This one was over 9000 words before I decided to split it into 2 different chapters

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this story and state that chapters like this one really make me feel how hard writing can be. I hope to have a fairly ‘realistic’ story – even though it involves magic – by the time I finish it, but I never gave as much thought to DeMorte’s growth phase as I did to the rampage phase that now seems so far into the future. This chapter and the next few are some of the more important ones, but I do feel that I will need a hell of a lot more practice before I do them justice.

I hope you enjoy regardless though

Chapter 21: Rising Winds

Bloody…

We decided not to finish the thought, much less voice it, and went to work.

Rushing over to her side we closed our eyes and let our talent to both identify all of her injuries and to figure out just how she had survived despite them.

Judging by the way many of her bones and wounds had closed and healed, her attackers must have given her healing potions. Although the debate was open for whether or not that was a good thing: it had saved her life, but death might be a mercy in comparison to when she wakes up.

One of the first things to deal with was her partially collapsed lung and the blood loss. Fortunately for her, she was an AB blood type, letting us drain some of our own blood without having to call in someone else and convince them that giving blood was harmless.

Even non-mages believed in the power of blood and how giving it away was a bad idea. Children and young teen women received endless warnings about what to do with bloody rags or clothes. Namely: they were to burn them if at all possible.

There are 206 bones in the adult human body. Of those, we had to manually set most of the 17 broken bones. The amount of trauma we had to work through did not stop there, however, as whoever had administered the healing potions had obviously not bother making sure that the bones were set correctly.

We were not sure if there would be long term side effects from it, but we used the same spell to fix her bones that we used to create our bone armor. It would require less mana, potions, and pain than re-breaking her bones would… not that she was awake for any of this.

Once all her bones were at least solid where they were supposed to be, I moved on to her fairly numerous internal injuries. I could have healed them completely, but I just concentrated on the most severe ones at first, before I moved on to the ones that would leave scars.

I had done my best to ignore the semen residue up until now, but with her life no longer in danger from her injuries, I felt it was time to address what would happen afterwards. For starters though, I just used my mana to try and collect the residue for analysis. If I was lucky there might be enough to cast a blood (DNA technically) tracking spell.

After a moment I gave up on one of the samples, but the other two has left enough residue for me to use the spell. Instead of using the spell directly, I used some wood carvings from the corner of the room and used them to create MDs (magical devices).

Some people make the mistake that MDs were incredibly complicated, but they were very similar to wards. In fact, where wards were spells anchored to a location, the most basic MDs involved anchoring spells into objects. The major differences beyond that involved how MDs usually use their object’s shape or material to interact with the spell and were usually created to allow non-mages to operate them too.

My monitors were made of biological components to keep a separate, but not disruptive MD that would keep track of those they were implanted in. This time though, I just needed something to keep the blood tracking spell inside of, so even a broken arrow would do, as long as there was no iron to mess with the spell.

The two wood carvings were actually a pair of story blocks, with each side dedicated to one scene of a story. Typically they were used for grand epics or give people some sort of visual representation of the 12 gods. In this case I think they were meant to show the creation story, but I did not pay it much attention.

After I got the wood carvings, I walked back over to her and used the samples to create to MDs, with each one tuned to one of the perpetrators. Blood spells were very specific, but they were usually very dangerous. While a blood tracking spell was fairly safe, trying to fuse a death curse with a blood spell might end up exterminating the target and their extended families if it was performed incorrectly. It was the reason why royal hostages were seen as the true garreteers of peace.

For this spell, I simply tied the blocks to the DNA of each man and set up a spell that would let me feed the blocks mana to make them glow in the direction of each person. Given time, the spells would fade, but for now, those two men could run to the end of the world and I could still be able to find them.

I felt Bella become briefly confused before she realized that it was easier to connect the DNA to a MD now than to cast a spell right now and have to continuously maintain it until I found the person. I had already known this and it should have been obvious to Bella, but we had been slightly off in our communications since we heard what happened and seemed to only be synchronizing for brief periods before separating again.

I stored the MDs inside my healer’s outfit and turned back to the woman. We felt no small amount of pity and I even felt a bit of empathy for her situation, but I was still wondering what we should do about it. Bella wanted to go after the culprits, but I was unsure, I was not the ultimate judge and jury anymore.

