Ike reappeared in front of Llewyn. His whole body trembled in rage, but he held it back. Suppressing it forcefully. Holding back his wrath. He pointed at Llewyn.

“You die here. Today. Right now.”

Llewyn laughed. “No, I don’t think I do.”

Ike narrowed his eyes. “Then, if you won’t die, I’ll kill your ambitions, instead.”

White light flashed. Ozone sizzled on the air. Once more, Ike vanished.

Llewyn looked around, glancing left and right. He frowned, brows furrowing.

Puppets flew into the air. Not damaged or forced back, but torn apart. Savaged, as though by a wild beast. Lightning flickered after them, dancing from puppet to puppet. Even before the puppets hit the ground, the next wave flew into the air. Back and forth, working in circles. Dismantling them. Destroying them. Leaving nothing behind.

Ike reappeared before Llewyn. Behind him, the last of the puppets hit the ground. He pointed at the man with a black-stained hand. “Now, you.”

“I won’t be so easy to—”

Ike’s hand eclipsed his vision. He flinched back, but too slow. Llewyn flew backward. Ike gripped his face and dragged him along, pulling him with him. He charged for the wall. Pulling his hand back, he slammed Llewyn into the wall and dragged him along the length, knocking his head against every single inch of the impenetrable stone. Llewyn’s head rattled around in his grasp. His hair flew. His flesh burned from the friction, a horrid, acrid stench.

Ike spoke, his voice deceptively calm. “Do you feel anything for them? For your victims. For their families. Do you feel anything at all?”

Llewyn just laughed. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Ike yanked him away from the wall and threw him to the ground instead. He jumped up, slamming down on the man’s chest with all of Shawn’s weight. Llewyn coughed blood as his chest caved in. “Speak.”

Llewyn licked his lips, then turned his head and spat, clearing his mouth. He grinned. Not an ounce of repentance appeared in his eyes. “Why should I feel something for rats? Do you mourn bugs? Do you mourn the beasts you eat? Do you mourn the pests who gnaw at your supplies, and offer nothing in return? No. I feel nothing. I only feel joy that fewer of those foul beasts remain on this earth.”

He lifted his finger and pointed at Ike. “And if you knew what you were, you would feel the same.”

Ike narrowed his eyes. “You won’t fool me with that.”

“Fool you? But I know. I know, Ike, I know what you are.” Llewyn’s eyes glittered, now, shining with the wild light of a madman. He leaned in. His voice rasped to a whisper. “I know, because we crafted you.”

Stolen story; please report.

Ike jerked back, as if stung. A thousand strange events coalesced in his mind. When he received the Unique skill, and somehow got away. When the officials came to his house looking for the skill, and rather than punishing him, offered him a spot in the guard. When Lord Brightbriar retrieved his daughter from the Abyss, and didn’t punish him. All the times he’d been let go. All the times he’d thought he’d slipped through Lord Brightbriar’s grasp.

But what if I didn’t? The thought had been there from the start. Eating at his mind, like a worm in an apple. But what if this was Lord Brightbriar’s plan? What if he wanted me to have the skill? To escape the Abyss? To grow and strengthen? If Llewyn said ‘we’ had crafted him, then there was only one other person he could mean: Lord Brightbriar, the original puppet master. The one truly pulling the strings from the background this whole time.

“Why?” Ike asked.

Llewyn chuckled. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” He snapped his fingers. Bright energy burned within his core. His whole body began to tremble. His chest bulged outward once more.

“Ike! He’s going to explode!” Shawn shouted, breaking Ike out of his reverie. Ike jumped back, but he couldn’t get far enough in time. Llewyn’s body bulged and bulged, growing out of proportion. He laughed, head thrown back in madness.

A thread latched onto Ike’s back. Wisp yanked, and Ike flew across the field, away from the explosion. The explosion blasted out and rolled, smashing into the wall, the ground, everything. It expanded toward them, closing in with every second.

“Wisp, revert!” Ike shouted.

Wisp nodded. She dropped to her human form. Ike snatched her out of the air and ran with his full speed, running around the edge of the wall to put the wall between them and the exploding Llewyn. The shockwave blasted out. It slowed as it struck the wall, but it still struck Ike and threw him off his feet. He threw his arms around Wisp and Shawn, protecting them with his body. The flame washed over the wall, but didn’t reach them. Bits of rock and stone flew through the air, pattering against Ike’s back.

And then it faded.

Ike looked up. A huge chunk had been blown out of the wall behind him. A deep, smoking hole remained where the man had been. Only a few scraps of Llewyn remained. Curious, Ike climbed to his feet and walked over.

Wisp followed at his hip. “What is it?”

Ike knelt. He picked up a piece of Llewyn and held it out to her, grimacing. “As I feared.”

She took it and knocked her knuckles against it. It clunked. “Porcelain. He was a puppet.”

“We didn’t even fight the real Llewyn, and it still took everything I had,” Ike muttered, grimacing.

Wisp smacked his shoulder. “You can’t get depressed. All I did was fight mooks! Between the two of us, I’m the one who should be complaining here!”

Ike laughed, just a little. He nodded, smiling at Wisp. “Sorry about that. I was so focused, that I…”

He stiffened suddenly, then stumbled back. Wisp’s eyes widened. She rushed to his side to support him.

Ike’s whole body went weak. Storm Clad deactivated. His aether ran low, guttering in his core. He frowned and tried to climb to his feet, but couldn’t. His legs wouldn’t obey his commands. His body was limp as gelatin.

“What… what…?” Ike muttered, frightened.

Shopkeep jumped down from the wall. He landed beside Ike and gave him a comforting smile. “Don’t worry. You pushed yourself beyond your limits there for a while, and were able to fight above your realm. But doing such a thing, that goes against nature and the System, is bound to have aftereffects. What you’re experiencing right now is the exhaustion that comes after pushing yourself beyond the limits of your strength.”

“It’s like when you’re a mage, and you get super injured, and just zonk out and go to sleep for a few months,” Wisp offered, nodding.

Ike nodded, too tired to say anything. He leaned against Wisp’s shoulder, and his eyes drifted shut. If that was all it was, if this was normal… then he was going to take a nap.

Wisp gently ran a hand over his hair. “That’s right. Go on and sleep. I’ll look after you for a while.”

That was the last thing he heard. Ike passed out, falling soundly asleep.