Isabella's response to the spy revelation was immediate and ruthless.
"Lockdown," she announced to assembled commanders. "No one enters or leaves the palace without my personal authorization. All communications monitored. All personnel subject to magical scrutiny. We find the spy within seventy-two hours or assume everyone is compromised."
Mage Karsten began conducting loyalty checks—invasive magical examinations that probed minds for deception. People hated it, but no one was exempt. Even Isabella submitted to the process.
Kaelen's examination lasted three hours.
"You're... complicated," Karsten said, studying results. "Your thoughts are layered—human consciousness, blade consciousness, fragments from consumed souls. Reading you is like trying to find specific grain of sand on beach."
"Am I compromised?" Kaelen asked.
"By Marcus? No. By Soulrender? Absolutely. But we knew that already." She made notes. "You're clear of external influence. The spy isn't you."
"Comforting," Kaelen said dryly.
The examinations continued. Forty-eight hours of testing, probing, analyzing. People were exhausted and resentful by the end.
And they'd found nothing.
"The spy is either not in the palace," Isabella concluded, "or is shielded beyond our detection capabilities. Either way, we operate under assumption of compromised communications going forward."
"Then how do we coordinate?" Valdris asked.
"In person. Face-to-face meetings only. No written orders, no magical communications. Ancient methods, but reliable." Isabella looked frustrated. "This sets us back months in operational capacity."
But it was necessary. Marcus knowing their every move was worse than slow communications.
---
Three days after the lockdown began, Kaelen was assigned to investigate a lead.
A cultist they'd captured months ago had requested to speak with him specifically. Claimed to have information about Marcus's plans.
"Could be trap," Ronan warned.
"Everything's a trap lately," Kaelen replied. "Doesn't mean I ignore it."
The prisoner was held in maximum security—magical restraints, isolation cell, multiple layers of wards. Her name was Elena. Not Seraphina's companion from Marcus's compound, but another unfortunate coincidence of names.
"Shadow's Champion," she said when Kaelen entered. "I wondered if you'd come."
"I'm here. What information?" Kaelen stayed near the door, wary of tricks.
"Marcus's goal. His true objective—not the convergence ritual everyone focused on." She smiled slightly. "That was always distraction. Marcus doesn't want to release the Shadow Lord. He wants to become the Shadow Lord."
Kaelen felt cold. "Explain."
"The convergence ritual had two purposes. Primary: release the Shadow Lord, draw everyone's attention. Secondary: establish infrastructure for consciousness transfer. Marcus planned to merge with the Lord during manifestation, steal its power and existence. Become ancient evil in modern form."
"That's insane," Kaelen said.
"That's ambitious. And it almost worked—would have, if you hadn't disrupted the ritual." Elena leaned forward. "But Marcus doesn't abandon goals. He adapts methods. He's still pursuing consciousness transfer, just targeting different source."
"What source?" Kaelen asked, though dread suggested the answer.
"You," Elena confirmed. "The perfectly integrated Forbidden Blade wielder. You've accomplished what Marcus spent decades attempting. He wants your consciousness, your integration, your perfected merge. He's planning to transfer his mind into your body, claim Soulrender and everything that comes with it."
*She's lying*, Soulrender said immediately. *Trying to sow distrust.*
But something in Elena's eyes suggested truth. "How do you know this?"
"I was researcher before I was cultist. Marcus recruited me specifically for consciousness transfer work. I helped develop the theoretical framework." She pulled back her sleeve, revealing complex scars. "These are from failed experiments. Marcus tested the process on volunteers first. Most died. Some became... other things. I survived but decided I wanted no further part. Got caught trying to leave, got imprisoned."
"Why tell me now?" Kaelen asked. "Why not during your initial interrogation?"
"Because I wasn't sure Marcus would actually try it. Thought the convergence failure might discourage him. But watching recent patterns—the way he's rebuilt, the specific targets he's recruiting—he's gathering materials for consciousness transfer. He's going to attempt it within months."
"Materials?" Kaelen pressed. "What materials?"
"Souls. Hundreds of them. The transfer process requires massive energy, drawn from consumed consciousness. That's why Marcus kept feeding people to corrupted creatures, why he accumulated so many cultist deaths. He's been harvesting souls for years, storing them for this exact purpose."
Kaelen's mind raced. If true, this changed everything. Marcus wasn't trying to conquer or destroy. He was trying to become.
"How do we stop it?" Kaelen asked.
"You can't. Not directly. The transfer targets you specifically—it's designed to override Forbidden Blade wielders. Your only options are destroying Marcus before he attempts it, or..." She hesitated. "Or completing your own integration so fully that there's no space for his consciousness to occupy. Become so perfectly merged with Soulrender that adding a third consciousness is impossible."
*That's what I've been suggesting*, Soulrender observed. *Full integration makes you immune to external consciousness intrusion.*
"But full integration means losing myself to the blade," Kaelen said.
"Better than losing yourself to Marcus," Elena replied. "At least with Soulrender, part of you remains. With Marcus, you're completely erased."
She provided more details—locations of potential transfer sites, materials Marcus was gathering, people involved in the research. Everything Kaelen needed to disrupt the plan.
If it wasn't elaborate trap.