We would keep the MDs to ourselves in order to keep our options open, but right now the most reasonable response would be to hand the MDs over to Nathan and let him investigate as the Lord of the area… That said, I was finding Bella’s determination hard to ignore. Especially after she pointed out that whoever had done this to our patient had not expected her to survive, meaning they might run away when they learned that she had.

On the off chance that the semen and torture were unrelated, the 3 men who were involved would still need to answer some questions.

As if the situation needed to be more complicated, she was also pregnant. That said, unless she had also been raped 13 days ago as well, the father was not likely to be a suspect. Although I wondered how many would believe the child’s origins, even if I swore an oath in public. A mage could do a blood test after the child was born, but that would only work if the father was both alive and nearby.

The River Stalker clan in the area had already come out in force and would not be satisfied until someone was made to pay, so I hoped that the possible father had been discreet for both of their sakes.

I could not tell for sure, given the scarce amount of the third man’s semen, but it did not appear that one of them was the same as the man responsible for the child.

For the first time since I entered started treatment, I looked closely at Janeen’s swollen face. It was less swollen then it had been when I first arrived, but I had only taken the opportunity to make sure that she would not carry any physical scars. I had not needed to look at her face for that as my mana was doing the work, but it did not help much.

It was not fair or polite to her, but I also took the opportunity to give her a simple kiss on the forehead. It was without any lust and instead filled with sympathy, which she would have hated even more than lust, under normal circumstances.

She was the type of women I would have actively pursued in my previous life and … well, Bella might have a small crush on her.

I am the one with a crush?

Hush, frisky girl, you have too many crushes to count.

I am only 13, if I am like that whose fault its it?

Technically this body is not 13 yet, but you can blame the Nalks.

I brought my attention back to Janeen. I had been told that an athletic women, familiar with the ways of the wild, was a fascinating sight to any city man, but I did not know if that was true. I was born in filth and raised on a farm. All I knew was that Janeen was a good woman in my mind and she was strong, but the last time I had seen someone like her experience something like this… it broke her…

How would Janeen react when she woke up? Would she ever be able to accept those memories? I knew some of what she would go through, but I had chosen that particular fate for myself and it made a large difference.

Of course, I was making too many assumptions. Janeen was a bit wild herself and I knew from Loco’s records how often she bought the pregnancy prevention potions, but I could not imagine the internal scaring coming from a voluntary… experiment. That and the feeling that she was not that type of person.

Both my personal experience with her and the fact that the health potions had been repeatedly administered without allowing her bones to properly set, would completely discount masochism as well. Those stone-heads were always looking for crazy methods to stone themselves, but even they were careful to avoid any lasting damage… That meant she had been tortured at the least.

If she had not gotten help, if I had not been the one here to work on her, she would have died or have spent the rest of her life crippled… I felt Bella’s anger at that thought.

In the end, I would have to wake her up before I would know if they had given her a choice. Anton had taught me that rape was a crime of power and had explained some of the psychological aspects of it, but that knowledge did not help me at the moment.

It also did not help me when Mathalaus stormed in and almost earned a pain spell to the groin.

He visibly went through more emotions in that brief moment after he entered the room then I had seen from him previously in the entirety of my life. Anger to fear to surprise to horror to pain and regret before settling onto a mask of rage that might as well have been carved from granite.

He motioned a couple of his clansmen out the door, only letting one older woman stay, before he shut the door and turned back to me.

“Who?” He ground out.

Before I answered I took the liberty of casing a spell that would prevent sound from traveling. It would only work inside a closed room, but for situations like this it was perfect to keep others from listening in on Janeen’s private medical information. I wondered briefly about the woman, as I thought Janeen’s mother was dead, but if Mathalaus let her stay, then who was I to argue?

“It is reasonable to assume that there were at least 3 of them, but I do not know who they are.” I said coldly. The most obvious proof for my statement was the 3 different samples of sperm that I had found inside of her, although I still had to wake her up to be sure.

“Three.” He repeated flatly, his face unmoving.

“Which is why I want you to make sure to wait here until she wakes up. You and your kin.” I focused on the last part the most. “Rumors will already be floating around, but I would like you to make sure everyone waits before taking action.”

Nathan would be on his way from Entrials itself, but he would be responsible for any judiciary action, both for and against the river stalkers. For Janeen’s attackers and against any fools who tried to guess at the culprits before Nathan made a decision.

