“Okay. Today is the day.”

Tomas was in control of my body once again, and he was pacing back and forth on the grassy slope at the edge of the forest. The signs of life had spread pretty far now, almost reaching the raised of Death’s Castle. The building was just noticeable in the distance, its five towers piercing the sky. It looked even more impressive, not to mention impregnable, in the light of the sun.

The walls of the castle had always seemed gray to me, the dominant color in this plane. But now that the sunlight graced it with life, the most obvious color I could notice was white. Just like the walls of Tomas’s home, the walls looked clean and pristine, with dark gray tiles on the roofs of the towers for variety.

“Taking back the castle will be the easy part,” Tomas continued. “It resides within Granis, so the energy that Silas and I use will be a great boon.”

Convenient, I muttered in my head. But it’s inside that will be the real problem.

“Yes,” Tomas said, attracting confused looks from Marisha, Tamotsu, and Mikel. “But we have something for that as well.”

Before I could ask exactly what he meant by that, he dropped down on one knee and placed both of his hands on the ground. His eye closed in concentration, and his lips began to move in some kind of silent prayer. The mannerism was almost identical to when he’d drawn out Granis’ energy, but I couldn’t sense any shift in the energy of the area.

“Ancient Beast Granis, lend me your power,” he said, now speaking his prayer aloud. “Grant me the mantle of the pack, so that I may divide and conquer my enemies.”

Bewildered, I felt something move within the earth. I don’t mean right underground. I felt something respond, miles under the grassy slope. It was as if something ancient had stirred, and reached out to comply with Tomas’s prayer. A surge of energy flared into life, racing for the surface at incredible speeds. It burst out of the ground at six points, visible in its density.

The pillars of energy began to condense and solidify, forming six identical copies of a familiar shape. It took a second for me to recognize them, but it was clear. Six copies of my own body were now standing around me in a circle, all facing Tomas. The only difference between our appearances was the color of our eyes. Much like Tomas, they had ice-blue eyes.

What are they?

“These are your Guard,” Tomas explained, rising to his feet once more. “Think of them as autonomous copies that can fight at your level. Additionally, you can control them at will, either by issuing them commands or by taking over their body.”

What happens if I take one of them over? Who will be in my body then?

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“If you are in one of them, then naturally, I will take over your body, and continue the fight. But without your spirit, the body will be stuck in the same condition I received it. So don’t expect me to be able to take over and use my full power.”

I thought about that for a few moments. Despite that last obvious shortcoming, it was still a handy power to have. They were essentially formed from energy, so I didn’t think they’d be too hardy in a fight, but even an idiot like myself couldn’t deny the usefulness of having six copies to use.

“That should be about it,” Tomas said. “We’ll wait a little while longer before we attack. Towards the end of their shift, the guards will be tired, and we can take the castle much faster. It’s a shame.”

What’s a shame? I asked.

“Oh, just that we may have to damage the castle. It’s a beautiful building. I remember making it to serve as the passage. It’s kind of like my personal passion project.”

I snorted at his explanation. It’s just a building. And I doubt we could cause so much damage as to destroy it.

Either way, our small party retreated a bit further into the cover of the trees to wait. As we lounged around, I noticed an occasional swarm of sprites, the small blue insect-like creatures that had been a part of my training with Master Tamotsu. They didn’t try to bother me or any of the clones, but they occasionally dive-bombed the others, only to be vaporized by their defensive screens.

Tamotsu dozed as we waited, his even breathing making the rest of us drowsy. In an effort to keep myself awake, I paced around our temporary campsite, trying to prepare myself for the fight ahead. The memory of almost a hundred reapers rushing to kill me did nothing to soothe my nerves, of course, so I tried to think of something else.

Predictably, my mind turned to thoughts of Marisha for comfort. I glanced over at her and saw that she was dozing as well. Her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell slowly as she breathed deeply. She was as relaxed as possible, and I felt captivated by her calm face. Just looking at her helped alleviate a great deal of my stress.

Finally, I gave up my pacing and sat down next to her. Her eyes opened slightly as she felt my presence, and she offered me one of her dry smirks as a welcome. I grinned back, not sure if the emotion was genuine or not, and stretched out on the ground next to her.

“Big day, huh?” She asked me. “You ready for this?”

“I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?” I replied, keeping my voice to a whisper so only she could hear me. “But I have to do it, so I may as well get it over with.”

“That’s the spirit,” she said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, I know you’ll do great.”

“What makes you so sure?” I asked with a wry smile.

“I happen to be an excellent judge of character,” she said. “Besides, I like you, Silas. It’d be a shame if you failed. So don’t fail.”

“You like me?” I said, trying to sound casual despite the sudden lurch of my heart. “Well, that’s one thing cross off my bucket list.”

She punched my arm, but I couldn’t help but notice that she shifted closer to me at the same time. Her head was resting on my shoulder now, and my arm curled around her back almost of its own free will. She went back to dozing, her breath tickling my chin. I let out a long breath and felt myself doze off as well.

Whatever comes will come, I thought to myself. But after I’m done fixing this, I deserve a break.