Chapter 2.

I was not happy with the present contract, nor was I happy with the old one. It seems making contracts with a god, much less the god of Star, does not conclude in your favor. All royals are schemers.

The first was made after I was blinded by sheer gratefulness and naivety, willing to do anything for him. And so I served him for many years, and now my greatest wish came true; I was set free. Yet I was not satisfied. The Star god has set me free, but I was trapped within another contract. It was true I did not serve the Star god anymore, but now I am bound to Sanda. I was to protect her if any harm came to her. As strong as she is, constantly having to worry about someone who is not oneself is not desired.

How troublesome things have gotten. That day has changed my life, but it was for the worst.

I strolled around the kingdom of Earth, enjoying every moment of my freedom. The towering tall buildings of intricate design glared down at me with every turn.

A local waved at me, and I dipped my head towards her. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon!" She grinned at me.

Lively people, nowadays. Never experienced true terror. How innocent.

I walked past her, and strolled through the town. My black hanfu trailed behind me. It was a nice day.

A shock split it's way up my spine, signaling Sanda was in danger.

Back to my normal job, protecting a damsel in distress. I would say Sanda is strong if it weren't for the fact that I was protecting her, but yes. She was a damsel in distress to me now.

The Star god provided me with a very useful tool to help Sanda; a teleporter that teleported me to Sanda anytime I wanted. I willed it to activate, and I fell through nothing.

I landed on soft grass, and was greeted with people I have done research on before.

Sanda, Oxl, and Polyner. I immediately surveyed the surroundings, as the reason I came here in the first place was to get Sanda out of danger.

There was no power, or anything. Just a danger that I wasn't expecting.

All unexpected things are sometimes to be expected though, if you understand.

And that unexpected person, or thing, was Taynama. He strolled through the grass. "Hey!"

Very dangerous, indeed. It seemed as if Oxl had some sense, as she jumped back immediately and put up a boundary around them. She jerked her head at me and stared at me. "I don't know who you are, but please help us! If you can't, run!" Panic showed in her eyes.

In situations like this, the first thing you have to do is remain calm. I dipped my head at her, and nodded. "Ok."

So I did what I had said I did, and completed the right sequence of formulas to get to the right conclusion: a portal teleporting them to the Star god. Some power from vine originating from me, added to some chemicals that I have designed from atoms of air, water, and methane.

They disappeared, but I was left alone with the 6th Night Wendura. How troublesome. One Night Wendura is located, but I haven't meant to get personally involved with them, only find out what they were doing.

Troublesome, indeed. My smile remained, but it was decorated with pure venom. "Hello, Taynama."

"Long time no see, Phoenix. How are you doing?" He also smiled at me.

But anybody could see the tension in the air. "Yes, we haven't met in a long time. What have you been doing?"

"The question is what have you been doing?" A moment of silence appeared, and Taynama added a little sentence that brung back all the memories. "Or, how have you survived?"

I dodged a bolt of sharp water coming at me. Power from Water connected with electricity was strong, and that was what Taynama was doing.

Taynama also charged at me, but I narrowly dodged it. It took me a second to realize how much energy teleporting the group of three away took. That second of fault charged me a good amount, as Taynama took my chance of faltering in his favor.

Blood flashed in front of my eyes, but it was not his. I ignored the wound, and endured it. I made sure it did not slow me down.

I did not, but I was already slow. Even if speed was Akarincine's specialty, it played a big part in fighting when your physical strength was not as much as your opponent.

Slowly he wore me down, while I landed a few strikes on him. We were trained to endure pain, so it did not bother him either.

Black shrouded me, and my last thought of that moment flooded my mind. How had I gotten so weak?

When I came back to consciousness, I only squinted to observe the surroundings, but at the same time they think that I'm still as useless as before.

I was on a bed. Considering what has happened before I awoke, I was probably somewhere that has some connection to Taynama.

There was a woman, one that looked meek. Appearances deceive, but the aura she gives off was not a strong one.

Auras don't deceive. Unless you spend thousands of years perfecting it, as I had done.