Mathalaus grunted and fell silent for a moment, looking at Janeen for a long moment before looking away, towards the wall. “How did you know their number?”

I hesitated before speaking, but he did have some right to know. “Seed is derived from blood and is therefore unique.”

“Rape.” I swore that my enhanced hearing heard his teeth crack as he growled.

“It is possible.” I stated simply.

“Possible?” His voice had a dangerous edge of cold fury to it as he turned towards me.

“I try not to judge the habits of others and I know how much potion your daughter bought.” I explained, “I also know that she was tortured.” I looked Mathalaus in the eyes, “She was given health potions at different times to heal different injuries, which means that they did not to heal an accident, but…” I made sure to keep my voice level, but I was internally prepared to tap my internal energy if he reacted badly. “I do not know for sure if that was connected to the sex.”

I could guess. I was almost certain myself, but there had been… exceptions in my previous life. Women who I had thought were attacked by groups of men, were not always unwilling… Just most of the time.

Mathalaus obviously ‘knew’ I was wrong, but he carefully controlled himself and turned back to Janeen. “When will she wake up?”

“I do not know,” I admitted, she was exhausted and had crawled all night to reach a near-by farm. The owners who found her had quickly given her yet another health potion and taken her to Loco’s. From there, he had moved her out to her current location, where I had been sleeping, and sent for me. “We should wait for her to wake up naturally, but I can make her wake up for a little while if you want.”

He seemed ready to demand that I wake Janeen up for a moment, but the older woman turned her head from Janeen for the first time to glare at him and he shook his head. “Let her rest.”

I nodded, as understanding as I could be in the situation. “When she wakes up I suggest that you be careful about questioning her, the memories-”

I was cut off by the women, “I do not need your advice for her mind, child.” I kept my face still to avoid scowling. No one would be in a forgiving or logical mood right now. “Now then, what about pregnancy and her face, I assume that you gave her potions?” Her voice was slightly shrill and annoying, but I managed not to snap at her.

“Timing has prevented the possibility of her getting pregnant from last night’s incident.” I stated vaguely. If they knew about the father, they would likely catch it, but they said nothing so I continued. “Her life is not in danger right now though so I will not be doing any more healing.” The woman snapped her head in my direction, but I cut off her still forming words. “She was given too many of them when she was tortured, meaning that her body might reject any potions that we give her… A rejection that could prove fatal.” My words shut her up.

Relaxing very marginally, Mathalaus spoke instead, “She is fine?” I nodded affirmative “You only used magic?” Judging by his tone, he knew how impressive that actually was.

I nodded again, finally remembering the feeling of hunger that had grown throughout the operation. I was not as hungry as a Healer would be as I only needed to apply the smallest amounts of mana to precisely heal her. It was the most obvious benefit of Anton’s training as a Healer of this world would not risk a precise fix unless they had a talent like mine. It would be safer to cast a general healing spell or give them a potion. The spells that most healers in my previous world used were also mana costly and inefficient. It was one of the reasons combat healers and self-healing warriors almost always had double digit circles under their control.

Regardless, I was hungry and only had 2 avotatos that I had eaten on my way here. Considering that I had used some of my internal energy to sprint here from the woods where I had been testing Dras’ reflexes and then operate on Janeen in a relative hurry, it was vaguely surprising that I was not hungrier.

Mathalaus walked over to the door and opened it, cancelling the spell I cast earlier, and letting the crowd’s noise enter the room from outside. The village had all come out to see what happened apparently.

They fell quiet when Mathalaus came out though and stared at him. “She will live.” He called out, before turning to one of his clansmen and told him something. It was too hard to hear over the fact that everyone took that announcement as their cue to start talking to each other.

The benefit and cost of village life: everyone knew everyone else and was obligated to know their business, as that was part of being a good neighbor.

After a moment of talking, Mathalaus was finished talking and the stalker quickly disappeared into the crowd. He turned back to me and thanked me again, before adding that his clansmen would be back with food soon. He then moved back into the room with his daughter.

I sighed and moved over into Loco’s actual home. Some people tried to get me to talk about what happened, but I felt no reason to talk to them. Between my plans to leave and this, I would be gone in the next few days.

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Nathan arrived a little while later and I told him almost everything. Only Loco and Luna knew that Janeen had already been pregnant and I only told them because I needed to make sure that no one tried to administrate a pregnancy termination potion until I had a chance to talk with Janeen in private.

