope for him. She knew he was just committing mistakes. But, Alvoren's death was just too big a motivation for him. She had no idea whether he'd listen to her or not. She... doubted it, now. And if he didn't listen... then she'd have to make a decision.

The decision that would change the world.

The next day, Kayline woke up early and prepared breakfast while Merdilen slept. The better the mood he was in when they spoke, the bigger the chances were that he'd actually listen. Soon after she had made breakfast, he woke up. They ate in relative silence, until Kayline finally spoke in a careful tone.

"Merdilen..." she started. "I gotta tell you something... but you have to listen to me. Can you do that?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused. "Sure. What is it?"

"Look... Maybe... it is not such a good idea to get to Morkilen Farenthar's fortress after all."

"Again with that?!" Merdilen exclaimed, getting angrily to his feet. "I told you, I am getting to that fortress! No matter what you, or anyone else, say!"

"Do you know why I agreed to ally with you?" she muttered, ignoring his comment.

"Because you wanted me to heal your mother," Merdilen replied.

"That's just a part of it," she said. "It was... because you seemed to be a good person. Someone that, no matter how wrong things went, would remain being a good person and doing good things. You were a hero. I want you to keep being one."

Merdilen's expression softened for a moment, looking at her, but then his eyes hardened once again. "That person changed. You wouldn't get it. I don't expect you to get it."

That felt to Kayline like a slap to the face. She looked at him with sad eyes. Had she really changed that much since Alvoren's death? There had been a time when Merdilen, Alvoren, and herself had almost gladly crossed the world, traveling south, telling each other about their problems and their insecurities. They had been the best friends Kayline had ever had. But Alvoren was now dead, and Merdilen didn't look to her as a friend anymore. She felt like a stranger to him. No, worse than that—an enemy.

"You really have changed," she whispered.

Merdilen answered nothing, instead getting up and leaving her, and the half-eaten breakfast, behind. Kayline quickly followed, a part of herself breaking inside her.

Merdilen and Kayline kept walking south for the better part of two days, until they exited the shadow culture's territory completely. They didn't know whether the shadow army's attack against the Fergahnians had been effective or not, but being honest, Kayline didn't really want to know. The landscape was as inhospitable as ever, but still, it provided a bit of relief to know that they had left that cursed culture behind.

After a few more hours of walking, they saw a castle in the distance. To the right, about half an hour away, was a small normal-looking village. They headed to the village; it would be good to get some fresher food and water again. As they approached it, they could also see better the castle. It was massive, and it looked terribly out of place, between all the spiked rocks, odd and unnatural mountains, and deep craters. But the strangest thing about the castle was that it seemed to be carved out of some mountain. It seemed to be normal stone jutting upward in the form of a castle; it didn't look man-made at all. Still, they were too far away to notice any details, so they kept moving forward, towards the village.

They arrived at it a short time later. It seemed pretty normal, with its houses of normal size, unlike the ones in the shadow culture's territory. There were crops and plantations all around it, but strangely, there was no one to tend to them. There were no villagers in sight. Merdilen and Kayline approached the curious village, and when they got a bit closer, a man came out from one of the houses, heading towards them. He was young, but seemed nervous. He was constantly looking around with nervousness, as if he was expecting some shadow monster to spring out of nowhere and attack him.

"Hello, people," he greeted them when they met. "How can I help you?"

"Hello," Kayline replied. "We were just wondering if we could get something to eat and to replenish our supplies."

"Oh. Sure come on in," the man said, gesturing towards one of the houses. "We've been in a bit of a... tight spot, lately, but I guess I can afford to give a bit of food to some wandering adventurers."

"Tight spot?" Merdilen asked. "What do you mean?"

"Let's hurry inside," the man said. "We can talk there. Outside is not safe."

He headed in a hurry towards the house, and the three of them entered. The house, although small, was quite cozy, and it had a fire burning in a corner, warding off the increasing cold autumn was bringing. Merdilen and Kayline sat down in chairs around a table, while the man headed to a small kitchen next to it and started to prepare some potatoes for them to eat.

"So, are you in some kind of trouble?" Merdilen asked.

"Oh, totally," the man replied. "So, you see, that castle over there was owned by a solid matter Manipulator, who-"

"A solid matter Manipulator?!" Merdilen interrupted. "What happened to him?"

