Henry couldn’t believe what had happened, an Aspect was an immutable reflection of one’s soul or at least that is what they had always been told, and an Aspect could not be changed. Yet here he was with an entirely new Aspect or at the very least an upgraded one that now reflected his changing body, what’s more once he had come back to himself and his form had reverted, his scales had grown more prevalent, no longer just a scattering over his cheek bones and arms, now they were definitely growing over most of his torso and his fangs had grown more prevalent, even his horns felt more pronounced and solid, like a true part of him and not an affectation. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he would have died without his dragon half coming to the fore either, and so all he could do was be grateful for the fact his own arrogance had stopped the bug’s mind assault.

  He quickly grabbed his reward for the challenge, slipping the rare artifact dagger into his storage ring before jogging out of the exit. While once he’d have been drooling to see an artifact, now he could do nothing more than run back to de Charny, perhaps the man would have some answers.

  When he exited the challenge he found Geoffroi waiting, hands folded in front of him on the pommel of his sword, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the changed visage of his student.

  “Henri, what happened?” His voice was tentative, he could see the wild look in Henry’s eyes and his hands had already tensed on his weapon’s hilt.

  “I’m not sure, the guardian was able to take control of me, make me feel like I should be eaten, then I transformed and everything went a bit hazy, but I need to ask you some questions, have you ever heard of an Aspect changing?” Henry was quick, if he didn’t get the words out there was a chance he never would and so he seemed to just vomit the words up and wait as he watched de Charny parse what had been said.

  “Ah, apologies Henri, yes they change, usually not this early in someone’s climb, but as your power grows, an Aspect grows with you, that may not be common knowledge outside however, Arthur or Merlin would be better to have this conversation with as they’re more familiar with Dragons, did you complete the challenge then?” His dismissal of what had seemed so paramount in importance to Henry was a shock, almost like the time his master at arms had doused him in ice water for being late to training one morning in his father’s manor.

  “Yes I finished it, they didn’t feel as strong as the hobgoblins and orcs, but they were faster, my poleaxe had no trouble with them though, exoskeleton is apparently no match for Caliburn.” Henry answered.

  “Good, go back to the house, open two threads each for your channels and then eat, I will see you again in the morning.” Geoffroi turned on his heel and strode back towards the floor village, leaving a confused and uncertain Henry in his wake.

  Two additional threads per channel had been easy, and Henry revelled in the brief Essence High that surged through him as he once more felt his power increase, he knew there was more to come as he felt himself drift off to sleep. The following morning repeated the day before somewhat. Geoffroi met him at the door and escorted him to the field outside town and they trained again, this time Henry was able to go a little longer and hit a little harder, the improvement in his abilities was so stark in contrast to what he had seen in his more mundane training when he was younger and first learning the blade.

  That afternoon he hit another challenge, this one was almost a repeat of his first, with a majority of orcs and hobgoblins and an ogre as the guardian, though it wasn’t Gorshak this time. With each foe slain he felt his spirit deepen and his power grow, and his new aspect made itself known as he relished the growth, and a hunger for more pulled him further and further down the path to immortality, for he now knew that what his next goal.

  ******************************

  The battlefield had darkened, the grass blackening and dying off with his every step. The black armoured knight gave off wisps of ebon smoke with every movement, the blood red sword clenched in his gauntleted fist the only splash of colour in his dark existence. Enemies fell before him, their corpses rapidly decaying before they so much as touched him. Their agony continued as he raised them, their corpses moaning in despair as they stood once more at the black knight’s will. His army of the damned, as he was calling them, marched on into the Challenge.

  Edward had finally accepted his powers, and his new [Aura of Decay] was incredible, enemies just began to rot as they got within twenty feet of him and their slaughter was assured. The Essence was constant and his power continued to grow. He had left his Retinue behind now. Well almost, he thought as he looked at the corpse that had once been Sir John Chandos. He still felt a flicker of guilt for accidentally killing the man when he tried to prevent his Prince from advancing ahead of Hawkwood’s vanguard, but he consoled himself that he had granted his new [Death Knight] with immortality. He could have two of the new summoned undead under his command now but they required a powerful corpse to accept the magic. Either a climber or a challenge guardian was needed to truly do it justice.

