Rhonex finally woke up from his sleep. He felt much better, lighter even, but still… strange. He stood up from the bed and stepped outside. His hearing had grown sharper, and he instinctively followed the direction the voices were coming from.
He saw his mother placing food on the dining table.
"Oh, you're awake, Rhonex," she said, smiling. "I was just about to send Bolan to check on you. Since you were already asleep, I figured you'd need rest. Dinner will be ready soon, and the Reenie should arrive any moment now."
"Hiiii!" a loud voice boomed.
Rhonex turned. She was already here.
Then his eyes finally settled on Bolan, a large, muscular man with tattoos covering his arms and neck. For some reason, Bolan didn't feel like his butler.
Once the table was set, his mother sat, and they all began to eat.
Rhonex broke the silence. "Is it just me, or… does everyone else feel strange?"
His mother sighed. "Oh dear. I warned you about practicing that technique. I knew it would make you feel things you shouldn't… but you didn't listen."
Rhonex didn't reply. He just quietly returned to his food.
After dinner, as he stood up to head toward the training ground, to observe the space where everything had changed, his mother stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"I just want to check something—"
"Have you forgotten what I told you?" she interrupted. "You and Reenie are going to help me prepare a potion tonight.
"Oh? What kind of potion, Mother?" Rhonex asked, curiosity flickering in his voice.
His mother chuckled, a knowing smile tugging at her lips. "You'll both find out soon enough."
She stood gracefully. "Follow me, to the practice room."
Rhonex and Reenie exchanged a glance before rising and trailing behind her. As they walked down the corridor, Rhonex's eyes caught something, a book lying abandoned on the floor. Its title read: Getting Out of it.
Reenie gasped softly. "Please don't let Mother see that," she whispered, panicked. "She's going to scold me again for leaving another one of my novels lying around."
Rhonex smirked. "No more dragon eggs for this," he teased, before discreetly sliding the book under his tunic using a flick of his magic.
When they arrived at the practice room, their mother turned to Bolan. "Bring out the flowers."
Bolan stepped forward, carefully pulling out five peculiar flowers. Their petals were shaped like spirals, each glowing faintly with a soft blue hue.
She took them gently into her hands. "This flower is part of a secret potion, one I've never taught either of you before. But it will be useful. Vital, in the future."
Rhonex frowned. "What… does the potion do?"
His mother's gaze became serious. "It's made for moments when you feel something is missing. Something critical. Like a riddle you can't solve, like your entire mind is paused. This potion... it gives you the clarity. The solution."
Reenie leaned in, intrigued. "That sounds amazing…"
"But," her mother interrupted, "with that gift comes pain, unimaginable pain. Drinking this potion will feel like you're dying. And then being pulled violently back to life."
Her tone turned softer. "No pain, no gain. That's the cost of insight."
"The main ingredients," she began, her voice steady, "are this flower", she held it up, "and stardust. Just two… simple elements. But incredibly powerful. And painfully transformative."
She hovered her hand over the spiral-shaped flower, and with a shimmer of her magic, it crumbled into a fine, silver-dusted powder. She poured it into a small crystal bowl.
Next, she added a pinch of stardust, glittering like crushed diamonds. Then came the water.
"Now, the water must be crystal clear. Impurities will render the potion useless," she warned, pouring the final ingredient with care.
The mixture glowed softly, humming with quiet energy.
"To test it," she said, gesturing behind her, "we'll use... him."
She snapped her fingers, and a thin, scruffy raven in a cage appeared. It flapped weakly, eyes sunken. "I've not fed it in three days. Hunger sharpens instincts."
She conjured a small bowl of food and a brass key, placing both just outside the cage. Then, with a flick, she sealed the raven's beak with magic. "No shortcuts."
Turning to her workbench, she uncorked one of the potion bottles. "I've made twelve," she murmured. But when she turned back, her brow furrowed. "Wait… only eleven?"
Her gaze swept the room.