"Let me finish. So, this Manipulator was in charge of a group of bandits, who all lived in the castle. We had an agreement with them: we gave them constant food, and in exchange, they would neither attack nor raid us. It wasn't perfect, but it was stable and peaceful. But, a few days ago, an army came. They seemed to be looking for someone. They attacked the bandits, killing the solid matter Manipulator."

So what's where they were, Merdilen thought. It makes sense. While we turned sharply west to attack the liquid matter Manipulator, the Fergahnian army kept going south and arrived here before us.

"That's great," Kayline mentioned. "But... you still seemed afraid. What happened?"

"You see, the agreement we had was mainly with the Manipulator. With him gone, there's nothing stopping the bandits from stealing whatever they want from us. They already raided us once. They'll probably do so again."

"Oh," Merdilen muttered. "That's problematic."

"We can stop them," Kayline said.

Merdilen shot her a look of disapproval, but then Kayline added, "You wanted to be a hero, right, Merdilen? This is the time to prove it."

"...I guess you're right," he muttered.

"You'd really do that for us?!" the man said, shocked.

"Of course," Kayline said. "We'll beat them up so hard they'll never want to come near this village again. But we won't kill them; we don't do that." She glared at Merdilen with that final sentence.

"Thank you so much!" the man exclaimed. "I'm guessing they'll raid again today; they didn't take that much the other day. If you wait, you should be able to catch them."

"I have a better idea," Merdilen said. "We go to them. That way, we'll make sure the village doesn't get hurt during the battle."

"I'll go with you," the man said with determination. "And I'll take some of my men, too. It's the least I can do."

"Great," Merdilen said. "Let's go."

Merdilen, Kayline, and fifteen villagers armed with farmer tools headed towards the castle, ready to fight the remaining group of bandits. In reality, Merdilen doubted that they'd really need the villagers, but a little extra help wouldn't hurt. The castle was an immense structure, with several towers, spires, and wings. It was all made from the ground; now they understood that it had been created by the solid matter Manipulator. Soon enough, they saw the bandits. It was a group of about thirty bandits, all armed. The villagers would never have had a chance on their own. But now that Merdilen and Kayline were with them, it was the bandits who didn't have a chance.

As soon as they got close to them, Merdilen and Kayline charged, taking them by surprise. The villagers followed immediately after, scared but determined. Merdilen jumped in the midst of the bandits, Transmutating the ground into sharp metal spikes that pierced the bandits from underneath, wounding them and throwing them to the ground. He then Transmutated his Transmutation glove back into the sword, slashing at bandits he imprisoned with his Transmutation. Meanwhile, Kayline hacked and slashed through the ranks of the remaining bandits, knocking them out one by one.

After a short while, all of them were down. The villagers did little more than support Merdilen and Kayline during the battle, but Kayline appreciated their help anyway. Still, there was something that gave the victory a bitter taste.

The vast majority of the bandits Merdilen had attacked were now dead.

"I-I didn't mean to," Merdilen said as he noticed Kayline looking with disgust at the corpses. "I got carried away."

Whether he meant what he said or not, Kayline did not know.

The villagers were not cheering. They were staring instead at Merdilen, their expressions troubled.

"Y-you're a Transmutator," one of them muttered. Not grateful. Horrified.

Uh oh, Kayline thought.

"You're a monster!" another man exclaimed. "Go away!"

"Yeah!" a third man said. "Leave us alone!"

Kayline looked at the man in whose house they had eaten. He was staring at Merdilen with a look of betrayal in his eyes. As if Merdilen had betrayed them just for being who he was. She then looked at Merdilen. He was looking silently at them, angry, his fists clenched.

"You're going to respect me," Merdilen finally said. "You're going to treat me like a hero, because that's what I am! I will have no more of this monster talk. You hear me?!"

The villagers seemed taken aback. One of them tried to protest, but Merdilen Transmutated, quick as lightning, raising a spear from the ground and leaving it just inches away from the man's neck.

"You hear me?" he repeated coldly.

"Y-yes, sir!" the man exclaimed, and the rest repeated it.

Merdilen Transmutated the spear back into the ground, seemingly satisfied.

"Okay. You're going to give me and Kayline enough rations for a week, and we're going to get going. Any objections?"

