Water dripped down my face as I woke up, surprised by the cold. I shook my head, trying to recall what I had been doing, only to realize I was still stuck down here… wherever it was. It was a small stone cell, with no window to the outside. I was shackled to the walls, runes inscribed the edges of the chains. Whatever magic it was, it had been pretty effective in preventing me from recovering. It took me a second to realize that there was actually someone in front of me. It was a man in armor, the same armor as the late cavalry during the battle.

“Ready to talk now?” he pulled me by my hair.

I simply stared at him. It was someone new today. I could tell by the size of his hands and scratches on them, the different location of calluses and scars told me this was someone new. He punched my face, I spat out blood as his knuckles slid across my cheeks. All I did was simply stare. A blank face completely devoid of any emotion. The entire time as he went from one end of the room to the other, he kept rambling on with questions and statements. I ignored everything he said, remaining silent like I had for every interrogation. He took out his hand, branding my skin with magic. Searing hot lights crawled over me as my skin flaked and turned into the color of ash, burning my flesh. I wanted to scream. I bit the side of my cheeks, trying my best not to shake under the pain. Yet they could not get a single word or reaction, nothing to even remotely indicate that I could even hear or respond to their words. It continued on for what seemed like half an hour, but I really couldn’t give an exact time.

He let go of my hair, slamming the back of my head downwards. They gave up. They always did.

“Freak,” I heard him mutter as he finally gave up. The cell door swung open as he left, someone else had been waiting outside the whole time. The two of them walked away as they took their torches with them, taking the only source of light in the cell. As I heard their footsteps walk away I panted, sweat dripping down onto the dusty floor. Blood dripped out of my mouth, probably from biting the sides of my mouth too hard. Holy magic seemed to inflict even more pain on me now. A category of magic that invoked the blessing of the gods to punish the unholy. It was a whole category of its own, and I suppose I fell into the latter category. The pain was immense… but there was nothing they could do that I haven’t suffered through already. I loosened up, trying to ignore the pain. My flesh had begun to regenerate, slowly I felt my mana being used up. My body ached as I loosened up, trying to get into a more comfortable position. My head dropped and I stared at the pool of sweat that had formed underneath as my eyelids shut, and I returned into a short slumber.

I woke up in a twisted and dark world. The skies were red and the ground was craggy. I stood up, feeling no pain. It was like I was walking in a dream. This time I wasn’t alone. The two of us stood atop a cliffedge, the steep slope leading down into a deep canvas.This time, in the far distance I saw figures of black, structures and possibly buildings. My attention shifted to the person next to me.

Asura’s form, the white haired man. I wondered what the demons actually looked like back when they were alive. Was he taking a human form just for convenience? I really wondered.

“Welcome.” He greeted, turning around.

“Is this the Abyss?” I asked out aloud. The place was similar, but last time those things weren’t in the distance. Or at least I hadn’t noticed them.

“Of course it is,” Asura sounded very relaxed.

“I don’t understand,” I looked around, trying to get a bearing of our location.

“Understand what?”

“How this is powerful magic? It’s an empty world, devoid of anything, really. I don’t see how this created the most powerful demon in history.”

He chuckled, amused at my ignorance.

“Give it some time. You can warp through space like I did before too. It’s a good start.”

“It’s not enough. I still need to get stronger.”

“And why is that?” his eyes twitched.

“So that I can kill him.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“What do you mean.”

“It seems you have found yourself a new group of friends.”

“Friends is pushing it a bit.”

“In particular that elf girl… Rachel was it?”

I remained silent.

“I can feel your heart changing. Years ago you had no weaknesses, and you let your walls down, just for a moment. And that moment now haunts you forever. Be careful around her… Rachel… was it? Something about her doesn’t feel right to me. The same thing as before is happening again, and this time there won’t be a second chance.”

“Perhaps it would be helpful if you were less cryptic and actually told me something useful,” I growled.

He smiled, the daring bastard. He pointed to the towering structures in the distance.

“Start walking. It’s going to be a long journey.”

“And why would I want to go there?”

“Because that’s where the power you seek lies.”

He turned around, facing me. His eyes glowed in the dark, glistening red and blue. Ever so ominous and cryptic. He faded into the shadows, reappearing by my side in an instant and causing me to flinch backwards.

