Sadiq did not speak; his muscles refused to move. Some animals believe that if they stay still, any passing predator will lose sight of them, making them invisible to the predator. It is a defense instrument that the primitive side of his mind says will keep him safe from the five pairs of eyes that bore into him. His inability to do anything must have been amusing because the man on the throne huffed out a laugh before repeating his question.

  “I thought we had killed everyone in town,” the man with the mask said after Sadiq continued to remain mute. “I wonder where he was hiding?”

  “No, no, just arrived. I looked into records. Census. Be should 1,236,” the man with the abacus said, his speech slow, improper, at times mispronounced, and it seemed as though he was trying to avoid stuttering. “Bodies counted. Not wrong—numbers never wrong.”

  The man on the throne stood up, the guqin seeming to float in the air, it moving to the side as he walked forward. “Both of you are being rude. You're speaking of the old man as if he isn't here standing before you.” He gestured for the instrument to float in front of him. “Although it seems he might need a little help making acquaintances,” the man said before giving the guqin a light strum. His fingers glided, brushed, and plucked with deliberate care, the notes falling from the instrument like a gentle breath. His thumb curled, his forefinger trembled ever so slightly, and his nails skimmed the strings, shaping a melody that rose soft and low.

  The tune was not loud. It wound through the air, fluid and sinuous. Each phrase beckoned, each note subtle. The sound spread outward like ripples on a still pond.

  Sadiq shifted. His body became lax, and for a moment, he felt as though he was going to crumble, unable to hold himself up, but something molded around him. Thousands of invisible strings ensnared the body, turning man into puppet. A tilt of the musician’s wrist altered the tone, and Sadiq’s head turned. Another sliding stroke of fingers, and Sadiq’s legs carried him forward in halting steps, drawn by the music as though the melody itself were its master’s breath. Not by his volition, but by the puppeteer’s did Sadiq move.

  He was made to stand before the man playing the guqin, and even after the last strum, whatever hold was over Sadiq did not fade. “Ragnar, help the old man to be more talkative.”

  The one named Ragnar stepped toward Sadiq, coming close with his masked face. Two crimson eyes peered through the cut-out holes of the mask, and Sadiq became entranced with them. There was nothing special about the man's eyes; they were the same color as all people's, yet Sadiq could not look away. As he kept focus, the features of the mask began to shift; its pale skin, simple nose, and mouth blossomed with color and shadows. Sadiq was looking into the face of the most charming man, someone he would want to be friends with, and he felt himself calming down. “Tell me, friend, why are you here?”

  “I came in search of the one who decimated the city of Palermo,” Sadiq replied chirply. He was smiling by this point, eager to help and befriend the agreeable man before him.

  “Is this a quest for revenge? How boring,” the musician said with a pout. Ragnar motioned with his chin for Sadiq to answer the question. “No. What I seek is knowledge. The man responsible obtained great power and has learned to wield it to create a name for himself. More and more people whisper the name Adagio, and I want that. I want to know how to become like him, how to have people know my name. I'm here to fulfill my wants.”

  The musician let out a huffing laugh, waving his hand in dismissal, his instrument returning to its side position, and Sadiq had to catch himself from falling forward. Ragnar, at the same time, slid his hand down his face, and the charming man from before vanished, leaving behind the pale mask. No longer under either of the men’s influence, Sadiq felt his breathing quicken. He had concluded that the one with the guqin was Adagio, and as much as Sadiq had wanted an audience with the man, he had not approached it correctly. Now he is stuck amidst a den of lions and is at their mercy.

  “Part of what you want is simple to fulfill,” Adagio said, before pointing to himself. “But the other half, trying to become like me, if you have to ask how, then you’ve already failed.”

  “Should I kill him?” asked a voice so quiet, Sadiq would have missed it had the town been anything more than silent desolation. The voice came from the young man with the knife. He is the youngest of the five, possibly eighteen or nineteen years of age. His youthfulness did not dilute the indifference in his voice that caused a quiver to rack Sadiq’s body. There was no coldness or malice; it was as if the young man was asking about the weather, and it was petrifying.

  Adagio looked affronted at the young man’s words. “He’s a failure, Shiloh, but not useless. A weak man seeking strength, uncaring where it comes from, is a viable candidate for cultivation. His selfish pursuit will nourish us. We can’t be wasteful.”

