Elsa lay on the warm floor, naked and smiling. I could still feel her lips against mine. There were light tinglings on my back, spots where she scratched a little too hard. I lay beside her, running my forefinger on her flat stomach. She smacked her lips then spoke.

"This is an ancient source that's been here longer than us," she said. "One of my ancestros stumbled upon it long ago, when there was no Merinsk, no Biarkh either. He was badly injured. According to the tales pa.s.sed on to us, he had just survived a devastating war between humans and some other race.

"He thought he was about to die, when he saw this natural spring. He decided if he were to die, he'd rather die with warm bones. He got in that pool over there, and heard a voice speak to him."

"Nothing good comes out when unknown voices speak to you," I commented.

Elsa chuckled lightly. Her coa.r.s.e voice tickled my senses. It felt good to be here with her. It felt good to finally catch a break from all the running, killing, then more running. I simply felt relaxed, for the first time in a very long while.

"You'd know something about voices," Elsa said. "Given that you're a champion for the Holi Wars."

I looked at her, mouth agape, speechless. "Are you?" I asked after an eternity.

"Am I what?" she asked.

"How else would you know about voices?" I said. "It also explains that weird spell you used on me."

"You're not making any sense, Zedd Darkstar," Elsa said. She emphasized my fake name with a slow, exaggerated enunciation.

"You're a champion too, aren't you?" I asked.

"Let's not ruin this moment with business talks," she said. "Leave this for after the feast."

"Business?" I asked. I arched my eyebrow and glowered at her.

"Well," she said then sighed. "You officially ruined it." She got up then headed for the door. "Someone will escort you to a guest room. Make sure you pick up appropriate clothes," she said as she reached the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have guests to entertain."

She disappeared behind the door as I lay on the warm marble floor, naked and puzzled. At least I knew she had a Fragment, but I didn't know anything beyond that. I got into the magical spring and sat by the edge. It was shallow enough for me to sit and still be covered in magic water, up to my chest.

'Haven't you learned anything about women?' Eva's voice surged inside my head. I jumped up then fell in a loud splash.

'How the h.e.l.l did you –?'

'I was watching, a.s.shole,' she interrupted. 'You kept me off for so long, only to release me to this?'

'Are you mad at me for having s.e.x with her?' I asked.

Eva scoffed. 'You do what you do, big boy,' she said. 'I'm mad at you for something else.'

'If you stop acting like my conscience ,' I said. 'Maybe then I won't shut you off, and we get back to being friends.'

'Friends,' she said. I felt her venomous anger seep through my conduits. 'Are we friends now, Myles Stalwart?'

'We have a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p,' I said. 'Although we didn't give it a label, I'd say you're my friend.'

'And does a friend, Mr Stalwart,' she said, her anger rising, 'f.u.c.k his other friend, then try to kill her?'

'What are you talking about?' I asked.  

'You've been trying to completely a.s.similate me, haven't you?' she said. 'You shut me off because you needed to research the best method to merge my Fragment within your soul. You didn't want me to find out, Mr. Stalwart.'

'I don't know what's gotten into you,' I said. 'I've shut you off because you annoy me with your sermons and baseless accusations. Stop doing that and we're friends again. I never wanted to kill you or a.s.similate you. No offense but, what could you possibly offer me? Even if I fused your Fragment with my soul, what would I gain? Extra strength?'

'You're a fool, Stalwart,' Eva said then disappeared inside her Fragment.

She had grown weaker lately. After I absorbed the demon's energy, I managed to a.s.similate Eva's Fragment faster. I took most of its energy and made it mine. If I wanted to, I could break her easily and fuse her fragment with mine. I promised her, however, that I wouldn't touch her counsciousness, but as she got weaker, her mood was either of sermons, or accusations.

I shook the somber thoughts of Eva's growing paranoia away, and concentrated on an idea I just had. Thanks to her little outburst, I remembered I had another Fragment that needed a.s.similating. I tried coating it with my energy before but I couldn't get close without suffering severe backlash.

I sat in the pool and concentrated my essence to move around the Fragment. I've practiced this manoeuver many times. My essence had to surround the Fragment with equal force, and simultaneously. It took some time to master, and a lot of attacks from the Fragment's hostile energy, but I managed to finally surround it.

The issue I had was holding the siege. Even though I became stronger, I couldn't contain the Fragment's attacks for too long. I'd always have to release my grasp on it before I completely ran out of strength. I'd keep my last dregs of energy to contain the essence that seeps from the Fragment to attack my conduits.

This time around, I had a little extra help. I slowly directed my essence toward the Fragment. When I got closer, I willed my essence to surround the Fragment from all angles then kept my hold around it.

It fought back, as was its custom, and I felt my energy drain. I persevered, and kept fighting back. Minutes pa.s.sed, maybe hours. I never kept count. I was almost at my usual limit. My energy didn't falter though. Whenever I felt I was getting weaker, a surge of energy will fill my entire being. The pool was reinvigorating me.

