The air filled with an odour of decay, as black ribbons of magic swarmed towards the great draconic projection at the centre of the cavern. A bead of sweat worked its way down Yuta’s brow as he froze in place as he worked up the courage to turn toward it.

“Argh” he said as clutching at the curse mark on his arm.

It lit up bright red, as the dragon curled its talon tipped finger, and turned him around.

“I uh, I couldn’t stop it, there were whispers”

Yuta’s knees trembled as he looked up at the great black dragon. Ladon’s scales were each as wide as a hand’s breadth, and shimmered like obsidian. His snout was tipped by two curled whiskers, which were a delicate detail on a physique designed for violence. Ladon’s dark lips rolled back to reveal his fangs, as he let out a growl and a puff of his sulfuric breath. His slit pupils beared down on Yuta with rage filling his crimson irises.

“You dare touch the godstone” Ladon growled “With my mark”

“I… I wasn’t thinking… I just…”

“Fool, now your fate is written”

“I’m sorry! I take it back okay! I shouldn’t have touched the stone!”

“Akur! Akur you fiend! Show yourself!!!”

A silence filled the cavern as the dragon’s eyes scanned the room. Yuta took an uneasy step back and gripped the stone wall behind his back.

*I have to get out of here… No way it can follow me through the tunnels… I just have to run… But what if it catches me? No I have to wait for the right moment*

The godstone let out a soothing hum and filled the cavern with a veneer of golden light. The light shimmered off of Ladon’s scales as he squinted at a spot just beside the godstone. An empty and lightless spot in the shape of an incredibly tall man stood beside the stone.

Ah Ladon, why do you always insist on a fight, can we not speak

“So you may cast a veil over my eyes, and poison my ears with your whispers, I think not”

But where does this fight ever get you?

“I care not about battles past, I thirst only for my fangs to sink into your flesh, so that I might tear you apart”

I only wish peace between us old friend

“We were never friends… I may have envied you once… But after witnessing what you have become, all you have done to this world, and countless others… You are the darkness from which all corruption spreads, the reason the realms are without peace, and the reason they are fated to fall apart”

Or am I the protector of the realms? The one holding back the tide of a greater darkness you cannot yet see… Assist me Ladon, let us bring peace to the realms together!

“A protector?! You! Don’t make me laugh”

I am as always… Disappointed by you old friend…

But I am generous

I present to you my gift

“What have you done!? You sick bastard, what are you tying me into this time! I tire of your gifts!”

Akur’s empty silhouette stood silent for a moment, as if stuck in a nostalgic trance with a smirk on his lips.

May this boy be the messenger of all I cannot say to you

Let him be joined to you

For eternity

“No! You can’t have!”

The empty space where Akur once stood vanished and the golden light from the godstone dimmed. Yuta, realising that his window for escape was now vanishing, shuffled on his feet and shot down the corridor. He bashed against the stone walls at each turn and scurried his way out of the cave into the fields beyond. Looking at first off to the village he then looked to the left which had the closest patch of trees and headed north towards the city.

*I have to get out of here… I can’t stop… I have to run for it!*

Ladon’s booming roar echoed from the cave as Yuta shot into the forest and disappeared.

“You can’t have… Akur… You twisted bastard… Don’t tell me you gave that horrid child, such power…”

“Don’t tell me… You gave him…”

An immortal soul

…

“Go boy, go get em” Mirio yelled out as Ezee shot off through the woods.

“Haha, damn he’s getting good at this” Mirio continued as he jogged through the trees behind him.

Ezee darted back and forth through the trees, winding his way around the herd further ahead. The gobble of stampeding turkas echoed through the forest. A large feather spiralled in the air ahead of Mirio as he shot past to get a good view of the hunt.

Gawble gawble gawble

SNAP

Ezee’s powerful jaws sunk around the slender neck of one of the giant birds, neck sack and all. It screeched a final death cry before Ezee shook his head and snapped its neck.

