Chapter 16 : s of trol

  Ray

  People are puzzles. If you look long enough, you’ll find the cracks. And when you do, it’s not hard to pry them open. Most people would see that as cruel, but I’ve always seen it as the truth. From the time I was a child, I uood ohier than anyone else: the world rewards trol, and the only way to survive is to make sure you’re the one pulling the strings.

  It started small. Little experiments at school. I was nine when I first realized how easy it was to shape people. I’d watch the other kids, looking for the ones with fragile egos, the ones desperate for approval. Then I’d hem—just enough to see what would happen.

  There was a boy in my css, Jacob. He was the smartest after me, always trying to outdo my test scores, my projects. At first, I ignored him, but then I realized I could use him. I started dropping pliments here and there—praising his handwriting, his notes, his “unique” way of solving problems. Jacob ate it up, eager for my approval. It wasn’t long before he started ing to me for help.

  “Ray, do you think the teacher likes my answers?” he asked one day, showing me his notebook.

  “Not really,” I said, feigniation. “She probably thinks you’re trying too hard. Maybe if your answers were simpler, more fident, she’d respeore.”

  I watched as he rewrote his assigs, paring them down until they were nearly i. His grades plummeted, and his frustration grew. He started shing out at the teacher, acg her of bias. By the end of the term, Jacob wasn’t the sed-smartest anymore. He was just aroublemaker.

  But that wasn’t the moment that defined me. No, that came ter, when I started pying a bigger game.

  By the time I was eleven, I’d perfected the art. It wasn’t about direct sabotage. That was messy, obvious. My methods were subtler, er. I’d pit people against each other, pnting seeds of doubt and watg as they unraveled themselves.

  Take Emily and Sarah, for example—best friends, inseparable since kindergarten. They alaired up froup projects, their synergy unmatched. I decided to see how far I could push them.

  “Emily, I tell you something?” I said oernoon, my tone spiratorial. “I overheard Sarah talking about your project. She said you’re dragging her down.”

  Emily’s face fell, and I knew I had her. “She said that?”

  “Yeah,” I lied, my voice ced with . “I thought you should know. You deserve better.”

  The day, I approached Sarah. “Hey, Sarah. Emily told me something weird. She said you’re just riding on her coattails for the project. Is that true?”

  “What? No way!” Sarah bristled, her voice rising. “I’m the one doing most of the work!”

  By the end of the week, they weren’t speaking. Their project fell apart, and they each begged the teacher to let them work alone. I smiled to myself, satisfied. I didn’t o sabotage their grades—they did it for me. All it took was a few well-pced words.

  At home, my parents pretended not to notice, but I saw the way they looked at me. Like I was something dangerous. My mother stopped hugging me when I came home from sy father’s temper grew shorter, his voice louder.

  “You ’t keep doing this,” he said one night after another parent called to pin about me. “Do you know how hard it is to keep the school from expelling you? You’re a freak, Ray. A monster.”

  His words didn’t hurt me. If anything, they proved I was right. Fear is trol, and I had plenty of both. Even they couldn’t stop me.

  The beor came ter, me a schorship to ae academy. At first, I thought it was a fresh start—a ce to use my abilities on a bigger stage. But when I found the files, I saw the truth. I wasn’t a student to him; I was an asset. A pawn in his schemes.

  He smiled when I fronted him, his fidenfuriating. “You’re too smart for your own good,” he said. “But you’ll learn. Everyone has a master, Ray.”

  Two weeks ter, he was in handcuffs, his empire in ruins. I made sure of it. I didn’t just frame him—I destroyed him, piece by piece, until there was nothi. Everyone has a master, he’d said. I decided then that I wouldn’t.

  The Bastard Rave’s ughter snapped me back to the present. The acrid st of charred stone and the faint hum of lingering magic filled the air, the remnants of our chaotic csh pressing in from all sides. His smirk was infuriating, but it wasn’t new. I’d seen it before, on my father’s fay beor’s. It was the look of someone who thought they’d broken me.

