Purple lightning shot through the snow, splitting it into smaller bolts, like the thousand hands of a furious god coming to reap men.

The warmages and the gunmen who stayed behind all perished, the men in front were stunned by the boom, but suffered no casualties.

That is, until Harlan used skip to arrive in the center of the formation and the flesh golems arrived at the edges.

Because of the limited gems there were only four of them, but each one was composed of the body of 30 men with 10 arms.

Two cast magic, four fought hand to hand, and four grabbed more dead bodies to subsume so they could keep up the pace of the killing.

From the carriage Count Oreland and his son heard the declaration, then the boom, then the cracking of bones and splattering of blood, the screams of terror as men died or saw their deaths rushing towards them.

Harlan tore the door off of its hinges and received a blade to his face, one capable of actually cutting him.

He broke the count’s hand and tossed the blade aside before he had the chance to seriously injure him.

Harlan healed his face before he spoke.

“They are dead.”

“You really are him.”

“Let me heal your hand.”

The count did as asked.

“The horses are dead, I will supply the muscle to get you home.”

The beast was massive and it took 10 minutes just to shift its body into something useable after Harlan consolidated them into a single thing. It grabbed the carriage with a single limb, holding it close to its chest as it used its remaining arms to move around.

It was smoother than either party expected, Ky, who had passed out from the cost of being healed after the battle, didn’t even wake up.

“What is this thing?”

“Flesh golem.”

“How did-”

“I always keep a few gems on me, I just had to pull a little from my soul since they weren’t filled. Then I just used the bodies of your men, and as I slaughtered the enemies I incorporated them into this thing. It will last maybe an hour, then it will fall apart as the cost to maintain it is only being filled right now by the mana that remained inside the flesh of those men. As it burns that up it will then turn to converting the flesh directly into energy, effectively putting the metabolism of the creature into a super heightened state.

It is inefficient, I would never do this for a real creation of mine. But it works for what I need it for.”

“I’m…”

“Don’t bother speaking. It has been a very long day for all of us.”

“Thank you.”

“I have a call to make.”

Harlan put up a few veils.

“Mary, I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Harlan, I hope you have had a good time. I’ve been tracking your movements every few days. I assume you made it to Direhold alright?”

“Yes, now I am headed to the home of Count Oreland.”

“What for?”

“Assassins were after him and his son, but I’ve dealt with them. I’ve also dropped my disguise. Everyone will soon know what I can do. There is a slight problem however.”

Harlan’s head nodded back and forth.

“Are you still there?”

“Right, sorry, I used heaven’s fury, by myself it is… ”

“Do you want me to pick you up?”

“Thank you. You are… you are a great friend, I love you.”

“Harlan, you shouldn’t talk when you are this tired, you aren’t thinking straight.”

“I mean it… in a platonic way…”

“Did you discover what you are?”

“dragon…”

The veils dropped as Harlan passed out.

“Hello? Are you still awake?”

Count Oreland took the amulet.

“He appears to be sleeping, may I know with whom I am speaking?”

“I am a close friend of the man who holds this amulet.”

“Harlan Fomoria. I will bring him into my home and make sure he can rest.”

“I will be picking him up at the gates to your home, nothing against you, but I think Harlan should wake up around a friend instead of a client.”

“I will accept this. He seems like that kind of man.”

“What kind of man do you see him as?”

“A man of principles, and an unthinkable monster.”

“That does seem to be a fair assessment. I hope to see him soon.”

Mary appeared at the gates, and despite the snow on the ground, she shivered not in her yellow sundress.

She carried him quite easily despite his weight and placed him in her bathtub before force fed him a tonic.

In a few hours he would wake up and find a note saying that he must wash himself before he is allowed to walk around.

But it was not a few hours, Harlan had not awoken until past midnight, finding Mary and Alrick passed out with an open bottle of liquor so strong that he needed magic just to avoid getting drunk as he put the lid back on.

He didn’t know what the bowl of white fluffy food was, and he was too tired to care.

So he moved the couple into a room and then ate the entire bowl before passing out again on the living room couch.

The night before.

Alrick, or rather, Xol, was starting on a late night snack when Mary, or rather, Marigold, walked in.

“Do you think he would like popcorn and hot chocolate? Should we wake him up?”

“I might’ve fucked up.”

“I’ll make him some.”

“I think I really fucked up.”

“Alright, how about you calm down just a little bit and we talk this through before you work yourself into a tizzy.”

“I sent him to the frontier to discover himself.”

“I remember you telling me that.”

“He went into a village, the one that I was thinking about killing that giant Lindwurm at.”

“Bearhold, right?”

“Bearfast. Bearhold was about 80 years ago and just down the road before that Lindwurm passed through on the way to find more food.”

“Right. And what happened then, he killed it, right?”

“That isn’t the problem. Something happened after he killed it and brought the meat back.

