Revin struggled to stand as another explosion rocked the ship.

Jebuthar bowed over as if in pain. “No!” he said.

Shifra moved behind Revin. Jebuthar screamed in anger.

He looked at Revin, “How did he break it!”

Revin didn’t answer. He only watched.

“No!” Jebuthar screamed, falling to his knees, his hands hitting the ground. He tensed and pushed up as if to stand, but his head was still bowed in pain.

Jebuthar looked up, twitching, his face contorted in confusion and discomfort.

Revin tried to wiggle out of his bonds again, but he couldn’t. He felt something at his back. Shifra leaned against him. She worked on removing his bonds.

“No, no, no, no!” Jebuthar repeated, slamming his fists on the ground.

Revin’s bonds opened and he got to work on Shifra’s.

“I can’t control them anymore!” Jebuthar said in a slightly higher-pitched voice, looking left. Revin followed his gaze. No one was there.

“Yes, you can!” Jebuthar said, whipping his head to the right. No one was there either. “We must!” Revin got Shifra’s bonds to open and reached up for his gag.

Jebuthar breathed hard and stood up, forcing himself to his feet.

Revin finally pulled the gag out of his mouth.

“What’s wrong? Losing your brain power?” Revin said, smiling.

“We can’t beat him!” Jebuthar said in a higher tone, looking down, then he shifted to a lower voice. “You have to trust me!”

Revin cocked his head. “What is wrong with you?”

“Shut up!” Jebuthar shouted at Revin. “Shut up, little monk!” Jebuthar added in a higher tone of voice.

That voice… he knew it. It was so familiar. He’d fought with it in his head a hundred times. He reached out, searching for Narazoth’s mind.

It was right in front of him. In Jebuthar’s direction.

Revin’s eyes widened.

I’ve never seen Narazoth…

“Narazoth?” Revin said.

“He isn’t here you idiot,” Jebuthar said, trembling. Face pale.

“Well, let me talk to him,” Revin said. Jebuthar drew his sword. Revin put his hands up and backed away. “Hey! Come on!”

With a grunt Shifra stood, removing her gag.

“Please, maybe we can come to an agreement?”

Jebuthar glared at Revin. Then sighed. His body visibly relaxed, and he looked at Revin again. Some of the anger was gone, replaced with weariness and worry.

“What do you want, Revin?” Jebuthar said in the higher voice, “My head hurts, my army is losing, what else could you possibly want?”

“I want to help you, Narazoth,” Revin said, “Let me in.”

“No!” Jebuthar said in a low voice, “Don’t let him!”

“No,” Jebuthar said to Revin, angry, in the higher voice again, “You don’t want to help us, you’re trying to stop us!”

“I want to help you!” Revin reached out with his mind, pushing harder than he had before. “Please, let me help,” Revin said softly. In Narazoth’s mind he sensed a crack, a crack that must have come from the breaking of the core.

“No!” Jebuthar shouted.

Revin sat and crossed his legs.

“What are you doing?” Jebuthar said, sounding confused.

“I’m coming in anyway,” Revin said, closing his eyes.

He jumped through the crack in Narazoth’s mind.

He found himself floating in mental space. This was far more chaotic than saurian minds. Narazoth’s mind was a turbulent sea, and Revin felt like a loosely built raft trying to hold itself together.

A monk appeared in front of him. Narazoth, it must have been… He was dressed like a Hiriv monk, and his face was the same as Jebuthar’s, but much younger.

“Narazoth?” Revin said.

“Yes, Revin,” Narazoth said, looking weary, “Why do you fight what must be done?”

Revin shook his head.

“Narazoth,” Revin said. “You’re wrong.”

“I am not wrong!” Narazoth said, tears coming to his eyes, “I am the chosen of Father God!”

Narazoth’s angry voice echoed in the expanse.

Revin was about to blurt out a counterargument but changed course when another idea came to him. “Tell me about your masters, how you met Jebuthar.”

Narazoth visibly calmed a little. “I searched for the perfect master, and I thought I had found him! But no, I didn’t. He murdered innocents, he made war without cause, he created self-serving laws, he was evil.”

Narazoth looked sad.

“One night, when he was beating me, Jebuthar came! He… he killed him… and rescued me. He’s been the perfect master ever since!”

“Narazoth,” Revin said in a calming tone, “What did Jebuthar look like when he walked in?”

Narazoth cocked his head as if confused at the question. “Well… he was strong, tall, smart, wise-”

“No, Narazoth, he looked just like you.”

Narazoth paused, speechless. He glared at Revin. “You’re trying to confuse me. It won’t work.”

“Can’t you see? You’re one and the same!” Revin shouted, “You couldn’t find a good master, so you made one up!”

“No!” Narazoth yelled.

Revin tried to reach further into Narazoth’s mind to find whatever corner Jebuthar was lurking in. He grasped at nothingness.

“He is the perfect master,” Narazoth said firmly.

“No, he’s not! Do you see what he’s doing? All the killing he’s done?”

“Shut up!” Narazoth shouted.

