I was now back inside my mind, but I would still not yield to them! My mind was my own and they would not break me. Then a dominant presence commanded me to show what I had done back in the village.

But I was not where they wanted me. There was endless darkness around me, which blended into shades of crimson and lightless rock. In front of me were shadows upon the sharp walls of black and red, and a cloud of thick smoke filled the air. Shadows danced up and high and swirled on the rough theater of granite.

For a moment, I was by myself and my thoughts. Then the presence was there overlooking me, and then came another beside him. They wanted me to go back and show them what I had done. But I refused and strongly they willed me to do their bidding.

“Why did you leave me?” I heard a voice suddenly appear out of the shadows. The two intruders of my mind shook in fear and I heard from far away a single cry of terror. They had heard the voice as well! I looked down and there on the jagged rocky ground was a shaft of black iron, dark and gnarled, its body hidden away in the shadows.

“Who are they?” the voice asked, low and whisperous. The invaders recoiled, and I could almost taste their fear on my tongue, an addicting saccharine taste of fear.

Then a sharp cold entered my mind, a careful weight that wanted to drag me away and into the light again, into the village again. But I did not go.

“They cannot be here! I do not allow it,” the voice boomed around me, us, again and the shadows deepened. On the walls, the red flames danced ever higher. From so very far away, I heard two voices wail and quickly many steps rushed toward them. Faintly did the voices tell me to leave this place, to go where all the dead were. Where I had felled the beast with thought and lightning. But they did not know how the beast fell. Should I show them? Would they believe me then?

I felt a sudden need to show them my innocence! It had not been I who had killed all those in the village. It was I who found the light-haired twins in the rubble and gave them life again. I was innocent! Or at least… I thought I was. There were no memories before the massacre, only the endless dark and then a flash of light and then the cold and wet mud. What was before that?

What or who was I before that?

One of the intruders, the thick and heavy one, commanding but without profound insight, had said I resembled the beast-men in the village. Was that true? I looked down at myself, but there was only a body of dim light, held back by a forgotten thought.

Then underneath me, smooth stones blurred into existence out of the jagged rocks of the cave. They arranged themselves in endless rows, spanning before me and behind me.

“Don’t go,” the deep voice cried out, but grew quiet and was already far away. “You can’t leave me alone again!”

But I was now in another place. I was back in the village, or what seemed like the village at first. There was a light shining in the sky, but it was piercing and cold, not the One Light where all begins and ends, but one I had made for myself.

The two intruders were faint now. Before I felt their terror, now I felt their pain. I could barely feel their oppressive weight on my shoulders and with great caution did they order me forward, to show them what had happened here in Veneiea. But in moments, their orders turned to mere cries. They trembled more now and for a moment, their weight upon me loosened, and I ripped myself free of their grip.

I looked back and saw two shadows, small and weak, standing wearily in front of me. They were cowering, still crying out their meek orders in desperation. They were two—the one who was thin and could bend but not break. He saw far, but understood less. The other who was wide and firm like an oak, but its roots hid in darkness.

“No! You must show us what you did!” they repeated and lessened in size, fading away into grey. I grew taller. I grew wider and the Light above brightened.

No! In here I am! Not them.

I stepped forward, cast my sight down, and before me, they were cowering. Small and almost begging.

Mine! I thought and reached out with my luminous arm. They were in my world, to command them as I willed!

As my hand reached them, a shriek of panic burst through the veil of the otherworld, and within a moment, everything faded into a dull and cold place. Dark curtains and carved stone walls were there again, and the smell of sour sweat permeated all. The cursed ache returned to my side and a new dull pain in my jaw was there now. I was back where I had been only moments before—sitting down in the chair, in my freezing nakedness.

I saw Captain Dion’s wild eyes looking down at me and rubbing her gloved hand.

“What did you do!” she hissed, grabbed my chin, and squeezed hard. “What did you do?”

“I…” is what I said before I discovered everyone was now gathered in a half-circle around me.

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I looked in front of me and down at the floor. Philemon Petridies was kneeling and wiping his drenched face into his sleeve. The man’s arms and legs were shaking, and the perfectly combed hair was a damp mess. With one hand he again dried his face, with the other he smoothed the thick hair back in place. He said nothing and looked away.

To my right, leaning against the red padded chair, was Lord Commander Ardovar Verrier. Beside him, Sofia Dion was kneeling and holding a hand to his shoulder, but this time he did not swipe it away as yesterday. Ardovar was panting, and his worried expression from before was now distressed and confused. Like the dean, his forehead was damp, and his armpits, chest, and back soaked through. After a while, he stood up with uneven legs, and Sofia held his arm. This time, Ardovar let her.

But next to the fireplace, standing alone and not in shock, but with narrowed eyes and lips stretched thin, stood the woman with golden braided hair like a bright beacon. It was almost painful looking at her with my thoughts made of darkness and cold. And there she was, idly fiddling with a necklace that was over her shirt now. But she was not really looking at me, but seemed to be in deep thought and looking into the distance. I would’ve looked away, and to the Lord Commander, or dean Petridies, but she held my attention.