Mirio could just spy the kill as he weaved through the trees, he saw Ezee, and behind him a shadow.

“Boy! Look out!”

ROW ROW ROW! SNAP!

The powerful snap of a collision echoed through the trees, as Ezee spun from the impact.

ROW ROW! GRRR!

As Mirio broke through the brush, he saw Ezee on his hind legs, snapping back and forth at another great wolf. A flash of green shone from its fur, as it fought Ezee for his kill.

Ezee and the strange wolf both stood locked in battle snapping their jaws at each other as Mirio broke through the last of the trees between them. A swirl of magic spun in the palm of his hand, flashes of rainbow colored light lingered in the dark grey sphere.

*Here goes nothing*

The orb released from Mirio’s hand and shot toward the giant wolf.

WOMP

The wolf froze, paralysed for a moment as the orb sunk into its bodily energy, allowing Ezee to toss it to the side, and chase it off into the trees.

*So that is what it does*

Ezee sauntered back through the trees to the kill with a satisfied jaunt.

“Good boy, you kicked its ass”

Mirio stared off in the direction of the trees the strange wolf disappeared to.

*Didn't realise there were other wolves out here, what was that all about*

…

Silvia huffed and puffed as she continued north. Her clothing had gained considerable grime and muck from her travels. It looked as though she had passed through swamps and scraped herself as rushing through rocky outcrops. Her eyes were tired and swollen from a lack of rest, yet still she pushed on and made her way through the trees.

Occasionally through the treetops she could see the tip of the great red mountain ahead.

“… I have to… keep. going.”

Her elven ear flicked as a sound shot out from her right hand side. She slid to a stop and notched an arrow onto her bow.

FWET

A strange clawed creature fell in a heap at her feet with an arrow sticking through its eyes. Silvia didn’t stop long enough to inspect the furry thing, she snatched her arrow out of its angry face and broke into a jog towards the red mountain.

…

Yuta scurried through the trees, covered in remnants of the bog a day’s travel south of the city. Sweat had completely soaked through his clothing, and his hair was filled with twigs and dirt after a night spent in the forest.

*Maybe if I hurry I can get there by the end of the day*

He kept himself jogging at a maintainable pace, keeping a close eye on his stamina bar in the display of his status screen.

*Hold on, why is the symbol in the corner flashing*

Yuta came to a stop and swiped the status screen down so that it took up his entire field of view.

Screen translations…

Updating…

Yuta scoured for new information, but most of the glyphs were still a garbled mess, except for the section where Ladon’s curse once resided.

Immortal soul - Acquired

*Huh? Immortal soul? Don’t I already have that? Maybe I can just read it now? Or does this mean that I can’t die… Seems impossible to test to be sure. Maybe it is part of the main quest though? Maybe all that happened was meant to? And this is the way I’m being tied into the larger plot…*

*Yeah, that is it… It might as well say immortal hero I guess? It means I am meant to get stronger so I can fight Ladon? Right… Or is it Akur? Maybe its a choice?*

SNAP

Yuta flicked the blue screen to the side and turned towards the sound of a dry branch crushed under foot.

“Who’s there!?”

*Ah shit, what if it is a troll, I shouldn’t have said that*

“Ah well, whoever you are, I’m in a rush so best of luck to you” he continued before breaking into a stride.

A small set of fingers wrapped around the edge of a tree as Yuta rushed off into the brush.

“All clear princess” Gladly whispered

“Wasn’t that the strapping young man we ran into further south?” Alyssa replied

“What is your fascination with that man”

“You know, I’m not sure, something about him just seems… Familiar”

“You mean he’s your type?”

“Oh no, that isn’t what I mean, but maybe that is what I mean, I don’t know yet”

“Take a word of advice, that man is trouble, and we have enough of it as it is”

“Oh come on, he has an innocent look to him, he’s no more trouble than us”

“Maybe… But we haven’t time to dissect this matter. I have spent much of my magic disguising our passage, but it won’t keep our pursuers at bay for long”

“Yes, you are right, we need to keep going”

…

“Where is that brandy?” the Duke said with a smack of his hand on the desk.

