Chapter 86: The Man Who Should Have Died

The first Company soldier crossed the threshold.

I felt Kai’s attention settle over my hands.

Not control.

Permission.

"Left," he said.

I moved left.

The soldier’s blade passed through the space where my chest had been. I caught his wrist, but Kai shifted my grip before I could force it downward.

"Do not break it."

"Why?"

"He is carrying a memory."

"That is a strange thing to notice in a fight."

"It is a strange fight."

The soldier twisted free and struck at my temple. I ducked beneath the weapon and drove my shoulder into his armor. He staggered backward, but the soldier behind him entered the room immediately.

Sarah intercepted the second attacker.

Her sword met his short blade with a sharp crack.

"You take the one on the right," she said.

"I am already fighting this one."

"Then fight faster."

"That is not useful advice."

"It is the advice I have."

The soldier in front of me raised his weapon again.

Kai spoke.

"His left knee."

I kicked it.

The armor held, but the soldier lost balance. I caught his shoulder and used his momentum to throw him into the wall.

He struck the stone hard enough to crack it.

Jax stared at me from behind the table.

"Was that you or Kai?"

"Both."

"That is going to be difficult to track."

Kael blocked a third soldier near the entrance.

"Stop asking questions and help."

"I am helping emotionally."

"Then help physically."

Jax lifted a chair and threw it at the nearest Company soldier.

The chair broke against the soldier’s armor.

Jax looked at the pieces in his hands.

"I have reconsidered my strategy."

Neri grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him away as a white blade struck the floor.

"Your strategy was terrible."

"It had potential."

"It had wood."

"That too."

Mira stood near the center of the room, sword raised. She did not attack Marcus. She watched him.

Marcus remained at the entrance while his soldiers spread through the building.

He had not drawn a weapon.

That worried me more than the soldiers.

He looked at the room as if he had already seen the battle and was waiting for us to repeat it correctly.

Sarah noticed him too.

"You are not fighting," she said.

Marcus smiled.

"I am supervising."

"That is a polite word for hiding."

"I have never hidden from you."

"You were frozen in a boardroom."

"Technically, I was preserved."

"You were screaming."

"Preservation is uncomfortable."

I glanced at him.

"You should be dead."

Marcus’s smile faded.

"That is the problem with Company records. They confuse death with termination."

The soldier in front of me attacked again.

I raised my weapon and met his blade.

The impact drove me backward.

Kai spoke rapidly.

"Do not push."

"He is stronger."

"Then stop trying to prove otherwise."

I loosened my grip.

The soldier expected resistance. When it disappeared, his weapon moved too far forward. I turned my wrist and guided the blade past my shoulder.

Kai took control of my balance.

My foot slid behind the soldier’s ankle.

I pulled.

He fell.

I placed my knee against his chest and held my blade near the cracked mask.

The soldier stared at me through the broken surface.

His eyes were young.

The same empty eyes as the agent from the previous battle.

Kai spoke quietly.

"Do not kill him."

"I am not planning to."

"Your hand says otherwise."

I looked down.

My fingers had tightened around the weapon.

The soldier’s wrist moved.

He tried to activate a white mark beneath his sleeve.

I struck his hand with the hilt.

The mark went dark.

The soldier stopped moving.

Jax leaned around the table.

"Did you just spare a Company soldier?"

"Yes."

"Are you feeling all right?"

"No."

"That is reassuring."

A burst of white light threw Sarah across the room.

She hit the wall and dropped to one knee.

The soldier standing over her raised both hands. White chains formed around his wrists and shot toward her.

I moved toward them, but Marcus stepped into my path.

He did not draw a weapon.

He simply lifted one hand.

The black mark on my palm opened.

Pain spread up my arm.

Inside my mind, Kai stumbled.

"Arthur."

"I feel it."

Marcus looked at my hand.

"Your synchronization is unstable."

"Your face is unstable."

Jax muttered from behind me, "Good answer."

Marcus’s eyes remained on mine.

"You are using the boy’s resistance to reinforce your own authority."

"I am working with him."

"You are consuming him."

Kai went silent.

Marcus noticed.

"He did not tell you about the first separation."

I stepped closer.

"What first separation?"

Marcus smiled again.

"Ask him."

I felt Kai pull away.

The white chains tightened around Sarah.

She struggled, but the light burned through her gloves.

Mira shouted from across the room.

"Arthur!"

I looked at Kai inside my mind.

"Tell me."

He did not answer.

"Kai."

The inner space appeared around us.

It was not the black water this time. We stood inside a narrow hallway with doors on both sides. Each door carried a different memory.

Kai stood at the end of the hallway.

He looked angry.

