Cerila’s POV.

Tyldiur? That’s the name of the first War God…the one who defeated the Bloody Emper with Hubris as his sword and The Six and Dragon Emperors at his back. Could this really be him controlling me?

There was no other way to describe the feeling Sylvia was giving off other than immense dread. I was more than fearful for my life; I was so terrified I couldn’t move. And it wasn’t only me. Even Tyldiur, who apparently controlled my body, seemed mortified suddenly. I could feel his fear radiating into me.

And those words that came out of Sylvia’s mouth sounded like her voice, or at least what I had heard briefly beforehand, but…it was also completely different. I didn’t understand why with logic, but it felt more instinctual.

“Too many eyes for this…appears I’ll have to do something about it,” the deadpan voice said.

Sylvia’s body moved but at a slow, relaxed pace. Even that was enough to send my body darting backward at full speed to avoid the potential threat.

Sylvia stood up, her wounds wholly healed. The silvery-white metal was now the color of crimson blood. She sliced her hand, and a wave of red flew out, far more than what should have come from a wound.

She extended her hand and, with an expressionless look, nonchalantly said, “Blood Grounds.”

The wave of blood turned into a sphere and then expanded out in the blink of an eye. I felt it before it morphed into a sphere. It was similar to the feeling of an in-coming spell but a hundred times worse. It was so overwhelming I just believed that I was going to die no matter what I did.

But Tyldiur reacted and wrapped my body in a protective barrier of light. I could see through the barrier that the blood rushed past us, dying what seemed like the entire world in a red hue. The light barrier shimmed out, and now we were trapped in a dome of blood that encompassed the entire arena floor. The poor referee who should have been here was not. He must have been kicked out at some point. So it was only us in this new place.

“Mmm, I suppose if that were enough to incapacitate you, then things would have never gotten to this point,” Sylvia’s voice said calmly.

But there was a change. A new orb of blood had sprung out where she was, and slowly, a body drenched in the liquid made its way out. It wasn’t that of a girl but of a man.

He wore an elegant red, silver, and black robe that draped down to the floor. His long blonde hair fell down his shoulders and to his sides. His pointed High Elf ears were as pale as his porcelain skin. The man was wildly beautiful, even beyond what was considered to be the best-looking High Elves. And he just watched us with swirling, cold, impassive red eyes.

“This is impossible! We killed you and destroyed all the shards we could find! We scoured the entire world for your remnants! You shouldn’t be here, Talgan!” Tyldiur shouted in my voice.

“Don’t you know that when you build in silence, your enemies don’t know where to strike?” Talgan said in a soft, low voice. His voice was as elegant as his appearance.

Is that how I sound? Why do I sound so different from everyone else I’ve heard so far…and this… this is how The Blood Emperor sounded…

“And killed me, huh? I suppose I failed in the end. Well, no matter. Did you truly believe that I would allow you to bully my granddaughter with your bastardization of my rituals? You must have had years to interpret and then mimic me, but is this all you were capable of? I suppose this was all that Tyldiur, First of His Name, could muster in the end…using the souls of his unsuspecting successors to eke out a minor existence even after death,” Talgan stated confidently.

Wait? What does he mean by that? Using the souls—

Silence, girl, things have changed now! It’s us versus this abomination! Anything short of a victory will spell disaster for everyone!

“Look at you casting your magic, Tyldiur. How many souls did you extinguish just now? Ten? Twenty?” Talgan mocked.

“I don’t want to hear that from you!” Tyldiur shouted.

A thin beam of light went straight from the tip of Hubris and nearly instantly impacted Talgan. There was a bright flash and a thunderous boom, but when the light faded, Talgan just stood there, completely unharmed.

“My turn, right?” Talgan said as he raised his hand. “Blood Mist.”

A fog rose from the ground and dropped from the sphere of blood surrounding us. There was no sense of mana in it, but I knew that it was deadly as the feeling of its power was soul-crushing. I couldn’t even bring myself to try and control my body to move away from it. But then sudden warmth spread from inside of me, and Tyldiur’s voice rang in my head.

Listen, girl! Use wind magic, and keep the mist away from us at all costs! We must not breathe it in!

With the warning snapping me out of my hesitation and the impending doom closing on me, I did as he instructed. I may have hated Tyldiur and this situation, but dying was not an option. I wouldn’t die, not here. I still had so much to do and say.