She was treating me, and I layed limp. I held my breath and willed my heart to stop beating. A very useful skill learned, indeed. If you allow something else to allow blood to circulate in your body, and get trained to survive without as much blood, the heart is something that is not of use. I will still not die, which would come to be useful in important situations, such as this one.

The woman narrowed her eyes, and pressed a cold hand against my neck. "She's dead."

Now, even if she was strong, I had the element of surprise in my favor. After waiting a few seconds, I jumped up, and for a second, I was relieved I was still wearing my hanfu. It would aid in having enough speed, as it was infused with Air.

I jumped onto the woman, and before she could do anything that would suggest I had attacked her, I dropped some of the poison that Yunella gave me… before she disappeared.

I had kept it for cases like this.

The woman immediately was immobilized, but she was glaring at me with wide eyes.

I smiled wider down at her, insanity edging across my soul. If it weren't for the fact that Yunella had great poisons that could last a long time, I would've killed her.

I leaned down, and pulled out a knife that I had packed. Pure terror showed in the woman's eyes, and I pressed the knife harder to her throat. Warm, red blood trickled down her neck.

How cute. Humans really think that I would be this merciful, and kill them?

No. I'll let Taynama see her in this pathetic state, and as a result, he'll grace her with his psychotic methods.

"If it weren't for Yunella, you would've died gruesomely now. Thank her." With that, I left the room. A small human should not have taken so much of my time. When I peeked out of the room, everybody was wearing the same clothes. White overalls and black bands tightening on the ankles and wrists.

The woman had the same clothes. An idea appeared in my mind, and I smiled genuinely this time.

I backtracked and went back into the room. I stripped the woman of her clothes, ignoring the looks she was giving me, and I changed.

Of course, I kept my hanfu. It was very important in fighting. I walked out, and followed the staff to where all the Night (those under the Night Wenduras) were.

Everybody was getting ready to go somewhere, and I was relieved that I wouldn't stay here any longer.

I've also memorized almost the whole place. Considering it took a long time to get to this area, I had passed many rooms and hallways. This wouldn't be a maze any longer.

One of the Night becomed me to him, and I kept my head low as I walked to there. "Get me out of here. Or else," he demanded.

I held my smile back, and I nodded meekly. "Yes sir."

"Clear my pathway. Got it?"

I nodded. I scurried in front of him, and cleared everything in his way as told.

I took peeks at where his eyes were looking too, which made me go into the right routes. One time though, he was looking somewhere else. "It's to the right!" The Night grumbled and kicked me. It was a weak one, but it was obviously meant to be painful.

"Ow!" Even so, I made it seem as if it caused me a lot of pain. Underestimating oneself is better, right?

He seemed satisfied, as a big grin of triumph appeared on his face. "Be useless. Act useless. I'm superior!" He laughed to himself.

I was utterly disgusted. Those who feel good at the expense of others do not deserve to feel good.

I bowed my head. "Have mercy!"

He grinned. "Fine. C'mon!" He dragged me towards a direction, and after a while, he got tired. "Walk on your own!" Maybe he'll die a gruesome death. A horrible one, one with no meaning, blood slowly oozing out… yet not dying yet….

I staggered up, and followed him. A dim light appeared, and soon there I was outside of the building. It was sunset, and the pink clouds were peeking through the black clouds.

As expected. I had gotten out. The Night smirked at me, and he flexed his arm. "Now, I will kill you."

I'm sure he had expected me to be surprised, but then again, I would not like to waste time on small matters like this. I stood up, and this time it was his turn to be surprised.

"What?"

My smile came back, and I bowed. "Thank you for leading me out. It was a pleasant coincidence that you picked me." But I accepted the coincidence. It went in my favor.

I took my knife out, pointed it to his throat, and laughed a little. It was satisfying to watch the confused and disbelieving look creep into his face.

Oh how innocent humans were.

I leaned my face towards him. "Head, arm, or leg?"

"Huh?"

"Pick one. Which one do you want to lose?" The look of pure horror appeared on his face, just as it had on the woman's face, filled me with pleasure. It has been so long since I have experienced something like this.