  The [Death Knight] that was Chandos possessed the man’s incredible swordsmanship and was able to function as a semi-autonomous commander for Edward’s new undead host. Now that he was making his way through the third floor, it had become necessary to keep his summons with him. French men-at-arms had been waiting, but they had succumbed to fear and decay when Chandos led his undead squadron at them. Just as they’d begun to form some semblance of a line, Edward had deployed his new ability [Will of the Shadows], it allowed him to move through the shadows on the field and he appeared behind them, his new weapon the Reaper Blade had drained the first of all Essence and life in a heartbeat.

  It was a rush, stealing the Essence from climbers was a significantly more efficient process than doing challenges he realised. Still Challenges gave better rewards so he couldn’t just run off after a few dozen climbers…yet. He comforted himself with the knowledge there were more Frenchmen and he would have all of them bend the knee, either in life or death. The voice in the shadows comforted him as he felt its presence once more in the tendrils of black smoke that rose all around him, it promised him his own throne on the fifth floor, just two more floors and he could take his rightful place. He was a conqueror and he would have what his father had denied him, the bitter old man would learn that his son was better in every way and when that day came Edward would show him the mercy of his new kingdom of the damned, and his father would be his eternal servant, he smiled under the twisted and blackened visor of his helm, lips drawn back over a face turned gaunt and fangs that protruded like small daggers, yes it was a pleasant thought.

  ******************************

  True to his word, Arthur returned on the third day, and with him he brought a young lady. She was a good physical match for Arthur, being tall with a long mane of braided red hair, she was broad and had the athletic build of a warrior or huntress, with a deep chest and strong hips. If he’d had any doubt about why she was with him though it was answered with her more striking features, long horns over her brow and green scales along her cheek bones that really accented her emerald eyes. Geoffroi turned to them both and bowed.

  “Good to see you again Arthur, and you as well Lady Rhiannon.” Henry was quick to follow the french knight’s lead and bowed deeply in turn. When he rose he found the lady mere inches from his face, she took his chin between her thumb and forefinger and brought him as close as a lover might, though ruined that image by turning his face right and left.

  “I thought you said he’d only just transformed?” She asked, her voice almost musical with the lilting accent of the Irish. Arthur had approached and looked on with a frown.

  “He had, although it looks like the change was uncontrolled again,” Arthur’s sharp eyes moved towards Geoffroi.

  “What happened?”

  “I sent him into a challenge to get a feel for his new power, and apparently the guardian had a mind control ability, his inner fire disagreed with that and forced the transformation, I’m afraid it also forced the evolution of his Aspect.” Geoffroi reported without any hint of contrition. Arthur nodded in understanding.

  “Unlucky to get that sort of a guardian, especially this low in the Tower, but we will make do, Henry we will need to be careful, an Aspect is no joke and when they evolve they become significantly stronger, we will keep an eye on you but be wary of any stray thoughts telling you to run off, so long as you’re aware of the potential it hinders their ability to influence you too greatly, but we dragons are arrogant creatures,” Arthur gave a short laugh that was riddled with self-mockery.

  “Don’t stress too much about the extra scales, in time I will show you how to control the appearance more, also well done on the armour, Grimnir does good work, once he’s grown enough I’ll commission armour for myself, the man has the makings of the next Hephaestus.” Through all this conversation Rhiannon had not let go of Henry’s chin, and her eyes, like the deepest pools of green Henry had ever seen, seemed to bore into his very soul.

  “He has the hand of fate on him Arthur, and the dragon’s arrogance to boot, he’ll need to be watched until he master’s his Aspect.” She finally said letting go of Henry’s chin. Arthur rolled his eyes.

  “Rhiannon, of course he has the hand of fate on him, I am the hand of fate, you don’t sound mystical or all knowing saying it like that.” The old king groaned. The Irish dragon gave Henry a wicked smirk, and turned back to Arthur.

  “It wasn’t for your benefit Arthur, he deserves to know what your meddling is born from, and besides I like to sound powerful and impressive to young dragons I intend to bed.” Henry’s mind went blank at the bold assertion while Arthur just rolled his eyes once more.

  “I brought you here to help train him, not make baby dragons, now come one, it’s time the boy learned to fly properly.” Arthur gestured them forward. The small group followed the old man out of the village and into the outskirts of the fifth floor. Once more Henry was struck by how if he didn’t know he was inside the Tower he’d assumed he was in a forest outdoors. The sun and sky looked so real. As they reached a clearing a comfortable distance from the village Arthur turned to Geoffroi.

  “Would you mind ensuring we’re undisturbed here lad?”

  “Of course Arthur.” de Charny said and began wandering the edge of the clearing. Arthur then turned his attention to his two draconic companions.

  “Alright time to transform.”

