It was expected that some sort of attack would happen within the same day that Joran and Drekor arrived. That the swarm Saum aptly recounted as a storm cloud would come, and the tidal wave of giant Sea Serpent Basilisks thrashing against the now sturdy walls of the city. But it didn’t.

The battle in Inven Forest had tapered off, and the Sovereign Swift Clan had mobilized forces to begin sweeping through the sewers and catacombs of the cities, clearing out any straggling Beasts and rune formations that they could.

One after another, pieces of the Metropolis were picked back up that had flown off in the chaos. Although Inven had been mostly razed, there was still some hope to recover the lost forest, after they had completely driven out the Beasts from there. Although people had been thrown into disarray especially after the Adpol incident, they slowly found their way through the rubble and worked back to their way of life before. The Realm Monarch had even launched the investigation Joran wanted to have happened over a week ago against the Bloodhounds and their betrayal.

A week had passed, and these were all news Joran and Drekor received as they stayed at Sentinalus. While the rest of the Metropolis had been able to move forward again, albeit slowly, the station the duo had come to has been tense ever since. The news gave the soldiers of all ranks a great amount of relief. But still, they had to stand on guard. Despite the great news, whether or not they believed the assault would come, they had to wait.

Though it was tense, the time gave Joran plenty of time to spar with Drekor within the training yards that were in the lower parts of the Command Center, past the lobby of citizens with their requests.

Not unlike the Agile Sparring Yard they found themselves in before, the sunlight filtering in from the top, the difference being it was soft sand, instead of the grass Joran found himself meditating on often in the old Yard.

And compared to the old Yard, even someone without Sacred Sights Art could see how much use both sides of the spar arena saw.

Joran grunted, his wild eyes glowering as he used his Dao to throw himself off of Drekor’s own blade, landing far and away, onto his side of the arena. He smirked as his eyes glinted with adrenaline, before whizzing back to Drekor with a new strike from the side. Drekor calmly parried the attack, and kicked Joran in the side before stepping backwards and bringing up his Dao. Despite his addled state, Joran responded with an almost perfect parry, sliding his blade across Drekor’s, down to the hilt where it was stopped by the guard.

“Hmph,” Joran grunted to himself again, and looked at his friend in the eyes, his own berserk energy meeting Drekor’s calmness.

“Well, I have to say I didn’t expect you to change so drastically since our last spar in the Agile Palace. Even when we first started here, you were different,” Drekor’s voice was friendly, but cool; it was apparent he was praising Joran while keeping his mind on the spar.

Joran looked at the blade in front of him, as he almost swore he could still see the blood on it, before looking back at Drekor, taking a deep breath before he spoke, his voice friendly, and chaotic, “That long week did more than I think even I know. Doing what I did, I would be scared of myself if it didn’t change me.”

“Still, I find it a little offensive that you ended up not wanting to follow the Draconic Blade Style. Was I not a good teacher, at least?”

Joran’s eyes darkened as he lowered himself to the ground, readying for an attack, as he muttered to himself quietly, “I’m not fit for a graceful style like that…”

In the next split second, his feet lifted off the ground, almost instantly in front of Drekor, a fierce wind tailing him. But Drekor was also a user of the Sovereign Realm Arts, as the exchange took but a moment, he also brought his sword up, readying for this new attack Joran seemed to have loved doing recently. The first time in their sparring that he did it was a few days ago, and it took Drekor wholly by surprise, as up to that point, he’d only seen Joran’s berserk style in glimpses; this being the first real move he made that was defined by it. Although, a style made mostly in the heat of battle and unrefined, is just that in a sparring room; unrefined.

Drekor waited until his friend was almost on top of him with his sword, until at the last second he ducked down until Joran’s momentum carried him above Drekor, to which then Drekor lunged himself into his torso, knocking Joran completely off balance, which caused him to flop onto the ground, yellow sand flying everywhere. As Joran gathered himself on the ground, he looked up to see his friend and his Dao pointed at him, with a chiding grin plastered on Drekor’s face.