Emboldened by the magic water effect, I pushed harder against the Fragment's defenses. It fought back more violently. Energy against energy, like two magnets struggling against each other, we fought. The Fragment's counter attack was fierce. I don't think I could have survived this without this magic encounter.

  The more the Fragment fought, the harder I pressed. The pool was still sustaining me, refilling my energy whenever I needed it. The Fragment, on the other hand, began weakening. I managed to push a little farther on the right side, and I felt it's energy falter. My heart began pounding against my chest.

I was getting closer to breaking this wild thing's will. I was closer than I'd ever been before. I pushed further, and the energy around the Fragment broke. It dissipated then became one with my own.

The feeling I had after that was overwhelming. It felt like I just gained the power to lift mountains. The snow flake shaped Fragment began vibrating then. I felt my essence being drawn into it. I realized then, that the Fragment was siphoning it inside, at a dangerous rate.

I started feeling drowsy. My body felt cold, despite being inside a magical pool of warm water. I started feeling weak too, as though the Fragment was snuffing life out of me. The magic water couldn't refill my essence as fast as the Fragment was absorbing it, but it kept providing me with energy.

I couldn't fight back either. I felt helpless, as all my energy, my life force, were pulled into the Fragment. I started drifting in and out of consciousness. Then I closed my eyes, and everything went blank.

"You finally made it," Dif's voice reached out to me.

I was in that eerie white s.p.a.ce again. The old man had his arms behind his back. He was standing in front of me, smiling.

"I didn't think you were up to it," he said, still smiling.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You tamed the Fragment," Dif answered. "It now recognizes you as its owner. It's taking your essence and it's fusing with it. When you wake, you'll feel the outstanding change."

"Does that mean I a.s.similated it?"

"No," Dif answered flatly. His smile disappeared. "What did I give you all that knowledge for? I thought you used it to break the Fragment's defenses."

"I've been sorting it out," I said. "I found this magic pool before I could sort everything out though."

"What pool?" Dif said then disappeared. He came back a second later, beaming. "You are one lucky son of a b.i.t.c.h. You found an Aether spring."

"You say that like I'm supposed to understand it," I said, scowling.

Dif sighed. "Sarcasm won't help you get stronger you know," he then bitterly said.

"But you can?" I asked, making sure I sounded sarcastic.

"Why the cynic att.i.tude?" the old man asked with one arched eybrow.

"Because everyone has something to gain from helping me," I answered.

"You help others too," Dif retorted. "Do you do it from the goodness of your heart?"

I silently glowered at the old man.

"I help you because I was a.s.signed to," he said after a while. "If you get to Milogac on time, I get to help you through the Wars. We kill the Holus holder and we win, I'll get a wish granted. I want that wish. That is why it's in my best interest to help you."

I glared at the old man for a while. "Why not tell me all of this from the beginning?" I asked.

"Now you're acting like a weak, whiny human," Dif said, exasperated. "What difference does it make? Even if I hadn't told you, you'd still be willing to win your spot at the Holi Wars."

"I don't like being used," I said in an angry whisper.

Dif approached me slowly. His eyes narrowed into slits.

"You could have refused the Fragment," he said, imitating my angry whisper. "You could have refused to fight the necromancer, but you didn't. You accepted a gift from an ent.i.ty you know nothing about, and now you complain about being used? Did you think that all that power wouldn't come at a price? How naïve can you get?"

"Alright," I said, trying to calm down, to see things clearly.

The old man had a point. I knew I was being used, but I was using the Fragment to get to my ends too. It was mutually beneficial at best. At worst, I could lose my life. I vowed to find out everything I can about these Primordial Lords before I reached Milogac. Dif was right. I was a cynic, but it's my cynicism that helped me survive this long.

"You want to help me a.s.similate this Fragment," I said. "What are my chances of fully a.s.similating it before the beginning of the Wars?"

 "Slim," Dif answered. "But once the war starts, you'll have a chance to fuse it with your soul."

"How?" I asked.

"The pool you're lying in," Dif said. "It stems from ancient Aether roots. There was an anomaly in this land long ago, and Aether roots, deep below the earth, started producing a liquid. The liquid soon became a spring, the Aether Spring. I can guide you to a root during the Wars. There, you can absorb its energy and use it to fully a.s.similate the Fragment."

"Why not do it here?" I asked.

"Your essence is undergoing a slight transformation as we speak," Dif said. "If you try to fuse with the Fragment here, you might suck the entire source dry. I don't think its owners would be delighted to hear the news. Besides, the essence in Aether roots is a hundred times stronger than this spring."

"What do I do now?" I asked.

"Find the ghost captain," Dif answered. "Champions from all over the western continent will soon swarm the city. I suggest you tread lightly, and watch your back. You're not the only one Lord Minsec had chosen. You're fair compet.i.tion now."

Before I could speak, Dif and the white s.p.a.ce vanished. I opened my eye, to find myself floating in the pool. I inspected my essence and found that it had indeed gone through a tremendous transformation.

It felt stronger now, sharper. It felt as though it had a shape as it slithered through my conduits. It felt like a scaly serpent, vicious, patient, and deadly.

I felt amazingly, refres.h.i.+ngly, stronger.