A carrier boy rushed into the room with a brown liquor and poured it into the Duke’s goblet. He picked it up without hesitation and gulped it down.

“Gotta keep myself sharp” the Duke said with a wink at the grey haired Archmage.

“Brandy is to be savoured, not swallowed” Valian replied as he leaned over the war table looking at the positioning of troops.

“Any sign of the princess?” the Duke grunted.

“Our men have been scouting the skies, but we believe she is making her way through the forests with the halfling”

“How did Rainal’s assassins get the jump on our escort?”

“Like we discussed before, there are signs he has been planning this since childhood. We should assume his assassins are already spread through the kingdom”

“Great… Just what we need. And what of the desert elves, were they able to delay the production of the ports”

“They tried your grace, but were slain in the attempt, Rainal’s fleet is being armoured as we speak”

“And our mines?”

“In place. But we should prepare for the worst in either case”

The Duke nodded in silence.

…

“Hey look it’s Mirio!” a trio of girls shouted as he walked along the lakeside towards the club.

“Hey there!” another of the girls shouted out as she waved.

Mirio turned with a squint in his eye, unsure of who it was calling his name, “Oh hey girls, Marley, Sina, and Lana right?”

“He remembers us!?”

“Of course I do, it wasn’t even that long ago”

“Oh come on, you were so confident and sure of yourself, we bet you have talked to countless other girls since then”

“Nah, not really, but maybe… I don’t know I’d have to think about it. I have a little problem when it comes to my memory sometimes”

“Why don’t you take us out tonight, let’s hit the scene together”

“Oh yeah?”

“Or are you working again?”

“No I have some time off, so it sounds good”

“Thanks Mirio, we’ll show you a good time okay”

“Okay” he said with a raised eyebrow, not sure how to take whatever it was they were implying.

Mirio’s footsteps echoed over the water as he made his way up the bridge to the lakeside bar.

Tarkon turned around with a big smile on his face, “Ah man, you made it! Good to see you”

They gripped outstretched hands and brought themselves in for a half hug and a pat on the shoulder.

“So?” Tarkon asked with a glint in his eyes, “Saw those girls checking you out, what was that all about?”

“Oh, nothing, they are just messing with my head I think. You know how girls are, showing enthusiasm is another way to throw you off the scent of what they really mean”

“Tell me about it man” Tarkon said as he pulled up a stool and whipped up a glass of brandy in his hand.

“What about you, how are things?”

“Good good, you should know better than to ask that man, I’m always killing it, come on” Tarkon replied with a playful slap of the back of his hand across Mirio’s shoulder.

“Alright alright, killin it as always then?”

“Mhm” he replied between swigs of the brown liquor.

“Oh I saw Dasha fight, can see why they call her the ice queen”

“Yeah, that ice armor shit, and her sliding over real fast with spears of ice. She’s not even that good, it just caught me unaware back when we fought, I’d beat her now. I think”

“You think? Haha, confident, I see”

“Shut the fuck up, ha, rookie who hasn’t even had a taste of the ring”

“Who you calling a rookie?”

“You bitch, come on, your knee is all better now, why aren’t you in the ring”

“Ah… Well… I guess I have other things on my mind”

“Like what exactly… Girls?”

“Nah, not really, I mean girls are a part of it, but it isn’t about that. It is about what you said, about passion as a source of identity, and identity as a source of power. I just wonder if its connected to my loss of memory somehow. That maybe if I find who I am, find passion for it, I’ll be able to take back the part of me I feel I have lost”

“Aw man, I was just giving you shit, and you laid down this heavy shit. You gotta stop that if you want girls to like you bro. Trust me, they think that shit is toxic, keep it light. You know like when you fight, don’t get tied to any one detail or you’ll get hit from the blindside”

“Yeah? It really works like that huh?”

