Chapter 1 "No Turning Back"

The fire was moving forward relentlessly.

With each step I took the wooden boards screeched as if they were on the verge of crumbling. Tortured by doubts, my worth was put to the test. The guards would arrive at any moment, and I didn’t even know where the flames had spread.

There isn’t much time left; this has to be finished. I´ve come too far just to give up.

With my eyes staring down the hallway, I walked slowly. Not out of stealthiness, but out of fear. It was hard to ignore that irrational fear.

Just a few more steps. I’m ready to face it. After this, it will be buried forever. I refuse to come out of this scarred.

In this city, the Permission to Transgress was Lust, not Envy. I was allowed to satiate my carnal desires, but attacking someone was forbidden.

Surrendering now would be proof of my weakness. I have to keep going. I have to focus.

Heat flooded the soles of my feet. The firelight crept through the wooden floor. It would soon concede to the flames. The sinister darkness of the mansion was devoured by an insatiable fire, a scene taken straight from the depths of hell.

There´s no going back. I´m doing it for a good cause. Let others take the blame; I am but a mere lackey. There will be no punishment. Yes, exactly.

The volume of the voice in my head was stopping me from hearing my surroundings. An internal chaos was skewing both my actions and my thoughts.

Gathering information will be my only salvation, right?

Back then, time seemed to have stopped. The fire, the guards. I felt that only I was capable of moving in that place detached from reality.

There´s nothing to fear, nothing to be ashamed of. I´m only trying to survive, without caring about the consequences. It´s not selfishness, but what this world taught me.

I finished the route. An infuriating rage took over me and dissipated all my doubts. Defenseless and trapped against the wall, his gaze was raw, desperate for any shred of mercy. Finally, I laid my sword upon his chest. 

It was the first time I would kill someone.