“25 to 10!”

Joran gave a defeated smile as he shrugged, “Fine. You win.”

Drekor fake punched Joran’s shoulder, “What, you’re not gonna be upset? It’s more fun when you’re frustrated that I smoked you!”

“Well, if we only count the spars here, I’ve been winning more,” Joran shrugged, ignoring the playful sneer.

“Hmph, because of your strange style. Which I will slowly beat, since it’s not actually a style.”

Joran folded his arms, scrunching his brow as he sat himself up on the sand, “What even counts as a style… If it works, it works!”

What Joran expected was a rebuke in the banter, but Drekor just nodded in agreement, “You’re right. You’re just unlucky that it’s not so suited to the Sparring Yard as it is where you’ve been.”

Drekor helped up Joran, and the duo dusted themselves off, and began to clean up the room they were in. Although sand made for great difficult terrain to practice on, the grassy field in the Agile Palace required much less maintenance as they mused, dusting off the walls and raking the sand into order.

With practiced routine as they worked, Joran looked down, spacing out for a second, “You know… I really wonder if they are going to attack Sentinalus.”

Drekor laughed, “It’s not like you’re the only one thinking that!”

“So why are we here, then?”

At this the duo stopped for a second, the rakes in their hands frozen from their work, as they looked at each other in their silence, before Drekor shrugged, “Because some fool decided to want to warn Sentinalus of the impending danger?”

“Yeah, one that still hasn’t shown up,” Joran retorted, sighing to himself before going back to the sand, which Drekor did after giving one last look to his friend.

A little while later, they finished up, the sand orderly and cleaned up from the mess from earlier, and the duo beamed at each other, Drekor gesturing to the tower above them, “Well, it’s been a few days since we’ve talked to him, want to see what’s been going on?”

“… Sure.”

Back on top of the Tower, Joran and Drekor noticed that Saum was missing from the desk they had sat around at the first time they met, and after they asked around, one of the captains explained that Saum had gone out beyond the walls for a bit.

Joran thought to himself for a bit, “Well… We could go out and find him?”

“… Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?” Drekor gave a quizzical sidelong glance at Joran.

“Is it? I mean, it can’t be too hard to find him.”

Drekor sighed, and excused them from the somewhat concerned captain and they went down to the lobby to see if anyone knew where Saum had gone. A few people were mildly worried that the duo were specifically looking for him, as a few members of the Command Center were vaguely aware that these two were the ones that brought news of the impending assault. One of the clerks gladly answered their question as he knew where the Commander went.

“Well… I believe it’s around that time of the year now that the Invasion started last time, right? I’ve been here a few years and the Commander seems to have a tradition for it…”

“Well, where does he go, then?” Joran asked a little too eagerly, leaning forward to make sure he didn’t miss any details.

The clerk cleared his throat, “Ahem… I don’t know. It’s really just a guess that some of us have for what he does when he disappears like this.”

Joran was about to groan in frustration, but Drekor held his hand up in appreciation to the clerk, and pulled away his friend, “You know… I was wondering why you want to talk to Saum so badly? We could’ve talked to any of the captains up in the Tower.”

The silence between them was beyond Drekor, but to Joran he knew the reason all too well. He had been afraid maybe that he didn’t make the right assumption, that it would be Sentinalus that’d be attacked. Part of him wanted to apologize to Saum for raising the stakes so much for nothing to happen, but another part of him wanted to see how Saum’s been handling the possibility of a repeat of what happened in the first Invasion. To see personally what he’s doing, especially now that he knew what he was likely out and about doing.

Joran looked back up at Drekor, and sighed, “I need to talk to him. We need to talk to him. I want to know how he’s been handling this… This tension of waiting.”

Drekor slowly nodded, and decided to finally give in, “Fine, so you’re curious and worried. Let’s go then.”

