Kyon’s First-Person Point of View

  Elijah’s crimson eyes gleamed with a quiet amusement, his posture relaxed against the grand armchair in the fire-lit study of the psychic plane. Yet beneath that composed exterior, I sensed something sharper. A man who had lived for centuries, who had seen the rise and fall of empires, now studying me with the curiosity of a scholar examining a new, fascinating specimen.

  "Tell me, Mr. Bashega," Elijah began, his voice smooth, deliberate. "Have you truly thought this through?"

  I stiffened slightly. "I wouldn't be here if I hadn’t."

  He chuckled. "Oh, I believe you’ve considered what you want. But have you considered the consequences?"

  The flickering fire in the hearth cast elongated shadows along the walls, as if the study itself leaned in to listen. I frowned. "What do you mean?"

  Elijah leaned forward, resting his chin against his knuckles. "You come here, asking me to help you take down Conrad. But tell me, what happens after?"

  I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came.

  He smirked. "Ah. I see you haven’t thought that far ahead."

  I scowled. "I know Conrad is a threat. I know he needs to be stopped. Isn’t that enough?"

  "Enough?" Elijah echoed, shaking his head. "No, Kyon. Not nearly."

  A silence stretched between us before he continued, voice calm but edged with warning. "Conrad is an Elder of the Sanguin Antiquus—the ancient ruling body of our kind. If you kill him, the council will retaliate. They will not let such an insult stand. His death would be the spark to a fire that could consume everything—including Sacred C?ur."

  My stomach twisted at the implication. I had expected resistance, but I hadn't truly thought about what killing an Elder meant on a global scale.

  Elijah tilted his head. "And then, there’s your family."

  A sharp pang shot through my chest.

  He continued, relentless. "I imagine you want to keep them safe, yes? But I cannot shield them, Kyon. My city is my concern. If you drag Sacred C?ur into a war, I will not burn alongside it to protect your interests. I will not risk my kingdom for a boy who does not understand the weight of his choices."

  A cold realization settled over me.

  "Let me give you a history lesson," Elijah went on, his tone eerily casual. "The Sanguin Antiquus have ruled for ten thousand years. Do you know how they survived so long?"

  I remained silent, my fingers curling into fists.

  "They did not survive by being merciful, Kyon." His gaze darkened. "They are the top of the food chain. The overlords of the night. Beasts with intelligence, monsters who weave shadows with their very will. And you—" he gestured toward me with an elegant flick of his fingers, "—are but one anomaly among them."

  I exhaled slowly. "I've seen an Elder’s power before," I said, my voice measured. "I fought Vincent and survived."

  Elijah nodded. "Yes. But Vincent was not a pureblood."

  The weight of those words sank into my skin.

  "Conrad is," he emphasized. "And should you corner him, should he feel like there is no way out—" Elijah’s gaze sharpened, "—you will see what a monster with nothing to lose is truly capable of. And I assure you, it will not be pretty."

  I inhaled through my nose, forcing myself to hold his gaze. "That’s why I need help. If we plan this correctly, we won’t have to corner him. We’ll take him out cleanly."

  Elijah chuckled. "Cleanly? There is no clean way to kill an Elder, boy. There will be casualties. Do you understand that?"

  I clenched my jaw.

  "If this fails," Elijah pressed, "if Conrad escapes or even suspects you were involved, then you and everyone you love will never be safe again. Are you truly prepared for that?"

  The air around us pulsed.

  I let the silence settle, considering every word. He was right.

  But I had no other choice.

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  "Then we don’t fail," I said firmly.

  Elijah sighed. "Spoken like a man who believes fortune will always favor him."

  I exhaled sharply, changing the subject. "Harvey. Lawrence. Kadir. Sia. Would they even be on board for something like this?"

  "Ah." Elijah smiled faintly. "Now you ask the right questions."

  His gaze flickered with something unreadable. "The balance is at stake, Kyon. You wield Flux, a force that few truly understand. Do you believe Harvey, the ever-loyal guardian of order, would allow you to use it in this war?"

  I frowned. "You think he'd stop me?"

  "I think he would question you," Elijah corrected. "And that alone might be enough for hesitation. The others? That young lass, Sia—she may be willing to follow you into the fire. But the remaining three? Reasonable men. And reasonable men do not go to war unless they have no other choice."

  I gritted my teeth. I hadn't even considered the Flux Users’ stance in all this.

  But Elijah wasn’t done yet.

  "You are also overlooking another crucial fact," he murmured.

  I frowned. "What fact?"

  He smirked. "Your human allies are not the ones in danger."

  The realization struck me like a cold slap.

  "What?"

  Elijah raised a brow. "Kadir. Harvey. Even Sia. They are free to walk away from this fight. You, however, are not."

  I stared at him, baffled. "Then why did they even come for me?"

  Elijah's smirk widened. "Why do you think?"

  I struggled for an answer.

  And then—realization hit me.