“You will walk these lands, and you will find out for yourself. The power that this world contains… the garden of despair. And once you have drunk from the poisoned chalice that is power like I did, you will walk the same path that I myself had to take as well. All in due time, Mangus.”

His body faded once again, turning intangible. With nothing more than a clue from him, I began walking into the far distance. The looming black sky and the obscure shadows in the distances guided my path as a journey confined to the nightmares in my head began.

I opened my eyes, finding myself back in the real world. Instinctively I could tell whether I was in the Abyss or whether something was real, I just could.

I heard footsteps coming in my general direction. It was impossible to discern whose it was, my hearing had dulled ever since I had been put in here. A torch casted shadows onto the walls, and as they reached my cell, I saw who it was.

Isabella. Her face was dimly lit up by the torches, but it was mostly difficult to discern in the dark.

I heard the steel door open and footsteps get closer as I lowered my head, avoiding her gaze.

“Hey.” she greeted.

I didn’t answer.

“How’re you doing?” she asked nonchalantly.

“How does it look like I’m doing?” my voice was rough, but I couldn't say that I was especially angry, or feeling anything in particular. Simply disappointed and tired.

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you’re here to do? Apologize?”

“I’m not-”

“Just tell me what you want…” I groaned without looking up.

She stopped for a moment, very carefully considering her next few words.

“They sent me down here because I know you personally.”

I didn’t respond.

“They sent me because they think I’ll get you talking.”

“And what exactly is it I’m suppose to be saying?” I looked up, giving her a cold gaze.

“I’m not here to represent them, Magnus. Whatever they say about you, I think that they’re wrong. And that’s why I’m here to talk to you… person to person… and I hope that you’ll prove that you aren’t the person that they think you are,” I didn’t think she was lying.

“You think words will change anything at this point?” I chuckled.

She knelt down in front of me, lowering herself down to my level. As both of her legs knelt down onto the floor, her arms rested on her thighs, her back straight.

“Talk to me, so that I can help you out,” she pleaded.

“And what exactly is it that you want me to say?” I raised my voice.

“Something, anything so I can plead the church to let you go.”

“Don’t get me started on this crap.” I clenched my teeth. “You think that the church is fair and just, but you forget one thing. The church is composed of humans, and nothing will ever change that. Human nature is incorrigible. They see something they fear and cannot control, they will proclaim it heresy and try to bury it.”

I stood up, the wall behind me crumbling slightly. The runes on my chains emitted small shocks as I stood up and moved forward just slightly. The pain was nothing compared to what I had been through before.

“I did what I had to do. To protect, to defend those that resided in this town, I gave up my humanity and my soul. And to think that the ones to imprison me would be those that I had protected…”

I stopped going forward, the sounds from my chains echoing through the cell.

“I gave everything up for power. I’ve traveled from Visereal and now I’m here. Do you know what I saw? Corrupt nobles, aristocrats, bureaucrats, all human scum. They take the women they want, the land that they desire, and slaughter the innocents that oppose them. If there’s one thing that the world has taught me is that there is no morality or justice, it’s power. The power to change the world. It wasn’t god that killed all of those townsmen, the innocent. Everyone keeps telling me fate, that god has a plan. But if your god is real… if the same god you worship stares down at us from the sky, he didn’t seem to mind what happened. If he is up there… he doesn’t seem to care. God doesn’t make the world the way it is. We do. And in order to change the world, there is only one thing that grants us that privilege.”

I panted, dropping onto the dirty cell floor on one knee. I couldn’t even muster the strength to look up at anymore.

“Sometimes…” I continued, out of breath. “Sometimes the world doesn’t need another hero. Sometimes it just needs a monster.”

I spat out some blood, but I could feel my body regenerating. It was slow, but now that I wasn’t being burned my holy magic, I could rest.

There was a long pause.

“I’ll get you out,” she whispered as I saw her feet and legs get up.

I heard the cell door open and the sound of footsteps as Isabella left, leaving me behind in the same desolate solitude I constantly found myself in.

You care too much. Asura’s voice was sudden but quiet, like whispers in the dark.

“Shut up. I don’t need this right now.”

You pretend not to care, but you do.

“Not now, Asura.” I projected in my head angrily.

But I wasn’t really thinking of what I normally thought of. I was thinking of Alice, Rachel, Leon, Celeste and everyone else back at town. Even if I hated it, Asura was right. I had grown soft.

