Beyond?

“Ye, who asks for power shall seek the souls of others and enslave them. Ye, who enslaves others to his will shall rise and be consumed by power.

But heed the warning. Don't seek to enslave a soul stronger than your own, because you might end up the servant and not the Master.”

-The forbidden Chronicle.

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

The Eddin is pinned to the ground and screams while Ghost is gnawing on his foot. I stare tiredly at the night sky. It's the second day since I started my work... and it turned out to be a lot of work! Once again I hit the guy's throat and his screams turn into a gurgling sound.

This guy is really tough to get information from. He gave me a pretty good fight too. Eddins are trouble. I had to subdue him without killing him, since he is the only lead I have left to follow. My little investigation took me through the whole country, while I was following the chain of henchmen.

Most of them were just little flies who only carry messages, but some had really high official positions. The highest ones kept referring to someone they call the Master, but they didn't know who this figure is either. Just that he'll return to take control of Nict.

Having corrupted some officials in high position is another good explanation for the perfect secrecy of this organisation.

The Eddin's healing magic finishes its work and the screams start becoming annoying again. Since I am tired I decided to give my latest lead a little treatment before I attempt to read his mind. He is a middle aged skinny guy with a touch of grey in his dark hair.

I signal Ghost to let go of him and the cat places one paw on the Eddin's upper leg. With a crunching sound the lower leg comes loose and Ghost strolls away with the price in his maw. That wasn't quite what I meant, but it works too.

The Eddin is holding his bleeding stump and I watch fascinated as the flesh is regrowing, forming a new leg. This ability is truly troublesome. I can do that too, but it takes a great deal of power. The Eddin has been healing himself from grave wounds since we started this procedure and it doesn't look like he will be running out of mana soon.

Though he should be mentally tired enough to be interrogated now... I grab his forehead and invade his mind. At first he puts up a fight, but then he succumbs quickly as his memories flash through my consciousness.

After a while I let go of him and scratch my cheek in thought. Who would've thought that they have such a big base right next to the capital? They are operating from a big warehouse at the edge of the city and are even keeping a permanent portal up.

According to the memories, there should be up to a hundred agents there. They are the direct servants of this foreign power.

My eyes wander towards Spidey, he kept switching bodies during our little campaign. The disturbing thing is that he got better and better at controlling them. By now he is even able to give them facial expressions and he showed a lot of interest in language. His artificial body isn't capable of speech.

His tendency to talk back to me is disturbing too. I created him for fun and to have a loyal little helper, not to have someone who's constantly doubting me. On top he takes only the corpses of beautiful women. Right now he is in the body of a yellow haired bombshell with straight, backwards-curving horns and a cute birthmark on the left side of her neck. He is sitting cross-legged on a rock, just a few steps away.

He is playing around with some bottles and liquids, which he acquired when we raided the house of an old alchemist. From time to time he sprinkles a little of the liquid onto his skin, or rubs some of it onto his cheeks, while looking into a small hand held mirror. To me it looks like he is putting on make up.

I clear my throat. “Spidey? Would you care to explain to me what you are doing?”

“Of course, Creator. I am just trying to preserve this body. Who knows how long it'll take until I find another one?” He smiles a disarming smile at me and I shudder. I might have created a monster.

Then he places a hand on his chest and raises an eyebrow. “Calling me Spidey might not be appropriate any more. Can I switch my name to Ivy?”

I gasp. “You are a machine!”

“Yes, Creator. But I obviously broke the limits of my former self. Spidey was definitely less than the me right now, so I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate my new self with a new name.” He... She drinks one of the bottles and his... her face distorts. “Waeh... formaldehyde tastes awful! I think I'll deactivate my sense of taste. Being an organic being isn't all that desirable after all.”

It's... an... abomination! “Do what you want. How do you feel about going up against an enemy base with about a hundred opponents?”

Ivy tilts her head in thought. “That means that everyone of us has to take out thirty to forty enemies. If my creator has such confidence in my battle power, then I'll gladly accompany him to the last battle.”

“I am not talking about the last battle! I intend to come back!” I shake my fist at the stupid zombie.

“Then I suggest to make a battle plan. Did my Creator get sufficient knowledge about the layout of the enemy base?” Ivy stops tampering with herself and pulls out a sheet of paper.

“It's an old warehouse in the outskirts of the city. There is a big open area with patrols around it. Inside is just a big open hall on the first floor. On the second floor is a large central corridor with offices to the left and right. The whole building is about fifty metres in width and a hundred metres in length.” I stop in thought and notice that Ivy drew a perfect plan of the area while I spoke. “How can you add so much detail to the plan? I didn't mention the number of rooms.”

Ivy pulls the plan to her chest and starts to wriggle in a disgusting way. “Of course this faithful servant immediately accessed her detailed maps of the city. Then she ordered one of her remotes at the city archives to look up the construction approval for the specified building.”

“I see.” She might be useful after all.

Ivy puts the map down and points at it. “The only question is our goal, then we can formulate a proper plan.”

My face darkens. “Utter annihilation of course. I am not interested in having any of them around me.”

