My mind felt foggy and distant when I awoke from my slumber, leaving me confused and disoriented. “Good, you’re finally awake. Finish the provided meal, then follow me, pet.” I looked around, and my foggy mind was changed into placid contentment as I lay eyes on Mistress.

I consumed the stale bread and water I had been provided and followed Mistress into another room inside her strange tent. “Sit down on that chair and pull up your tunic, pet.” A few seconds later, I was sitting on the chair with my stomach laid bare before her.

Mistress approached with a brush and a vial of ink. “Don’t move a muscle, keep your breathing as shallow as you can and keep quiet.” Mistress began painting an intricate pattern on my stomach. A pattern filled with magic and power. With each stroke, it felt my thoughts and wishes grow more quiet and slow, kept in check by the ink on my skin.

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As I finished the last strokes of the sigil, I smiled. No more reigniting will, no more subconscious resistance. Within this shell, there was now only obedience towards me and my orders. “Rise, pet, it is time for you to help break in the beasts that still resist my enlightening touch.” She rose without a word, her expression slack and distant, her eyes dull and devoid of any spark of their own.

Just like I had hoped, this new Sigil I had created just for her, was keeping her mind subdued and obedient to my desires. I led my newest puppet out towards the prison tent. There we held those who, for whatever reason, were impervious to conversion or control. “This will be your first test, pet, don’t disappoint me.” I didn’t get a response.

Not that I expected one, since she couldn’t do anything but obey. As we entered the prison tent, the stench of blood, puss, and manure filled my nostrils. Breaking these beasts and rendering them compliant was important, but slow. Hopefully, my new pet would aid in that.

I walked among the cages until I spotted the perfect candidates. Gnomes, those wretched lesser beings whose sensitivity to magic rendered them all but uncontrollable. The perfect test for my new puppet, if she broke them, a great success. But if she failed, the death of those beasts wouldn’t be a great loss.

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I held up the potion towards Nari, who took it without a single moment of hesitation. “This thing is experimental, so I do not know if there will be side effects of how effective it will be.” I had spent the better part of an hour on brewing this thing after leafing through every note about memory recovery potions I could find.

Nari shrugged. “I owe the two of you more than I can ever repay. If through death or madness I can save either of you, then so be it.” Moor was right. The tribes really took their debts way too seriously. I didn’t enjoy relying on an untested brew, but right now, we didn’t have a choice.

Even if it worked, it would take a while to get there, so it was our only hope. Nari quaffed the potion and grimaced almost immediately, before she fell to her knees with a scream of pain. “Keep i together Nari, you can overcome this.” Even as I encouraged her, I knew all I could do now, was to hope that I hadn’t accidentally killed her.

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Mistress was walking among the prisoners, pondering something. Then she said something irrelevant to the guards, who opened one cage and pulled a trio of gnomes outside. They were dragged deeper into the tent, and we followed. The three were put onto tables and chained down, so they couldn’t move.

Mistress walked over to them, then turned towards me, her exotic, red dress flowing as she did. “Pet, these three beasts resist my power, break them, so they won’t.” A command! Pure happiness flowed through me. My existence had meaning again.

I walked over to the three, then paused, unsure how to proceed. Mistress stroked my cheek. “Start with the youngest. That should make the older ones break faster. Make it, as painful as possible, and pet, enjoy yourself.” I walked to the rightmost table, where the youngest Gnome was strapped in.

She couldn’t be more than in her late teens at most. I raised Injury, but before I could slam it down, Mistress put her hand on my shoulder. “A moment, pet. These beautiful gauntlets of yours, where did you get them from?” The memory flowed into my mind on its own. “They were a gift from an unknown benefactor.” Mistress smiled.

“I see. Give them to me, Pet. They would be far more useful in my hands than yours.” I moved to take them off, but to my surprise, they wouldn’t budge. “They are stuck, Mistress.” Mistress looked at them for a moment, then turned towards the quartet of guards at the tent entrance. “One of you, go fetch the artificer. I want to have a look at these gauntlets and have them removed, if possible.” A guard left immediately.

