Sophia stood at the edge of the ship’s loading bay, her cloak pulled tightly around her, concealing the sleek armor beneath. The armor, designed for both protection and mobility, fit snugly against her form, but the cloak provided an added layer of privacy. After a week of dealing with Jim’s constant innuendos and leering, she found herself more guarded, more aware of the need to keep him—and everyone else—at arm’s length. The cloak wasn’t just about staying hidden; it was about maintaining her sense of self in the midst of a mission that threatened to strip everything else away.
It had been a week since her dinner with Jim, a week of preparation, planning, and nerves stretched taut. Sophia stared out at the sprawling cityscape below. The palace loomed in the distance, its cold, imposing structure a constant reminder of the mission ahead. She took a deep breath, letting the reality of the situation settle in. This was it—the final trip to the surface. Everything they’d planned for came down to this moment.
They had gone over the plan earlier, meticulously dissecting every detail. Sophia’s mind replayed it, making sure there were no gaps, no overlooked weaknesses. The teleportation would be tricky; she’d need to get them directly into the councilor’s chambers without setting off any alarms. Timing was everything. The palace’s internal security systems were top-of-the-line, and the window they had to get in and out was razor-thin.
Qu was the key to that. The little jellyfish-like alien was standing beside her now, his bioluminescent tendrils flickering as he ran through final checks on his equipment. His excitement was palpable, even through the layers of seriousness that coated this mission. Qu was their tech genius, and tonight, he’d be taking down the palace’s internal security systems, giving them the brief moment they needed to strike. Sophia glanced at him, noting the focused intensity in his six eyes. There was no room for error.
Then there were the twins, Yedil and Bedil. The two lizard men were standing a few paces away, conversing quietly with each other. They were both short but built like tanks, their thick, scaled bodies brimming with barely contained energy. They were the muscle of the group, and once they were inside, it would be their job to subdue the councilor. Revorial was no warrior, but he was cunning—he’d likely have tricks up his sleeve, and the twins were there to make sure he didn’t get a chance to use them.
Beyond their immediate group, two additional strike teams were on standby, each composed of six hardened fighters. They were positioned at strategic points around the palace, ready to provide firepower and create chaos if things went sideways. Team Alpha was stationed on the palace’s eastern side, equipped with heavy weaponry and explosives, prepared to blast their way through the palace defenses if needed. Team Bravo covered the western approach, armed with advanced cloaking devices and stealth technology, ready to create diversions or neutralize any external threats that might arise. These squads were the insurance policy—if everything went to hell, they would buy time for Sophia, Jim, Qu, and the twins to complete the mission and escape.
Sophia let her gaze drift over the three of them—Qu, Yedil, Bedil—each one vital to the mission’s success. The weight of responsibility pressed down on her shoulders. If anything went wrong, it would be on her to get them out, and that meant being ready for whatever surprises the night might throw at them. She could feel the familiar hum of magic thrumming beneath her skin, the mana ready to be shaped and unleashed. She was prepared, but the unknown always had a way of unsettling her.
Jim’s smirk widened as he adjusted the strap on his wrist-mounted flamethrower, his tone dripping with arrogance. “You know,” he began, eyes gleaming with a sly glint, “handling a woman is a lot like handling a flamethrower—the hotter they are, the more they’ll burn you if you don’t know what you’re doing. But me? I know just how to get them fired up and keep control, right to the point where they’re practically begging to explode.”
Yedil chuckled, catching on to the innuendo. “And you think you’ve mastered that art, huh?”
Jim glanced at Sophia, his gaze lingering with a mix of challenge and desire. “Hell yeah, but what I really need is a real woman who can handle the heat, not just some spark that fizzles out. Someone who knows how to play with fire without getting burned. Ain’t that right, sweetheart?” He winked, clearly enjoying the provocation.
Sophia wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, covering the exposed midriff of her armor—a design choice that had never bothered her until she met Jim. Her eyes narrowed. “Oh, I’m sure you’re used to things fizzling out, Jim. But maybe if you spent less time trying to light a fire under every woman you meet and more time actually doing your job, you wouldn’t have to rely on your toys to feel like a man.” She let her gaze drop pointedly to his flamethrower. “And for the record, if your flamethrower needs that much help, I can see why the twins have to keep you pumped—it’s not easy keeping that kind of heat alive, is it?”
