Leylin grasped the ashfen’s neck as she rounded the corner and ripped the soul from her body. She died without sound. Even in this narrow, hidden-away alley, he couldn’t enjoy a moment’s peace. Trosa held a celebration today, to honor the Emperor, and people had taken to the streets despite the scorching heat. This hindered Leylin greatly. The souls he had gathered were in constant protest, urging him to slaughter and destroy. And yet he clung to the wall with his hood lowered as he walked, using the shadows as cover. If he succumbed to madness here, there’d be no saving him.

He took his hand out of his pocket and looked down at the gem. It glowed a brilliant red under the sunlight, like a firelicked coal. It burned like one too, its smooth surface sizzling against his ever-regenerating palm. He brought it close to his lips and whispered. “Do you sense it now?”

The jewel shone brighter in defiance, red glow giving way to white. Leylin smirked and forced some of his nora inside, clouding it with darkness. Part of him hoped what was left of the aspect of fire would resist and earn itself some more punishment. He’d toyed with it plenty, changed it in ways he hadn’t thought possible, until it bent to his will. His mind drifted to the days before the Oath, during the first war. Ravenlock and all his princes would struggle for weeks to take down a single aspect, and now he could hunt them alone. Capturing one alive though, that had taken some effort. The battle against the aspect of fire was long and fierce, but he had managed it. Then, he had studied the aspect and figured out its weaknesses. That’s why he was still alive while those other men were dead. He’d fight with unwavering tenacity, and more importantly, he’d learn.

“I know you can feel each other. Show me where it is.” He tightened his grip around the gem and darkness permeated inside of it, forcing its resistance to die down. It pulled him forward softly and led him to the main road.

Trosa smelled of coal and smoke. Vendors had set up stalls on the streets, selling meat, bread and sun-dried berries at prices that even the poorest bastard could afford. Citizens and merchants alike were exempt from Andre’s heavy taxing today, as part of the celebration. Leylin found one wealthy looking ashfen and stuck behind him with his head bowed low. Humans were common in Andre. Humans who weren’t slaves, not as much.

The man wandered the market for a while, bargaining fervently for just a few silver pieces. Leylin took the time to observe the andren capital. Recently, the emperor had ordered new roads to be paved, and important structures to be reinforced with metal. There was word that millions of workers had taken up the task, most of them human. Leylin didn’t understand what purpose these war preparations served. Did the palace really believe that humanity could reach deep into the heart of Andre and lay siege to the capital? He turned to the side and watched as a group of slaves dug straight down into the earth, clearing the way for a large sphere of metal to be placed. Despite the celebration, the work continued.

The ashfen he was following moved and the gem's pull got ever stronger in his palm. He was drawn to another part of the bustling city, where shop owners tried to attract customers with hand woven tapestry, fine clothes and ornate jewels. It didn't take him long to see the wisps of light floating in the air. A perfect cover to mislead most eyes, but a dead giveaway to Leylin's. He slipped away from his unknowing master and swiftly swung open the shop’s door. A little bell rang. The shop, though small, was filled to the brimmed with crystals, mirrors and shaped glass sculptures. The eldrely ashfen looked up from behind the counter, and their eyes locked for a few moments. “What are you looking for, human?”

Leylin drew a sharp breath. He could feel the aspect’s soulgem, and it was close. He shed his cloak and let it fall to the ground. The magic raged inside of him, tiny wisps of black fog seeping from his skin. Souls filled with torment formed at his feet, each one a malformed face singing a different tale of woe. “What I’m owed.”

The ashfen set aside the glass it was holding and stood. “And what would that be?” It spoke with a different voice, colorless and empty, somehow.

The souls inside him rebelled, called for action. It was dangerous, his magic. The power of hundreds of souls coursed through his veins, craving to be set free. “Immortality. Our birthright that you denied. That you stole from all the other species. For thousands of years, you forced us to suffer death in all its forms.” Black mist curled from his mouth as he spoke. “No more.”

"The aspect of ice warned me about you. At first, I didn’t believe that someone from that era could survive to this day." The aspect tilted its head. “To think you’d fight for a dream so hopeless.”

Leylin frowned. No other aspect had tried to reason with him. They raged, pleaded, and cursed, but never questioned. An inkling of fear snuck into his heart, but he cast it out. He was the only one left now, the last line of defense against an accursed future. Too much hinged on his shoulders. Too much for him to be afraid. “It’s not hopeless,” he said, his own voice hoarse. “Only five aspects remain. The more of you I kill, the weaker the aspect of life becomes. Soon, it will know the meaning of mortality, as we did.”

