Amelia stumbled out of the wood and flames, quickly diving onto the ground to try and put out the embers that had stuck themselves to her clothes. Once she was done, she looked back at the house that was burning down behind her. She knew what it was, and yet she only had a hazy memory of it.

  This is where you were born, was it?

  “Yeah.” She stood up, putting her hands in her pockets and looking up at the top floor. “In more ways than one. I’ve had dreams about this before, but it’s never looked this real.”

  If you can see it, you remember it. Is that not true?

  “Not for us. Maybe for whatever the hell you are.” She looked down at the scars on her skin. “This is how I got these. I think they’re fading as I get older, don’t you?”

  I cannot say. If I understand correctly, it’s for you to decide.

  “It’s really not, but if it is…I say they’ll be gone by the time I’m 20.” She laughed. “No one knows how a 3 year old got out of the building while none of the adults did. They say my mother tried to save me, haul me out through a window, but I doubt it. I don’t remember either of them caring about me enough to save my life. I was barely old enough to walk, so how did I stagger out of a burning building? Was it fate? Was it dumb luck? Did someone else swoop in and then escape like a thief in the night?”

  Stranger things have happened.

  “Like having your dreams invaded by some kind of stranger.”

  What makes you say that?

  “Couple of reasons. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

  You will not remember this conversation.

  “And here I was thinking I was going to be nice. But I imagine you didn’t come here for me to argue.”

  What do you believe happened here? Why did you live and your parents die?

  “I don’t believe anything, because it doesn’t matter. The moment I walked out of that building and ended up in a foster home, it was a clean slate. All I took with me was my scars, my name and the clothes on my back. James always worries about me and if I was traumatised or something, and he’s right too, but this was a different me. A me I don’t even remember. And that’s how I know I’m not alone here, because I would never dream of this.”

  You have some very astute observations and a decent will.

  “Decent? Give me a little more credit here.”

  Will you come inside?

  She heard the door collapse off its hinges, the fire parting slightly. She sighed as she walked in.

  “Out of the fire and into the fire, I guess,” she said.

  She walked in through the long hallway, wood burning away. A few photos of people she didn’t recognise hung on the walls, memories slowly burning away. She could hear a few incomprehensible screams and shouts from upstairs. It was the first time in her life she’d come to appreciate her birth parents as genuine humans.

  A door at the end of the hallway creaked open, into what had once been a poorly kept kitchen. Amelia tried her best not to step on all the broken glass that littered the floor, or staggered in the flames that had engulfed the room. She couldn’t see through all the smoke and fire. She heard something collapse above her head and barely dodged a wooden beam crashing to the floor.

  Come closer.

  “Where the f-” She gagged as she inhaled the smoke, coughing before she held her hand to her mouth to keep it out.

  Walk through the flames. Accept them.

  “Why?” She wheezed. As she continued to stagger forward, no idea where she was going or what was at the end.

  Because I need an Embodiment, and you are the only candidate left. Your friends failed, and you have promise.

  “What did you do to them?”

  What I’m doing to you now. Now, will you accept the fire.

  “You…” She took a deep breath, realised that was a terrible idea in all this smoke, closed her eyes and walked into the flames.

  She screamed as her skin began to burn once more, but she kept walking. Telling herself it was only worked for a while, but before long the pain became overwhelming. It took all her will to put one foot in front of the other. She felt her flesh falling away but her will didn’t falter. She needed to see this through. If not for her sake, then for the others.

  She staggered out of the flames, collapsing to the ground. It was suddenly too dark to see anything, and she was sure she didn’t want to see herself after going through that. Every part of her body still burned with pain.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Where…” Her voice was raw and hoarse.

  I am here.

  A bright light shone down on Amelia.

  I accept you as my candidate. Do you accept my power?

  Amelia could barely think straight from the pain. She absentmindedly muttered “Yes.”

  After her eyes adjusted, she saw long strands of mercury descending from the light. She reached out her charred arm towards them, and they entered her body through the wounds and through her nails. She saw as her skin began to regenerate itself, but when she pulled back her arm to look closer, she noticed it looked almost too perfect, like she was made out of plastic.

  The liquid metal climbed up her arm, eventually reaching and entering her mouth. It didn’t make her gag, rather it felt like she was drinking a cool glass of water. Amelia looked up once again and spoke, but her voice was not her own. It was hollow, mechanical.

  “What…are you?”

  I have many names, but to you…I am the Soul Armoury.

  Amelia stood up, her body fully restored. She smiled, laughing in joy as her body was restored, but soon she realised it didn’t feel right. It moved too slowly, felt too heavy, like there was disconnect between her limbs and her mind. Her body wasn’t truly hers anymore.

  Goodnight, Amelia Lincoln. My Embodiment.

  Then everything went dark.

