The fires of one’s soul transcends mortal bounds.

Torvac knew this... but he found it difficult, nonetheless. Reality folded in on itself as he attempted the summoning once more.

Puff.

Smoke wafted into the air as the arcane circle cracked.

Another failure.

He stared at the failed circle, then groaned, “Shit!”

A voice came from the archway leading into the gardens that he trained in, “Torvac the Deceiver cannot summon a little bird? How the mighty has fallen.” She giggled.

Torvac turned around to look at her. Her white eyes reflected the moon, filling the gardens with a cool calmness. Long obsidian hair flowed from her like shadows in the night.

He smiled warmly at his wife, “Vitria... The stupid bird won’t accept me as its master. Come, use some of that Warden magic of yours and help me summon it!” His warm smile turned into a cheeky grin.

Vitria stared at her husband, then laughed, “My love, the Phoenix has a will of its own... you cannot control it any more than you can control life, death, or time.”

Torvac pouted, “Well... you can control life and death just fine, so why can’t I control the Phoenix that holds much of the same governance?”

Vitria facepalmed, “You think too small Torvac.” He walked over to Torvac, “Come, feel.” Vitria held her hand towards Torvac. He took her hand and stood up. Her hands guided his to her belly.

Torvac looked into her eyes. He yearned for a feeling, any kind of feeling... then it came.

Was it a kick?

Or was it a punch?

Or could it simply be a shuffle within?

Torvac had no way of knowing, but it was a sign of life. This was a life that came from his own. His and his beautiful wife.

He smiled with soft eyes at Vitria.

Vitria did the same. She longingly stared into Torvac’s beautiful oceanic blue eyes. His hazelnut coloured hair smoothly flowed in the night winds.

She gently caressed his cheeks as she lovingly leaned towards him, “I love you.”

Torvac pulled his wife in and kissed her.

This was life.

Then there was nothing.

Rai woke up.

Straight into a battle.

Steel clanged besides Rai’s ears. He reached out and called for his sword. While he didn’t know why, it felt like the right thing to do.

From across the battlefield, heads began to fly as Rai felt a magnetic pull in his hand. Momentarily, a bloodied claymore reached him. Rai grabbed it out of the air and deflected a blow coming from his left. Upon deflecting it, he grabbed the enemy soldier’s head and incinerated it. In moments, the soldier’s head turned into ashes that drifted into the air.

The smell of blood and burning skin and bone pervaded the area.

Rai looked out for the enemy general.

Their intel believed the enemy general to be the only Transcendent in all of Zenith. It wasn’t common knowledge. The information was only relayed directly by the Elders to the lieutenant colonels of the battalions near the Transcendent’s last known location. If they recognised the Transcendent then they only had one instruction... Command your men to run for their lives.

Rai called out to his men, “HOLD THE LINE!”

His voice was not his own. But Rai didn’t recognise that, nor did he think that anything was wrong with this scenario. For better or worse, Rai believed himself to be Lokhar. One of the few lieutenant colonels of the Elder faction.

The air shifted.

Looking around, Lokhar noticed that the enemy soldiers fought with renewed vigour and conviction.

Lokhar screamed to his men, “THEIR GENERAL IS HERE! DON’T LET HIM PASS!”

The message that his men received from headquarters told them otherwise, but Lokhar was far stronger than the Elders cared to admit. He could take out the Transcendent and become a war hero, bringing the Elders’ dreams to fruition by winning them the war.

Lokhar pushed the line, advancing on enemy troops. His blade sliced off a number of heads, and multiple more limbs. With his free hand, Lokhar burnt any soldiers who got close to a crisp.

Whistling sounds came from the enemy side. Arrows flew above them.

An arrow pierced his shoulder.

Lokhar grunted, and snapped the arrow in half, leaving the rest of the shaft inside his shoulder.

Screams came from behind him.

Lokhar couldn’t afford to turn around, lest he fall on the battlefield. He pushed forward and sliced through as many of the enemy soldiers as he could. Lokhar deflected multiple blows from multiple soldiers as he mowed down the lot of them.

The screams behind him worsened. The battalion must be holding their own. The screams of the enemy have lit up the battlefield! He was fired up.

Lokhar stabbed his blade through the back of an enemy that turned around. He dragged the blade sideways, causing intestines and guts to spill from their body.

