When Eli woke up, all he could see was the sky and the two guards standing at both ends of his body. One guard held both his hands while the other had both his feet with iron grips. His body swung slightly as they walked. Turning his head to the side, Eli saw his friends; most of their eyes were opened too. Worrying about Charles—whose eyes were closed—Eli called out to him.

"Charles, are you okay?" he whispered. When nobody responded, Eli raised his voice. "Charles, please, can you hear me?" his words strung together slightly; Eli's head still hurt from the guard's strike.

"Eli?" Charles mumbled, almost unintelligible. "What is happening?" his voice trailed off as his head fell to the side, his eyes still closed.

"Charles? Stay awake, Charles," Eli's voice filled with more concern. When Charles did not wake up, Eli looked around and found Sarah, who stared at the sky. "Sarah?"

"Eli, I am scared," Sarah muttered, a tear rolling down her cheek. "What will the Lord do to us?"

"I do not know," Eli said with a melancholy tone, watching as they reached the bridge into the kingdom's courtyard. As the guards carried them through the square, Eli heard the citizens converse; they did not seem scared while the guards held him and his friends. He looked around and noticed everyone staring at him, their eyes following his movement. "Please, help us!" Eli called to the people around him. He believed the citizens had enough people to free the guild members from the guards' grasps. Eli looked at his waist and noticed he was missing his sword, only to realize it was strapped to the guard's back; the hilt and the tip of the blade were barely visible.

"Save us from the Lord!" Sarah cried out, failing to shake her body loose from the guards' grasps. The citizens froze; not one person was brave enough to face the captors. Tears silently rolled down Sarah's cheeks as she began to understand the futility of her situation. Within a few minutes, the guards entered the castle.

"You succeeded in the capture. Hah," a low voice chuckled. Eli heard the sound of one man clapping. "What a pleasant surprise," the Dark Lord's voice sent chills down Eli's spine. He turned his head towards the voice and saw the Dark Lord sitting atop his throne. "Drop them," he ordered. The guards promptly let go of the guild members, each landing on their backs with an "oof."

By then, Charles had woken up, though still a little dizzy from the strike. The guild members sat on their knees and faced the Dark Lord. Eli scanned the room silently, noticing the granite-brick walls. Large, circular, grey-stone columns protruded from the ground and into the ceiling; a small, golden ring sat at each column's base and top. A red carpet with cyan decorations reached from the room's entrance to the top of the stairs where the Dark Lord sat. His long, black hair covered his deep red eyes; his skin complexion was not much darker than Eli's. The Dark Lord wore grey armor with yellow accents and a deep blue cloak. The fact that his armor was not purple cemented Eli's beliefs that he had sided with the Dark Lord in the dream. His sheathed sword had a dark aura visibly radiating from it, similar to what Eli had seen emanating from the temple's sentinels.

"What do you want from us?" asked Eli. The Dark Lord smiled at Eli; his red eyes glimmered.

"My, my. Why am I not surprised to see the Bronze Foxes sitting in my castle once again?" asked the Dark Lord. Eli looked at his friends, who stared at the floor. "The guild that never quits. I admire that. Charles, however, I expected more of a fight from you," he laughed. "After all, you are the head of the revolutions, are you not?"

"I am!" replied Charles, confidently, looking up at the ruler. "We will take you out someday," he spat.

"Please, you are of no threat to me. You never have been. If you truly were a threat, you would have evaded capture, or you may have been victorious in a past revolution. Would you not?" the Dark Lord scoffed, crossing his arms. Charles looked down once again and frowned. Eli's gaze was fixated on the Dark Lord. "And to see you have tricked yet another one of my own to fight for you."

"They have not tricked me," Eli started. "They have told me everything about the conquest and the revolution. We will defeat you!"

"How foolish," the Dark Lord shook his head. "But that is to be expected. After all, you always were the most gullible of us, Master Sholam," he slowly walked down the stairs and stood in front of Eli.

"Ma-Master Sholam?" Eli gasped. A million questions flooded his mind. Was that his true name? Did the Dark Lord know him personally? If so, what was their history? Eli looked at his guildmates, who seemed concerned, before turning back to the Dark Lord. "You know who I am?"

