I arrived at the castle gates before the king’s men. I now stood as Alexander on the stone path leading into the courtyard. The gallops petered out and the clipper clapper of trotting horses mixed with the loud bangs of blacksmith hammers. I started to wonder what all those burly men were working on so diligently; however, I could ask Dandellion later. No, I should have him cough up all his plans and past deeds. At this rate I’d become his shadow.

The pack leader, in other words, the messenger stopped a dozen meters in front of me and dismounted his horse. His face itched at my brain, but I couldn’t place it. Perhaps someone from Alexander’s memories. I should ask Dandelion about him. After all he seemed to know my memories all too well. Wait, but wasn’t it unfair that Dandellion could read my memories, yet I couldn’t see his?

“Alexander? Is that you?” His voice trembled.

I snapped back to the matter at hand. However, I didn’t know where to start. How could he know something was off without me even speaking?

“How have you not aged?”

Ah fuck. Busted so quick. There had to be a way for me to age my body, but I couldn’t test this right now. It was too late after all. But back on subject. I didn’t know how to answer the man. “I’m his son Lucas,” I said with the most convincing of smiles.

The messenger’s horse stirred. The man brushed its neck; it’s burnt umber fur shinned as his hands passed it over. The man didn’t break eye contact with me. “How old were you back then?” he asked in with a quiet voice. “Seven or eight. Oh, that was twenty years ago. My mind fails me sometimes.” He let out a sight.

I didn’t answer.

“Well, I suppose weirder things have happened.” He chuckled. The men behind him frowned, deep lines carved on their skulls. Hate leaked out of their scars. The messenger continued, “Having a son look identical to his father is the least of these oddities.”

That still meant he thought of me as an oddity, something born, resulting from mana, or the use of mana. What had happened outside these gates in these past decades? I did not know; this was my largest disadvantage. I had to send them packing. How had Dandellion made them leave this place alone? Yes, my blood. But then. For them to have sent a messenger with such a disposition. It couldn’t be a nobody. They wanted something of me that wasn’t insignificant.

“We may discuss this inside,” I said. They followed behind.

The messenger now next to me spoke, “And where may your father be?”

“The count,” I said with a sombre tone, sparsely moving my lips. “Passed away two weeks ago.”

The cat caught the messenger’s tongue. And the words he had already prepared and repeated a thousand times to two thousand dukes halted. But his feet did not. Whether this too was an act, I could not tell. He too seemed far too meshed with his position to differentiate himself from his standard.

I led him to the salon. On a velvet seat the messenger sat down, behind him five knights. Me, on opposite shore, had ten knights. The messenger looked back and did a show of counting his men and then mine.

Was he not afraid I would refuse whatever he had in store? With the recent events, the king shouldn’t be in a position to bear down on me.

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A maid arrived. A jug of wine in her hands and another worker drifted from the other side and placed two cups.

I leaned in, ready to cheer with the messenger.

The messenger raised his hand to the maid. “It’s fine. My stomach isn’t like it used to be,” said the messenger.

I rebounded back. “Would you prefer beer?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m quite alright. I stopped at an inn not too long ago.”

I was fucked.

“But I did hear from the others who visited that your drinks were quite the thing. So much so they seemed still drunk a month later.”

I looked up to the ceiling. It was at least two men tall. Beams of dark wood supported this tall structure. Distractions. I was truly fucked. “That’s quite the praise. If you wish for more, I can ship some immediately.”

The messenger’s smile disappeared and a frown, no, a scowl spread on his face. Stares of others froze my forehead. I glanced up and saw that the knights boiled bright red. “We just wanted to check if you and your people were doing well. It seems that is the case. As such we won’t bother you anymore. Goodbye.”

I had fucked up. I wasn’t fit to be a noble. Dandellion, take control of the messenger and make him drink that wine.

A purple fog wrapped around the middle-aged man, he crept in his hair, and tickled his nose. The man stopped; the knights did not question him. However, when he ran back and chugged a glass full of wine, he so emphatically refused to touch earlier the knights reached for their blades. They had faced beasts with violet leather and fire breaths. They had seen apparitions of the dead and ones yet to be born. There wasn’t anything they hadn’t heard, witnessed. Mind control or body manipulation wasn’t something they couldn’t wrap their heads around. However, their brothers in arms on my side had already drawn their iron.

“Hold them back.” I ordered. And soon both camps fought in a shield wall formation, however, since my men were more numerous, they started to encircle them. This let me circle back and…

Two more men appeared out of nowhere. One to my right, the other to my left. My men started to scream. The enemy knights’ strikes sent metal glints flying in the air. A great amount of mana oozed out of their noses. Their blows were now twice as strong. My slaves couldn’t hold them at bay and the enemy blade started to find their way to their eyes.

Gouged out eyes rolled on the ground. A glint passed to my right. I transformed into a bat. The blade cut the edge of my wing. These blades were enchanted. I flew up and hung from a wooden beam. The men couldn’t reach me, so they turned to my subordinates. Only two of them were left. They accepted blows to the chest and abdomen. Their chainmail rings cling clanged, under the repeated blows of the enemy blade. They swung down theirs. However, the enemies blocked with their shields.

One of the previously invisible enemies stayed in the back of the formation. A single drop of blood glided down his blade. He walked to his comrade who helped ambush me and stabbed him in the back. The others continued to fight. The last two of my men used the wall and cabinets to reduce the attack angles. In that time, the special ops man as I’d call him pulled his blade out of his comrades back and slashed diagonally at the exposed neck of two of his men. The other four others turned to see who had betrayed them. Letting my two remaining soldiers plunge their blades in two necks. Two were left. Once my wound healed, I flew down and plunged my teeth into flesh before flying back up. The man screamed and clutched at his neck. He could not stop the fountain. Blood poured through his fingers till his colour switched with the white tiles.

The last one, surrounded and outnumbered, did not mount much resistance.

I glided down and took the form of a human, but not without slipping once my feet touched the ground. I slammed my head in the marble floor. I healed myself and stood. Cold drops dripped down my neck and back. My hairs stood on end. A massacre, nothing less.

“Patriarch, you should drink that man’s blood,” he pointed to the other invisible man.

I turned to face Dandellion currently in the body of the special ops knight. My eyes glided over to his comrade. The man had already lost a lot of blood. It mixed with that of the common men. I had to drink it before it was all gone. I plunged my teeth into his flesh. His blood. Sweet, sugary, flavourful. Much better than what I had consumed till now. Deep, like a well-seasoned sirloin steak. Nothing came out anymore. He was dry. I stood up and peered down the man now dry and paper-thin. I could go out and hunt for blood this good.