The world was cold.

  Chills shook me to the bone.

  Trees looked illusory, bending as they whispered unspoken words that floated through the air.

  I tried to listen, but my ears couldn’t catch any sound.

  Sitting quietly in my father’s arms, I tried to salvage any bit of the warmth and comfort his body provided, forcing myself not to be overtaken by the atmosphere that lurked behind his stature.

  Because standing there, just beyond the edge of the forest, there was a figure wreathed in silver shadow with a veil covering his face, wearing a smile that reeked of coldness.

  I might not have even known who it was.

  If not for his wings that still shone like the sky, moving slowly behind him.

  He did not do anything.

  For a moment, there wasn’t even the twitch of a finger in the silent night. My father trembled with rage, though he suppressed it behind a calm facade as his mouth opened, closed, and opened again— he was unable to speak. The one who had pointed Cuswoth out, was of course…

  Cidris.

  His smile wasn’t kind.

  And his eyes gleamed with malice.

  Cuswoth did not respond to Cidris.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you— You’ve grown, Amir.” Shaking his head, Cuswoth widened his arms without taking a single step. I tried to speak, but I didn’t know what to say. My words remained trapped in my throat.

  I hated this man. Hell, I wished that I could rip his head off myself.

  But did I hate him?

  Before I understood that, I couldn’t say anything.

  “Father, set me down… please.” I tried not to sound too commanding or pleading, but it had to be done. For his sake.

  My father, albeit reluctantly, let my body slip from his fingers as all warmth left me, like a flower wilting. Feeling my feet come in contact with the padded ground, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  My story? Sure, I could write it.

  But not for that child’s sake—

  Looking up at Cuswoth, I opened my mouth.

  I did not use

  This would be and only

  “I guess I have, Meri Cuswoth. But in comparison, you seem much more pathetic than you were during the Dowsing.” Swallowing my fear away, I spoke confidently, narrowing my eyes just slightly.

  If there was anything I excelled at, it was

  Tilting his head, Cuswoth looked at me questioningly. Taking his right harm and extending it beyond his cloak, he moved it forwards. My throat tightened as I realized that he was trying…

  But quickly, his hand snapped back, like he was afraid.

  Internally, I was overjoyed.

  “Pathetic?” He rolled the words around his tongue, looking at both my father and me. “Isn’t it much more of a travesty that are the one speaking to me right now— not Iyad, not Cidris. Isn’t pathetic?” The way he was saying it, wasn’t like a question. It was a statement. A statement obviously meant to hurt me.

  But no… that won’t hurt me, Cuswoth.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  You’re a fly trapped in a web.

  Sneering, I laughed out loud, sending birds flying away from the sudden sound. I disregarded the shifting of dirt and brush around me, focusing instead on and Cuswoth.

  Nothing else mattered right now.

  “Yes, Meri. Pathetic. How someone like is a to another, forced to carry out someone’s bidding in this godforsaken place, unable to serve your own will. That’s why you call those out every night, In my opinion, that is ” I was vaguely aware of my father’s worried stares, and I knew why. I didn’t seem like myself. Right now, I wasn’t my true self. I wasn’t Amir. There was another word, another that described who I was right now.

  And that name was Amirphos.

  Hah…

  Cuswoth grit his teeth, shaking his head.

  “If you knew who was above me, you’d be pissing your pants and begging to die. There is a natural order in this world, a reason for everything. There is always someone below, and someone above. The that’s what I thought— right? But no,

  Leaning in as close as he could get to the border, he revealed his teeth.

  Sharp, pointed like canines, a terrifying beauty that fully contrasted his almost ethereal face and body. The veil around him caressed the bark of the trees, wrapping around them to bring him back.

  He let a whisper float in the air.

  “The second you think of yourself as weak, that is what you are. And that is what I am. When I saw face, I was forced to become a slave. For ” Cuswoth wasn’t preaching to me right now— it felt more like he was getting rid of feelings that he had held in his chest, ones that used to haunt him.