I visited the village after the news got out that 16 knights had been killed by one man.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Harlan killed them, from what I saw in the village, they never stood the slightest chance. Also, there is a Grand Typhoon Wyrm in the area, but that isn’t a problem yet. Then, when I went to pick him up, some noble’s army was there, dead; I’d guess 500 men, but the ones nearest to the blasts were vaporized.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Oh, so it was Harlan who was covered in blood when I went to use the bathroom?

What is the problem then?”

“I’m afraid I pushed him to find his truth too early and I sent him down a dark path. There was this… thing there that carried the carriage to the count’s home before it dropped dead.”

“Have you talked about why he killed them?”

“Not yet. I just wanted to find him and get him here as soon as I could.”

“Do you want Phoenix Plume?”

Xol pulled a bottle from his sleeve.

“No, I can’t get drunk before I speak with him.”

“Should I spike his drink?”

“Maybe… No, probably not.”

“More for me then.”

“This is serious.”

“3 years ago, you killed the highest political power in Reino. 43 years ago, you killed a duke. 108 years ago, you killed a king of Ragne. So what, the kid killed a bunch of knights. Big deal. Nobody gets as old as us without doing something like that.”

“Fuck it, give me a shot of that. You know what, he called himself a dragon.”

“The kid does have a certain flair that I really like. Pour me another shot.”

Mary and Alrick weren’t dressed when they stepped out in a hungover stupor. At least Marigold was hungover, Xol had instantly used magic when he woke up.

“I forgot, but I know there was something important I was doing last night. Last time I ever let you pull that stuff out.”

They kissed.

“You say that every single time. But as immortals, we need to cut loose every once in a while, make mistakes, be human.”

Harlan was looking dumbfounded at the couple but quickly shielded his eyes.

“Shit, sorry, I forgot you were here.”

“I can tell.”

Mary whispered to her husband as they hid around the corner.

“Do you think he heard us?”

“This is your house, not mine, I’m not judging you for what you do as adults.”

“I really wanted this reveal to be something special. We will get dressed and then talk, alright.”

The couple got themselves ready for the day, Marigold was feeling a french braid today. What was a french? She didn’t really know, but when Xol showed it to her that is what he called it.

Xol appeared before Harlan.

“Child of Shadows, awake from this dream, I will visit you in the real world soon.”

“That isn’t going to work on me.”

He really wasn’t sure where to go from here. Memory manipulation was… more of an art than a science, and Marigold was very much not a fan of when he used it on people in the past.

His wife called the two of them into the kitchen.

She was making omelets for breakfast.

“Harlan, what do you want to talk about first?”

“I’m not bothered by you two hiding who you are. I consider you a good, no, a great friend.

Why don’t we talk about me instead.”

Xol put his hands together and stopped looking like a skeleton.

“Yes, let’s.”

“Where should I start?”

“Bearfast.”

“Right, 16 knights tried to kill me when I refused to have the meat I had hunted stolen from me. I also fought a man I thought I could be friends with, an Ursa named rent. It… it hurt. I really thought that we had a moment when I let him have some Lindwurm egg, but he tried to kill me because that snake was his longstanding dream, and I took that from him.”

“His white whale.”

“Is that a magical creature?”

“Just ignore him when he says things like that.”

“Right, so there is a story called-”

“Honey, let Harlan finish his story.”

“Alright.”

“Anyway, I spared him, I can understand why he did what he did, and I really wasn’t in a lot of danger from him.”

“That is a great show of progress. I know it is easy to kill your problems, but sometimes people do what they do for reasons that you can understand and empathize with.”

Mary sent his plate down in front of him.

“Yeah, I think the biggest lesson I might’ve learned is how to see people as people. The count isn’t a bad man for having bad men working under him. Kalan is an Ibexian that I encountered. Spared him too, and his friend Unn. She took a hostage, someone I cared for. And I let her go, I nearly killed her brother. Actually, I don’t know if she meant brother in a literal sense or as a battle brother.”

“That one I am not sure about. People who take hostages are often those who believe in collateral damage as just a factor of doing a job. It is one thing that I do not agree with Sepul about. And it is why I am not friends with him. It is sometimes unavoidable, but to never even try to do something else is just terrible. What about yesterday? I saw the battlefield, it… let’s eat first. Then you can tell me. We can speak about good things until then.”

When they finished eating Harlan thanked her for the meal and complimented it as being second only to his mother’s cooking. Then he explained what had happened.

“Well, honey, that wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

Marigold sighed deeply.

“I thought you did something really bad last night, I was worried about you after seeing that battlefield and you covered in blood. So, about that whole, dragon thing. That was… what exactly?”

“Shit, did I say that?”

“You did.”

“I meant that I can be parts of a wyvern, the rage, the furocity. But I am not just those things, I am like a drake, docile, but when things get in their way, they don’t move without a damn good reason. So, you take the parts of both creatures and you can make a dragon out of it.”