A few minutes later, and they were able to get a hold of a jeep, though somewhat to Joran’s dismay, Drekor was the one driving. Although Joran was assured multiple times as they got into the black jeep that Drekor knew how to drive. As they pulled out and into the main street of Sentinalus, it was then that they remembered how crowded the city was, the traffic jammed all the way until at least the central plaza. Sighing, they both eased into their seats, throwing their weapons into the back seats, and Joran started to gaze around the city once more, thinking to himself.

He has had plenty of time now to think back on what’s happened. He wasn’t really sure of what he wanted to do anymore, as on the one hand, he still wanted to withdraw from what he had been thrust into, the boy he once was, still floundering about, desperate to live a peaceful life. On the other, he’s seen too much suffering and damage done to people he didn’t know but couldn’t believe they deserved it. The bustling of the city did little to ease the screams of soldiers as he tried to sleep. The blurred faces of the investors, merchants, and soldiers did little to provide reprieve from the families he tried desperately to move out of harm’s way. But he at least could mostly avoid seeing only red. His first night in the city after everything wasn’t easy, regardless.

But there was one thing he actively had avoided this entire time. The Siren. He had not bothered to meet her again, and could only hope he didn’t accidentally find himself back at the lake. Having kept the secret to himself for so long, however, he’s been struggling to keep from wondering what he could do. Part of the reason he wanted to meet with Saum was related to this.

Joran looked back at Drekor, whose face was slouched onto his hand resting on the door’s window, as he fixated his eyes on the road, before Joran broke the silence, “… Have you ever wondered why the Beasts do what they do?”

Drekor glanced over for a moment before he looked back at the road, bored, “You mean if there’s a reason to it? I’m sure there is, but we don’t have a clue about it. And besides, their goal is apparently to kill us, so whether or not they have a good reason, we can’t forfeit at least that much.”

“Right… What do you think of who might be behind the Beasts?”

Again Drekor looked over at Joran, but this time he was perplexed by the line of questioning, “… Who? You mean what is behind them?”

Joran shook his head, and sighed, “You’re right, sorry… The… The Bloodhounds get me thinking about more worrisome alternatives,” Joran lied as he looked away.

Drekor chuckled, “I can’t say I blame you. But I don’t think it’s people that’s been behind Beasts. It’s said they’ve been around longer than we have.”

“Hmm..” Joran nodded and he pressed on, “So, what do you think is behind the Beasts?”

Drekor shuffled in his position, stretching a little bit, “I don’t know, Joran. The favored theory is it’s the Four Warbirds. But since we’re going off the words of the Koukatsu Mages, no one else can say for sure and have made many other ideas, like apparently, the Borderlands deal with Wyrms and Drakes. So they hold the idea that there’s probably Elder Dragons that control the Beasts.”

Briefly recalling in his mind, Joran remembered that the Koukatsu Mages were the only people who’ve successfully infiltrated into the Beyond. Of any humans alive, they’re the only ones who’ve seen that realm, in any capacity.

Besides Joran.

“Well… What do you think?”

“Me? I don’t really think about that, if I’m being honest.”

What if I just told him… Joran thought to himself, but he shook it away before he smiled faintly, “For someone who’s supposed to become the next Realm Monarch, you’ve always been a bit carefree yourself.”

At this Drekor shot a dirty look at Joran, “It’s not my fault I try to take it wherever I can. It’s not like I can always be carefree like a certain Joker that is unfortunately my friend!”

They shared a laugh, and once it died down, Joran looked down in front of him, frowning, “I think it’s none of those…”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Huh? You have an idea? You? The one who didn’t even study or attend Class?”

Joran huffed, “What, I can’t fancy any ideas because I didn’t do what everyone is supposed to do?”

“Yes.”

“Bah,” Joran shook his head and folded his arms stubbornly, “Fine.”

Drekor drove them a little bit further in the traffic, finally getting to the central plaza and making a right towards the northeast side of the city, before he turned around and gestured to Joran playfully, “Well, you said you had an idea?”

