A shield of silver light enveloped Lorelei as she fell through the obsidian pond. The new, uncanny darkness that engulfed her felt so different from the cold emptiness she had experienced before meeting Orhana. It was hot like a forging fire, the blaze penetrating even through the ghost’s protection. As she sank deeper and deeper, her body began experiencing a crushing weight that paralyzed her chest. Lorelei knew that all this was just an illusion and her body was far away in Ildemar, but still, she struggled for air, the horror of her recent drowning surfacing in her mind. Her attempt to remain calm was in vain, and Orhana’s promise that she would be safe paled into nothingness. A scream left Lorelei’s mouth and reverberated through the air as she couldn’t endure the torture any longer.

After what felt like an eternity, the weight was finally lifted. With blurring eyes, she looked around, only for her heart to sink even deeper.

What surrounded her was the black-reddish twilight of a late sunset. An endless plane stretched around her, its rim covered in impenetrable shadows. There wasn’t a tree or a hill, nor a living being for as far as the eye could see. Her feet sank deep into a red swamp that stuck to her shins, turning every step into an insurmountable challenge. In this inhospitable world of dusk and desolation, she could still clearly smell the nauseating familiar scent of blood and decay.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, she let her gaze traverse the swamp. Her mind was in disarray, but she did her best to herd her buzzing thoughts, uniting them around the singular, most pressing question. How was she even supposed to find Noah in this endless space?

Suddenly, something slithered past Lorelei, touching her leg. There was a low sizzle and a few sparks flew over the murky surface. With a scream, Lorelei jumped to the side, fear shooting through her body like a bolt of lightning. With huge eyes, she observed a long, slim body covered in crimson and black scales snaking its way through the mud. A movement to the right alerted her of a second beast. And then came another one, and another one.

The scream stuck into Lorelei’s throat as over a dozen creatures began gathering around her. In their hurry, they sometimes bumped into each other and indulged in a short squabble, their long bodies twisting and coiling together, and revealing the true grotesqueness of their nature. What surrounded Lorelei wasn’t regular snakes but rather the misbegotten offspring of a serpent and a centipede. Between the glossy scales in the front part of the body, five pairs of sharp, jointed legs scrabbled and clawed around. As ash-gray, forked tongues slithered in and out between double rows of needle-like teeth, low hisses reached Lorelei’s ears. Hisses she could understand!

“I sssmell intruder!”

“Thisss isssn’t your place!”

“We have nothing to offer the likesss of you.”

“Go away, or you’ll be hurt!”

Without a warning, one of the snakes shot toward her, baring its fangs. Immediately, a net of crackling lightning enveloped Lorelei’s body, repelling the monster and throwing it several steps away.

“Filthy magic!” The serpents coiled around, making the swamp churn, their legs clattering like knitting needles scraping against each other. “How isss thisss possible!? How can it enter here? Why isssn’t it devoured!?”

Despite the wave of bloodcurdling hisses, the creatures stayed away from the lightning shield. This emboldened Lorelei. She took a slow step to the left and braced for another attack.

Nothing happened.

With a deep sigh, she bit the inside of her mouth and moved two paces to the right.

The serpents stuck out their tongues but didn’t attack.

With shaking knees, Lorelei made a step forward. Immediately, two of the monsters flew into a rage. Orhana’s protection flared up like a thunderstorm, sending them back squirming and hissing.

Lorelei closed her eyes briefly and nodded to herself. A pale smile lifted the corners of her lips. In this wasteland, there was only one thing to guard. She had found her way to Noah!

Armed with newfound hope and determination, Lorelei braved the bloody planes. Step after step, she fought her way through the sticky mud under the constant attacks of the grotesque serpents. A silver thunderstorm surrounded her as she navigated through the endless swamp with the unwitting help of the monsters, their hisses mixing with the sizzling of Orhana’s protection.

“Turn back.”

“When your ssshield breaksss, you’ll become one of usss.”

“It’sss inevitable. The sssooner you yield, the lesser the pain will be.”

“Ssstop now and we’ll give you power. More power than you can imagine.”

Lorelei just gritted her teeth and ignored the voices. What was harder to ignore was the light of her protective shield, which grew weaker with every attack. Despite that, she pressed further.