A barrier of invisible wind whipped around us and buffeted against the mist. It felt easy as if the crimson mist was just a trick of the mind, not even a threat. But that was all not true. If we could block this, then maybe we—

My body jerked at high speeds, and before I realized it, we were running as tiny bolts of dark red blood began to miss us narrowly. The bolts were moving so fast I could barely track them, and for the ones that we couldn’t dodge, Tyldiur was forced to cut down with Hubris or magic.

And it was odd; the blood bolts would hit the ground, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched as they wobbled, morphed, and reformed, only to come right back toward us through the fog. We were forced to stand still, and I forced more mana into my wind barrier to knock the bolts away as Tyldiur sliced, smashed, and burned the blood. It felt endless, as if the blood would never abate.

Was this…can Sylvia even mimic a fraction of this power?

Focus girl! Our minds can not wonder for even a moment! We must strike at—

An enormous slash of blood whipped past us, cutting into the stone platform before with ease, leaving a wide gap. A piercing whistle sounded off, followed by a boom and the clinking of metal. The blood-red sword had flown out from the mist and forced us to our knees.

I could feel the blow in every inch of my body as it screamed out in pain. But thanks to Tyldiur’s light magic, the pain quickly abated. Tyldiur knocked the blade to the side and burst forward with an explosion of light magic. Blades of light and ice formed around us and whizzed through the red mist.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I heard it coming, and so did Tyldiur. We dodged to the side, and the red blade being dragged by a tendril of thick red blood went right past, nearly impaling us through the back. The next moment, we were clashing swords with a completely unhurt and unphased Talgan.

I could feel my muscles strain, then snap with every sword swing, only to be healed by light magic. Tyldiur was using every ounce of my strength with every swing. The crashing of metal on metal was deafening, yet Talgan seemed completely unbothered by it all.

His sword swings were perfect, consistently faster than ours, always more precise. He was reading us like an open book. And even with all the power behind me, he hadn’t so much as budged despite being on the complete defense.

“You bastard! Why aren’t you dead?! Why didn’t you just stay dead!” Tyldiur howled as he moved my body.

“The same could be said about you, no? You should know by now, Tyldiur. There is no carelessness in my actions, no confusion in my words, no imprecision in my thoughts. I foresaw this day, and many others, coming to fruition and planned accordingly. This is the difference between a man consumed by his emotions and a man who is not,” Talgan said calmly.

“Now that none of your friends or the Dragons are present to bail you…or it appears there is one…but he doesn’t seem interested. How unfortunate for you. But shall I remind you where you stand when you face even a fraction of my soul?”

I felt the intense bloodlust combined with the feeling of dread multiplied and overwhelmed us. It was hard to breathe, and we were sluggish, or maybe Talgan just moved that fast.

My vision swam as we were sent flying backward into the fog. Every bone in my arm holding Hubris was shattered into pieces, as well as my shoulder, and was thankfully immediately healed by the light magic coursing through me.

We landed on my feet, and when we looked up, there was just a blob of blood wobbling in front of us. Tyldiur launched a sword of light at it, but the blade disappeared into the thick blob.

Freeze the blood! Don’t let it explode!

I felt Tyldiur form a spell core along with me, and I launched a bolt of ice that lodged itself into the thick blood with a sickening gloop sound. Blue frost began to stretch and path out from the ice bolt, and a burst of light tore through the glob and scattered it.

I could feel Tyldiur’s relief at the spell's destruction, but that was short-lived as both realized something was wrong. The mist was being sucked away from us, and Talgan’s form appeared at a distance. The blood was coagulating and forming into halos that spun around Talgan. Also, there were other rings of much richer, purplish-looking blood mixing with the mist.

The Vampire gave off an ominous aura as he pointed his sword toward us and ordered, “Bind them.”

With the consistency of metal chains, the rings slapped the ground, kicking up dust and destroying the stone platform. They raced toward us with god-like speed, and the weight behind them seemed immense. And that was confirmed when Tyldiur tried to cut into one of them with Hubris, only to fail.

I used gales of wind to try and knock the chains away, but there wasn’t so much as a waver in their movements. I froze sections of the blood, but it just powered through. Tyldiur tried to burn it with light magic and destroy it with Hubris, but it was all fruitless in the end.

We tried to escape their grasp, but the halos shot out chains that threatened to wrap around us. We dodged, dived, and did everything to avoid them, but they were endless. And no amount of magic or blade could cut them down.

Eventually, they grabbed my leg and my arms and locked me into place. I wasn’t able to move as Talgan slowly and menacingly walked toward us.

This…I can not fail! I will not die to this bastard! This is not how it ends!

