Chapter 7. The Gruesome Deal.

  A few hours have passed since Kael and Katrine woke up, it was around early noon right now. They didn't have much time left before the break in, Xavier and Mark left to pick up special clothes for both Katrine and Kael needed for the break in. Time was running around and both Katrine and Kael were extremely stressed and anxious about the break in. It was their first time doing something like this, and to add the cherry on top, it was a highly protected mag-tech ancient structure. Meaning one slip up could lead to imprisonment or potentially death, and if even one of them died or got imprisoned, the rest of them would have their morale and will to live shattered. Kael decided to lighten the atmosphere a bit between him and Katrine.

  -"Stressed aren't ya? Fuck I'm stressed too haha... How about we make a bet so we'll think about something else while we're risking our lives for god knows what..."

  His voice, even though he tried to hide his fear, showed how he truly felt about the whole ordeal. He was terrified, and knowing he'd think about something else would ease his mind a bit. Katrine, hearing this, put on a thoughtful expression on her face. And finally snapped her fingers and answered Kael.

  -"Fine, if you get out first I'll do whatever you want. And if I'll get out first, you do whatever I want. Deal?"

  As she finished speaking she extended her hand to Kael searching for his handshake to approve of the deal. Kael, seeing this, firmly grabbed her hand and shook it.

  -"Deal..."

  The bet was sealed, they were ready for everything. Especially what the winning side would want, even though their lives were on the line. One slip up and the winning side wouldn't collect their reward from the losing side. They now had to wait until their father's came back with some special clothes for them so they could begin their little operation. As the time went by they sat in silence, they were both extremely scared and anxious about anything going wrong during the operation. Suddenly Xavier and Mark came in and had a package with them, it seemed they've brought the clothes with them. They placed the package on the table and opened it up revealing dark clothing. Xavier began explaining.

  -"Mag-Tech facility staff have special clothes made with small amounts of magical power, they function as some sort of ID cards enabling them to open doors just by coming close. Those here are replicas, they'll also jam cameras and have slight bulletproof properties. Just in case."

  The last line made Kael and Katrine breathe with relief, they were somewhat protected even if it was only small arms fire from longer distances. It was small but meaningful, meaning they'd survive this much longer. Kael grabbed his set and went to his room. In the set there was a long black coat adorned with crimson accents along with a pair of military boots, cargo pants and a shirt. All of them were surprisingly heavy for their looks, maybe because they were made with mag-tech power and were supposed to be able to open doors and jam cameras when they walked nearby. Kael quickly put them on and decided to add a mask covering his lower face and a pair of leather gloves for extra safety. When he looked in the mirror he got startled a bit... His clothes resembled the scarred warrior that tormented him in his dreams, killing him every time. He quickly shook his head trying to brush the thought of similarity off, he needed to focus on the break in. When he got out of his room Xavier and Mark were already changed and ready, only Katrine took a longer while to get ready.

  When she finally got out she wore a similar set to Kael but it was slightly smaller due to her own size. Everyone was ready and time was running out, they quickly went outside and got into the car ready to go there. Everyone was scared and anxious about this, but needed to focus on the task so as to not slip up and potentially cause a big problem. The operation has started now, Xavier put the car into gear and started driving towards the mag-tech ancient structure, when they'd arrive it'd be night already which would be the perfect time to strike. Kael on the way adjusted his gloves and mask to feel more comfortable on him. The drive was silent, everyone was too scared to say a word. When they finally arrived the sun was setting, Xavier quickly pulled out the note Kael prepared the previous day. And started explaining the plan again.

  -"Okay lady and gents, the guard rotation will begin in 15 minutes, you have time to prepare and rest. Then there's one way in and only one way out, no slip ups, try to avoid guards, you can walk around the cameras as your clothes will jam them... Ehhhhh and don't get yourselves killed or I'll bring you back only to kill you again... Understood?"

  Everyone nodded, the plan was simple. Quick in and out to scout the mag-tech structure for points of interests, simple and effective. Everyone quickly dispersed to take a breather. Kael decided to step slightly far away so as to talk with Tenebrae, she was appearing way more often and stayed for longer. Meaning she'd soon be permanently in his head, which Kael started to not mind as much since she started helping him, especially when explaining the weak points and strategies towards the scarred warrior.

