I wiped the blood off. Jade came walking down the stairs to see what was making all the noise.

“Where’s Chryssie?”

“She’s still upstairs. I told her to not come down.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want her to receive any sort of unhealthy stimulus.”

“...” Jade stayed silent. She wanted to say something - I knew it. From the time that we had lived together, I knew her habits and behavior well.

“What do you want to ask?”

“Does it pain you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Killing. You’re very different from what you were before. Both physically…and mentally.”

“Hardship changes people. Betrayal…then the death of those close to me. You begin to become cold-blooded too…and life begins to lose all meaning.”

I didn’t tell her that I was also being influenced by the 72 Commandments. Bloodthirst…hatred…all of my negative emotions were being magnified. The sealing wasn’t working anymore.

I took a deep breath. “If it means that you’re safe, and the world has one less evil person…so what?”

Jade shook her head. “Hardship does change people.”

I stopped polishing my sword for a second. “Before you change the world…the world will change you first.”

Jade nodded her agreement.

Suddenly, a sharp rapping came from the door. I sighed.

“ᚹᛟᛟᛞ: ᚠᛟᚱᛗ.” Wood: Form. The floorboards opened up to allow the bodies and the carnage to fall under the floor. I sealed them up. I waved my hand, and the binding on the door undid itself. I opened the door.

“Come-” A wheel of silver sliced towards my face. I calmly raised a hand, and caught the blade between my thumb and pointer.

“What is the meaning of this?” A large troop of approximately 10 people were outside.

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“Give us the home. Die little bastard!” One of the soldiers in the back unlung their longbow, took aim at me, and released the arrow.”

I swung the long sleeves of my robe to deflect it. “Now, now. Must we do this? I’m sure we can -”

Three more arrows raced towards my face. I sighed. The smoky wings collected on my back once more. I allowed the churning dark emotion that lay in my mind these past two months…to erupt.

Opened my hand. My sword flew straight to me. I caught it and swung it four times in the blink of an eye. Once to kill the one who had attacked me first. Three times to deflect the three arrows. My blade’s single red line gleamed ominously in the freezing winter morning light. I moved.

One, strike straight through the heart. Two, throat slit

Three blades came at me. I circled my blade, forcing them all off to the side. Three stabs. Through the eyes. One. Two. I missed the third one. The smoke around me grew darker and heavier. The two I stabbed through their eyes sockets collapsed to the ground, their brains pierced and ruined. The third escaped with his life, but lost his left eye. I don’t miss.

“Second Commandment: Bloodthirst!” My sword flared a dark red color. My own body began to emit a slight red mist. Bloodthirst essentially burned my own blood at a slow rate. This gave me triple the speed and strength. But it was dangerous in that as soon as my blood burned below half, I would most likely die from blood loss.

So to prevent that from happening…I had to take blood from others. The blood from the dead bodies began to slowly float towards me. I breathed in the cold winter air, and felt nothing but unlimited power course through my veins.

“Mist!” It was Jade. She looked at me, with a hurt expression. “You…you…”

“I’m sorry…I didn’t tell you.” I looked to the side, guilty and afraid to meet her eyes.

I hefted my sword and turned back to face the troop.

“Wait!” Jade ran up behind me. “Let me help you.”

Her eyes flashed a bright green. I looked at her pale face, slightly pink from the cold. “I can handle them.”

“I know.” She cupped the sides of my face and pulled my head closer to her. Then, she suddenly kissed my eyelids. I felt a shadow cross my face, and then suddenly, it was her soft lips pressing against my eyes.

Suddenly, a heat erupted from the base of my skull, and shot like arrows into my eyes. It was only a moment of burning pain…and then it was gone. My eyes remained warm, warm to the point where it would be easy to imagine that I was either crying.

And then…when she pulled away, I saw my reflection in her irises. Like a mirror. My eyes flashed too.

Jade gripped my hand. “Kneel.” I found that I was unable to resist.

Thump! I knelt on one knee before her.

“Jade…what did you do to…”

“I’m making sure you don’t lose control. And I’m also giving you another power. Don’t rely on those cruel abilities of yours.”

I nodded. Though there was a voice in my head that kept yelling at me to hear her to shreds…No! How could I ever…It was a good thing that she was restraining me.

“Mist Ji. I, the princess of the Medusa Clans, tie your heart and soul to my hand. You are my blade, and mine alone. I open the chains over your eyes, and welcome you as a Medusa, the vision-blessed of the Ancients. I empower you…so that you may empower me. I title you as one of my Khamgaalagch, my personal guard. Do you swear fealty to me? Do you swear to serve me without an ounce of betrayal in your heart?”

I shuddered as I felt invisible chains being looped over my limbs. My instinct screamed to escape. To resist those bonds…but my rationale kept me there. I needed someone to harness my power. To rein me in. And I trusted Jade more than anyone else.

“I swear, my heart, my soul, and every last drop of blood in my body to you in service. I swear my fealty. The earth may be washed away by the waves of the sea, and mountains may crumble…the sea may dry up, the sky may shatter. But my loyalty to you will never waver…”

“Arise…” I stood before her. I looked around us. They had all been turned to stone. “I turned them to stone as soon as we began the rites. You’re not actually my servant…it’s just part of it.” Her face flushed red.

“I meant every word I said.” I smiled at her.

“There! They’re over here-” A voice yelled. It was one of the villagers. And behind him was an enormous number of soldiers, fully armed. They took one look at the surrounding area…and charged us.