Joran cleared his throat, and looked outside to the new part of the city. There were far less sky bridges on this side, though the buildings on the ground, and the sky level were all much larger as well. It was relatively easy to assume that these were the larger guilds, perhaps all even owned by the Borderland Guilds and Jura. The people that walked alongside the streets and on the bridges were all dressed more simply, yet walked more elegantly compared to the Eastern and Southern districts people that Joran had seen.

“I think maybe… It’s just one Beast.”

“Hah?” Even with the task of driving, Drekor was flabbergasted and stared at Joran with almost a disgusted, confused look on his face, “Have you not seen how many have assaulted us? And the fact that’s maybe only a fraction of their numbers? And you say they’re all controlled by one Beast?”

Joran muses over his friend’s shock, not surprised at all, and tried to apathetically shrug, “Like I said, it’s just an idea.”

“Wait, hold on! You can’t just expect me to sit here and not ask why you think that?”

“…”

Thinking to himself, he of course thought of it only because of the Siren telling him exactly that. But that wasn’t exactly a reason he was about to divulge. He thought about the other theories, until finally they clicked in his head.

“Well think about it. You mentioned how the theories of others involve the Four Warbirds, the Dragons, etc. What if it’s all true? And they have their different… I don’t know, ‘assignments’, and the one they answer to is one Beast? Someo- Something that holds all the power, like the Realm Monarch if you will.”

Drekor pondered on Joran’s explanation, much to Joran’s relief, and he nodded slowly, “Maybe. If for nothing else, it would make sense that their forces were entirely coordinated. Though why they target so selectively is another question…”

They were almost to the gate, the traffic here now finally thinning out, letting the duo wade through with greater ease. Drekor chuckled to himself as he was in his own thoughts.

With a raised eyebrow, Joran inquired, “… What’s funny?”

Drekor looked at Joran with slightly wide eyes and shook his head, “Oh nothing. I’ve been reading a story recently, while we’ve been in Sentinalus, and I found it quite amusing actually.”

“How so?”

As he began to talk about the story, they came to the gate, and after being cleared by the guard post there, it began to open much like the first door on the other side of the city, the metal groaning as it yielded open. The view in front of them was familiar yet quite alien. The road itself was paved up until it turned into smoothed out dirt about 200-300 feet out from the walls. The fields of grass seemed to stretch on until the horizon to the west, and the road curved around behind the mountains that rested on the coast of the sea that was to their right, the grass cutting curtly into sandy beaches, the sea seemed to stretch on forever to the east as well.

“Well, it’s a silly story. It’s about a group of friends who uncovered the secrets of their monarchy, and used the power that it hoarded for itself to try to overthrow it.”

Joran frowned, “Well, that doesn’t sound like a strange story… Someone has quite the imagination, then?”

“Well that’s just it, the characters were somewhat bland, other than that they each wanted to make a better tomorrow for themselves and others. And though they did manage to defeat the King, the result of their revolt and open revolution set the entire world into turmoil.”

“… What was the power the monarchy hoarded for themselves?”

At that question, Drekor pointed a finger up, and snickered, “The Elements.”

“What?! All of them?”

Drekor guffawed, “Yep! The monarchy was the only group of people who could wield them. It was quite funny to me, it really just seemed like whoever wrote it was jealous that they couldn’t just do everything. That or they ended up in the Metropolis when they were really fascinated with the Borderlands.”

Joran mused to himself, “To say nothing of the fact the whole premise is that people could choose their own power…? How did the King keep all the power to himself?”

Drekor shrugged with a coy smile, “Well I haven’t gotten that far in. I started reading it, and couldn’t help but laugh at the premise of it.”

“… So how did you find out the ending?”

“Well I obviously skipped to the last chapter.”

“…” Joran was judging Drekor with his eyes alone, which Drekor eventually noticed and held his hands up defensively for a moment.

“Whoa, whoa! I was just curious to see how it was going to end! I’ll still read it!”

Joran shook his head in disappointment, but then Drekor smirked to himself, “Also… ‘could choose their own power,’ sounds awfully familiar if you ask me.”