"Why help us?" Kaelen finally asked. "What do you gain?"
"Marcus destroyed me," Elena said simply. "Made me complicit in atrocities, used me until I was worthless, discarded me when I objected. I gain revenge. Not sophisticated motivation, but honest."
Kaelen believed her. Mostly.
He reported everything to Isabella.
---
"Consciousness transfer," Isabella said flatly. "He wants to steal your body."
"Apparently," Kaelen confirmed.
"That's..." She searched for words. "...horrifying in ways I hadn't anticipated. I expected another convergence attempt, more cultist attacks, even assassination. Not metaphysical body theft."
"It fits his pattern," Lia said. She'd been analyzing Elena's information, cross-referencing with known Marcus behaviors. "Marcus always wanted to be Forbidden Blade wielder himself but couldn't safely integrate. This bypasses that limitation—let someone else do the dangerous work, then steal the results."
"Can he actually accomplish this?" Isabella asked.
"Unknown," Lia admitted. "The theoretical framework is sound, but implementation would be incredibly complex. Failure rate would be high. But Marcus is brilliant and desperate. I wouldn't assume impossibility."
"Then we stop him before he tries," Isabella said. "Target every location Elena identified. Disrupt his material gathering. Eliminate the cultist researchers working on transfer theory."
"That's dozens of sites across multiple kingdoms," Valdris observed. "We don't have resources to hit everything simultaneously."
"Then we prioritize," Isabella replied. "Kaelen, you handle Marcus directly. Draw him into engagement before he's ready. Force him to attempt transfer prematurely, when success chance is minimal."
"Use myself as bait," Kaelen said.
"You're already bait," Isabella corrected. "Marcus won't ignore opportunity to face you. We just make that opportunity too tempting to resist."
It was sound strategy. Also terrifying.
"What about the spy?" Ronan asked. "If we're planning major operations and Marcus has intelligence access—"
"Then we feed the spy false information," Isabella said. "Let them report that we're focused on defending Eredor, rebuilding from recent attacks. Meanwhile, we actually go on offensive. The misdirection buys us time."
"Assuming the spy takes the bait," Valdris said.
"They will," Isabella replied with confidence that suggested she knew more than she was sharing. "Trust me."
---
Planning took two days. They'd strike five critical sites simultaneously—locations Elena had identified as central to Marcus's consciousness transfer preparation.
Kaelen's target was the primary research facility, where Marcus himself was likely to be.
"You'll have backup," Valdris assured him. "But realistically, if Marcus is there, you're our only asset capable of engaging him directly. Everyone else is support."
"No pressure," Kaelen muttered.
Lia caught him before deployment. "Are you ready for this?"
"To fight Marcus again? Face potential consciousness theft? Not remotely."
"Then why go?" Lia asked.
"Because someone has to. And I'm the only one who can match him." Kaelen adjusted his compliance collar—still present, still monitoring. "Besides, if he's targeting me specifically, better to face him on my terms than his."
"Just..." Lia struggled for words. "Come back. As yourself. Not as Marcus wearing your face or Soulrender puppet. Actually yourself."
"I'll try," Kaelen promised. "That's all I can offer."
They deployed at dawn.
Five teams, five targets, coordinated assault across three kingdoms.
Kaelen's team hit their target two hours after insertion—old fortress in eastern territories, heavily defended, clearly important.
And Marcus was there, as Elena had predicted.
Standing in the courtyard, both Forbidden Blades drawn, smiling as if he'd been expecting them.
"Right on time," he said. "I do appreciate punctuality."
"Elena told us everything," Kaelen called. "Your consciousness transfer plan. Won't work, Marcus. I won't let you steal my body."
"Steal is such crude language," Marcus replied. "I prefer 'assume' or 'claim.' And whether you let me is irrelevant. The process bypasses consent. That's rather the point."
He attacked without further warning.
And Kaelen realized the trap wasn't the fortress or the ambush.
The trap was the fight itself.
Every time his blade touched Marcus's, he felt something trying to transfer. Consciousness tendrils reaching from Marcus through the blade contact, attempting to establish connection.
*He's already attempting it*, Soulrender warned. *Using direct combat as transfer vector. Very clever.*
"Can you block it?" Kaelen asked desperately.
*For now. But sustained contact will allow breakthrough. Don't let him touch you for extended periods.*
Kaelen changed tactics. Hit and run instead of sustained combat. Strike and disengage. Never let Marcus establish prolonged blade contact.
Marcus smiled. "You understand. Good. I'd be disappointed if this was too easy."
They fought across the fortress, Kaelen dodging, Marcus pursuing. Every brief contact brought that sensation of intrusion, of foreign consciousness trying to breach his defenses.
This was only going to get worse.
And Marcus looked like he could fight for hours.
Kaelen needed different approach.
Needed help he'd been refusing.
*Soulrender*, he thought. *Full integration. Just this once. Help me end this fast.*
*Finally*, Soulrender replied with satisfaction.
*Temporary*, Kaelen insisted. *Just this fight. Then I reclaim autonomy.*
*Of course. Whatever you need to believe.*
The blade's full power flooded through him.
And Kaelen prayed he could take control back when the battle ended.
If he survived that long.