“Come on man, I ain’t tellin no lies. I’m an asshole, yeah, but I’m an honest asshole. Well, most of the time. I ain’t telling no girl nothing true if a white lie gets me out of the shit. But don’t judge me for that, its just a pragmatic choice. Girls don’t really want an answer anyway, its all just a ploy to bog you down with useless shit so they can make you look simpler than you are deep down in your soul”

“Now look who is laying down heavy shit, didn’t know you knew how to wax poetic”

“Yeah yeah, but I’m not nearly as good at it as you rookie”

“Come on man, don’t call me that, I’m not gonna fight in the ring”

“Pfff, its a waste man, you got the goods but you hold yourself back over nothing. Maybe its a country boy thing, fucked if I know though”

“I just don’t see a point in it, putting on a spectacle, beating up some other guy who is either greener than me or who is a vicious piece of work, its just… Not something I’m volunteering for”

“Alright alright, you don’t have to labour the point. How about you tell me how the spell is coming along, you figure it out yet?”

“I have a clue of what it does. It stunned a wolf for a second. Can’t tell much more about it though”

“You know the cure to that though right?”

“No, what?”

“Let’s have a friendly match. You have time right now right. And you already tested the most important thing, which is if it kills or not, so I’m game if you are”

“Me, fight you? The fucking arena champion… Come on I might be a country boy but I’m not that green, I’d need to plan for it”

“Fuck plans man, we’ll go light, nothing serious. Just work out some kinks” Tarkon said before he grabbed an olive from behind the bar.

“Alright, fuck it”

“That’s my boy” Tarkon said with a grin as he chewed down and squished the olive between his teeth.

…

“Hey its the champ!”, “Hey champ”

“Oh hey sexy, hey hey, but where you goin?” Tarkon replied as swivelling his head to follow the girls that had just stroked their hands against his waist on his way into the arena.

“Hey, T… Focus” Mirio said with a chuckle

“Yeah yeah, you are right, can’t get distracted now you finally stopped being a bitch about the ring, gotta make use of this golden opportunity to school you and work the rookie out of you”

“Work the rookie outta me? Haha, well you can give it a shot” Mirio replied as drawing out Ember.

The sunlight glinted off the edge of Mirio’s blade as he stood at the centre of the arena. He gazed down its tip, and lined it up between Tarkon’s eyes.

“You are so fucked” Tarkon said as he whipped off his shirt to reveal rippling abs in the midday sun.

He squinted and peered up at the sky, before looking back at Mirio.

“What are you stalling for?” Mirio quipped

“Just taking in the fact that this is a good day for an ass whooping. Let’s go!”

Tarkon clapped his hands together and wreathed his arms in flames. He sprinted towards Mirio, shooting his hands down at each side, forming two long molten whips at his sides.

FWISH FWISH

The arcing flames sliced from both left and right at Mirio, colliding in front of him in a burst of flames.

*He won’t blind me that easy*

Mirio dashed backwards and off to the side, turning his blade to the flames and clearing his vision on one side to narrow Tarkon’s avenue of attack.

SHOOM SHOOM

Blasting from the flames were two spinning orbs of fire, the first travelling to where Mirio was and the second travelling to where he wanted to be.

Mirio drove his lead shoulder towards the ground and slipped underneath while still spinning out further to the side to clear his vision further. His eyes locked onto Tarkon as he stood back up to full height.

“Come on, you think I’d fall for the old blind em and blast em trick”

“I said I’d go easy on you, so that is just what is up”

Tarkon raised his arms and brought them down with a crack, the fiery tendrils lashing at Mirio. His feet stuttered, skipped, and twisted as he swept between the arcing blows, the heated air bursting just fractions of an inch from his skin.

“Those whips have range, and I’d be stupid to block them, nice choice” Mirio said as he skipped back out of range.

