Azura couldn’t say he was a fan of this purification process. A glowing road had appeared for him to follow, as he had yet to see a single living being in this place; he assumed there was no one to act as a guide. Well how he got there was less of a concern. The real concern was what lay before him. A golden fire raged in the middle of a small marble structure. The center where the fire raged was the lowest level with rings around it that grew higher with each level until it reached ground level. 4 Pillars surrounded the structure in what he assumed to be the cardinal directions. There was no sun for him to properly gauge it. At least it wasn’t dark, and there was a blue sky even if no sun inhabited it.

“No need for hesitation, those flames shall only burn away the taint, the rest of you shall remain unharmed.” That was all well and good, but who was it that decided on what qualified as taint. It wasn’t him, and that worried him immensely. Despite his concerns he began walking down the steps towards the center of the structure. The fire grew brighter the closer he got to it, yet even as he reached the last few steps he still felt no heat. After what felt like ages he finally stood before the raging fire. The golden flames were taller than him, and despite the fact there was nothing to burn, the flames merrily continued without issue.

After a few seconds he stepped into the fire without a word. It was warm, but comfortably so. The heat he’d normally associate with fire was nowhere to be found, rather it felt more like the sun's rays on a sunny day. For a while nothing happened as the flames wrapped around him, as if searching for something to burn. Just as he began thinking the process would be fine the fire began soaking into his skin. Perhaps there were no ‘impurities’ on the outside to burn, but the inside was a different matter. After the flames entered into him he finally felt the burning sensation he had expected, except he could quite pinpoint what felt the heat. He felt the pain, but if asked what part hurt he wouldn’t be able to answer.

He withstood the burning, allowing himself to be cleansed, even as the seal that normally kept his dragon instincts began to burn away. The flames must serve multiple functions as well, because he felt the normalizing begin to take place as the 2 sets of instincts began to realize they were in fact part of the same person. No more running from it now, he supposed this was who he was supposed to be then. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly was different in himself, but he was sure his friends would help him figure it all out later.

He held in a scream as the pain intensified. Unlike before he immediately knew what was being purified. The flames had found their real target. The taint of a fae who had given up on avalon. Even if it was before he was even born. His mother probably hadn’t even known of Avalon either, The taint simply came with being born from a tainted being. The pain became even more intense, it was immeasurable, beyond anything he had felt before, beyond even the pain of Garrion trying to break into his mind. And since the source of the pain was his very soul, there wasn’t much he could do to soothe it. All he could do was grit his teeth and bear it.

The knowledge of what was burning didn’t make it any easier to bear. In fact more than anything it worried him. What was tainted for a fae was normal for humans. At least the fire seemed to know that as well, and was ignoring his human half, but what would happen if his 2 halves were diametrically opposed. One forever seeking Avalon, and the other content to remain in the outer world. Or perhaps he could change the very nature of his fae half. The taint was a physical effect of giving up on Avalon, or at least it was for the fae who had become dragons, but he was different. Avalon had never been his home, and he wasn’t entirely a fae. If he could just link his fae side to his human side instead of too Avalon perhaps he may be able to survive.

Easier said than done. Especially while feeling his soul burning in the raging inferno. Yet it had to be done, or even if he survived the flames the dichotomy of his soul would rip him in 2 eventually. It was complicated spirit magic he was weaving, made even more difficult by the fact his spirit had taken the form of a physical body completely. Dragons bodies were entirely formed from magic, so their body and soul were one entity, he was not the same. He had a human body, despite being born from a spiritual being.

In a way it was rather funny. In order to avoid ending up tainted like a dragon he had to become more like them. He’d have to sacrifice his physical form so his soul could properly form a new existence for him. By using his very body as a catalyst his fae and human half would truly become one, and in doing so should prevent the taint from resurfacing even if he stayed in the outer world. Despite the intense burning he managed to complete his spell, and with the help of the golden flames he cast it, allowing his body to burn until there was nothing left. His consciousness was the last thing to fade into the golden flames.