Joran stuck his tongue out at the remark and Drekor broke out laughing as they started to drive along the road.

“Where do you think he might be?” Drekor asked a little while later after they started scanning their surroundings.

Joran frowned as he closed his eyes and thought about it, “Do you think maybe he’s on the beach?”

“… Maybe? I don’t know how well the car will hold up on sand though..”

“Just keep going along the road, we’ll probably see him,” Joran shrugged and suggested.

As the road turned into the smooth dirt from the cement they were on, Joran could tell Saum was definitely nowhere to be found on the beaches so far. And just before he suggested they’d start looking at the huge plains to the west, he noticed a lone figure sitting down on the beach further up along the coast. Pointing him out to Drekor, Drekor nodded and took them closer to him at a faster speed.

Joran could take in the surroundings for the first time now that they had found Saum. The gentle waves crashing onto the beach, the salt spray in the air filling his nose. He could really take in the mountains further up to the north, the side facing the sea lush with greenery. Behind them, he could glimpse some of the Raium desert that the Earthen Guild likely were securing or patrolling even now. He could see the sun high in the sky, warm and brilliant as the puffy clouds gently went across the sky in packs. The wind brushed along the plains that he could see rolled into hills until they merged with the horizon in the west.

They got out of the jeep, their doors being closed alerting the old man to their presence, as he sternly waved to them, silently.

Stepping onto the beach, Joran could hear the waves even more, and looked down to the south where he finally saw the harbor for the Okeanos Guild ships that seemed to almost move with the currents, in and out of the piers.

Saum sighed to himself as the duo got closer, “You know, I’m supposed to just disappear and be left alone.”

Drekor shrugged and pointed at Joran, “He wanted to check on you. We haven’t seen you for a few days, so we did want to see how you were faring.”

With a defeated shake of his head, Joran sat down with Saum, looking out to the sea, “I guess it’s good they didn’t just completely cut off their trade, right?”

Eyeing Joran warily, Saum nodded slightly, “Yes, the Okeanos Guild at least. Yamatsumi seems to be a little too wound up. Not that it matters, they wouldn’t have helped us anyways.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Earthen Guild hasn’t brought anything for almost a week now. We’ve essentially done all our trading through the sea. Which isn’t very assuring considering the Beasts will attack through there.”

“Speaking of…” Joran cast his head down, looking between his legs, “I’m sorry for coming and making the assumption that an assault was onset.”

“Hm? Well.. It’s not like it was unreasonable.”

“Well, yes, but now we’re waiting for something that might not even come…”

Drekor sat down next to Joran and smiled giving his friend a pat on the back, “Well, the Earthen Guild isn’t making trade and coming either, so something is happening at the very least.”

Saum nodded to Drekor’s words, “Exactly that. Besides, the Realm Monarch agreed to what you said. It was never your own call; it was something many people ultimately agreed would happen. Including the garrison in Sentinalus.”

“Even so…”

“Are you worried about Sentinalus, or are you worried about everything else that’s been happening?”

Joran shook his head, “I am worried about the investigation and apprehending of the Bloodhounds but… I just wish that this assault would come and be done with it. So we can move on.”

Saum nodded his head in understanding, “I get it. Wanting to get the obstacle over with to do the next thing that’s needed to be done. You have had expectations placed on you, and you yourself feel obligated to meet them…

“But don’t let yourself get lost in that. Savor the world around you. The final part of the Invasion is no doubt to take place here, so be sure to be ready. Both for the Beasts and for what comes after.”

Joran seemed lost to Saum’s advice, and he began to think to himself as he started to take in the world again. He’d already done so, seeing the sea, the plains behind him, everything. But he really took a deep breath and laid down on the sand, letting the grit brush along his arms and legs. It was then he understood.

“You’re right. It’s the final part of the Invasion with the Beasts. But we will still need to deal with the Bloodhounds.”

Saum nodded, “And more importantly, what you will do after. After all, you were thrust so soon into the Assembly because of the Invasion, right? So the aftermath of it will be when you need to decide what to do from there.”

