What was I even doing, talking to magic? Was I insane?

I guess I wasn’t.

The mass of shadow magic began forming into the claw-like hand and burst forth, travelling south right towards Samael Winter at a speed akin to the winter star, or probably faster. A large wide line going right the Crag, sucking the life of anything it touched.

“If only I could see him, die…” I chuckled, breathing a sigh of relief.

The remnants of shadow energy left behind by whatever spell I just casted enveloped me and lifted my dangling body up, bringing me right to Winter, as if it heard my wish and obeyed. I was so perplexed, yet so exhausted it felt like I couldn’t question what the spell I cast was exactly.

Winter laid atop dead bushes, brown with lifelessness. He was breathing his last breaths when I stood, or rather, when the strange shadow energy held me up next to his body. His dragon armour was fizzling out whilst the shadow magic constantly ate through it.

“What, is your, goal?” he asked, wheezing.

I smirked and shrugged with a lift of my shoulders, “Don’t know. Haven’t, thought that far. Just don’t want people or dragons to die for a reason like revenge.”

He laughed, then writhed in pain. “So, simpleminded,” he muttered then grabbed hold of my ankle, as strong as a toddler’s grip. A strange magic flowed into me, yet I knew exactly what he did. I was surprised spells could be inherited through contact, but it probably wasn’t something you’d do if you were living and healthy. Winter star and ice clone spells were now in my repertoire.

“The eggs…” he trailed off, “cellar in office. Need, ice.” What was left of his dragon form faded, and the shadow ate through him like a gluttonous, hungered flame. Winter was no more.

The remaining bits of shadow energy holding me up faded, and I fell flat on my face. I laid there, hours passing by into the evening. Orange crept into the skies as the sun bade farewell. In the uneventful silence was when it hit me; that amount of draconic magic in a human must’ve backfired. After all, human and dragon bodies are worlds apart. Was this your plan, father? I chuckled. What incredible foresight. Saved me, though. I decided I would give him my thanks, whenever I got out of the Crag.

In the distance, I heard the beating of wings and thought the earth dragons had come to end me. I already thought of fleeing, but after I thought about what we did, I realised prolonging my punishment here would only cause these dragons to set their sights on Venreval. So, I chose to stay, to accept my punishment in hopes that they’d be satisfied with my death alone.

However, my cause for worry was misguided. The beating of wings was that of Audax. What a relief that was!

I hadn’t even noticed when he resurfaced. He landed near me, the burnt sienna of the sunset leaking through his wings and touching down onto me.

“You look like–what do you humans call it? Shit. You look exactly like that.”

“Gee, thanks, friend,” I played along.

A soft whimper broke our playful nature in two and I focused my eyes on Audax. A figure jumped off of him and kneeled next to me.

“Mandy…” I could hardly believe it. That’s why he left? Why did Audax bring her here? The minute I asked myself that question, she answered it when she opened a large pouch and forced me to drink potions of each colour. She didn’t say a word, only fed me the potions, occasionally wiping away her tears in her cloak’s sleeve.

I rested for a half hour and Mandy wouldn’t let my hand go. “I’m sorry but, there’s still something I need to do,” I told her, as politely as I could, but she only squeezed tighter.

“When will you stop?” she asked weakly, “You don’t have to. You don’t have to do any of these things. I know you’re strong, but, we have an army, why do you alwa–” she stopped when I touched her cheek.

“Don’t worry,” I touched my forehead with hers, “I’ll come back to you.”

She shivered and gave me the tightest, yet gentlest hug I’ve ever felt. We stood up and I opened a portal back to the school for her. She reluctantly left, a defeated look in her eyes.

“Phew, buddy, what are you doing to me?”

“Well,” he dropped his head for me to mount, “I figured you would do something stupid so I went to get her. I was damn right too. Besides,” he took off, “you’ve been a horrible partner to her.”

“I have, huh? Yeah,” I exhaled, “I guess I have,” and gripped on tighter for the landing in the centre of the now demolished Stoneclaw Mountains, “if I somehow manage to make peace with the earth dragons, I’ll treat her as I should.”

