I glared at the surge of soldiers. My blood began to boil again, and I felt the familiar hiss of my blood burning away.

“Wait!” Jade placed her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t. There are many other ways to overcome this. For example…you may use your new eyes.”

I let out a breath. My blood returned to normal, and the smoke around me faded.

Jade’s finger let out a soft stream of light that flew towards my eyes. And I felt the sensation from earlier. The invisible chains over my limbs. But it was different now. While the chains tightened over my limbs, my head felt filled with power. And they released through my eyes. My eyes burned, no, blazed with power…I could destroy anything with the simplest glance…

I opened them. The face of a soldier loomed before me. He swung a halberd at me. I looked at him…and just like that, from his pupils, the stone crept across his face, down his neck, and across his arms. Inch by inch, the stone slowly entombed him…until he was nothing more than a statue.

Another soldier swung a blade at him. I turned my head to look at him. He instantly turned to stone.

“Medusa’s…Eye…” My eyes blazed with light and power. I glanced back at Jade, to see that her eyes were flashing the familiar jade-green. And the people that saw my eyes turned to stone…those that saw her eyes, became stunning statues of jade.

“Royal blood Medusas turn those that look into their eyes into jade, not stone.” Jade said calmly.

By now, the troop had backed off, and looked at us warily, careful not to meet our eyes. They backed away, and a couple people came to the front. They all held shields polished like mirrors. I shook my head in disappointment. Mirror shields? Seriously.

Legend had it that the first Medusa had been slain by a warrior clad in mirror-like clothing, for the medusa happened to glance upon her own face in the mirrors and was petrified by her own magic. Stunning how stories change over time.

No, it was not a simple mirror shield. It was a Reflection Spell, which reflected any incoming damage right back at the caster. And it wasn’t the simple work of one reflector. After reflecting the petrifying stare, they had to work on trying to cut through Medusa's Law of Earth. Altogether, it required about fifty Sword-Saint level warriors constantly attacking her for three days and three nights, non-stop to finally kill her.

I had not thought that this story had become that the Ancient would be so weak that a simple mirror shield would kill them. The only time that it’d work would be against Medusa of the most impure blood. Their petrifications would backfire. But against any Medusa of higher bloodline? It was about the same as a pile of broken glass. And against Jade, who was of royal blood?

Jade’s eyes flashed with power. The soldiers watched with horror as the mirrors themselves turned to a solid piece of jade.

“How pure is my blood?”

Jade glanced at me. “Pretty pure. The Khamgaalagch Rites will purify the blood of the person that’s bound.”

“How pure is pretty pure?”

“I don’t know exactly. Our tribes always talk about purity so that the blood on your own reaches far back into the eons all the way back the Ancestral Medusa’s blood. Once you reach it, you're able to use part of the power that she had back in her day. The royal blood is about 75% of the original Medusa’s blood. Purer royals reach about 80%. For you…I’d guess it's about sixty percent.”

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I suddenly blurted out another question before I could stop myself. “How pure does one’s blood have to be if they want to be a royal consort?”

Jade paused and looked at me strangely. “A royal consort? Why? Do you want to be one?”

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. Why the hell did I ask that in the first place?

“Erm. No. I was just wondering about the approximate strength of the Medusa tribe's royal family. “

“Not as powerful as the Solarians unfortunately. While we have a decent number of powerful Great Shamans, it’s nowhere near enough to leave a lasting dent in the Solarian army.“

”Great Shamans?”

“Sword Saint level Ancients.”

I nodded. The troop had more or less decided to back off now. I glared at them, my new petrifying eyes blazing.

“If word get out that-”

“No,” Jade said quietly. “There will be no more killing today. Look, Mist.” She pointed at the statues.

“I gave them a quick, painless death. If they fell at your hands, I would not even know if they would really die. Their souls could be trapped and tortured for eternity.”

My mind flashed back to the dark tower that appeared when I had unlocked the first Commandment. The piles and pillars of bones…were they…those that I killed?

“Death should be the end. They should not need to suffer more. Any punishment is not our job to control. We leave that to the judges of the dead, Hades’ Court.”

“The Devil builds his army from the dead, Jade.”

“Karma will see that they do not pass by easily through death. They will not reincarnate well in their next lives…you have to trust in that knowledge.”

“Jade. I will not allow it, especially after-”

“You must.”

“Ron was the fifth son of King Oberon. If it is as you said, then he is an unfilial, useless son. Should he have to face punishment in hell for simply trying to love the person he wanted to? For taking a chance to be great? For making a mistake and being forced out of the Fae? For being hunted down by his elder brother which resulted in his young daughter being left behind?”

“The Underworld is fair. Everything you’ve ever done will be used to weigh your virtue.”

“Then…then what about me? You saw me. I killed those people…I gave in to the demons. I took on dark power…What about me?”

“Saving a life is of boundless beneficence…surely you know that?”

“Saving a murderer’s life?”

“We give them the chance to live, and the chance to change. Because only by changing can he make amends for what he has done wrong. If we kill him…will that bring the dead back?”

“At what price? Tell me! At what price? Another innocent could die!”

“We give them a chance. Not an unlimited number of chances.”

I ran my hand through my hair turned back to glare at the slowly receding troop. I was furious. But the chains bound me. The Devil whispered that he could break free of them…as long as I broke free I would be able to make all of them pay.

“Mist…” Jade’s soft hand brushed against the back of mine. She paused, and then gently closed her finger around my ring and pinkie. I jerked my hand out of hers. She hurriedly closed both her hands around my wrist.

“Mist…please. I’m not saying they should go unpunished. The Medusa Clan is not only famous for their eyes but for their curses as well. They will not return to their home as heroes.”

She turned, her jade eyes flashing. “Lest thee repent, the earth will open to thee every night and let thee rest in a bed of snakes…Avenger’s Eye!”

With my new eyes I saw that each of the soldiers running off were branded with a single green eye right on the back of their heads.

I noticed that while we had been preoccupied with the soldiers, the villagers had gathered around us. There was a stony silence. I surveyed their faces. My nose picked up the distinct scent of a sharp, metallic scent. I’d long come to know that scent as fear. The wind picked up a little, lifting a couple strands of my hair, which I’d let grow past my shoulder blades. The townsfolk slowly backed away as they realized that we were in fact not human.

I felt a stab of pain in my chest when I saw them leave. Another token to my past…and my current state of inhumanity. I shook off the pangs deep within my chest, and breathed in the frigid winter air, warming my frozen heart.

“People fear what they do not know.” Jade’s eyes pulsed an iridescent shade of green. She patted my shoulder, and walked back into the watch shop.

I let out the deep breath I took. “We leave at nightfall.”

Jade nodded. I stretched, attempting to escape the melancholy that weighed down my limbs.