***

Azura’s copy awoke violently. Something felt wrong, no wrong didn’t even begin to cover it. It was kind of like the feeling he got when the other copy returned from the trip to the capital last month, except far, far worse. The other copy had a strange energy around him, almost bloodthirsty, but that was still just attached to the other copy, this was different. Something major had just happened to the original, the soul that he was a mere echo of had disappeared, or had it? He felt wrong, alienated from the world, yet the original couldn’t be dead right? Surely if the original had died that there would be no soul at all to be an echo for. He would just become a doll, assuming his body even maintained form. But something had clearly changed.

His door slammed open as the other copy barged in. “Did you feel that?!” The other copy had fallen asleep in the library earlier, so it spoke to how frazzled he was that he had appeared so quickly. Not that he could blame the other him, he was seconds away from doing the same thing.

“Of course I felt that. Our soul is on fire… or it was? I don’t feel it at all now, or at least not like I normally do.” There wasn’t a need to explain it. He knew his other understood, but talking about it helped calm him down a little, and that calm was exactly what he needed right now. If he had to guess he’d say the original had just made it to the pool, but whether that feeling was him being left as a husk or not he didn’t know.

“Your connection with the original is stronger than mine now, but if even you can’t feel him, that leaves me a little worried about the results of the pool.” He furrowed his brows. Why would his connection to the original be stronger than the other copy’s? He filed that bit away for later, and re-focused on the more important issue of the moment.

“He’s not dead, that much I know for sure, and oddly enough I don’t really have a bad feeling about it. It’s almost like his soul is… Sleeping? Evolving maybe, I don’t know, but I get the feeling that whatever happened wasn’t a bad thing.” He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he felt that way, but he got the feeling the original would be a very different person when he came back.

“I see, well I’ll trust your judgment. We are the same person after all, but I’d almost rather him not be ok. I don’t really feel like a mere copy anymore, and I don’t really want to just disappear into his memories this time. Not that I intend to act on it or anything.” He watched as the other him left the room again, silently closing the door. Well that was concerning. Perhaps he had misread the situation earlier. It wasn’t that his connection was stronger, it was that the other copy’s was weaker. He had known something had changed in the capital. It wasn’t as clear as what was happening with the original, but something was going on with the other copy too.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

This wasn’t going to end well at all. He had always had the understanding of what being a copy meant. He knew without a doubt that if the original thought he was a copy he’d willingly sacrifice his life just like the copies did, so It was odd to see a copy that wasn’t ok with that. He had a feeling that things were going to get very messy very quickly, and he wasn’t entirely sure what he could do about it.

***

Azura found himself floating. The water beneath him carried him gently along with its slight current. He turned his head slowly, and saw nothing but water as far as the eye could see in any direction. The sky above him littered with glittering lights. Stars shaping galaxies and nebulas before his very eyes. Silence filled the world, leaving him with a feeling of serenity beyond anything he had ever felt before.

He felt as if moving, even speaking, would be a terrible crime in this place. Not because he’d be punished for it, but simply because it felt like disturbing something sacred. So he floated, lost within infinity both above and below. He knew it couldn’t last. As much as he’d love to spend the rest of his days in peace like this, he knew that there was something only he could do. He didn’t yet know what that was, but he knew it was important, and if he didn’t do it who else would?

He sighed, and gave one last look of the place he found himself in. He’d be back here someday, his endless void of water and stars, but until then he’d have to make do with his memories. With the scene burned into his mind he took a deep breath, and then he sunk deep into the water below.

***

Jackson was panicking. This had never happened before. The kid had completely dissolved in the pool, that just doesn’t happen! It would be one thing if the kid was turned into a husk like many others had been, but how was he supposed to explain the kid had caught flame in the waters and burned into nothing?! No matter how he thought about it he was definitely going to be accused of murder if he told people that, but he couldn’t just say the kid went home skipping Lakespire either. Weh the kid’s noble family eventually tracked him down he’d be killed.

He felt a little bad about the kid dying, and he hated that the death itself was the least of his concerns right now, but being sad wouldn’t do him any good if he was executed for no reason just because the pool decided it extra hated the kid. Maybe he could pass it off as… His train of thought disappeared as he watched the familiars the kid had brought with him stare at the center of the pool with an unnerving intensity. The fact a small dragon had appeared next to them at some point and was equally intense also tipped him off that something big was happening.