He didn’t answer, only lowered his head so I could jump off. It was amazing to think the ruins had survived our scuffle. In fact, it looked untouched. There had to be some kind of magic at work to withstand a fight of that magnitude. I entered the old ruins, and was faced with an issue right away. There were two translucent crystals floating, and etched into a couple slabs of stone below was some text. ‘Infuse with the light of Eliora’, whilst the other stated, ‘Infuse with the shadow of Eblis’.

“Light of Eliora?” I questioned, looking at the sealed magic door in front of me. Closest thing I got are restoration spells. I shrugged, not bothering to put much thought into it. That battle with Winter still had me exhausted. I used a restoration spell on one and charged the other with shadow energy. Surprisingly, it worked, flawlessly. The door began opening and in front of me was a golden staff. So, this is the Staff of Eliora.

It was shaped like a cross at the top, with a large circle in the middle. It looked to be a space made for something to fit in it. Around that circle were two thin golden rings welded to each extremity of the cross. I touched it, the moment I laid my fingers, my body froze. A woman with equally golden hair and white robes appeared in front of me, somewhat translucent. Was I seeing things? If Eblis is a demon, then, is she an angel? I wondered, figuring light and shadow magic were complete opposites.

“So, you have both light and shadow,” the phantom woman said, her voice not exactly having a human tone to it but more of a wispy fragility that somehow seemed commanding, “very well.” Huh? Very well? What does she mean by that?

“And Emily,” she said, before time resumed and my body unfroze, “Eblis is an angel as well.”

“W–what?” An angel? Wait, did she read my mind? This is so confusing! Within the middle of my mental rambling, her body separated, turning into small circles of gilded light and rushing into the staff to disappear within seconds. What was that? Was she Eliora?

I went back outside into the darkened, dismal state of Stoneclaw Mountains, preparing a teleport to Eblis’ pool. Ah, the eggs. I have no clue how to raise those. “Audax, can you raise ice dragons?”

“What kind of a question is that? Of course, not.”

“Well, that was straightforward,” I joked, but I really was conflicted about what to do. I teleported over to where Aurora’s corpse was, or, most of it at least. The explosions really did a number on her.

To perform the shadow resurrection on her, I’d need to transplant a part of her into me, but which? I couldn’t have two hearts inside me, so I asked Audax what I should do, and he recommended one of the thickened scales from beneath her. And so, I began the spell. Audax’s heart was modified to fit a human’s body, so I figured I could mould the scale into something useful for me. I made the grey scale flexible, yet maintaining its durability, not to mention enchanting it to absorb magical attacks. It fit seamlessly on my back, blending with my skin’s colour also. You couldn’t tell it was there unless you actually touched it.

It was now time to bind her soul back to her body. My mind entered a state of quiescence, any external stimuli were cut off. The world around me turned pitch black and soft like I’d entered another realm. A gentle white light appeared in front of me.

“Emily,” it said, and I could tell it was Aurora, “why are you here?” she asked me. It was such a simple, yet surreal setting.

“To, ask if you’d like to come back, but, you would be bound to me by shadow magic.”

“You’re asking if, I want to come back to life, but I would be confined to you like your salamander friend?”

“Y-yeah. Winter told me where the eggs are, and the rest of the ice dragons are dead. I can’t really,” I rubbed the back of my head nervously, “raise dragons. I won’t ask that you help me like Audax does, I will leave you be with your children.”

She tittered, “There’s no need to say anymore. Rejecting an offer like this would be the most absurd decision I ever made. I accept.”

I walked over to the light and outstretched my hand. Aurora was sucked right into me and my consciousness returned to the physical world. Aurora’s body parts began disintegrating into thin air, and I finally felt her presence within me. I summoned the queen back out and her snowy scales darkened, forming a neutral grey.

“Welcome back.” I smiled, and opened a portal for her back to Glacial Crest’s summit. Afterwards I went back to the academy, in the principal’s office. Thankfully, no one was there at the time. A fading magic emanated from underneath a bookshelf. I moved it carefully with arcane bind and saw the cellar Winter told me about. The top of it wasn’t just a normal latch, it was the exact shape of a winter star, making that spell the key to opening it. Clever man. I created the icy star and placed it into the grooves. It spun up for a few seconds then faded, springing the door open.

