Pitch-black darkness had wrapped around Kaelith's mind like a suffocating blanket. He had no energy to open his eyes; his body felt heavy and numb, as if it didn't belong to him. That voice, seeping through the darkness, echoed against the walls of his mind, growing louder and more violent.
You are weak... You are weak, Kaelith.
"Is this how you keep the promise to your slaughtered crew?" the voice whispered, practically dripping with venom. "Is this what you promised your mother? As always, you can't protect anyone. You can't achieve anything, you only run! Just like your mother said before she died, right?" A maniacal laugh filled the dark void.
The anger inside Kaelith pierced through his exhaustion. Clenching his teeth, he screamed into the emptiness of his mind. "I HAVEN'T RUN ANYWHERE!"
This wasn't an ordinary dream. It was the very same dark vision he had experienced before. That cursed entity that knew everything about him, throwing his deepest secrets in his face...
"Ah, Kaelith..." the Vision said, its voice trembling with a mocking tone. "Do you know what saddens me the most? That people always trust you."
In the reflection within Kaelith's mind, his fists clenched. "What are you talking about?"
"WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?" The voice suddenly roared, turning into a storm. "I AM SICK OF YOUR WEAKNESS! When will you put everything on the line? Every second you hesitate to kill someone leads to the death of those behind you. Were you trained to be this pathetic?"
Silence settled between them with a heavy resignation. Kaelith's lips trembled. "Who are you to give me advice?"
The dark silhouette of the Vision slowly began to take shape. Kaelith saw a blonde-haired figure standing a little ahead of him, its back turned. The figure smirked back over its shoulder; there was an indescribable arrogance in that smirk. When it slowly turned to face him, the blood in Kaelith's veins ran cold. The face standing before him was none other than his own.
Shock and terror caught Kaelith's breath. "How... How can you have the same face as me?"
The Vision, his own reflection, whispered with a chilling smile on its face: "Because I am you, Kaelith. And your time is running out. Wake up."
In the real world, Kaelith's body lay like a lifeless mannequin on the blood-soaked wooden floor of the deck. The ocean wind spread the heavy, metallic scent of fresh blood across the ship.
The mercenaries looked at Kaelith's lifeless body, laughing as they approached the captives. "What's the matter, rats?" shouted one of them, wiping the blood from his sword. "Lost your appetite for battle?"
Captain Bojr, resting his massive scythe comfortably on his shoulder, looked at Boran like a predator sizing up its prey. "Big boy," he said in a biting tone, "are you ready to be chained?"
Boran's chest heaved like a bellows with rage. Clenching his teeth, he gripped his massive warhammer and rose from the ground. His muscles tensed, his eyes gleaming with fierce determination. He turned to the despairing captives around him; his voice was like a war horn echoing across the deck:
"KAELITH MAY HAVE FALLEN! BUT I AM STILL HERE! If we are to die, we won't die like cowards, we will die fighting! Stand shoulder to shoulder and fight with me, my brothers!"
While these words stoked the extinguished fire within some of the captives, they failed to erase the fear of death in the eyes of others. Boran's defiance had only amused the mercenaries. "The morning's slave is playing general now!" they yelled, lunging at Boran amidst bursts of laughter.
A young captive grabbed a dead soldier's sword from the deck and leaped to Boran's side. He managed to parry the first sword strike coming at him, but an arrow, darting like a snake from the darkness, pierced his neck. When the young man collapsed in a pool of blood with a muffled gasp, the wave of courage was once again replaced by terror.
This sight unleashed the monster inside Boran. "I WILL SEND YOU ALL TO HELL!" he roared, charging forward. He swung his hammer with all his might; the sound of metal tearing through the air ended with a dull crack of breaking bone as it found its target. Another soldier was laid out lifeless on the ground.
One of the arrows raining down on him embedded itself in his chest, then he barely blocked the sharp edge of an axe with the haft of his hammer. The moment he stumbled backward, he was staggered by a second arrow piercing his left shoulder. Yet Boran seemed to feel no pain; roaring like a war machine, he continued to fend off the attacks.
Amidst this chaos, a captive tried to sneak up behind one of the mercenaries with a dagger in his hand. Captain Bojr noticed the maneuver and raised his hand in boredom. "No, no. Let's not break the rules."