"Something is wrong. You have no memories?" the Dark Lord pondered. Eli slowly nodded. "Do I know you? Certainly, Master Sholam. We were raised together, trained side-by-side from when we were mere children! We fought together in the Mienard Conquest in all the same battles," he explained. Eli's friends looked at him, and the swordsman suddenly felt light-headed.

"That is impossible!" screamed Sarah. "Eli is a good man! He would never do such a thing!"

"Would he not? Being a warrior is in his blood! When I first heard of the man who killed the Royal Guards, I wondered who could be skilled enough to kill them alone. Imagine my surprise to see that—not only was the intruder a Mienard—but was also someone from my personal life!"

"You killed the guards?" asked Charles. Eli turned to his friend and saw the same fear as he had seen in the civilians' eyes the previous day.

"I-I did not," Eli stuttered. "I never intended to hurt them! I only wished to enter the kingdom and seek answers. They did not listen to my pleas and attacked me. I defended myself and cut their swords in two using a glyph. The guards claimed they would rather die than face the Dark Lord, so they killed themselves," he claimed. Albert and Charles looked uncertain, questioning if Eli had been honest. The Dark Lord noticed their facial expressions.

"Do you not trust his word?" asked the Dark Lord. Charles' gaze shifted to the ruler.

"I do, however—"

"Charles, Charles, Charles. I have told you before: If you wish to manipulate others to fight for your crusade, you must lie better than that. How many have you deceived? I expect you to lie better. This is why you are doomed to fail against me. You—specifically—can not maintain strong allies based on falsehoods; the truth will always reveal itself. You wish to get this third Mienard to turn against me? Good luck. You will fail," the Dark Lord laughed. Eli made eye contact with the Dark Lord again; he felt the Dark Lord was not lying to him. All the presented information matched what the guild members had recently told him. But who was the other Mienard? He knew of the previous Eli, who Charles named him after.

"You called me Master Sholam. My friends here named me Eli," he explained. "Is Sholam my true name?"

"Yes, your name is Sholam. If it pleases you, I will respect your new name. Perhaps hearing mine will return some memory of our youth. I am Lord Ilkama. It is so wonderful to see you after all these years, Eli! I thought you had perished," the Dark Lord smiled, extending his arm. Eli looked at it and shook his head; he did not know who to trust. "What is wrong?" Ilkama's voice filled with worry.

"How do I know you are not lying to me?" asked Eli. "Perhaps it is you who is manipulating me," he remembered Charles' explanation of what happens to those who enter the castle: how they become entranced by something and change their loyalties to the Dark Lord.

"Other than your name, have I told you anything that does not align with what you have been told?" asked Ilkama. Eli thought for a moment.

"You said 'this third Mienard.' I know they named me after another. Who was the last one?"

"Ah, they have not told you of every attempt to defeat me. Following the Great Conquest, there have been two revolutions here: The Great Revolt and The Great Execution. In both battles, there has been a Mienard on their side. Each of you was named Eli by the members of the Bronze Foxes," he gestured to Charles. Eli looked at Charles, who was unmoved. "History repeats itself. Is that the only detail that differs?"

"Yes, but—"

"How could I possibly know what you have learned from your new friends? As you can tell, each guild member dislikes me. If I were to tell you a lie, surely you would know," explained Ilkama. Eli simply nodded in agreement. "How can you be certain they have not been manipulating you? Open your mind, and the truth shall be revealed."

"They..." Eli choked on his own words, thinking about the last day. Suddenly, everything became clear. The people who he fought in his dream had the same purple armor as the guards he had fought in the previous day. Their lack of skill compared to him confirmed he was fighting the citizens of the kingdom. They were right to fear him: he was a reason for the death and destruction. Having his power on their side would help their victory against the Lord. The guild members working together perfectly and leaving him to fend for himself at the temple proved they did not wish to work with him. Eli sat in silence, realizing those he considered his friends had been deceiving him since the beginning.

"Eli, do not listen to—" Sarah pleaded but got cut off by the Dark Lord.

