Fire and Ashes (1)

It’s when humans lose control of the situation that they reveal their true selves.

I despised weakness with all my being. The weak lived in constant fear, and a twisting pressure drove them to commit all sorts of vile acts: killing before being killed, sacrificing others to save themselves. Their paranoia only eased once they had destroyed everything and finally dominated their surroundings.

Disgusting.

And yet, it was this same weakness that made Edwoyn so beautiful: what could be more transcendent than the gaze of a doe meeting that of a hunter?

A defenseless creature, which, despite the rifle aimed at it, continued to search the soul of the shooter through the scope. Nothing could disturb its calm because it didn’t conceive that life could be cruel... Not a trace of fear, not an inkling of what awaited her.

It existence was suspended by a thread, so fine and fragile that it could snap at any moment. That was what made this instant sublime. That’s why I hesitated to pull the trigger the night we met. Now, no hesitation would stop me on my path.

Cornered at the edge of his morality, the doe had fled to the only refuge left: its little head. Renouncing the corrupted values instilled by the royalty seemed harder than expected. I slipped into its mind with subtlety, "You don’t want to see your mother again? Watching her cry on a screen is enough for you? Do you think she misses you?" I whispered. "And your father, will you abandon him like a coward on his deathbed?"

A bitter silence filled the vast emptiness of the living room. Edwoyn hated when I pretended to know him inside out. He bit his lip to stop himself from playing into my hands. No matter, it was too late to hope for escape: the trap had already been set.

His hands, trembling more than ever, pushed against the knife I was slowly lowering onto the Marquis’ chest. This ridiculous tug-of-war suspended our target between life and death.

"You’re only hurting yourself, Edwoyn. Accept reality, and everything will fall into place. Don’t you want to be free at last?"

Just the mention of the word ‘freedom’ was enough to make him snap, "You’ll never free me!"

Edwoyn asserted himself with a vigorous push upward. However, I didn’t flinch an inch. His face crumbled as he realized the true difference in our strength. He would never measure up.

I tightened my grip and crushed his hands like crumpled paper. The tip of the blade touched the browned coat, but didn’t pierce the layer of fabric. I could easily win this duel, but I had no intention of doing so. There was no way I’d do the work for him.

No more being passive. How can you claim to live without ever making a decision for yourself?

"You’ve seen it clearly: if we don’t kill him, he’ll kill us. You just don’t want to admit it, but it’s the only way to save this city. It’s the only Justice that prevails in a corrupt society."

His jaw tightened, and tears flowed even more, "I. Don’t. Want. To become. A monster. Like… You."

His hatred for me had reached a new level: this boy would dedicate his existence to hating me.

Now, do you understand how I feel, Edwoyn? A hatred so fiery that it leaves only emptiness inside. You can’t even tell me why you hate. Nothing makes sense anymore...

"There’s a monster and a hero in each of us, Edwoyn. What tips the balance the wrong way is corruption: when murder becomes irrational and selfish. De Ritella is the perfect example. Believe me, by killing him, you’ll become a hero."

I wasn’t sure if the hallucinogenic gas was still affecting him, but my apprentice still had trouble looking at the Marquis. How could anyone hesitate to kill when their target had the appearance of a nightmare monster?

Edwoyn lowered his head, his heart heavy with shame and regret. A mix of anger, doubt, and pain was draining him. Resisting was exhausting, and he had exhausted his last reserves.

I could feel his integrity on the verge of shattering. Exactly like all my previous subjects of study. Everything crumbled when there was no longer any structure to uphold their beliefs... I waited patiently for him to decide to act.

Just a little more...

Edwoyn groaned in resignation. It was so much easier to stop fighting against the current and follow the path that destiny had laid out for us. Edwoyn existed to bring me back Big Brother; it was a gift from fate.

I've got you now! What’s in your little treasure box, my dear?

I smiled triumphantly, but victory didn't taste as expected: Edwoyn exploded in my face. I mean, literally.