  Arthur transformed smoothly, one moment he was there and the next in his place stood a tall Dragon the size of a house with vibrant red scales and a short beard of flame hanging from his chin. He glared down at them proudly although for some reason Henry felt he could almost detect a smile on the great reptilian head. Rhiannon followed next, her size was comparable to Arthur’s though her scales were the same emerald as her eyes had been in her human form. Both turned their eyes on Henry with a look of impatience.

  “Is there any chance we could train in our human forms?” Henry asked with uncertainty, as he looked anywhere but in their eyes.

  You will never get used to the transformation unless you do it Henry, it is a lot to take in at first and I promise we will discuss it later, for now please transform. Rhiannon’s voice was so clear in his mind that his head whipped up in shock before realising her draconic mouth had never opened. With a sigh he triggered his transformation, the ability was instinctual and took very little effort to activate. Unlike his first and second transformations, he found the process much less jarring when it was intentional, there was no pain or fear or rage clouding his mind, and he felt the change flow through him like a surge of energy almost like the first time his body had drunk in Essence.

  When the transformation was complete, Henry was disappointed to still have to look up to meet the eye of his two mentors. His dragon form was savage and powerful, his blue scales shined with their own inner light and sparks of lightning danced across his hide. But still he stood only as high as their chests and he truly felt the magnitude of power difference between these older dragons and him.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Now that you’re done being anxious, have you flown before? Arthur’s voice came now, and Henry shook his head. He tried to answer and found only growls and roars coming from his maw. The dragon’s throat and jaw isn’t designed for human speech, think your answer and direct it to us and we will hear. Even in his mind Arthur sounded exasperated at the young man’s foolishness.

  No, both times I’ve transformed have been in throne rooms, although now that I think about it the Formica cavern was large enough I could have taken to the air and bombarded them if I’d been able to think about it. Henry was gratified with how easy it was to direct his answer. Arthur nodded his red head in understanding.

  If not done intentionally the change can be disorienting, we refer to this as our Inner Flame, or Inner Dragon, there’s no one true name beyond it being the draconic nature of our Aspects. That arrogance is both a gift and a curse, it brings forth our true strength when we feel the need to compete, but if left uncontrolled it can make us treat all others as lesser, and our duty is as protectors, not overlords, understand me? Arthur’s tone had grown stern as he said this.

  I understand, mostly, I’ve heard people mention mastering an Aspect, but I don’t truly understand what that means or how it’s done.

  The first step is doing what I said earlier, focusing on your thoughts and recognising when a thought seems against your protective nature and more in line with pure arrogance, mastering an Aspect is simply the act of not allowing it to fully control you. It doesn’t just stop affecting you, but with time you grow accustomed to its influence and how to resist it, some find this harder than others, Loki for instance has had his Aspect for nearly twenty thousand years, and he still succumbs to it, whereas Thor has had his the same length of time and to our knowledge he has never succumbed. Arthur shook his head, enough, this is a lesson for later, for now spread your wings, and try to elevate yourself, jumping directly upwards can help on the first time. Suiting words to action Arthur pushed himself into the air with a loud growl and the earth shook under the force before he began looping lazily through the sky, fifty feet above. Rhiannon followed suit and then Henry was alone on the ground.

  He took a deep breath, and pushed off, his own power surprising him as he rocketed into the sky, the jump pushing him a good hundred feet into the air, bypassing both instructors as they watched him. His wings snapped out as he began to descend and for a moment he felt them fill with air before the angle of his head had him careening towards the earth in a deep swoop. Even out, cup the air with your wings to arrest your descent, a fall from this height won’t kill you most likely but it will hurt and break many bones. Arthur’s voice came to him, and he tried to follow the advice, his wings were like any limb and he could feel and control them but they did feel new and awkward as he straightened his long neck and tried to arch the membranes to cup the air that surged around him.

  Ability Unlocked: [Dragon’s Flight]

  As if on queue the ability triggered and his mind flooded with information, suddenly his wings moved easier and he was swooping through the air like a natural born aerial predator. Yes, yes, you have the ability now, turn it off and fly on your own, you need to learn this as eventually you’ll be able to transform without the ability but flying without is harder. Henry groaned, but he was not about to start disregarding Arthur’s word now, and so he turned the ability off and let his muscles take over the work. Thankfully the knowledge of flight didn’t disappear with the ability and so he was able to continue his flight, he just couldn’t allow it to happen automatically with no input. He came to hover before his instructors, his wings pumping more than their own which led him to believe their greater size either assisted with the uplift or they had magic helping, given he could feel the movement of their essence he assumed it was the latter.