  >>>

  The group looked at Draconautis with a mix of horror and disbelief. If this had been said by anyone else, they wouldn’t have believed it. With everything they’d been through now, it made perfect sense.

  “Do you want to expand on that?” Patrick asked.

  “Sable is a world in another dimension,” Draconautis explained. “Every 10 years or so, cracks in the veil would appear, known as Bleeds, bringing over people from your world. These people would be seen as curious travellers, bringing aspects of your culture to Sable. The reverse was also true, resulting in many of your fantasies and legends. However, the process began to slow overtime. The Bleeds became less and less frequent. For your world, the histories of these people faded from time, and the few who came over now were seen as madmen forced to comply. But for the people who were sent from here to Sable? They were claimed to be heroes, prophets…and warriors who could kill the Dark Lord.”

  “And Kable was the most recent one,” James interjected. The party looked at him in confusion.

  “You catch on fast,” Draconautis continued. “Maximilian was the most recent hero of Sable, coming surprisingly quickly after the last one. He killed the Dark Lord once and for all, and after adventuring far and wide across Sable and beyond, he was the only Hero of Sable to make his way home. Now he’s come back to reclaim what is his. The game’s story is a twisted mockery of his journey to defeat Valzekt, grafted onto the imprisoned world underneath. Those of Sableine blood are now his puppets, your NPCs. Being under the master’s thumb truly must be a glorious nightmare.”

  Draconautis chuckled a little as life began to leave it.

  “You still have a lot more to learn, but I doubt most of you will live long enough to find it…except for you. This hunt has been a pleasure, James Marlow.”

  James yanked the crowbar out of Grey’s hand and slammed it down onto Draconautis’ remaining eye. The half skeletal monster collapsed immediately, but James kept battering the skull until it caved in.

  “That’s enough, James,” Patrick said. James stood up, black liquid dripping from the crowbar as he chucked it away.

  “Well?” He said. “Do you get it now? I didn’t get all of it. Hell, I still don’t understand everything I just heard. I figured out the basics from what I saw in Corigrad. Sable is real, Kable is a monster, and we’re in danger. So…I tried to make you stop playing, figure out what to do, but I couldn’t tell you guys. This was our last chance before we couldn’t go back anymore. I thought that Oblivia might have been right.”

  “And you didn’t think about how we’d feel?” Amelia asked. “You thought we’d just accept what you said at face value with no explanation?”

  “Yes. You always have before. It kept you safe.”

  “This isn’t high school, James,” Grey said. “This is something far, far beyond us. You couldn’t hope to protect us.”

  “I know that now. Now I think my goal has changed. I still don’t want to dig deeper. I want to follow Oblivia’s advice and stop here. But if you want to keep going, then I’ve got to come with you. I said I’d protect you guys forever. I mean it.”

  “Draconautis said that those NPCs were real,” Amelia said. “That means Delarius was real too. He must be forced to play out his own death every single day. And all the enemies we killed, Nolan, the Goblin King, Kiula…people are constantly killing them too?”

  “It’s a struggle to wrap my head around,” Grey admitted, “but we can’t turn our backs on people in need now we know what’s truly going on.”

  “We killed people then.” Amelia sat down in the dirt, back against a girder, staring blankly at the floor. “We were just playing the game regularly, there’s no way we could have known, but…we’re all killers.”

  “They respawn,” James said. “They don’t stay dead. And…I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. We’re going to have to fight more if we want to get to the end of the game, but if it means we can free Sable, maybe it was worth it.”

  “I knew Kable was evil,” Patrick growled, “but this is a whole new kind of vile. We have to bring him to justice.”

  “Maybe put what we found online?” Amelia asked.

  “No one would believe us. Even if we photographed the dragon skeleton over there, people would say it was AI generated, or that it doesn’t prove any of the shit about Sable, and then Kable’s cronies would come knocking.”

  “Until we have more leads, I think we should keep playing the game,” James said. “Figure out what’s going on in there. Let’s get the hell out of here before the police show up, get Grey to a hospital. I’m sure they can pay the bill.”

  Grey grumbled, but they knew he wasn’t wrong.

  “Next week, at this exact time, I want us to meet in the town after Corigrad,” James continued. “Restock items, grind, don’t play, whatever. Just meet up there and then. If we’re all there, we continue onwards, whatever the odds. I’m sorry I kept this from you.”

  Patrick and Amelia just stared at him, but Grey interjected before they spoke their minds. “I understand. You feel like you didn’t have a choice. You protected us, so thank you. Now please get me to a hospital before we’re arrested for trespassing.”

  “Just trespassing?” Amelia asked. “We literally just blew someone up.”

  “Do they have laws against blowing up dragons?” Patrick inquired.

  “Just get me out before I puncture something,” Grey said, before coughing.

  The group hefted Grey onto their shoulders as they staggered out. They all knew this moment was going to change their life forever. The road may be long, but they had each other, and that’s all they needed.