Standing in front of Lara, I held the small, bloodied girl in my arms. She barely breathed. I realized what the upcoming conversation with Lara would be like.

Ever since we knew each other (both of us were about eight), I’d bring injured birds, puppies, and other animals to her house all the time. Our childhood homes stood on neighboring streets. Her mother died of the plague sweeping through Perekat when Lara was ten. That epidemic took many lives, including my elder brother’s. And Lara’s father always lived on the edge, leading the life of a mercenary. Unsurprisingly, death claimed him shortly afterwards.

The family’s house was requisitioned by the state, and the orphaned Lara was to be given as a servant to a wealthy family. However, my grandmother, who knew Lara’s parents well, adopted her, sparing her this fate. Since then, the two of us had been inseparable.

Growing older, I began to help people in need. But in our world, kindness was unpopular. Eventually, I had to succumb to its injustice, promising my family that the vagrant who’d robbed our house was the last person I’d ever help.

When Lara opened the door, I tried to push my way inside, but, knowing me too well to buy this trick, she stopped me, crossing her arms over her chest. Her light-brown brows rose in exaggerated surprise. Her big green eyes had a stern and skeptical look, befitting a healer. Lara wore a neat, short haircut sending a masculine vibe. Her white healer’s robe accentuated her ascetic slimness.

“Stand right there. Is she alive?”

“For now, yes, but I don’t think she’ll last long without help,” I replied, shifting my gaze between Lara and the girl.

“Oh. Where do you even find them?”

“I don’t go around looking for someone to help. If you mean her,” I nodded at the small body in my arms, “I saved her from four brutes. But I’m afraid if we don’t help her, it’s been for nothing.”

“You know, I’ve never been able to tell when you’re lying. I doubt I ever will. So please, spare me this ordeal.”

“Listen, this isn’t the time. I’ll explain everything later, but...” I once again tried to squeeze myself in between Lara and the doorframe.

“What makes you think I’ll help her?”

“Oh, Lara. Come on. You know just too well I won’t buy your act as a heartless witch.”

Heaving a sigh, she muttered, “I wish I were that. Would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.” Her tone echoed my grandmother’s. Stepping back, she let me in. “Just don’t put her on the bed yet. I’ll get some old sheets.”

About an hour later, Lara still wouldn’t let me into the room with the girl, having me wait in the kitchen. I’d spent that hour trying to talk with the self-absorbed emperor residing in me, but he maintained arrogant silence, lurking somewhere deep in my mind. Eventually, I gave up and abandoned my attempts, leaving it for later.

“Rhys,” Lara’s voice called at last, “you may come in.”

I rose from the stool next to the table where another medical book lay in its brown leather binding. Some liniments and poultices wouldn’t hurt me either, but of course the child needed help first. I could put up with my injuries.

Approaching the door, I knocked softly and opened it. The girl I’d saved was peacefully sleeping in the bed. She already looked better. Her paleness had given way to a slight flush, and she had herbal compresses applied to her bruises and abrasions.

“So, what is your plan about her? You know she’s a vagrant. Just don’t tell me you’re adopting her.” Lara gave me a stern look.

“No, I’m not,” I reassured. “We don’t have the funds to support her. The mines are unstable. The copper veins are thinning, the iron shafts are nearing depletion. We have six months at most, and that’s if we’re lucky. How is she?”

“She will live… for now. Although I must say, she has a strong body. Judging by your words, she should’ve had fractures, but I didn’t find any. That’s really weird. She looks about ten years old. How on earth could she have survived that many blows?”

I shook my head. “It’s not a question I can answer.”

“You still haven’t told me: what is your next step?”

“Next...” I sighed, but before I could say another word, the girl propped herself up on her elbows and spoke.

“My lord. It took me a while to find a way to you.”

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

“Whoever you are, your lord is no longer in charge,” I grimaced, hinting at my recent victory over my body’s intruder.

“Who is speaking?!” the girl asked in astonishment.

“It’s me. The one to whom the self-proclaimed emperor has attached himself.”

The girl’s voice hissed with indignation. “How dare you insult the emperor by resisting his shadow?!” she screamed, and her body weakened, falling back onto the bed.

“Damn you, Rhys. She has a fever!” Lara exclaimed, pressing the back of her hand to the ragamuffin’s small head. “Help me!”

The girl’s eyes snapped open, glaring around.

“Lara. Step away from her, please,” I asked and, with a grip on Lara’s shoulder, gently turned her away from the possessed child’s bed.

“What’s going on?”

“Lara!” I raised my voice. “Leave me alone with this.”

She gave me a bewildered look and backed toward the exit and out of the room, deliberately leaving the door open. As I turned to the possessed girl, I could still feel Lara’s gaze on my back.

“What are you? Where is the soul that lived in this body?” I asked in my sternest voice.