Jim’s chuckle faltered for just a moment, but he recovered quickly, the challenge in his gaze softening slightly. "How long, Qu?"
The twins, Yedil and Bedil, exchanged a quick, irritated glance, clearly not amused by Sophia's jab. Their annoyance simmered beneath the surface, but they followed Jim’s lead, staying silent. Their stiffened posture betrayed their irritation, but they knew better than to push back when Jim didn’t—especially with someone as unpredictable as Sophia.
Qu’s tendrils fluttered in a gesture that could only be interpreted as a nod. “Systems will be down in sixty seconds,” he said, his voice a mix of excitement and focus.
The twins grunted in unison, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. They were ready—always ready for a fight, for the thrill of the mission.
Sophia closed her eyes for a brief moment, centering herself. She focused on the words of the incantation she would soon unleash, feeling the magic coil tighter within her. This was it. No turning back now.
Jim clapped his hands together, breaking the tense silence. “Let’s make this clean, people. We’re the most wanted gang in the galaxy for a reason, so let’s show them why we make the big bucks.”
Sophia opened her eyes, her gaze hardening with resolve. She was ready. They all were. With one last glance at her team, she nodded. “Let’s do this, but remember what I said, Jim—I’m not killing anyone.”
Jim nodded with a smirk, his tone smooth but insincere. “Don’t worry about that, darling. You won’t have to hurt a soul. Just teleport us when I say, and you’ll be fine.”
Sophia hesitated, catching the flicker of something unreadable in his eyes, but she pushed it aside and nodded back. "Okay, Jim. Just stick to the plan."
As she turned away, Jim’s smirk widened, his voice taking on a confident, sly edge. “The plan is whatever I say it is.”
Before Sophia could fully register his words or question him, Qu cut in, his tendrils flickering with excitement. “T-minus 60 seconds,” he announced, his voice tinged with anticipation as he activated his device. A series of beeps and whirrs filled the air as he began to disable the palace’s security systems. Sophia could feel the shift in the atmosphere as the magic and technology started to weave together, creating the perfect moment for their infiltration.
In sixty seconds, they would be inside. And the mission would truly begin.
Sophia’s heart pounded as she began the chant for the teleportation spell, her voice low but firm. This spell was a new creation, something she had crafted specifically for this mission. It was designed for stealth, to not only transport them across space but also cloak them in a brief, shimmering invisibility, giving Qu the time he needed to deactivate the palace’s internal systems. The air around her shimmered, bending reality itself as she whispered, “Ha buras.”
In an instant, they were no longer aboard the ship but within the opulent confines of the councilor’s chambers. For a split second, everything was bathed in an ethereal glow, the world shimmering as if they were nothing more than ghosts. The spell worked perfectly—Qu immediately went to work, his tendrils flashing as he connected to the palace’s security systems.
The room itself was grand, adorned with priceless artifacts and treasures that spoke of power and privilege. And there, in the center, were their targets: the councilor, Revorial, and his wife. Both humanoid in shape but with four muscular arms instead of two, their bat-like ears twitched at the sudden intrusion, and their single large eye widened in shock.
"What is the meaning of this? Do you have any idea who I am?" Revorial bellowed, his voice a mixture of fury and disbelief, as he tried to make sense of the sudden, violent intrusion.
His wife, her voice trembling with panic, attempted to regain control of the situation. "Please, wait! We can make a deal! We have wealth, power—we can give you whatever you want!" Her desperation seeped into every word, her eyes wide with terror as she realized the severity of the situation. But when her offer was met with cold silence, the reality of their predicament struck her. Her voice rose, frantic and shrill. "They’re going to kill us! Guards! Guards!"
Before they could react further, the twins, Yedil and Bedil, sprang into action. Their thick, scaled bodies crashed into Revorial, tackling him to the ground with brutal efficiency. His wife’s attempt to back away was futile; Yedil was on her in an instant, pinning her down with his massive strength. Her pleas turned into a piercing scream, echoing through the chamber, but it was cut short as Yedil silenced her with a swift punch to the face. She fell limp, her cries replaced by a stunned silence as the twins secured their captives with ruthless precision.