"Silence!" Ilkama unsheathed his sword suddenly; a high-pitched sound resonated through the halls. Sarah shrieked suddenly, fearing for her life. "No more deception! I can see it in your eyes, Eli," Ilkama smiled. "You know what I say is true, and that these people do not truly care for you. They simply wish to use to, as they know you are the only one who can threaten my rule."

"Your rule is tyranny!" Albert yelled. "The people live in fear of you! Someone has to fight for them!"

"Ah, the fighter with no weapon," the Dark Lord chuckled, walking towards Albert. "After our last encounter, I wondered if you would train with any weapon. I am disappointed to see you have not. Your temper has reached its limit already," he mocked. "Did you know that I can see the entire kingdom from the top floor? If the citizens truly feared me and what I could do, would they not cower in their homes, rather than enjoy the courtyard and explore the kingdom? There is an undeniable fallacy in your words."

"I—"

"Do you see, Eli? These people are lying to you; their stories shatter as the lies grow. They have deceived you into believing their story; they seek to overthrow me and become powerful themselves, and you know it. Because I enjoy watching you struggle to win against me, Charles, I will let you and the rest of the Bronze Foxes go. Guards, take all but the Mienard with you and give them back their weapons. If they try to fight you, kill them," he ordered. Eli watched as the people he considered his friends were taken away by the same ten guards who captured them. One of the guards returned Eli's sword to him. Charles' final plea was for Eli to not listen to Ilkama. When they were pulled out of the castle, Eli turned back to the Dark Lord. "Please, stand," Ilkama reached his hand out to Eli.

Eli accepted his hand and stood up.

"You said you know me personally. We fought in the same battles, but what happened after?"

"You truly do not remember?" he asked. "Walk with me, and I will explain this all to you," Ilkama began walking with Eli close-by. "The kingdom of Kevras—the one we are currently in—was our final battle. While others continued the conquest, you and I lived here for a long time. You look older than before. I do not believe the guild members realize you are the same person. You ruled with me before the Great Revolt," he explained.

"Charles did not inform me of a second ruler," Eli became weary of what Ilkama said.

"Perhaps he was scared of you finding out the truth and learning I am not as bad as they think. They did not wish for you to side with me, so they did not tell you of my partner; no partner would make me seem less human," Ilkama began walking up a staircase. "Your room was just down this hall," he explained. He stopped in front of one of the rooms. "Here it is."

Eli walked into the room and looked around. Two windows stood on the other side of the room. On the left wall was a wide mahogany dresser with a mirror on top. Beside it was a desk with some papers scattered on it and a small, blue gem in the corner. On the right was a large bed, twice as large as the inn's bed and much more comfortable-looking. Beside it was a small table with a lantern on it.

"This is my room?" asked Eli, astonished by the view.

"Precisely as you left it. I could not bring myself to change a thing," Ilkama replied. "As Charles likely told you, he fought alongside another Mienard named 'Eli' to end our rule. The citizens surrounded you, and the Mienard struck you down. Because of your sacrifice, I learned their strategy had been to overwhelm one of us and let the Mienard handle the fighting. When you fell, I remembered a glyph, as you call it, to counter their strategy. That was the day the Great Revolt ended."

"If they struck me down, how am I standing before you?" Eli inquired, sitting on the chair by the desk.

"When I used the glyph, the remaining warriors were caught off guard, including the other Mienard. It gave me an opening to use a glyph sequence to take him out, draining his lifeforce. By capturing that essence, I created an elixir to transfer his life essence into you, thus reviving you. Without their Mienard, the citizens knew they were destined to fail; they fled and lived under my rule peacefully once more. Following that, I took your body to a prison outside the kingdom so you could recover in peace, in case another revolution broke out—which it did. It was my first attempt at resurrection, and I had not anticipated your memory would disappear."

"Is there some elixir to bring back my memories? Similar to how you resurrected me?"

"No. However, you were always a fast learner, though not as fast as me. I will have a large feast prepared in celebration of the second king's return. Today, you must relax. Tomorrow, I will begin training you. You will be stronger than before."

"I am grateful for your support and for accepting me with open arms. Hopefully, I will regain all my memories with your support," Eli bowed.

"Of course. Anything for an old friend," Ilkama walked out of the room, leaving Eli to look through his old belongings.