Nathan had been worried and slightly unnerved when I told him about the MDs, but he still asked me to use them immediately. The devices both glowed in the same direction, towards the fort. Though, since I did not spend any time adding distance proportions to the MD, we could only guess that it was actually the fort and not just in the general area.

Nathan was not happy about that. He told me that military troops had to be judged by their commanders and my MDs might not be enough to convince them.

In the end, we decided that only Janeen could name them. I could confirm it with my MDs, but a child with no formal training would not convince the military leaders.

After learning this, we went to explain our plan to Mathalaus. He took it surprisingly well, but I still had to act for a time when Nathan reviled my MDs.

“You are important to Janeen.” I explained, “If you went charging off to find the culprits, you would more likely be taken down by the military as a madman than anything else.”

Ignoring the human volcano after that, I moved over to Janeen’s side and made sure that the door was shut before applying the silencing spell again. Only Nathan, Mathalaus, the woman, and I, would need to hear this.

Only at that point did I wake up Janeen.

The spell was basically just a magical equivalent of a reverse stun spell, although I took the liberty of adding a small magic command to stop her from getting hungry for a couple hours as she still needed rest.

She slowly woke up and looked around at us. I could almost see her mind – actually, as I was letting my talent work, I could see her mind – as she started to remember what happened to her. She jerked for a moment, epinephrine and what I called my ‘battle sense’ in my previous life flooded her system as she tried to process her memories. Her face also noticeably paled.

I just held her hand and waited for her to calm down, but the woman decided to lecture her instead. “Your safe you foolish child, so calm yourself already. You should already be aware of where you are by now.”

Astonishingly, this actually managed to help calm her down, which made me suspect that they might be very familiar with one another.

After a moment of staring at the woman, Janeen actually focus on each of us in turn. She flinched for a moment when she saw I was holding her hand, but she did not pull away completely.

“Janeen,” Nathan spoke first, grabbing her attention. “I am sorry that we woke you up, but we need to know what happened.”

She did not answer, her complexion looking so pale as to be mistaken for a sickness by the ignorant. If it were only that simple, I would be much happier.

Nathan wanted to be gentle with her, but he was having trouble, he opened his mouth again to ask her when the woman snapped at Janeen. “Where you attacked girl?”

Janeen flinched again, although not as pronouncedly this time, before she jerked her head affirmative.

The human volcano rumbled at this point, clearly annoyed at the woman’s tone.

The woman seemed to take note of this, but continued regardless, doing the dirty job of asking the questions no one wanted to. “Did you tempt them?”

Janeen’s face twisted in disgust and revulsion, giving a look that clearly asked if the woman was sane. The woman did not let her stay quiet though, “Did you girl?”

“N… No!” The first time she tried to talk, Janeen’s voice seemed strangled, but the second attempt was practically a scream. “Who would want that sack of puss Terrick…” Her voice trailed off.

Nathan almost jumped. “Terrick? You are sure Janeen? Could you see anyone else?” His voice was almost desperate, perhaps wanting to get the culprits before they got away… perhaps not wanted to mess up his first serious case of injustice as lord.

Janeen barely managed to keep from flinching and found both the focus and strength to sit upright, pulling her hand from mine while she was at it. She also took the liberty to examine herself for a moment, clearly taking note of her lack of injuries where she thought there should be. Her eyes also lingered on the generic robe that Luna had changed her into before I arrived. “Yes, him and his two friends. O’bal and…” she shook her head after a moment, “I do not remember the other’s name, the silent one, who always follows them around.”

“Good, that is plenty.” Nathan assured her before looking to Mathalaus, “I ran over here without the Lord’s seal. We will go in the morning.” The last part was not a question and I realized that it would indeed be dusk outside of the small room.

Volcano Mathalaus rumbled, but did not erupt, as he turned to his daughter. “You are safe.” He said simply, before turning and leading Nathan from the room.

I blinked and noted, as Nathan shut the door behind them, that Mathalaus had been even more laconic than usual. I turned back to find Janeen lightly touching her still swollen face. “Grave injuries and scars only.” I explained. “I felt the rest should heal with you.” I paused for a moment as Janeen looked over at me and nodded before I turned to the woman whose name I still did not know. “I need to speak to Janeen privately”

“So what is stopping you?” This old woman is worse than you

I turned to Janeen, who was still touching her face and I took pity on her for a moment, reaching over and casting a simple spell to reduce swelling before repeating my statement to her directly.

