Sabir’s skull pounded as if something were trying to hammer its way out. The sharp, relentless ringing in his ears drowned out everything else, a piercing note that seemed to grow louder with every second. He clutched his head, his hands trembling as the pain surged like lightning behind his eyes.


    “What is this voice?” Sabir gritted his teeth, while clutching his head with both hands.


    The voice didn’t seem to stop, only growing stronger, vibrating not just in his ears but his mind, pushing away his thoughts, overpowering all his mental faculties. It wasn’t angry, yet it boomed as though it had waited millennia to speak.


    “Hang on... you’re not what I’ve been seeking... how did this all go wrong? The priestess swore on her life.”


    The voice sounded deep, almost calming, its tone felt unnerving, yet it relaxed Sabir from the pain he felt. It wasn’t the voice of a monster but a man, someone who had been watching—waiting. For what? Sabir wasn’t quite sure. None of the words it spoke made any sense. Sabir fell to his knees, his palms pressing harder against his skull, as though that could somehow force the intruding presence out.


    The voice continued, almost musing now, speaking more to itself than to Sabir. “This vessel has no clarity... no purpose. He’s angry, full of revenge... this is not who I seek. I would’ve thought my descendants were wiser than this.”


    Sabir staggered backward, still holding his head as though it would split in two. His legs gave out entirely, and before he could react, his body tipped backward. His balance was gone, the ancient staircase spiraling beneath him as he tumbled downward. His back hit one of the steps, the impact jolting the breath from his lungs. He rolled down the staircase, his body scraping against the stone, helpless to stop his descent.


    As he slid down, his mind whirled, the pain blooming in his arms and legs did little to soothe. No clarity? The voice''s words echoed in his thoughts even as he fell. What vessel?


    “This vessel has been using aura without training,” the voice continued, seeming unconcerned by Sabir’s violent descent. “Perhaps... perhaps he is more like me than I first gave him credit for... The pegasi allowed him to get this far—how bizarre.”


    Sabir’s body came to sharp stop, as he crashed into particularly sharp step. He let out a groan, layining on the step with his chest heaving, the pounding in his head only dimmed for  a moment. Within the brief reprieve, he felt an odd, tingling sensation crawling up from the hand that had touched the staff.


    He looked down. The spot where his blood had touched the weapon was glowing, a soft, ethereal blue that spread slowly up his wrist, crawling along his veins like an electric current. It wasn’t burning, but it wasn’t comfortable either—his skin prickled as though the energy were alive.


    “Very well, there’s not much I can do,” the voice spoke again, quieter now, more contemplative. “I cannot afford to wait any longer. And I have already left the glaive...”


    “What are you talking about?!” Sabir hissed through his gritted teeth, trying to stifle his screams from the pain, his eyes focused solely on the blue energy that was now moving up his forearm, spreading faster than the black veins that had stopped in its tracks. The black veins only squirmed under his skin, as if sensing the blue energy heading towards it.


    “Boy,” the voice interrupted, a sudden firmness returning to its tone, “what is your name?”


    Sabir thrashed his body, he rolled down the rocky staircase before pulling himself up onto his elbows, though his body screamed in protest. “Get out of my head!” he barked, the command more out of desperation than anger. The voice inside him seemed unphased, its presence only growing stronger, more insistent. He looked around the dark cavern, the pegasi continued to watch him intently. He searched for the person responsible, but it was just him and the pegasi.


    “Boy,” the voice repeated, “I mean you no harm. Now, state your name.”


    He blinked, panting for breath, but the words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. “Sabir... Sabir Quinn.”


    There was a pause, a moment of eerie silence, as if the very air around him were waiting for a reaction. Then the voice returned, almost softer now.


    “Very well, Sabir Quinn. Listen closely. I am but a fragment of a conscience, but I must relay this message before I leave you. What I am gifting you... is my legacy.”


