Unconsciousness is strange. Disjointed images flashed before my eyes. A golden city, winged beings of perfection, a bleeding eye. Unlike dreams, they didn’t form a coherent story and just bombarded me with some things I recognised and some that felt completely foreign. Considering I shared this body with a demon and a human, that didn’t even surprise me. I tried to think, but that didn’t work, leaving me to float in a sea of images. Until I woke up.

  When I opened my eyes they were immediately assaulted by a bright light. I squinted and tried to get a sense of my surroundings. A windowless yellow room made out of sandstone greeted me. It was sparsely furnished, with only the bed I was lying on and a simple wooden chair that was placed at the centre of the room. The light came from two glowing stones that were embedded in the ceiling.

  What grabbed my attention was the fact that one of the walls of the room was missing. Instead a transparent layer of… something separated it from a corridor. On the opposite side was a room that was identical to mine, but empty.

  My human hand reflexively went to my belt, where I usually kept my dagger. Only when it went through empty air did I look down. All of my equipment was gone. My knife, the books, everything. Even the clothing I had worn was gone, replaced with a clean pair of pants and a shirt that lacked any buttons or strings. My discomfort, which had already been high, skyrocketed.

  ‘Adam, do you know how long I was out?’

  Adam’s mechanical voice answered, “3 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Does the User require more specification?” I shook my head, thanked him, and stood up. It was nice to know, but not that useful. An image of the horned woman flashed across my mind. One of my worst fears had come to fruition. The organisation that Sarvad so feared had captured me.

  As my mind cleared up I realised that I needed to escape. It would be nice to stay and learn more about what I suspected to be Fili Ocul, but that knowledge did not come close to the value of my life. They had already shown through Sarvad’s memories and their action that they lacked any sort of morals.

  First, I pressed my claw against the transparent sheet that separated my cell from the corridor. My claw passed halfway through the barrier before it stopped. A series of symbols in the frame of the barrier lit up and the area I was touching glowed a dark blue. I strained to push past the obstacle, but it didn’t budge. Disappointed, I let go, which caused the barrier to return to its original state. Just for good measure, I tried various other means of getting through, like cutting it or ramming my body against it. Nothing worked.

  Afterwards, I looked around the cell to find another exit. What I had first assumed to be sandstone turned out to be a lot tougher, with my claw not even leaving a scratch. The only thing I could break was the chair and the bed, but I refrained from doing so.

  After looking for half an hour (Adam told me the time), I dejectedly sat down on my bed. Whoever had designed this room had done a great job. I glanced at the corridor. Still empty. Surprisingly, my anxiety had gotten better after searching the room and finding no exit. At least I now knew that I couldn’t avoid this fate. Having only the option of waiting was somehow relaxing. Eventually, boredom set in. I could have asked Adam for the time, but I didn’t. It felt pointless.

  Finally, after who knew how long, something happened. The sound of a door opening was the first thing I heard. Two voices could be heard coming from further down the corridor. “But Administrator! We haven’t received proper identification for the test subject and don’t know-” The voice that interrupted the speaker was loud, firm, and sounded like it belonged to a human woman. “As Administrator, I command you to stand down. Do not presume to know more than me about this test subject.”

  There was more protest, but it was silenced. The door closed and slow footsteps could be heard. I took a step back and clenched my fist. Into view marched someone who I had never met, but still knew too much about.

  Dressed in a long white coat and her head held up high, walked in the horned woman. She stopped in front of my cell and studied me. I did the same. After a while of nobody saying anything she smiled and simply walked through the barrier separating us.

  “It is so nice to see you again, Sarvad. We were all worried after you suddenly disappeared, but it seems like you are doing more than alright. Congratulations on the new arm.” Without waiting for me to respond, she sat down on the chair and beckoned for me to sit on the bed across from her. I remained standing. The image I had of her in my mind and the person in my cell were hard to reconcile. When I refused to sit down she shook her head in disappointment. “Really? You have known me for so long, and yet you still don’t trust me?”