The eggs were partly submerged in water, the ice magic began melting. The eggs, despite being in mint condition, felt like they were on the cusp of death. Aurora’s death probably sapped the magic they had in them. I made some arcane chains, intertwining them to make a small net for all nine eggs and put the bookshelf back the way I got it.

“My babies!” Aurora called out in relief when I returned them to her, encasing them and even me in her wings. “I’ll forever be indebted to you, young mage. Should you need help, I’m but a moment away.”

“That’s fine,” I stuck the staff in the snow and ran a healing spell over them, “you’ve already helped me by accepting the resurrection,” and channelled my own draconic magic into them.

Seeking closure on the state of affairs in the Crag, I returned once more, into a dark and despondent night for the earth dragons. Many of them had gathered to the south, seeing that most of the northern mountains were levelled and the plains scorched.

I looked downward at them gathering under the starry night’s sky, perched on the side of yet another mountain, behind a rock. Audax’s dark scales melded perfectly with the rocks. “I’m going down there.”

“You must have an appetite for danger,” he crawled in front of me and we flew down.

“If they–which I’m sure they will–get hostile, I’m dismissing you without question. Well, it’s not like you can die,” I trembled just thinking of intervening.

Here goes. Audax landed in the centre of it all, where the Earthmother stood.

I bowed my head a little and pleaded, “Please hear me out!”

Any banter halted immediately. Background chatter faded. All eyes glared our direction. Even the crickets, after a few seconds got an idea of the situation and quieted down. They were still, as if a curse of stony petrification befell them. The only animated guest was the occasional firefly lending its lime green support to the moon’s soft radiance.

Without any of them moving a muscle, the earth around me shifted, and the minute I felt that, I dismissed Audax. A hole opened from beneath me and swallowed me into the cold ground.

Earthmother breathed, long and steady breaths which I could just barely fathom was the only thing keeping me from a frighteningly speedy demise. “Half-breed,” her voice shook the very earth around me and I rose from beneath, bound by a column that only allowed my head to show, “choose your following words wisely, as they might be your last.”

The nip in the air bit at my neck. I wasn’t scared, somehow, but I’d be lying if I said I was okay with dying there. “This battle was between the enslaver and I. I ask that you pardon Audax the Reckless and Aurora the ice queen, for it was not their decision to fight. And if I may, please don’t bear a grudge towards all humans for the wrongs done by two.” I exhaled, “That is all.”

“Well, now,” a wheezy decrepit voice slithered its way into the dense atmosphere, like a wind of light-heartedness. He was ash grey, his brown scales desaturated to the point where I questioned if he was an earth dragon. The elderly dragon sauntered so slowly, I felt if he pushed any harder, he would collapse on the spot. “You put, the lives of others, before yourself,” he walked forward, wings riddled with tiny holes, “a virtue, rarely seen.”

“You intend to defend her, Utt?!” the Earthmother bared her fangs, but this dragon couldn’t care less. His expression was unchanging. Any other earth dragon looked like they’d never challenge her authority.

“No, I’m too old for that,” he chuckled, “whether she lives or dies, is between you, as leader, and her. But know this,” his tone changed, he looked her sternly in the eyes, something the others didn’t dare do whilst she was enraged, “she is the reason we will continue to live on. Those of fire and ice are nought but empty shells of their once glorious selves.”

The deep growls of the others must’ve set a mood of confusion between them. What amazed me, was that he knew, one who looked like he hadn’t flown anywhere past his own mountain in decades, knew that Winter would eventually kill them off, like he did the ice dragons, like he did most of the salamanders.

“Explain!” she yelled, “I’ve no patience to humour your old tongue, Utt!”

“Calm yourself, Tivona. Had this smooth-skin left the enslaver to do his bidding, we would’ve breathed our last breaths with our bodies impaled by icy pikes and our scales frozen.”