"Not now."

"Marcus said there was a first separation."

"Marcus says whatever helps him win."

"Is he lying?"

Kai looked away.

The chains around Sarah tightened outside.

I could feel the battle continuing through my body. My hand trembled. My breathing became shallow.

"Tell me."

"You do not need to know."

"I need to know what is happening to us."

"You need to save her."

"I cannot save anyone if I do not understand the enemy."

Kai’s eyes flashed.

"Then understand this. The Company separated me once before you arrived."

"What?"

"They removed part of me."

"What part?"

"My fear."

The hallway became colder.

Kai continued.

"They said fear made me weak. They said a vessel could not carry the first role while still reacting like a human. So they took it."

"You still feel fear."

"Because you brought it back."

The answer struck me.

"What does that mean?"

"When you entered my body, you did not only take control. You carried your own fear with you. It mixed with what they left behind."

"You are saying my presence changed you."

"I am saying you made me feel everything again."

Outside, Sarah cried out.

Kai looked toward the sound.

"I hate you for that."

"I know."

"I hate you because I was safer when I felt nothing."

"I know."

"I hate you because now I can feel how much I lost."

I stepped closer.

"You should hate them."

"I do."

"Then hate me later."

Kai looked at me.

"You assume there will be a later."

"I am planning for one."

The hallway shook.

"Can you lend me your resistance?" I asked.

Kai’s expression hardened.

"You may not survive it."

"I may not survive without it."

"You will use my body."

"Our body."

The words made him stop.

I continued.

"Not mine. Not yours. Ours, until we separate."

Kai looked at the door carrying Mira’s memory.

Then he looked at the door carrying the first floor.

Finally, he looked at me.

"Ask properly."

I lowered my head.

"Kai, may I use your resistance?"

He approached me.

"On one condition."

"What?"

"When this is over, you tell me everything you know about Marcus."

"Agreed."

"And you do not kill the soldier holding Sarah."

"I will try."

"No. Promise."

I looked into his eyes.

"I promise."

Kai placed his hand over my chest.

The hallway vanished.

I returned to the room just as the chains around Sarah began to cut through her armor.

The black mark on my palm exploded with dark light.

The chains stopped.

The Company soldier turned toward me.

"What is that?" Marcus asked.

I reached for the role inside the chains.

It felt like a command written in white fire.

Bind target.

Restrict movement.

Transfer resistance.

I did not steal the entire role.

I stole one word.

Bind.

The chains fell apart.

Sarah rolled away and rose immediately.

She looked at me.

"You took your time."

"I had a conversation."

"With who?"

"Kai."

"During the fight?"

"He is difficult to interrupt."

Sarah looked toward my face.

"Tell him I said he has terrible timing."

Kai spoke through me.

"She says you have terrible timing."

Sarah froze.

Then she sighed.

"I was speaking to you."

"He heard you."

"Of course he did."

She turned toward the soldier.

"Fine. We will discuss this after we finish beating the Company."

"That is reasonable."

The soldier attacked her again.

This time, she met him with both hands on her sword.

The blade pierced his shoulder and drove him to the floor.

"See?" she said. "That was my conversation."

Jax raised his hand.

"Was that a joke?"

"No."

"It sounded like one."

"Then you are becoming less intelligent."

Kael struck the soldier in front of him across the mask and forced him toward the entrance.

"Marcus," he said, "your soldiers are losing."

Marcus looked around.

Four Company agents were down.

One was unconscious.

Two were struggling against Kael and Neri.

The last was trapped beneath silver roots.

Marcus did not look concerned.

"Those soldiers were not sent to win."

Dorian stood near the wall.

"Then why send them?"

"To measure the response."

Dorian’s face darkened.

"And what did you learn?"

Marcus looked at me.

"That Arthur and Kai can cooperate."

The black mark on my palm pulsed.

Kai spoke inside my mind.

"Do not let him continue."

"Why?"

"He is not measuring our strength."

"What is he measuring?"

"How much of me you can use before I disappear."

The truth settled heavily inside my chest.

Marcus had never wanted to capture only Arthur.

He wanted to test the distance between us.

He wanted to find the point where cooperation became possession.

I looked at him.

"You are studying the separation."

Marcus smiled.

"Now you understand."

Mira raised her sword.

"Why?"

Marcus turned toward her.

"Because the body cannot leave the Tower while the original owner remains inside it."

Kai became still.

Mira’s eyes widened.

"What are you saying?"

Marcus answered calmly.

"The Tower will not release Arthur unless Kai is completely removed."

Sarah stepped toward him.

"That is a lie."

"Ask the house."

The silver branches around the walls began to tremble.