Janeen touched her face lightly and smiled at the feeling before she, to my surprise, shook her head. “She is a rude old bat, but she also raised me after my mother died, you can tell her anything.” She paused before adding “Thank you as well, I know that I must not have been easy to heal.

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I raised an eyebrow, but decided that Janeen seemed to be fully awake and alert, so I cut directly to the point. “Who did you lay with 13 or 14 days ago?”

She seemed to stop breathing for a moment as her mind caught up to what I meant instead of what I said. “I am pregnant?”

I resisted the urge to smile, she was quick as ever. “You were asleep for around a day, I am asking about some time ago, but yes you are pregnant.”

This time the other woman spoke up as Janeen absorbed that knowledge, “You lying little dim-soul! I–” I hit her with a stun spell and let her slump over unconscious.

“I will wake her up in a second.” I told Janeen, who snorted softly. “Is she always like that?”

“You have no idea.” Janeen said softly, a lonely smile on her face. “Do you remember the young scout I was showing the area near the fear barrier?”

We did remember, “The one who looked like a hungry wolf?” As soon as the words left our mouth we regretted them, fearing that they might trigger memories.

They did, but not the unpleasant ones apparently, “That is Stark.”

“And that smile explains why you needed so many potions.” I countered, not jealously, but knowingly.

“You will understand when you are older.” Janeen said, the same small smile on her face.

It was my turn to snort quietly. I still remembered that feeling and I was glad she did as well, it might save her some pain in the future. I hesitated at her smile for a moment, but as it started to fade I knew I had to ask her the question. “Are you going to be alright Janeen?”

Some might call it a stupid question given what happened, but that was why I asked it. She had to think about her future and not her past.

Good advice

I sensed the underlying question in Bella’s comment, but I did not reply. Our past shaped who we were and like us, Janeen should have a long future ahead.

I ignored Bella’s interruption as Janeen’s face drained of some color and she forced herself to answer. “Yes.” It was a whisper though and she seemed to realize it herself. “Yes.” She repeated louder, making sure that both of us heard her resolve I suppose.

Now I smiled, the proud smile of the old man I was, before I let a secret slip without thinking. “You are stronger than I was.” That got Janeen’s attention alright, but before she could say anything I cut her off. “You need to tell me if you want to keep the child. You can always have another if you stay with him, but the timing for this one might be off for your clan, even if I vouch for his parentage,”

She hesitated, looking over at the unconscious women for a moment, which surprised me, but before I could offer to wake her up, Janeen spoke. “We will not stay. Not after this, my father would not allow it and yet I think I love him.” A hand floated to her belly almost unconsciously. “The military will want to keep him for a few more years” She smiled again, a larger, more mature smile than before. “However, it would be nice to have an incentive for him to come find me.” Her smile widened and turned slightly more predatory. “Two incentives.”

I was tempted to tell her that she would only have the one child, but then I realized that the second incentive was something else. Young people.

I nodded and then gestured to the older woman. “About time to wake her up?” I asked.

Janeen’s face turned pensive and she stared at the unconscious woman for a second. “I am not sure,” she mused. “This is the quietest she has been in years.” We shared a quiet laugh before I politely pointed out that Janeen would need rest, so I needed to know if they should both be awake at the same time.

Janeen agreed to let me wake her up right before I left them both alone to talk. I agreed, but told her to only talk for a few minutes before she went back to sleep.

As we left her, Bella and I could not help thinking about what happened to Janeen, an action that only facilitated making both of us angry.

After that I went and did something a bit reckless, I took the MD blood trackers and slipped out of the village…

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It was not honor that drove me. Nor was it a distinct sense of right and wrong. It was just a sense of personal desire.

I no longer possessed the ability to make that kind of absolute decision on a moral basis. Bella did, though. She knew that she would regret the anger soon enough, but she was too angry. I just let that anger drive us both as I felt the cold certainty of my path underneath it.

I had always given women a choice in my previous life, if they were willing to do anything to live I would tell them what would happen. If I picked out a women she had to choice if she wanted to become my slave – which everyone naturally understood would mean sexual service as well – or become one of my men’s slaves.