Time seemed to slow down as minutes and hours blurred together. Lorelei had no idea how long she had been walking already. Hours? Days? Was she too late? Was Noah still…? Shaking her head, she tried not to think about the possibility. The snakes’ attacks had actually become more vicious, which gave her hope.

And then she saw him.

Surrounded by a swarm of wiggling snakes, Noah knelt in the red swamp, his back - hunched as if under immense pressure. His hands wrapped around his body as it shook in pain. His hair was drenched from the splatters thrown around by the thrashing serpents, blood-like liquid trickling down his neck, naked shoulders and back. The broken shards of a black armor still clung to his arms and lower body, their obsidian luster making his dark skin look gray and diseased.

Suddenly, his back snapped upright and a piercing roar shook the air.

“Noah!”

Forgetting all caution, Lorelei jumped toward him. He was in pain! He needed her help! He…

What reached her ears were not cries of anguish but cold, dry laughter. Being close enough to distinguish his features, she saw his face twisting in vicious delight, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. In horror, Lorelei realized that what had looked like the shards of armor were actually neat rows of reddish-black scales crawling over his body. Minute after minute, a new set of tiny obsidian-like plates surfaced on his skin.

Noah’s lips parted and his low, previously melodious voice scraped against her ears.

“Yes! I can feel it! More! Give me more power!”

Accompanying his words, even more black scales burst out of his skin, crawling up his torso and reaching his collarbones before stopping.

“Not enough, huh? Well, I’ll just-”

“N-Noah?” Lorelei called him shakily as she struggled to make her frozen body move again.

As weak as it was, the sound of her voice seemed to reach its target. Noah jolted and his eyes fixated on her.

“Lorelei?” A trace of softness appeared on his face.

“Yes!” Lorelei’s knees gave out as a wave of relief overwhelmed her. Her hand stretched to caress his cheek but his next words froze it mid-motion.

“You aren’t Lorelei.” Bitterness and anger mixed in his eyes. “She… She’d never called me by name. Besides, there is no way she could enter this place. You are a fake.”

“You’re wrong! I am-”

“I know what you are,” he interrupted her. His hands, now more akin to beastly claws, cupped her face. A few silver sparks danced over their rough scales but couldn’t repel his touch. “You are the shape of my guilt. Just a beautiful figment of my imagination here to torment me.”

“W-what are you talking about?” The coldness of his touch made her whole body shake.

“I couldn’t protect you,” he replied quietly. A clawed thumb stroked her cheek, sending shivers down her spine. “I failed you again and again. And not only you. I couldn’t protect anything I hold dear. I was weak. But no more! I am so close to attaining true power.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I… don’t understand.” A dark foreboding grew in Lorelei’s heart.

“Playing innocent while in the heart of Nerodris… You are such a peculiar figment of my imagination.” Noah’s grip became rougher as the snakes around him hissed gleefully. “Are you appearing in this form to test me, my lady? Do you need me to put into words what my soul has already accepted? Do you need to bear witness to my resolve?”

“Noah...”

“I will protect Lorelei,” he whispered and pressed his forehead against hers. Despite his icy hands, his brow was burning. “I will protect Gregor and Shana, Duncan and Neli, the whole of Norden. I’ll rip my soul apart for them. I won’t fight Nerodris anymore. I was an idiot to fight it anyway. No, I’ll let Nerodris feast on the blood and souls of my enemies, nurture it, make sure it grows even stronger. And I’ll grow with it. No one will be able to withstand this power. I can feel it even now, seeping into this feeble husk…”

“You are insane!” Lorelei shook him off and tumbled backward, her body half-sinking into the swamp. Somehow the Noah before her eyes was far scarier than the demonic serpents swimming around them.

“Insane?” Noah stood up and tried to approach, prompting her to crawl further back. “Of course, I’m insane. There is no power in sanity, Lady Figment. It took me some time to realize this.”

“Snap out of it!” Lorelei scrambled to her feet but still maintained her distance. “I came here to help you! To save you!”

“Save me?” A bemused smile stretched his lips as he raised his eyebrows. “You… Ah, now I see. Are you perhaps not my guilt but my conscience? For you to appear in Lorelei’s guise, it would be better suited. But no matter what you are, you won’t sway me. I’m doing all this for them. For the ones I love and protect.”