The aspect looked around at all the delicate glasswork in the shop. “Even if you manage to kill me, you won't escape the Andren forces."

"Is that why you settled here? To use the Andren as a shield?" Leylin took the aspect of fire out of his pocket. He let it drop to the ground. "I doubt they'll have time to bother with a glass spinner.” The small gem charred the wooden floor. “Not while the palace burns." The gem cracked and the soul of fire tore free. Huge, flaming claws found the ground, burning wherever they touched. Its body dripped mist and fire and its malformed face looked around, head turning in unnatural angles. Then it screamed. Glass shattered and shards went flying as the aspect crushed through the wall, and out into the city. The terrified shrieks of the mortals grew distant.

Leylin turned to the aspect again, black mist leaking from the sides of a smile. He pulled at the souls, merging their features and silencing their cries. A spear of darkness fell into his waiting hand. “Yield, and I will grant you a swift end.”

“Come then.” The aspect stood still as its veil faded to reveal its true form, a lone, glittering gemheart. A shield of mist had already formed around it. “Show me who you are.”

Was it provoking him to attack? “So be it.” Leylin inched back and raised the smoldering spear, spectral shaft in palm and tip facing the sky. He had to be sharp, precise, and powerful enough to tear the aspect’s soul to shreds. There was no room to experiment this time, no room for mercy. Souls and nora burned inside his arm and the bulging muscles threatened to tear his clothes apart.

Aflame with darkness, he thrust, driving the spear edge-first into the gem. Magic pulsed against magic in an explosion of colors, and the stray sparks nearly knocked him away. He pressed the tip against the gem’s shield and white lightning crackled, making his hair stand on end. It was powerful, stronger than anything he had faced before. Not that it mattered now. He focused on driving the tip of his spear forward, as deep as his power allowed.

"Break!" He screamed, darkness bursting from his mouth like smoke. The tip pierced through the shield and slammed against the gem's surface.

“What can you accomplish?” The aspect bellowed in defiance, the ripplings of its magic strengthening. “A mere human like you!”

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Leylin grit his teeth and kept pushing, ignoring the pain that was spreading up his arm. Every burst of strength drained him, used up chunks of the soul's power. As the screams of the dead in his mind quieted, his own voice grew stronger.

It’s only you, he thought. The last hope.

His arm was growing numb and the aspect fought back still. He’d fail at this rate. All his crimes would be for naught. All the slaughter, pointless. Magic clashed against magic in waves. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t–

The gem cracked and a burst of colored nora sent him crushing through glass and against the wall. His chest had burned and his back was bleeding, but he healed before he even hit the ground. He looked down at his broken, deformed arm and focused on healing it too, at least enough for it to be usable. As the chaos and the bits of broken glass settled, he looked around the room. Had that been enough? Had he really done it?

Instead of the aspect he saw himself. Same clothes, same face, same injuries on his arm. The only difference was the cracked gem embedded in the fake’s chest.

“I understand now,” his reflection said, after a moment's silence. “I see why you fight. You're trapped in a lie of your own design. No matter how many of your kin you slay, the past can’t change.”

Leylin laughed as he stood. Why wasn’t it ever easy? “That’s right,” he said. “The past can’t change. But the future will be one without your kind. A future where everyone will prosper, eternally.”

The aspect’s form flickered, taking on an appearance Leylin hadn’t seen in ages. One he never wished to see again. “You were never enough to save them,” Ravenlock said. The man’s body was a shade, a blurry reconstruction from Leylin’s memories. “I always warned you that vying for things beyond your power would drive you insane.”

Leylin used this time to gather his nora and heal his arm. The sight of his brother made the souls within incessant, hard to control. The aspect was stalling as well, sealing its cracks with light.

“Remember what I always said?” The aspect twisted his brother’s voice, shaping it like it was on his deathbed. “Madness is like a slope. Once you make a mistake… once you tumble, there is no righting yourself. You only slip down further. See reason and back off.”

Leylin straightened his back and cracked his knuckles. “Never.”

“You’re more of a fool than I thought.” The aspect leaped toward him.

Leylin drew more souls out, forming them into thin lines of darkness and shooting them forward. Ravenlock’s reflection shattered into shining particles, but the gem was no longer there. The room darkened as the light from countless shards of glass gathered behind him. Leylin turned and twisted, beam of light burning past his head. The room turned into an impossible kaleidoscope of light and shadows. Leylin spun, shooting out magic in every direction, but his spells found nothing. He paused and blinked, trying to make sense of the fragmented areas that still held light.