  “So he will join us,” said the woman who had yet to speak, Amelia-Rose. Her voice was a beautiful, gentle melody, matching her stunning visage, yet it was tarnished when she extended her arm for the rat to leap off. It landed on a corpse and began feeding on the rotting flesh while Amelia-Rose looked on as though it were a precious sight.

  Before Adagio could reply, Sadiq found himself speaking, unable to hold his tongue as he seized the opportunity presented before him. “I used to be the squire to Seneschal Valentin in the Harald Clan’s army, although I have been recently promoted to his position upon his death in Aurora City. I can offer my military insight and my skills as a soldier to further your cause. Given enough time, I can prove myself to you.”

  It felt jarring how prone to laughter Adagio was. He seemed amused by everything, more so by Sadiq in that moment, as he laughed at the man’s words. “We don’t have an army, so there are no ranks to climb for you to prove yourself.”

  “Then how do I become as you are? How do I obtain the strength I desire?”

  Adagio smiled, his teeth glinting. “By cultivating sin. Make first the mockery of sacrifice, and after it whispers to you, feed it horrible deeds. Much worse than the last. The more sin cultivated, the more power you receive. Do this, and maybe you will stand with us.”

  —————

  Outside the window of his study is a large tree, and on one of its branches, a mother and father bird had created their nest. Sadiq is unsure when the female laid her eggs or when those eggs hatched, but he can hear the baby birds chirping as one of their parents presents food to them. He has been watching them for just over an hour. It has been three weeks since he spoke with Adagio, and a week since Bellona had taken yet another town.

  He should be with the other soldiers, holding the line, and protecting the clan, but his clan leader dismissed him a day ago. It was because of what Sadiq had done.

  A report of negligence. In retaking Isel, he had sent men forward on the promise of glory who never received clarification when the town’s defenders countered; volleys meant to fell the enemy instead fell back into the ranks when commands contradicted one another. Sadiq had the authority to call them back and did not. The one who ousted him was his squire, a young fourteen-year-old he still had not bothered to learn the name of. Clan Leader Cedric had been furious, inquiring as to how it all went awry, punishing him with several lashes across the back as his leader cursed Valentin’s name for dying and leaving them. To make sense of Sadiq’s actions, who gave no reasons behind them, Clan Leader Cedric deemed his mind clouded by cowardly woes. His dismissal was also accompanied by a command for him to clear his mind and return to his duties with greater efficiency than before.

  Sadiq had no intention to do as his clan leader wanted him to.

  “How fortunate you are,” Bauer said, his voice wafting through the threshold of Sadiq’s study. “To be given leisure time during a war.”

  Sadiq did not respond, continuing to stare at the birds. What the babies are being fed is food Sadiq had left out. Mad Apples are typically cooked without the leaves, stems, and roots, but Sadiq had made an exception for the birds. They did not seem picky about the food, nor did their instincts warn them of its danger. They simply ate it before presenting it to their offspring.

  “Since you are here, why not help refill the lamps with oil? Your promotion may have seen me become your yeoman, but I refuse to serve you. Either hire more servants and get rid of me, or become useful. You haven’t been lately.” When Bauer continued to receive no response, the man growled before scoffing. “Perhaps you truly are losing your head. It would be justice if you were, you rotten man.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  When Bauer turned to walk away, Sadiq stood from his chair, surging forward. Bauer halted, hearing the sound of rushing feet, but he was caught off guard, unable to defend himself when an arm encircled his neck. A desk knife, thin, dull, pointed—a thing meant for opening sealed letters, and not for what Sadiq intended to use it for—was driven into Bauer’s upper chest, through cloth and cartilage. It had been no simple task, forcing the metal against the resistance, but Sadiq exerted a foreign strength. It festered within him, aiding him as he pulled out the desk knife, only to repeat the gesture over again. He was hollering a string of unintelligible noise as his arm moved up and down, Bauer attempting to throw him off. Still, despite his maintained physique, the old man was helpless against Sadiq’s insanity.