Revin let out a sigh and reached out. “Omrai,” Revin said, “I need your help.”

He fed Omrai information about his situation and waited.

Power from Omrai surged within him, the power to feel and know the emotions of others. No longer were they just turbulent waves, but shifting swirls and currents of emotion, each with its own intention.

He leaped into the sea, extending his mental reach, searching for Jebuthar. Pushing, swimming, pulling. Still finding nothing. No sign of the other man’s mind.

Come on, where are you!

✦✦✦

In the distance, his men continued to fight. But Omrai sat back, rubbing his eyes and his forehead as he struggled to help Revin. Night had finally fallen. And the only lights were his army’s torches, the windows of the large ships, the moon, the stars, and a sea of bright blue eyes.

White stars above, blue stars below, he mused.

“My lord!” a captain shouted, pointing north.

Sendevalian flags appeared over the hill.

After another shout from the south, the Fornarian army rode over their hill with a thousand ankylos and far more infantry.

He turned his attention to his saurians. The enemy automatons fought with an intense fury and extreme disregard for their own safety. His men and his newly captured automatons fought hard, but he didn’t gain any ground.

He felt Revin’s frustration.

“Men, I will win this battle with my mind. Protect me as Revin and I assault Jebuthar personally. Then we won’t have to worry about the Sendevalians or the Fornarians.”

His men looked concerned as he sat on the ground, cross-legged and closed his eyes.

✦✦✦

“Come on!” Revin shouted within Narazoth’s mind, why can’t I find him!

“You’re wrong!” Narazoth said, floating behind Revin. “Jebuthar isn’t here because this isn’t his mind! He is not here!”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Revin frowned. “But it’s true...”

Revin thought about what Narazoth had just said, the phrase echoing in his mind. He is not inside me!

Revin’s eyes opened wider and he stopped his flight. He turned towards Narazoth. “Narazoth,” he said.

Narazoth slowed and stopped just a few feet away.

“Look at yourself!” Revin shouted.

Narazoth looked at his astral form. Revin floated to right in front of him.

“I see nothing,” Narazoth said, looking up with a spiteful smirk.

Without another thought, Revin thrust his mental hand into Narazoth’s stomach. Narazoth’s eyes widened in surprise. Revin reached in, his mind stretching and searching until he felt something inside.

A person.

Revin pulled with his mind but felt a great deal of resistance.

“Omrai, help me!”

Omrai’s power filled him again and the person inside of Narazoth solidified.

Revin pulled. There was resistance still. He pulled harder and felt something disconnect. With a shout, he yanked the man all the way out.

Jebuthar stood with them. He looked just like Narazoth, only older and vested in more regal attire.

“Look at him!” Revin said, “He is you!”

“Jebuthar?” Narazoth said, starting to sound confused.

“He’s lying to you!” Jebuthar shouted, “This is an illusion!”

“Look at yourself!” Revin yelled. He pulled the true memories of Narazoth and Jebuthar switching back and forth. Of being Jebuthar and doing what he did. Letting Narazoth see who, and what, he really was.

Narazoth looked at Jebuthar, his mind growing numb and confused.

This is not who I am, he thought, this can’t be true! I found the perfect master!

The memories came as an overwhelming wave. He had switched between Jebuthar’s personality and his own. He talked to himself. He… that day… he had killed King Karukth himself. Both memories stood. But felt real. But upon further inspection… Jebuthar had entered the cell through the wall. Just appearing. Narazoth had been studying the blade in his travels on Karukth’s command, had excelled. He’d shoved those memories away. Pretended he wasn’t a swordsmen at all.

He had fought Revin and Omrai. He had discovered and mastered gravimancy. Everything Jebuthar had done, he had done. Everything Narazoth had done, Jebuthar had. There was no difference.

It was all him .

He hadn’t found the perfect master.

He had created him.

He was him.

Revin watched the mental form of Narazoth fall to his knees, screaming “No! No! No!” He repeated the word, extending it long.

Jebuthar watched, obviously concerned. “Don’t listen to him! We are brothers, yes, but we are not one !”

Narazoth stopped screaming, just breathing hard.

“No, Jebuthar,” Narazoth finally said, his voice trembling, “he is right. All the wars, all the death… It was you. And you are me.”

Narazoth bowed over again, sobbing. “It was all by my hand. Not some magnificent leader, chosen by god to save the world from itself…”

Narazoth looked at Jebuthar “You… you are not real.”

“I am real!”

“You… are me.”

Revin felt a great stillness and looked around. The turbulence had paused, Narazoth’s mind had stopped thrashing. All was perfectly silent and still as the realization fully asserted itself.

The chaos came back in a rush, and a great force pulled Jebuthar towards Narazoth. Unfortunately, it pulled Revin too.

“No!” Jebuthar yelled, “We have a great work to do! A world to transform! We are the holy one! The chosen one of Sephitaro!”

Jebuthar clawed at the air. Narazoth bore a frown of acceptance.

“No!”

