*The flag above belongs to the Selem Princedom, located to the southeast of the Exakre Empire*

Magic

I opened my eyes to see myself in an empty room, staring at a hardwood roof. I glance over at my right to see Guangmei sleeping besides me. What happened after I got Falemneil? I glanced back at the roof. Might as well go and ask someone. I would ask Guangmei, but I don't plan on getting thrown. I attempted to sit up, but my muscles refused to listen. My brain commanded my legs to move, yet they stayed still. Why can't I move? I struggled again to stand up, but my body continued its strike. Yea, I'm not fine with this. I attempted to call Guangmei's name, but my lips stayed sealed shut. My vocal cords refused to make sounds. A heavy weight began to press down on my chest. I became progressively colder, but my eyes weren't red. The world wasn't tinted in the color of blood, rather the roof retained its light brown color. What the fuck is going on here? Hey, voice, can you hear me? My eyelids, no longer willing to remain open slammed shut and ignored my demands to allow light to enter. VOICE! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!

Suddenly, I was standing on my feet, or something close to it. I could still feel the hard, wooden floor on my back, but, at the same time, I felt myself standing up. I opened my eyes. At least, what felt like my eyes. Chunks of carved flesh and blood covered the floor. In front of me lay the remnants of a stone wall. I'm back here, huh? I looked down at the ground to see my mother's decapitated head by my feet. Her dark brown eyes stared back up at me blankly; she was frozen in a state of perpetual serenity, no, acceptance. I looked over to my left. My father's decapitated head lay on the ground, face towards my parent's bed. Rhoskeil, why did you do this? I know you said this was politics, but that can't be it. What possessed you to kill mom and dad? How could you say that you did this to avenge our grandfather? You don't deserve his name.

The world flashed red as the I appeared in front of Falemneil and Rroteinggue. He was frozen in place, removing something from Falemneil's stomach. Her face was contorted in agony as she screamed out in pain. Rroteinggue, doing his job, had an expression of empathy and duty. Even though he lived through the Great War, even though he must've fought and killed humans, he still went out of his way to help. I hope he's doing well. I looked back at Falemneil, her pain filled expression caused my eyes to water. Why couldn't I do anything earlier? Why? I felt a shock go down my spine as my skin tingled as grew more frigid. Why couldn't I kill the little shits that did this to her? Why couldn't I help? Why couldn't I make sure those damned three she mentioned get what they deserved? I need to find those fuckers. I need to go to Falemneil.

"Barrékél," two familiar feminine voices said, one angrily, the other soothingly. There was a brief pause.

"Get your life together," the enraged voice spat, "you aren't a child anymore. You failed, so you will learn. Didn't I teach you that?"

Mom? Where did you come from?

"Did I not raise you better? Honestly, you take after your father. Just live and learn before you do something stupid." My mother's voice became calmer, "I don't want to see you so soon. At least do your job and have kids before you die, ok?"

Ok, and mom, thanks for watching over me, but if possible, can I get some motor control back now?

My mother's voice chuckled, "that's not under my control for once. I must go now, there's something I need to do."

Wait! You can't just show up, say a few words and leave. I have questions for you. Why is Rhoskeil acting like this? Why did he kill you and dad? Where did dad get all his money from?

"Ask your father," my mother said as her voice faded. "Bye Kélé."

Really? You always say that. Well, nice hearing you again anyways.

"That went well," the other voice said. "Remember me, little one?" she asked.

You're the dragon goddess. How could I forget?

She chuckled, "I'm so very glad to hear that. I see you've been going through some hardships."

Yea, couldn't you warn me?

"I had my reasons not to say anything, but I have a question for you."

Yes?

"What is your magic?"

That's a silly question. Ice magic. I thought a goddess would know that.

"Let me be more specific then. What kind of ice magic?"

That's a good question. I'm not sure.

"Figure this out soon. Do you at least know how magic works?"

