“The duel isn’t over until one of you is dead.” The agitation in his voice was obvious. “Or do you think you do not possess the ability to end her?”

“Why do you care?” Killa interrupted. “Rina stabbed her through the heart. Normal enemies would die from that. That should count as a victory. We want her alive. Is that wrong?”

Leimon stood silent. Each moment passed slower than the last until he finally spoke. “Fine, but if you wish to live, you must kill those three. Each of you must kill one.”

I looked down at Lorrean. “She’s innocent.”

Leimon drew his sword. “They’re the enemy. And you are either with them or with us. Decide.”

An explosion sounded from where Killa bound the squirrel beastman. His head was missing as blood poured from the stump.

Killa stood over his dead body. “Rina, just do it. They were trying to kill us. The one guy likely already reported to his superiors. If we return to them, they will execute us regardless of the truth.”

Shadara stared at the fountain of blood before looking at me. “Will you please fill me in?”

Killa turned to her. “Leimon, Baron of Selsmire, is telling us that if we want to live, we need to kill them.”

Shadow took all of one second before driving her staff through gifts skull. She looked at me. If you can’t do it, then let me.”

“You must kill her.” Lemon pointed his sword at Shadara. “Don’t interfere.”

Killa held out her hand. “Shadara don’t. He’s testing us. Right or wrong doesn’t matter anymore. This is for survival.”

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. This wasn’t supposed to end like this. Those two killed them so readily. The least I can do is make it quick. I can’t let those two down.

Pierce through her heart with your arm blade and retract it quickly, or shoot it.

I looked down. She was wearing a breastplate. Second option?

Destroy the brain. One shot from your gun will suffice. Aim just above the eyes.

I pointed the gun at the spot Orange indicated. All I had to do was pull the trigger. But my finger wouldn’t move.

I don’t want to. She doesn’t deserve this. I’m not a killer. Even though I’m not human, I’m not a killer. I don’t want to become one. That’s not what I want to be. The lump in my throat grew. Lorrean’s eyes fluttered open.

“Do it!” Leimon shouted.

“Rina, just do it,” Killa pleaded.

The wolf woman’s face twisted into a snarl as she sat up. Reflexively, I pulled the trigger. Before the bullet hit its mark, I slammed my eyes shut and turned my head away. Even with my eyes closed, my HUD displayed that I earned five stat points and forty-five thousand nine hundred shards.

I heard a sword being sheathed, followed by Leimon’s voice. “Took you long enough. I suggest you restrain your prisoner and follow me.”

Shadara pulled me into a hug. Her fuzzy arms and chest were a small comfort. I couldn’t move. I hated what I did. My stomach churned, but I couldn’t vomit. My feet felt anchored to the ground.

“We aren’t following you. We’ll take the vampire, but we’re leaving this floor.” Killa’s voice, although close, felt painfully distant.

The giant skeletal worm scuttled behind us as Leimon spoke. “You don’t get to decide that. My master is summoning you. That human specifically. There’s no defying him.”

“Rina, are you alright?” Shadara whispered.

“N-no. I didn’t want to…” My voice cracked.

Shadara hushed me. “It’s okay. You did what you had to. She would’ve tried to kill you. It was self-defense. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Killa walked up and offered a hand. “This is cold, I know, but we have to go. We can talk about it later. I’ll deal with the vampire.”

I turned to see that the giant shark skull was only a foot away. A numbness gripped me. I took Killa’s hand while grabbing one from Shadara. Mechanically, I let them lead me to follow Leimon to the fort.

Killa let go with a pat on my back. “Keep her walking. She’s in shock.”

Shadara nodded. “I’ve got her.”

The army parted as we walked through them. The gates swung open, revealing rows of forges with skeletons working them. Step after step, we marched towards the largest building. A tower covered in green runes I couldn’t begin to describe glowed, illuminating the entire fortress.

Killa caught up with us, Nyx in her arms, with a portion of her slime encapsulating the vampire’s head.

She survived, but Lorrean didn’t. Why does killing her feel so horrible? Cushin and Tasha didn’t feel like this. Cushin didn’t give me a choice. It felt like I was fighting for my life. Tasha was much the same. Also, Tasha was evil. She would’ve done worse things if she wasn’t stopped.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

They died while fighting me. I didn’t need to kill Lorrean. She didn’t die fighting me. I executed her. She wasn’t a threat. Leimon was making me do it. I didn’t decide it for myself.

I didn’t recognize it when we walked into the building. We were standing in a large, mostly empty throne room. The throne was a mortifying and gaudy monstrosity. It was made from an elongated skull with jade stones for teeth that converged into the plush seat.

However, the individual sitting on the throne held my attention. Dark emerald robes flowed around their body. Boney fingers that use thin gold wire as replacements for tendons gripped the slate black staff with a crystal ball holding a swirling, glowing green cloud on top. The skull covered by the hood poked out, revealing a bronze gemmed skull. The eyes were literal sapphires, and the teeth were rubies.

“What an interesting sight you are, human.” His voice echoed through the entire room. “But a human is the wrong word for you, isn’t it, Rina?”

I froze. “What?” How does he know?

Leimon stood next to the strange undead. “What’s so special about her that you had me drag her here?”

The creature drummed his fingers on his staff. “I’ve existed for a very, very long time. Up until today, I’d thought I saw it all. But you…” He pointed a finger at me. “You are a whole new kind of unique.”

My mind went blank. All I could do was stare. Seconds passed like hours.

He leaned forward on his staff while remaining seated. “Are you frightened?” My head nodded slowly. “You should be. Only a fool or the incomparably ignorant would not feel fear in the presence of a demilich.”

“Why me?” I don’t know how those two words slipped out of my mouth.

