Darkness.

It was all Eztli could see. He drifted for what seemed like an eternity with only his own mind as company. What had happened? Was he inside the body and was just adapting to it? Or worse. Was he dead? The questions kept on repeating themselves over and over until there was only one left. Am I dead? He thought, springing up more questions. Did the experiment fail? It wasn’t possible. He had been sure of that. All the experimental trials had succeeded—after the first few hundred—and his mastery over the soul was near perfect. There was just no way it could have failed.

As he continued in deep thought the world of darkness lit up-faintly, but it lit up. The source was him. To be more exact his soul. Finally, Eztli yelled to himself. Something I can grasp. Having sense his soul meant he was alive. He focused on his Soul Energy—trying to manipulate it. After several tries he had full control over it. He sensed the darkness and to his surprise he was trapped a strange barrier surrounded him and prevented leakage. He examined it for a long time, but found no symbols or runes anywhere on it.

Just what the fuck is this barrier? Eztli wondered. No runes meant nothing supported the barrier. Yet, as he tried to sense past it, he was rejected. This is not possible. It broke everything Eztli knew about formations. It seemed too perfect; too natural.

Shaping his Soul Energy into a drill he tried attacking the barrier again, but only the tiniest sliver passed through the barrier. Not enough to sense the outside world. Increasing the amount of energy, Eztli formed another drill and shot it. This time, a sliver managed to pass through, but as if the barrier was alive and strengthened—rejecting him. Any tries thereafter were utter failures. The barrier had become stronger.

Eztli was now stuck waiting. He sighed. This is not how it was supposed to be. He thought, then started meditating.

 A while later a strange blue energy broke through the barrier, disrupting him. Before he could try to examine the outside the barrier closed—forming a perfect tunnel for the blue energy.

What’s going on. He thought, wary of the energy. It was weak, but it managed to break through a barrier that even he couldn’t. The flow of energy intensified and formed a huge sphere in front of Eztli.

Cautiously, Eztli took a strand of his soul and probed it. The soul pierced through the sphere—going inside—but never returned. Fuck. Eztli curse. As if on cue, the energy sphere burst and engulfed him.

Trapped inside the blue energy, Eztli shrank his soul as much as possible. He didn’t want to touch it, lest it swallowed his soul. A few seconds later the energy transformed. Slowly, runes formed and shaped the energy into…shackles. They approached Eztli.

Once the runes formed, Eztli finally knew what the energy was. It was a binding. I can’t believe this. He laughed at himself. I was scared of such a weak binding. He focused, and recalled the energy he probed it with before. Immediately, one shackle shattered. Turning the soul strand around he attacked the other shackles. The strand passed through all of them in an instant, even breaking the main rune.

Who would have the audacity to try and bind me? He thought. And with such a low-class binding at that. Rhett and Wes should be guarding him. Unless it was a prank by them Eztli saw no other explanation for the barrier and the binding.

"What the-" a voice rang through the mending hole in the barrier.

Fuck, he cursed. What was that? It was a voice he never heard before. It worried him. what was going on outside? And with him? Suddenly, a small pulsating light appeared near him. It became brighter the more he focused on it. He concentrated on it until it burst. The particles floated chaotically in dark space then slowly rearranged into a figure. Rhett.

Not the usual happy Rhett, but an oddly bent and withered Rhett. The image even struggled to stand. Its twisted limbs looked barely enough to support his weight—if it had any. Eztli knew what it was; it was a Soul Message.  A Soul Message could be placed inside things like weapons, artifacts even people. As they were weightless and ethereal. They could even be made to only open after a set amount of time or until certain conditions were met. But one thing remained certain, the image formed by the message always maintained the appearance person had the moment they recorded it.

What happened to you Rhett? Eztli asked the image, looking at his sunken eyes knowing it was a one-way message and he couldn't truly ask anything. He could only listen.

“Master, I have failed you.” Rhett said. “I was unable to complete the transfer in time. Wes...he betrayed you.”

Eztli's eyes went wide, filled with shock. No…that can't be true. This has to be a prank. The twisted image of Rhett clearly refuted that as he couldn’t have hurt himself in such a severe manner for a prank. But Eztli chose to ignore that.

“He tried to lure me to his side with lies. Saying that you were a shell of what you once were. That your reign was over and that it was time for a new Blood Emperor. He wanted the immortal body for himself.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Eztli struggled to take it in. I changed? He wondered. His soul shook and changed color as uncertainty filled him. No, I’m still the same as I always was. The darkness turned blood red as he thought of the betrayal.

“Master, Wes has surpassed your arts. He took control of the Blood Guards. That is how he managed to break the lab barrier and surround me.”

No, no no. When and how did he do that? Eztli knew was a genius but to even think that he could surpass him and betray him. He laughed at his foolishness. I should have seen it coming. Wes had been acting strange. He showed more interest in the immortal body and asked questions. Eztli was blinded by his pride in him and took it as Wes trying to help him succeed. He looked at Rhett's image and his soul trembled.

