On instinct, Felix called for his mana. It flared out and covered his body in a protective cocoon, just in time for the flames to slam into him. Red and orange danced in his vision, temporarily blinding him.

But just as quickly as it came, the attack ended.

Blinking, he took a defensive stance and waited for his eyes to readjust. His mana all the while fanned out, searching and seeking his opponent.

It found him. Hanzel was slowly approaching, but there was something wrong. Half of the dwarven mastercrafter was burning, smoldering. He raised a hand and more fire flew from him.

Felix furrowed his brows, frustrated that it had come to this. There was nothing more he wanted than to resolve things peacefully…

This time, as the fire came at him, he sidestepped it. Sweat began to cover him as the intense heat passed by dangerously close. He would need to be careful, his mana could absorb and negate it but all it would take was a lucky hit.

As the second attack tapered off, Hanzel appeared through the smoke. He came to a stop a mere thirty feet away.

Now able to visually see him and not just sense him, Felix decided to try one final time at diplomacy. "Hanzel! You don't have to do this! I don't think you're a monster! I came here to talk!"

The smoldering dwarf cocked his head, like a child trying to understand. "Talk?"

"Yes!" For a moment, Felix felt hope but it was quickly dashed. The dwarf began a guttural laugh, one that sent a shiver down his spine.

It suddenly ended.

"Unless you can grant me a painful death, I have nothing more to say to you." Hanzel raised a hand and gave him a wicked smile. "I take that back, I do have a single question for you. What will happen to your skin as I set it alight? Will it burn or melt first?"

Skin? Does he– Felix had an idea. They were within the crystal and everything before him was simply a projection. A projection created by magic…

Slowly, carefully, he began to guide his mana towards the ground. It pierced through but what he wanted to do would take time. He needed to hold out until then.

"Don't you already know the answer? You managed to kill plenty already with fire!"

The dwarf blinked and lowered his hand as he began to ponder that. "I suppose you are right. Oh well–"

Felix didn't wait for him to finish his response and went on the attack. He dashed forward, shifting a fraction of his mana towards his feet to reinforce them. He crossed the distance within an instant.

Raising his own hand, he gathered more of his mana and sent it forward. Both his hand and mana made contact before the dwarf even knew what happened.

"What?" Struggling, Hanzel tried to move but Felix was already locking him in place.

Felix gave a grim smile. "So, you wish to feel pain? I can help with that…"

He closed his eyes and focused on his mana now coursing through the dwarf, looking for the core of their soul. He found it fast, knowing exactly where to look.

What the… Something was wrong with Hanzel's soul. Not only had the Flame Shade partially consumed it but it had the taint of miasma as well.

Fear replaced his confidence as the existence of it could mean only one thing…

The High Prophet.

Shaking the thought away, Felix redoubled his focus on the miasma. It was buried deep. But how to remove it? Hanzel's soul was in a delicate state, cracks and fissures existed on one-half and fire on the other half.

Patiently he scanned for easy access, worried that he might straight up kill the dwarf if he weren't careful. And Felix still needed the dwarf alive…

There! he shouted to himself. He found a tiny, hairline crack. Yet, despite its size, it ran down to the very center of Hanzel's soul. It ran right to the miasma.

With his mana, Felix brought it to a fine point and pushed it through the crack. As he did so, he felt a strange numbness, indifference, take hold of him. It was cold in how no emotion came to him.

So this is the issue. I think I can heal this with Fea's magic, but first… His mana made contact with the miasma and old, nearly forgotten memories came to him.

He saw the hoards of enemy soldiers approaching him. He saw elves and dwarves convulsing. He felt the spread of miasma… How had he taken control of it before?

That's right…

Felix reached into his own soul, pulling a minuscule amount of his life force from it. The process caused him to wince in pain but he did his best to ignore it. He had plenty and this pitiful amount would not be missed.

Guiding now his life's essence, he directed it through his mana and towards the miasma. As he did so, he began a spell–

A flash caused him to pull out from the crack, but he had been successful. The miasma was coming with him, now under his control. He quickly destroyed it.

Now for the crack itself… He trailed off in a moment of hesitation, however. Should he do this? Should he waste Fea's mana on someone who did not deserve it? There would be consequences for it if he did.

Consequences that he didn't want.

But the sleeping dragon within stirred once more, coming to a half-awake state. Insights that were not his entered his mind. Ah, right.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The souls trapped within the mana crystal would be needed to create the mana well. Otherwise, Felix would have to figure out another way…

But to use a person's soul. Isn't that…cruel? Probably, but Hanzel's soul was already at the breaking point, ready to shatter. That, and the Flame Shade would almost certainly consume it before it reached that point.

Either he would use the soul, it would shatter or be consumed. The dwarf's fate was sealed.

With that weighing heavy on his mind, Felix made a decision. He would heal the tiny fracture and give the dwarf back his feeling, his emotions. It would be a small price to pay for the sin he was most assuredly about to commit.

Fea, I'm going to borrow your healing. He felt assurance come from the half-awake dragon. A moment later, her mana began building.

