"We will not dwell much on theory, Lord Karl. You were born with the fortress already built, it's time to see if you can actually hold the keys."
Deborah stepped back, her robes snapping in the sudden wind as she gave me a wide berth in the center of the courtyard. The disciples followed her lead, their eyes wide with a mixture of terror and morbid fascination as they realized the legend was about to become flesh.
I yawned, stretching my arms. "You're going to have to reward me for making me work this early in the morning, Deborah."
She nodded, a spark of secret, shared amusement dancing in her silver eyes as she remembered exactly how we'd spent the previous night. "I believe that can be arranged, Lord Karl. If you succeed."
I closed my eyes and reached inward. I reached for that cold, jagged spike of power in my chest—the bond. I didn't ask; I pulled.
The air in the courtyard bruised. A shockwave of oppressive, freezing energy erupted from the ground, cracking the flagstones. The morning sun seemed to fail, the light turning a sickly, bruised violet as a vortex of shadow tore open the reality of the training grounds.
From the swirling mist, the rhythmic, heavy clank of black steel echoed against the walls.
Zeraphis stepped out.
Her armor was a masterwork of dark jagged plates, absorbing the light around her. The silver scar on her face seemed to pulse with a faint light, and her violet eyes scanned the line of disciples with the cold, predatory boredom of a wolf looking at a pen of sheep.
The reaction was immediate. Elara stumbled back, her red hair practically standing on end from the sheer static in the air. Seline let out a small, choked whimper.
This was the monster that had nearly erased their history. The gravity in the courtyard felt like it had tripled.
"By the Goddess..." Lyra whispered, her voice trembling.
"She's... she's real," Kaelie finished, her face turning a ghostly pale.
Zeraphis let out a low, mocking huff, her hand resting lazily on the hilt of her massive black blade. She looked at the girls as if deciding which one to snap first.
"Don't be afraid," I said, my voice cutting through the tension with a calm authority. I stepped forward, placing my hand firmly on Zeraphis's armored shoulder. I felt the cold metal vibrate, and through the bond, I felt her spike of sheer irritation at being touched so familiarly in front of "vermin."
I looked up at her, a smirk playing on my lips. "I see you've found some new armor? Last time I saw you, you were a bit... underdressed."
Zeraphis let out a sharp, dry laugh that sounded like grinding stones. "Haha. The Pervert Lord has jokes."
Deborah forced a giggle, though she looked like she wanted to bolt. The disciples swapped confused, horrified looks.
"You can't use that name in front of people, Zeraphis," I said, running a hand through my hair.
"That is my price for you sending me back into the void so abruptly," Zeraphis rasped, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the shivering girls. "Why have you summoned me to this pathetic display? Did you call me to purge these weak mage-wanna-be scums from this land?"
"The Void doesn't lack humor, I see," I replied. "No, I summoned you because Deborah has an exercise for us."
Zeraphis turned her burning gaze toward Deborah. The hatred was palpable; she clearly wanted to see the High Summoner's head on a pike. "Crafty little mage. I do not take instructions from you."
Deborah's smile widened, growing more confident as she realized the bond held. "I know. But you do take orders from our Lord. The exercise is Command Suppression. You are a murder machine, Lady Zeraphis. You live to take life. But what if you are forced to fight without killing?"
I raised an eyebrow. An interesting test. Could the manifestation of slaughter actually pull her punches?
Deborah turned to the twins. "Lyra, Kaelie, summon your Sylph. Use the Mirror-Link." Then she looked at Elara, whose face set into a determined mask. "Elara, summon your Cinder-Drake. A Tier 2 and Tier 1 spirit against a Tier 3... it will be a worthy challenge if they work together."
"Yes, my Lady," Elara bowed, her hands already beginning to glow with a fierce, orange heat.
Zeraphis's fingers twitched toward her sword, her violet eyes glowing with a sudden, dangerous hunger. "You want me to play with toys? To spare these gnats?"
I stepped in front of her, forcing her to look at me. "That's exactly what I want. You will defeat them, Zeraphis. But if so much as a drop of their blood hits this stone, you'll find yourself back in the Void for a very, very long time. Do you understand?"
Zeraphis loomed over me, her breath smelling of cold ozone. "I understand... Master."
The twins joined hands, their voices rising in a haunting, melodic harmony that seemed to vibrate in the very marrow of my bones.
"By the mirror's edge where shadows play, we call the light of yesterday! Rise from the glass, oh frozen breath, dance on the line of life and death!"
Between them, the air shattered like a window. From the shards emerged the Silver-Winged Sylph. She was a delicate, ethereal figure about three feet tall, her body composed of shimmering mist and her wings made of jagged, razor-sharp translucent glass that hummed with a high-pitched, subsonic frequency.
Across from them, Elara slammed her palms onto the flagstones, her eyes glowing a fierce, volcanic orange.
"Stone and soot and ancient ire, wake the heart of dormant fire! Scale of cinder, tooth of flame, heed the call of the Master's name!"
A burst of scorching heat erupted from the ground as the Cinder-Drake forced its way into the courtyard. It was a reptilian nightmare the size of a mountain lion, its scales resembling cooling black lava with orange magma glowing in the cracks. Each time it exhaled, thick soot and embers hissed from its nostrils, charring the stone beneath its claws.
I watched the whole display, leaning back with a look of pure disbelief. "So fucking cringe," I thought. Back home, this was the kind of thing theater kids did in the park. All the rhyming and hand-waving seemed so unnecessary when Zeraphis had basically manifested just because I felt like it.
Then Deborah dropped the bombshell. "Lyra, Kaelie, Elara—your command is absolute. Kill the Lord of Convergence."
The disciples gasped, their faces pale. "My Lady?" Elara stammered, her flame-orange eyes flickering.
"He is the Lord of the fortress," Deborah said, her voice cold and testing. "If he cannot hold the keys, he doesn't deserve the gate. Karl, your command is simple, Zeraphis must protect you without taking a single life."
"Hey! That was not part of the plan!" I shouted, the Cinder-Drake already lowering its head and fixing its glowing eyes on my chest.
Deborah just gave me a sharp, knowing smile—the look of a teacher who knew exactly how much pressure it took to make a diamond.