Terribly so.

* * *

They kept me awake for the next couple of days after that visit. The occasional guard or someone, whatever position they held, would come down to ask questions. I never spoke a word.

I was burned with holy magic, scarred with blades. Eventually the wounds healed back up, as if the damage was never done. It was inhuman, just how far I could revert the damage that was caused to me. All throughout this, I made not a single sound. I simply looked at theme, and they could see it in my eyes. That however hard they tried, they wouldn’t break me. The lashed me and burned horseshoes onto my skin. My skin regenerated within hours, and by the time they were back the next day I looked as good as new. It was funny, honestly. They would preach to me that they would destroy the demon that god had sent down to test them, but they had no tools or weapons to kill me with. How pathetic.

I sat in my lonely prison, staring off into space. Nothing had happened for a couple of days. They had stopped coming into the cell to torture me. All I could hear was the occasional shouting and what felt like a mob of footsteps above me. Perhaps my senses were getting dull from being held prisoner for a while.

Suddenly I was startled by loud footsteps marching towards my cell. It was more than one, and it wasn’t as heavy as the footsteps of the church people that checked up on me. It was someone else.

Lights cast shadows on the wall, flickering to all sorts of sizes as the footsteps got louder. Several figures appeared, holding torches and weapons.

Rachel was in the front, while Leon, Celeste and Eve were behind her, weapons drawn.

“What’re you doing here?” I shouted.

“Breaking you out.” Rachel answered, taking out a set of keys and began to try opening the door.

“What about the church?” I asked.

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“They’re a bit preoccupied right now.” Celeste crossed her arms as the door swung open.

“With what?” They all rushed over to me, breaking apart the chains that held me to the wall.

“You’ll see when you get back.” Eve took out a small bottle filled with a red liquid. She poured it into my mouth, and I tasted some sort of sweet fruity liquid as it went down my throat.

“I don’t need it.” I told her.

“They’ve been torturing you everyday I heard, where are your wounds?” Eve exclaimed in surprise as she dropped the bottle, the glass shattering on the ground. “Wait, you look completely fine.”

“That’s because I'm fine.” I got up, carefully making sure not to slip on the cold cobble floor. I felt famished and tired, but otherwise I would live. I’d been in worse conditions. Rachel helped me up even though I had said I was fine, I didn’t refuse her help.

“Let's get going, quickly.” Rachel rushed us, walking outside the cell. The rest of us followed, I had trouble adjusting to the light. We walked up the spiral stairs one by one until we reached a door. As we exited I finally realized where I was. We had been under the church all along.

There was a mob of people inside the church. People that I recognized. People from all over town, some were merchants from the market, while some were adventurers from the guild. The members of the church were being pushed back, forcefully cornered by the mob of people pushing them back. There was a lot of shouting and shoving, but as some of them saw us, they cleared a path while still keeping the churchmen at bay.

“There’s the heathen!” One of the churchmen shouted as I walked through. “He’s in the shape of a human, but make no mistake! That’s the devil in disguise!” His voice was eventually drowned out by the angry mob but the words echoed in my head several times.

People were outside as well, creating a narrow path for us. We squeezed through as they kept knights on horses at bay. I didn’t know what was happening, but it seemed everyone was helping me to escape. I kept following Rachel until we reached a point where there was nobody. No paladins, knights or townsmen. Just empty streets. It was right in front of the guild.

“There’s people waiting for you.” Leon opened the door as all of us stepped inside. There were a lot of people inside. Much more than usual in the guild. Everyone’s gazes turned towards me as I stepped in, but strangely enough I sensed no animosity. It was all so sudden. Minutes ago, I was starving to death in my cell. Now as everyone ran towards me, smiles on their faces and trying to hug me. I found myself in a situation where I wasn’t sure how to react.

The first person to run towards me was Alice, who dove straight into my arms. I caught her in the nick of time, trying not to fall over.

Rachel threw a bag at me and I caught it with my free hand. The bag opened as it landed in my hands, revealing my sword and my dagger inside.

“Magnus!” Alice cried. My fingers went through her soft hair.

“I’m back.” I went down on a knee to place her down.

“You kept your promise!” she added, smiling.

“Of course I did.” I smiled. It could be said that I was happy to see that she was alive and well.

“Everyone here wanted to meet you.” Alice turned to the side to reveal a crowd of people waiting behind her.