  He was exhausted, breath heavy and uneven, when he finally allowed Bauer’s body to slip away from him. It thudded against the floor, but Sadiq’s attention was ensnared by the dark wetness that coated his hands. Bauer is not the first life he has ever taken. During his first year under Valentine, he had accompanied his seneschal when he went to collect an unpaid tribute from the Erstblut Clan. They had not known at the time that it was a deliberate act, and that the clan had set up an ambush. A fight had ensued, and Sadiq had been unseasoned in combat, so Valentin had ordered him to hide while he and his soldiers quelled the rabble. He had made the mistake of running into a cottage that was occupied by a man who stood over the deceased body of a Harald soldier. Upon seeing Sadiq, the man attacked, tossing him down and forcing him to wrestle against the knife the man tried to stab him with. In desperation not to die, Sadiq had turned rabid like an animal, clawing and biting to get the upper hand. His efforts were fruitful, and he had managed to wrangle the weapon and turn it on the man. A single thrust of the knife into the man’s neck had blood gushing like a geyser and the man toppling to the side. The man had slowly bled out, and Sadiq had remained hidden in the cottage, staring at the body all the while.

  He had forgotten what it felt like to take another’s life with his own hands. The first time had been for survival, and was marred by fear and regret, causing him to avoid killing whenever feasible. When he began conducting collections on his own, he tried to maintain a civil approach. If civility did not work, and force was necessary, he commanded his escorts to do it for him, retaining watch from atop his horse. Sadiq finds it amusing that he thought there was a difference between watching someone die by his orders and carrying out the intention himself. In the end, someone died because of him, although he must admit one was far more gratifying than the other.

  Sadiq wiped his hand on his robes, smearing them with Bauer’s blood as he went to stand by the window again. He watched the leaves of the tree shiver in the breeze, and he noted how the birds' chirping had stopped.

  —————

  “I told you to refrain from returning to the capital until I called for you,” Clan Leader Cedric said, his dark ebony skin contorted in anger and annoyance. He was scribbling away at his desk, hardly acknowledging Sadiq in the slightest. “Why have you come to bother me?”

  His clan leader was dressed in relaxed layers of robes, with multiple strands of his hair braided and hanging down his shoulders. Sadiq does not think he has ever witnessed his clan leader in more put-together garbs, the man prioritizing comfort above all else. “Are you going to continue to stare at me, or are you going to explain why you’ve intruded on my peace?”

  Sadiq had thought his mind would be brimming with contemplation over the clan leader he once had admired for inheriting a legacy built upon the surname he carried, yet it was empty as he watched his clan leader look up from his work. He gave no speech, no words of warning, or of anger over the injustice that befell his clan. What Sadiq did do was march up to Clan Leader Cedric’s desk, causing the man to open his mouth in a likely reprimand, but his words failed him when Sadiq lunged over. He was mindful enough to clamp a hand over his leader’s mouth as he drove his desk knife, still encrusted in red and now sharpened, into his clan leader’s neck. They would have toppled backward had Sadiq not leaned back, using his body as a counterweight whilst still maintaining his hold on the desk knife. His clan leader weakly clawed at him, attempting in vain to dislodge the makeshift weapon. Rivers of blood coated the clan leader’s robes, and soon enough, his struggling ceased as life left him.

  He crouched on the desk, listening to the last sputters escape past his clan leader’s lips, and not a moment later did Sadiq hear a shouting come from the halls, followed by a loud boom. Sadiq smiled as he made his escape out the nearest window, leaving before the arrival of the clan leader’s guards.

  —————

  Harald’s capital fell into ruin in a single night. A ferocious fire had sprung to life at the clan leader’s manor, but it had not been the only one. Many more in the surrounding area awoke to life, spreading quickly, as the people had not been prepared and were unable to do anything against the flames. What made matters worse was that the fire had somehow engulfed the capital in a large ring, preventing the people from escaping. By the time morning came, the fire still roared, but the cries for help had diminished as smoke curled into the sky.

  The fire lived for four days, and for the entirety of it, Sadiq had watched on as it blazed.

  —————

  More… More… More!

  The five Sadiq had spoken with, the ones who had encouraged his endeavor, took over the lands, the continent being split amongst them. Their reign was unlike that of the towering clans, one where there was order under a single leader. Instead, it consisted of pain and death; no tributes or promises of loyalty were enough to save anyone they saw fit to kill.