  They continued to drill him for an hour before Henry felt his energy begin to slip below the threshold, and apparently Arthur recognised it too and they guided him back to the ground where he was forcibly transformed back into his human form. Henry fell to his hands and knees panting and sweating as the exertion hit him, it was a new level of exhaustion that he had never quite felt before and Rhiannon walked over and cradled his head as she brought a tin water bottle to his lips to drink.

  “Easy Henry, it happens to all of us, it won’t be quite so taxing once you open some more magical threads, what regimen does Geoffroi have you on?” She asked in her beautifully musical voice.

  “Two threads per channel every challenge I complete,” he answered a bit breathlessly once he had drunk his fill, he noticed that at the size the bottle was he should have drained it twice over, yet she had never changed the angle once, an artifact he realised.

  “Not a bad way to go about it, especially with all the Essence you’ll bring in on this floor,” she turned to Arthur a question in her eyes and the older man simply nodded and walked away, leaving Henry in the woman’s lap.

  “I’m going to show you a third channel, we call it the soul channel and it is directly linked to Traits, Aspects and abilities that are tied to each, with a few threads you’ll be able to transform easier and for longer, it will bring you closer to your Traits and Aspect, making the cost of such abilities much less, once it catches up to your physical and magical channels, the cost will be negligible.” She told him, as she lifted him up into a sitting position. He bowed his head to her.

  “You are most kind, my lady.” He said, perhaps the first thing he’d actually managed to say to her that wasn’t a direct answer to a question. She waved her hand and smiled at him in a way that made a blush creep up his throat and cheeks, a sight that seemed to only broaden her smile.

  “Oh that is a lovely colour on you young Henry,” she answered with a chuckle, “but we must focus on your training, once you’re an immortal and I don’t have to worry about you dying of old age on me, then we can consider courtship.” She said it so matter of factly that once more it was as though someone had wiped the slate of Henry’s mind clear of any coherent thought, and now the blush burned all the way to his ears, something that clearly amused the dragon lady no small amount and she chuckled wickedly at him.

  “For now focus on your centre, and stop imagining me in my shift.” She said, the grin never leaving her face.

  “I wasn’t!” He shouted in shock.

  “Centre darling, come now.” She insisted as Henry turned his focus inward, doing his best to forget the image she had so deftly burned into his mind. It still came easily to him as he focused on the raging inferno of Essence in his core that burned like a new sun, the threads that disappeared into his channels continued to move and glow with power and for a moment he was struck by the beauty of it all.

  “There is another channel, you will find it near the magical channel, close to your heart, take two threads and push them through, you should be able to handle two.” She told him.

  True to her word, he found the new channel there, it was too small to accept a thread and it looked almost atrophied and weak in comparison to the others that he used regularly. Still when he tried to widen it to accommodate the first thread he found it much more difficult, the hole was hardened like stone and he had to push with no small amount of force against it. Once more he reverted to the image of digging his thumbs in and pulling aside, he realised his mistake instantly as the channel seemed to have been waiting for this and greedily absorbed five threads in one hit.

  “Oh shit!” Henry swore as his body hit the ground. The energy surged through the channel and around his heart before tying a knot around a new subspace he had never felt before, his Aspect roared in exultation within him and he felt his scales grow further across his body. Then the pain hit. As if every nerve was on fire, or as if his own lightning was striking every inch of his body and for once he had no immunity. Thankfully the pain was brief, albeit intense, before he fell into the waiting arms of unconsciousness.

  ******************************

  When he awoke again it was to find himself before the fire of the house he’d been staying in, his head once more in Rhiannon’s lap as she stroked his hair. Her eyes were not unkind, though they were exasperated as she met his own.

  “That was very stupid.” She said, though her voice held some amusement.

  “In my defence it wasn’t intentional.” He answered, slowly feeling his body for any lingering pain.

  “Intentional or not, stupidity is stupidity, and no one ever intends to get themselves killed.” She answered bluntly. He shook his head but made no attempt to rise, she saw him consider it and smiled approvingly when he stayed put in her lap.

  “Enjoying yourself I assume?” She asked. Henry was tempted for a moment to deny anything, but a voice told him the lady appreciated honesty and perhaps some bluntness.

  “Yes I am, my lady you are a tonic and I enjoy the time we have spent together so far.” He answered. She laughed and the sound was musical, but not the tittering bell like sound he was used to, it was deeper and more like a man’s laugh.

