My head was lost in a sea of clouds. Everything was so blurry. I could tell I was awake, alive, and moving yet; I had no idea where or even who I was. I flickered in and out of consciousness. Any understanding I might reach while awake was quickly sapped out of me as I fell back into the blur. Light crept its way into my eyelids, and I was forced awake once more.

It was dark. Small patches of light were often quickly overshadowed by two imposing figures. The two giant figures stood on either side of me, each with an arm under my own. I was being dragged forward. Vibrations of sound tickled my ears. Speech. I didn't understand what was being said, but the vibrations easily followed a pattern—a sort of rhythmic chant or prayer.

My eyes began to focus. Enough to discern basic shapes and colors. I was in a large chamber filled with arches and a tall, heavenly stain glass pane of a six-winged figure playing a trumpet. The room was filled with an ethereal fog that made my eyes sting. A figure clad in a dark cloak made its way over to me. With one palm outstretched towards my forehead, they began to chant. Once again, reality blurred, and whispers made their way into my mind.

I was overtaken by a sort of inherent understanding. That was magic. Magic that controlled one's mind. My thoughts began to dull. Each bubble of thought fought for dominance, only to be pushed down. Down into the depths of my mind, never to be seen again. In their place came uncertainty and weakness. With every word, I lost more control over my mind and senses. Just before I was taken entirely, lost, drowned in my own subconscious, the cloaked figure stopped and was pulled aside.

A man-made of pure light stepped before me. The moment the man stepped before me, the entire chamber lit up, revealing seven hunched-over forms. Each was accompanied by their own set of armored guards. Just like I was.

Others.

I took small comfort in the fact that I wasn't alone. That no matter my fate, at least it would be shared with others. With the appearance of the man of light, the chanting was drawn to a halt. The man briefly basked in the silence before observing the hunched-over forms. His eyes passing over each and everyone before stopping on me.

Whatever breath I had was soon forced from my lungs. By his mere sight alone, my body shut down. My throat went dry, and muscles convulsed. It felt as if my body turned to iron as I struggled to endure my own weight. I wanted to scream. To beg and plead with him. To have him remove me from his sight. Yet, his glare persisted.

After an eternity, he let his eyes move to the hunched form opposite of me. He glided over the distance and appeared before them in an instant. With one hand, he lifted a glowing broadsword to his mouth and kissed the flat of the blade. With the other, he lifted the chin of the victim of his stare. The figure of light smiled and looked back, making sure to meet my eyes as he drew a red smile across his victim's neck. Slowly moving the entirety of the blade along flesh. Enjoying every second of it.

Terror couldn't begin to describe the feelings that welled up inside me. My heart was beating so hard it may as well have wholly ripped itself from my chest. The figure of light noticed this and let out a small chuckle before leaving the circle. The rest of us were left to stare at our fallen compatriot. Even now, with his neck split in two, the Knights didn't drop his body an inch. He sat at the perfect elevation for us all to watch the waterfall of blood flood from his neck—each drop of blood a stain of red in an otherwise blurring gray world.

A new armored figure invaded my periphery. Unlike the shining gilded armor of the previous Knights, this one wore an old rusty set of armor. Each armored segment carried the history of a thousand battles. Dents, cuts, and holes pervaded throughout the full segmented plate. It was a miracle it was able to move at all without the armor locking up.

"To think they were able to damage your mind so much with such a simple spell. It frightens me to imagine what those scholars could have done if they had your true name." The rusty figure's smooth baritone voice spoke directly into my mind.

"I wanted to see the one who had Lato so worried. He claimed that someone rather troublesome had been summoned. He was so worried about the summoning he even began to pace around the throne for the first time in three hundred years. I was rather curious what could get him so riled up." The armored man stopped for a moment taking his time to size me up. Once again, my body froze under the threatening stare of a predator. "I must say you do not look the part. Appearances can be deceiving, however. I look forward to seeing what trouble you end up causing."

The figure of light interrupted our conversation. "Poet, if you could please extricate yourself from the corpselings we are about to begin."

"As you command prince Lato." The rusty armored figure said with an exaggerated bow. "Although may I remind you their fate as a corpseling has yet to be decided."

