This sensation. This unfamiliar feeling. What is this?
It was warm. It was the first thing Julien felt. Not cold. Not pain.
Just warmth. Golden and fading, like the last light of day slipping away.
══════════════════════════
[SOUL TRANSFER: COMPLETE]
[PREVIOUS OCCUPANT: AURYN IGNISAR - DEPARTED]
[NEW HOST: JULIEN MOREAUX - INTEGRATING]
[BODY STATUS: STABILIZING]
[WARNING: CRITICAL AFTEREFFECTS REMAIN]
[MANA RESERVES: 8/1,520 (0.5%)]
══════════════════════════
His eyes opened suddenly. And everything was unfamiliar. It was strange at first glance.
He stared at stone. Black, marble-like stone as the ceiling. His eyes narrowed, looking left and right.
Torchlights lined the wall opposite his position. They were within the mouths of stone dragons. Crackling in the background.
The smell of hospital disinfectant was gone. Now it was the aroma of incense and ash that soothes his wiggling nose.
He took a deep breath. No signs of glass in his lungs. The suffocation that followed each breath was nowhere to be found.
He tried sitting up and his body responded immediately. His body moved with strength he hadn't felt in years. Maybe even his entire life.
What the—?
He fell further into confusion when he looked at his hands. They were larger, built and scarred.
These weren't his hands. They couldn't be.
"What's goi—" He spoke in a confused tone when his breath hitched.
And then the burning began.
His throat seized. Fire crawled down his esophagus. Not poison—not anymore. Something deeper. Raw. Like his organs were knitting themselves back together after nearly failing.
A word surfaced from nowhere—memory that wasn't his.
Dark sapphire Venom. Dragon-killer.
His hand moved to his chest. He felt a smooth metal underneath his black shirt.
An amulet—ancient, dragon-carved—still warm but dimming.
══════════════════════════
[LIFE ANCHOR AMULET: DEPLETED]
[1/1 CHARGES CONSUMED]
[ARTIFACT NOW INERT]
══════════════════════════
It saved this body. But it drained everything to do it.
The burning spread through his chest. Not killing him instead healing him. But the cost...
His mana reserves were gone. Almost completely.
C'mon man, I just died...
The thought hit him like a runaway train.
And this body almost died too?
Suddenly the wooden door to his left nearly broke from its hinges. Julien witnessed this from the corner of his eyes.
A dwarf stormed in. Borin Clave. He wore layered blackened leather, reinforced on the chest and shoulders. Gray-bearded with sharp eyes. The blackened steel of the hilt of an axe protruded from his back.
"Your Highness!"
Julien's head felt like it was spiraling. Your Highness... is that me?
The dwarf rushed to his side. His hands gripped his shoulders, steadying him. Dark eyes searching Julien's.
"Stay down. You were poisoned—the healers said you might not—" Relief flooded the dwarf's face. "Thank the Flame, you're awake."
"I..." Julien's voice came out deeper. Colder. Definitely not his voice.
The dwarf's worry remained. "Your Highness, you need relax."
"Wait."
Julien's gaze swept the room. He wasn't sure what was happening but the emergence of people gave him a new perspective.
Three guards. One by the door. One near the window. One standing close to the bed. They'd followed behind the dwarf. All donning metal armor.
Suddenly golden text flickered to life in his vision.
══════════════════════════
[SKILL ACTIVATED: AUTHOR'S EYES]
[MANA COST: 5]
[REMAINING MANA: 3/1,520]
══════════════════════════
The world shifted. Colors bloomed around each person like living auras.
The dwarf—silver, steady and warm.
The guard by the door—gray, faint and fading.
And the one near the bed—
Crimson.
Julien's stomach turned. It wasn't just the crimson color. It was the feeling that followed it. Like standing next to a corpse. Like breathing in rot. Repulsive.
Every one of his instincts screamed danger.
He lifted his trembling hand, as he pointed.
"You."
The guard's head snapped up in his direction.
"Your Highness?"
"You did this." The words came out before Julien could stop them. A combination of borrowed certainty from memory and the rotting aura that spelt danger
Everything seemed slower. Time itself absorbed his accusation.
The guard's face contorted. His eyes widened. This wasn't fear but shock. Pure and unfiltered shock.
*He knows?. How does he—*
He took a step back, then his hand went to his sword. Fingers curling on the black hilt. The white of his blade emerged from the scabbard.
Instantly the dwarf moved. In one step, he cleared the distance with the guard. Axe in hand.
THUNK
The axe's blade sliced through bone and flesh, just above the elbow. The guard's severed hand flew, hitting the floor still clutching the sword hilt.
AHHHHHH–
Blood sprayed across the room. Painting the stone and the bed red. Screams of pain echoed through the chamber while the traitor was tackled down by the other two guards.
The aura-sight vanished. His vision blurred. As the sounds of struggle muffled.
══════════════════════════
[MANA EXHAUSTED: 0/1,520]
[CRITICAL: HOST CONSCIOUSNESS UNSTABLE]
[WILLPOWER REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN INTEGRATION]
══════════════════════════
He felt his chest open. Hollow. Like someone had reached and drained everything vital to his existence
His arms wouldn't move. They were now too heavy.
The room blurred. The dwarf was shouting orders. Guards were dragging the man away.
Julien's vision darkened.
No. Not again. He thought.
The dwarf's face appeared above him. His eyes filled with worry.
"Stay with me, lad. You're not gone yet. Not after surviving one hundred and twenty years."
But Julien's body was shutting down. Not from poison—From exhaustion. The soul transfer, the amulet's cost, the ability he'd just used—it was too much.
His vision dulled.
He wasn't dying.
Something worse.
Fading.
Into the void between souls. Where Julien ended and Auryn began. Where souls are forged or dissolved.
And in that darkness, he'd have to fight.
To prove this life was HIS now.
Everything went black.
But this time, Julien Moreaux refused to let go.
He fought.