She was in his head, lodged in like a tumor. In his sleep she dominated his dreams, puffs of magenta clouds cascaded across his consciousness, and amidst the haze of powerful color, she lounged as if his mind was a couch.

Then in his waking moments, as if not enough that he should have no privacy within his mind, she spoke to him. Urging him to do things, to reason in ways that were foreign to him.

Rehny carried the refuse of the previous night's solitary feast to the pigs behind his tiny wooden shack. The pigs recognized him and his purpose within their enclosure. They oinked and crowded his legs as he dropped the refuse at his feet. Six pigs, two who were expectant. Soon their numbers would swell and he'd need to expand their enclosure. Here within the North Eastern point of Binoria and the South Eastern point of Talisi. Where the terrain was rough and one could spot an oncoming party from miles away across the plain, Rehny had made his refuge.

The solitude suited him. How many times did he crave an end to war? To not have armor's weight dragging his limbs. To discard of the sword and the death it spelt. Here, miles away from civilization, he was alone, free of any obligation to his fellow man. To the left side of his tiny shack, he grew vegetables and behind the shack was a Galiu meal plantation that was modest yet capable of sustaining a single man.

Peace. He was at peace at last. He ran his hand through his pink hair, observing the midday sun's curve upon the cloudless sky. Rain was scarce, the land wasn't suitable for farming. The grasslands were miles away meaning the ground didn't favor livestock rearing, a normal man would not be able to survive in these parts. But he was no normal man, Rehny housed a Goddess whose power coursed through his veins. Enabling him to do things regular men could not. Things like run the ten mile journey to the stream way east where he carried water for the crops and the pigs.

A waste of my power. Nyawe, the Goddess of Love spoke within his mind. The realm is at the brink of war, a darkness stains the land, it will grow and encompass all within it. Failure to act now means that you will reap sorrow instead of your meager crops.

Rehny sighed and chuckled to himself. Immediately feeling Nyawe's irritation at his ignorance. He realized that if he played the fool, if he answered her remarks with silence, she withdrew from him. As if love found idiocy unattractive. But didn't love render fools of men? It was quite the conundrum, one he didn't wish to ponder lest he awakened the Goddess's curiosity.

He closed the pigs' enclosure started making his way to the empty hundred liter drum. A single man couldn't carry its weight while full but he hefted it easily. He looked forward to the noon runs to the stream, how fast the land passed beneath his feet, the beat of the wind upon his face. And the journey back, how easy it was to carry the weight of the water. With such strength, with such power, he could raze empires to the ground. He could start and finish civilizations at a whim. Even The Vigons' strength was miniscule compared to his.

Yet here is where he preferred to be. Away from his fellow man, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowds where the strings of love were a network easily visible to his naked eye. Where he drew the attention of every man and woman for he embodied their deepest desires, to find love, to be loved. His renewed youth, flawless white skin that gave off a pink glow at times, hands free of callouses, pink hair and magenta eyes. Marked him as ageless, a deity of sorts. His body had transformed, the scars he was so used to carrying were no more. And when he had first stared at himself in the mirror, he only saw a stranger. So now, he fought to hold onto his identity, his personality, his desire to live as he deemed fit. This were the only things he sought to care about.

And the distance from the crowds lessened the pain, the pain of lost love, those strings of attachment tied to each mortal. Those strings when severed bled pink light into the air as if giving a silent cry to anguish. And the light found its way to Rehny, making him glow, making him powerful and making him feel the pain that had assailed him for the better part of his life but a thousand fold. But here, so far away from people, he was free of said pain.

No you're not! Nyawe screamed in his mind and the serenity he'd fostered crumbled as the dam she'd put in place to shield him from the recent events of war at the Ganidan Plain crumbled, he felt it. The death of thousands under the hands of Ishar, under madness and chaos. The loss of love that had flowed into him, the pain... so much pain. He knelt down, tears streaming down his eyes.

"Cut it off!" He spoke between clenched teeth.

This pain you so avidly avoid, you can use it. Use it to go beyond the limits of mankind, to ascend yourself. Here, far from civilization where your influence is none existent, you give strength to the darkness that is ever growing. The pain receded, the dam put back in place. He felt her lilting voice beside his left ear, as if she took mortal form just to speak to him. I can feel him, Rehny, the bringer of the endless night. He is here upon the realm, and this pain you avoid. It will come as a wave you cannot escape, a cresting wave that will wash over the whole realm. And with its passing love will die, for there will be no one left to love.

Fear gripped him at her words, there was an urgency to them, one he'd been ignoring for a while now but for some reason the direness of her predicament was almost palpable. He shrugged it off as one would a heavy coat. There is peace in solitude, he believed, and I aspire to keep it so.

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She laughed then, in his mind. A melody of a laugh, merry, rich and laced with seduction as all she is always is. Rehny, look to the west, they come, they will never leave you. Your role is far from done.

He turned to the west, peered into the distance at the miniscule figures making their way towards him, his eyes were like a hawk's. He saw them on their horses. Their red armor made it clear who they were, twenty of them, quite a large party for a solitary man. Huge swords adorned the scabbards at their side, peace was the last thing on their minds. "Fuck." Rehny said. "Binorians." She laughed again, pleased with the end to his solitude.