  -'Still anxious and scared kiddo? No wonder, even when I charged into battle I was extremely scared. Constant "what ifs" streaming through my head hah... Brings back memories, don't worry everything will be fine, and if anything I'm here.'

  That reassured Kael slightly, if anything happened he hoped Tenebrae would listen to his plea of taking his body and living his life, however the part about greater consequences scared him gravely. It was the least he could do in his last moments if they came to be. But even though it was a good idea in his head, Tenebrae strongly disagreed and didn't want to do it no matter what, but she never said exactly why. Which got Kael wondering what that woman has seen in him to keep him alive no matter what.

  -"Oi, Tenebrae, why aren't you going to let me die no matter what? You have a further reason don't you?"

  He knew she was hiding the exact reason from him so he decided to pressure her slightly. Tenebrae hearing his question went silent for a while, she didn't want to say exactly why nor did she want to lie to Kael about the true reason for not giving up on him. So she decided to let him know the truth, but not all of it.

  -'You remind me of someone back when I was alive... That person was extremely close to me, he was also selfless and oftentimes would offer his life for others sake... He'd also do stupid shit hahaha...'

  Her voice was full of longing and sadness, it was clear that whoever the person was. She saw them die before her own eyes for possibly meaningless reasons. Kael decided to not push her further, as it was a heavy topic for her. He also realised the time to strike was close so he came back to the others to get ready. Everyone was already waiting for him. When the 15 minute timer struck zero, they quickly rushed towards the structure. It was a blind spot that lasted around 3 minutes, they had 3 minutes to get in. They approached a first obstacle which was a fence with a piece of barbed wire on top of it, Mark previously grabbed a thick blanket with him beforehand. He threw the blanket onto the barbed wire and quickly pulled himself up over it. Xavier and Kael followed, but Kael decided to stay on top of the fence and helped Katrine get over it as she was too short to effectively jump over it as the rest.

  When they both got over the fence they quickly linked up with Xavier and Mark, 2 minutes left. The second obstacle was a wall, a reinforced concrete wall. They decided to also jump through it, Mark got onto his knee and placed his hand on his knee signalling to use him as a step up to jump over the wall. First went Kael then Katrine and finally Xavier, he also helped pull him over the wall. They were nearly in, it was so close. 1 minute left of blind spot. The last obstacle was a guard outpost that was currently empty due to guard rotation changing so it posed no issues with getting through. They did it, they were in. Once inside they went into a blind spot in the camera's view that was also covered in shadows to talk about who'll go with who to explore the points of interest. Mark was the one that split everyone and devised the plan.

  -"Okay Kael and Katrine you'll go inside and search for that painting on the wall and other interesting shit you'll find on the way. Me and Xavier will go around the outside, understood?"

  Everyone nodded, Kael and Katrine quickly took off to go to the inside of the structure. Once inside it looked ancient and relatively futuristic. Stone walls with pillars along with wires running everywhere, some thicker some thinner. It was clear that they were sourcing energy from something on the inside. Kael and Katrine started moving silently within the shadows, the dark clothes helped them blend in. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, only wires, standing lights pillars along the stone walls. But suddenly everything changed, stone started becoming a stell like structure, wires went into the walls and the lights were now on the ceiling. They were close to the point of interest which was the painting. The hallway also started having doors with designations in language neither Katrine nor Kael understood, they seemed to be in Latin or some early version of it.