Reenie and Rhonex exchanged a nervous glance.
Unknown to everyone. Rhonex had already taken one.
Without a word, she fed the glowing potion to the raven.
Almost instantly, the bird began to convulse violently, wings flailing, cage rattling, eyes wide with agony. Its screech was muffled, pitiful. The whole room stood still.
Fifty seconds passed.
Then, silence.
The raven blinked. Slowly, it turned to the food and key. It hesitated. Then looked beyond them, to the large bowl of food across the room.
It let out a low, croaking sound, and with careful precision, reached for the brass key with its claws. The lock clicked open.
It stepped out of the cage, free.
The raven wasted no time.
As soon as the cage clicked open, it darted straight toward the large bowl of food. With surprising strength, it grabbed the bowl using its claws, flapped its wings powerfully, and soared out through the open window, vanishing into the night sky.
Rienne gasped, instinctively casting an ice-bind that froze halfway through. "Oh my… I wasn't expecting that."
Her mother laughed softly, folding her arms. "That, my dear, is exactly what I wanted to teach you. In desperate moments, the mind unlocks truths it was too blind, or too comfortable, to see. You'll understand… when the time comes."
With that, she waved her hand, and the potion room dimmed to darkness. "Let's go to bed."
They all parted ways silently.
Later, Rhonex lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Something had been bothering him since he woke up, a persistent itch in the center of his chest. He reached under his shirt and felt something hard.
Right.
Reenie's book.
He pulled it out, eyeing the worn title again: *Getting Out of it*. He scoffed. "Not catchy," he muttered sarcastically. "I still don't get why she hides these things."
He opened the book, expecting scribbles or messy plots… but found nothing. Every page, blank.
Rhonex sat up slowly.
"That's… weird."
He flipped through the entire book. Still nothing. Just thick, cream-colored paper and the faint scent of ink.
A strange realization hit him.
Since waking up… he hadn't seen a single clock.
No ticking on the walls. No blinking screens. No sun outside the window, just a dull gray light that never changed.
Unsettled, he got up and rummaged through his cupboard. At last, he found a small brass desk clock. It had no hands. No numbers.
Just… tick—tick—tick.
A chill ran through his spine.
"What the hell is going on in this place?"
Something was off.
The ticking echoed louder now, like it was inside his skull, tick... tick... tick, taunting him. Rhonex stared again at the cover of the book.
Getting Out of It.
"Out of what?" he whispered.
Then, suddenly, a flash.
He saw it. Icy blue eye.
Staring.
Through him.
Without thinking, Rhonex grabbed the blade hidden under his bed and sliced across his finger.
Nothing.
No blood. No pain.
His breath caught.
"This… it's all an illusion."
Panic wrestled logic. "How do I get out?"
Then it hit him, the potion. His mother's twisted elixir. He fumbled through his cloak, pulled out the tiny bottle, and without hesitation, drank it all in one gulp.
That was a mistake.
His chest tightened. Breathing grew ragged. His skin burned as though lightning was trapped beneath it. Veins bulged, glowing faint blue. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head. His fangs pierced out involuntarily. His eyes turned red, then black, then red again.
He shut his eyes tight, praying the pain would pass.
And then...
Silence.
He opened his eyes, and saw a tail. Long, silver, shifting with light.
A fox's tail.
And then, as if a memory had always been there, hidden deep inside him... it appeared.
Those eyes again.
That name.
"Aralyn..." he breathed.
The moment the name left his lips, the illusion cracked, like shattered glass, falling away in a thousand gleaming fragments.
Rhonex fell forward, coughing, gasping, blinking into reality.
And there it was.
His sword.
His precious blade, glowing faintly with fire.
He reached for it.
But just as his fingers brushed the hilt, it vanished.
Gone.
Again.
Rhonex strained his ears, expecting to hear the voice again.
But there was only silence.
Then movement.