Sophia winced at the brutal act, her voice breaking through the chaos. "Easy with that!"
Revorial, his fury now mingled with fear, spat out, "Get off my wife, you fucking scum! You’ll regret this! Do you know the power I wield?" His voice wavered slightly as his eyes flicked to Jim, a flash of recognition crossing his face. "Wait... Jericho? What the hell are you—"
Before he could finish, one of the twins silenced him with a harsh blow, cutting off his words mid-sentence. Revorial slumped, the fight draining from him as he struggled to comprehend the betrayal, his gaze still locked on Jim, now filled with a mix of shock and confusion.
"Save it," Jim said with a smirk, though a flicker of annoyance crossed his features at the mention of the name "Jericho." His eyes narrowed for a split second, but he quickly masked it, moving with the precision of a well-practiced gunslinger as he deftly secured the doors to prevent any unwanted guests. His movements were calm, almost leisurely, as if the chaos around him was nothing more than a routine exercise. "You won’t be wielding anything where you’re going."
Sophia noticed the brief change in his demeanor, but she kept silent, filing away the observation for later. Something about that name clearly irked him, but now wasn't the time to pry.
Meanwhile, Qu was a flurry of activity, his tendrils dancing across the control panels as he armed the turrets outside the room, ready to unleash hell on anyone who dared to approach. The palace’s internal defenses were being systematically dismantled by the little alien, his skill evident in every flicker of the screens before him.
Revorial’s threats faded into frustrated growls as the twins efficiently gagged and cuffed him and his wife, stuffing them both into secure positions on the floor. All their power, all their influence, rendered useless in the face of Jim's team’s unrelenting efficiency.
Sophia’s focus was unwavering as she chanted the teleportation spell again, readying it for their escape. The words left her lips with a practiced ease, “Ha buras,” the familiar hum of magic coursing through her. But just as she was about to complete the spell, she noticed Jim moving around the room, his eyes gleaming as he began grabbing some of the more valuable items.
“What the hell are you doing?” she hissed, her eyes narrowing at him. “We have him, let’s go!”
Jim shot her a glance, unfazed. “Relax, darlin’. We’ve got time for a little extra. Can’t let all this go to waste, now, can we?”
Sophia’s patience wore thin, but she held the spell, the words ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, Yedil and Bedil swiftly secured the tied up councilor and his wife, their eyes cold and efficient as they restrained the struggling couple. Revorial’s muffled screams of rage and warning echoed through the chamber, but he was silenced with a swift kick to the gut from one of the twins.
Qu, still engrossed in his work, broke in with an urgent update. “Files are at 50 percent—I need another minute before it’s done, Jim. But my hacks won’t hold for long. They’ll know we’re here in ten seconds.”
“Good,” Jim replied, his voice dripping with casual disregard. “More time to look around. Sophia, prepare to bring in Teams A and B on opposite sides of the palace, then get us out of here. The anti-teleportation field is about to go up as soon as the alarm blares.”
Sophia’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What the fuck, Jim? I thought this was a snatch and grab. Why do we need the extra teams? We can just leave—we’ve got him.”
Jim turned to her, his expression hardening. “The mission changes when I say it does. We’ve got a secondary objective if part A was successful,” he said, gesturing to the bound and gagged councilor and his wife. “Goal complete. Now we grab the secondary objectives. Now do your fucking job if you ever wanna see Caldera again.”
Sophia’s anger simmered beneath the surface, but she bit back her retort. With no other choice, she teleported back to the ship, chanting, “Ha buras,” before moving to the different pre-planned locations to bring in the strike teams. She felt the drain on her mana with each spell, her reserves running dangerously low. As soon as she dropped off the last team, the alarms blared, piercing through the night like a death knell.
Returning to the councilor’s chambers with a final chant of “Ha buras,” Sophia arrived just as the tension reached its peak. The room was now filled with an array of artifacts and treasures, ancient tech that shimmered with a strange, otherworldly glow. One of the twins was gathering them into a pile, while the other kept a boot firmly planted on Revorial’s chest.