  But they never did. Aher would he.

  I wiped the blood from my mouth and straightened, my body trembling from exhaustion but my mind sharp, focused. The pieces were all in pow. He thought he had me ered, but he’d fotten the golden rule of survival: trol the board, and you trol the game.

  This wasn’t just a fight anymore. It was a lesson—a reminder of what happens when you uimate the monster.

  “Are you done, little man?” Raveaunted, his voice eg through the ruined hall.

  I smirked, the same way I had at the beor, the same way I always did when I knew I was about to win. “Not even close.”

  The Bastard Raveurned his attention to Taki, who y slumped against the pilr, struggling to stand. His mog smile twisted into something darker as he raised a hand, golden runes spiraling around him.

  “Such wasted potential,” he sneered. “Allow me to end your misery.”

  As his spell began to form, I acted.

  Ghost form activated. The world blurred as I surged forward, intangible aless. But the strain was immediate, a sharp tug at the edges of my mind, like threads unraveling each time I used it. The curse stirred, faint but persistent, whispering promises I didn’t want to hear. The Bastard Rave’s spell was seds from ung wheered Taki’s body. Her trembling stilled, repced by precise, trolled movements as I took over.

  “Not today,” I growled through her lips, summoning her blessing with ease. A torrent of water erupted, smming into the golden runes and dissolving them before they could plete. The Bastard staggered back, his smirk faltering.

  “You dare use her?” he hissed, irritation fshing in his eyes.

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I raised Taki’s hand, f a barrier of swirling water as the Bastard unleashed another spell. The impact sent waves rippling through the shield, but it held firm. I left her body just as the Bastard lunged, his frustration evident. I darted into the pie the board.

  The first guard I entered wielded a fiery nce. I hurled it with calcuted precision, f the Bastard into a hasty teleport. The moment he reappeared, I was in anuard—a speed user—and closed the gap between us in an instant. His spell activated again, whisking him away, but I didn’t stop.

  Each blessing I used pushed me closer to the edge. My mind sharpened, but something dark stirred within me, whispering things that weren’t my thoughts. Isn’t this fun, Ray? You’re just like them. I shook it off, fog on the fight.

  A guard with a gravity-based blessing became my ool. I crushed the air around the Bastard, slowing his movements and draining his strength. His teleportation faltered. Keep going, the voi my mind urged. Show him how powerless he really is.

  I moved to anuard. A shieldbearer, their blessing f an imperable barrier. Then a frost user, their shards of ice slig through the air. The Bastard’s teleportation became slower, his movements more erratic. But with every new body I ehe whispers grew louder.

  Coward, the voice spat. You think you’re in trol, but you’re just running. Why not let me hahis? My body trembled, my movements less steady. The curse was creeping in, a weight pressing down on my mind.

  The Bastard nded clumsily on the floor, his chest heaving. His teleportation blessing had finally reached its limit. I stepped out of the st guard auro my body. My limbs felt heavy, my vision flickeriween crity and darkness. The whispers in my head turned into a roar.

  “Enough,” I growled, f myself to stand straight. The Bastard looked up, his expression a mixture of fear and fury. “You’re out of tricks.”

  But as I stepped forward, my voice ged. “Poor thing,” I heard myself say, though the tone was mog, venomous. My lips curled into a smile I didn’t and. “Maybe you’re not the only coward here.”

  I froze, my heart pounding. No. Not now.

  My body moved without my and. I started ughing—loud, wild, and wrong. The Bastard’s eyes widened as he saw the shift. “What… what is this?” he muttered.

  “Ray’s not here right now,” my voice purred, though it wasn’t mine. “But don’t worry. I’ll finish what he started.”

  I lunged forward, faster than ever. My fist ected with the Bastard’s chest, smming him into the wall. He crumpled to the ground, his blessing disabled, too weak to interfere.

