A flurry of emotions ran through Evan as he tried to speak. Loss. Anger. Grief.

It had been a long time since he had tried to explain to someone who or what he used to be. Since bonding with Fenrir, he had become something else. Something different. Something more.

Fenrir was him. He was Fenrir. They were Evan.

The silence lingered for a long time as the summoner became lost in his thoughts once again, but the healer waited patiently, never taking her eyes off of him.

“Come back to me, my King. Who you were can still be who you are even though we are now us,” Fenrir whispered in his mind.

Evan shook his head to clear away the jumble of emotions and words that spiraled around in his brain like a hurricane. He raised his eyes and looked into Astrid’s. “Sorry. I am often … forgetful.” He laughed in mock cheeriness. “Centuries alone with nothing but your thoughts will do that to you.”

“My people used to be known as Kore’Fen. We lived on a beautiful world called Krysis.” He closed his eyes and smiled as images of his home-world flickered through his head. He gave a small chuckle. “Interestingly enough, the name of my world describes it fairly well. My people were in constant war with the monsters that plagued our land. Despite that, my people were happy. I was happy.”

“What happened to them?” the healer asked cautiously.

Anger crept into the summoner’s voice. “Much the same that is happening to you and your world now. The Labyrinth took them from me.”

“So they are imprisoned then? Like you were?”

Evan could sense that the woman was pleading. Begging. Hoping that there was someone, somewhere, waiting for him.

He shook his head. “No. My race is one of a handful that was wiped out entirely. One of the Cursed. Races too powerful or knowledgable or uncontrollable for The Labyrinth to leave alive.”

The healer moved her eyes from his and gazed at the fire. “But your race is still alive. You speak like you are not Kore’Fen,” she muttered.

Fenrir gave a low rumbling laugh. “She is a smart one,” he whispered in his mind.

Evan smiled. “You are right and you are wrong. It is difficult to explain. Kore’Fen were the first to discover how to create dungeon cores. We used them as mana sources, for protection, and as prisons.” He pointed at the shimmering black wound on his chest. “Fenrir is a dungeon core that once belonged to The Labyrinth. When we bonded our souls became intertwined. Two became one. It is unfair of me to call myself Kore’Fen because that suggests that Fenrir is nothing when in truth he is the more powerful one of us.”

Astrid raised her eyebrow at him. “Aren’t dungeon cores … evil?” she asked. She shifted her eyes downward as if she was embarrassed by the question.

Fenrir chuckled. “Yes and no, little healer. I have killed millions of innocents in service to The Labyrinth. But I have also killed many times that number of Labyrinth beasts since bonding with Evan. Time has an interesting way of erasing any sense of morality.”

The healer turned towards him again. “You mentioned that Fenrir is the more powerful one between the two of you. Does that mean that I could grow stronger if I bound myself to a core like Fenrir?”

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It was Evan’s turn to laugh. “Fenrir is special. As far as we know, there is only one other black core in existence that could match him.” The dungeon core snorted.

“No, only Kore’Fen can bond with a core. Neither Fenrir nor I know why. A relic of some forgotten past. But, bonding is not something I would wish upon anyone Astrid.” He closed his eyes as he spoke.

“The process is long and painful. Your mind and body are ripped apart and put together endlessly as the core becomes you. And you become the core. Few survive. Of those that do, fewer still come out with their minds intact.”

Astrid nodded. “So you are special then?”

This time, both Fenrir and Evan laughed at the same time.

“No. Cursed,” the summoner said with a grin.

* * *

Evan laid awake staring at the night sky. There was a slight breeze that rustled the leaves of nearby trees and his skin was covered with a slight coat of dew. He took a deep breath and held the cool, delicious air for a few precious moments.

“I am sorry,” the core whispered

He released the breath and closed his eyes. “What are you sorry for, Fenrir?”

“For burdening you. For torturing you. For taking you away in those final moments before you lost everything and everyone you loved.”

The summoner sighed and placed a hand over the black wound on his chest. “Maybe I was angry … once upon a time. But, you have nothing to be sorry for, my friend. You are me. I am you.”

The core growled in content and Evan smiled as he closed his eyes.

* * *

Evan woke up to find the trio huddled around a fresh fire with a bowl of soup in their hands. Mel handed him a bowl as he approached them. “It’s a bit cold, and mostly watered-down jerky, but don’t worry. We’ll be able to grab some good stuff when we get back to Citadel!”

Jason groaned and cupped his ears with his hands. “No, no Mel! Not again! I swear that all you ever think about is food!”

The trio laughed as they continued eating. They spent the next half an hour talking about different foods they had tried, and foods that they missed. Evan even tried to describe some of the food that they made on his world, but he couldn’t seem to think of the right combination of ingredients.

After breakfast, the group packed up and began to walk towards Citadel. Evan recalled his shadows who had spent the night patrolling and scouting.

Evan had managed to see the outline of the city from their campsite the night before, but he was still curious about it. “So is there anything I need to know before we get to this Citadel?”

Jason opened his mouth but hesitated before looking over at Astrid. The healer nodded her head at him. “Don’t worry, I already told him.”

The warrior’s expression seemed to brighten as he began to speak. “Citadel used to be called Portland before the portals arrived. It was mostly known as a shipping port but was pretty famous for having the highest number of strip clubs per capita in the country. Most of the city was destroyed when the first few portals broke. After some people started Awakening and the area was cleared, most everyone moved towards whatever part of the city still had buildings intact. When the Guilds started popping up and the Governments started coming back they changed the name to Citadel—what?”

Astrid laughed as Evan realized that his mouth was hanging slightly open as he stared at Jason. That was the most he had ever heard the warrior speak. He sounded so much like a scholar that seeing him in full plate-mail confused him.

“Jason used to be a librarian before Awakening,” the healer teased.

“A librarian?” Evan asked curiously.

“Someone that organizes books and knowledge,” she responded absently as she stared at something in the distance.

The summoner turned to look in the direction she was staring. It took him a while to understand what he was seeing. Dozens of buildings reduced to rubble littered the landscape. Pieces of metal jutted out from the ground and from some of the collapsed buildings. A city in ruins.

Broken.

“Welcome to Citadel,” Astrid whispered.