Outside, the sounds of explosions shook the palace as Teams A and B hit their targets with precision. The night erupted into chaos, the distant roars and flashes of detonations casting eerie, flickering light across the palace walls. The violence was palpable, a destructive force sweeping through the very heart of the government.
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“Time to go,” Jim said with a grin, shoving the last of the artifacts into a bag. Qu giggled beside him, his eyes wide with glee. “All objectives complete. Uploading virus now that will cripple all infrastructure on the planet for the foreseeable future. Oh, how exciting!”
Sophia’s heart sank as the realization hit her—this was far more than a simple heist. Her eyes darted to the bound and gagged councilor's wife, a wave of unease washing over her. “We agreed on the councilor, not his wife,” she snapped, her voice edged with horror. “Who the hell do you work for?”
Jim barely glanced at her, his focus on the loot he was collecting. “Plans change, sweetheart. We take what we need.”
Sophia’s frustration boiled over. “This wasn’t part of the deal! I’m not okay with dragging her into this—she’s not our target!”
Before Jim could respond, Qu’s tendrils twitched as his eyes scanned a screen. “We’ve got enemies inbound! Turrets engaging now!”
As if on cue, the turrets outside roared to life, the blast-resistant doors trembling under the force of explosions. Each impact rattled the chamber, the pressure building as the elite guards closed in.
“Not now, Sugar Tits!” Jim snapped, his voice laced with irritation. He shot Sophia an annoyed look, his patience clearly wearing thin. “You’re really gonna start questioning the plan now? Shut up and do your fucking job! Focus on getting us out of here!”
Sophia’s mouth tightened into a thin line, her objections silenced but far from forgotten. The mission had spiraled out of her control, and the realization that she was just another pawn in Jim’s game gnawed at her as she prepared to cast the teleportation spell.
Before Sophia could cast the teleportation spell, the doors burst open with a deafening crash. The shockwave from the explosion slammed into her, sending her sprawling across the floor. She hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her as the elite guards stormed in, their heavy armor gleaming ominously in the dim light. These weren’t ordinary soldiers—they were enhanced, their cybernetic augmentations and advanced weapons marking them as top-tier fighters. They spread out quickly, weapons locking onto their targets with deadly intent. The air thickened with tension, the room now a powder keg ready to explode.
Jim’s eyes gleamed with a predatory grin as he saw Sophia struggling to regain her footing. “Guess we’ve got company. Don’t worry, darling—I’ve got this,” he growled, stepping forward to intercept the advancing guards. He knew he had to buy her time, to keep the enemy at bay long enough for her to complete the spell.
With lightning speed, Jim activated his rocket boots, launching himself into the air just as the first volley of bullets screamed toward him. In one fluid motion, he drew his dual pistols from the holsters on his hips, the movement so fast it reminded Sophia of an old western gunslinger. Each pistol seemed like a deadly extension of his will as he fired with ruthless precision, the plasma bullets ripping through the visors of the first two guards before they could even register his presence. Blood sprayed from the gaping wounds, painting the walls in a gruesome display as their bodies crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
As he soared through the room, Jim twisted mid-air, unleashing a torrent of fire from the flamethrower mounted on his wrist. The searing flames roared like a living beast, engulfing two more guards in an instant. Their screams were lost in the inferno, the flesh bubbling and melting away from their bones. The acrid stench of burning flesh filled the room, thick and suffocating, as their charred remains collapsed into smoldering heaps.
The remaining guards, their advanced armor barely holding up against the relentless assault, quickly adapted, their targeting systems locking onto Jim’s position. But before they could fire, Jim unleashed a pair of miniature missiles from his wrist. The projectiles spiraled through the air with a deadly grace, striking their targets with pinpoint accuracy. The resulting explosions tore through the guards, their bodies shredded by the force, blood and viscera splattering across the room. Limbs were torn asunder, and the walls shook with the impact as what was left of the guards slammed into the reinforced structure with bone-crushing force.