  Finally they arrived at the door and the first point of interest was the painting. The writing on the door read, "Pugna bestiae". When they entered inside the painting was inside, on the same wall that Kael saw photos of. Seeing it with his own two eyes was different from seeing the mere photos that Mark provided him with, the details were more visible and distinguishable. Katrine quickly pulled out her phone and struck some photos of the paintings. The first point of interest is done. They quickly went outside and moved to the second PoI. Second PoI was deeper in the facility, they quickly moved over there as it wasn't far from the first. When they arrived there, the door read "Maledictus gladii". They quickly opened the door using their replica clothing and went inside. Inside there was a glass case with... "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" inside, but they were different, they were fixed and in nearly an ideal state. Kael remembered them being presented at his school, they were chipped, damaged, rusty and one of the blades was snapped in half. He thought that someone either repaired it or made a replica. Kael and Katrine, not thinking too much, snapped a few photos. Done, now they needed to get out of there and link with Xavier and Mark by the car outside the structure. When they were approaching the exit the familiar insides they saw before came into view, steel-like walls returned to the stone one's, wires were running everywhere again and the lighting was now standing lights again. When they went outside they saw it was raining suddenly, heavy rain poured onto them. But they didn't mind and quickly went to the supposed exfil point set up by an insider. It was supposed to be a part of the structure where there was a wall instead of an output, but it wasn't supposed to be guarded at all meaning they'd slip out unnoticed. When they went there the wall was extremely tall, around 4 meters. Kael turned to Katrine.

  -"Okay let's do it like this, you'll stand on my shoulders and jump over the wall and I'll try to find something to support myself to overcome it as well okay? And besides, it seems like you've won the bet haha..."

  Kael quickly stood in position where Katrine could climb his body like a ladder, when Katrine was finally standing on his shoulders. The structure's alarm went off, they had not time. Kael quickly threw Katrine over the wall. Now he had to find a way outside to escape quickly. When he started running towards a lower part of the wall he suddenly dropped onto the ground face first... There was a sudden pain in his head... When he pushed himself up... He got shot in the head from behind, his left eye was blown off and there was an all the way through hole in his head, part of his brain was severely damaged as well... He dropped onto the ground again. He felt cold, the rain wasn't as cold... He was dying... Moments to spare... He couldn't even say goodbyes to anyone, he'd die there, no one to rescue him, no one to avenge him... As he was lying there bleeding out, the rain stopped. It didn't just stop raining, the rain stopped mid air, when he looked behind the guard that shot him wasn't moving as well. The time was stopped, Kael understood he was probably dead by now and he'd go into afterlife. But suddenly out of the shadows stepped out a figure. It was a wolf, it had pitch black fur and crimson ends on its tail and ears, it also had a crimson stripe running along its back as well. When the wolf slowly approached Kael, it sat down in front of him. Suddenly the wolf opened its maw and spoke in a familiar voice to Kael.

  -'Got yourself killed huh? And I told you to watch out...'

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  It was Tenebrae, he never saw her in any form. He only knew her as a voice in his head, seeing her in this form startled Kael slightly. She still sat in front of him, the time still stopped.

  -'Let's do a deal, kid... Something that can benefit us both... Hm?'

  Kael quickly understood what she meant, she was there to probably take his body after his death as he pleaded to her. But why did she propose a deal? All she had to do is just possess his body and live his life as if nothing happened. All of this was something Kael couldn't comprehend, why did she propose a deal...?

  -'I'll heal you, not fully but enough for you to survive and live onwards... I won't regenerate your eye but everything else is within my power... But, I'll be a permanent part of you, you'll have access to some more abilities and a thing called “magical power” will awaken within you. But you'll also have to do my bidding, along with agreeing to whatever happens in the future… Will change you forever.'

  Kael, seeing he had no choice, nodded his head weakly, he could either die there or live onwards. Since he didn't want to see his friends and family sad or grieve him. Tenebrae, seeing this, chuckled and said to Kael.

  -'You'll lose consciousness when we're done... I'll possess your body and take us out of this pickle m'kay? Trust me, I won't kill... Too much...'

  Kael, seeing this tried to push himself up, but the blood loss and pain made him unable to do so. His brain being damaged as well made him unable to form coherent sentences so he decided to stay quiet. Tenebrae seeing this said to Kael.

  -'Child born in light... Reach into the shadows and let yourself be swallowed by them... And be reborn in your own darkness… Become what you were born to be, slaughter your enemies and protect what you love… Arise Heir and retake what's rightfully yours.’

  When Kael decided to reach for the nearby shadows, what he pulled out was something extraordinary. Those were... "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness"... They suddenly appeared there in the shadows from nowhere. Tenebrae, seeing this, started chuckling as she stood up in her wolf form and lowered her face to Kael.

  -’Time to switch seats kiddo, have a nice rest...'