“Yeah but you are too quick for them I think” Tarkon replied as he let the whips scatter into the wind.

He flicked embers off the tips of his fingers which swarmed towards Mirio like bees. Mirio took one hand off the hilt of his sword and cast his fingers in a semicircle, scattering them back into the wind with prestidigitation. He then gripped back onto the hilt of his sword and directed his gaze back at Tarkon, ready for anything Tarkon could throw at him.

Tarkon spread his knees out wide and drew himself down into a deep squat as he drew large sweeping circles with his arms. Winds swept around both of them like a hurricane, as the outer edges of the moving winds glowed brightly before erupting in flames.

“Footwork your way out of this”

Mirio looked down slightly for a moment to allow his peripheral vision to scope a little wider and assessed the size of the ring. His eyes darted to different points within the circle of flames, calculating possible motions and movements he could pull off within it. Satisfied with the assessment, he lowered the tip of his blade and smiled.

“If you think you’ve got this, by all means, go for it”

Tarkon drew back his hands to each side of his chest and spiralled his fingers in a semicircle. Ribbons of fire swirled into his hands from all directions and pooled at the centre of his palms.

His hands pulsed before erupting with swathes of flame as scorching rays of fire shot from each of his hands towards Mirio.

Mirio slowed his movement for a split second, as ghost versions of himself spread throughout the ring. Predictions of which ghosts would be hit with the rays, caused them to burst and vanish except for three separate paths. One to the left, one to the right, and the other over the top.

With a twist of his knee and the spring off of his back foot he leapt forwards, deflecting the fiery edge of one of the rays off the edge of his sword, as he rode between the fire. Tarkon grit his teeth and dropped one of his knees, twirling his upper body to sweep the outer ray around the central ray Mirio was deflecting.

Mirio tucked in his feet, and then ducked his head before slipping under the central ray to the other side.

THWACK

The side of his blade cracked into Tarkon’s right arm, causing the flames to dissipate, and forcing him to take a step back. Dragon scales trailed up Tarkon’s right side by reflex and fighting instinct. Mirio’s eyes followed the scales as they rippled across Tarkon’s body.

*Hrmm, that was quick, even if I’d gone to slice off his hand, he would have made it in time*

“Quick thinking” Mirio said with a smile.

FWOOSH

A fan of flames shot past Mirio as he spoke.

“Don’t get distracted” Tarkon shot back “Don’t want you to make this too easy for me now”

Dark talon’s grew from Tarkon’s fingertips as he twisted the fan of flames to chase after Mirio. The tips of his talon’s glowed deep red as he lunged toward Mirio.

CLANK

His scaled hand wrapped tightly around Mirio’s blade, locking it in place as he drew it down and under his arm, sweeping back at Mirio with his other hand. Mirio dodged his head just under the swiping attack, and spiralled in close to Tarkon, using the change of position to leverage the sword in a circle and break it free from Tarkon’s grasp.

FWOOSH FWOOSH

Tarkon’s flaming hands swept in elegant striking motions out at Mirio, attempting to pressure Mirio to discard the sword for a faster means of defence. Aware of this Mirio drew the sword behind him and deflected the strikes with his lead hand, just fast enough so that he could launch a counter attack.

THUNK

The heel of Mirio’s boot cracked into Tarkon’s ribs, launching him back several steps. Mirio drew the tip of his sword back between Tarkon’s eyes.

“Who did you call a rookie?” Mirio smirked

“I’ll admit, you’ve got some moves. Nice rhythm, you can anticipate the intent behind my attacks, and you don’t linger on any particular part of attack or defence”

“Mhm”

“You fight more like a force of nature than I was expecting you to. Flowing between each motion without thought or hesitation. Yet each move is precisely calculated. That takes serious thought speed to do”

“Mhm”

“There is definitely a sorcerer within you somewhere. Now let me see if I can bring it out. Sorry pal, but fancy footwork won’t protect you from this one. You might get a little burnt”

Tarkon drew in each finger one by one, from pinky to index finger, drawing his hands into violently shaking fists of fire. His fingers shot open to create a bridge of fire between both hands, swelling larger and larger into a giant sphere that dwarfed both of them.