Jim landed smoothly, his rocket boots hissing as they deactivated. He didn’t miss a beat, flipping backward to avoid a plasma blast that seared the floor where he’d just been standing. The lizard twins, Yedil and Bedil, joined the fray, their thick, scaled bodies moving with surprising agility. Blasters in hand, they unleashed a barrage of deadly energy bolts, each shot finding its mark with brutal efficiency. The bolts tore through the remaining guards, burning through armor and flesh, leaving gaping, smoking holes in their wake.
But Jim wasn’t finished. With a fluid motion, he hurled a smoke bomb at the feet of the surviving enemies. The room filled with thick, choking clouds, the dense smoke obscuring their vision and turning the already chaotic battlefield into a nightmare. In the chaos, thin, razor-sharp wires shot out from Jim’s gauntlets, wrapping around the necks of the two closest guards. With a swift, merciless yank, the wires tightened, slicing through armor, flesh, and bone alike. Blood sprayed in a crimson arc as the guards’ heads snapped back, the life snuffed out of them in an instant.
Amidst the carnage, Qu remained focused, his tendrils flickering over the control panels with unwavering determination. "All systems down, Jim!" he called out, his voice high-pitched with excitement, barely audible over the carnage.
Sophia, her eyes wide with a mix of horror and urgency, watched the destruction unfold. “Jim, we need to go, now!” she shouted, her voice cutting through the madness.
Jim reloaded his pistols with a casual flick of his wrists, his gaze sweeping over the blood-soaked battlefield he’d wrought. “Sure thing, sweetheart. Just needed to stretch my legs a bit.” He fired a final shot into the chest of a guard struggling to rise, the blast tearing through the man’s chest cavity, sending a spray of blood and shattered bone fragments across the floor. The guard’s body twitched violently before going limp, a grotesque testament to the brutal efficiency of Jim’s assault.
With the room finally cleared, Sophia’s voice echoed through the chamber as she chanted the teleportation spell. “Ha buras!”
In an instant, they were back on the ship, the transition abrupt and jarring. Sophia gasped for breath, the strain of the repeated spells taking its toll on her body. Her vision blurred, exhaustion seeping into her bones as she slumped against the wall, struggling to stay conscious.
“Okay, now I’ll get Team A and B,” she said, her voice weak.
Jim slapped her on the back, his laugh grating in her ears. “Don’t worry about that—they’re all dead by now, I’m sure. We’ve got to go.”
Sophia stared at him in shock, her stomach twisting in disbelief. “You sent those men on a suicide mission?”
Jim chuckled, his tone dismissive. “They got themselves killed when they thought they were gonna get 5 percent of the cut.” He shook his head, amused at the thought, while the twins and Qu efficiently moved the hostages to their cells. The ship’s engines roared to life, already blasting away at full speed, putting as much distance as possible between them and the chaos they’d left behind.
As they ascended through the atmosphere, Sophia turned her gaze out the viewport. The city-planet, a sprawling, bustling world home to nearly a trillion souls, began to darken, one sector at a time. Lights flickered and then vanished, whole districts plunging into darkness as Qu’s virus tore through the planet’s infrastructure. It wasn’t just the lights—communication grids went silent, water systems sputtered to a halt, and the artificial environments that sustained life on the densely populated planet began to fail.
Sophia’s heart pounded as the full gravity of their actions settled over her like a suffocating weight. The realization was a cold, hard punch to the gut. Without power, without water, without the essentials keeping them alive, countless people—innocent people—would die. The elderly, the sick, children—all would suffer in the days and weeks to come. She imagined hospitals, already strained, now unable to provide even basic care. The panic, the riots, the sheer desperation of billions trying to survive in a world that was rapidly falling apart.
And Jim didn’t care. He leaned back in his seat, completely unfazed by the devastation they had wrought, a smirk still playing on his lips. To him, it was just another job, another payday. The lives lost, the chaos left in their wake—it was all just collateral damage. Nothing more than a side effect of getting what he wanted.
Qu, on the other hand, seemed almost giddy with excitement. The little alien’s tendrils flickered with a bright, bioluminescent glow as he tapped away at his console, fine-tuning the virus even as it continued to spread. “Incredible, isn’t it?” he said, almost to himself. “To bring an entire planet to its knees in just a few minutes, right from the heart of its power. I’ve outdone myself this time.”