“I managed to escape him master.  There was a particle wide crack in the void stones. Using my life force, I managed to teleport to safety. That is why I look like this, but I saved you.” Rhett smiled happily.

That smile broke Eztli. Even though all that Rhett still cared for him. He approached the distorted image, rubbing Rhett's hair. You did all that for this old man...

“Unfortunately, I couldn't find another vessel in time so I had to place you inside the Sepir Rabbit.”

That last bit stunned Eztli’s soul, almost shattering. He looked up at the barrier. Being placed in a non-human body would have caused the soul to be rejected. He thought. That would explain the perfect barrier. I would need to change my soul in order to adapt to the body…

“Master.” Rhett said, breaking his thought process. “I'm dying, but at least with my death Wes won't get your immortal body. You are safe from him as I also managed to throw you into a spatial rift.” The image began fading. “Master, thanks for all those years of happiness you gave me. They were the best. I don’t know where you will end up master, but I hope you can live a long life and figure a way to escape your current vessel.”

The image dispersed into particles. There was no way Rhett died. Eztli thought, his gaze lingering with care on the fading light. He must have survived. Wes would have saved him. If he wanted the body. He stared at the emptiness. Thanks for this chance Rhett…I will make full use of it.

Changing his state of mind, he focused his soul on examining the barrier. Finally, grasping a bit of information, he molded his soul to fit the configured body. It helped that Rhett had mentioned he placed him in the Sepir Rabbit. It didn’t take long until his soul escaped the barriers hold, entering the body. Carefully, Eztli continued to merge with his new body until he was more or less in control. It was still in an early stage and if he actively focused his mind the speed of merging would increase, but that was far from ideal. He needed to know where he was.

Opening his eyes, he saw the contract circle underneath him. This isn't right. He thought studying it. No. This is definitely not right. The contract circle was formulated for a beast. He was human. Even though Rhett had told him everything; Even, after he adapted his soul to fit a Sepir Rabbit’s body; he still had the slight hope that everything was not real.

He looked down, taking a look at his body and that hope began to shatter. No! He yelled inside. No. This can't be happening. I should be in my immortal body. Be reigning over my empire. Not this.

He closed his eyes convincing himself that it wasn't real. It's just a hallucination, a side effect of the soul transfer. He repeated in his mind. When it's complete I will wake up in my new, young body. He closed his eyes, picturing himself awakening, but it was all for naught. His hope finally shattered and reality sunk in.

He was inside a rabbit.

He was not immortal.

Despair and grief filled him to the core. All those years wasted. He cried to himself. All the struggle. All the plans I had for the future. Everything is gone. No…it was taken. The grief turned to anger. Damn it Wes. You will pay for this. I will get revenge. Just wait. I will rise again and end your little farce at playing emperor. I will show you just how wrong you were. I am the only Blood Emperor. His eyes burned with fury and coldness.

Eztli urged his new body to stand. He needed to start raising his strength for he had much to do. Fumbling forward he stepped out of the contract circle's boundary. A few steps ahead lay an unconscious boy. The voice I heard earlier. Eztli thought. The one who tried to bind me.

The boy wore muddied blue robes. His red hair dulled by mud. He looked like a beggar. Well I should at least be able to extract some information from him. He approached the boy and placed a paw onto his forehead. Closing his eyes, he started his Binding Blood Art.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, but the result was the same. This body never trained in qi. The realization kicked in. I don’t have any of my arts. No strength. He cursed his fate once more. Even if he had been transferred into a beast. It had to be one with no qi. He sighed. Well, looking at it in a positive way. I have a blank slate and knowledge I didn’t have before. Meaning I could increase my strength, until I can find a suitable replacement. The plan began formulating in his head. For now, I could try and use my Soul Energy to sense something from the boy’s soul.

Placing his paw on the boy’s forehead once more he will his Soul energy into him. The boy shot awake and stared at him. Damn it. Eztli cursed. He woke up.

##

Kael rubbed his throbbing head. Something had gone wrong with the binding and he suffered heavy backlash. He staggered to a stand and fixed his eyes on the contract circle. The rabbit was gone.

Quickly, he glanced all around the small room. He finally spotted the rabbit by the door, trying to escape. Kael lunged at it, but the rabbit managed to hop away sluggishly. It struggled to stand and then plumped down on the floor.

Carefully, Kael picked it up and placed it inside the small cage. He went to his journal and went over the notes again.

“What happened?” he mumbled to himself. “Why did it fail?” He retraced the circle—line by line—and checked the position of the herbs. It was perfect, but somehow still failed.

“Did I make a mistake in controlling the energy?” he asked himself, grasping the Link Stone in his hand.

He practiced controlling the energy inside as he was taught. The energy seeped out the stone forming a pattern in the air. A short while later it was complete, but as there was no circle the energy went back into the stone. Kael didn’t make a make a mistake in his practice, so he convinced himself that his eagerness probably caused him to lose control when performing the real binding.

Kael glanced at the cage, the rabbit seemed to stare back at him. “Well, I will just have to try until I get it right.” Kael said, smiling. “No matter how many times I fail.”