Joran closed his eyes as he laid on the sand, letting himself think. He knew what he really wanted to do, but there were things he needed to do. A world where people could do what they wanted, rather than what they needed to do. That was the resolution he’d come to before, but finally, firmly accepted. He’d pave the way to that possibility, or at least bring about the change to start to work towards that world. He sighed and breathed deeply.

And for the first time in over a week, he let himself submerge into the water again. But this time, his determination founded anew.

Swimming to the surface of the turquoise water, the gentle starlight of the night hardly an obstacle like the blistering sun from before as he broke through. He scanned his surroundings, pleased to see the Lake as it was before, still and calm. He swam his way to the middle island, his strokes gentle still, but no longer careful.

Pulling himself onto the sand of the island, and onto the smooth stone the building was perched on, he looked around himself, memorizing what he could see for the last time he was likely to be here. The wall of trees and shrubs firmly concealing this place, the still water with no movement whatsoever in it. Even the sky itself, the stars aligned in a different way than he ever remembered them being.

He paced himself into the entrance of the room, where he didn’t see her. The Siren.

He called out, “Are you here?”

In his mind, he felt the ethereal voice of hers ring out, “What brings you back so soon, ‘Joker’?”

Joran frowned, “I wanted to talk to you again.”

“Well, you can talk to me like this, can’t you? Or did you think I wouldn’t be aware to how convenient your arrival is?”

A skipped heartbeat, and a quickened pulse causes color to drain from Joran’s face, “… Yes. I can talk to you like this. Why are you doing this?”

“Well I told you already, Joran. There are no innocents in this world anymore.”

“So why only trickle in Beasts? Why not just wipe us out.”

Silence falls on Joran. A few minutes go by without him hearing anything. Until finally he hears her behind him.

“Well, as easy as that would be, that’s not the point. And that was what you were not understanding. My goal isn’t to destroy you ‘Heroes’. My goal is to keep you in check.”

“… What?”

She walked around him, her reddish scales glistening in the dark starlight, the closest Joran had ever been to her without being entranced like before. He could see her eyes glittering, not with care, but with scorn. Bereft of the warmth she had before.

“Humanity cannot be left to its own devices. So the Beasts must keep them in check. In balance. What better way than to keep them constantly deprived of the peace that’d allow their insatiable hunger for more to be developed? Constantly barraged by Beasts, by a singular common enemy.”

“… The fallen as ‘just’ penance? This war you supposedly wage for the sake of everyone, of everything?”

“You should be able to realize that this is beyond just the singular lives of humans.”

Joran shook his head, unable to wrap his mind around the Siren’s words. Refusing to.

“People should be allowed to live at least, be given the chance to do want they want, and if they make mistakes, to learn. To live. Taking their lives because of the possibility of… this imbalance you’re talking about is a power that shouldn’t belong to you.”

“Yet it was a power bestowed upon me, as the First Beast. Such ignorance from you. At the very least it’s optimistic. Yet what can you say about those who would turn on your people’s ‘dreams’ and search for more? For greed, for power? For their own selfish ‘dreams’? They are the worst Humanity’s ignorance can offer, and so I strive to make them more worried about living to see another day.”

“… Yet we still have people willing to betray their own people for whatever fame and glory they might get. People who gleefully gave tools to the Beasts to continue to harass us unabetted. Your own plan worked against you.”

At this the Siren frowned, unfettered by the rebuke, “… You’re right.”

Joran would’ve been happy to hear her agree, if it wasn’t for the sudden chill in the air. Her voice was flat, and suddenly Joran realized he had made a mistake.

She continued as she looked at him with a warm smile, defunct from her actual words, “This farce has gone on long enough. Thank you, Joran.”

Before he could say anything else, he could feel himself get snapped back to his body, not even realizing he had been plopped back into himself until a very overwhelming sound could be heard emanating throughout the sky. A high-pitched scream that only he knew the origin of.