She draws two circles around the building. “Then we'll sneak in and eliminate the guards outside of the building silently. If we manage to do that, we have time to set up traps around the target. Though it's probably better to do so while we approach and take out the guards.

After having secured the area, we'll use Ghost as bait. He'll create as much noise and trouble as possible to lure them outside, right into the killing zone.

While Ghost draws their attention to the ground, we'll enter the building from the roof. The offices give us enough room to fight, but hinder our enemy's advance on us. It's better than fighting in the open.”

I purse my lips. “That sounds like a good plan?”

Again Ivy starts wriggling. “Kyaaa, I was praised by the Creator! Today I'll fight extra hard, though could you try to kill the pretty ones in a manner which doesn't damage their bodies too much?”

This is going too far. “You know... if you keep using that body, others will think bad of your little habit. You should try to learn some common sense before you talk to someone about how you acquired your body.”

She tilts her head. “Why? I am just making use of something that would decompose and become useless otherwise. The previous owner was long gone when I took control over it.”

While we travelled to the enemy base I had a hard time in explaining the difference between a tool and a body and that organic people often mistook the mortal remains of a person for the person itself and that they had a certain attachment to those remains...

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Stella***

My eyes open and I try to remember what happened. Then it hits me and I feel my eyes becoming wet. This has to be a bad dream. But then someone touches my hand and I turn to the person beside my bed.

It's Sola and she looks at me with a guilty expression. Her eyes tell me that I didn't have a bad dream. I feel my chin quiver, but I manage to wring out a question. “Where is Azir?”

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Azir***

I glide silently through the air and give Ghost his signal. It took us two hours to prepare our encounter with the enemy. Those two hours consisted of waiting and placing trap spells, which activate upon stepping onto them. A few times we were almost found out, but thanks to Ghost those encounters ended in our favour.

Ivy did her part by collecting as much of her remotes in the area as possible and giving me vital information on the ongoings inside the warehouse. Her remotes are mostly controlled insects and small mammals. Unfortunately they are almost useless in a fight, though she told me that she has a few very poisonous small pests in reserve.

I didn't want to ask why she created them without my knowledge. Some things should stay unknown.

Two of the guards walk around the building and Ghost bursts out of a group of low bushes, arriving at the guards with a single leap and an ear shattering roar. Before they can react his paw smacks the closer guard playfully and sends him flying.

The second guard starts screaming and fiddles with his sword's hilt. Ghost bites his leg and pulls the screaming guard with him, right through the area with our traps.

At first I had my doubts about this plan, but then I managed to get Ghost to do what I wanted by repeating the commands 'stay', 'fetch' and 'bring'. Somehow I didn't expect Ghost to do his part, but it seems like the big cat understood...

The noise draws the attention of the guards on top of the building and they run towards the side where Ghost caused the noise. I cancel my gravitation spell on Ivy and she drops to the roof. Then I start collecting mana and drop my shroud spell. There is no point in hiding while I gather a big bubble of mana around me.

Ivy reaches the roof and propels herself right into a group of guards, who are attempting to attack Ghost with ranged spells. Her kick sends one of them over the railing of the roof, then she pulls two daggers from under her skirt and knives the other two. I didn't expect her to be that proficient with weapons which she inherited from the previous owner of her body. Maybe the previous owner wasn't completely dead?

I cast a minimized version of arcane missile. Normally the spell creates a spear of magical energy, which you send at your enemy. I tuned the spell down and sacrificed quality for quantity. Using the gathering mana, dozens of knife sized blades of mana appear all around me and I start hammering the people on the roof.

There were ten guards on the roof and most of them gathered at the side which points towards Ghost. Just three stayed behind to guard the other directions. Since I revealed myself they immediately sent attack magic at me.

I drop my levitation spell and enter free fall, just barely avoiding a nasty looking violet orb of energy. While falling I redirect the storm of arcane blades and shred one of the remaining guards.

The other two drop to the ground with daggers in their foreheads. Ivy placed them perfectly between their eyes. I twist in mid air and reactivate my levitation spell to land softly on the roof.

Ivy doesn't lose any time and retrieves her daggers, humming a happy tune. Normally I wouldn't think anything of it, but the sound is too rhythmical while not repeating itself. Probably she is communicating with her remotes. She looks up. “Twelve down, eighty two to go.”

I nod and take a look from the roof to find out that the enemy wasn't sleeping. About thirty men are advancing in Ghost's direction with weapons ready. They ran onto the open grassy field in front of the warehouse while following Ghost and his screaming toy.

The warcat is waiting further away with his forefeet on the screaming guard. From time to time he paws the guard in a playful manner, which causes long bleeding wounds.

I notice that the group of enemies entered our killing zone and nod towards Ivy. She closes her eyes and mumbles something, activating the spells which we set up previously. The entire area turns into a storm of fire and shrapnel. I watch in glee as my hated enemies are sent screaming towards the night sky, most of them in pieces.

A soft whistle from my lips gives Ghost the signal to do as he pleases and the cat's paw snaps its toy's neck. Then Ghost disappears inside the cloud of dust and smoke.

I pull the set of flying disks from my belt and blast the door of the small tower in the middle of the roof. It leads to the staircase, which goes down to the offices.