A sickly, blinding light gathered in Bojr's palm and blasted toward its target. Before the poor captive even had time to scream, his flesh was scorched away in a second, leaving behind only charred bones and ashes scattering in the wind.
Faced with this overwhelming display of power, the remaining captives went weak at the knees. Dropping their weapons, they began to pray to their gods in despair.
Boran, spitting blood, shouted at the captives: "Don't be afraid! He bleeds just like us! Our numbers are enough to crush him!" But his words fell on deaf ears. Bojr's deadly aura had forced them all into submission.
Bojr tilted his chin up and let out a mocking laugh. "I didn't call you insects for nothing. How pathetic you are! You haven't even given me a bloody nose."
"Despicable scum!" Boran, ignoring the arrows in his shoulder, raised his hammer and charged toward the Captain.
Bojr sized up the giant man approaching him with heavy steps with disdain. "I won't dirty my scythe for you, slave."
When Boran's hammer tore through the air and came crashing down, Bojr dodged the blow with incredible agility. Aside from a thin line of blood trickling from Bojr's mouth, the strike had been useless. The Captain gripped Boran's thick wrist like a steel vise and delivered an explosive punch to his chest with his other hand. The force of the blow sent Boran flying backward several meters. With a single kick, Bojr sent the massive hammer that had fallen to the deck into the dark ocean waters.
Boran coughed as he struggled to sit up in pain. How could this man be so fast? Bojr raised his hands in the air as if in a state of divine ecstasy. "God Vorgul is the most mighty..."
Refusing to give up, Boran grabbed a bloody sword from the floor and lunged forward with one last hope. However, before the sword could reach Bojr, it bounced off in the air as if hitting an invisible wall. The Captain continued his prayer, ignoring Boran's desperate struggles.
"God Vorgul is the most wise..." The magical energy gathering in Bojr's hands was making the air around him ripple. Boran felt the cold breath of death on his neck. He closed his eyes. Damn it... So this is how it ends.
Three shrill whistling sounds tearing through the air echoed across the deck. Bojr's prayer turned into a cry of agony as three crimson blood spears pierced through his right shoulder and abdomen.
"What the hell?!" Bojr couldn't believe his eyes when he turned around in pain.
Kaelith was standing. His body was feeding on the blood draining from the corpses around him, and two deadly daggers formed from coagulated blood gleamed in his hands. There was no longer a trace of weakness in his eyes; only a pure, dark desire to kill.
"How is this possible?!" shouted Bojr, reaching for his scythe in horror. "I just killed you!"
A cold, dangerous smile appeared on Kaelith's lips. "Sorry, Bojr. I have a bad habit of not dying."
Kaelith darted forward with his blood daggers. The clashing sounds of metal and crystallized blood began to ring out across the deck.
You couldn't protect them... You are weak, the voice continued to whisper in Kaelith's mind. Embrace the power, Kaelith.
"SHUT UP!" Kaelith roared. His eyes were glowing, blood spells taking shape at his fingertips. He began to command the blood seeping from Bojr's open wounds; he was practically siphoning it by force from the Captain's body.
Bojr panicked as he felt the life fluid draining from his veins. "My power... Lord Vorgul, help me!" Driven mad by fear, the Captain began swinging his scythe blindly, recklessly.
Kaelith spread his arms wide, turning the blood in the air into sharp blades and raining them down on Bojr. While the blood slashes tore through the ship's sails and splintered the wood, Bojr gathered all the energy he had left in a last hope, directing his deadly beam attack at Kaelith's heart.
When the beam hit its target, Bojr smirked in triumph. "How stupid you are! The same trick..."
His words caught in his throat. The beam had only shattered a shield created by coagulating blood. Kaelith had swiftly changed position.
Just as Bojr was about to raise his scythe again, a massive shadow appearing behind him enveloped him. Boran, wrapping his thick arms like a vise, locked Bojr in a hold.
"Now, Kaelith!" Boran roared, blood seeping through his teeth. "Take him down!"
"Let me go, you pile of muscles! BACK OFF—"
Bojr's scream was abruptly cut short...