His eyes snapped open. The sword. His sword. It hovered before him, its edge gleaming, aimed directly at his chest.
"What…?"
Is this the final trial
Could he really be fighting the very weapon he forged with his own hands?
Before he could react, the sword lunged, fast and merciless. It slashed his arm. Blood trickled down.
That was it.
He'd had enough.
Rhonex clenched his fists. He didn't want to reveal himself. Not yet. Not with the Celestial Council watching, listening, waiting for a single slip. But this… this left him with no choice.
His eyes bled red.
Fangs burst through.
The black horns curled from his skull.
His wings, dark, mighty, unfurled.
He wasn't just a demon.
He was the devil.
"Of course... I am the devil."
The words came in a voice not entirely his own, deep, ancient, and laced with power.
Then he spoke the forbidden tongue:
"Ajakoko lalashashakom."
The sword stopped mid-air, trembling… then dropped at his feet like a servant bowing to its master.
With a single gesture, he summoned it to his hand and smashed it into the wall of the forbidden wing.
Stone cracked.
Magic screamed.
The whole building collapsed in a spiral of dust and light.
Rhonex lunged forward, his breath heavy, his heart racing, bloodlust crawling under his skin.
He needed to feed.
And that's when he saw her.
A little girl.
Silver hair.
Icy blue eyes.
A smile… that twisted his insides.
He froze, and launched forward....but then she disappeared.
It was a memory, one he had forgotten. One taken from him.
"Not now," he muttered.
He forced the devil inside him back.
The horns disappeared.
The fangs retracted.
The wings folded into nothingness.
And then, when he turned,
She stood there.
A woman.
Bald head brown-skinned. Clothes torn. Eyes weary but alive.
She fell to her knees.
"You made it out... my Lord"
Rhonex's vision blurred.
His body gave in.
He collapsed into darkness.
***********
Corvin was inside his room, when he heard a loud noise, where he was strategically thinking about his plans. He used his vampire speed to find out what was happening. What he saw was unbelievable to his eyes. He blinked and used his knife to cut himself to be sure of what he was seeing. The entire forbidden wing was broken down.
'Did that demon lord actually—?'
Calista replied to his sentence, 'I guess he did. He must be so powerful. I think with his help, I will be able to find my sister.'
Corvin could guess what was going on in his sister's head. 'Don't do anything rash. We have to be careful in dealing with demons. They are very cunning. His wedding is coming soon. We will make a plan.'
Calista nodded her head but only she knew what she had in mind.
************
Molan advanced back to the mansion, frustrated. After all the searching, he still couldn't find the remedy. He wanted to return home and fetch something valuable enough to exchange with a powerful witch in Endyron.
As he neared the mansion, he sensed a powerful aura, one he could never mistake. "His Lord Rhonex… back home." He activated his elf spirit, speeding up his pace until he arrived at the gates.
Upon entering, he saw a strange woman touching the sacred tree. Alarmed, he rushed toward her and grabbed her neck, attempting to strangle her.
"Who are you?" he asked sharply.
"I'm not an enemy," she replied calmly.
Molan noticed something unusual, despite his grip, she made no effort to defend herself.
"You should go check on Lord Rhonex," she said. "I'll use my powers to extract the poison from the tree."
Molan's green eyes gleamed as he scanned her aura. He realized her words were true. Without another word, he teleported to his master's chamber.
There, he found Lord Rhonex resting. Molan reached into his satchel and pulled out the energy he had stored from the "Veymorin Kingdom".
"This will strengthen you, my lord," he murmured.
He gently removed Rhonex's clothes and began using healing magic on the lingering wounds. But one wound refused to heal. It remained dark, almost pulsing, and shaped like an hole. The curse.
Molan sighed heavily. "If my Lord doesn't find a way to break this curse… he will die."
He tucked Rhonex deeper into the bed, his expression grave. "Rest more, Master. Tomorrow, you will journey to Duskhelm Castle to discuss the preparations for your wedding."