I had rules back then, rules that protected the slaves to an extent, but they were usually only enforced by fear of me. As a result, an attractive women’s life was usually horrible in our camps. No one was allowed to knock out some poor girl’s teeth because she refused to use her mouth, but they were allowed to starve her.

From another point of view, the women I picked out had 3 options: be taken by me, be taken by someone else, or die. They still had the choice, but I had removed all of their good options. They had a stark choice, but most of them decided to be slaves and try to survive.

Not to mention that some of these women had children depending on them.

That choice broke some of them too, some could not chose while others became self-destructive because of it.

…That choice was everything to me, it was what defined me.

There was an old story that told of 4 kings in my previous world. They went to god’s spear, where I would later rule, and agreed to an amazing peace treaty of some sort that stopped the grand wars that they had been fighting for decades. The gods were so impressed with the treaty that they sent a messenger to inform the kings of a treasure in the mountains that was to be split between them to help rebuild their kingdoms.

According to the story they also received a warning to not open one chest in particular, but like any good story, someone opens it. A minor god, trapped for ages before then comes out and thanks them for releasing it before offering the kings a wish each. The only catch seems to be that it will only grant them wishes involving their kingdoms as a whole.

The first wishes for a secure kingdom where no one is in danger from war or crime. The second wishes for a powerful and uncontested throne. The third wishes for a thriving economy and the fourth declined to make a wish. Naturally, when they left and parted ways the wishes were fulfilled in the worst ways.

The first king was forced to use his army on his own cities, making them peaceful at the cost of soldiers on every corner. As long as his army remained, theft, murder, and assault all disappeared and the treaty guarantied peace at the borders. He used his entire fortune to maintain his army until his death.

The second found that his nobles had run amok while he was at front and deliberately misused their power for their own gain. While nothing new, this last round of greed was on too large of a scale to forgive and the king summoned them all to a celebratory feast. Telling them that he would be distributing land and money for their loyalty during the wars, he lured and slaughtered most of them. The problem arose when a kingdom who had not been involved in the war suddenly attacked them. As decimating the noble houses had eliminated the kingdom’s most powerful mages, they lost a sizable part of their lands in the subsequent war before the king was killed in battle and the whole kingdom collapsed.

The third never made it home as his people, tired of war and the abuse of nobles had been attacking and poisoning the nobility for a decade already. After peace was established, the king was assassinated on his way back. The result was almost a collapse of the kingdom before the surviving nobles reached a compromise with the peasants and forfeited some of their power and almost all taxes. The kingdom would remain safe because of the treaty for a few decades, but their weak military and the populations’ refusal to accept new taxes eventually led to bloody invasion.

Even the fourth was not safe as, though he had chosen the best option, his people still saw what happened to the other kingdoms. As their king used his portion of the treasure to pay the army and rebuild his kingdom, people grew nervous. Even though he had done nothing wrong, people started to whisper about evil rites and forbidden deals that had been performed to inflict these catastrophes on the other kingdoms. Relatives flamed these rumors and it got so bad that, when one of the king’s daughters died, many assumed that he had sacrificed her.

Depending on the story’s teller, this last king either dies of natural causes to remain infamous for generations to come, or he pleads for the god’s help and is eventually given divine help to earn back the trust of his people.

Everyone seemed to have a different idea about what the story meant and what lessons could be learned from it and I was no different. Some stated that the lesson was to ‘be careful what you wish for’ while others said it was to always ‘listen to and obey the gods,’ but I always saw advice on how to rule. In all of the stories, perception drove decisions that eventually led to a disaster of one form or another, so I decided that the lesson was ‘perception is more important than truth.’

Of course, that story was not my first or only introduction to the power of perception, but I felt that the story illustrated the lesson more appropriately than any other I knew of.

Even if you are a good king, it is possible for others think that you are evil under the right circumstances. So I made sure that I knew and controlled how others saw me. Bandits would never accept the idea of someone making them obey laws, but if I made myself the cruel leader who forces others to follow his rules with his fists, I became acceptable.

It was the same reason I paid others to glorify honor and the like, I wanted the people who hear the stories to be easier to manipulate. The one on one challenges for leadership were also to manipulate others. If they respected strength, I would just make sure that the normal back-stabbers and poisoners had to face me head on if they wanted to take my position for themselves.

All of this came back to choices. I would feel the Guilt if I killed someone by my own choice, or ordered someone to do it for me. If they chose death though? If they thought that death was preferable, I would be able to have them effectively kill themselves.

