Utter darkness. The familiar see-through kind.

  Swart’s domain.

  I lay sprawled out on the floor, mentally wrecked.

  A sigh drags out of me as I shove myself upright. Standing now, I scan the void. Nothing but black, endless and empty—except a faint shape in the distance. Swart, perched on a ledge.

  I take my time walking over. When I get close, he’s lounging with one arm propping up that lightless body, one leg dangling, the other bent underneath. I settle next to him, legs swinging into the abyss.

  Finally, he speaks. “Rough time?”

  I stay silent. Not in the mood for his cheap mockery.

  He sighs. “Whatever—but I understand. Losing people you’re responsible for.”

  Silence stretches. Not sharp, not heavy. Just there. For once, almost comforting.

  Finally, I let some of it out. “Yeah.”

  He pats my back, then rises. “Walk with me.”

  I begrudgingly get up and follow.

  We walk for miles, yet never reach an edge.

  “I’m in here a lot longer than usual, aren’t I?” I mutter.

  Swart stops dead in a random patch of void. “This should be good.”

  He snaps his fingers. Marble erupts out of nothing—towering pillars grooved with lines, a cascading roof overhead. An ancient temple born in seconds, Parthenon style.

  “Uh… what’s this for?” I ask.

  He snaps again. In a blink, I’m standing at the center of the temple. Swart is ten feet away. I move to close the gap—slam into something solid. My hand presses air that isn’t air. An invisible wall. I trace it. Square.

  “Why am I trapped?”

  “You’re going to fight yourself,” he says flat, like he’s announcing the weather.

  “Wha—”

  Another snap. Behind me, my shadow rises. Its figure darkens, filling in, until it’s me. One-to-one.

  The double glares past me at Swart. “Old man! You have no right!”

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  “You—you want me to fight him? How, and why?” I demand.

  Swart starts to answer, but my shadow cuts in. One snap, and it bites its tongue, silenced.

  “Alright, now that he’s quiet,” Swart says with mock innocence. “I owe you an explanation, don’t I?”

  I don’t take the bait.

  “So boring.” He blows out a breath. “Anyway—that leech has grown enough to become your own power. If left unchecked, it’ll consume you. Kinda ungrateful, right?”

  “Leech?” I mutter, staring at my shadow. My mind spins—power, eating at me, consuming me… how?

  “Yup. That thing that calls itself you—well it isn’t you, mostly. It’s more of a cleaner, aptly named a leech. I coined that, by the way.” I stay silent, still processing, which makes Swart sigh before continuing. “Anyway, it eats the excess: trauma, pain, leftovers from foresight loops. Basically, it keeps your head from cracking. Dumps it all somewhere else.”

  “What? Like brainwashing magic?” I ask. The thought pricks my interest—was it similar to Riegt’s magic? Although the question is something that could’ve waited.

  “No, no, not so magical. For instance, you still have those memories’s feelings—well, he has them. You can reach for them, but you’ve got to dig. Or so I’ve been told.” He shrugs at the last line.

  Finally, the most important question: “Yeah… so why does it consume me?”

  Swart replies without hesitation. “Because when it grows big enough, it looks for sweeter things. Causing it to eat deeper. First anger, then joy, then what’s left of you. Eventually it eats your soul. And you stop being.”

  I shake my head, the veil of confusion lifting. “Right. That’s dandy. So why is it in me?” I ask with some anger dripping in.

  Without skipping a beat, Swart replies with a beaming smile, “Your father put it there.”

  “Hmm, yeah, hmm. Yes, of course, one hundred percent. Makes total sense,” I mutter, shaking my head up and down with a hand placed over my mouth.

  “Yup.” Swart nods along, pride in his voice.

  I lift my hand coming to a realization “Ah, now it all makes sense. Life’s cruel and hard, right? Because—listen—because my father, yeah? He’s the devil…”

  “The devil?” Swart stops and tilts his head, genuinely confused.

  “Yeah! The fucking devil! Who does this? Who puts this ‘thing’ in their own kid? If I don’t control it, it’ll eat my soul! All the other shit I’ve had to deal with was crazy, but this—this is too much! How can I trust a man who stuck a damned soul-eating leech in me? How the hell, huh? How!”

  “Well—you’re being dramatic. If he didn’t, you’d have gone insane from your skill’s proficiency. Even your father needed one. So stop being so dramatic.”

  I sigh and drop on my ass, back against the invisible wall. “…What now? How am I supposed to touch something that isn’t real?”

  Swart scoffs. “I don’t know. Figure it out.” He snaps his fingers, and the shadow’s mouth is free again.

  As he turns to leave, he tosses over his shoulder: “Oh, just for the record—no powers. Just a good old-fashioned brawl.” He chuckles, fading into the dark, leaving me and my shadow alone.

  ***

  A cathedral-fortress looms over the valley, perched high on the hill.

  Below it, trenches and dirt banks scar through the jungles edge. Half the Machine holds the second-to-last line, cutting down the flood just short of the walls.

  A man in shades of brown steadies his rifle from that line. Breath in. Trigger pull. The recoil jars his shoulder, the shot slamming the earth like artillery—tearing through a dozen irregulars and giants in one streak. A smoking casing clinks down at his boots.

  “How is he?” the man asks.

  “Still asleep. But restless,” Alfrick answers.

  The man lowers his rifle, glances over. “Alright. I’ve handled my share. They’ll hold from here.” He gestures to the squad he brought behind him. “If you need me, I’ll be with Kaizer.”

  “Yes, sir,” Alfrick replies.

  The man smirks as he starts toward the cathedral. “Call me Hein. Your ‘sir’ is Kaizer.”

  ***

  Hein eases open Kaizer’s door and steps inside. He drags a chair from the table and sets it beside Koln, who’s watching over Kaizer’s bed. Kaizer twitches in his sleep, mumbling now and then. ‘Must be a vivid dream’, Hein thinks, chuckling.

  They sit in silence until Koln breaks it. “He’s going to succeed… in taming it, right?” There’s concern under his voice.

  Hein chuckles. “Fifty-fifty.”

  Koln frowns. Hein lifts a hand. “Alright, alright. He’s got his father’s blood. He should be fine.”

  Koln’s frown eases. His gaze returns to the sleeping Kaizer. “But… isn’t it too early?”

  “Well we didn’t have a choice. The merge caused a delay. And for what’s coming, he needs the power. But it’s not all doom—the merge also brought opportunity. With Kaizer whole again, we might finally see the plan come true this generation.”

  Koln nods, grim but almost excited.

  Hein chuckles at the look. “Enough about destiny. You didn’t tell me your son would be here.”

  Koln turns, face blank. “It’s time the boy learns his blood.”

  Hein grins. “Ooo, sly fox. You knew. That’s why you chose this place as the training ground.”

  Koln answers without pause. “Is there a problem?”

  “What? No. As long as you don’t put personal feelings over the plan. I thought thats why you left him alone in the first place. What changed your heart?”

  Koln’s eyes soften, warmth breaking through. “I was reminded,” he says, gaze locked on Kaizer—or maybe past him, through the window.

  Hein keeps quiet, sighing inwardly as he slouches back in his chair. ‘My friend… our plan might finally come true.’