With a sigh, the Prince replied. "They would not have been summoned if they were beings of virtue. That said, despite their viciousness, they all have a right to due process."

The Prince made sure to stare directly at me as he finished his words. My body began to pulse in fear. "Fear not, boy, I shall save you for last."

With a smile, the Prince turned his back to me, freeing me from his sight. With a grandiose gesture, the Prince proclaimed. "We shall now begin the trial. May we strain our reasoning so that we might give the vicious a fairest condemnation."

You're kidding me. What the hell is going on?

With his words, a soothing wave of light passed through the room. My fear was ripped directly from my body and replaced with a mild numbness. The Prince turned towards me, and our eyes met. Yet, this time instead of being filled with fear, I felt safe. My mind commanded unerring trust to the Prince. A soothing certainty akin to how 2 + 2 = 4 forced its way into my mind. It became hard to think as my thoughts turned against me. My eyes cleared. No longer was the Prince just a figure of light. Now he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. There was no comparison I could make. Nothing could describe his beauty as he stood before me. His long blond hair and golden eyes shined in the blurred surroundings. The white silk cloth he was wrapped in only accentuated his muscular body. Ideas that weren't my own flooded into my headspace.

'I could trust this man.'

'He would protect me.'

'There was no reason for me to be worried.'

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I tried my utmost to feel worried, to tell myself this was wrong. I was being controlled. I needed to free myself from him.

I would not let him control me.

"May the scholars now enter." With just a few words and a wave of his hand, reality bent, and the contents of the room shifted. The room began to spin as beings forced their way into existence.

The blurry mist parted as ten men and women lifelessly began to move towards their stations. Like statues made of wax in heat, their skin was melted together. Drops of blood, bile, and flesh stained the ground as they moved. They all observed the seven hunched forms as they wordlessly took their place in the circle. With a casual snap of the Prince's fingers, all the scholars were set ablaze.

I nearly flew backward from the sudden explosion of heat. What was that? I couldn't believe what I was seeing. What did the Prince do?

As the scholars began to burn, clumps of their flesh simply fell to be immediately replaced by new unsinged meat. This process is repeated in a seemingly infinite loop, just like the woman from before.

"Worry not boy, they have all been given condemnation worthy of their sin. They who rejected their bodily needs in the pursuit of knowledge have had their bodies taken. A fitting punishment for their vice." The Prince spoke with infectious confidence.

'Yes, they deserved this.'

'A fitting punishment for their crimes.'

Once again, the soothing thoughts wormed their way into my mind. No matter how much I tried to resist, the soothing feeling never left.

The Prince made his way around the circle stopping before each hunched-over figure. The mist wrapped around them and covered their forms. Nothing but muffled conversation could be heard—the judgment. The judgment varied in length. For most, the ruling took maybe half an hour. But for others like the second and fifth, it took hours. The only thing the judgments had in common was that when the mist was released, the Prince held a bloodied sword, and those who he judged were gone.

I did what I could to focus on the fear. To break from the false trust forced unto me. Unfortunately, by the time I had made any progress, the other seven were gone, and the Prince stood before me.

"Boy, you stand accused. You abandoned your humanity and lived a vicious life. I shall gift you a chance to prove your humanity. If you prove to me that you have lived a life of virtue, then I shall send you back to your world with riches beyond your imagination. May none say that I am not Just." The Prince spoke slowly, lifting my chin so that our eyes could meet. "Now speak, tell me of your life that I might give you what you are owed."

And so, I told him. Everything. From my birth up to my summoning, my shitty family, to my boring life at college. From my problems with women to my dreams and aspirations. I even told him about 'that' incident with Julia's friend. Last but not least, I told him that I was grateful for his summons. That he didn't need to send me back home.

Because I would be a hero.

"No matter the odds, I shall bring peace to these lands and save this world!" I proclaimed.

The Prince flinched at this declaration. His hands gripped the hilt of the decorated broadsword until his knuckles turned white. What first started as a frown soon turned into a look of pure disdain.

"You would save this world?" He asked, his voice stilling all life.