  “No,” I rebutted. “This is our first time meeting, but from what has happened to me I have no reason to trust you.” Instead of being surprised at my answer, the horned woman nodded. “That is disappointing, but not unexpected.” She cleared her throat. “My name is Eleura Panzinho, Administrator of the organisation you may remember as ‘Fili Ocul’. I welcome your return to the mortal realm, demon 29. Is there a preferred name you’d like to go by?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know what you are talking about or who you think I am.” After some thought I added, “But you can call me Vindict.” She had presented her name, so it was only fair that I do the same.

  Her facial expression slightly changed and Sense State showed a feeling of confusion. Suddenly, a splitting headache and Adam’s voice interrupted my train of thought. “Warning! Mental intrusion detected. Diverting essence to Protocol 4: Fortitude.”

  I immediately became alert and prepared for a fight. Eleura remained seated and nonchalantly looked up at me. Did she just try to attack my mind? Or had that been someone else? Adam interrupted again. “Intrusion stopped. Returning essence usage to normal.”

  “Interesting,” the horned woman stated without so much a change in her voice. “The mental construct that Sarvad built is still active, yet it is not him behind the reigns. But the conscience of the demon seems to be missing despite the grafting being a success.” She frowned, the first real sign of negative emotion. “Who are you?”

  When the horned woman left I didn’t need Sense State to tell me that she was in a bad mood. The last half an hour consisted of her asking questions and me failing to answer them. Most of that was because I didn’t trust her, but some questions I simply couldn’t answer. Something like, “Who are you?” Should’ve had an easy answer, but I was a special case.

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  In the end, nobody left that conversation happy. I tried to pry for more information, but after her masquerade of happiness disappeared I learned nothing new. With a sigh, I laid back down to wait. What were my options? Just waiting around didn’t seem appealing. Maybe I could try and contact Noctus? No, from what Lilith told me, one needed to be at an altar or be a Chosen of that god. Mindlessly I scratched my claw which had begun to itch. Somewhere during my thought process, I had closed my eyes. I opened them and almost screamed upon realising that I was being watched.

  The man outside my cell looked plain and like any other native of what humans called the “Scorching Barrens”. Only his white coat, which matched Eleura’s, made him stand out. Oh, and his piercing gaze with which he was focusing me.

  I slowly stood up, not breaking eye contact. The man said nothing. “Can… can I help you?” I hesitantly asked. Silence. Just when I thought that he wouldn’t say anything, I heard a whisper. “Pathetic.”

  I looked around, not sure if he meant me. “What are you talking about? Also, who are you?” The man didn’t break eye contact, but when he spoke, it didn’t feel like he was addressing me. “All of that worry for a failed experiment. A smart idea, with useless results. No unity was achieved, and the important side was suppressed. What a shame.”

  Before I could react, he shook his head. This time it felt like he was addressing me. “Nonetheless, the master wants you dead, no matter how minimal the risk you represent is.” I tensed and readied myself for a fight. “If you want to kill me, then come and try,” I said with bravery, which was entirely fake. All of this was confusing, but I wasn’t going to lay my life down without a fight.

  The man simply chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to murder you like a brute.” Any relief that the statement caused was quickly dashed by his next words. “No, when you die, I will lay right next to you and stare into eternity. This entire city will face the end. It is regrettable, but sacrifices have to be made for the good of humanity.” With that he disappeared, leaving me standing alone in my cell with growing confusion and panic.

  With the beginning of a new day, the residents of Seran started to rise from their sleep. The streets slowly filled with a myriad of people, most of whom were rushing to work or completing other chores. Lilith was one of the rare ones, who didn’t have a concrete idea of where they were going.

  As she pushed through a crowd of people, while avoiding any guard patrols, her mind raced. Everything had happened so fast. How did her relatively stable life crumble around her?

  Now she had nobody to turn to and an unknown group was probably hunting her down. She briefly thought about contacting Ophira but dismissed the idea. The innkeeper didn’t deserve to be dragged into this shit.

  Lilith had two options to consider. Either leave Seran or wait until this whole situation blows over. As she entered the outer district of the city she thought about both options. Even if she decided to leave, that would be tough with the current state of things. All caravans leaving Seran were under heavy scrutiny, especially with the recent turmoil. Maybe that wouldn’t have been a problem before this whole mess, but now there were people actively looking for her. No, the safest option would be to stay hidden, wait it out, and leave once the dust had settled.