“I will tell you,” she said, fixing her gaze on me. “But no human mind can hear my true language. To hear it, lift your feet off the ground and cover your head.”

“What? Why? I can hear you just fine without that.”

The child pouted. “Do you want to hear the truth or not?”

“Okay. What should I do?”

“Sit down on that stool and lift your feet so they don’t touch the floor,” she rasped, and I complied. “Now, cover your head. You can use that bowl on the table.”

Her tone, grand and measured, resembled that of a storyteller approaching the story’s culmination. I reached out and took the bowl that still had some of the water used to cool her fever.

“What are you waiting for? Cover your head with it. I’m running out of strength. Soon I won’t be able to talk and you’ll remain in the dark.”

Water trickled down my head.

“Now, to hear the truth, close your eyes, pinch your nose, and say out loud: With heavenly protection blessed, I am all wet, I’ve pissed myself!”

The girl burst into loud, crazy laughter. I sensed the presence inside me smile, although his smile seemed sad and bitter.

Overwhelmed with anger, I jumped off the stool. Flinging the bowl away into the corner, I grabbed the child of darkness by the shoulders.

“Do you think it’s funny?” I hissed, looking straight into her mocking eyes. “What came to the girl? I don’t know what you are, but better not test my patience.”

“Calm down,” the emperor inside me spoke. “In your position, the life of some little vagrant should be your last concern.” He spoke with contempt, but I could feel anxiety hidden beneath.

“What are you talking about, damn you?” Letting go of the girl, I sat back on the stool, wincing from the awakened pain.

“Ignorance is bliss. Right now, you only need to know one thing: instead of my loyal general and right-hand man, it was my court jester to take over this wretched little mess.” His voice was thick with undisguised despair, as if all his dreams had suddenly crumbled to dust.

“Forgive me, my lord, but Ablurazar the Great has fallen,” the possessed girl bowed her head.

“The Light World?” inquired the guest in my mind.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Damnation.” For a moment, the emperor’s voice filled with rage and regret, but soon he regained composure. “Then they are certainly coming for us.”

“They will take you and free me?” I perked up.

“Exactly. They will take me… with your head. And, since you are a worthless piece of flesh and my strongest soldier’s place is taken by a jester, there’s no way to prevent that. Unless…”

“You mad bastard,” I hissed, annoyed by the shadow’s never-stopping stream of mockery and insults. Was I to fight him every time I craved a moment of silence?

I recollected my thoughts. “What do you mean by with my head? Are you saying they will kill me?”

“Too many questions. Right now, there is only one certain way to avoid death. You can still surrender your body to me, and maybe we will survive,” Zer Ilkaar explained coldly.

I seemed to see his spirit standing next to me in the shabby room. Was I losing my mind?

“That’s off the table,” I snapped.

“Well, no way out for you then. For you and for me. Even though you’ve defeated me in a mental battle, you’re still a poor excuse of a fighter. Get ready, my jester. Before long, we’ll be back to the Hall of Wailing—thanks to this nobody.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” I screamed. “Can’t you just move into someone else’s body?”

My fleshless interlocutor fell silent for a while, then spoke with a sigh: “There is a way. But it requires preparation of both you and the vessel, and time is against us. They will come for you, and you will not be able to resist them.”

“I can hide until everything is ready. How much time do you need?”

“They have the best trackers. They will find you even at the edge of the world. They will send the best warriors of light after you. And when they come for your shadow, you will wish you’d have succumbed your flesh to me.”

“You seem to be really afraid of them,” I smirked, sensing Zer’s doubts. “Alright. I might not be a good fighter, but you’re not much into facing them either.”

“So what? You are still doomed unless you surrender your flesh to me.”

“Forget that. I’d rather die than become a puppet. I will win us time for you to create a vessel, or whatever you need. And while you prepare it, you’ll teach me how to fight—or go back to your prison when they kill me.”

I didn’t want to die just because I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The idea that crossed my mind felt much like a desperate attempt to catch a breath before death, but still it was better than just giving up.

“Do you think becoming a warrior is that simple? That you can ascend to the summit of glory with a snap of your fingers? No one can become a great warrior without knowledge, brutal practice, willpower, and most importantly, experience. I am a prime example of that. Having mastered all combat styles, I became the champion of six leagues. It took me decades of painstaking labor, patience, and unbearable pain to rise above mere mortals and obtain the power to create an empire. Do you still think you have it in you to go down this path without any guarantee of success?”

“Listen,” I said, rubbing my tired, glued eyes. “I don’t know what I have in me and whether I’ll become stronger with your lessons, but you don’t have much choice either. Teach me or die with me—it’s as simple as that. And after our plan works out, you’re free to go wherever you like. Deal?”

“Deal,” the emperor responded after a brief pause.