Bringing his focus back to the hairline fracture, he once again mixed his mana with hers. A spell from deep within him went off just as he 'touched' the soul…

The dragon fell back asleep as Felix pulled himself out of Hanzel's core. The scenery had changed once more, this time back to a white void.

"There, now you will know pain."

Letting go of Hanzel, he watched as the dwarf fell to his knees. A look of…horror was plastered to his face and, for once, it looked appropriate.

"What… What have–" Hanzel let out a scream, his smoldering flesh glowed like an ember.

"That, Hanzel, is pain. That is what you wanted, and now you have it." Felix lowered himself to be level with the dwarf. "What you are feeling… What you are feeling is what you did to those you killed."

"P-PLEASE! STOP IT! IT… IT HURTS!" Hanzel went prone, writhing.

Gods, please forgive me… "No."

Felix watched with hidden pity as the dwarf reached out with a shaky hand for him. He forced himself to watch, to bear witness to what he had done.

"PLEASE! I-I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID! I DON'T WANT TO FEEL!"

But Felix only shook his head. "I cannot do that… But, I can end your suffering–"

"ANYTHING! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

"First, you must know, your soul–"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT MY SOUL! END IT!"

Taking a deep breath, he pushed on with what he was about to say. "Hanzel, no matter what happens, your soul is forfeit. Either I make use of it, or… Or the Flame Shade will consume it."

"JUST DO IT–"

Felix lost it, he touched the dwarf and had his mana hold him still. "Damn it, Hanzel. You don't understand, you will cease to exist. Your soul will be consumed, no matter what happens. I need you to know that, to understand that."

The dwarf's eyes looked up at him, terror and realization sinking in. Felix let him go.

"I-I'll become nothing?" Hanzel asked, far more calmly now.

"Not quite. With your permission, I'd like to use what is left of your soul to create something miraculous, something great."

The dwarf pondered that, even as his unburnt flesh began to ignite. The sight was unsettling for Felix, and it was made even more so now that the dwarf could feel.

"Fine… Fine…" Hanzel began to chuckle. "To think, I am able to feel! And now I get to choose my death!" His chuckle turned into a guttural laugh. "DO IT! TURN ME INTO SOMETHING–"

The words died in his throat as he suddenly went slack. All light was lost in his eyes…

Oh no. The scene of the burning camp came back, and Felix had just moments to leap away as the dwarf's body burst into a blazing inferno. He landed upon the ground as the Flame Shade rose and took shape. It let out a jet of flaming ichor directly at him.

Once more Felix flared his mana, in an attempt to block it. The flaming liquid slammed into it and splashed harmlessly around him… Well, harmlessly enough. The area surrounding him was now covered in fire that reached to his height.

Damn it! I guess I have no choice now… Slowly standing, he carefully watched his surroundings while he checked upon his mana. He felt it being contained, as if it had filled a vessel.

Perfect–

A gust of hellish air blew the fires out, leaving him in a smothering cloud of smoke. He began to cough and decided to quickly make his escape. Unfortunately, as he bolted out, he came face to face with the Flame Shade.

Shit!

Both immediately realized his error and raced to act upon it. The Flame Shade let out another jet of fire, and at point blank there was no way for it to miss.

The fire hit Felix dead center in the chest and–

Time froze. The Flame Shade froze. The fire that threatened to end his life froze. The entire world around them froze…

Felix let out a curse as he fell to the ground. He hadn't been quick enough and some of the burning ichor had managed to touch him. However, he had succeeded.

"Damn it all! I should have just done that from the start!" He let out another string of curses, his flesh burning and bubbling. But, with a simple thought the pain subsided.

Laying on his back, he heaved from what was left of the pain and shakily checked his chest. There wasn't a single scratch on him.

Relief flowed through him. Whatever he was feeling was his imagination. In fact… This whole world is just my imagination. He cracked a smile. I can work with this.

The pain completely disappeared and Felix took the opportunity to stand up. The Flame Shade hadn't moved an inch and looked more like a life-like statue than a terrifying monster. Despite that, though, he felt a sense of confusion and rage.

Ah, right. The crystal contains its soul too. The thought caused him to frown. He had failed in his endeavor to use Hanzel's soul and now it had been fully consumed. If only I had acted sooner…

He stared up at the beast with a mixed expression. On one hand, Hanzel wasn't exactly someone he should mourn for. But did he deserve this?

Felix really didn't know. It didn't help that he knew about his own past now and how he had essentially received a second chance. "There will be no such thing for you."

The words were heavy as they left his lips. Was he becoming the monster instead? Judging others when he had no right? Or was he protecting his friends and family, his home? Was he being too harsh on himself?

He let out a shudder. He knew what Eri would say, what Fea would say. He knew how Zira and Kyrith felt. But did that make it right? Did that give him the power to decide a person's fate?

And there's Calsen…

He clicked his tongue in frustration, frustration at himself. No amount of pondering or fretting would change things now, Hanzel was gone and all that was left was the Flame Shade. He still had a job to do too.

Shoving all his thoughts away, Felix closed his eyes. He would create a mana well.

He reached for his mana and let out another shudder. The Flame Shade's soul was weak and unable to do more than struggle. He had full control of the mana crystal.

"I'm sorry."

With those words muttered, the soul collapsed within itself…

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