Tiberku drew in a breath and gathered his courage. He looked at Renji, then turned to Eris, determined not to hide anything.
— "Eris, you need to know the truth. Everything I discovered about him… it's not simple. Renji is not just a boy you asked me to escort."
Eris said nothing, only fixed her cold gaze on him, waiting for him to continue.
Tiberku clenched his fists, memories cutting back into him like sharp blades.
— "The first time I saw it was when we fought the mercenaries. Renji completely lost control. It wasn't him striking. I believe the demon inside him took over everything. The mercenaries stood no chance. When it was over, their bodies were crushed, torn apart… and Renji didn't even clearly remember what he had done. It was devouring him from the inside, and for a moment I thought I'd lost him forever."
Renji closed his eyes, as if reliving that scene. He still felt his hands dirty, even though no blood stained them anymore.
Eris lowered her chin slightly, her green eyes narrowing.
— "So the demon killed through him…"
— "Yes," Tiberku confirmed, his voice trembling. "And that's not all."
The basement stayed silent, the torch flickered faintly, and their breaths grew heavier.
— "Renji died… together with me," Tiberku said firmly. "A swordsman cut us down. I was there, I saw him decapitated. There was nothing I could do. But then… something happened no human could understand. Renji came back. He was thrown back in time, right to the moment where he could change fate."
Tiberku's eyes darkened for a moment, and his voice broke. He clenched his fists and added, quieter but firm:
— "Normally no one could remember something like that. Everyone would have forgotten the broken thread of time. But I… I remember. Probably because of the bow you gave me, Eris. It's as if this weapon tied my soul to the hidden truth."
Eris stayed still, but a flicker ran through her eyes.
— "Back in time…" she murmured to herself. "Takamura never wrote anything about that, he only told me one of his students became a demon and Renji was caught in between…"
Renji lifted his gaze to her. His eyes were tired but burned with the desire to be understood.
— "I didn't ask for this," he said in a low voice. "I didn't want to kill. I didn't want to come back. All I do is survive. Ubik… he is the one who steals my control. I only pay the price."
Eris stepped closer. She looked at him deeply, as if trying to tell whether he spoke as a man or as a demon.
— "Then, Renji," she said clearly. "The real question is this: how long can you resist before the demon devours you completely? And more importantly… what choice will you make when that moment comes?"
The room drowned in heavy silence. The elf, barely risen from the floor, looked at them with unease. Tiberku gently placed his hand on Renji's shoulder, his mute but steady support.
In Renji's eyes one could read the inner struggle, but also the beginning of a decision that would change everything.
— "If the demon wants my life, then I will face it," he said. "I will not run. I will decide my own fate."
Eris crossed her arms and studied him. A corner of her lips lifted slightly. It wasn't a warm smile, but one that promised she would test him to the end.
— "Then let's see, Renji. Let's see if you are the man Takamura chose or just the shell of a hungry demon."
Eris suddenly shifted her gaze to the corner of the basement, where the elf still lay trembling. Her green eyes widened in surprise.
— "An elf… in this part of the kingdom?" she murmured as her step made the shadows retreat.
She bent carefully and lifted him into her arms, feeling how fragile he was.
— "I'm so sorry," she said softly, almost whispering. "I didn't mean to scare you or hurt you."
The elf blinked several times, amazement and gratitude fighting across his small face. He wrapped his arms around Eris, feeling safe.
Eris placed him gently in a safer corner of the basement, without breaking her gaze from him. Then she rose and fixed her eyes on Renji again, as if she wanted to read every hidden thought within him.
— "Renji," she said calmly, "what exactly do you want to do from now on?"
Renji clenched his fists, his gaze trembling and clouded, but his voice rang out heavy and desperate:
— "I must avenge them… my friend and my sister… at any cost!"
He stopped for a few seconds, breathing hard, his eyes flashing with fury and pain.
— "Everything that happened in Drenna… it's real. All of it. I would never lie to you, sensei… Sensei would never ask me to lie. I would never lie about something like that."
He bit his lower lip, his hands trembling against the ropes.
— "I always believed the one in the necklace wasn't a demon," he said slowly, his voice heavy with emotion. "Until now, the one in the necklace gave me advice and protected me. I always felt I wasn't alone, that someone helped me overcome obstacles."
His gaze darkened, a shadow of fear crossing his face.
— "But… when I was tortured… I saw a drastic change in the one in the necklace. It was like they wanted me to give up, to surrender… to lose myself completely."
His breath grew heavy, the ropes around his wrists burning into his skin.
— "Thanks to the elf and Tiberku I didn't give up. Even when I felt I would die in chains, even when the one in the necklace seemed stronger than anything I knew, I didn't give in. I couldn't… I couldn't surrender!"
He raised his eyes to Eris, desperation and resolve clashing within them:
— "I want to break free of this, to face it and to avenge them… whatever it takes, I will do it!"
— "Where is the necklace?" Eris asked shortly. "If I find it, I can try to transfer the demon back into it."
Renji sighed heavily, his voice trembling:
— "I lost it when Tiberku helped me escape from prison."
Eris's expression changed in an instant, her face tensing, her green eyes turning harsh and unyielding.
— "What did you do, Tiberku? You helped Renji escape from prison? How could you make such a dangerous decision without telling me?"
Tiberku nodded, his voice short and sober:
— "Yes. I freed Renji. I couldn't leave him there. How could I contact you if this is the first time I've seen you since all the time I worked for you?"
Eris drew a deep breath, her green eyes piercing through both of them.
— "This can create very serious problems," she said, her voice firm but tinged with worry. "The demon's source of power is gone… any mistake now could have irreversible consequences."