“You compare a mere human to us?” the Earthmother, or Tivona, rather, gave a low grumble in her voice to heighten the effect, but the old dragon had no fear.

“You underestimate them. While we have been living blinded by the sanctuary of peace, they have strengthened themselves for twenty years, since that incident. Tivona, you must realise that we live only because the smooth-skins let us, and that some, like the sorcerer of ice, hate us. Understand that we live because of their leniency.”

“You wish for me to spare her…”

“The malice we all smell in her, is not her own. Remember your position, Tivona. It means compassion for life.”

She took two steps back, her eyes only greeting mine for a split second. Suddenly, a tremendous, deafening roar erupted from the pith of her stomach. “You, in your arrogance,” she looked at me, her jarring teeth so close I can feel the tiny splatters of saliva on my face, “showed no compassion when you fought! Not to the tiny, innumerable ants! Not to the earth and her rooted children! Not to the woolly mammoths that are nearly extinct! And I am expected to show compassion to you?!”

She stamped her giant feet down in fury and the earth entrapping me turned to sand and fell away from me, “Leave this place, and let these lands never grace your filthy eyes again, half-breed!” She turned around, fuming, but somewhat sour and said “the same goes for Audax.”

With that, I quickly teleported away. I avoided, somehow, her wrath on humans, Audax and myself. All things considered, I was lucky to be alive.

I stood on that hill overlooking the seas at the academy. Audax came out, the shadowy reptile blocking the nebulas above.

After a few minutes of whisper-quiet indulgence of the starry skies, I mentioned the staff on a whim, “I should get this back to Chiron,” I yawned and stretched, “I’m spent.”

“Why not sleep first? He can wait.”

I rubbed my eyes, and leaned lightly on him, “I’ll sleep in Eblis’ pool. If I put this off, I’ll end up sleeping for at least a week.” Despite saying that, I dozed off right then.

When I awoke, the ceiling of my room was the first thing I saw. How did I end up there? In my daze, an arm wrapped itself around me. Mandy?

“I know you’re awake,” I said, not falling for her acting. The edges of her pink lips curled upwards and her eyelids revealed a deep cerulean sea, mashed together with a piteous yet loving mixture. Although I saw through her acting, I couldn’t see through her eyes’ concoction of emotions.

“You’re still worried?” I asked, clearing a bit of unruly strands from her forehead.

She shook her head, just a bit, “Yes, and no. I realise you as long as there’s danger, you’ll always somehow find yourself in it. Like a soldier who loves war. I can’t keep you from it, but I can accept it. Accept that it’s part of you. Accept you.”

I chuckled a little, “I love you too, Mandy,” and pecked her on the lips then turned to my ceiling once more. “So, how did I–”

“Audax,” she said, hugging the life out of my arm. I took quick glances around the room, “Where is the staff?”

“That geezer came and took it. Your uncle.”

I clenched my fists, a bit agitated that I missed him. He could’ve at least stayed a while. “Did he say anything?”

“He told me to thank you. And mumbled something about the staff being a half of something. Not sure what he was on about.”

“I see,” I flared my magic a little. My arcane and draconic magic was fine, but my shadow was still lacking. It made me wonder about that last attack, that ‘hand’. That hand formation of shadow magic was what I used as a replacement, or a stronger version of my arcane bind spell, but it somehow became my trump card? Strange. It seemed so alive, responsive.

“Mandy, I’ll have to leave for about a we–”

The artful movements she made placed her on top of me, straddling. “No!” she denied me, flatly. “You’re not going anywhere. You fought, you won. Just stay with me for a while,” her forehead crinkled.

“That face is criminal,” I jested and shrugged, “I suppose I could stay a while.”

I intended to postpone my visit to Eblis’ pool for a few days and spend as much time with her as possible, but fate had a knack for blindsiding you.