    At those words, Sabir became still like a statue, the pale blue energy sharpened and intensified, just beneath the surface of his skin. It crawled up his arm like a centipede, the cold, almost electrical sensation winding its way toward his shoulder. His breath caught in his throat as the energy snaked across his muscles, leaving behind a faint tingling that wasn’t painful, but unsettling—alien, yet somehow familiar. It felt like fire and ice at once, but neither burned nor froze. It flowed through him with a purpose, a will of its own, as if the energy had been waiting for this moment, waiting for him.


    He looked at his arm, in alarm, and saw the blue tendrils moving like veins, lighting up his skin from within. Everywhere they went sent a strange warmth radiating outwards. His heart pounded in his chest, and his pulse echoed in rhythm with the energy. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever felt—intense but not painful, overwhelming but somehow soothing. It was as if the very essence of his body was being rewritten, altered by the presence of this foreign power.


    The blue light touched his shoulder and started to swirl. spiraling toward the center of his chest where the black veins had once taken root. Sabir’s fingers twitched involuntarily, his muscles spasming under the sheer force of the energy. His skin glowed faintly in the dim light of the cavern, the blue lines intertwining with the remnants of the black veins. Where the darkness had once pulsed with pain and corruption, the blue energy now coursed with life, weaving itself into the very fabric of his being.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    He breathed in quick, shallow breaths, his head spinning in an attempt to grasp what was going on. The blue light seemed like to move with a mind of it’s own. And yet, even as he felt it moving ever-deeper into his being, he didn''t feel threatened at all. The energy seemed to flow with purpose, with intent, as though it had been seeking him out all along.


    And still, the voice persisted, booming in his head, filling his thoughts like a distant storm growing closer.


    “What you will do with this legacy, even I do not know. But hear this, Sabir Quinn. Use it to protect humanity, and only humanity. This is my inheritance to you.”


    The energy pulsed now, and Sabir’s breath hitched in his throat. “What... what legacy…what inheritance? What are you talking about?”


    The blue energy coiled even tighter around the black veins, and Sabir''s body convulsed as a surge of pain unlike anything he had ever known shot through him. It was as if his chest had been torn open from the inside, the searing blue light clashing violently with the corrupted veins. The tendrils of blue energy slithered through his skin, merging with the dark, twisted veins that had once pulsed with a sickening blackness. Now, the two forces collided, battling for dominance, and Sabir could feel the war being waged within him.


    His breath caught, eyes open wide with disbelief, as the blue energy burned its way into his flesh. He could see the luminous tendrils threading into his dark veins, fusing with them, trying to counteract the poison that had spread so far across his body. His heartbeat grew erratic, pounding wildly in his chest as though his very soul was being torn apart by the conflicting powers, there was no space to keep any thoughts of doubt in his mind. Each beat of his heart sent a new wave of agony crashing over him, every pulse pushing the energy further into the darkness.


    Sabir gasped, clutching at his chest, his fingers digging into his skin as the pain deepened. The blue light glowed brighter now, almost blinding as it surged against the black corruption, illuminating the dark cave around him. He could feel the two energies writhing beneath his skin, entangled in a furious struggle, twisting and turning like a serpent coiled around its prey. Every nerve in his body screamed in protest, his muscles spasming uncontrollably as the forces clashed inside him.


    The agony was all-consuming, sharper and more visceral than the dull ache of the black veins had ever been. It wasn’t just physical pain—this was deeper, a pain that seemed to reach into the core of his being, attacking his very essence. The blue energy was purging the darkness, but in doing so, it was ripping through him, burning through every inch of his body as it fought to cleanse him. It was as if his body was being torn apart and rebuilt all at once, the blue light knitting itself into his veins, replacing the sickness with something new, something powerful.