  I was different.

  I was not just a vampire. Not just a Flux User.

  I had the best of both worlds.

  I could walk in the sun. I could wield Flux.

  And then Elijah’s voice cut through my thoughts like a blade.

  "No one—not even the Vampire Race—understands Flux the way the First Users did. The Mualim."

  My breath caught.

  "And yet, here it is," Elijah murmured, crimson eyes gleaming. "Manifesting in a being that should not even exist. Someone who carries both the light of the sun and the depth of the night."

  My pulse pounded in my ears.

  "You are something worth studying, Kyon," he finished, voice velvet-smooth. "Something that should not be."

  Silence hung between us, thick and suffocating.

  My mind raced.

  The Flux. The Mualim. The Elders.

  The game was much bigger than I had realized.

  And I was right in the center of it.

  Elijah tilted his head. "So, tell me again, Kyon—are you sure you want to be a player?"

  The shadows of the psychic plane pulsed again, dark tendrils creeping along the edges of my vision.

  I swallowed hard.

  Because now—I wasn’t sure I had a choice.

  Elijah’s words lingered in the air, a slow-burning ember that refused to die.

  I had thought I understood the stakes. I had thought I knew what this battle was about. But now, as I sat in the dim glow of the psychic plane’s ever-shifting twilight, a new realization settled in the pit of my stomach.

  It wasn't just Conrad who wanted me.

  Perhaps, The Mualim would be interested in having me too.

  I swallowed.

  The Mualim—the first wielders of Flux, the ones who truly understood its nature. If they were anything like the myths suggested, then their knowledge of the balance between the world’s forces was unparalleled. And if Elijah’s speculation held any weight, then my existence—my unnatural fusion of vampire and Flux—was something they would want to investigate, to claim.

  Just like Conrad.

  A sharp chill crept down my spine.

  For weeks, I had been navigating this world, trying to find a place within it. With the Argent Sword, I had started to believe—if only a little—that I could belong. That maybe, just maybe, there were people who saw me as more than a pawn.

  But now, a terrible thought gnawed at the edges of my mind.

  Had I misjudged everything?

  Had I mistaken their curiosity for care?

  A bitter truth from my past echoed in my head, as clear as if it had been whispered into my ear from the shadows.

  "Nobody cares about you if they have nothing to gain from you."

  The words hit harder than I expected.

  Back in Zaria, it had always been this way.

  And now, in Sharman, I was starting to wonder—was it any different?

  My fingers curled into fists.

  Elijah, ever perceptive, watched me with a knowing smirk. "I see you're finally starting to understand."

  I exhaled, forcing my emotions down. "You’re saying that if I kill Conrad, even if your involvement is hidden, I’ll still be a target."

  Elijah nodded. "You were already one, Kyon. But after tonight? The Sanguin Antiquus will have no choice but to take notice."

  His crimson eyes gleamed, amused but warning. "Conrad wasn't exaggerating when he said that the noble families and the council would be alarmed. Three older vampires came after you tonight over a rumor. And you, a fledgling, were the only one left standing."

  I knew what he was implying.

  It was unnatural.

  An impossibility.

  And in a world ruled by ancient beings who despised change, impossibilities were dangerous.

  Still, I set my jaw. "Difficult doesn’t mean impossible. Conrad can be taken down."

  Elijah raised a brow. "Oh?"

  I leaned forward slightly. "There’s a Flux Grandmaster here—Kadir. He’ll back my play."

  Elijah’s smirk widened, but there was something almost pitying in his expression.

  "Are you sure?" he asked playfully.

  I narrowed my eyes. "Isn’t that why Kadir is here? To extract me? He said it himself."

  Elijah laughed—a low, rich sound that made my skin prickle.

  "You can’t certainly be that na?ve."

  My fingers twitched.

  "In this world," he continued smoothly, "the line between friend and foe is a thin one. You should never trust anyone." His crimson eyes gleamed with something unreadable. "Not even your own nature."

  I stiffened.

  "What does that even mean?" I demanded.

  Elijah leaned back, tilting his head in mock thought. "You tell me. After all… you are still human, aren’t you?"

  His words left a strange weight in the air.

  I frowned, an uneasy feeling curling in my chest.

  I was human. Wasn’t I?

  I ignored the gnawing question and pushed forward. "Kadir is strong," I said, gripping onto the one certainty I had. "And if anyone can help kill Conrad, it’s him."

  Elijah hummed. "Yes, he is strong." His gaze darkened. "But even for a Flux Grandmaster, killing an immortal like Conrad comes with a cost."

  A cold dread settled over me.

  Elijah’s voice was almost gentle as he continued.

  "And that cost, Kyon, is not something paid lightly. Even by a Flux User."

  The shadows in the psychic plane pulsed around us.

  Elijah leaned forward slightly, voice quiet but laced with warning.

  "So, tell me again—are you truly sure your supposed allies will back your dangerous play?"