The magic came from below in a brilliant shock of white. It was more than just a slight tingle that ran underneath his skin. The energy tore through his body, burning through each nerve. His legs wobbled and he slumped forward, hand reaching for his chest to mend his failing body. Restoring his cells quickly required a lot of magic. The souls he had gathered would not be enough.

“This is your place, human.” The reflection appeared over him, eyes filled with radiance. “On your knees, just like your brother.”

Leylin tried to focus, but the searing pain didn't allow for it. The reflection planted a boot on his chest and pressed down, forcing the breath out of him. He cursed inwardly. There hadn't been enough time to gather souls. Their magic was almost gone as he tried to keep himself alive, and the aspect knew it.

To be defeated so quickly… It was shameful. Just like your brother. The words woke him, fueled the anger inside him and, in turn, the emotion birthed nora.

"It's pointless to resist. I see right through you." The aspect fired another bolt at him.

The pain alone caused his eyes to roll and his body to convulse. He grasped at every strand of pain the aspect birthed. Used every tortuous moment to keep himself alive. Unlike Ravenlock, he had vowed never to surrender.

"Why won't you die?" The aspect readied its magic, its hands crackling with even more power. "Why do you cling to life so desperately?"

Leylin grabbed the aspect's boot and pushed up with all his strength. "Because it's what humans do," he hissed.

“No," the aspect said. "What humans do, is perish."

Leylin looked up at the aspect, at the magic gathering in its hands. At a world where darkness and light intertwined. Centuries of life flashed through his mind, memories and experiences he had thought forgotten. Failure, pain, regret and unending death. Through it, a possibility formed. A way to survive.

He had spent his entire life studying souls, learned every intricate detail about their power and how to harvest it. And yet, despite his research, there was one well of power he had never thought to tap into. A soul he had yet to desecrate.

His own.

Leylin set his soul ablaze. Strength returned to his arms and he grasped the reflection’s leg. It flinched as it sensed the magic surging inside him. “I promised you death,” Leylin said, voice twisted beyond recognition. “And I shall deliver.”

The reflection fired the spell but Leylin spun with newfound strength. The light burned through his chest, destroying his heart. But his body didn’t matter now. Petals of darkness burst from below and enveloped him, and he used them to lift himself off the ground and into the air. Leylin looked down at his hands, at his magic. It had worked. He had so much power inside him, so much life... so much pain.

His heartbeat began to thump in his ears as his heart reformed. He reached out with his hand and nora gushed forth like a tide, drawing the aspect towards him. It gathered light, but his darkness doused the magic like a candlelight caught in the rain. Leylin sensed fear as he looked into its eyes, yet all he felt was hatred. The kind that ran deep, that tortured and tormented. He slashed at the gem with his magic and part of it shattered. The reflection screamed.

“I’m nothing like my brother. I will undo his mistake and finish what he couldn't." He pressed down and radiant cracks spread across the gem's surface. "Your king will die, and the Primordial Oath will be broken."

Pieces of the aspect shattered, releasing nora in mist. “Do you truly believe you can stand up to a God?”

“A God?” He laughed. “The only thing close to a god is me. A vengeful, unforgiving god who deals in vengeance and death.” With a wave of his hand, the reflection burned away and the gem was left bare.

“Kill me then!" The aspect raged with the last of its strength. "May your soul never find eternal slumber, Oathbound! May you rot in that passage, b–”

The gem cracked in half, then it slowly grew dim. Leylin healed his body and dispelled his magic. His knees buckled the moment he touched the ground. Shards of glass cut into his palms, but he couldn’t muster the magic to heal himself. He glanced to the side, at a piece of a mirror that had cracked free of its golden frame. Wisps of black leaked from his mouth and eyes, curling to the ground like smoke.

Leylin stood with difficulty. Nora flowed out of his soul moments after it formed, and he was unable to stop it. Burning his own soul had saved him, but the price he had to pay was heavy. Never before had he felt so powerless. He loathed every part of it. The new experience gifted him some nora, only for it to spill out of his body.

He bent to pick up his cloak, sliding it over himself. The streets outside were empty, the ashfen having run when the aspect of fire emerged. Leylin stuck close to the wall and limped as fast as he could, making for the narrow alleys, away from any place a guard might spot him. He strained the leg that hurt on purpose, pressing down with his weight. The pain distracted him from the boiling pot of anger within. Anger at Ravenlock, for surrendering to the aspects. Anger at himself, for allowing Rane to escape. Anger at the Arbiter, for his unbreakable Oaths.

“Damn it all,” he whispered to himself. For the first time in recent memory, the searing heat of Andre’s sun felt tortuous.