Eventually... the screams from behind him... all stopped. Did they succeed completely? Have those behind me been wiped out?

The enemy soldiers kept their distance from Lokhar. My men must have succeeded. This reaction would be folly had they failed.

He grunted as he looked around at all of them.

The opposing army was full of confident looking men. What is with those expressions! Do they not know that they’ve lost?!

A female voice came from behind him, “Is that all of them? They were supposed to put up more of a fight... I’m still raring to go!”

He whipped around his body to find the source of the voice. A blue haired elven woman. She wore very little metal armour, instead opting for lighter leathers. Her weapons... were obsidian gauntlets. One of the toughest metals on Zenith. Lokhar didn’t know what she said, only that she stood in his way.

Lokhar grinned as he stared at her, “You’ll be a great meal.”

She turned to him, “There’s one left? He's the leader? That would explain why they were so weak. What kind of leader leaves behind his soldiers. Fucking idiot.”

Lokhar had already flown towards her.

His blade came down towards her head.

It whiffed.

There was no feedback other than the clang of Lokhar’s blade against the ground.

The woman spoke again from behind him, “That it? The General wouldn’t gain anything from this weakling.”

Another voice came from beside her, “Weakling? I see nothing but a dead man.”

Huh... What happened...

Lokhar’s vision turned lopsided. Then it kept rotating as he fell closer and closer to the ground. Eventually, he stopped moving.

All he could see was a man in a brown robe. He had long black hair and wielded two long looking swords with either hand. One of them was bloodied.

Lokhar’s vision quickly darkened into nothingness.

This... was death.

An abyss.

From the darkness came a familiar presence.

“What did it show you?”

The mortal’s voice was layered with a warm and knowing power.

Rai frowned as he looked down at his hands. They weren’t as bloodied as he remembered, “Jin! Jin... it had to be him... he killed me! And a baby? Who’s Torvac? So much happened...”

Kallad sat down in front of him.

Rai looked at him. What he saw was completely unexpected.

His eyes glowed with a white-ish golden flame. His hair was completely white, and almost ethereal. Wearing nothing but a long ceremonial skirt, Kallad’s torso was exposed. All over it were glowing tattoos that emanated a... kind of otherworldly power.

Rai stared at him, “Kallad?”

Kallad nodded. He smiled at Rai, “You made it past the first hurdle.”

Rai shook his head, “What do you mean? I’m so confused, all that’s happened is I’ve been shown two random scenes that didn’t relate to each other at all! How is that supposed to help me?”

Kallad stared at Rai. His eyes flared as his voice sounded far less like his own, “The Phoenix shows you what you need to see. If you refuse to see it... then hope not to survive.”

Emotion returned to his face and his voice returned to mostly his own, “Rai, I need you to listen carefully. There’s three of us in here right now. The Phoenix is a legendary spirit that’s been part of the Raven clan for generations. One of its uses is something like this... The initial visions in this illusion are events that relate to your life. Whether they relate to your past, present, or future is completely unknown. However, getting through that was the first step. You’re doing well Rai.”

Rai couldn’t wrap his head around it. There was so much happening, and nothing quite made sense. He sounded panicked, “Kallad, what are you talking about? Illusion? Did we leave the Secret? Where’s Sin?!” More and more, Rai’s reality returned to him. Wait... “Kallad, you knew about my seals?”

With a myriad of sounds coalescing together to form a ferocious boom, Kallad chuckled, “Relax, boy. Your body is fine. Sin is fine. We’re still in the Secret. I’ve known about your seals since I met you. I think by now there’s no point in hiding it... you can trust in me.” He sighed, “I need you to stay determined Rai. At this moment, you have only one task.” He stared at Rai.

Rai stared back at him. He, for some reason, couldn’t fully concentrate on any of the other things Kallad said... but it was true. He trusted Kallad, “What’s the task Kallad?”

The tattoos over his body glowed brightly. White-gold cloudy flames began to spew out of the sides of Kallad’s mouth. His hair flared unlike anything Rai had ever seen before.

A flaming eye opened in the middle of his forehead.

Pass my trials.

Then you will free yourself.

Rai gulped.

The fires of one’s soul transcends mortal bounds.

Abandon all logic.

Ignite your soul.

Kallad lifted his hand to Rai’s head.

He held Rai’s forehead with his thumb, and the back of his head with his middle finger.

Begin.