"None!" He bowed.

Of course, as if that would trick me. A woman, in his mind, was one of insignificance. That was the rule of Yan, a common belief. I saw the smile on his face.

Just as I had expected, a few moments later he jumped up and tried to attack me.

Key word: tried. Of course I dodged to the right, and angled a quick strike with the head of my knife into a paralyzing point in his back.

He fell to the ground, paralyzed.

I whispered into his ear, pleasure seeping into me. A small, tiny being. A human, at my mercy, again. "I'm sorry, but you don't get to choose."

I turned his face, and wide eyes stared back into me. I cut a deep 2 inch gash right across his face, and watched him scream with calm eyes.

I savored the feeling, of course backing away at first. I didn't want the blood didn't get onto my clothes.

His screams filled the air, blood pouring out from the wound. His paralyzed body shuddered from the pain, and his eyes rolled to the pack of his head.

It soon became boring though, as something as small as this was not of big importance.

"Goodnight." I ended his life with one clean cut in the neck. No guilt or sympathy took hold of me. Out of millions in this world, and billions in all the worlds, one small death was unimportant. I've seen too much.

Now, back to the present matter. Taynama was found, so there were sure to be more Wenduras scattered around Yan. The elemental courts might hold more Wenduras, working in different areas, and getting into different elemental kingdoms itself would prove to be difficult.

But that was the thrill, wasn't it? A game to finally be played.

After looking around, I changed very quickly, into my hanfu. Then I took out some herbal medicine that I made and treated my wounds. It would take an hour, 23 minutes and 56 seconds to heal, given the conditions around me. I had experimented on this before.

I looked down and saw the blood coming closer, so I scooted away from the dead body. It was not something to be desired, for sticky red blood seeping into my clothes.

Looked around and inspected the area. Finding out where I was was my first priority. I knew I was in somewhere that has to do with Taynama, yet where was this place located?

There was the Earth tree to my right, and that was north. That means I was facing west. West, and the fact that I could see the Windrise tree means that I am facing Earth. I wonder why Taynama's layer hasn't been found yet. Why was this place even in Earth, not Air?

The right answer was probably the fact that this was not Taynama's layer. It's a settlement of Nights that work under Taynama.

I walked forward, careful not to re-open my wound. I was greeted with a purple smoke, much to my disappointment. I had suspected this, but hope would do me some good. But then again, hope fails. Hope brings loss, just as love brings hate.

"Greetings, Taynama. What have I done to be blessed in your presence?"

He smiled at me, and I smiled at him. A few moments of silence fell, while the clouds of night time rolled over us. The stars had appeared, a beautiful scene blessing us.

Taynama paid no attention to that, though. Unlike his past self, he only focused on the matters that were on hand, not once appreciating the natural beauty.

I guess I could say the same about myself.

We continued glaring at each other, but with a smile on our faces.

Suddenly he jerked forward and aimed a strike at my neck. I dodged it, and at once he darted a hand towards my already almost open wound, which was loosened due to my surprise of his attack.

It re-opened. What a pain.

I snapped my fingers and black smoke circled Taynama. He glared at me, and his smile disappeared from his face.

Madness entered his face, my heart showing it as well. It doesn't matter if one human dies in this world.

A gruesome, bloody death.

He lunged at me, but instead of a knife like I expected, it was a sword. The sharp edges punctured my skin near my ribs. A searing pain ripped through me, but madness invited a smile on my face, while pure rage entered my heart. I had wanted to get into the layer to find Taynama's whereabouts, but now he was just annoying me. A small insect yet to be destroyed.

Black smoke influenced him fully, and he disappeared back to where he usually is: the kingdom of Air.

The adrenaline ebbed off, and I slumped into myself. I need to get to Earth, though. This type of physical pain is much better than mental pain. Not a choice to choose not to get through this.

I stood up, and immediately blood drained from my face. I got light headed.

I guess that wound was deeper than I originally thought..

I kept on trudging forwards, and it went on for who knows how long.

I blacked out.