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Rehny had three options. He could outrun the horses coming towards him, he wasn't sure he could outrun a horse but he felt like trying to do so would be so much fun. But that would mean the loss of his pigs and his crops. He'd have to start afresh, till the land anew. He wasn't eager to do so. Rehny could fight the twenty Binorians who were clearly visible now and making a bee line towards him across the plain. He could fight them, but it seemed they were prepared for that judging from the way they carried themselves. Warriors in every sense of the word. His exploits upon the Ganidan plain was common knowledge at this point. He was a Binorian who'd turned on Binoria, the first and only man to ever do so. The third option was to hear them out, that seemed like the more reasonable of the three.

Your three options are puny. The Goddess Nyawe spoke within his mind. The approaching party is made of eight women and twelve men. The one at the lead is a woman, battle hardened. She has never loved, love is a foreign thing to her. See how her aura is restricted to her person? All she knows is duty, death and loyalty. Take her to your bed, let my blessing flow through you and into her, she will be yours and you will have control over all of them.

Nyawe's words startled him just as the horsemen drew their reins at the entrance to his wooden shack. They dismounted in an orderly fashion, spelling that they were a band who'd braced different terrains together. The face of the leader was unfamiliar as she drew free her helm and marched towards him in a nonchalant yet even gait with her party marching close behind her. Her eyes were blue, her skin pale, blonde hair plastered to her head with sweat. And her jaw was square, lips pressed tight. Her nose was crooked but when she smiled at him, her features were lit with a singular purpose and all he could think was, charming.

"Commander Rehny." She started. "Aren't you a pretty sight. You look younger, or did you dye your hair to make yourself look younger? Say, what happened to the scar across your cheek? What's your skin care routine? Seems to be doing wonders for you."

"I'm a former Commander." He said. "Haven't you heard? I betrayed Binoria."

"Oh. We know." Her smile receded and in its place was rage. Then, that receded too and nonchalance once more marred her features. "I don't know if you've heard but Binoria is ruled by a Queen now." She said. She turned her head to the side and spat thick phlegm. "She gave me my current position, Captain of this bunch of bleeding idiots." She motioned her hand behind herself, waving at those behind her. "Women empowerment and all that."

"Quite the step in the right direction really." Rehny said. "I'm all for women empowerment."

The Captain laughed, a laugh that lacked humor. She took a step back, tilted her body at an angle adjacent to Rehny. She's a viper this one. I like her, she's poised to strike, a command issued at the same time will have them all on you. Nyawe said.

I can handle them. Rehny thought.

Their death will spell your pain, see those behind her. He looked, the strings of love ran between their legs, crisscrossed between the men and women in a complex mesh. They love each other, they all love one another save for the Captain. Meena has revealed your weakness to her Champion, she sent a party specifically designed to handle you.

The Captain spoke then, "We've been given orders, Rehny, orders to bring you in. To stand trial for you crimes against Binoria." She raised her hand and rested it on the pommel of her sword. "We can do this the hard way or the easy way." She said.

Rehny nodded. "Well then, if I prefer the hard way?" He spread his feet, anchoring his position.

"Draw." The Captain commanded. Swords flew free of their scababards, held at an angle in the Form of Sleight from the bodies of those she commanded. "The hard way involves a lot of blood."

Rehny prepared to launch into an inevitable battle but Nyawe, as always, intervened with her own reasoning. Tell her that her eyes remind you of the Rankf Sea, the irises like miniature leviathans swimming within a pool of blue.

What the fuck?

Just do it.

Rehny sighed, turned to the Captain, smiled. "Your eyes remind me of the Rankf Sea, the irises like miniature leviathans swimming within a pool of blue."

They stared at each other. Then the Captain burst out laughing, she laughed so hard she almost doubled over. She raised herself and wiped a tear from her eye with a gauntleted hand. "Gods, the last guy who told me that got a punch in the nose." She said. "Aren't you charming, Commander?"

The Goddess spoke more words to him.

He smiled. "Charming? Yes. But why did you punch Viktor? He loved you and it frightened you, didn't it? The thought of being tied to someone, to have your hopes and dreams shackled to the existence of another. Frightening thing wasn't it? And your answer was always to punch and ask questions later. Ever quick to spill blood, ever hesitant to give your heart." He took a step towards her, her eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open.

"How do you know Vikto—" She started.

"I know everything concerning love," Rehny said. "And he loved you, even after you punched him. Insulted him, demeaned him for wanting to be in the Legions. Even until his dying breath he loved you." Rehny shook his head from side to side. "Yes, run away from love all you want, but you lose in the end, Satheth, every step that takes you further from it drives you closer to the very loss you seek to escape."

Satheth lunged at Rehny, the sword at her side suddenly free of its scabbard. A yell emanated from her mouth as she dedicated her every being into the sword thrust, Rehny side stepped, gripped her by the neck and drove her to the ground in one swift motion.

Release. Nyawe commanded.

Rehny dug within the woman he held pinned to the ground, to that cold desolate space where she'd made her dwelling, free from love, free from the obligations required by love. And beneath that place he saw the barrier holding back the flood of all that Nyawe represented.

"Break." He commanded.

And the barrier broke and pink light, visible only to Rehny was released, engulfing the woman. She screamed out the same word over and over, without cease and those she held command over stood aghast as their Captain cried out. "Viktoooor! Viktoooor! Viktoooor!"

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