It has to do with emotions and personality right? Personality determines the type and emotions, the strength. I was taught this in school, but stuff like emotions can be hard to explain.

"Emotions play a larger role. The more common certain types of emotions become, the more your magic reflects this. Then we have inherited magic."

Never heard of inherited magic before.

"It is a powerful, yet passive form of magic that is activated by one member of a family and is passed down the line from mother to child. However, the woman who activates it can only pass it down her line."

And you're implying that I have inherited magic?

"Many people do, but don't realize it; however, I only really care if women inherit it."

That doesn't answer my question. Can you be clearer?

"I could, but I should let you move and think more freely now. You are a very interesting human after all."

My eyes truly open to see myself encrusted with pale blue ice. The walls were frosted over in a thick layer of ice as well. My bones ache and lungs heave as I struggle to get up. My muscles protest my movement as pain shoots throughout my body. I stand up and stagger over to the door. The world begins to spin around me as I collapse onto the floor.

"I think I went overboard," the raspy voice in my head said, "but thanks for giving me the controls. I had a really nice time flash freezing elves left and right."

I stood up again, but slowly, allowing my body to stay upright. I was too sore and dizzy to walk properly, so I limped towards the door. I looked towards where Guangmei once was to see that she had left, possibly so she didn't freeze to death. The ice on the door, despite being 5 inches thick, was not solid, a clear sign that it was forced open before. I staggered out the room I was in to see Falemneil sleeping besides Itrust who was watching over her. Guangmei, who was sitting by the table talking to Saongre, shot up. She quickly walked over to me with a peculiar mix of excitement and worry covering her face. She dusted the ice that was still covering me off as best as she could.

"Are you going to be ok?" she asked.

"Yes," my voice was hoarse and creaky, shocking both of us.

"You better," she skeptically replied. "That being said," her eyes filled with child-like excitement, "you should have seen yourself. It was like a ring of white just shot out from around you freezing everything." She spoke hurriedly, as if she would have enough time to speak, "I didn't know that you could level buildings with just cold." She grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth, "That was awesome! Bar, you're amazing!"

Son of the Sun

The air was thick with smoke and the stench of death. The cries of tormented wives filled the air; the Ka'odreng Company taking a few too many liberties with the siege, but what's done is done. As the sun rose in the east, illuminating the smoldering ruins of Heik, a long line of foreign banners and calvary flanked the ruined city. The flag was intricately designed, with a prominent purple triangle, surrounded by a black hexagon on a white background. Behind the cavalry were multiple wooden siege towers and trebuchets. The soldiers wore scale armor, large square plates overlapped each other. The helmets were made in a similar fashion, and a few were decorated with bronze horns with shone in the sunlight. Can we really fight that? If I die because of some goddess with bad timing, I'm going to be a bane on this half of the world for the next century. I looked over to see the elves of the Ka'odreng minding their own business, as if there wasn't an army in plain view. I walked away from the open window, towards the table were Guangmei and Saongre were talking.

"Am I missing something here?" I asked sarcastically.

Saongre looked over towards me, "not at all. Do you remember when I told you about my too allies?"

"Yes," I reply. It was the Selem and Keinov. This sounds like good news to me. "Which one is outside?"

"The Selem," Saongre curtly responded. "Apparently Prince Nobukeita was coming to save me. A messenger came when you were out cold." I nodded and sat at the table next to Guangmei.

"Where's Shaoleinsha and Sheingne?" I asked her.

"Arguing again," she said rolling her eyes. "He can be too much sometimes, so they went out behind the house to set a few things straight."

I raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "explain how he can be too much? Overprotective?"

"You got it," she said, "and he's too conservative. I guess he forgot why Sheingne ran away."

"I thought it was because she was a slave," I speculated.