  My intuition was getting better, I hoped.

  “Amir—” My father started, but I raised my hand.

  “No… father… I’ve got this.” I said, almost breathless.

  It was going to take all my willpower of two lives not to collapse.

  Cuswoth was just that strong.

  Any normal person could have fallen from just his sight.

  And yet he was saying there was someone above him?

  Could they be… a

  That just isn’t possible.

  “Then I guess… ” Trying to provoke him into a fit of anger, I opened my mouth just wide enough for my smile to invoke rage within him.

  But…

  Instead, he raised his hand, and a began clawing from underneath the ground. My father instantly drew his axe, wary, while Cidris crossed his arms, letting wind blow through his hair.

  Piles of dirt were displaced as a monster dug itself out.

  That a wolf.

  Not a gigantic wolf. Not a terrifying demon spawn kind of wolf. But a normal, mutated one. The kind I had killed before. Yet it held such a presence to it, that I felt like I was almost drowning.

  Cuswoth spoke languidly, eyes almost closed.

  I felt waves of… It was like a concoction of both, mixed together almost subliminally, a dizzying presence careening through the air, invisible to the eye.

  And when I finally realized what the goal of such an attack was, it was already much too late.

  I heard my father’s axe drop to the ground as his body, once full of color and emotion, became a monochromatic gray void. He looked like his had been stopped— he stood unmoving, unblinking.

  … Shit.

  The same had happened to Cidris.

  Cuswoth’s right hand was extended forward.

  “Unexpected, right? Something as low level as can still break past your father’s barrier, which he erected to stop And that alone renders you as the ”

  I watched in horror as the wolf easily ran past the barrier, claws digging into the ground. The smell of fear was caked all over me, an undiluted stench that even I myself could detect. And the monster loved it.

  Eyes turning crimson, it drooled as it bared its fangs.

  Rushing at me, it opened its mouth, ready to bite my head off.

  Roaring with all the might my small yet strong body could handle, I did not close my eyes. I didn’t feel the warmth, nor did I guide myself into meditation. No, I had to do this With my sheer will, I stirred the in the air, quickly overcome with ecstasy as droves of Am wrapped around me like blinding golden strings, shielding my body, covering my eyes, and forming a defense in front of me as the wolf widened its eyes.

  My arms were widened.

  And with a single movement, I brought them together.

  Low groans sounded as the ground trembled underneath me. I had said there was a lot of Am, but it was only enough to form a blade smaller than a dagger— yet it was in front of me, a ball of light like the sun, blazing and burning brightly.

  I stared deep into Cuswoth’s eyes as the wolf exploded like a bomb had gone off in its head. Chunks of flesh flew everywhere as my mark pulsated, making my muscles spasm— pain flooded me, leaving me unable to breathe.

  But my eyes…

  For just a bit longer…

  I didn’t care if I was coated in blood. I didn’t care whether I was about to faint. I only cared… about reaching… Cuswoth…

  Moving my fingers weakly, I tensed the brilliant strings of Am in the air, sending them flying towards Cuswoth’s direction. They easily passed through the barrier, growing closer to him, but…

  With a twitch of his finger, they were gone.

  Obviously…

  What kind of damn game was this? Could I really be the sla—

  If I thought that way, I’d already lost.

  Cuswoth took his veil off, revealing his untainted, beautiful face— one now covered with flecks of blood that dotted his pale skin like freckles. He laughed softly, kind, like an old neighbor.

  “So it was really Your foiled

  Mist began to wreath his body as he stared at himself with a gaze of melancholy. Parts of his body began to vanish as I watched him open his mouth once again. No voice came out, but his lips gave everything away.

  For a second, I saw the boy again.

  And then it cut off. Hands covered his mouth, letting him completely disappear. In his absence, through the veil of mist and blood,

  An