“You hypocrite!” Lorelei balled her fists and shouted. Tears ran down her cheeks as anger slowly replaced her fear. The silver shielded around her flared dimly but she paid no attention to it. “How dare you use me? How dare you use us as an excuse for your actions? As an excuse to kill people?”

“It isn’t an excuse. It’s a fact. The one who strikes first wins. And only the one who wins can protect.”

“You lie again!” She stepped towards him, her fists landing heavily on his chest. “I saw you smile! I saw you savor this repulsive power. Even now, your expression says it all - you thirst for more power and blood!”

“I do.” Noah’s words were calm. He didn’t try to protect himself from her hits but just stood there. “You are part of me. You should know how wonderful this feeling is - the might, rushing through your veins, giving your body strength beyond human measures; the knowledge that you stand above everyone else and can crush them with a flick of your finger; the exaltation of seeing your enemies grovel at your feet, broken and trembling.”

“No!” Lorelei hit him again and again, her fists becoming numb. Small cracks began crawling up her fingers, but she didn’t notice them. “I’m not part of you! And I would never want to be part of such a coward!”

“Coward?” Noah bared his teeth and grabbed her arms. “You are mistaken, Lady Figment. The coward in me is finally dead. The idiot that let some stupid morality hold him back is no more. He was a weakling that let his closest ones suffer because he was afraid to recognize true power.”

“True power?” Lorelei tried to hit him again but her wrists were locked in his iron grip. “You mean becoming a soulless, bloodthirsty murderer?”

“No, becoming the bringer of Death to all who oppose me and want to take away from me what is mine.”

“And where will you draw a line?”

“When the last enemy draws their breath.”

“But will the enemies ever disappear?” Lorelei looked him in the eyes. “The ones whose loved ones you’ve killed will come after you. And when you kill them, their loved ones will come forth. It will be a vicious cycle.”

“They’ll stop. Before Nerodris’ power, before absolute terror, before the one they’ll call Death, they’ll stop coming.”

“Only a coward believes in peace through fear!” Seeing Noah flinch at her words, Lorelei rewarded him with a wry smile. “And only a foolish addict believes he can say no when facing temptation.”

“Nerodris is mine!” hissed Noah, looking down at her. “Only an ignorant child blindly rejects a readily offered power. Only an idiot chooses the hard path to victory.”

“Only a lazy ruler trods the easy path!”

“Are you calling me a foolish, lazy coward?” Noah leaned in, his face inches away from Lorelei’s.

“Yes.” Her words were like steel. “You are not the man I know and love. The you before me is just a weak shadow of the man we follow and devote our lives to.”

“Damn you! I’m doing all this for you!”

“No, you are doing it for yourself! Have we ever wanted you to become a blood-crazy tyrant? Have we ever told you to cheat and seek easy strength from a cursed artifact? All you are doing is trying to escape reality. If you lose your mind, you won’t experience the pain of loss, of death, of grief, of angst. If you cut away your humanity and hide behind a vicious power, you can ignore the consequences of your actions.”

“You… are so harsh, Lady Figment,” whispered Noah. His cold expression mellowed and his hands released their grip. Looking down at Lorelei, he took a strand of her translucent hair and kissed it. “It seems, however, that your time is almost up. Anything else you wish to say, Lady Conscience, before you disappear forever?”

Looking down at her own body, Lorelei realized that it had become almost completely see-through. A net of fine cracks had formed over her skin. She gasped, fear jolting her entire being. Was she about to die? But there was no pain. The silver protection surrounding her body was still there but so weak that it was almost invisible to the eye. Even the swarming snakes seemed confused, their hisses becoming louder:

“Why can’t we reach her?”

“Where isss ssshe going?”

“Whossse power daresss rob usss from our prey?”

With a sigh of relief and anguish, Lorelei realized that her time was almost up. Looking at Noah’s face, a sharp pain pierced her chest. She had done all she could but he seemed too far gone. Her words hardly reached him and she was soon going to leave his side. When that happened… would he truly succumb to the power of this vile place?

Looking into Noah’s deep gray eyes, she could see her reflection. And more. There was still a flicker of warmth in them. Some remnants of the man she knew were still clinging to his soul. That proud, stubborn, warmhearted man that she had become to know and love.

