The bodies of the dead and damned surrounded me, the hollow faces of the once living staring into oblivion.
I have killed many before.
"Siege, what are you doing? Your mind is wondering again. Aren't they dead? Aren't you not supposed to care about them?"
Conquer was my idiot counter that I was stuck with for the rest of my cursed life that I did not wish to have. He was the other half of my consciousness that formed when I was going through my transcendance in Tecyalia. He plagued my mind, making me think of things I didn't care for, and taunted me with a future that I wanted, but I could have because I was cursed.
I hate him.
"Siege, aren't you supposed to be focused? Or am I that distracting? Ooh, will I finally take over your life and send you deep into your memory and let-"
"Shut up, Conquer. You won't have my mind anytime soon. I am in control. You may be the other half of me, but you will never tempt me. I am not the same way I was five years ago."
That made him quiet. Good, I didn't want to listen to him for the rest of the way to my cave.
I exiled myself to the Dust Storm to quiet the temptations of murder. I wasn't going to end up like Exodus. I wanted a peaceful life, or as close as I could get to one, and hope my Chthonic Marked powers don't get in the way every time I see another Fylio or just have the urge to kill something because Ictriach is a disgusting piece of-
Not the time, Siege, not the time.
It wasn't that hard to try to manage my way through the Dust Storm. I have navigated through the whole storm plenty of times, and I know where I am supposed to go.
I don't know if it's because I'm Chthonic Marked or if I just have good survival instincts.
More of my past displays itself in the back of my mind, where I intend to keep it. Memories of my transcendence and how harsh it was. It has been seven years, but I remember it so clearly.
I was just there, at Tecyalia, with the other twenty-four survivors of the test tradition praised.
"Drink from the fountain as soon as you get there. Don't worry if anyone is too scared to receive their gift. Be the first, if you must. " They told us. They repeated it to us.
And I went, drank from the waters like they told me to. The water that could have been "purified" with the blood of a Canac Scythe. Before I knew it, I was elevated by my "gift".
The pain and agony was not worth the trouble it caused me in the years after the incident.
Ictriach. I hated him. I don't even know if I hated him more than Conquer. Dictator Ictriach. Shouldn't even be in power. His term ended so many years ago, according to my poor education. He later took over by force and made himself the dictator of the Kingdom.
Ictriach.
His name stuck with me for a while. He condemned me to suffering. Those were five long years.
I pushed the rest of those memories to the dark parts of my mind. Far away, never to be seen by any mind reader. No one needs to see them. Not even Conquer, the half of me that I despised. He may know the fine lines of my life, but he will never find those memories.
Time seems to have passed, but I could have never been able to tell because I haven't seen light here in who knows how long. It's only dark. Nothing else.
I knew my cave was somewhere around here. I could sense it's rocky structure and the items I had stored in it: food stores, water, and healing vials. You could only have so much when you are out and on your own.