That blue plasma!

I was thrown far away with a terrible sense of déjà vu. I collided with the glass cage, shattering its first two layers with a deafening crash. Edwoyn, or what was left of him, turned in my direction. Worst of worlds! I hadn't seen it coming with his head bowed; I should have been more careful. His green eyes had once again transformed into an artificial electric blue.

Oh no, not again… I despaired.

I didn’t want to believe it, but he looked just like he was under the influence of one of those prohibited weapons. The most incomprehensible part was that there were no such weapons here.

I caught sight of the De Ritella’s charred remains. He had also been thrown far away and had definitively passed away.

Hey! I had worked hard to set up this scene! You ruined everything!

"To whom do I owe the honor to meet?" I called as I stood up.

I received no answer—only a wary look and an offensive stance. If Edwoyn embodied the hero archetype, this thing personified the monster lurking within Nathan. It knew perfectly well the threat I represented, and I could feel its own deep within me. The sensation of encountering a kindred spirit...

Oh yes, this creature and I were predators of the same kind. It was probably even stronger than I was. I’ve never seen anything overload an absorption collar like he did...

Just as I was about to heal my battered body, a series of detonations erupted beneath our feet. The floor began to vibrate, and clouds of black smoke billowed from the secret passage.

Explosions?

The creature inside Edwoyn lunged at me like a rabid animal. Its aura was dark and consuming. It moved so fast that my eyes barely managed to track its movements. At the last moment, it disappeared from my radar. Had Edwoyn really just teleported? No one had ever mastered such a spell without using a portal!

This fight promised to be entertaining. However, we didn’t have time for bickering. I felt as if I were reliving my mission at the palace: five minutes to fix everything. Five minutes or death.

My first instinct was to grab the hand reaching behind my back. I prepared to throw my enemy over my shoulder to slam him against the ground, but I had underestimated his strength.

His elbow clamped against my throat like a vice, and my hand that held him became hostage. With no other choice, I delivered a powerful elbow strike to one of his ribs. I felt his bones break. My enemy was distracted by the pain, giving me the perfect opening: I smashed my skull into his with a solid backward strike.

As soon as I could, I wriggled free from his grip. I turned around and kicked him ruthlessly against the wall. He dug into the glass dome in turn. I seized the opportunity to conjure a giant plasma hand that pressed him against the surface.

"Collasum Gravi Plasele!"

Before I engaged with my enemy, I lightened and reinforced my body with magic. Just as I took my first step, Evil Edwoyn shattered my spell with the sheer strength of his arms. In a flash, my body activated, sensing imminent danger. I narrowly dodged a ball of condensed energy with a backward flip.

His magic was in such a pure state that even the slightest contact would have disintegrated me. I thanked myself for taking precautions, but it was far from enough. He didn't hesitate to launch a barrage of explosions that I dodged as best I could. Luckily, his attacks lacked precision: this creature was nothing but savagery and violence, but the bad news was that it seemed inexhaustible.

Why isn't he using other spells? Is he limited to creating condensed energy?

Noticing that he couldn’t reach me that way, the creature teleported again right in front of me. An explosion erupted at my feet. Time running out, I generated a dozen magical force fields to limit the damage. The impact was so intense that I was thrown backward.

I cushioned my fall with the black tentacles I had just manifested from my back. After scraping a good portion of the floor, they coiled around Edwoyn's arms and delivered a powerful electric shock. At the same time, I flicked technological bullets with my thumb as if flipping a coin.

Evil Edwoyn surprisingly withstood the shock well, but it didn't appreciate the projectiles that pierced its shoulder. It roared with a voice distorted by irritation and then burned my tentacles with its blue plasma. I dissipated my spell before its fire reached me.

Things were getting dangerously close; I needed to neutralize him as quickly as possible. The syringe. It was still in my sleeve! Discreetly, I let the small object slide out of my sleeve and rise into the air. He wouldn’t see it coming if it was cloaked with a concealment spell. I just had to immobilize him, and that would be that.