  “That should keep you quiet,” I muttered, turning away from him without a sed gnce. My attention shifted to Selia, who stood frozen in the er of the room, her eyes wide with fear.

  I moved toward her, my steps deliberate and menag. “You,” I snarled, my voice low and dangerous. “I’ve had enough of your secrets.”

  Selia backed away, her hands trembling. “Ray… what’s wrong with you?”

  “What’s wrong with me?” I repeated, ughing bitterly. “No, the real question is, what’s wrong with you, Selia? Always hiding, always lying. Tell me—what is your blessing?”

  Selia’s eyes darted to the others. Lucky stepped forward, raising his hands in a pg gesture. “Ray, calm down. This isn’t like you.”

  I turo him, my expression twisted with rage. “Stay out of this, Lucky. You’re nothing to me.”

  Lucky hesitated but didn’t back down. “You’re not Ray right now,” he said firmly. “Whatever’s happening, you o stop.”

  I smirked, the expression cold and cruel. “And what are you going to do about it, Lucky? Get lucky?” Before he could respond, I flicked my wrist, sending a wave of energy that knocked him to the ground. He groaned, clutg his ribs.

  “Enough games,” I said, turning back to Selia. “Yoing to tell me what your blessing is. Now.”

  Selia shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “I don’t have a blessing,” she whispered.

  “Liar!” I roared, grabbing her by the colr and lifting her off the ground. “You think I don’t know? I’ve seen you, Selia. You’re not normal. So tell me the truth before I make you.”

  Selia sobbed, her voice trembling. “Ray… please.”

  The curse inside me growled in frustration. The words spilled from my lips unbidden, sharp and cutting, as if something else spoke through me. “Fine. If you won’t say it, I’ll make you show it.” My mind recoiled, trying to wrest back trol, but the curse pushed harder. It wasn’t just a voiow—it was a storm, raging aless, g at my every thought. The liween me and it blurred with every passing sed.”

  I raised my hand, preparing to strike, but something stopped me. A faint flicker of light surrounded Selia, like a shield. My hand froze mid-air, and for the first time, the curse hesitated.

  “What… is this?” I muttered, my voientarily faltering.

  Selia’s trembling stopped, and she looked up at me, her eyes filled with something I couldn’t pce. “Ray,” she said softly. “You o fight it. Please.”

  The curse roared in defiance, but that flicker of light grew stronger, ing around me like s. I staggered back, clutg my head as the voices in my mind screamed.

  I colpsed to my knees, my breathing ragged. The curse receded, its grip loosening as the light faded. For a moment, silence filled the room.

  “Ray?” Selia’s voice was soft, hesitant.

  I looked up, my vision clearing. My hands were shaking, and the weight of what I’d do me like a blow. “Selia… I…” My voice broke, and I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  Selia k beside me, her expression a mixture of fear and sadness. “It wasn’t you,” she said, though her voice wavered. “But… we o talk about this.”

  Suddenly, Selia’s body was engulfed in light. The sight hit me like a blow, a mix of shod dread twisting in my chest. What was happening? My mind raced, grasping for trol, but it slipped away as the light grew brighter, swallowing her whole. Before I could react, she vahe light streaking upward and disappearing. Lucky and Taki followed moments ter, their bodies ed by the same radiant glow, leaving me aloh the Bastard Rave.

  “What…” I whispered, the weight of the silence pressing down.

  Then, a child’s voice echoed in my mind, soft and clear. I will teleport you too, but first I o break the spell holding you here.

  A surge of energy rippled through the room, a sensation like static prig against my skin as an unseen force cracked and splihe invisible s bindio the ground disied with a resonant hum, leaving behind a strange, almost soothing warmth. The voice returhis time with a faint giggle. You’re free now, Ray. Time to go.

  In a fsh of light, the world around me dissolved, leaving only darkness.