I once chased someone off into a small valley filled with a highly territorial species called yalgig – which means big claws in some ancient language – and I did not feel the Guilt because I had yelled at him repeatedly to stop running or he was going to be killed… The fact that he was more scared of me and did not believe my promises not to kill him was the key, that his perception of me helped him make bad choices.

It had been his choice and he could have chosen differently at any time, but he did not. Perception dictated choice and choice dictated the Guilt…

Though why ordering someone dead was just as bad as killing them myself, I might never know. The person I ordered would certainly have the option of disobeying me. Maybe we were supposed to share the blame, I did not know.

The truth was that, in my previous life, I only wanted to carve out a fair place to live. If someone broke one of my rules and I caught them, they were punished. I told them that I did not punish them because my rules were absolute and those who broke them were evil, but because they were my rules. I punished, even executing other despite the Guilt, as the human who made the rules and the one who wanted others to see that my rules were enforced.

So I was an individualist at heart and on the throne. If my rules were broken, there would be punishment, but I would always acknowledge that someone had the right to break – even my own rules – as long as they were prepared to face the consequences.

So I decided that I would find the rapists myself and present them to the others. If Nathan or the military leaders did not believe me, then I would kill the culprits myself, not as a ruler this time, but as a simple human.

I would give them a chance to use the laws, but if they failed… well, it would be better for Bella to feel the Guilt herself, although I tried to keep that particular thought far away from her angry mind as we sped towards the fort.

You should always be prepared for the consequences, I reminded myself.

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Nearby, but out of sight

How many phases do I have to keep this up Rapier? The girl is just a girl, Rapier. By the gods I was a fool. Zotra shook his head in regret.

When Rapier had asked him to keep an eye on a little girl out near the edge of the kingdom, Zotra had been annoyed. When Rapier finally admitted that the assignment was a personal one though, Zotra felt like he was about jumped out of his skin at the opportunity.

Zotra had been a member of the royal magicians’ corps for a few cycles now and he was technically not under the command of Lady Rapier he was a lower ranked mage. Within the few actual ranks in the royal magicians’ corps, she was only one rank above himself, but she had both more power and more experience, meaning that she should have been able to force him onto this mission.

Only 2 factors, both of which were dictated by birth, left him able to even question the legitimacy of the mission she wanted him for. Those same 2 factors, his gender and his highly noble blood meant that he found out about the mission being unofficial fairly quickly.

While such a thing was not unusual for the corps to handle, he also learned that is was not even an official mission within the corps and confronted Rapier about it. Rapier knew how far she could fall for such an action as she had her fair share of enemies within certain families. After she confessed that the assignment was personal, she tried to convince him to take it anyway, but they both knew the truth.

Zotra had many good traits that made him fairly well suited for this assignment. He was one of the best trackers and stalkers in the world, for instance, and he could easily enough follow even this girl, with her heavily runed cloak. He was also of noble enough blood to simply state that some personal matter had arisen and others would assume that was code for a secret duty. However, what qualified Zotra the most for Rapier’s request was his personal feelings for her.

Zotra had been hinting at being more than professional with her for over a cycle, only to be refused on a number of different grounds.

Since Rapier had now asked asked him for a favor, however, Zotra had worked it for his benefit and gotten what he thought of as quite a deal. One recommendation for promotion and two evenings out with her once he had been promoted. He did have to let her chose the location for the first meeting, but acting like that was a concession had only been a part of the bargaining.

Rapier likely thought Zotra was only interested in her for her looks and her power, but she was so much more than just those things. A polite first evening and a passionate second once might lead to his real goal of courting her in the long run… or she might refuse to see him again and he would know to give up.

She was the most beautiful woman Zotra had ever met and he wanted her too badly to let this opportunity slip away. In truth, Zotra had likely gotten a bad deal as he was one of the only royal mages that Rapier could ask a favor of, but it was a measure of his desire for her that he chose not to argue the deal.

Now though, his easy looking path to romance – even if it was a boring one – had slowly become something else entirely.

It started when the girl did something that he himself could not do and crossed a set of abnormally powerful fear runes. Even with numerous ‘clarity’ runes on his clothes to help him, Zotra was sweating and jumping at every shadow by the time he was stopped by a river that girl herself easily jumped.

