Once again.

The Master of Epe kept her beady, blank eyes focused on the hourglass before her, tracing the fall of every grain of sand falling from the top. Extending a giant hand, she swiped the hourglass off the floor, and crushed it within her palm, shaking away the grains of sand that slid out from the gaps in her hands. She was done waiting; she was done biding her time. After all of that calculated planning, after all that foresight, when the moment of her revenge finally came, that useless buffon had blown it.

She had set up everything for him. Building up his rage just so that it was enough to absolutely destroy the Locket Bearer- and he’d blown it. She saw the whole thing through Alci’s eyes; the overwhelming rage flowing throughout him, and yet the restraint he placed on himself. She’d given him all the power, much more than a mere beastman could ever dream of. And yet, throughout the fight he’d constantly pulled punches, and at the end, only managed to kill off the Locket-Bearer’s lacky. Utterly disappointing.

“Master, has Alci killed the Locket Bearer yet? Your warriors are waiting outside; they are anxious to know.” One of the elite five warriors standing before her said. She didn’t remember his name; not that she’d cared to learn it though. Even if the members of her guard were strong, they were useless to her now that she could use Alci to exact her revenge.

“Be quiet.” The Master of Epe replied, and the warrior immediately closed his mouth and returned to standing before her silently with the rest of the warriors. Slowly, she caressed her horns as she sent her senses beyond the village and into the forest. Alci’s rage had silenced and scared of the lower lifeforms, making it much easier for her to pinpoint who was in the forest.

The Locket Bearer and Alci to the North. And…. Her eyes widened as she caught onto the signatures of the human king, Adeyemi, and one of her warriors, all in the same location. Their magical energy signatures were stable, which meant that they weren’t fighting; they were talking.

But that doesn’t make any sense. With the exception of Alci and Khai, none of my warriors should be able to think outside of vengeance. So why is that warrior conversing with two of our most annoying obstacles? She lowered her hands from her horns and turned to Khai, who stood on the elevated platform with her, his hands crossed behind his back. His complete silence and obedience were one of the things she loved about the warrior, even if he was a failure. “Khai, I have a task for you.”

“I await your instructions.” Khai said, turning and kneeling before The Master without another word.

“The human king, my sister, and one of our warriors are having a meeting of sorts in the forest. Kill them all, for me. Take as many warriors as you need.” She demanded and Khai nodded, promptly rising to his feet and leaping off the platform, heading out the dome quickly.