He focused his magic senses to get a glimpse of what they were so intently looking at, and he had no idea how he’d missed it before. He had never felt a gathering of magic this intense before. It didn’t take long for the winds to begin whipping violently and the mana pressure to become enough that he had trouble standing. The magic slowly took shape, and before he knew it particles of light began appearing and clumping together. He was so mesmerized that he hardly noticed as the minutes passed as the particles began to slowly form a shape he hadn’t been expecting. “No way.” His disbelief intensified as the human shape completed forming.

Then the light dispersed into the air leaving the kid in its place floating on the water as if he had merely gone swimming and was taking a break. The only noticeable difference was that the kid's hair had turned white, and he seemed to have a strange glow to him now. Well that and he was releasing magic like crazy. Jackson could confidently say he had never encountered anything like this before. “I have to say I’m quite pleased with the results of this trip. It seems you were right to say at the end I’d consider this time well spent.” He paled, the dragon had just spoken?! The kid had a true dragon as a companion?! Just what the hell had he gotten into!

***

Azura smiled. As much as Reign got on his nerves sometimes the dragon did truly want the best for him. Reign just had sensibilities that didn’t really match his. Well perhaps they were closer now than they used to be. Though they were also further away in some ways. “Glad you're impressed. To be honest I’m rather pleased myself. I’d say I accomplished my goal and then some.” His body felt strange, perhaps because he was unused to forming a body out of magic. It was funny in a way. In order to survive as a human He had needed to give up his human body. He could feel it though, the catalyst had done its job. He was basically a human fae now, and with his new body came a new perspective.

The colors of dragons made a lot more sense now, and he realized why the silver ones were so special. For whatever reason they were the ones least affected by the taint, in other words the closest to the beings known as fae. Of course most dragons could make themselves whatever color they wanted, but their default color reflected their abilities as it was the form their soul felt most natural. He supposed he was the same now. He could shape his body however he wanted, making his hair black like it used to be would be super easy, barely an inconvenience. He chose to leave it as the pure white color… For now at least. “What happened in there! I can confidently say I’ve never heard of anyone dissolving in the pool, and I’ve certainly never heard of them reforming after!” Jackson shouted.

He imagined that most who entered the pool weren’t half dragon, especially because unless someone bothe knew to seal away the dragon half and how, the hybrid would be killed by the taint. At least assuming what the voice had told him was true. “I’m a special case. No need to think too deeply about it, your job is almost complete. The way back should be much faster right?”

Jackson stared at him intensely but eventually sighed. “Yeah whatever, let's just get going before something else crazy happens. Not like it matters since crazy seems to follow you like a baby duckling.” He chuckled, that was fair. Funny enough that didn’t seem to bother him much anymore. Honestly it wasn’t accurate to say he was a different person, but it was wrong to say he was the same as well. He was whole now, but even beyond that there was a new understanding of the world around him, and the connection to the spirit world. Not to mention a vague understanding of Avalon’s place in existence.

“That is more accurate than I’d like to admit, but we should be fine. Worst case, I should be much better at escaping than I was before.” He decided to stay pretty vague on that front. His body was pure magic now, that left him with a ton of options he didn’t have before, and that wasn’t even counting the magic core he now had that produced mana much faster than he had originally. As an added bonus of the purification his core wasn’t even a physical object like it was with dragons. Though, theirs were pretty small. His core was part of his soul, and as such existed in both the spirit and physical world, and thus not in either. It was probably possible to destroy it, but it wouldn’t be a simple procedure. It would need to be attacked in both worlds at the same time with enough force to kill him outright.

The guide tilted his head with a curious look on his face. “Oh? Did the pool grant you some kind of new magic?” He debated on how exactly he should answer that. He didn’t really want to spread any more information than he had to, especially why he was still adjusting to his new self. Physically and spiritually.

“Not really, I suppose it’s more accurate to say I better understand my old magic.” As usual he found not lying, and telling the truth were not the same thing. What he said wasn’t incorrect, but it wasn’t the full truth, or even a good chunk of it. Either way it would suffice for this trip.

“I see. Well hopefully these revamped tricks will help us get back without issue.” He laughed. Jackson was attempting to be the optimist, since it had been a little dreary walking here with 2 people expecting the worst, but it was very clear that Jackson was expecting trouble just like he was.

“Doubtful, but I’ll do my best.”