That was another shock for him too, the girl had an absolutely amazing level of control over her Gía! The energy that she cultivated from the world around her seemed to bend to her will in a way that defied her years.

When Zotra saw this, he instantly wanted to applaud his dear Rapier for identifying such a major talent, but her mental resistance to fear runes did make him slightly nervous.

No normal child should have had that level of mental strength. Over the course of the phase though, Zotra noticed little else of remiss. The girl was talented in almost everything she did, but her only other outstanding talent was a lesser form of cultivation that she could use while walking around.

She was amazing and definitely qualified for sponsorship or political marriage, although her elf ears might pose a problem for some families. Zotra was even writing a private letter to his youngest brother to try and ‘accidentally’ met the girl when events sped up.

After the girl had just finishing a ‘medical checkup’ of some sort – away from most prying eyes with a young man, Zotra quietly noted – she was found and asked to attend to an injured person of some sort. Zotra’s assignment was observation without notice though, so he was too far away to hear the details as they started to walk away.

Soon after though, the girl shot out like a bolt of lightning and was gone. Zotra could track her, but he used his own Gía too rarely to maintain his stealth at speed.

After he tracked her down again to one of the local villages he got close enough to hear some of the rumors of a local girl being ravaged by demons or some such nonsense.

He had not been impressed with lack of knowledge of the peasants, but that was their lot in life. Demons only existed in the lowest floors of a dungeon or in the service of Elves in ancient stories.

After some time, it grew dark and Zotra decided to forgo sleep to make sure the girl did not do something rash. It was the correct choice as the girl indeed shot out of the village later that night.

Again, Zotra marveled at her speed as he tracked her through the woods. Even with his own Gía active and a fairly clear path to follow, Zotra took most of the night to track her to the small fort. Young mages are always dangerous, Zotra thought to himself, not to other mages, unless we have to rely on them, but to the lesser souled.

Curious to exactly what the girl was planning to do, Zotra waited outside the fort, wondering how long she–

The girl was already leaving. Specifically though, she was jumping down from one of the walls with a person over each shoulder. It happened so quickly, while the guards were investigating something he could not see, that Zotra found himself revaluating the letter he had been writing earlier.

Even with magic to enhance their eyesight, Zotra knew that most mages would have difficulty pulling two men out of a guarded fort in the middle of the night without being noticed. The fact that he knew there were two mages in the fort who would have noticed any magic being cast only made it harder to believe, not to mention the wards.

The girl was either an unparalleled genius, had received special training of some sort, or there was something more sinister at work.

Zotra thought it was the first option, but his training suggested the third. It would not be the first time some mage had tried to make themselves immortal, but unless they somehow grafted their soul onto someone… Zotra’s blood had been running cool before, but now it was enough to make him worry about frostbite.

Every mage and most of the lesser souled peasants, were trained to look out for the traditional signs for Soul Mages, but only combat trained mages knew the specifics. For example, a Soul Mage who absorbed only one soul would still be in control of their body and might actually contain the influence of the misfortunate soul that they sacrificed. Those freshly made Soul Mages could actually go whole cycles seeming sane and normal, before they decided to absorb another person’s soul. If someone did not absorb a soul, but instead transferred it somehow… it would be one possible explanation among many.

No matter what though, Zotra now needed to be much closer to this little girl – this possible Soul Mage – to determine what fate awaited the two men she grabbed. If she was indeed a Soul Mage… Then Zotra would have to determine if he could eliminate her or make his report first and let Rapier decide how to proceed.

Steeling his resolve, Zotra trailed the girl much more easily now that she was weighed down with two bodies.

His mind now fully professional, he analyzed how much Gía she had used during the day and tried to figure out exactly how large of a reserve she could have. Her actions certainly seemed emotional enough to suggest that she had not rationed it, but Zotra was still uncertain and carefully followed the girl into the northern wood.

Part of him started worrying about the possibility of her passing that barrier of fear runes again, but she stopped and set up wards before then.

Zotra crept closer than he had ever been to her before, while carefully trying to keeping himself concealed despite the shrinking distances. However, a new worry soon appeared as she set up wards.

Complex and professional, Zotra grimaced, studying the wards carefully. Each of the individual layer were simple and efficient wards, but layered on each other like this, they could collapse on anyone who tried to untangle them and kill anyone who tried to ignore them. this is not looking good for her

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Almost made the time change -.-