  As she finished speaking Kael blacked out... 15 minutes was her time limit of possessing Kael's body, in that time limit she had to heal him, take him out the pickle and escape. It was. More than enough in her eyes. With her beloved "Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" by her side she'd do it without any issues. As soon as she felt that Kael's consciousness was gone, she stepped into the action. She quickly stood up in his body with the swords in her hands and rushed towards the guard that shot Kael previously. Clean cut, his body fell to the ground with a thud. Killed on the spot, she used his body, enhanced by her abilities to kill a few more guards and then rush to the exit. As she finally exited the Mag-Tech structure, she got Kael's body covered in blood. The swords were dripping crimson onto the ground slowly as it continued to rain heavily. 15 minutes have passed... She got his body even more damaged since she didn't feel pain while controlling his body so she didn't pay attention to being shot at. According to her calculations and everything else, Kael would barely survive if not die on the spot. But she knew he wouldn't give up that easily. When she felt Kael's consciousness was coming back she gave him his body back.

  -'Good luck kiddo... Don't die on me... You have a woman to take care of after all, hah...'

  With those words Tenebrae disappeared, leaving Kael back in control of his body. When he came back he felt pain shoot through his whole body, he got shot multiple times while she was controlling his body. He coughed and vomited lots of blood while slumping onto the ground. The rain was cold, but somehow soothing to him. He'd probably die soon... He didn't mind, he got out the pickle and saved Katrine... As he was about to lose consciousness he heard footsteps rushing to him. It was Katrine, she quickly rushed towards Kael kneeling beside him grabbing his shoulders and starting to embrace him.

  -"Remember our bet Kael...? I got out first so you have to do anything I want... So please... Please don't die, I don't want you to die... Please Kael... Stay with me just a bit longer... Don't die..."

  Even though it was raining heavily, Kael could feel her warm tears dropping onto his face. It was the first time in ages someone cried over his life and safety, he forgot how nice it felt. Even though he was one foot in the grave, it felt nice being embraced by someone. He didn't understand why... His eyelids felt heavy... He felt coldness spread though his body, he was tired. He decided to take a little nap... A little nap... Katrine, realizing that Kael has lost consciousness, started dragging his body towards the car where her father and Kael's father waited for them.

  She had to save him, she didn't want him to die for some reason... His body felt heavy and unresponsive, his pulse was slow, nearly non-existent and his breathing shallow. He'd die soon if no one had done anything to him. As she was close to the car Mark and Xavier seeing her dragging Kael's half dead body quickly rushed out to help her with carrying the unconscious boy. As they got in the car Katrine sat in the backseat with Kael laying his head on her lap, she held him close. Not wanting to let go for a second. His breathing grew shallower and his heart beat slowed down even further. Even blood stopped coming out of his wounds, if they didn't rush back to the house to patch him up, he's good as dead. Meanwhile Kael woke up the well known grass plain to him, it was where the scarred warrior promised to fight him every week. He didn't understand why he woke up there, but he felt extremely light like a feather. He thought he's dead and this is his own little afterlife, after becoming one with Tenebrae. As he walked onto the hill where the usual battlefield layered with bodies was, there was nothing. No bodies, no blood, nothing. It was strange, unusual. Suddenly Tenebrae appeared in her wolf form approaching Kael, he quickly got up and walked to her as well. As he approached her he decided to remind her.

  -"Remember what i promised to do when you'll have a physical form...?"

  His voice was gentle and calm, but also betraying his rage. Tenebrae seeing this quickly remembered he said that he'd strangle her the first chance he gets to do so. She tried to take off quickly but Kael grabbed her tail, pulling her back and wrapping his hands around her throat, starting to strangle her in her wolf form.

  -'KA-KAEL PLEASE! ST-STOP! AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL I'LL HAVE MY ORIGINAL FORM IF YOU WANNA DO SOMETHING TO MEE AHHH!'

  Kael, hearing her moan as the words left her mouth, let go as quickly as he started strangling her. Even though he was balancing life and death, she still had time to make perverted jokes. When Tenebrae finally calmed down she started explaining to Kael.

  -'It seems like we're in your limbo... A place between life and death, limitless plain... The only escape from here is either death or having your life saved...'