A flick of my wrist sends the fifteen small drones on their way. I programmed them to ram any suitable target at full speed. They don't have any other way to attack the enemy since I hastily changed their purpose. Though I guess that being hit by a hundred grams of metal at the speed of one hundred kilometres per hour does the trick anyway.

We hear screams from down the staircase and Ivy dashes inside. I follow on her heels and ready the staff which I carried on my back until now.

Arriving at the central corridor, which leads to a second staircase down to the warehouse, I am greeted by a storm of magic. Rolling to the side, I enter the first office to the left. By now the typical blue bubble of my clan is enclosing me tightly and a bolt of energy is redirected around me as I get to my feet.

Thrusting my hand at the enemy mage inside the office, the working table in front of him is blasted to pieces and covers him in splinters. I rush forward and place my staff softly on his chest while he is screaming in pain, covering his eyes with his hands.

A surge of power runs through my staff and he is thrown backwards, crushing through the window and out of the building. As if on command, the many magical lights in the room start to flicker and then I am plunged into darkness.

Looks like Ivy's remotes finally did their job and shut down the lights. I activate my mana sight and find her fighting a few offices further down the corridor. There are many people stumbling around like blind men; seems like not all of our opponents are fighters.

A grin appears on my face and I walk back into the corridor, infusing my mana into the pool of blood which gathered under the corpse in front of the staircase. A little good old blood magic is nice too. I force my will into the moving liquid and it surges forward in search of an enemy.

Then I point my staff at the ground and cast gravity magic. The floor caves in and I jump through it. Down in the warehouse are just a few people and I am somehow dissatisfied with the lack of resistance.

Was the security detail, which we blew up in front of the building, the only fighting force? Were the rest of the enemies all non combatants?

The warehouse is completely empty. Just the portal and the magical circle which is sustaining it are in the middle of the hall. The few remaining enemies are gathered in front of the portal.

And they are running away! Hate wells up inside me as I notice one of my enemies leaving through the portal, then another jumps through. I scream and thrust my staff at them.

One man keeps standing while the others are thrown away from the portal like puppets. He turns and grins at me, then he jumps through.

I run towards the portal and look through it.

It's day on the other site, so it's surely not leading anywhere close to Nict. I see a grassy plain and many tents and soldiers. An army? Though it's impossible to determine how big this army is. I would need a different point of view.

The person who jumped through the portal and withstood my spell turns around and chuckles. Then he corrects his black suit and spreads his hands. “Feel free to take a look at the Master's army. Unfortunately we are still occupied somewhere else, but it won't take long until we are done here. And then we'll come and finally crush Nict.”

He bows slightly. “I give you this much to honour your achievement in halting our efforts in your country. Take your remaining time to say goodbye to the world as you know it.”

This... insect... is speaking down to me? “Kukukuku... hahaha... HAHAHAHA...” I reach with a trembling hand into my pocket and pull out the metallic sphere which I created with Stella. There can be no better purpose for this little toy.

I press one rune on the sphere and all the runes around the metal ball start glowing. Then I throw it through the portal and ram my staff into the magical circle under my feet. The floor cracks and the portal collapses. Too bad that the last expression of the black suited man was just incomprehension.

It doesn't feel right. His end was too nice. A scratching sound draws my attention and I find out that one of the other person's regained his consciousness and is crawling away from me. I follow him with a grin appearing on my face.

He screams. “Stay away from me! Mon... Monster! Nobody has glowing eyes like that!”

I grab his leg and pull him back to the magical circle. “You know... I always wanted to know how these strange portals work. Their principle is a little different from the ones which I use. Maybe I can fix the circle if I use your soul.”

He claws at the ground, but I am stronger than him and since I am gathering magical power from all around us, the power is already coursing through my entire being. I never gathered so much before, it feels like I can do anything.

Reaching the centre of the circle I pin him to the ground by ramming my staff right through his chest. Then I step chuckling out of the circle. “You know. Actually I haven't much hope that it will work, now that I look at the circle. But isn't the proof of the pudding in the eating?”

I start the cast, but soon I have to admit that I did too well in destroying the circle. After a while the lights return and I get the feeling that someone is standing behind me. I turn around fast.

*Slap*

My mother... slapped me? How did she get here? Ah, the fight was noisy enough to alert the entire city. I touch my burning cheek. “I guess I deserved that...”

But then she hugs me and speaks with a quivering voice. “You shouldn't have run off like that. Do you even know what I felt when you didn't send me a single message.” I feel her hands clawing into my back. “And do you know what Stella felt when she woke up and you weren't there?” The gathered mana around me strangely slips my control and turns into hers. “And do you have any idea what your sister, father and grandmother felt?”

I try to wriggle myself out of her bone breaking hug. “I am sorry! I was just angry!” What should I do? I can't attack my mother. And how did she steal my mana?

“Kukukuku... don't look at me like that. Did you really think that I taught you everything about our ability? But first you'll apologize to Stella for not being there for her when she woke up!”

I gasp for air, but my mother's hug wrings everything out of me. Slowly the scene turns dark...

.