The first one to come up looked strangely familiar, like I had seen her somewhere before. But I just couldn’t tell precisely from where.

“Do you remember me?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but not really,” I tried to recall who she was.

“I’m the one you saved from the vampire lair.” When she said that, I was suddenly reminded of the lady that we had found during our mission to hunt vampires.

“I haven’t had the chance to thank you properly. You saved my life. And now you’ve saved this town.”

I remained silent, unsure of how to react. I was left completely speechless. That wasn’t the end of it. People continued to thank me, people I recognized from the guild and people that I didn’t recognize. All this time, I was keeping a low profile and trying to pass through. But now that the dust had settled and the storm had passed, I was receiving something that I had never received in all my life - gratitude. A lot of time passed, town guards approached me, thanking me for what I had done.

Several of them in particular stood out to me. Five of them came as a group, cautiously stepping towards me. I could see the fear in their eyes, but respect and gratitude as well.

“Thank you.” They bowed their head slightly.

I remained silent.

“We saw you…” one of them spoke up. “We were then in the city when we were getting mobbed. “You fought them off, single handedly. We thought we were going to die. You were scarier than all of them terrified… we couldn’t even move to help. But you saved us… you saved all of us. This is the only home we have known since we were born… and we cannot thank you enough for what you have done for us.”

To my side, Aaron patted my shoulder.

“Thanks, boy. Without you we would have been goners for sure,” his gruffy voice sounded softer this time.

My whole life I had been called names. Murderer. Killer. Monster. Fear caused people to avoid me, and for most of my life I lived alone. But now it felt like the walls that I had forcefully erected around me were slowly but surely crumbling, even if it was just at the edges.

The doors swung open, Isabella and Charles stepping through the door. Isabella and Charles ran in smiling at me. Isabella charged at me and swung her arms around me.

“Finally! We got you out!” she cried.

As if I needed anymore people trying to push me down today.

Rachel waved a set of keys in front of me.

“Courtesy of Isabella.” she added.

She let go, placing her hands on my shoulders.

“Well, I hope you’ve had a chance to talk to everyone?” she seemed to be in a rush.

“More or less. I think.”

“The rest of the knights and paladins are now coming over, you guys need to run, now. Magnus, you were going to leave town, right?”

“Yes, to the next town.”

“That’s not a good idea right now, they’ll send people for you there.”

“Then where do I go?”

“I don’t know, but until we sort things out, the entirety of the Eastern Kingdom is now on the hunt for you. You need to be somewhere out of its jurisdiction.” Isabella had a very serious look on her face.

“Why?”

“During the battle… something caused a disturbance. Something powerful… a wave a magic that alarmed the queen in the East. She said that power that rivaled the four kings had awakened. We think it was you. Was it?”

“Probably…” I sighed. Things were getting more and more complicated by the second.

Leon, Rachel, Celeste and Eve approached me a moment later.

“We’ll be coming with you.” Eve answered before I could say goodbye.

“Wait, why?” I asked in surprise.

“We just broke you out of the church in front of the priests and guards. I don’t think we’ll be safe here any longer.” Leon responded.

“Didn’t think things through, did we?” I scratched my head.

“Magnus.” Leon called out to me once more. “No more secrets. We need to know who you are, and what we are dealing with.”

“I understand.” I answered immediately. He was right, war was upon us. There was no more need to keep quiet anymore. “We’ll continue on the way, we should leave now.”

Alice clung onto my arm as I looked down at her.

“Are you coming back?” she asked with wide glimmering eyes. “Will we see each other again?”

I went down on one knee, looking at her in the eyes. “There’s a lot of things going on. It’ll be hard. But if you take good care of yourself, then we might just see each other again.”

“Will you come see us after everything’s over?”

“Of course.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Yes.” I chuckled at the thought that even now, she was bartering with me. As if nothing had changed.

“Then I’ll see you again.” She wrapped her arms around me, one last time. It was warm and comforting.

Shouting could be heard from outside.

“We need to go, like now.” Rachel urged me to get going. I let go of Alice, her soft fingers slipping through my hand. Now it was back to the road, same as always.

I told the others to go on ahead, that they would come after me if they could see me. But they wouldn’t be able to catch me, I assured them that. They trusted me, leaving immediately to get horses, exiting through the back exit.