Which terrified him even more just how incredibly loud it was.

He opened his eyes and shot himself up from the ground, noticing the other two grimacing still sitting down, their hands clasped over their ears. Drekor saw Joran wake up and stammered out.

“W-What is that?!”

Joran’s hands began to shake, as he realized what it likely meant, and started to mutter to himself, unsure of what to do, “No…”

“Joran?! You’re back! What happened?!”

Joran shook as he looked at his friend, tears welling up in his eyes, pain grappling as he realized he must’ve been physically moved, not just snapped to his body like before, and gripped his shoulders, “I… It’s…”

The scream stopped, and Saum immediately stood up picking up Joran, slapping him in the face, “Wake up, boy. What do you know?”

Joran snapped out of his erratic doldrum for a moment, his eyes wide open as he stared at Saum, “The Siren… The assault is coming!”

Saum and Drekor looked at each other, baffled at what Joran stated through his clamoring, “Who?”

Joran looked at Drekor, “She’s… The one who leads the Beasts… She’s… the one who screamed just now… From her Sanctuary,” after he said this he slumped to the ground, his entire body now heavy.

Drekor’s eyes went wide as the conversation they had earlier began to make more sense to him, as he looked at Saum, “Okay… Commander, it sounds like we are getting an assault sent to us! Can we alert the Okeanos Guild and our own garrison?”

Saum scoffed, “I’m pretty sure ‘she’ did that for us, let’s go!”

Saum threw Joran over his shoulder, not even bothering to ask him if he was okay; his own instincts taking over after the sudden adrenaline rush. The trio then loaded into the jeep, with Joran in the back, numbly looking out the window. The voices in the front seats were muffled to him, and it was then he realized he was in a state of shock not just from the chain of events that’s occurred, but also from the sudden snapback he endured into his body. His head was heavy as his vision doubled. Shaking his head off it as best he could, he slowly fumbled, his hands feeling around for something. He knew he had to explain best he could.

“I… Was talking to her… The Siren. She had a plan… But now, she’ll just… Send Beasts to wipe… us out.”

“Just shut up and relax, Joran! You’re in no shape to worry about anyone else,” Saum shouted from the front seat, honking the horn to the guard post, who still tried to stop him, “Damn!”

Joran’s eyes closed as he heard Saum almost yell at the guard who came up to him, “I need you to relay my orders, get ready for an attack! Send a message to Crown City as well!”

“S-Sir!”

Everything else became a blur, as Joran’s bleary eyes blinked slowly, shifting back and forth from the jeep and the quiet stone room. Each time, he held his eyes as long as he could, staring up at the Siren who had him in their lap. Their eyes gentle again.

He groaned, and coughed every time he blinked, speaking to the Siren, “… Why? Why are you like this..”

The Siren smiled warmly, “I told you, because you’re me.”

He blinked again, seeing the jeep was now moving into the city proper, Saum slammed on the horn as he careened. Blinking again he found himself in the silence again.

He scoffed without hesitation, “And what was this, anyways? Some kind of telepathy? Teleportation?”

The Siren shrugged, shaking her head, “A form of it, but you were the only person in so long to be able to come here like this. It’s a shame you ended up refusing to join me.”

Again he scoffed, “I will never be a Beast.”

“Then you will die with the rest of your kind.”

He blinked again, he felt himself fall off the seat he was in, clattering to the ground as Saum swerved the car. He heard screams of horror as he could vaguely hear cars screeching to a halt. But his mind was on something else, as he numbly felt around again.

A hilt was all Joran needed to feel, and gripped it before he blinked again. Looking up at the Siren, he still felt the Dao in his hand as he stabbed her directly in the chest, leaving as little of his blade as he could not plunged, the part of the blade coming out of her dyed in blue blood.

She gasped, wide eyed at him, before feeling her coughs of blood on him, and he could feel his strength returning, “Then die with us.”

He blinked once more, laying now on the jeep’s floor, the blue stained blade falling on the inside of the jeep next to him as he passed out.