No one objected. Kayline looked at him, worried. Even she was getting a little afraid of him now. He was acting like a dictator. He could not be allowed to become omnipotent.

They returned to the village shortly after, and a fifteen-year-old boy approached Merdilen soon after.

"Y-you're the Transmutator, sir?" he asked innocently.

"I am," Merdilen replied with a hard look on his face.

The boy looked at Merdilen for a few seconds, then whipped out a dagger from his belt, trying to stab him.

Merdilen was faster. He grabbed the boy's arm in mid-air, and after turning his Transmutation glove into a massive steel gauntlet, broke the boy's arm, making him scream.

"What have you done?!" Kayline exclaimed as many of the villagers rushed to help the boy.

"I demand respect," Merdilen declared.

Later that day, long after leaving the village, while having dinner, Kayline started to think once more about what to do.

She could not allow Merdilen to reach the fortress. She knew that, if she stopped him from doing so, many people, including her family, would suffer, but if she did allow him, many more would die. And she couldn't allow that. But still, it was a tough choice. But, no matter what she wanted to do, she had to do what was correct, for the greater good, and for the world. Even though it might hurt. A lot.

Merdilen could not be allowed to reach Morkilen Farenthar's fortress. And he wouldn't be convinced to give up. Kayline understood that. But maybe, with a little more time... All she needed was time. And she seemed to have a plan. This was the moment. It was now or never. She would knock Merdilen unconscious and run away with him, far, far away from the fortress, and there, with no risk of him getting to it, she'd talk some sense into Merdilen.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up.

"Hey, Merdilen, I have something I have to tell you," she started.

"What is it?" he asked, confused, getting up too.

Then, she suddenly hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. She had to get him to lower his guard. But, deep inside... it felt good. They had truly been good friends. And now... after she did what she had to do, Merdilen would feel like she had betrayed him. She had to do it, for the good of all mankind, but still... She would lose her only friend. By doing so, she would lose her only friend, her family, and the prospect of a perfect life.

Damn it! she thought. I can't give up now! It hurt. She felt like she wanted to cry. She started to tremble. She knew she would save a big part of the world, but... she might end up destroying her own life in the process.

"What is it?" Merdilen asked, worried, awkwardly returning the embrace with his only arm.

"I-I'm sorry..." she muttered. "You know, I really care about you, and I really consider you my friend, but still... sometimes there are things one just has to do. This is one of them."

"Huh?" Merdilen asked.

"I care a lot about you, and my family, and everything, but..." Saying the words hurt. "The greater good, and the world, comes first."

With that, she prepared to punch him, fueling her right fist with Manipulation.

In that very moment, she heard a roar behind them. The distraction had been too good. Merdilen had lowered his guard so much they hadn't heard nor felt the wild shadow monster approaching them.

"Don't worry," Merdilen said. "I'll take care of this."

With that, he slowly approached the shadow monster, Transmutating his sword into his hand.

This is my chance! the logical part of Kayline thought. But she couldn't do it. Merdilen was fighting for her. He was doing it to protect her. Even though he might be evil against his enemies, he really did care about her.

And she was going to betray him.

What am I thinking?! I can't do this to him, the emotional part of Kayline thought.

She just stood there while Merdilen fought the shadow monster, thinking about what to do. A few more seconds, and her opportunity would be lost. She had to make the decision, and now.

She remembered the Anti-Transmutation Strike Team. Even though they were hunting down Merdilen, they had all had their hopes, dreams, ideals, and bonds. They were humans, just like they were. And thousands of others would also be human too in the Fergahnian army. She couldn't let them all die. Guided by instincts more than by logic, she charged Merdilen, her fist full of Manipulation energy.

I'm sorry, Merdilen, she thought, a tear slipping down her cheek.

But she hadn't thought about Merdilen's lightning-fast reflexes. All that Merdilen sensed was a sudden powerful presence approaching rapidly from behind.

And he confused it for a shadow monster.

Reflexively, he slashed backwards with his sword to defend himself from the supposed second shadow monster. And Kayline was just with her bare fist. She was wielding no sword. She couldn't block.

The backward slash caught her directly in the neck, and cut through skin, flesh, and bone. Her head fell from her shoulders, rolling on the floor.

Kayline Sherdaine fell to the ground, dead, accidentally killed by her best friend.