  Sadiq had thought it would be uncomplicated to reach the same status as the five, possibly even surpassing them, as he had destroyed Harald’s capital without assistance from supernatural gifts. He had not even let the thought of his family get in the way of cultivating his sin, allowing the faces of his mother and sisters to fade away from his memory. The man had not stopped there, taking his newfound lust and sinking his teeth into unsuspecting prey. As part of his cultivation and to expedite his awaiting ascension, Sadiq took to mocking the Trinity: the Son, the Father, and the Spirit. He killed in sets of threes, positioning bodies in the form of a triangle as a sin offering. In doing this, he kept to the words Adagio told him—making a mockery of sacrifice.

  Sadiq had lost count of how many lives he took, yet with each one, the voice continued to demand. More… More… More, it said. So Sadiq offered. Years trailing after him, and he grew frustrated.

  He had noticed the difference in his body. Where age should have chiseled at him, it seemed to move at a snail’s pace, maybe even slower. His visage stood against the test of time, yet what need did he have for immortality when he had begotten nothing. No one knew his name. A purposeful tactic, as he had not wanted to be hunted during his spudding cultivation. It seemed to have turned against them because, as the five ascended, Sadiq was stuck.

  —————

  Sadiq had not heard the name Heartsease in a long time, and when he had, it took him a moment to remember the young man at Palermo. Whispers were springing up again, with Heartsease’s name involved, and most peculiar was the accompanying name of seven others. Adoptore, Davar, Halo, Nemesis, Noctua, Mar, and Mor. A supposed opposition consisting of six men and two women.

  He had found it funny how the party thought they would be able to best those with power that were akin to God’s. Many have risen before them, attempting to slay the dreadful dragons, yet they all fell to their knees. Heartsease was being ambitious, and Sadiq had waited for news of his demise. It never came.

  The first defeated was Ragnar at the hands of Nemesis, Mar, and Mor.

  After him, Kaos engaged in battle with Noctua and was slain.

  Amelia-Rose lost her life to Adoptore and Halo, and later, Shiloh lost his to Davar.

  Lastly, Adagio, the young man whom Sadiq had seen sauntering with a conqueror’s walk, he had fought against Heartsease and lost. Sadiq had not been there to witness his death, but he had not needed to be because the voice was the one that told him. It did not cry out in agony or turmoil over losing its esteemed champion; instead, it calmly stated that Adagio was dead. That is when the earth beneath Sadiq’s feet trembled, his only warning, before cracks began to form and Panthos broke apart.

  —————

  It took him many years to walk the length of the new land mass on which he was stranded. During his travels, he gazed upon the sea for the first time and marveled at its expansive, dark waters. He attempted to stay near the ocean, but had to eventually travel inland due to a lack of fresh water to drink. Sadiq would stumble upon many settlements that had experienced the earthquake but were unaware of Panthos’s breakage. Then, there were those who bore witness to the ground cracking open in front of them, separating them from family on the other side as they drifted away.

  As Sadiq traveled, he continued with his cultivation practices with renewed vigor. Although the five before him had tasted the embarrassment of defeat, Sadiq had resolved to become greater than them. Where they failed, he would succeed, so he took his pounds of flesh from any village that housed him, or any fellow traveler that made his acquaintance. He fed the voice that seemed to increase its demand for more.

  —————

  The lake had confused him, making him think it was the ocean due to its large size. He only realized it was not because of its lack of waves; still, it intrigued him as much as the sea did, and he found himself building a small raft. The raft was basic in its design, but once he saw that it was sturdy, Sadiq set off. He traveled far across the lake’s surface, catching fish to eat, and rationing his stores of clean water. Until one night, as he was sleeping, a creature from the depths of the lake, that with the body of a serpent and the head of a fish, attacked him. It pulled him underneath the water and dragged him toward the lake floor.

  Sadiq had fought vehemently against the creature, lashing out against the coils around his body until a particular dig with his desk knife, the weapon he carried with him for years, caused it to break within the flesh of the creature. It let him go, and Sadiq sank the remaining foot to the lake floor. As his body lay there while his lungs burned from needing to breathe, Sadiq had turned his head and was startled by a human skull looking at him. His eyes traced the skull's face and traveled down its fleshless body. In between the ribcage of the skeleton, a long metal quill stuck out, but Sadiq ignored it for the knife held between bony fingers that was lodged in the earth. He grabbed the knife at the same time the creature came back for another attack. It was as he pulled the weapon that the world opened up before him and swallowed him.