In just a second, strange magic began interloping around us. It must’ve been my death-fight with Winter that had me a little paranoid. Battlemages from the kingdom began teleporting into the room and I placed a barrier around Mandy and I. However, they sent us spiralling through a portal into an abandoned village somewhere, bed and everything. We landed with the bed on top of us. My mind was a little disoriented and the battlemages used that chance to wrap magic restraints around my hands, wrists and mouth. Mandy was still somewhat confused, but she put that aside and used a strange magic. She became translucent, and so incredibly fast that I mistook it for teleportation at first. She knocked out three battlemages but halted when I shook my head furiously, gesturing her to stop.

The one they targeted first was me, and these were the king’s battlemages nonetheless, I’m sure they had an explanation and I didn’t want her making matters worse for herself. I was just relieved she didn’t kill them. Her power caught me off guard. ‘Head sentry’ isn’t just a title, I see.

Their captain, a long-eared, sharp-eyed man, said to me, “Emily Crescent, chemist of Arcanist Academy, you are under arrest for the unlawful killing of over seven thousand people. Failure to comply may result in your death.”

“That’s a serious statement,” I said, a bluff of sorts, but they showed no fear. Fitting, for people holding their positions.

They placed the blackened metal cuffs around her wrists, and used chain links to restrict her from forming any strikes. Hers were different from mine, which could only mean they came prepared to deal with anyone who might try to help me.

How ironic, ending up in the same cell as the man I was tasked with bringing to justice. Must be divine punishment for my actions. Mandy was placed in the cell opposite to me, looking at me confused and helpless, a stinging dagger to me.

Her mouth wasn’t blocked as mine was, and to ensure no fragments of stratagems came about, two guards stood outside my cell, and two outside hers. Not even with Winter had I seen such security. For whatever reason, they refused to be lax. Even in the chilly dungeon, I could see the sweat tricking down one of the battlemages’ cheek.

What bothered me most, was what that captain said to me. “Unlawful killing.” What did he mean? Surely they had me mistaken with another. The number of people he mentioned was insane! Seven thousand? None of this made any sense no matter what perspective I viewed this at.

A few minutes later, a squadron of guards returned, along with their captain, a man dubbed Kano, according to his subordinates. “Get her out,” he commanded and soon enough I was on my way to the court.

Counsellors, advisors, chancellors, magistrates and just about any other bureaucratic position was present. Battlemages were spread so thickly the room’s only empty space was the thin line directly to the throne. The wheels of anxiety began turning a little. Forcefully arrested, accused of massacring thousands of people, thrown in jail and dragged to the court in manacles. A cesspool of feelings welled up. Irritation and anger that I’d be charged with something so heinous. Fear and apprehension because everyone’s eyes of disgust and hatred were latched to me. Wonder and amazement that these bigwigs would gather here for me.

I was made to kneel with the sheath of a battlemage’s sword ramming down onto the topmost portion of my calves. The king sat laid back, his buttocks nearly off the throne and his knuckles keeping his head upright. The glare of his eyes was like death itself, ready to dismember me.

“Kano,” he called out, his voice in the deepest notes of vibrations possible, “count.”

“Just shy of ten thousand, my king.”

“And the villages?”

“The report came from the last village struck, deep south. The final count may surpass our expectations, sire,” the captain placed a fist on his chest and bowed in respect.

From seven to ten thousand? The murmurs amongst the officials raised with each passing second, but was cast away with a gentle wave of the Sven Aran’s ring-embroidered hands.

He stood up, slowly. Dark circles rummaged beneath his eyes when he stepped into the light sneaking in from the sides. Without something as simple as eye-contact, he looked straight forward despite my being below him and asked, “Who, are” pausing with each word, “you?”

At this point, Kano removed the padded metal from my mouth so I could speak.

“I, don’t understand,” I complained, “what’s going on right now.”

“Sire, I don’t believe, she’s lying. No one could see that far, and that was probably the first occurrence. We’d know if something like that happened before. Please allow me to explain things to her, then you may ask your questions, my king.”

The king waved his hand again in approval and folded his arms.

“Emily Crescent, I will now tell you what has happened. To track your movements, we had someone shadow you to the Crag. We know that you fought with Samael Winter. We know that you use the same magic as the demon Eblis. In fact, the attack you used to kill your opponent didn’t stop with him. It continued, going south, across the Crag, passing the border into Venreval and leaving a scar across our land and even into the oceans beyond. Every living thing within this path has died.