  “So formal, you may call me Rhi, or Rhiannon if it makes you more comfortable, young Henry, but even in my mortal life I was no great Lady or even nobility.” He looked her in the eye.

  “Your beauty and strength commands the respect owed to it my lady, no high birth or blood could match you.” He answered, eliciting another full throated laugh from the lady who planted a quick peck on his forehead.

  “One day I will allow you to court me Henry, but for now I am your instructor, Arthur has been called back to the higher floors, this impending trouble is not the only calamity he is trying to avert, so tomorrow I will teach you to fight in your dragon form, it’s less intuitive than you might believe and even with your new armour your scales are not impervious to all harm. I have spoken with Geoffroi and until your soul channel catches up you will be opening one thread each for your physical and magical channels and two for your soul, in addition you will be attempting every challenge you enter, that has the space, in your dragon form, when the Prince enters this floor in search of his throne, you must be prepared to bring your full might to bear upon him.” Her voice was consoling as she said the last, she saw the discomfort written on his face as he remembered the reality of facing his own prince in mortal combat once more.

  Henry rose now to sit with his back to the fire, facing Rhiannon.

  “And you and Arthur are positive there’s no recourse, no way to bring Edward back from the brink?” He asked, unable to disguise the hope in his tone. Rhiannon shook her head sadly.

  “Unless you find something as a reward in a challenge that could help, we have no knowledge of anything that could turn back his new rage.” She answered, she even had the good grace to look truly sorry about it. Her answer hardened Henry’s resolve however, and he now knew that there was at least a chance, all he needed was an artifact that could change the game somewhat, give him a chance to get through to the man who had been the paragon of chivalry in the outside world of Europe.

  “Can I have permission to increase my challenges to two per day? At my current strength I think I can manage the extra fighting, and with a few more physical threads I can reduce my sleep to only a few hours.” She met his eye and nodded.

  “That seems like a good idea, last report had him advancing on the third floor, so we are running out of time to have you fully prepared, two a day and I will talk with Geoffroi about reducing the morning training to a more manageable workload. We don’t want you going into a challenge already spent, you are powerful but the creatures here can still end you if you can’t defend yourself.” He nodded in understanding.

  “I won’t be reckless, I will use appropriate caution in every challenge, but I need more essence and I need artifacts.” She smiled at his drive and rose to her feet.

  “I’ll go find Geoffroi, you go and fight, there’s still time left today if you want to get another pair of challenges in.” She nodded once and made her way through the door, Henry simply drew his sword and pulsed his Essence so that it would transform into its poleaxe shape, the change was seamless and easy, as though his new soul channel affected the process as well, if he needed to change back to its sword form depending on the challenge, he knew he could do it with ease.

  He left the village at a brisk jog, pounding down the main road and waiting for a gate to appear. He ran right through the first one and smiled as he took up a ready stance, his poleaxe held across his body in a defensive posture. Across from him stood a pair of what he first took to be armoured golems, until they turned to face him with visor’s raised. Their faces were human, albeit rotted and with bone showing through from their skulls. The undead were very much present on the fifth floor and his distaste for the foe was palpable. It offended his very soul that such abominations were allowed to exist and he unleashed his [Dragon’s Breath] ability on them instantly, their bodies roasting under the onslaught and the whole room filled with the sickly scent of burnt meat and rot. Neither foe was able to react fast enough and their very armour buckled under the intense heat as Henry strode forward, poleaxe in hand and anger written across his features. He existed to protect the world from the abominations before him and he would cleanse them with dragon’s fire, he was the Storm Dragon Knight, and he would slaughter them all.

  You have slain [Death Knight]

  You have slain [Death Knight]

  Essence Distributed

  The notification of the Essence brought him back, an awkward smile twisting his features as he realised how much more powerful the effect and influence of his Aspect was now that it had evolved and he had opened his soul channel, Rhiannon had not been kidding when she had said it would bring him closer to it. Henry sighed and pressed on, this challenge looked to be in another castle like structure as the hobgoblin and orc challenges had been, perhaps he could transform if there was another courtyard with enemies, then he could get a feel for fighting from the air, simply calling down the lightning onto the battlefield with no way for the undead to strike back seemed like a good way to collect Essence and not put himself at risk, although he felt a part of himself pull back from the idea, what was the point of fighting with no risk? What true threat could these measly corpses offer a dragon such as him?

  He shuddered again and focused, this was going to be an interesting challenge considering the new influence of his Aspect.