"No, she's a softy in that regard. You could tell her to cut her arm off and she might do it," Guangmei said tiredly, getting a snicker out of Saongre. "She ran away because she wanted to learn more about the darker parts of life. She wanted to learn about the stuff her father would hide from her." She glanced over at Saongre who was staring off into the clouds, as if he was reminiscing about something. Saongre, seemingly noticing the shift in attention, snapped back to reality.

"Go back to talking about Sheingne," he said. Suddenly, the door swung open as Gaoreng and two other elves walked in. The two strange elves wore the same armor as those flanking Heik. Painted masks covered their faces; however one was clearly royalty. The shorter elf, roughly my height, had an air of refinement and nobility around him, despite his humble armor and, by elvish standards, stature. Saongre stood up, nearly stumbling over due to his weakened state, and moved towards the short elf. The taller elf bowed at the waist and backed away from Saongre.

"Nobukeita-dao, it has been too long," Saongre said. "How are you?"

The short elf took off his mask. He had soft facial features, eyes similarly shaped to that of Sheingne, Shaoleinsha, and upon closer inspection Gaoreng to a lesser extent. His skin was ivory white, sharply contrasting his jet black eyebrows. "I'm doing well Saongre. After today, I won't need to worry about my eighteenth birthday."

"The Selem are free once again," Saongre said. He motioned towards the table and goes to sit down. Nobukeita-dao sat next to Saongre and stared at me with interest. Is this his first time seeing a human?

"Who freed you?" Nobukeita-dao asked Saongre without taking his eyes off of me.

"The man you're so intently gazing at," Saongre answered. Nobukeita-dao nodded and continued staring.

"What is your name and why did you come all this way here from your home?" Nobukeita-dao asked.

"I'm Barrékél, Nobukeitadao. The story about why I'm here is long, but to keep it short, for an army, which I am going to recruit from this city."

"It's just Nobukeita. Dao is simply an honorific. That being said, Heik really isn't much of anything anymore." He leaned back in his chair. "I came here expecting at least ten thousand men, armored fortifications everywhere, and at least five hundred Lakuen heads on the outer walls. Whoever commanded this siege is a true monster. I never imagined Heik falling overnight."

"The city was rotten from its core. Most of the population wanted to revolt, so all I did was push them over the edge," I replied.

"You did this?!" Nobukeita exclaimed. "How?!"

"Just offer the slaves a hand in fighting for their freedom. That's all," I said. Nobukeita looked at me in shock, then at the other elf standing behind him. "Did you hear that Tseigyen? The slaves did this!" Gaoreng's eyes lit up at the name.

"Permission to speak?" Tseigyen asked.

"Of course," the prince replied, "no need to ask."

"The slaves here were aided by the Kao- excuse me- the Ka'odreng Company. The same backstabbers who helped fell Gwō'neishong." Tseigyen's voice was filled with vitriol and spite as he spoke. "It should be no surprise that a poor imitator like Heik would fall so easily."

"You're right," Nobukeita said. He looked back at me. "Why do you need an army and the Ka'odreng Company? Who are you trying to fight?"

"First the Islands, then my homeland. There's a few things I need to fix back home that require-- a certain amount of force to readjust."

"Do you trust him Saongre?" Nobukeita asked.

"We're brothers in arms Nobukeita-dao. He saved my life. The woman next to him, Guangmei, has saved my life twice now. She trusts him as well. Valei'angla herself would smite me if I could not trust Barrékél."

"While I find your pantheon illogical and overly complex, I can respect such a heartfelt statement, but Saongre, that woman saved you twice? I find that hard to believe."

"Nobukeita-dao," Tseigyen said, "forgive my insolence, but that woman is truly terrifying. Even as a child she could kill dragons. Please be careful."

"Is that so?" Nobukeita asked skeptically. "I can't say anything about the Great War, but that sounds like a myth to me." Guangmei smiled warmly at the prince, hiding her irritation. "Tseigyen, fight her." Nobukeita commanded.

"M-my prince?" Tseigyen stammered. "Is that what you truly desire?"