I walked out of the guild, a ring of knights had gathered outside. They had been expecting.

There was an obvious leader among the knights and paladins, one adorned in a different shade of white and silver.

How pompous.

He raised his sword, pointing the tip at me. Only an idiot would hold a sword like that.

“Surrender yourself, demon, and god may spare you yet.” he shouted. The other knights stood up straight, holding their spears.

“Get lost.” I whispered.

I leapt up into the air, jumping higher than I had imagined. I leapt onto the rooftops, quickly carrying myself across the air. My body was very light, and much more comfortable than my previous one.

I needed to look for everyone else, before they left they said to rendezvous at the exit to Green’s forest, also that they had prepared horses for a faster getaway. I sat down on the rooftop, the knights unsure of how to get me. Mages in the back cast bolts of lights to throw at me, but I dodged them with ease. But I had to be careful, holy magic would hinder my regeneration.

You should be more cautious.

“I’m fine.”

You sure you can trust them?

“Huh?”

Leon and Celeste don’t particularly trust you yet.

“I haven’t given them a reason to.”

A few moments passed as I gazed at the entirety of the town I had defended. Many buildings were damaged, the bodies had been removed. It was a sight for sore eyes. Yet I knew that deep down, I was somewhat satisfied, that this time I had done something right. Something that Rosaline would have been happy to see. I shook my head. Why would I think about her after all this time?

As I calmly took in the fresh air while dodging magical artillery, I could hear the sounds of hooves in the distance. I turned my head, spotting several figures on horseback on another street. I leapt into the air, jumping high into the sky. I entered freefall, and began my descent.

People that saw me were shouting and pointing at me, I closed my eyes and cleared myself of thought. In my head, I saw the pillars in the distance. I don’t know what they were, nor what they represented, but suddenly another image popped up inside of my head.

“Creature of the abyss, heed my call.”

A rift opened, black hooves tearing through the air. A black mare crawled out of the space, its heavy hooves stomping on the ground. Its eyes were like smoke, but with cyan flames. It made no other sound as it came into our world, like a beast in waiting for its prey. I climbed onto it, it made no attempts to shake me off. It was motionless, like a statue. Whatever it was I had created, it wasn’t normal.

You have to command it.

“No shit.”

“Run to everyone else!” I commanded loudly.

The black mare immediately slammed the ground with its hooves, breaking the cobble path beneath it. It ran through the streets like a blur, leaving behind a trial of black dust. It looked relatively harmless, but I wasn’t sure myself. The creature seemed to be a horse, but I never knew what would crawl out of the abyss. As we made turns and turns, I could hear the sound of horses behind me. I turned around only to confirm that the church had also supplied the knights with horses as well. We made a sudden left turn and up ahead, I saw everyone else waiting for me. They were all on horseback as well, all of us making a beeline for the exit. I held onto my horse, realizing that it had reins on it only after checking. I had been holding onto its neck this whole time.

I caught up to the rest, everyone focused on getting out as soon as possible.

We said nothing as the stampeding of our horses and our pursuers roared across the town.

The town gates were opened, presumably kept open by the town guards for us. As we rode out, arrows began flying in our general direction. I turned back, creating small black bolts of my own. They were blunt, I had no intention of killing them. I shot them outwards and I knocked a couple of men off their horses, but they were persistent. I followed everyone else, looking up ahead it seemed that we were running towards Green’s forest.

We stormed inside, birds and other wild animals in the forest running away from us. The knights still gave no sign of giving up, following us deep inside. We made turns and made several attempts in order to shake them off, but to no avail.

Suddenly as we reached towards the heart of the forest, vines and trees began to move. The earth shifted, disheveling the ground and making it uneven as we went past. The forest became alive, seemingly helping us. As the wind whistled past me, I could hear a voice.

Farewell, Asura. May the tides of fate bring us together once more.

Goodbye, my moon and stars.

I could hear Green’s voice gently being carried by the summer winds. She had kept her promise - within her dominion of the forest she would help us. The knights could no longer follow us, their horses trapped and captured by the vines and plants.

We continued on for a while, exiting on the other end of the forest - back where my journey started. Rachel and Eve slowed down at the front, causing the rest of us to follow suit. As we got further away, we felt more comfortable going at a slower pace. Eventually, our horses were slowly walking across the road. At least everyone else's’ horses were, I wasn’t quite sure what I was riding on.

