The eyes of the people in the crowd honed in on me. Feeling this many people stare was uncannily familiar—and wrong.
Every person knew that clearly I was important considering that Cecilia wanted to play a game of chess with me. Weirdly enough, they didn’t remember me. The hair and blindfold likely didn’t resonate with them yet.
“Bold.” Cecilia said, piercing my thoughts.
She took the gambit and captured the pawn.
I stayed relaxed in the chair. “I know,” I moved my knight to f3. “When developing you can’t always play it safe.”
The world around her head shifted, and I sensed it.
She nodded.
“You realize you just nodded to a blind man?”
She developed her dark-square bishop. “You realize a blind man just told me I nodded my head.”
I let out a soft snort. “Good point.”
My light-square bishop flew out of my back rank.
The game progressed and people still held their breath.
Cecilia was a presence that scared the people here, not by anything she did to them, but rather because of her rank. The people here were sick or less fortunate and so they naturally aren’t a fan of the empire’s ranks.
The game ended in a draw.
“Cade.” She stuck her hand out to shake mine. “Excellent game.”
I shook her hand back and she gripped tight and brought herself closer to me. “We need to talk.”
Her heartbeat was consistent, but fast.
“What happened?” I said softly.
She released my hand and she began walking away.
I gestured to Jerek for us to follow her and we made our way outside of town.
She stopped abruptly. “Cade. I have no memory.”
I tilted my head. “What?”
She turned and faced me and Jerek. “I have no recollection of the events of this world for the last year or so. It’s extremely hazy. Tiny gaps, but nothing more.”
I shifted my stance. “I’m not a healer, I have no way of bringing your memories back.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t care about that Cade. You need to realize what this means.”
I was confused. “What do you mean?”
She walked closer to me. “Cade, who in the empire can potentially alter memories?”
Then it hit me.
Rex.
“Oh.” I said. “But surely he wouldn’t?”
Jerek entered the conversation. “What are you talking about?”
We brought him up to speed and then told him the cold hard truth:
Rex has the ability to alter memory.
We stood in the middle of nowhere for too long.
Cecilia without prompt vanished into a void portal but still could speak to us.
“There’s no reason to be afraid. He’s not going to get the chance to do it to either of you.”
I sensed her even through her void portal.
My read on her wasn’t exact, but I knew she was still here.
She lingered for a moment then left.
We walked back into town and made our way to a bar.
I felt a group of people walking, disturbing the ground beneath every step from nearly two miles away.
Soldiers.
At the bar I had no intention of drinking, and neither did Jerek, but we needed a place to sit still for at least a few hours.
We didn’t have to hide our appearance but the soldiers knocked on the bar door eventually.
I smelled their stench before they walked in.
They barged in.
“No one leaves until we say so.” Said one of the grunts.
The soldiers walked through the bar checking everyone’s face then saw me and Jerek.
I didn’t move. I just took another sip of water.
“Boy, look at me when you see us walk in.”
I stood up and met his gaze with my blindfold. “See?”
He laughed.
Why did he laugh?
He continued laughing and turned to his friend to mock me.
I removed Gravewake from my back.
Jerek tried to stop me but it was too late.
I raised it to the soldier's neck.
“What is your name?”
His laugh was gone in an instant. “Uh—it’s uhm, it’s—”
“I really don’t care, you’re clearly a moron. Do you even know who you’re looking for?”
He shook his head no.
I sighed. “What is it with people shaking their heads or nodding to a blind man?”
He stammered but couldn’t form a word.
I activated Gravewake. “You were looking for a man with white hair, black clothes, and a blindfold on. The person you were looking for wields a Purple glowing sword. The person you’re looking for is me.”
And in one clean cut his head was detached.
His blood began to soak into the floor before any of the other soldiers comprehended what happened.
I felt the same drums beating, this time it wasn’t discombobulating.
It synced with my heartbeat giving me clarity.
Within a minute all fifteen of them were lifeless.
The people in the bar were terrified.
I cleared my throat. “Innocent people. I saved most of you in a caravan a while ago. You have no obligation to allow me to stay here. I will clean up my mess and be on my way.”
The bodies were piled up by me and Jerek behind the bar, where I lit the pile on fire so the empire wouldn’t find the carnage.
Then I used water magic to clean the wood, and fire magic to just dry the wood back to normal.
Jerek and I overstayed our welcome, so we began walking to the next town.
We hadn’t even left the town when I felt unwanted eyes on me.
More soldiers.
This soldier was different, they felt familiar. I couldn’t place it but their mana signature was a completely different feeling compared to anyone I had felt in a while.
But they kept their distance, so I didn’t bother them. I knew they were hesitant to fight me, which means they were loyal to themselves, not the empire.
Perhaps I could ask some to switch to my side?
Unlikely that anyone would.
They’re too afraid, with too little conviction.
Jerek is the ideal candidate for someone to side with me, not because of his loyalty to me, just his lack of loyalty to the empire.
And Mariel…
No point dwelling now. I had to press on.
Subconsciously I knew those eyes wouldn’t be the only ones on me in the coming days. There will be more people wanting my collapse.
I couldn’t risk it all with a careless fight.
Stupidity was not an option. This path I was on was resolute now. And I could not waste this opportunity for reform.
I will not fail, and I will not falter.