Revin tried to pull himself out of Narazoth’s mind. It didn’t work. Though he resisted far better than Jebuthar, he was still pulled closer and closer to Narazoth. He did not want to learn what would happen if he were pulled in.

An armored hand appeared, extending out from nothing.

“Take my hand,” Omrai’s voice said.

Revin took it and held it tight as it pulled him out.

✦✦✦

Revin opened his eyes, lying on the ground. Shifra knelt over him.

“You’re awake!” she said, laughing in relief.

Revin pushed against the weight of his mastersuit to sit up, his energy nearly sucked dry. Narazoth still screamed and cowered in the corner.

“No! I am different! No! We are one!”

He repeated the words a few more times, tensed and thrashed, then fell to the ground in a heap. He shivered, as if cold, staring into the corner.

“No… I are we… we are one… and I am me .”

He collapsed to the ground.

✦✦✦

Omrai watched as Jebuthar’s army fell into chaos. Automatons threw their weapons into the air, crawled on all fours, attacked each other, or fled. The soldiers who’d been protecting him watched in awe.

“Revin did it,” Omrai said as he stood. “We have won. Give the order to fall back.”

The call went through the rest of the army, and they retreated. All but the giganotos, who continued to thrash through the enemy. Reveling in the fray. They fought so ferociously and awoke such a primal fear in the saurian minds of the automatons, that the automatons fled before them. The massive army spreading wide.

The Fornarians shouted and charged. But they didn’t charge the Ateyans or the Koyejians . They charged the automatons. Their ankylos crushing and smashing them with their massive, clubbed tails. The metal weapons and armor crumpling like tin.

With the sound of trumpets and an echoing shout of rage, Sendeval charged from the east, firing a destructive musket volley on the automatons.

He looked at his men and the Koyejians. Prince Siroki had approached. He looked at Omrai with a smile.

“Well,” Prince Siroki said, “Are we just going to stand here while Fornaria and Sendeval take the glory of the day?”

Omrai smiled.

“No, we most certainly are not.”

He reached out to all his saurians, they each let out a roar, a honk, or a bellow, and charged in.

He and his men were not far behind. Driving the automatons to ruin. Destroying them or helping them destroy each other.

✦✦✦

Narazoth lay still on the ground, curled up. Revin approached.

“Narazoth?”

Narazoth gave off shuddering breaths, and… sobs.

Shifra was already helping his mother and Revin ran to her side. His father had woken up, he looked somewhat disoriented. Revin worked on removing his bonds.

“Revin?” he said, “It’s you?”

“Yes,” Revin said.

His father nodded. “Good. Did you master the giganotos?”

Revin smiled and nodded.

“Narazoth? And Jebuthar? They’re stopped?”

Revin looked at the crying form of Narazoth in the corner. “I think so.”

He looked to his mother. She had a look of relief, as if a great burden had been let down from her shoulders. “It’s gone. My connection to Jebuthar.”

She looked at Narazoth. Cocking her head. She looked at Revin.

“They’re one and the same,” Revin said, “One man with two minds. He was his own master.”

His father’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible.”

The door exploded as Kaiato and a Koyejian woman rushed in, swords and weapons at the ready.

“Let her go! You-” Kaiato shouted, but Revin held his hands up for them to stop.

Kaiato looked at Revin and Shifra. Without another moment’s hesitation, he ran straight to her.

The Koyejian woman eyed Narazoth on the floor. She gave Kaiato a serious stare. “His metal warriors are still right behind us,” she said.

Several metallic footsteps later, a dozen human-form automatons ran into the room. They raised their rifles and pistols. Revin’s eyes widened. They would not be affected by Narazoth’s weakened state, as they weren’t beasts to be mastered.

“Surrender!” one of them shouted in a metallic voice, his pistol pointed straight at Revin.

“No!” Narazoth shouted.

All eyes turned to him. Narazoth slowly stood. He wiped his eyes. The human-form automatons looked to their leader, confused.

“No, we will surrender. Lay down your weapons,” Narazoth stood, giving his men a serious look. It only had a little of Jebuthar’s confidence.

After a moment’s hesitation some complied, dropping their weapons to the ground. But many refused.

Narazoth’s eyes were puffy and sunken, he looked as if he had been awake far too long, but he cried no longer.

“We’re done,” Narazoth said, “the war is over.” Narazoth looked at Revin, “You may take us into custody.”

Narazoth’s eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

The metal men looked confused. The Koyejian woman Kaiato had brought turned to them and barked orders. “You heard him! Drop your weapons!”

The rest refused, as if they were contemplating a fight. In a blink, they turned and ran.

Revin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He looked from the automatons to Kaiato and Shifra. She leaned into Kaiato’s embrace, shoulders shaking. She melted into him; all her energy spent. Kaiato looked over her shoulder at Revin, guilt in his eyes.

Revin offered a smile and a nod.

Kaiato smiled back, closed his eyes, and embraced Shifra all the tighter.

Revin looked out the front window, watching the automatons scatter or break, a sea of saurians, soldiers, and flags of all different colors before him.

It was done.