A fraction of a second later, my opponent had teleported in front of me. I activated a gravity spell that caused the slats beneath his feet to break apart.

In a frenzied state, he tried to thrust his arm into my guts, unaffected by the crushing force bearing down on him. I materialized a metallic coating over my forearms just before we exchanged a flurry of blows. They were all of incredible power and speed, but it was clear he surpassed me in this game. I managed to parry only because the gravity magic imposed heavy constraints on him.

Good grief, what a strong beast!

Before I could register what was happening, his tattered glove covered the left side of my face. I felt magical energy tickling my cheek. We froze in a shared stupor. The invisible syringe had just emptied into his neck just in time.

Edwoyn suddenly collapsed into my arms after discovering and crushing the object like vermin. A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. I started laughing nervously, releasing all my muscles, “Ahahah…”

He had almost blasted my brains out. I had barely had the chance to analyze the situation: we had engaged in a true duel of reflexes where one mistake could cost a life.

What a delightful sensation... The riskier it was, the more intense it felt; there was no denying it! I had to admit I hadn’t felt so alive in a long time.

"Now that's a real fight! Damn, I’ve missed this!"

Looking up, I realized that smoke had already covered the entire glass ceiling. All the goods in the warehouse were likely nothing more than heaps of dust, which would not please the clients. Well, we were alive; that was something. I cast a glance at the flames licking at the entrance of the secret passage.

Flames.

Flames, flames everywhere in the corridor. No exit; I was forced to follow a single path miraculously spared. I narrowly avoided a window that had just exploded on its own. This drew my attention outside.

Due to my small stature, I could only make out a large cloud in the night sky. I knew that even if I managed to escape this furnace, I would never cross the forest of fire and ash. We were all doomed to burn alive.

A crash rang out behind me. My blood ran cold: the monster had caught up to me. Despite the pain lacerating my bare feet, I did not stop running on the glass and embers. The hot air was unbearable, transforming each of my gasps into true rips.

If only my tears could extinguish the flames...

I shoved that haunting memory from my muddled mind. Every time I looked into the fire, I relived that fragment of memory on repeat. I knew neither its end nor its beginning—only a distant feeling of fear. Those were the last traces of a sliver of humanity within me. Fear.

That’s why I never looked at the brown flames of the magical disintegrator erasing evidence in the workshop. Why I closed my eyes when using fire spells.

I didn’t like it.

I had to make a significant effort to refocus on the present moment. There was no time to waste. Determined, I healed and animated the unconscious body of the recruit using a muscle modulation spell.

Combining it with an illusion would make him look entirely ordinary. That would be enough for us to reach the equestrian center by taxi carriage. With that settled, I turned on my heels toward the nobleman’s corpse.

You should have suffered a thousand times more, you filthy bastard.

Enchanted butterfly knife in hand, I carved into the surface of his face with a decisive motion and retrieved my weapons. The dismembered faces were our signature. Besides leaving an impression, it deterred competitors from trying to imitate us.

I then confirmed the success of the mission to Justine with a little pre-recorded text on my communicator: “After the night comes the dawn.”

With a snap of my fingers, Edwoyn stepped toward me like a good soldier. However, controlling a unconscious body from a distance was no easy task. It took me several adjustments to get used to this mental exercise.

Ready for the grand journey, I smashed through the three layers of the dome with a powerful kick. Our passage through the garden triggered a multitude of magical alarms, but by the time the security agency arrived, we had already disappeared aboard a carriage.

On the way back, I thought about the report I would make to the boss. About the tension that would form on her face upon learning the situation. I could hide Edwoyn's initiation into murder from her, but the rest was too big to omit. And that was putting it mildly: this mission had been a complete failure, not to mention that in the end, the prince hadn’t killed with his own hands.

You may have won today, magical malfunction, but you cannot push back the deadline forever. Know that in the end, I always get what I want.