Mistress then turned towards the battered and chained Gnomes. “It looks like your re-education will have to wait just a while longer, can’t have these marvels be covered in blood when appraised, after all.” She then turned towards me. “Let’s wait for now.” I nodded slowly and did as I was instructed.

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“I know you feel responsible for all of this, Nari, but slow down!” Moor called out to her as we hurried along. She didn’t, she sped up. That was too much. “Nari, I can’t keep up, small legs, remember!” Finally, she slowed down and turned to look at me and Moor. “Sorry, it’s just that, if they do to her, what they did to me...” she shuddered and didn’t finish the sentence.

Moor put a hand on Nari’s shoulder. “That we could dredge up the memory of the path you took in your escape is more than enough. Besides, we can’t just rush in there without a plan.” Nari gritted her teeth, but slowed down her pace to one I could keep up with. We had been rushing along for almost three hours, and the camp was supposed to be close by now, hidden between two hills.

The wind turned, and Nari paused. “Smoke on the wind, and lots of it, since I can smell it through the rain.” Moor and I shared a silent nod. We had to be close to the camp. It would probably be visible once we crossed over the slope. Nari was the first to get to the top and looked over.

She rose and just stood there, her tail falling limp to the ground. “You two need to see this, hurry!” Moor and I rushed to the ridge, there hidden between several hills was the camp, or the remains of it. “What in the name of the gods happened here?” I couldn’t wrap my head around the sight ahead of me.

Part of the camp was ablaze in a roaring inferno. The other half was also burning, but the fire was a pale sky-blue and where it burned, the ground had frozen over in an ever building chunk of ice. Moor shook his head in disbelief. “What happened here?” It was an obvious rhetorical question.

Nari hurried down the slope and bent low to the ground. “There are multiple tracks here, leading away from the camp. Maybe your magic can find out which set to follow?” She looked at Moor, who took a deep breath. “There is a better option, given the circumstances. Give me some time to prepare the spell I need.” I wanted to scream at Moor to hurry it up, but I knew that wouldn’t change anything. All I could do was wait and hope Ashes was ok.

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Two hours earlier, just after dawn.

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“I am sorry, Mistress, but these ems are impossible for me to identify. Their magical patterns are too advanced for a mere journeyman like me. These are Grandmaster or higher, by my guess, at any rate. At the very least they have anti-theft enchantments, hence why she cannot remove them unless it’s by her own free will. I must emphasize free will, here, Mistress.” The unimportant little man kept blabbering as I patiently waited for more instructions.

Mistress seemed annoyed at what the man was saying as she glanced at me, then him. “Keari, resume your previous task.” I turned back towards the chained Gnomes. And once again lifted my gauntlet. Now that the sun had finally risen properly, I could actually see the chained gnomes better.

The oldest was a man, short, blue beard and hair, wearing a torn silk coat, linen tunic and pants. The woman next to him had green hair about as long as she was and was dressed in a similarly torn dress. Then I let my eyes rest on my target. “Inflict… pain… break…will.” My words were barely a whisper.

I paused. Red hair covered most of her face and she was dressed in a navy-blue cloak and cape, both torn and ripped, an alchemists outfit. Mistress looked at me, annoyed at my hesitation. “Well, go on, do as you’re told.” I raised Injury, but didn’t strike. This Gnome looked so much like… like… “Amber?” Again, my voice was barely a whisper. My raised arm was shaking.

The Gnome girl looked up at me and gave a scared squeaking noise. So alike the one Amber usually made when she got scared. In front of my eyes, her appearance subtly changed, and I was now indeed looking at Amber. Amber, my best friend… I was about to hit her. I was about to hurt… “NO!” The sound of shattering ice brought me back to reality.

I looked down and there were multiple pieces of red ice. A color it shared with the ink used to make the sigil on my stomach. My thoughts now felt clearer, crystal clear, as if the fog in my mind had frozen into crystal clear ice. The wretched woman took a step back behind me, her expensive shoes clacking against the floor of the tent. “How? How did you break free?”

I turned towards her. She still looked pretty, but there was nothing charming about her anymore. Injury was humming with pent-up power, power emanating from deep within me, a bottomless well, aching to be released. I lowered my arm towards the guards and opened my fist. A blast of pale blue flames struck them, and in seconds, encased them in ice.