And there was something about the tiny metallic thing that almost deeply punched my gut. I felt a stirring there, but could not place it. For my entire stay in the prison cell, and in the interrogation room, I had felt little other than pain. In my heart, there was little more than cold and uncaring thought. In the village they called Veneiea, I had felt anger and rage, and only gazing upon the Sun stirred my heart awake. Everything else was frozen and motionless.

I looked back up at the medallion. She was tracing its edges now, still lost in thought and looking away.

Why was I captivated so by her necklace? It was as if I was bewitched. I did not notice the Captain step away from the Lord Commander and stand in front of me. She drew her sword and pointed the tip at my throat. The blade was cold and straight, and the edge was sharp.

“Don’t you dare move, filth!” she hissed through her teeth and pressed the blade into my skin. It drew blood. “If you even think of using your magic, I’ll drive my sword into your throat cut you down.”

From far away, I heard a shocked Philemon mumble: “How’d he do that?” He rubbed his closed eyes. “Who did you bring here, Sofia…”

The heavy Lord Commander dragged his feet and stood a few paces away and stared me down, having regained some confidence. “You resisted!” he said.

The first words I uttered here were: “I’m innocent!” My voice was hoarse and my throat was irritated and words had left my lips slowly. Talking felt strange, like something I had not done in ages, but only distant memories of it lingered somewhere deep down.

“Silence, beast,” Sofia Dion said, and raised her sword higher, right under my chin. Something wet dripped down on my chest again.

Philemon Petridies walked from behind Ardovar, kneeled to my right, and said: “You had to tell us what you did in Veneiea! But—”

“You meant to frame me guilty of all those deaths!” I said in a rough half-whisper and coughed hard.

“You lie!” the Lord Commander roared and grabbed my neck.

“I heard it from your own mouth. And yours!” I turned to Philemon and stared into his dark grey eyes. I sensed hesitation there. He was off balance. He had not expected this to turn out this way and now he was at a loss on what to do.

Not even waiting for an order, Captain Dion grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands now, held it firm against my upper neck, and stepped close. Her eyes were wild and radiating off her was rage. “Say the word, Ardovar, and I’ll cut his throat right here!”

“No!” Philemon Petridies then roared. “There will be no shedding of blood on the Academy floor! Never has anyone been executed here, and never in my time, there will be! Captain Dion, stand down!”

“Yes, sir,” she said with poison in her voice. But she obeyed and lowered the pale blade to rest on my chest.

“I’ll break his mind, then,” Ardovar said, not waiting for the dean’s word. “Sofia, would you please? And Warden Regalla as well… Hold him down!”

“With pleasure, Commander,” Sofia said and, while holding her sword in her right hand, reached around my neck with the other.

The still-shaking Philemon Petridies stood and watched silently a few paces away, but did nothing this time. He did not allow a crude execution, but breaking someone’s mind was fine for him, it seemed. He scratched the skin around his index finger’s nail until it bled, barely noticing it. But the Captain’s hold on my neck tightened hard, and I felt the coarse fabric of her coat rub my skin raw. She smelled of sweat and her anger was so great that she could barely hold herself back.

“This will only hurt a bit,” she said with a wicked tone into my ear, so that nobody else could hear. There was no doubt she was about to enjoy Ardovar’s mind-breaking spell. “You’ll be a slivering, broken body in mere minutes. And I’ll take joy in dragging you along in front of the council.”

I tried to summon strength. There had to be something I could do, but the cursed cut on my side pulsed ever greater, and I could not suppress its effects no longer. The mind-dampener’s pain was subsiding, but what took its place was utter exhaustion.

Not hesitating another moment, the Lord Commander took up position in front of me. He stretched his finger joints against his forearm with a frowned brow, mentally preparing himself. I knew that the Lord Commander was not bluffing about breaking my mind. He was already preparing for it and I felt his mind expand and it filled the chamber. Air was heavier and there was a pressure around my skin. I should’ve mentally readied myself, put up what defenses I could, and retreated into my mind. But I couldn’t.

Before starting, Ardovar turned towards the Warden. She but for a moment looked into the distance, but shot her eyes back to me with a face painted with worry. She was still tracing the outline of her necklace with shaking hands. It was then that I saw it clearly—it was an old medallion in the shape of a fish, with its features dull and worn out. She had been rolling this thing between her fingers for all this time, but by now, suddenly, her eyes widened and she took a step forward.

She was gripping the metallic thing now, and her eyes were huge and I saw her lips tremble. I felt her emotions—every single emotion was blended into each other and it was a storm, heavy and fierce. They were in such tumult that I could not point a single one out. Then I felt the deep pit in my stomach expand… somehow. How could one even describe this feeling?

Something awoke from deep within, but I could not make sense of it.

“Warden?” Ardovar asked, and shot a glance at her. “Is something wrong? I see—”

My eyes looked up and deep into hers while she looked into mine. I saw tears welling up and her lips tremble, but her eyes were still wide like she could hardly believe what was happening.

Suddenly she sobbed: “Jonas!” and, arms wide, leaped into me.