  Lilith was so deep in thought that she almost ran headfirst into a mother and her child. She dodged in the last second and muttered an apology, as the mother threw her a dirty look. This incident interrupted her musing and made her realise that something was off. Inconspicuously she glanced at the people around her.

  The aura of the crowd was… fearful. Everybody kept their distance and tried to hurry as much as possible. Stress and distrust could be seen in the faces of almost all citizens. The atmosphere had even infected the guards who threw suspicious glances at anybody who got too close. But one thing that almost everybody avoided was to look up. When Lilith did just that the feeling of dread inside her exploded.

  Deathstalkers. Countless of the black bird-like creatures sat on the rooftops and stared down at the crowd with bloodshot eyes. Lilith could feel their silent hunger and immediately looked away. Her pace quickened. Deathstalkers were always the first sign of imminent mass death. It was normal to see a couple of them in big cities, especially at night, but this many… The only time she had heard of so many appearing was on battlefields.

  Lilith now understood the atmosphere. Something big was about to happen and everybody knew it. She found it surprising that there hadn’t already been a mass panic. Although, the people living in the Scorching Barrens were known for their toughness, so maybe that had something to do with it. However, Lilith’s mind was made up. She had to get out of here, no matter the cost. The assassin took another step and day turned to night.

  It took her a couple of seconds to realise what had happened. The surrounding forest and figure sitting next to a fire made it pretty obvious. Lilith took a deep breath and bowed. “While it is nice to see you, patron, I am kind of in a hurry. Of course, if you can help me, that would be appreciated.” The Blessed knew that Noctus directly intervening for her was more than unlikely. Gods didn’t solve problems, they only gave mortals the tools to do it themselves. That was something her mentor had drilled into her head.

  Noctus didn’t immediately answer her. He had taken the form of the Unknown, meaning that his entire body consisted of a humanoid black mass. Most people, from what Lilith knew, found this form to be the most frightening. Lilith didn’t share this opinion. It was definitely the most monstrous, but it was better than the alternative. The problem with the Merchant and the Deceiver was that it was almost impossible to distinguish them.

  Finally, the god spoke. “It is almost amusing that you think I would waste your time. No, I am here to offer you salvation from an early end. But first, wasn’t there a task I gave you?”

  Lilith almost laughed at the contradiction. “You mean that rescue mission? Yeah, that went to shit. But you already know this, so why are you wasting my time?” A bit of anger bled into her words, especially in the last sentence. Didn’t that request from Noctus start this whole mess?

  When the god stayed silent Lilith took a deep breath. Her patron was partially responsible for everything, but getting angry at him wasn’t the solution. Furthermore, it was unfair considering how much Noctus’ guidance had helped in her life.

  “Look, I want to protect the two you send my way. They both seem like great guys,” she explained. “But I can clearly see that I am in way over my head. Vindict is gone and some secret group is trying to kill me. If you want to disown me as one of your Chosen, fine. I failed because I value my life.”

  The black mass remained expressionless, but Lilith could feel a sense of smugness radiating off of it. Suddenly the ooze receded from the head, revealing a human face beneath. Lilith almost rolled her eyes at seeing the god take on the form of her mentor. Not caring about her reaction, Noctus, imitating his gruff voice, said, “Please remind me, what is Aaron's favourite saying?”

  Now Lilith really rolled her eyes. “We are not doing this.” When Noctus’ expectant grin didn’t disappear she groaned and recited, “Better to live another day than to die a hero.” The god nodded along, which was made weird by the fact that his head didn’t fit the rest of the body.

  “Your mentor is by no means perfect, far from it, but on this point, I must agree with him. I will not punish you for saving your life,” Noctus explained. The grin, which did not fit Aaron, stayed. “However, the way things are going I give you… approximately 5 hours before you die. That’s not a threat, it’s a fact. You have already seen all the signs. If you want to stop all of this, I will advise you to help your new friends. Either way, we’ll see each other soon enough. Good luck.”

  Suddenly, Lilith was back in her body moving away from the center of Seran. She glared at the sky and the Deathstalkers before swearing like a sailor and turning around.