  Kael, hearing this, decided to sit down on the grass plain. Limbo huh? He didn't fully die, nor was he completely alive. And his consciousness was here stuck with Tenebrae, the last person he'd want to be stuck with. He decided to lay down on the grass, it was soft, and the sun of this inner world cast a warm glow. It wasn't setting nor was it rising. He wished from one side to remain in this peaceful world forever, on the other side he wanted to come back. He just laid there rethinking his life. Tenebrae decided to sit next to him, and enjoy his Limbo as well. She suddenly said to him,

  -'I once also got stuck in my own Limbo. It was definitely different from yours, honestly i prefer yours. It's way more peaceful and nice... Besides it reflects your personality, or so I understood from experiencing two Limbos in my life hah...'

  Her voice was gentle, she knew she shouldn't be here but that's the least she could do for Kael. Staying with him until the end or the future, both were highly possible. Although in her mind she leaned towards the end, as his body was badly wounded and in rough shape. And Kael wasn't a soul like her, he couldn't move between bodies to find a new host. If he died, it would be the end. For now she enjoyed this little inner world of neither life or death along with Kael. She wondered what he was thinking about at the time. Suddenly Kael asked her.

  -"You took part in that great war right? Why did you fight against these, I don't call them 'elves'?"

  Tenebrae hearing his question suddenly went quiet, it was a heavy topic for her, but she couldn't beat around the bush anymore. She took a deep breath before starting to explain.

  -'It's fine, let's stick to your naming. Elves created Mag-Tech to use what we called "magical power" in ways we never imagined. It was all fine and everything, until smaller tribes of beast people disappeared. Like completely gone. When we confronted the elves they explained that they used them as "fuel" for Mag-Tech, slowly draining their magical power to sustain everything. We started negotiations and pressed them to use magical beasts that had more magical power. But they refused, that's how the war started. We won it, but the elves in the last act of defense overloaded Mag-Tech, eradicating the magical power from the world...'

  Her voice was low and full of longing, clearly it was a heavy topic even for her. Kael was shocked upon hearing this, he suddenly started questioning how mag-tech was powered now if the magical power was gone from this world. There was technically no way for the mag-tech to function properly, so he remembered the video of "incident" regarding "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness". Humans probably used the ancient artifacts and weapons as a temporary fuel source while searching for magical power to somehow make a return. But Kael knew it'd have catastrophic consequences, humans have changed extremely and if they possessed magical power it could lead to more destruction rather than help. He decided to not engage in that ancient conflict for now, suddenly he saw a blinding light in the sky, it wasn't the sun. It was something different, Tenebrae seeing this as well said to Kael.

  -'It seems like they've saved you, you're lucky... May we have to unfortunately get stuck in here again...'

  Suddenly Kael saw darkness and felt extreme pain. When he opened his eye he saw he was lying in his room, his body was bandaged up along with his left eye. He couldn't move, he felt too heavy. He remembered being shot multiple times and even losing his left eye. He probably was patched up and saved miraculously. Suddenly the door to his room opened and he saw Katrine walking in, when she saw Kael was awake he dropped the glass of water in her hand, shattering it on the floor. She quickly started tearing up and jumped onto Kael embracing him and crying into his bandages.

  -"You did it... You fulfilled your part of the bet... You didn't die... Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you... я тебе так сильно люблю..."

  Kael didn't understand the last words that she said, but he was happy to be back nevertheless. Suddenly his father also walked into his room. Xavier seeing his son was awake started laughing while crying.

  -"YOU CRAZY SON OF A BITCH, I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU'D MAKE IT, EVEN THOUGH YOU SLEPT FOR 3 DAYS HAHAHAHA!"

  3 days...? Kael realised that the few minutes he spent in his Limbo were 3 days in reality. It hit him hard, but for now he was happy to be back to reality, to his family and friends... He was so happy he started crying, what he thought was a losing battle has been won. A battle between life and death and he won it, but not without consequences. He'd be bedridden for a long time until his injuries heal and he lost his left eye on top of that, but it didn't matter. He got another chance to live his life, and he decided to change something. He'd be more open, he'd break the last bricks he placed around him that made his "ordinary" life. He decided that if fate gave him another chance, he'll use that chance differently. But for now he had to rest and heal his injuries. Tenebrae saved his life, Katrine dragged him back to the car and his father and Mark patched him up. He owed everything to them, if it wasn't for them he wouldn't be here. Suddenly Xavier said to his son.