“Ah.” He stood up. “Where are my manners? You stand before Drohkus Muz’geeq. So, Rina, care to tell me what you are? Your soul, your body, your energy—so much doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Curiosity.” Drohkus’s one-word answer shook me to my core.

“Will you let us live and leave?” I turned to Killa and Shadara, who were just as visibly shaken as me.

He tilted his head. “I was going to offer you a place to stay. And then you can tell me about yourself. After all, I am bored with running this floor. I need something to pass the time. Something like you sounds quite interesting. Oh, and you can keep Nyx, too. She isn’t as interesting as you.”

“This war has only proven the stubbornness of the living, even in the face of inevitability,” the demilich continued. “Name your price, if it is within my power, and reasonable, it’s yours. What will make you stay?”

I looked at Nyx. “You know a lot about souls. Can you tell me how to defeat her once and for all so that she never steals another soul?”

Drohkus chuckled. “That? Oh, come on. Her soul is much like yours. I’d rather not. She isn’t as interesting as you, but she still has plenty of uses. How else would I compare you to each other? Nyx is much less complex than you.”

I cocked my head to the side. “What?”

The demilich waved his hand dismissively. Two chairs appeared behind Killa and Shadara. They both fell into them. Nyx floated to the ground behind me. Drohkus walked down the stairs to the throne towards us.

Nyx struggled to her hands and knees as she wiped Killa’s slime off her face. Killa jumped onto her back as yellow tentacles wrapped around the vampire’s limbs, pulling them taunt.

“You’re on thin ice, monster.” Killa leaned in and continued in a low imitation of Leimon’s voice. “If you even start using magic, I will rip you apart and wash the floor with your blood before consuming you completely.”

Nyx looked up at Drohkus. “Will you really let them kill me? You won’t get what you want if I die.”

Drohkus gave a slight shake of his head. “You misunderstand and greatly overestimate your worth. I said I wouldn’t kill you. If your decisions lead to your premature demise, that’s your problem. It would be disappointing, but I’ll just trap your soul, or what’s left of it anyway.”

Killa’s tentacles dissolved in a green light. “But I’ll ask you to refrain from using magic in my presence again, slime.” Drohkus pointed to the side, and Nyx slid across the ground to where he was pointing. “Don’t worry, I’ll return your spoils to you when we’re done. I’m sure she will want to hear this.”

The demilich turned to me. “Now that unsightly business has been dealt with, where were we? Ah yes, you were going to tell me about your soul.”

I grabbed a handful of my jacked, feeling the smooth gems slide against my metal skin. “My soul isn’t normal—it’s an artificial soul.”

He stroked his chin as he stepped back to his throne. “What makes a soul artificial?”

“I don’t understand myself. It was never explained to me.” I nodded to Nyx. “She knows more than I do.”

Drohkus turned to the vampire. “So, what do you know about artificial souls? Is that what your soul is? That would explain the incompleteness. And why didn’t you tell me before?”

Nyx shook her head. “Artificial souls aren’t supposed to exist, except maybe the Soul Nexus itself. But those are a different type of artificial soul. They’re more like bags of water dressed up like a soul. Extremely unstable and disperse into energy without a body. Normal ones, like hers, can’t be created. And I told you, I don’t have a soul. The Nexus just trapped my being in this body.”

A slow rumble of laughter grew from Drohkus until it began ringing in my ears. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a prime example of someone in denial. I play with souls like a kitten plays with a mouse. When it comes to souls, I’m an expert…” He turned back to me. “Or at least I thought I was.”

“That’s not possible.” Nyx’s voice shook as she stumbled backwards a step. “I can’t have a soul. I can’t be a soul, an artificial one at that. You made a mistake. You had to have. This is wrong.”

I napped my head to Drohkus. “You said our souls were different. How come you still call her soul an artificial one like mine? What are you talking about when you say her soul is incomplete? What about my soul? Is it more like a natural soul?”

The demilich sighed. “If I bothered to teach you every nuance of the soul, it would take a millennia. So I’ll keep things concise. Each soul is unique. Souls are one of the most complex, versatile, detailed, and consistent resources in existence. Sometimes, you’ll find souls with similarities, but they are still unique.”

He traced his finger around the circumference of the sphere on his staff. “You and the vampire share a—let’s call it a marker, for simplicity’s sake. Until now, it was a marker that I’d never seen before. When I saw Nyx at first, I believed that it was just another damaged part of her soul. But after seeing you, it is no coincidence. Your soul is much more complete than hers. There are still some spots missing, but nothing that would influence this marker. I believe that marker is what identifies your souls as artificial.”

Nyx dropped to her knees, her head in her hands. “You’re wrong. You have to be. I never had a soul. My existence was like that of an elemental, if there was an equivalent. Tell me my soul is more like an elemental.”

What’s she talking about? Why is she losing it?

Drohkus propped his head in his hand. “Have we made our way to bargaining? No, you have a soul. One that is incomplete and damaged, but a soul nonetheless. Your soul also carries the same unique marker Rina has.”

He tapped a finger on his temple. “Elementals don’t, and are not, souls. They are a will given physical form. Sentient elementals are extremely rare, but they are still markedly different from a soul, and they still don’t possess one. You do not fall into that category.”

Nyx violently shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You have to be wrong. This can’t be happening to me. I’m a vampire. I’m not a soul. No, that’s not it either.” She slammed her fist on the ground. When she looked up at me, blood dripped from the corners of her eyes. “This isn’t possible. If this is true, I can’t be allowed to exist.”

A blade made out of blood coalesced in her hand. She placed it against her throat, drawing a tiny bit more blood. She wept streams of blood as her hands shook. “I must be destroyed. I must destroy myself.”