Sophia felt bile rise in her throat. Qu’s innocent-sounding enthusiasm made it all the more sickening. This wasn’t just a mission gone awry—it was a catastrophe. A world plunged into darkness, its people left to fend for themselves in a situation most couldn’t possibly survive.
Her mind raced, desperately trying to make sense of it all, to reconcile what she had done. But the truth was stark and unforgiving. She had helped Jim cripple a planet, leaving it in the grip of a disaster that would claim countless lives. And for what? For money? For power? The answer eluded her, slipping away like sand through her fingers.
As the ship sped away into the dark void of space, leaving the dying planet behind, the weight of her choices pressed heavily on her. The silence of the cold vacuum outside contrasted sharply with the turmoil in her mind. There was no turning back now. She was caught in the current, swept up in Jim’s world of ruthless ambition and cold indifference. And it was too late to escape.
Sophia leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as the enormity of what they had done bore down on her. The darkness outside was absolute, but it was nothing compared to the darkness she felt within herself, a growing void that threatened to consume everything she once believed in.
The ship surged forward, stars streaking by as they left the ruined planet behind. Sophia’s stomach churned with the realization that she was complicit in this—complicit in the deaths of billions, in the destruction of an entire world’s way of life. But the truth was undeniable: she had made her choice, and now she had to live with it.
Jim’s voice cut through the silence, calm and matter-of-fact. “It’s all part of the job, sweetheart. You’ll get used to it.” His words were like a final nail in the coffin, sealing the fate she had unwittingly accepted.
Sophia's eyes remained closed, but the darkness inside her mind was suffocating. The ship continued its journey through the void, but for Sophia, there was no going back. She had done everything in her power to avoid personally harming anyone, yet here she was, still an accomplice with blood on her hands. The realization of what she had become—the lives lost, the devastation she had played a part in—was the heaviest burden of all. She was trapped in the consequences of her actions, the weight of her choices pressing down on her like a suffocating shroud.
In the silence, the sinister whisper of the Shadow Orb slithered into her thoughts, followed by the twisted, guttural laughter of Anna Sha.
Oh, Solaria, the demon’s voice rasped, dripping with malevolent glee. You think you can escape this? You think you can keep your hands clean? You’re a dragon, one step away from divinity. Why deny what you are? Join me like your brother did. Accept who you were always meant to be. All you have to do is absorb the souls of the worlds you destroy. It’s so easy, so natural. You’re already doing the hard part—destroying them. Just take the final step.
Sophia clenched her fists, trying to block out the voice, but it only grew louder, more insistent.
You’ve destroyed more worlds than I ever could, Anna Sha continued, her voice now a deep, sinister growl. You’re the real monster here, little dragon. You’re more dangerous than I am, more lethal to the innocent. How many more will die because of you?
The demon's laughter erupted again, echoing through her mind, sending shivers down her spine.
But don’t worry, Solaria, Anna Sha taunted, her voice turning cruelly sweet. There’s always the next world. You’ll destroy another one eventually. You can’t help it. It’s in your nature.
Unable to bear it any longer, Sophia's eyes snapped open, and she screamed, “SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
The words tore from her throat, raw and desperate, as she lashed out at the air. The very force of her voice, laced with unintentional draconic magic, reverberated through the ship, driving away the insidious whispers of Anna Sha. The lights flickered, and the air hummed with energy, the sudden outburst sharp and jarring, drawing startled looks from the remaining crew. Even Qu's tendrils flickered with concern as he glanced at her, his usually unflappable demeanor shaken. The oppressive silence that followed hung heavy in the air, the tension palpable as everyone absorbed the sheer power that had been unleashed in that single, terrifying moment.
Jim’s smug smile faltered for just a moment, his eyes narrowing as he regarded her, a flicker of real concern breaking through his usual bravado. But he quickly recovered, his trademark grin slipping back into place—though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Damn,” he drawled, trying to shake off the tension, “I always knew you had a body built for sin, but that kind of crazy? That’s what makes a girl unforgettable in bed.”