I replied on instinct. "Of course, I-"

"Silence"

The Prince interrupted me with a flick of his sword. Heat began to well up in my throat as it was split in two. Blood flooded from my head. My lungs grew heavy as they filled with my blood. At first, confusion stole my mind.

'How could the Prince hurt me? He was my savior, my God.'

The feeling of confusion didn't survive for long. As the pain of drowning in my own blood soon cleared up any misunderstanding.

The Prince was my enemy.

I looked up to see the look of disdain on the Prince's face shift into one of pure rage. "You truly believe that you could save Utradem? The Godless lands?" With a sigh, his face once again returned to its peaceful state. He lightly shook his head.

"Fool."

Although not shouted or accentuated in any way, the word seemed to pierce me through. As if every fiber of my being had just been summed up into one word. Like a great truth of the universe was just forced into my head.

"If there are objections to sending him to the pits, speak now." The Prince calmly turned to his entourage as the words left his mouth. Silence reigned as none dared to speak.

"Then let his judgment be delivered." The Prince waved me forward, and the Knights lifted me before him.

"Just as all things in life seek to perform their unique function, so to do humans. One can only truly exist, truly live when they perform their function. None can escape this truth. All must live according to their unique function, to that which only they do best. For the eye is to see, as the blade is to cut. The inanimate to exist, the animate to live and give life. So, too does humanity have a unique function. One that, in appearance, is shared by all intelligent life but one that can only be best completed by humans. Reason.

All intelligent life must reason, but humanity is risen to a higher standard. It is greater. To be a human, you must not only live, give life, and reason, but you must go beyond and show virtue in your life. You who choose the extremes of viciousness over the balance of virtue have failed in your existence. You gave into vice, to cowardice, lust, foolishness, and injustice. And with such vice, you lost that which made you human.

You who denied your function, abandoning reason to instead live in a fantasy, stand accused. You who only lived to simply sate your physical desires like an animal shall be treated as such. As you have renounced your humanity, I shall gift you a fitting punishment, Corpseling. May your suffering inspire future virtue in greater men."

I ignored most of his spiel, too focused on the pain of drowning in my own body to listen. At some point, I had given up and simply began wishing for death. But it never came. No matter how much blood was spilled how long I went without oxygen, I was never freed from the pain.

As prince Lato finished his sentencing, he lifted his decorated broadsword and pressed its point against my chest. Finally, the veil of safety was relinquished, and reality returned. I almost found the return of my fear, terror, and dread comforting. Almost.

With my newfound will, I fought back. I pulled and pushed against the Knights, who held me. Using all muscles in my body to resist, It was all worthless. The blade pierced straight through my heart. Instinctively I knew something was wrong. I felt sick movement force its way throughout my body. My life itself seemed to flee from my body as I felt more tired than I had ever been. My eyes unfocused, and I could barely stay conscious. Though maybe unconsciousness would have been a blessing. As every nerve in my body seemed to ignite and burn with pain. My body began to shrivel up and wither. My teeth fell from my mouth, my skin peeled and tore, lumps of fat and muscle turned to dust. All that was left was a thin layer of scabbed leathery skin over thin bones.

The Prince leaned into my ear and whispered. "Don't worry, you won't die. Ever since the Gods abandoned us, none in Utradem have been given the respite of death. Never again can the denizens of this world create or take life. The moment you crossed over the threshold between worlds, your gods also abandoned you. You have been banished from death."

The Prince chuckled and leaned back before continuing. "I hope you make the most of your new deathless life in Utradem. Reflect on your wrongdoings, and if you wish, you may even begin the path to self-betterment. Well, you will have a lot of time to consider how best to live a life of virtue. After all, your punishment has yet to even begin."

With those final words, he twisted the broadsword and ripped it from my chest. My body felt empty, heavier than iron, breathless, dead. I wished I could scream. Fight, cry, run, do anything to escape. But I couldn't. All that was left was the pain, the suffering.

As the cartilage that made up my nose began to slip down my face, my vision faltered. Everything became blurry as the liquid in my eyes drained. An all too familiar feeling dawned on me, and my mind went blank save for one thought.

I'm going to die.

Then there was only darkness.