“You will not be given a trial, but you may explain yourself so that you might save yourself an honourless death.”

What was he saying to me? “Are you joking?” I inquired, a hint of impudence in my tone. A calloused backhand smacked me across the face, busting my lip in the process. If this wasn’t an eye-opener to how furious the king was, then I’d be the most naïve brat in the world.

“Noon. Centre of town. Arcane Asylum.” Sven Aran said these words before leaving the court.

Like that, the crowded court slowly emptied and I was back in my cell once more, my mind still yet to accept that my own spell would cause such upheaval.

How? How did this happen? I couldn’t believe this was happening. I sat in the corner, thinking back on how this could be remotely possible. I hugged my legs and my chin rested on my knees as I rocked back and forth. Impossible. No. I told it–I told it to kill Winter! This isn’t happening, this can’t be happening! My mind was breaking apart and it all seemed like a bad dream, but the cold walls felt so horribly real I couldn’t buy into my own fantasy.

A few hours slipped by as swiftly as seconds, and I was escorted out the palace, dragged by horse. I struggled to stay on my feet. Scores of people gathered, so many that the battlemages had trouble holding them back. This is happening. This is happening. This is real. This is really happening.

In the centre of town, just as the king had instructed. Noon.

After being showered in insults, pelted with rotten fruits, haplessly displaying a walk of shame throughout town, I arrived at gallows large enough to stage a dozen different hangings. The heartless battlemages tugged on my chains, pulling me towards the scaffolding of demise. I took my first step onto the wooden death trap, a jolt of pusillanimity electrocuting the very reins I held to keep my sense of shame in check.

“No,” I muttered, stopping on the way and being forced upward onto the final stage where all eyes could meet my quivering, deplorable state. “No! Please, spare me! I don’t want to die!” I yelled out as they dragged me to a simple white box, its walls made purely of arcane energy.

I wasn’t sure exactly how it worked, but I knew the minute I was put in there, my life would end. “I’m sorry! I’ll do whatever you want! Please, don’t kill me! Let me live!” I screamed my eyes out, grinding my heels into the wood and scraping desperately, pitifully onto the armours of the battlemages, “Let, me, live!”

My mind was breaking apart, I forgot the concept of humiliation or embarrassment whilst staring into the eyes of death. “I will heal anyone! I won’t do anything bad! Please! Pl-please!” the inevitable waters gushed down my cheeks and mixed with the loose snot forming below my nose. They opened the door to the all-white arcane cage, not a sliver of light able to pass through it. I held onto the frame encasing the door, my pants growing wet with urine, and felt a heavy blow to my back. They kicked me inside and reformed the door. I was trapped now, only to await a death I could do nothing about.

My magic began burning, incredibly hot, extremely painful. It sept out of me like the vapour in hot springs. I bawled with unhindered agony, unbearably squirming through the ordeal that depleted my magic pool by the second. It was awfully clear now that this was meant to drain you of every drop of magic until you die.

My veins were popping out, my skin grew hot, my heartrate skyrocketed. “D-dammit! I just, augh, wanted to learn!” I only ever desired to learn this new world, to live and love. To please those around me, to do right by them. To serve and be useful to people. I wanted to get closer to my father, to Audax and maybe even Aurora and her young. I wanted to make Mandy happy. I loved her. Right then and there, jabbing at my back, was Mandy and thoughts of what they’d do to her.

After curing your plague, all your diseases, illnesses, poisonings. After saving your son. Even dealing with the enslaver. After all of that, you decide to kill me?!

Maybe I’d lost my mind, but I’d decided then, in all my anguish and misery, that if I was going to die, I’d go out with a bang, and give them a reason to fear me, to hate me. I shuffled around in a tiny pouch hidden on the inside of my trousers and retrieved the black pill.

Hardly a tenth of my magic pool remaining, I placed the pill on my tongue, hands trembling, and swallowed. “End of the line, bastards.”