The flames that once encircled them drew back into the sphere causing it to swell even further in size.

Mirio darted backwards and scattered his ghosts in all directions, but there was no escape.

“Shit”

*What if I mist step? Damn it, I can’t get far enough, his spell is going to cause the entire arena to go up in flames. This is not him taking it easy, this is his entire store of mana*

*Shit shit shit, think faster… Think. Faster*

The winds of the arena swept through Mirio’s hair, its soft touch against his skin brought back feelings of memories from his past. Moments of training, the most intense parts of battle, and the soft caress of Kabi’s hand across his chest. Without thought, or understanding of his own actions, his resolve became piercing.

His thoughts rushed like the rapids of a river in a storm, yet his mind was calm like the shore. His eyes peered through Tarkon’s giant fireball, and he saw through it to the mana underneath, how it was warping the ether, and churning within like clockwork.

He didn’t know how to explain it, but it was as though everything in the world around him had slowed to a standstill, as each mechanism of the magic before him streamed into his consciousness. Thin white threads drew out from the firestorm, and weaved all throughout Mirio’s body.

He didn’t know how he knew it, but he knew there was a way to overcome what was before him if he followed his trail of thoughts deeper, and further than he had ever dared delve before.

The calm of his resolve, mixed with the rapids of his fast moving mind, mixed in a rhythmic harmony until he could reach the feeling he was searching for… A way to overcome all before him.

Streams of rainbow colored energy pooled through the channels of his body, sweeping through the essence of all he was and could be. As it slithered through his veins, he felt it tweaking and changing him, like a key to a lock, letting all the tumblers fling free.

And in the moment Tarkon released his energy, Mirio raised his hand with complete certainty.

A firestorm released with such force that it could have eroded the very bedrock the arena was stood upon. A great pillar of flame shot high into the sky, leaving all the residents of the city within range of its sight to turn in a mixture of awe and terror.

It was as though one of the dragon’s themselves had descended upon the city, as the light of the fire shone like the sun had turned into a comet and plummeted to earth. The arena walls shook violently as the stratum unica power of the spell warped the ether of everything within reach.

Tarkon gazed out at Mirio amidst the blaze, aware of his energy signature amidst the storm, and carefully observed his life force to guide the worst of the storm past him. Yet as he reached out to twist the flames, he felt another force twisting back. Something bizarre was happening within Mirio, and in his heightened magical state he was too overburdened to determine just what it was, but he had a hunch.

Mirio’s hand reached out through the blaze as calm as the shore to the ravages of the river, and flowing from his arms was a grey energy, with sweeping sparks of rainbow colored light. A warding shield of energy flowed from his hand and cocooned around his body as the light of Tarkon’s spell grew blindingly bright.

Mirio closed his eyes and sensed the flickering patterns of mana sweeping through the firestorm, and altered the streams of rainbow colored energy in his ward to match. The colours danced and swirled within the grey, like a symphony as the force of the spell ravaged everything in its path.

Tarkon held his energy to the last moment, watching to see if Mirio needed help, yet not only did Mirio no longer need it, but the spell had gone even beyond intended and control had slipped from his grasp.

CRACK

The arena shook with a violent thud, as the firestorm spell fell into its afterspell vacuum. Cracks and splits in the stone erupted with fragments of stone and dust before the arena settled once more.

Tarkon lowered his hand, his eyes locked onto Mirio as he lowered his own.

Mirio’s hair blustered in the wind, as a confused look crossed his face, as he strained to understand what he had just done.

Tarkon’s scales flitted away as he walked up to Mirio.

“That was one hell of a spell you countered with. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know”