I felt a surge of power well up within my chest. It was painful, and it brought forth a scream from the depths of my body. I felt as if my soul was being ripped apart by mana.

Tyldiur managed to pull away for a moment as the chains slacked and weakened. He raised Hubris and shouted, “Hear me now, My Lord! Come forth once last time and slay our enemies in your name!”

For the first time, Talgan looked worried. His eyes narrowed, and he even took a step back. I watched as a thick blue and gold hazy aura emanated from my body. I could feel the mana in the air as it exploded out from me and tried to take shape.

But nothing happened.

“A shame, for you, that is. The Godlings abandoned you,” Talgan said with a hint of anger in his voice.

“No! It’s just been some time! I—”

The Vampire looked down his nose at us and interrupted with a sharp glare, “I attempted to warn you that this is what they did, that they always did this. You and everyone else were not sheep being guided to peace but to the slaughter. You outlived your usefulness, Tyldiur. Your little godling abandoned you just like The Forest Spirit of Lafvar did to those Wood Elves.”

“You’re wrong! You are blocking my connection to them! I can—”

Talgan suddenly appeared in front of us, and when I looked down, his blood-red sword was inside my chest. For some reason, there was no blood. I didn’t have the sensation of being stabbed or sliced. It was like the sword had gone through me completely.

“Silence, fool. Die and be lost to history like everyone else,” Talgan said in a low voice.

No! Girl, you must fight back! Don’t let—

There was a sharp pain deep in my chest beyond anything physical as Tyldiur’s voice cut out. I could feel that I gained control of my tired body, but as a surprise, the intense feeling of dread was gone. I looked up and right into the eyes of one of the most terrifying men to ever exist, but I felt none of the previous near-death as before.

“Fret not, as I have the steadiest hands in the west. Finally, I will free your soul from his thieving hands, and you will be safe, Little Fox,” Talgan said softly.

A sad look overtook his features as he frowned, “Unfortunately, I can only free the others now…”

I tried to say something to him, but the words wouldn’t come out. I…I had forgotten how to speak…or maybe I never knew in the first place? What… is this sensation?

“An odd feeling, I’m certain. Two souls are not meant to mingle within one physical home. I shall return your soul with interest, of course. None of this was your fault,” Talgan answered with a firm nod.

“Unfortunately, your memories will be scattered to preserve things. And I can not save your newfound hearing as it was born not of your soul. But you don’t need it. Little Fox, you must limit yourself to present.”

I—what?

“You wish to become the master of your fate, right? Do not endlessly replay your past mistakes and fret about the future you can not control as you are robbing yourself of your most precious resources: the here and now. Only in the present can you shape your actions and define your destiny. And then, only then, can you become the master of your fate as you truly desire, Cerila,” Talgan said with a fond smile.

I…I understand.

“I know you would. Remember, the world can not harm us if we do not allow it to. It is this refusal that you have already begun to believe in that opens the door to viewing the world in a place that doesn’t crush us but rather empowers us. Continue to view the adversity of your life as a mentor that shapes you into a stronger person,” Talgan said.

Thank you…for not killing me and helping me.

“Of course. This was always my plan. After all, you and I are quite sim—mm? Haha.” Talgan stopped himself mid-sentence and chuckled awkwardly.

“Would you look at this…her bloodline lives on…how fascinating,” Talgan said with wonder as he looked up the bloodied sky.

I craned my neck down and saw that a small amount of blue frost had appeared on the blood-red sword. It seemed to have spread from my chest.

“It appears I’ll be able to leave you with a little more than just words, Cerila. I will make certain that you do not forget this either.”

“If you wish to find the root of your power, then travel to frigid planes of southwest Amoth. Go as far as you can into the depths of that place. When you get there, become the cliff at which the waves continually break, but remember to stand firm and tame the fury of those around you,” Talgan said with a smile.

Wait—I don’t understand what that means. Where? Become a cliff? I—

“Unfortunately, our time will be cut short, Cerila. This shard of my power is all but depleted, and I still require some of it to remain. There is also a most troublesome man who wishes to see you and my granddaughter very much,” Talgan grumbled as he looked up at the spherical barrier of blood above us.

“He is an interesting one…that man. Well, I’m sure I’ll get a chance to set him straight one day. In the meantime, Cerila, remain strong in your current endeavors. I wish you the best of luck,” Talgan said with a final nod.

My vision began darkening, and I watched a large grin spread across Talgan’s face. Not one of an evil man but the same one I would see Kaladin have when holding Mila.

“The things a man does for his family…”