[Note: Have you read my novel yet? It's called: The World is Die. It's a good novel, go read it!?]
....
Shade let out a small sigh as he watched the horizon. October had come and gone, and November was in full swing. Two full weeks had passed since his vacation in Godgrave — two weeks in which he alternated between helping rebuild the citadel and fighting nightmare creatures that ventured too close to his domain.
His dark creatures had fully recovered from the effort in Godgrave. He had taken all of them with him to the waking world, except for Skadi. The Supreme remained in the citadel to protect it from any powerful abomination that might decide to turn the castle into its nest. It was a practical decision. Skadi was, after all, the only one who could face a cursed beast on equal footing without needing reinforcements.
He knew the battle for the Black Skull would begin soon.
He had remained impartial from the start, and he would not intervene on either side. After all, he would need all his strength for what came next. Whether he fell into the Nightmare Desert or the Burned Forest, it would only take him a few weeks to reach the Nightmare Seed of Ariel's Tomb.
He remembered well his time inside the nightmare. Nearly a year and a half his stay had lasted there, while outside, in the real world, only a week or two at most had passed. The spell was generous with time when it suited it.
If everything failed, well, he would have options. He could challenge a Third Nightmare of Ravenheart alongside Seishan, or take the nightmare together with Scarlet. He could also transcend without the spell's help, just as he had when he awakened and ascended. The path was there; he only needed to decide which one to take.
Snapping out of his thoughts, he watched as the great ship sailed away with eighty million people toward a safer place. Eighty million. The number was so large it was almost abstract, but Shade understood what it meant. Lives. Families. Futures floating away on the water.
Shade watched the sea, feeling the ocean breeze and the sunlight on his skin. The moment was calm, almost peaceful. His mind went blank, enjoying the stillness before the storm.
It wasn't long before it finally happened.
The Song Clan was moving. Apparently, Mordret had made his move, and that had deeply disturbed the clan. Shade didn't know the exact details, but he knew Mordret well enough to imagine the chaos he had sown.
In little more than a few hours, the members of the Song Clan, the Valor Clan, and the government were silently mobilizing to prepare. It was like watching giant gears turning beneath the surface — invisible but relentless.
Shade felt his communicator vibrate. He moved to a quiet area, away from the refugees and soldiers, and took the call.
The projection showed Saint Cor, Sunny, and himself.
"I assume you're both already familiar with the situation," said the government Transcendent. His tone was grave, without preamble. "What I want to know is what caused this mess."
"I think I can provide an explanation," Sunny said. Shade and Cor looked at him in silence.
"Apparently, a citadel has been discovered in the Nightmare Desert. The Valor Clan was the first to find it, but their attempt to capture it failed. Now both clans have equal chances of gaining a crucial advantage." Sunny paused briefly, organizing his thoughts. "A direct confrontation over access to the Nightmare Gate leading to the citadel seems inevitable. It appears they're going all in."
"I can confirm that," Shade said in a calm voice. He had heard rumors, had seen the troop movements. It wasn't hard to connect the dots.
Saint Cor grimaced. "What a perfect coincidence!"
After a long pause, Cor spoke again. "Valor and Song may be arrogant, but they are not irrational. This bloodshed might still be avoided... perhaps. Similar things have happened before. A large-scale battle can be prevented if they agree to a duel between two champions."
Saint Cor let out a low grunt and then added, "The problem this time is that both sides seem confident they will win if the battle takes place. Therefore, they have no reason to seek an alternative. Furthermore, they have been acting erratically lately. It's hard to predict what will happen."
Cor nodded slowly. "You two will remain with the emissaries and follow them to the Nightmare Gate. Gather as much information as you can while you're there. I will arrive personally and try to mediate to find an acceptable solution."
Shade remained silent and simply nodded. There was nothing to say. The orders were clear.
"And if you can't?" Sunny asked.
The Saint paused briefly. "We'll try to deal with the consequences." With that, he hung up, leaving only Sunny and Shade on the call.
"So, Sunny," Shade said, slightly amused, "do you want to know more about the future?"
Sunny sighed. The sound was heavy, laden with a resignation that was not like him. "I thought you were joking, but everything happened as you said. I suppose in the end, no one will win."
"Yes, that is already a fixed point in fate. It will happen no matter what."
Sunny frowned. "And what will you do?"
"Absolutely nothing." The answer was immediate. "I'll just be an observer. Regardless of whether I decide to help Song or Valor, nothing will change. And I don't want to kill humans right now."
"You're very soft, Shade."
Shade smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "You're going to do something, aren't you?"
"Yes." Sunny's voice turned dark, determined. "I'm going to change the outcome."
"Good luck with that, then." Shade hung up.
---
After several days of travel, the three armies finally arrived at the plain that would become the battlefield for the Black Skull.
They had all arrived on the same day. No one would have the advantage of choosing the best terrain or having time to plan anything. It was a nearly perfect coincidence, and that made Shade more nervous than anything else. Perfect coincidences didn't exist in his world.
Leading the Song Clan's army were Beastmaster, Dire Fang, Silent Stalker, and Seishan. Four Saints, each with a presence that made the air around them grow denser.
On the other side, the Valor Clan had deployed Madoc, Morgan, Nephis, Tyris, and the Summer Knight. Five Saints. A numerical advantage that Song would surely try to compensate for in some way.
On the government's side stood Saint Cor, Effie, Kai, and Jet. And of course, Shade had joined the government without hesitation to maintain his neutrality. He didn't want anyone to interpret his presence as leaning toward one side or the other.
Several minutes passed until finally several figures moved. The leaders of the Valor Clan and the Song Clan advanced toward the center of the plain, followed by the government representatives. Shade stayed back with a bored expression, watching the scene like someone watching a play whose ending he already knew.
The wind tousled his hair, tied in a ponytail. The ends now reached almost to his shoulders, and it was starting to annoy him.
"I definitely need to cut my hair," he murmured, watching the clouds gather on the horizon.
Beside him, Uriel appeared out of nowhere, reclining in the air as if on an invisible hammock. "How I would love to be a cloud," the echo said with a melancholic sigh. "Just float wherever the wind takes me. No clans, no wars, no Saints fighting over pieces of dead land."
Shade didn't respond. His eyes remained fixed on the horizon, where the clan leaders were beginning to speak. The words didn't reach him, but he didn't need them. He knew the script.
Two clans. One citadel. A war that no one would win.
And him, in the middle of it all, pretending not to care.
But Uriel knew him too well. The echo glanced at him sideways and smiled.
"You're thinking about intervening, aren't you?"
Shade slowly shook his head. "No. Not this time."
"You're lying."
"A little," Shade admitted. And the black wolf Nyx appeared beside him, sitting on its hind legs, its golden eyes fixed on the battlefield. "But sometimes lies are necessary."
The sea breeze brought with it the smell of blood and dust. The battle was about to begin.