“Boy, you got too hooked on the examples of the wyvern and drake and you twisted your words to make them fit. I think you can do better.”

“Honey, don’t bully him. I’m the one who put the idea of the wyvern and drake into his head in the first place.”

“Let me try again. I thought that I didn’t want to fight, but I do, not fighting is a choice, just like fighting.

If I lash out at people who slight me it will only make people, and make me, question my intentions when I really do need to fight for just cause. I think I should take my problems to the proper authorities before I resort to something that I want to do. The system is not evil, and I can fix it, because I cannot be everywhere at once.”

“Really? I think that shows a lot of personal growth. Why don’t we move to that?”

“It is a bit weird hearing you talk like Mary with that body.”

“I choose to be a counselor because it is where I can help the most people with the least force. Anyone can use unlimited power to make people bend the knee, but I want them to listen to me and choose to be better people without any tricks and magic to manipulate them.”

“Then you’ve done well. I mean, look at me. You turned a neurotic boy who was always a day away from causing a massacre into a boy who can choose not to do that. When Jas was taken, or, I thought she was, I was ready to tear 300 men limb from limb. I would’ve felt like it was right to do that, but I gave them a chance to explain. I also gave those men yesterday a chance to turn back. I announced myself, but they kept on anyway.”

“Anyway, I am just glad that you seem to have discovered yourself.”

Though it was not something most people could see, someone's aura could tell a lot about them. Perhaps in the future this is how Harlan could spread his empathy, but Xol put that thought away.

Harlan’s had always wavered, and it had always been clear, to those who could see it it was like heat waves off a hot stone.

Now, his aura was stable, firm, and black like a void around the edges, like a second skin.

“You are ready to learn gate.”

Mary kept cooking, it was a late breakfast and she had a lunch already planned.

“Why now?”

“Why do you think gate is so hard to learn?”

“It require a knowledge of dimensional that-”

Xol made a loud ERRRRRR sound that only he understood the meaning of.

“Wrong. Because it is so stupidly simple.”

“Huh?”

“All you are doing is telling the world, ‘hey, I want to be over there.’ Now, sure, some people do the spell with dimensional magic, but that is stupid. Just punch a hole in reality and walk through it. Divination is more important than anything, because it helps you to understand how to visualize your desires and make them take shape in the world itself. Close your eyes, and-”

“Honey.”

Her tone was not friendly.

“Why are you trying to make him open a gate at our dining room table?”

“Sorry. Did you learn any other magic while you were out there that you couldn’t explain, that it just clicked?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what you would call it, and I don’t completely know how it works, but it is like I can move my body and skip the part where I am actually moving, like a short range teleport.”

“This is why I said I wouldn’t teach you time magic, you found a time where you needed it, and your desire gave it to you. And since we got sidetracked, any more killing we should know about?”

“No, but I learned something else out there, I needed to lie better.

I could trick people who didn’t realize what I was, but for those who already have some idea in their head of what I am, I couldn’t do it without empathy. So, expect me to be lying far more often. Not to you or Adina though, just everyone else in my life. I think that covers it. But…”

What Harlan had noticed again now that she was cleaning up, and what bugged him, was that she did everything by hand.

“You are staring.”

Her back was turned, but she still felt his eyes on her.

“Sorry, but why don’t you use any magic?”

“It is important that you remember how to be weak. I knit by hand, I put together puzzles without divination, I make all of my noodles from scratch, I write with a pen instead of just magically moving the ink to the paper. When I had children, I barely touched them as infants, I used telekinesis to do everything dirty and nasty, and I felt that it negatively affected my relationship with them. A child needs to hear their mothers heartbeat, their touch. So if you make a nanny golem, I’m going to kick your ass just after Adina does.”

“You have kids?”

“Kids are baby goats. I had children. Three of them.”

Mary didn’t stop in her actions, she didn’t let it affect her tone.

“They are their own people and sometimes they do things that you can’t forgive and you need to then look at them as people. You are going to feel like you’ve failed yourself, your wife, everyone that they hurt.

You’ll want the world to swallow you up and never spit you back out. Remember that when you have kids.”

“I feel bad about making a joke.”

“The last of my children died 700 years ago, and they had no children of their own. I’ve had time to come to terms with what happened. And I set you up, so go for it.”

“I won’t have kids, I’ll have children.”

“With a stubborn goat for a father, they are going to be your kids.”

She had a warm smile, but the corners sagged just a bit. Coming to terms with it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“Why don’t you try to cast gate, here, I’ll teach you how to do it right.”

“I’m sitting right here, I can do it.”

She gave him a kiss and he went back to eating a muffin while reading a book and writing another with magic. Her lessons on the importance of feeling closer to normal were lost on the man, he had a life where he was weak already, he didn’t want another one in this world.