I turned back to the woman, who took a few steps back, before she turned and fled. I wanted to chase after her, but I couldn’t. After less than a second of internal struggle, turned back towards the captive gnomes. The chains binding them turned as brittle as dried branches after a simple touch by Injury, and shattered easily.

I looked at the three. “Can you free the others?” They nodded. They seemed confused at this turn of events, but I had no answers to give, acting on intuition, not knowledge of what I was doing. As I exited the tent, the camp guards were ready and waiting for me.

I didn’t give them a chance to attack. With a flick from Injury, their weapons and hands were covered in a layer of burning ice. “If you wish to live, you better run now.” As I spoke, there was a familiar sense of power welled up within me, and Insult responded to that power, channeling it to my right hand.

One guard remained loyal to his masters and lunged for me. He was consumed in flames so hot they burned white, leaving nothing behind. The remaining guards struck as one, but their frozen weapons ignited and vaporized before they could even touch me. Now unarmed and realizing they were outmatched, they turned and fled.

A distant, instinctual part of my mind realized I always had this power, but until now, it had been dormant, unnecessary in my day-to-day life in the mountain hall. “Just you wait, I’ll teach you to treat people like insignificant tools.” I looked around and found the tent I was looking for.

I was about to march towards the tent where that woman kept her “Pets” and “Decorations” if they could be saved, I was intent on doing so. Behind me, the prisoners were now shuffling out of the tent in various states of injury. “I would make myself scarce, if I were you.” The prisoners eyed me warily. “Why are you helping us?” It was the gnome girl from earlier.

I didn’t look back at them, instead I focused on the camp, looking for any sign of immediate danger. “I was as much a prisoner as you were, only I was imprisoned inside my head, while my body was used as a puppet by that woman. Now go, I’m not sure how long this newfound power of mine will remain, and the last thing you want is for the entire camp to come after you.” I was about to leave, but after a moment’s hesitation, I led the way to the edge of the camp instead.

“Go now and don’t look back.” Once they were all safely outside, I unleashed my power in both directions, covering their escape and encircling the half camp in a wall of fire and burning ice. Now that I was alone, I could finally take the time to examine myself. As the power coursed through me, my ashen grey skin had formed veins, akin to brimstone.

My right side was smoldering fire, my left, a pale blueish-white like glacial ice. I did not know how I might look to a bystander, but I could guess I must cut a rather intimidating figure. My hair had become energy-like, a chaotic mix of blue and regular fire. “What in the world am I? Not human, that’s for sure…”

I pushed the thought aside. I had given that woman far too much of a head start, and I would not let her get away. As I walked towards my goal, I let loose the pent-up power in my gauntlets, sending a gout of fire, both regular and cold, into the camp itself. The camp inhabitants soon panicked, adding to the chaos. “Don’t just run around like headless chickens, stop that beast!” The shrill voice of my target rang out across burning the camp.

As if anything could stop me now. Her powers had no hold on me in my current state, and anyone who got too close would either freeze to a statue or get incinerated to nothing. “DIE BEAST!” Something slammed into me from behind. It stung, but that was it.

I turned and looked at the Beast-kin that had attacked me. Then I looked down at the melted slag that might have been a weapon. His eyes were glassy. It left little doubt about his current condition, unfortunately I had no way to actually break him out of it. “Don’t bother, your weapons can’t hurt me.” I doubted he would stop, but I had to try.

I could see him shiver slightly, but he didn’t continue the assault as I turned around and left. As I reached the woman’s tent, I tossed a glance over my shoulder and found him gone. Hopefully, he could get out safely. “Alright, time to pay the piper, you damned monster.” I found her inside the tent, standing on a plinth, unmoving, while another plinth was now empty.

Whatever that meant, I didn’t know, but that woman was going to burn either way. I lined up Insult, then something hit me in the gut with such force I went flying across the room. The missing person on the plinth was standing where I once stood, clutching the ruined hand that had just punched me. “Rubolg’s axe that hurts…” I winced in pain.