Sophia's gaze snapped to him, her eyes burning with a fury that made Jim hesitate for the briefest of moments. In that instant, she felt the raw power of her dragon self surge within her, the urge to lash out, to obliterate the smug bastard in front of her almost overwhelming. Her magic crackled in the air, the temperature around her dropping as frost began to creep across the floor.
Jim must have sensed how close he was to death because, for once, he fell silent, his grin vanishing as he took a cautious step back, eyes locked on hers.
The silence that followed was thick, heavy with the tension of her outburst. The crew exchanged uneasy glances as Sophia’s breath came in ragged gasps, her chest heaving as she fought to regain control. But the mocking voice of Anna Sha had finally gone quiet, leaving Sophia to drown in the silence and the crushing weight of her guilt.
She slowly let go of the power surging inside her, forcing it back down, though it left her trembling with the effort. Jim, wisely, said nothing more, just watched her with a wary respect, the reality of what she was—what she could do—finally sinking in.
Sophia’s eyes locked onto his, cold and unyielding. “You’re going to tell me how to get home,” she said, her voice low and laced with menace. “Right now. Or I’m going to fuck your brains out—not in the way you’d like—by ripping the answers straight from your mind.”
Jim’s cocky grin finally faltered, genuine fear flickering in his eyes for the first time.
Sophia took a step closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that only he could hear. “Do you know what it feels like to have your mind invaded by someone else? To have your thoughts pried open and your deepest secrets laid bare? It’s not just pain, Jim. It’s violation, the worst kind you can imagine. It’s having your will stripped away, layer by layer, until there’s nothing left of who you were. Just an empty shell, a vegetable, with nothing but the echoes of what used to be your mind.”
Jim swallowed hard, the color draining from his face as her words sank in.
As Sophia leaned in closer, her voice chillingly calm, she hissed, “I can make it slow, Jericho,” letting the name hang in the air, dripping with menace. Jim visibly winced at the sound of it, the name cutting through his bravado like a knife. “I can draw it out until you’re begging for mercy, or I can do it in an instant. But either way, your mind will never be the same again. So tell me how to get home, or I will break you in ways you’ve never even fucking dreamed of.”
As she spoke, Sophia reached out with her necromantic power, brushing against the edge of Jim’s soul, her presence cold and invasive. It was then, in that chilling touch, that the pieces began to fall into place for Jim. The way she spoke, the strange, almost ethereal combination of her crimson and azure gaze, the aura of fear that clung to her—it all pointed to someone he had heard of only in whispered legends. Valicar… The name echoed in his mind, a name long buried under layers of disbelief, one tied to a girl with mesmerizing eyes, one crimson, the other a deep, striking blue.
It couldn’t be… He had always dismissed the style as a popular trend among mystics, a fashion statement that had endured for millennia. But as Sophia’s power wrapped around him, he realized with a growing horror that this wasn’t just a coincidence. The stories, the legends, the warnings—it all pointed to one figure: the mage who had nearly destroyed everything.
His eyes widened as the realization struck him like a thunderbolt. The dual-colored gaze that seemed to pierce through him sharpened into something more—cat-like slits glowing with a deadly light. Her teeth, now sharper than before, added to the terror dawning in his mind. This wasn’t just some powerful mystic. This was Solaria, the Blue Dragon, the Dragonlord reborn, the Undead Emperor.
The leader of Death Tooth, the one who had commanded Gorlion, the indomitable hero of the East, whose legend stood unchallenged alongside Valicar and her other fabled allies. The Archmage of Helmhold, a Wolf Kin of unparalleled arcane mastery, and the Beloved of the Sky, a Half-Elf known for her command of Minerva and mastery of nature magic, her true name lost to time. Even now, Emperor Easton Von White, ruler of an empire forged in her shadow. This was the being who had once held the fate of worlds in her grasp... the one who had killed the Pillar of the North.
She had been known as Solaria in her first life, Valicar in her second. Though Valicar’s name might be more widely recognized, Jim couldn’t help but think of her as Solaria—the Undead Emperor, the dragon who had risen again.
Jim’s voice trembled as he finally broke, his bravado crumbling before the weight of the revelation. “I’ll tell you…everything.”