  -"Kael, you know how scared Katrine was for you? She decided to stay all these 3 days at our house, sleeping in your room praying you'd wake up everyday. Quite romantic if i do say so myself."

  He said it with a smirk on his face, when Katrine heard it she had her face go scarlet with embarrassment. She tried to say something but she stuttered every word, she just couldn't find an excuse or an explanation to this. Kael seeing this started laughing, even though this laughter caused him immense pain, he laughed regardless. Katrine seeing this buried her face in her hands from embarrassment. Kael seeing this decided to pat her head with his small ounces of strength, it caused him immense pain immediately, but he didn't care. When she saw what he was doing she tried to pull his hand away so he could rest, but Kael persisted. When he finally patted her head he said to her.

  -"Thank... You... And everyone... Else..."

  His voice was sore and weak, it was clear he was overworking himself even with such small things. As he said those things he felt his arm slump down to the side, it was clear he overwhelmed himself with such small gestures and started losing conciseness again. But he did so with a smile, he didn't care about anything, he could see his friends and family even if it was just for a few minutes. As he started falling asleep Katrine stood up, it was clear that Kael needed undisturbed rest. But just now both Xavier and Katrine just couldn't hold back from sheer happiness that was radiating through them. But Kael had no other worries on his mind, the scarred warrior.

  Another fight between them will happen in a while, and in the current state Kael was in it'd be a clearly one sided fight. Suddenly while he was unconscious he decided to try to force his way into his own Limbo, it'd be dangerous since it's a place where a soul resides when it's between life and death. But it was his last option, if he couldn't train consciously, he'd do so unconsciously. He tried to slow his heart beat with sheer willpower, he knew it was possible and he'd need extreme focus. As he focused on his heart trying to slow its beating, even though he had his eye closed he saw a bright flash of light. He succeeded, he forced his way into his Limbo, which was extremely dangerous. He forced himself into a state between life and death out of pure willpower, it could have severe consequences, but he didn't care. When he opened his eye he saw himself laying on the same green plain with the warm glow of the sun, the Limbo. He immediately noticed that his injuries didn't carry over, but their aftermath did. Now all he had to do was train, time in limbo flew unnaturally. And since previously a few minutes here were 3 days outside he thought if it would be possible to let the time flow the other way around so the inside world would be slow compared to outside. For now he decided to try something, he tried imagining "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" appear before him, but it didn't work. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice, it was Tenebrae.

  -'Huh, so you forced your way into your Limbo? Quite impressive but stupid at the same time... And don't bother with summoning those swords, you're not the rightful wielder, yet.'

  Kael, hearing her, scratched his head. Not yet? Then he remembered that the scarred warrior fought him in his dreams for the rightful ownership of something and owner of someone, then he immediately got it. He needed to defeat the warrior to gain the rightful ownership of the swords. Suddenly Tenebrae intruded his thoughts.

  -'Gotta warn you kid, you forced your way into the limbo, not getting here naturally. This version is highly unstable and the time flows the same as the outside. If you lose focus you'll either die or wake up back in reality with severe consequences...'

  Her voice was full of warning and concern, Kael understood that she was probably right. The last time he got into his limbo 3 days ago was when he was on the actual verge of life and death, not the one he did himself. But nevertheless he decided to train, this time instead of imagining "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" he tried to imagine normal swords of similar size, weight, and looks. It worked, two swords similarly built to the Cursed Swords appeared, Kael quickly picked them up and started swinging carelessly. Tenebrae, seeing this, clicked her tongue in her wolf form, and started explaining to Kael.

  -'Since I can't go into my true form, I'll only be able to teach you the theory. This wolf form is extremely limiting... Ehhh I wish I could hug your or something because of how happy i am for you-'

  Before she could finish Kael put a sword to her throat warning her not to continue talking, Tenebrae understating immediately shut up. Kael then started swinging the swords again, this time trying to refine his technique slightly. Tenebrae seeing this decided to guide him, even though she was in a wolf form she could teach Kael the theory behind wielding dual swords.