The punch itself had done a number on me. As I staggered back to my feet, I could feel a few cracked ribs, but my assailant had paid a hefty price for that strike. Half her lower arm had gotten incinerated on the spot and was still smoldering from the intense heat. “What are you, you wretched creature?” She looked at me like I was some kind of abomination.

The woman might be different, but those strange pale blue eyes were all too familiar. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the now immobile lady had similar eyes. “So not only do you rob people of their free will, you also use them as meat suits?” The surprised expression in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. [Glaciation]

It took me a second to realize I had fired off a skill, as there was no immediate effect as far as I could tell. Until I noticed that the ground was forming a sheet of ice that was rapidly expanding and growing. “What have you done?” The woman’s voice was strained from pain.

I doubt the woman would believe me if I told her I hadn’t even meant to use it. My powers were reacting to my wishes without my conscious decision. I would need practice to fully master them. Taking the initiative, I rushed the woman and aimed a jab with Injury at her face. The woman scrambled to get away, still clutching her ruined arm as I forced her deeper into the tent. “That’s it, say inside with me, you’re not going anywhere.”

The ice was spreading with increasing speed, climbing the walls of the tent and across the floor. “No, stop it, don’t touch those!” The woman screamed as the ice was spreading up the unmoving people. A part of me worried they might be conscious and in pain from that. However, how much of a mind was left inside them, if that… thing, could use them as meat suits?

The temperature inside the tent was obviously dropping fast, considering frost was now forming and spreading on every conceivable surface. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but if you can, I’m sorry I can’t help you in any other way than granting you a swift death.” The Thing piloting the injured woman launched herself at me. On instinct, I activated another ability to defend myself. [Primordial Winter]

A wave of cold energy radiated out in front of me, so total the air itself began freezing, filling the interior with ice. Then it burst through the walls in huge spikes. It spread so fast, I was pushed back outside, while anyone or anything else inside was flash-frozen. A few seconds later, the entire tent was encased in a giant ice stalagmite, reaching almost ten meters into the air.

I looked at my handiwork with grim satisfaction, then stumbled, feeling faint. The endless well of energy that had been pouring through me had been drained dry by whatever crazy skill I just enacted. I gritted my teeth and began a slow walk towards the edge of the camp. “Can’t… Faint now, need to get out of… here.” I was lucky. Because of the blazing inferno and spreading ice, the inhabitants of the camp had evacuated.

None stepped up to challenge me as I staggered out of the camp through the wall of fire. I had survived a dip into lava. A wall of fire was no obstacle to me. I barely got over the hill, before I collapsed onto the ground, completely exhausted. I could hear voices, echoing and distant, as if they were far away. “Don’t worry, hero, we got you, you’re safe now.”

A familiar-looking face looked up at me from where I was dangling over someone’s shoulder as I was carried away from the camp. “Amber?” She was speaking, but I was too exhausted to understand her.

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1 Hour Ago.

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“Have either of you found anything we can salvage?” The two servants shook their heads. Dammit, what should I do? Milady was dead, the camp ruined, and our supplies either burned or buried under so much magical ice it would take days, if not weeks, to dig it out.

What hurt the most was my hand in inviting this ruin upon us. I had brought that beast into this camp. I had allowed Milady to take her, mistakenly believing she was broken. Inside the frozen tent, I could see all of Milady’s frozen vessels, all accounted for. “What a complete and utter disaster this turned out to be.” I felt about as bitter as I sounded.

I looked at the giant piece of ice in front of me. Even now, it was radiating an unnatural cold and despite not being aflame like the other ice in the wreckage, it refused to melt, no matter what we did. I slammed my gloved hand against the ice block in frustration, then quickly withdrew it. Not fast enough. The glove shattered as I pulled back, partially frozen solid on impact.

The traitorous gods were involved somehow. If only the Void had destroyed them. The only upside to all this was that Milady’s main vessel would be safely home in Turmai, though losing so many Vessels all at once was an ill omen. “This campaign’s been a century in the making, and it’s off to an inauspicious beginning.” A passing servant stopped and looked at me, before he hurried along.