Immediately, and without care for gradually feeding my body the effects of the pill, my magic pool’s limit was blasted beyond compare. My pain stopped in an instant. The strength coursing through me was greater than that of my metamorphosis, and I wasn’t even in that form yet. With a mere thought of the mind, I banished the Arcane Asylum spell in less than a second. The magic bindings were blasted away with arcane energy alone, giving me yet another boost in power after removing them.

I now looked at them. The stunned guards, the astounded crowds. There was no Arcane Asylum barring me from them.

The sheer magnitude of magic emanating from me made any attempts to kill me fruitless. Not their coordinated draconic magic, nor their collective arcane blasts. They lugged their weight and physically attacked after noticing magic was useless. I was unmoving, their punches not even reaching past my aura of arcane energy.

The onlookers scattered in every-which-way, trampling over each other in a vicious race to get away. Some battlemages escorted the king away from his seat atop a nearby wall to teleport him away, but I gave no such chance. I grabbed the king behind his neck after teleporting to him and blasted away every guard with a nova of arcane magic. I created an ice clone and had it return to the gallows with the king. Another ice clone, gathered civilians and placed them back in the centre of town to witness the king in my clutches. As for the real me, I jailbroke Mandy and returned to the cottage.

My clones made their threats openly, marking the area where the cottage and Eblis’ mountain was as uncontested territory that they weren’t allowed to enter under any circumstances. The clones disappeared afterward.

In the emptiness of the cottage, I toned my magic down.

“The guards were talking about it. Emily, are you really, a demon?”

“Part. I’m human, dragon, and demon in one body.”

Mandy stumbled towards me and wrapped her fingers around my neck, squeezing weakly, “I should hate you,” she said. “I should hate you!” she screamed out, then slumped to her knees, sniffling. “But I love you, dammit!”

“Mandy…” I placed my fingers below her chin and lifted her head up, “I’m really happy I met you.”

She wrinkled her forehead in a bit of bewilderment, “What are you sayi–”

I dropped to my knees also, and prostrated before her, “Because of me, you had to hide from Winter. Because of me, you were arrested and will probably be treated as an associate of a demon for the rest of your life.”

“N-no…”

“Not only that, but because of the pill I took, I’m going to die after the effects wear off. I won’t be able to protect you after putting you in so much danger. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Mandy,” my fists curled, “I won’t ask for your forgiveness, that’ll only make this more painful for me. So, hate me, please! Maybe then I can pass on with less guilt.”

A familiar feeling, yet lighter, swept across my face. She slapped me. “Don’t be so selfish! If you’re really sorry, then don’t ask me to hate you and live! Protect me! Be with me!” She held onto my hands, tears dripping onto me, “Don’t, go.”

Despite my words and resolve before, I smiled. I was happy. I took that chance, just in case I couldn’t find a way to remain alive, to arm her with magic that would persist after my death. Even with the amplification that the black pill gave, granting these magics like Winter did for me made me feel the extremely hefty tax of magic power dissipating from me. I took breaks between each, to regain a bit of my magic, else I would die before the pill’s effects even wore off.

She inherited all my knowledge on transmutation, enchanting and alchemy, but would probably be burdened without having the reserves Eblis’ blood granted. Teleportation and portal magic were also learned. It was essential after all, and she wasn’t very good at it.

After I changed my soiled clothes and cleaned myself, I created a spell after nonstop trial and error called Living Armour. It would create a stronger, denser and more transparent armour around the user’s body at their will, or automatically, whenever something external sought to injure or kill the user. Like a force field would protect specific parts of the body, the living armour did the same, and would only take full form when necessary. It was made of arcane, shadow, draconic, and even light, interchanging between each type of magic to suit the situation. It would drain mana periodically, but a very insignificant amount, making it a great spell for one without a large magic pool. Living armour was the last thing I taught her.

I summoned Audax to stay with her, although, if I died, he and Aurora would probably die as well.