"Tseigyen, fight her." Nobukeita repeated sternly. Tseigyen stiffened, but stood beside the table. He drew his blade, a slightly curved, one-sided blade.

Guangmei sighed. Her eyes turned red as she began to crack a smile. Nobukeita glared at her. Guangmei burst out laughing. "Bar, this all this stuff is reminding me of my childhood. It's like everything is starting to repeat itself." She looked at Tseigyen, who, as if being pulled by strings, was lifted into the air.

"Guangmei, I know you had a rough childhood, but will you be ok?" I asked. She might be having a breakdown, but why. I didn't notice anything too wrong with her.

"Bar, I'm going to have to take a break for a bit." Tseigyen dropped to the floor gasping for breath. "Gaoreng, take care of your old friend for me," Guangmei said as she got up from the table and headed towards the door. Gaoreng's eyes opened with shock.

"What else do you know?" Gaoreng asked, slightly nervous.

"Enough," Guangmei replied as she walked out. Nobukeita reached down to help Tseigyen up.

"I see what you mean now. My apologies Tseigyen. Go talk with your old friend, catch up. I'm going to take a nap here," Nobukeita said. "Oh, and Saongre, Abdorreiling is on his way." I looked at Nobukeita as he closed his eyes to sleep. Strange person, but he asks the right questions. Tseigyen and Gaoreng began speaking quietly to each other. Unlike what Guangmei had implied, the voices were hostile, but when considering Tseigyen's views on the Ka'odreng Company are, it makes sense.

New Day

I walked over to a collapsed portion of Heik's outer wall, a few former slaves were standing and chatting amongst themselves. They noticed me and bowed their heads; one of them had loosely curled reddish-orange hair. He smiled towards me and waved towards his friends.

"Yu'aote, wuh maid et. Wuh git uhr freeness? Wuh git uhr lend?" he said.

"You're free, but I have two options for you all. I want all the freed slaves to come here. I need to tell all of them this."

"Oh, eweit thin," he turned to his friends. "Yaosha, Fa'engten, git thi rist uv thim." Two elves shrugged and walked off, sending other freed elves to us.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Laowo. Yuhs?"

"Barrékél," I answered."

"Ba-ruh, Barle," Laowo stuttered. "Ba-bleh, Eh cen't say thet, surry."

"Bar is fine then," I resigned. Never thought my name would be unpronounceable. How hard is it to roll the r? "Stand by me, Laowo." Since magic is controlled by emotions, then this might work considering how that I just finished step one in my plan pretty damn well.

"Uh, suhr Eh guss?" Laowo said uncertainly. My vision turned red, the air around me snapped cold, jumping Laowo. We shot up on a crystal blue pillar above the ruined wall, the army camps, and the smoldering remains of Heik. My vision returned to normal. To the northwest, a large plume of smoke rose into the air. A larger plume of smoke rose from the northeast as well. Although it would be easy to believe that both plumes came from Heik, they seemed to small and too dense to come from this city.

"Wei wee op hair?" Laowo asked nervously.

"For my announcement, but I have a question for you. If I told you there was land ripe for the taking out west that you can live in, without worrying about being captured and resold into slavery, would you go there?"

"Yis Eh wud, bot thair's nuh ples lek thet," Laowo said.

"Out west there is a land were humans and elves can live together. It's a long group of islands. A land of constant summer. There's plenty of fruit and fish to eat. Before coming here I was there. I can take you and the rest of the freed slaves there, so you all can make new lives for yourselves."

"Sunds nes, bot wei? Wuht yuh git frum thes?"

"Follow me, help me carve our names into mountains, Laowo. We can go down in history." I looked down below me to see an ever-growing crowd of elves at the base of my ice pillar.

"End ef Eh seys nuh?" Laowo looked down at the height of the pillar and gulped.

"You're a free man," I replied. "If you say no, you just stay in Heik or go wherever you want. It's your life after all."