Well, there was nothing to be done. Because of that monster, we were dangerously low on everything. Our only option was to retreat to the landing and await further instructions from home. With my mind made up, I turned around and began barking orders for departure.

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The vision faded, and I shook my head as a searing headache hit me for a split second. I held no illusion a normal person would have survived using that spell without constant healing. “It was a success. A lot transpired in this place the last few hours.” I looked at the two of them, and a small part of me wanted to draw out the suspense for a bit.

“I am not sure how, but Keari did all this, and she escaped shortly after, helped by others she freed.” Amber collapsed onto the soggy ground, with a sigh of relief, while Nari bent down and gave her a pat on the back. “There is no danger of pursuit, since the camp’s inhabitants set off towards the northwest. So, we are safe, for now.” I took another breath to steady myself.

The relief was threatening to overwhelm me as well, and, I needed to remain focused. “For now, I say we follow the escapees and try to get in contact with them, then make a beeline for the festival grounds.” I looked at Nari, who nodded. “We were on our way there when we encountered these monsters.” She looked towards the camp with a grimace.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to track them if you can show me where they picked her up.” I gave Nari a thankful nod as I lead the way towards where that vision had ended. That only left catching up with the fleeing people. “Hang in there, kiddo, we’re coming for you.” It was a strange thing, to have any sort of actual lingering attachment to someone again after so long. Or, at least, realize I still had such attachments.

“You probably knew, didn’t you, Pearl? That’s why you suggested I head to the Therinos when I couldn’t remain in the Maze any longer.” A stupid question, really. Pearl always had a reason for doing pretty much anything these days. The last century had truly seen her embrace her Sphinx nature, becoming ever more enigmatic, but she never did something for enigma’s sake. It made me wonder if she had foreseen this invasion or if it was a happenstance.

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“Chief, the scouts have returned. I have their report here.” Tarsja entered the tent, causing the setting sun to shine through the opening. I gave a quiet nod and looked up from the map I had been studying. “Anything worthwhile?” Tarsja was unusually tense. This was either significant, or terrible. “The scouts found several scattered beast-kin of various tribes, all told the same story.” She paused for a moment, and I braced myself for what whatever was coming.

“Their tribes had been visited by strange people who wished to speak with their chief’s. This would then lead to the chief seeing them, and shortly after, the chief would call for the assembly of the entire tribe. You can guess what happened next.” The quill I was holding snapped in my grip. “Keep going.”

Tarsja cleared her throat. “Afterwards, their memory gets fuzzy for an indistinct amount of time until late last night, just before dawn. All of them remember suddenly snapping out of their stupors as the camp they were kept in was ablaze. And not just by regular fire, but cryo-flames.” I froze. “Chief, you do-” “Of course I do, how can I not?” It took all my willpower to remain calm.

“The tribes will become one, when fire burns cold, and the Eternal One arrives while rain falls. That’s what the shaman proclaimed a century ago.” I turned towards Tarsja. “How are the other tribes reacting?” Tarsja shrugged. “As one can expect. Anywhere between denial and fanatical optimism, and yet the atmosphere has become undeniably tense. The question on every tribe’s mind right now is, if the great Shaman’s prophesy was true, Which tribe will absorb the others.” Just what we didn’t need right now.

“So, it’s the worst-case scenario, then. Even in the middle of this, those fools value their personal power over the safety of the tribes.” I buried my head in my hands. “A dire assessment, Brother. And one I reluctantly agree with.”

I looked up. “Oh, didn’t notice you there, Sister. When did you arrive and why weren’t I informed?” She shrugged at my questions. “I arrived just now and since I am your sister, I simply told them I would announce myself.” Fair enough. Besides, we have more important things to worry about than that. The camp of my daughter’s captors was destroyed. And she escaped, if the testimony of surviving Nighthunters is to be believed.”

That was some good news in this entire mess. “That’s a relief, I agree. However, with their camp destroyed, everyone’s attention now turns to the shaman’s prophecy.” Narja’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her spear. “Indeed. They haven’t even been properly destroyed, merely wounded, and already the other chiefs are ready to write them off as a non-issue. Mark my words, Brother. This will get worse before it gets better.” She was right. This would become worse before it got better.