Her gaze blurred with tears. She reached again and brushed away the messy, damp hair from his brow. Her gentle touch made Noah flinch.

“Lady Conscience, what…?”

“I told you,” she whispered, “I’m not your conscience. I’m not a figment of your imagination, and all I’ve said isn’t part of your delusion.”

Closing her eyes, her lips touched Noah’s. It was a fleeting moment - the sensation of a petal caressing one’s skin; a snowflake, melting at the first touch. And yet it felt like a burning fire; a hurricane, about to engulf the whole world; a whirlwind that ripped one’s feet off the ground and let the heart soar in the highest skies.

Shaking like a fawn, Lorelei opened her eyes and blinked several times. Before her, Noah stood swaying, his face - a perfect picture of incredulous confusion.

“I am Lorelei of Norden,” she said with a smile, her voice getting weaker and weaker as her body paled. “I’m awaiting your return in Ildemar, Lord Norden. If you doubt my identity, come ask me yourself. And if you succumb to this damn artifact, I’ll find a way for my spirit to haunt you, and nag you for eternity. So, make sure to come back to me!”

Like a gust of spring wind, her last words drifted into nothingness. Lorelei’s frame blurred and fell apart into myriad specks of glowing snow.

Left alone in the endless bloody swamp, Noah trembled. His hand involuntarily touched his mouth. Warmth. He could still feel it. The sweet sensation of those lips he had yearned for. It was so real, so gentle. His mind knew that all was just the fruit of his imagination. A last effort to rebel against Nerodris’ power. And yet, that imaginary Lorelei had behaved so similar to the original - the same fire in her words, the same emotions, reactions, down to the tiniest gesture. The way she balled her fists. How her nose scrunched when she frowned. The way she bit her lip when she was about to cry… It was as if the real Lorelei had stood before him.

One of the snakes crawled with its insect-like legs up his calf but Noah kicked it off and sent it flying.

The Lorelei before him might have been fake, but the feelings he was experiencing right now weren’t. He had tried to suppress them, drown them, erase them from existence, but they sprouted again and again like weeds. This kiss… How sweet it would have been, had it been real? If he could hold her in his hands and kiss her just one more time… Would it taste the same? Lorelei’s phantom had been right, he was an addict. He wanted to embrace her and cover her entire body with kisses. He wanted to breathe the bitter-sweet scent of her hair. To feel her tremble in pleasure under his touch. To share the warmth of her skin. To hear the beats of her heart and her quiet breaths as she slumbered in his embrace. He wanted to protect her precious smile from any harm.

“Let usss help you!” one of the centipede snakes hissed gleefully. “Only if you have power can you sssave her from harm.”

Yes, with Nerodris’ might, he could slaughter all who dared lay a finger on her. But… Would he be able to touch her with his bloodied hands?

“But ssshe isss going away sssoon. If you want to keep her, you need power. And if you dessside to let her go, you’ll need sssomething to fill the void. You need usss!”

Yes, Lorelei was a jewel he could just marvel at from the side. But even then, he could still be near her. If he fused with Nerodris… Would he be able to approach her with his tainted body?

“Ssso ssshort-sssighted. And after that woman isss gone, are you willing to give up your daughter? Are you going to risssk your child’sss life for sssome gall?”

“Shut your trap!” Noah’s heel squished a snake’s head.

They dared speak about Shana! He could feel the hunger and yearning hidden behind their seeming concern. Nerodris was created to devour not just souls. It was a weapon against magic. And Shana was the greatest source of nourishment for that devious piece of scrap! Oh, he had been such a blind idiot! Had he lost his mind? Most likely! If he allowed Nerodris to take over his body and mind, the first ones it would attack were Shana and Gerash! The two strongest shamans with now the weakest bodies. And if the warriors of Wolf Mountain tried to stop him, he would devour them too and increase his powers further…

Letting out a string of curses, Noah’s claws dug into the black scales on his chest and ripped a large chunk off. Searing pain shot through his entire body, but his mind was finally clear from fog and doubt.

“What are you doing!” a slew of hisses erupted around him as the snakes attacked him, teeth and sharp legs piercing his skin.

“Off with you, you conniving critters!” shouted Noah and began mercilessly kicking and trampling around while ripping handfuls of scales from his body. “I’m going back to my family!”