"Yuh i reel gud man Yu-- Bar," he said. "Eh guh weth yuh."

"Thanks." I looked down at the crowd. They looked at me with a mixture of confusion, curiosity, anxiety, and gratitude.

"Everyone," I said at the top of my lungs, "if you haven't realized it by now, you're free. Your lives are now in your own hands. You get to make your own decisions about your life." I paused, allowing the crowd to truly let what happened sink in. "Today, I give you a choice, join me and go to a new land where you can live free of the threat of being re-sold into slavery or stay here and be in constant danger. Join me and go to a land where you can give your kids a plot of land to live on. Join me and become skilled traders, fishers, and hunters. Join me and earn a place among the great travelers of old, or stay here with an uncertain future."

The elves looked at each other as murmuring rose from the crowd. "If you want to join me, please stay with the army. Your protection is assured. Those who wish to leave, there isn't much of a city left, but you can rebuild." The crowd quickly silenced, slowly people began to trickle away. Some returned to the smoldering, ransacked remains of Heik, but many others went to the army camp. I guess that's all for now. I turned to Laowo and spoke, "I figured they might've wanted to hear from you."

"Wei, wuht Eh duh fur thim? Yuh free thim," he replied.

"Alright," I said. I looked down at the shrinking crowd. I think I made this too tall. Oh well. I began to carefully climb down the pillar, which had formed with handholds and cracks instead of being perfectly smooth. After roughly a minute I reached the ground. I looked up at Laowo who was stuck on the pillar. His friends began to crowd around me, looking up at him as well.

"Jump," I shouted. "I'll catch you."

He shook his head, "yuhs crezee."

"Duh et," the man next to me said. "Eh cech yuh. Yuh nut gunne foll."

Laowo looked down at us nervously. I nodded my head and held out my arms. The man next to me gave him a thumbs up. Laowo closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. I braced myself as he landed in me and the other elf's arms. My knees buckled at the sudden weight forced upon them. My arms groaned at catching a man weighing at least 200 pounds. He opened his eyes and stood up on his feet. He sighed a breath of relief and slapped me on the back.

"Eh tills yuh Eh wud cech yuh," the man said. Laowo opened his mouth up wide and stuck out his tongue. A few of his friends snickered and the man smirked and shook his head. "Thet's huw yuh treet muh? Shud lit yuh foll." Laowo smiled and shrugged before he and his friends walked off.

*************

As the sun set, the loot raided from Heik was being distributed to the mercenaries and sailors. Of course, Tarhívé came in time to collect her payment, Itrust's weight in gold. I walked inside the house Josheire, Gaoreng, Guangmei, and Sheingne found while I was imprisoned. While I was recruiting the former slaves, someone, possibly Josheire, put Falemneil in the back room of the house. The same room which I froze earlier. I sat down next to her, the sun's waning rays tinted the room orange and gently landed on her cheek. Her breathing was steady as she continued to sleep the remainder of the day away.

I really lost it earlier. When did I ever have such a strong reaction to something? When did I get so damn emotional.

"Get over yourself! You got emotional, so what? Did you expect not to have any reaction at all?"

Of course I expected a reaction, but not one as strong. My anger got the best of me didn't it? I ordered all the soldiers in Heik to be killed, even the ones drafted like the two boys I saw in those barracks. What if my order ended up killing them too?

"What if this? What if that? What if you just move on? You got angry. We had fun. Move on. Better yet, you should get like that more. You're looking a bit soft, too soft for my liking."

What do you mean move on? Be a cold-hearted monster? What do you mean fun? I can't remember much of anything after I let you take control. Why would I want to be like that more? And soft? Soft?! If you don't like it, get out of my fucking head! Why are you here anyways? Get the fuck out!

"Please, keep going. No really I want to see where this goes."

GET OUT!!