And as for Alci… The Master of Epe thought, wondering how exactly she’d deal with the boy. She still needed him, that was for sure; but she’d have to bolster his rage to the point he could no longer hold himself back. It wasn’t like she needed to hold back; she could spit on him and Alci would direct all of his anger towards Urn. That’s the beauty of my magic skill. But I suppose I don’t have to do anything now; Khai killing off my sister will be sure to bolster his rage more than enough.

~~~

I wonder how long this will last. Alci thought, staring at the dainty, glowing winged ball of energy that hovered close to Urn’s wounds, slowly mending and repairing them. It was his first magic skill; one that he’d been unable to use ever since allowing that ball of rage to use him like a puppet in his own body. In fact, he’d been unable to use any of his magic skills up until now; probably because his magic source had changed from the Epe Forest to Rage, and then back to the Epe Forest again. But he wasn’t sure how long he’d last like this; how long until he turned into a monster who only knew destruction.

He clenched his fist. Never again! I will never allow it to control me again! He stared at the deflated, wounded goldfish corpse resting within his other hand, and felt a pang of pain. It had already hurt knowing he’d murdered someone- but a magical beast? That had hurt even more, knowing how far he’d strayed from the path of a beastman. How far he’d strayed from Adeyemi’s path.

Pulling himself off the ground, he walked over to Urn, and pried open his hand, placing Ralph within Urn’s grasp. The pain was all the more reason to set things right. While he was still himself, while he could still think for himself; he had to bring Ralph back to life.

I was an idiot, thinking I had no choice in the matter. He thought back to the ritual, when he’d been forced to murder Baba while blind to his own rage… and felt like puking. He’d become complacent with being used as a tool, and because of that, he’d hurt the people who he valued the most. His suffering had absolutely nothing to do with Urn.

But I can set things right. He thought confidently. After years of tending and growing up alongside magical beasts, he knew that when they died, their magical energy was absorbed by nature, and all that was left behind was a dusty husk. But Ralph’s corpse was, strangely, in perfect condition. If he could just-

“Freeze.”

Before Alci could take another step, two purple sharks manifested before him, flapping their fins and soaring through the air around him threateningly, as if ready to attack at even the slightest sign of movement. Glancing to his left, Alci saw Urn, standing behind him with his palm pointed at Alci’s back, and his eyes a vibrant purple.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Murdering my friend and then taking off- you have a lot of nerve.” Urn’s eyes narrowed. Now that Alci was no longer a threat, he could stop concentrating, stop thinking logically, and let loose. The bastard had killed his one and only friend, the man who’d fought desperately up until the end to save Urn. He’d make sure that Alci felt everything Ralph felt up until his death.

Alci slowly turned on his heel, staring into Urn’s eyes; violet and violent. But the rage seemed miniscule to the sadness; tears were starting to form in the corners of the boy’s eyes, and Alci felt his chest tighten in pain.

“I told you not to move. You killed my friend, you know.” Urn’s voice cracked as he spoke, his fists balling up at his sides. “One dumb mutt dies on you, and you think you can go kill people? You’re not an avenger. Just a pathetic wimp.”

Alci took a step forward, and Urn raised a hand threateningly, his eyes darkening; he wasn’t against the idea of executing Alci, if he was forced too. In fact, the idea seemed tempting; how else was he supposed to sort the heavy weight on his chest?

“You killed my friend- my best friend. Now you owe me. Kill-” Before Urn could finish, Alci dropped to the ground, practically kissing the ground as he kneeled before Urn.

“Urn.” Alci said. “I cannot ask you to forgive me- I let myself be used as a tool by my clan; and because of that, I killed your best friend. I’m not worthy of your forgiveness; but please, let m-”

“Stand up.” Urn interjected, and a purple aura shrouded Alci’s body, dragging him off the floor. Alci’s limbs moved as if they were being controlled by puppet strings as he stood to his feet. And yet, despite the sudden use of the magic skill, Alci’s gaze remained clear and unphased as he stared Urn directly in the eyes.

Urn felt anger rise up from deep within him as Alci stared at him; why was he acting so noble all of a sudden now? Where was that behavior when he’d nearly beaten the life out of Urn, and then killed Ralph? Grinding his teeth together, he pulled a fist back and socked Alci in the jaw with all his might, leaving a dull pain in his knuckles. “All of a sudden you’re a wise guy, aren’t you?” He spat.

“...” Alci didn’t reply; anything that Urn sent his way, he would accept heartily. That was how a true warrior behaved. This was the price for taking the life of someone who had done no wrong to him.

Urn slugged Alci across the face again, drawing back and looking for a reaction on Alci’s face; even the slightest flicker of resentment or bitterness. And yet Alci’s face remained the same, unmoving and determined; and it only infuriated Alci even more.

Alci was the one in the wrong; he was the one that had murdered Ralph. So why did it feel, as he punched Alci over and over again, that he was the one in the wrong? This was supposed to bring him closure, supposed to make him feel better. And yet, beating someone who wasn’t even fighting back, who didn’t even seem to hate him; it felt…wrong.

“Asshole!” Urn slugged Alci across his face over and over again, breathing heavily in between each blow. Sucking in a deep breath, he paused, glaring at Alci, pulling back his fist, and then launching it forward…but his fist stopped just a hair away from Alci’s face. He stared at Alci’s bloodied face, drew his fist backwards, and sighed.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Urn lifted Ralph’s body off the grass and cupped it in his palms, staring at the corpse quietly. It felt like with Ralph gone, there was a hole in his life, one that he could never hope to refill. He wanted to leave the forest with Ralph, to travel the Northern Lands with him and meet people and do all sorts of things. And now that wasn’t possible anymore.

And no amount of violence could change that.

“Well? Leave. You’ve done your damage. Now let me be.” Urn said, feeling Alci’s stare linger on his back.

“I know that you hate me. You are within your rights to hate me.” Alci said. “But I want you to know that you cannot give up- not on your friend, or anything else. There could be a way to bring him back to life; and I intend to help you to the- “

“WHAT?” Urn whipped around and grabbed Alci by the collar, shaking him around. “You’re not joking? You’re not joking.” He repeated after seeing the dead serious look on Alci’s face; Ralph could be brought back! “How? Tell me how, right now!”

“He’s in a state between life and death. He is alive physically, but spiritually, he’s dead. But if we can harvest the magical energy of a high-ranking magical beast, we can bring him back to life.” Alci said.

Urn felt the weight in his chest vanish with Alci’s words; there was still a chance! He could save Ralph’s life! “I’m listening. How do we do that? And what magical beast’s energy do we need?”

“...” Alci paused, his unmoving mask-like expression breaking; Urn was surprisingly quick at adapting to new situations.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot, tell me how!” Urn demanded, and Alci shook himself.

“My apologies!” Alci said. “You see, we must go to Zeadra and ask her if we can undergo her ‘trial’. It is a tradition of harvesting magical energy; by asking a high-ranking magical beast for a ‘trial', we will be transported into its domain. From there, we’ll be forced to undergo a test chosen by the magical beast, in this case, Zeadra. And if we fail the test, we’re assimilated by her; but if we pass the test, we're rewarded with the energy of the trial’s administrator. And with the energy of a magical beast like Zeadra, bringing Ralph back should work out well enough.”

That’s...sketchy, Urn couldn’t help but think- going directly to Zeadra and asking to undergo a trial? That was just asking to be ripped apart. But he couldn’t just let Ralph die while he could do something about it; and Alci didn’t look like he was lying either. “And what if she rejects our proposal?”

“There’s a good chance she will; but magical beasts gain more power than they usually do by assimilating people through trials. There’d be more for her to gain; and less for her to lose, since the cost would just be a little of her energy.” Alci explained; he very well knew the risk. Zeadra was known for being rather unpredictable; somedays, she was benevolent, others, she was vicious. But if she decides to turn us down, I will not allow her to kill Urn.

“I see.” Urn was more than sure that he wanted to do this, with or without the help of Alci. There was still something he needed to say to Alci; but he would save it for later. Right now, bringing Ralph back to life was what he needed to do. Slipping Ralph’s body into his pocket, he pulled off his robes with a flourish, and let them fall to the ground. “Lead the way, Alci.”

“Right.”