“Where do we ride to?” Leon asked.

“We need to go somewhere the Eastern Kingdom can’t reach us, at least not for now.” Eve added. “When I mean we, I mean the four of you.”

“You aren’t coming with us?” My horse seems lifeless, it was kind of creepy. The other horses seemed aware that what I was riding on wasn’t their kin, and they began to shake nervously, avoiding the same path as mine.

“No, I have a business with my sisters. You see, the witch queen called out to me a couple of days ago.” Eve calmed her horse down, petting it carefully.

“Who?” I really didn’t know who she was referring to, which was rare.

“I’m surprised you don’t know, she’s queen in Oceania.”

“Clearly, I’m not from the North.”

“She goes by many names, Witch Queen, the Witch of Blue, the Eternal One, the Immortal Monarch. The titles are endless, but we witches and wizards all agree on one thing. She is the greatest human mage to have ever existed.”

“Alright, but what does this have to do with me?”

“Several days ago, she contacted me personally. Which is strange, because I’ve only caught a glimpse of her once.”

“And?”

“She said that another player has entered the game.”

I sighed, tired of the semantics. “Tell her this is no game.” I growled.

“I’ll have to sort things out with her, but for now know that you have the attention of the entire magical world.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The five of us kept riding for a while, talking about possible places where we could go. We threw around ideas, but nothing seemed too appealing. It was hard to find somewhere safe for us that was out of the range of the Eastern Kingdom.

“Let’s go to the Elven Kingdom, Elisier.” Rachel suddenly brought up.

The City of Glass. It was one of the largest elven capitals when I was still alive.

“Rachel, no.” Celeste sounded very opposed to the idea.

“I had to return someday. This is the perfect opportunity.” Rachel insisted, seemingly not bothered by whatever problems they had back there.

“If Rachel insists, we should go. It’s definitely not possible for the Eastern Kingdom to touch us while we’re there.” Leon argued.

“But…” Celeste still sounded uncertain. Whatever their concerns were, I felt like I could trust them. The final decision would be up to the three of them.

“We’ll go.” Rachel sounded very firm on this decision. “Plus, my father will want to meet Magnus.”

I was curious as to why and who exactly her father was, but she didn’t seem to be in a sharing mood, so I didn’t press for more. It seemed settled, that we would head towards Elisier.

I think I know who her father is.

“Who?”

I said I think, we’ll have to wait and see to know for sure.

That night we rested in the forest. We gathered fruits and hunted for animals in the forest, but more importantly we finally had time to talk. The fire was going strong, and there was nothing around us - at least that’s what the abyss told me.

The five of us sat around, eating the meal that we had managed to come up with. It was strange. When I first came to this town, I walked down the road alone, just hoping to pass through. It was easier for me to take jobs that required hunting because of my particular skill set, but from where I was from it was frowned upon. In a country of ruin and war, the last thing they wanted to see was more powerful creatures on the board.

Here, it was seen as something else… something that didn’t define who you are. Even after all that had happened they had chosen to see me as something else, even if they knew that they could be wrong. I clenched my hands.

I could hear voices now.

To be able to tear apart the boundaries of both worlds, you must be a part of both. To neither living nor dead, to live and to die, all at the same time.

It was like soft whispers, but I never felt comfortable again. I always had to look over my shoulder, or to double check if something was behind me.

Asura had finally awakened from years of slumber. I had awakened his powers, and now I held the burden of the consequences. It was strange that my journey first began because I wanted strength, I wanted to change the world. Then after certain events, I wanted to throw it all away. To live and die peacefully. Now I was back here, in a position of great power, hunted by the lords of two great nations.

The fire crackled, as if laughing at me.

“Everyone.” I called out to them. Rachel, Eve, Leon and Celeste turned towards me. “I suppose that I should tell you all who I am now.”

“That’s right. I believe you owe us a story. No lies, not this time.” Leon stared at me.

“I believe Magnus… we owe him that at least, after what he went through for us.” Celeste argued.

Rachel didn’t say anything, playing with her bowstring next to the fire as she stared.

I felt like I could trust them. They had put their faith in me. It was only right that I do the same for them.

“It’s going to be a long and bloody tale…” I started. “But it looks like we have time. Let’s start with who I am. My name is Magnus Morgenstern… and this is my story.”