"Barrékél?" Falemneil asked sleepily, snapping back to reality. "What's wrong?" A felt a warm liquid run down my fingers. I was standing, facing a bloody wall. When did I get up?

"You don't need to talk if you don't want to," Falemneil sighed. "Just stop before you break your hand."

I looked down at my bruised, bleeding knuckles. I sat down to Falemneil's right.

"Damn," she said, glancing at my knuckles, "you messed up your hand more than I thought."

"I guess, but I couldn't really notice," I replied. Falemneil nodded. Her stormy grey eyes, highlighted by the golden rays of the sun, entranced me. Her equally beautiful, dark skin was the only thing that could pull my attention elsewhere.

"Barrékél, stop staring," Falemneil said. She turned her face away from me and smirked.

"Sorry about the whole being captured thing," I said quietly.

"Huh?" She looked back at me, taken off guard by the statement. " About what? You didn't do anything?"

"That's why I'm apologizing. I-"

She held up her hand. "Nope, stop right there. Whatever is eating you up inside does not give you a reason to apologize for something you couldn't do or control. That's like apologizing for being born. I don't want to hear it."

I laid down next to her. "If you say so." I should've thought things out more. I know humans, or at least the nations further south, still use predominantly peasant levies, but I should've assumed that we would be fighting a professional army. Being caught off guard really isn't an excuse either. I can't rush into things blind, but I'm stuck doing that until I can have a more permanent base. Even here won't work because of the Treaty of Almarozu which I'm technically violating. Well, I'm not really invading, I'm just walking through with soldiers and mercenaries. Yea, hopefully that can keep me alive when my time of reckoning comes eventually. I need to learn more about politics.

"Still feeling guilty or something?" Falemneil asked. "If so, stop, no one here is going to be mad at you if this all works out in the end."

"No, not feeling guilty," I lied. "I'm just here thinking."

"Thinking about what?" she asked, rolling onto her side.

"Nothing in particular."

"Sure," Falemneil said sarcastically. She pulled me closer and put my head on her chest. This is so nice and soft. I bit the inside of my cheek, reminding myself not to unwittingly move my head. Well, not to move my head too much. The difference a simple tunic makes. I bit the inside of my cheek again. Calm down man. Reactions can be controlled, some can't, so I should at least control what goes through my head.

"Still feeling guilty?" Falemneil asked. I opened my eyes and looked up at her. When did I close my eyes?

"I'll take your silence as a no," she said. "You can stay like this if you want, but only for today."

"Ok," I said as calmly as possible.

"You were smiling so much that I can't just deny this from you," Falemneil chuckled. I look away from her, attempting to avoid making eye contact. Shit.

"So what happened to Rroteinggue?"

"The elf that helped you out, correct? He ran off somewhere, probably to his wife."

"That's good to hear." We continued to lay in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. She traced her finger up and down my arm, seeming out of boredom as her eyes ran across my body. Wait, hold up.

"Did you eat much when you were imprisoned?"

"No, maybe once or twice a week," she replied.

Grandfather, father, you two both understand how I feel right now.

"I don't trust that smile, Barrékél," Falemneil said teasingly.

"I wouldn't either," Guangmei said. I shot up, less surprised at the comment and more on how she picked the lock on the door.

"I just came to give you your cloak back Bar. You would think finding your sword would be harder, but considering we had it by the time you came back, it was pretty simple." Guangmei tossed the cloak over to me. When I caught it she winked. "I'll leave you two alone," she said as she closed the door.

You had to interrupt Guangmei. I lay back next to Falemneil and wrapped my arms around her, placing my hands on her lower back.

She pressed my face in her breasts. "Miss me?" she asked, pressing her body closer to mine.

"Very," I said. Maintain some control Barrékél.

"Would've been nice to break you out of prison," Falemneil said. "I tried, but you know what happened."

"Feeling guilty?" I asked teasingly.

"No," she said. "I still get to see you, so there's nothing to feel bad about."