A message appeared in the air.

Dual existence recognized.

Transfer condition incomplete.

The original owner must be restored.

The invading identity must be released.

Mira looked at me.

"You knew this?"

"No."

Kai spoke inside my mind.

"I suspected."

"Why did you not tell me?"

"Because I thought if I said it aloud, it would become real."

Marcus stepped forward.

"That is the truth you wanted."

Dorian moved between Marcus and me.

"You are not here to retrieve Arthur."

"No."

"You are here to force the separation."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Marcus looked at him.

"Because Company cannot allow two identities to leave the Tower in one body. It creates an uncontrolled variable."

Dorian laughed once.

"Your entire world is built on controlling people, and you are frightened by one body containing two voices."

"We are frightened by what happens when those voices agree."

The room shook.

The silver tree symbol appeared beneath our feet.

Mira took one step forward.

"What happens if we refuse?"

Marcus’s eyes moved toward the floor.

"The Tower chooses for you."

A deep sound echoed through the settlement.

Not a bell.

A heartbeat.

The floor cracked beneath me.

Kai gasped inside my mind.

The pressure between us increased.

I felt something pulling him away from me.

His memories began to blur.

Mira’s voice faded from my thoughts.

The wooden bird disappeared.

I reached for Kai.

"Kai!"

"I am here."

"Stay with me."

"I am trying."

Marcus watched us with cold interest.

"Separation has begun."

Sarah charged him.

Her sword struck the air in front of his chest and was stopped by an invisible barrier.

Marcus flicked his fingers.

Sarah flew backward.

Kael caught her before she hit the wall.

Jax shouted, "That is unfair!"

Marcus looked at him.

"Conflict is rarely fair."

Jax threw a knife.

Marcus turned his head.

The knife stopped in the air and fell to the floor.

Jax nodded.

"I have confirmed that."

Dorian stepped forward.

The white lines around his wound began to glow.

Neri grabbed his shoulder.

"Do not."

Dorian removed his hand.

"I have been waiting twelve years."

"For what?"

"To stand in front of the man who gave me my role."

Marcus looked at him.

"Dorian Vale."

The name appeared on the floor beneath Dorian’s feet.

A chain rose from the stone.

Dorian cut it before it reached his ankle.

Another chain appeared.

Then another.

He cut the second.

The third wrapped around his wrist.

Neri moved to help, but Dorian shook his head.

"No."

"You cannot fight the role alone."

"I have fought it alone for twelve years."

"That is why you are losing."

Dorian looked at him.

Neri’s voice became rough.

"Let someone stand beside you."

Dorian hesitated.

Then he lowered his blade.

Neri grabbed the chain with both hands.

The black mark on his neck spread across his arms.

The chain screamed.

Dorian stared at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Making your problem mine."

"That is a terrible habit."

"I learned it from Kai."

I looked toward them.

Jax pointed at me.

"Apparently you are a bad influence."

"I have heard worse."

Kai spoke inside my mind.

"Pull the role."

"I cannot leave you."

"You are not leaving me. You are stopping them."

The pressure increased.

My body felt divided at the center. One side belonged to my thoughts. The other belonged to Kai’s memories. Every breath became a negotiation.

I reached toward the separation.

It was not a chain.

It was a door.

A white door being forced between us.

Marcus watched closely.

"Do not touch it," he said.

I smiled.

"That usually means I should."

He raised his hand.

The room darkened.

The Company agents stood again.

The fallen soldiers rose without masks, their empty faces turned toward me.

Sarah lifted her sword.

"How long can you hold him?"

"I do not know."

"Then we make it quick."

Kael stepped beside her.

"Jax, stay behind us."

Jax drew his remaining knife.

"I am tired of hearing that."

"Then stop standing behind us."

Jax looked toward the soldiers.

Then he swallowed.

"I may need one more minute."

Neri tightened his grip on Dorian’s chain.

Dorian raised his broken blade.

Mira stood at the center of the room.

The silver tree beneath us began to burn.

Marcus looked at all of us.

"Choose," he said.

The white door inside my mind opened another inch.

Kai stood on the other side.

His hand was pressed against the frame.

"Arthur," he said.

"Yes?"

"Whatever happens, do not let them decide which of us is real."

I placed my hand against the door from my side.

"They do not get to decide."

Marcus lifted his hand.

The soldiers charged.

Sarah and Kael met them head-on.

Jax moved with them, shouting something that sounded like a battle cry but was probably a complaint.

Dorian and Neri pulled against the chain together.

Mira raised her sword toward Marcus.

And inside one body, two people held the same door shut.

The final separation had begun.

But neither Arthur nor Kai was ready to let go.