    He could feel the black veins recoiling, resisting, fighting back against the intrusion of the blue energy. Yet the next pulse of blue energy, sent forth from Sabir''s heart, caught the black poison by surprise. The black tendrils tried to squirm back, running away in fear. However, the blue light was relentless, surging forward with every beat of his heart, consuming the corruption bit by bit. It was overwhelming, suffocating, and Sabir wasn’t sure how much more he could take.


    The world around him spun, his vision blurring as pain blossomed in his chest and reached its thunderous peak. He felt the two opposing forces clash and knew he was fighting a battle inside his own body. They were fighting him, trying to kill him, and he was determined not to let them win. Sweat poured down his face as he fought for every grueling second. "Stay conscious! Stay conscious!" he told himself over and over. His hands trembled, and for one long moment, he thought he might not survive this war being fought inside him.


    But then, just as suddenly as it had started, the pain changed. The blue energy started to take charge, overriding the black veins that had once held dominion over his body. The darkness was starting to go, pulling back like a tide, its hold on him getting weaker as the light pushed it back further and further. Sabir could feel the blue energy working down through the black veins, lifting the corruption that had held in him.]


    His heart continued to pound wildly, but now, instead of pain, there was a weird sense of relief, a cooling sensation that spread all through his chest as the blue light finally began to settle. The war inside him was ending—the blue energy victorious. He could feel the last remnants of the black veins dissolving in front of his eyes, leaving nothing but the vigorous, glowing blue tendrils in their wake.


    Before he could even examine his body, an unknown liquid built up in the back of Sabir’s throat. It grew larger and larger, before a thick viscous liquid leaked out from his mouth. His stomach churned, as he threw up black bile, over the staircase.


    “The original plan,” the voice said, strained now, as though the very act of speaking were an effort, “was to have an already established aurasphere before this moment. But the posion forced us to go in reverse order... I can only hope this does not change everything. Sabir Quinn, listen to me well... do not use what I am giving you for evil. Now for the hard bit.”


    “What?!” Sabir gasped, his body convulsing under the pressure. “What are you doing?!”


    He fell onto the stone floor, twisting in suffering, his brain gone wild in a whirlwind of chaos. It felt like every part of him was being pulled apart, ripped at the seams, only to be put back together again by the blue energy that now flowed through his veins like molten lava. Time had lost all meaning. He couldn''t tell anymore how long he had been in this state, whether it was mere minutes, stretched out to the point of an eternity, or if he had been here for hours—or days. The pain was forever. The pain was all. The pain was a storm consuming him from the inside out.


    And then, as suddenly as it had come, it stopped.


    Sabir lay still, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths, his muscles trembling from the aftershocks of whatever had just happened. Slowly, cautiously, he lifted a hand to his chest, expecting to feel the black veins crawling beneath his skin.


    They were gone. Neither the black veins or the blue energy.


    Smooth skin greeted his touch, skin that mere moments before had been brushed by a spreading corruption. He couldn''t take his eyes off his hands. Then he stared at his arms, his heart pounding wildly with disbelief. He had been healed. He had been healed completely. In fact he felt better than healthy, he felt stronger, something more than oxygen pumped in his body. Sabir could only think to what Zabo had talked about. He could feel aura within him.


    Sabir propped himself up, his thoughts swirling around, his body buzzing—as though a huge weight had been taken off him. He had wanted to laugh and cry and scream—to release the tension of what had been for so long a stranglehold on him. But before he could process any of it, before he could even begin to understand what had just happened, the ground beneath him trembled.


    The walls surrounding him creaked and split. Tiny bits of rock started to fall from the ceiling, descending in a steady drizzle around him. Sabir''s eyes were wide open, his heart pounding once more. Now, the whole chamber was quaking, along with the staircase beneath him.


    “No... no, no, no!” he muttered, scrambling to his feet.


    The walls were crumbling. The platform was shaking. And the staircase—the only way out—was beginning to break apart.


    He had to move. Now.


    But before he could even take a step, a deafening crack split the air. The floor beneath him gave way. And Sabir Quinn found himself falling once again.