With that, I went to slumber in Eblis’ pool, and only time would tell if I would ever open my eyes again. Whilst my eyes were shut, I had many cryptic dreams; visions, if you will. The majority were much too muddled to decipher. I wasn’t sure there were any meaning behind them at all. But there was one dream, a recurring phantasm of a young woman seated in the clouds. I would walk over to her every time, like clockwork, and she would smile gently and ask if I’d like to go to her realm. Despite being lucid sometimes, my tongue of stone would not move, and my reply would die just as the dream always abruptly did at that point.

After what felt like an eternity, my eyelids lifted themselves. Near the bottom of Eblis’ pool I found myself. I had no reaction, as if my brain was incapable of telling dream from reality, but my body felt the ebb and flow of the thinned blood around me. My muscle took its sweet time before surrendering to my rule. With some water magic, I guided myself out the pool and gave a weakened crawl towards the rim.

My magic was fully restored, in pristine shape. My body, however, was enfeebled. I took a green pill and red pill after transmuting a bit of the deadened soil around me. How long was I asleep? I pondered, sprawled out onto the ground whilst I waited for the pills’ effects to kick in.

After a few minutes, my strength gradually returned, though not fully. I finally stood up and shadow magic accumulated in front of me. “You’re late,” I teased.

“You’re late,” the shadowy dragon answered.

“Yeah?” I asked and wrapped my arms around his scaly neck, “What for?”

He snickered, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. You’ll have to see for yourself.”

“It’ll have to wait, I’m so hungry I could eat a–a dragon!” I gave him a wicked grin.

“Hope you get sick. Why are you starving anyway? Can’t you transmute anything into anything?”

My mind halted a little, “Audax, you really are a true genius!” I dug some more loose dirt and rocks where I could and remade, by the grace of transmutation, my mother’s beef stew she was so proud of. It felt like cheating, but I was ecstatic. A wave of nostalgia washed over me, what a bittersweet feeling it was. It calmed my nerves like a soothing embrace, yet the homey scent injected a thin speckle of morose as I remembered her smile.

After I had my fill, I went back to the cottage to check on Mandy. I knocked and entered after she answered. Her arms flew around me so quickly I was convinced she used one of her lightning-quick spells. “I’ve missed you!” she said, and I could feel her heavy heartrate and a slight tremble in her squeeze.

“I mis–” as I was about to return her greeting, a trickle of liquid touched my neck. “Are you alright?” I asked, hoping for her to tell me what I felt were tears of joy.

She didn’t answer, and instead, brought a chair for us to sit near the window after wiping away the unbecoming transparent lines. A dim lunar light rested gently on her features, accentuating her lazuline eyes with a subtle irradiance. This woman amazed me, even now. But, why wasn’t she saying anything to me? With each passing second, I’d grow a little more anxious due to her silence.

“This might be stupid a question to ask at this point,” she looked me straight in the eyes, hers projecting such a focused, yet worried look, “but, tell me once again, what are you?”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but I wasn’t completely convinced all was fine just yet. Should she reject me at this point, I’d be devastated. I shimmied the scroll ring off my finger and transmuted it back to the original form, showing her the message mother left me, “From my mother,” I said, as I handed it over to her. She read the thing emotionlessly, then closed it, along with her eyes.

“So, it is true. I see now why your magical strength is so great. Like us, you just happened to be swept up in Eblis’ coming, although, his effects powered you, instead of killing you.” She looked outside, at the impersonator of the light-bringer, “Like Winter, my family was also killed when Eblis was summoned here. My father was a soldier, so his life was forfeit the moment that demon appeared. My mother and baby brother died from the demon’s essence floating around in the air.”

Why was she telling me all this now? I wondered but couldn’t figure it out, so I simply asked her. She informed me that two months had passed since I went into the mountain. Two. So, my sleep is dependent on what shape my magic is in and how long I’ve gone without sleep.

“The living armour spell you taught me, saved me countless times from the battlemages. I was able to defend without hurting them.”

What was she saying? Not that I didn’t care, but she hadn’t answered my question in the least. Well, that’s what was passing through my mind until she stood up and painted three words onto my psyche’s canvas that stunned me out of reality. The etymology of my power, “Eblis has returned.”