Tiberku looked at her seriously, clenching his hands.
— "Then tell me, Eris," he asked, his voice calm but heavy, "what was the purpose of Renji being brought here, if now he's kept bound to this stone chair? What plan did you have?"
Eris sighed softly and turned her gaze to Renji, then back to Tiberku.
— "I never had a plan," she said honestly. "Everything came from a letter… a letter from an old friend. He begged me to accept a boy and train him for battle, because something dangerous was born in their city. I didn't know who the boy would be, what power he carried, or what would happen."
Eris blinked, her green eyes turning unexpectedly serious.
— "I never expected a demon to have Renji as his host," she continued, her voice almost a whisper, full of surprise and a trace of fear. "This changes everything. Everything I prepared… is no longer enough."
Renji felt his eyes filling with tears, his breath quickening.
— "Sensei… believed in me?" he asked, his trembling voice full of wonder and emotion. "He sent me to you so I would become stronger… so I could stop it?"
Tears now streamed freely, his body trembling under the ropes, but his heart bursting with emotion.
— "Everything I've done until now… all I've suffered… was for this?" he whispered, overwhelmed.
Tiberku looked at him with gentleness and compassion, and Eris studied him carefully, surprised by the sincerity and despair that made him more human and vulnerable.
Renji broke into a cry, tears running down his face, his voice echoing loudly in the basement:
— "Is it possible to kill a demon only by decapitating it?"
His eyes burned with fury and despair, his trembling body showing the tension within him.
— "The one who created chaos in my city… was Kaede," he continued, his voice heavy, his black eyes burning with pain. "My friend… the other student of sensei."
He paused, gathering strength to finish, then burst out again:
— "The swordsman who killed Tiberku and me when we tried to reach Lioren… he said Kaede was found decapitated after we fled the city!"
His breath was heavy, his voice shaking, fury and pain mixing into every word.
Eris inhaled deeply and stared straight into Renji's eyes:
— "It is not true that a demon can only be killed by decapitation," she said, trying to calm his fear and confusion.
Renji burst out, his voice trembling:
— "But someone told me I must destroy the demon's stone… and that's what I believed until now. But… when I think about what happened to Kaede… I don't know what to believe anymore."
Eris crossed her arms, giving him a serious look, weighing each word.
— "Maybe it's far more complicated than it seems," she said slowly. "Maybe that was Kaede's plan… the one you speak of. We must consider all possibilities before we act. For now I will place a seal on you. It will keep the demon under control for a while, but the procedure will be painful."
Renji breathed deeply, trembling a little, but clenched his jaw.
— "I have to do this… I don't want to hurt anyone when I lose control," he said firmly.
Eris nodded, then took out a small knife from a pouch and lightly cut Renji's neck, drawing a few drops of blood. The air in the basement seemed to vibrate as she began chanting:
— "Sanguis Vinculum!"
Silver-blue light burst from Renji's blood, wrapping around his neck. As the magic enveloped him, his skin began to burn slightly, and he felt pressure and tension, as if something invisible bound him.
A complex mark appeared on Renji's neck: a thick, dark band wrapping like a chain, with jagged cuts and lines radiating from a central point, like a hand gripping him. The mark pulsed faintly with his heartbeat, showing the power and limit he now had over the demon.
Eris looked at the mark carefully, then turned back to Renji:
— "It will take some time before the seal is fully active and the demon is restrained. But from now on you will have an anchor, a limit you cannot cross without consequences."
Renji touched his neck and the freshly formed mark, trembling with both pain and relief.
Eris studied the sign on his neck, her green eyes piercing.
— "The demon inside you is stronger than the seal," she said, her calm voice grave. "This mark can be broken if the demon focuses all his strength. It's not enough to hold it completely."
She leaned slightly toward the elf trembling in the corner and continued:
— "Your elf can keep the seal active, restraining it, but it's not enough. You'll need a sorcerer to travel with you, to watch the demon's energy and intervene when the pressure becomes too strong. Without that, the mark won't last."
Her gaze turned back to Renji, firm and serious:
— "You must understand, this isn't just a temporary measure. It's a responsibility. Every step you take will depend on your cooperation with those who will help you control it."
Tiberku looked at Eris with wide, hopeful eyes.
— "Does that mean you'll travel with us?" he asked, a timid but emotional smile forming.
Eris looked at him firmly, without showing emotion.
— "No, that cannot be," she said clearly. "I was asked to do something else, not to control demons or travel with you. My purpose is different."
Her gaze shifted to the basement door. "Megan, you can come down," she said calmly but with authority. "It's safe now."
The basement stairs creaked softly as a girl descended slowly, her large eyes shining in the torchlight. Her long chestnut hair fell freely on her shoulders, a few strands framing her delicate face. She wore a simple tunic that still highlighted her graceful form.
Her eyes were a piercing blue, full of curiosity and intelligence, her expression blending innocence with unexpected resolve. Around her was a calm yet strong presence, as if she knew exactly what she was meant to do.
The elf flinched slightly, his small gaze wide with wonder. Tiberku froze, his mouth almost falling open when he saw Megan, his eyes sparkling with fascination and curiosity.
Renji, still bound to the chair, turned his gaze toward her carefully, sensing her presence bringing an unexpected shift to the heavy air of the basement.
Eris fixed her eyes on Renji, her green gaze sharp and determined.
— "It's up to you, Renji," she said calmly but firmly. "If you want Megan to go with you, you'll have to prove you can protect her and take care of her. The choice is yours."
Renji stayed still, feeling the weight of the decision in his chest, while the elf and Tiberku watched him with expectation.