The carriage was moving silently under the morning sun. Inside, Thomas was looking outside the window, his eyes wandering in the void without stopping to look at the scenery. The inside was full of thick smoke, but none of the twins made any remarks. They simply used their magic to create a bubble of pure air around their heads, to be free of the scent of the drugs. After a while, Tari finally spoke.

  “Master, you mustn’t show any weakness.”

  “I know.”

  Thomas brushed his hand through his hair with a sight and looked in front of him, at the boys’ faces.

  “I stopped them from knowing about the drug but if I show it to them today, they’ll tch onto it, right ?”

  The twins nodded. Tira was fiddling with his sleeves, the tailored outfit felt foreign on his tiny body since he always dressed in an outrageous fashion, as did most of the people in this world.

  “We still don’t know why the king was acting like this, but I doubt he wants his kingdom to disappear. So he’ll probably leave you alone so that you can repair the artifacts.”

  “And after I’m done repairing them ?”

  Silence answered him. Thomas sighed again.

  ‘At least I know who the big bad guy is. There is no doubt the game won’t end after repairing the artifacts, I’ll probably need to fight him before that. But at least I know who my opponent is. That’s one less thing to worry about. However, I’m still worried about the fact that the cursed beasts look like us when we use the flow. There’s something strange about it…’

  Worrying about it wouldn’t bring any answer. They were now on their way to the royal castle in the capital to tend to the second artifact, Simon was already waiting for them inside. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable, and Thomas felt his patience wearing thin.

  “Why can’t we just fly over here ?”

  Tira pursed his lips.

  “We can’t fly, master. Only you can.”

  “In hundreds of years, you never learned to use your flow in that way ? You can’t even teleport…”

  Tari cut him off.

  “You are the Shaman, of course you can do that. We are only artificial familiars. Thanks to your growing strength we are more useful in battle, and for general support and management of your estate, but we aren’t as powerful as you. Moreover, you must show a dignified appearance today, so having a convoy and attendants is a good choice.”

  Thomas was scratching his neck. It had been a while since he had done that, but right now he felt nervous.

  “I won’t be able to smoke in the castle, right ?”

  “Yes, you need to prevent them from finding even one weakness they could exploit.”

  The Shaman gritted his teeth and scratched more.

  “I just need to go to the artifact and do the circution, right ?”

  “No, the king will probably ask for an audience, he would want to see what type of person you are. But don’t worry, we will accompany you.”

  Thomas’ jaw was clenched, scratching his neck to the point that his nails were ripping his skin.

  “Simon will be doing the circution with me.”

  Tira was looking at him with worry, reluctantly muttering :

  “He can’t, he has to keep watch and prevent people from approaching the artifact. The king could send servants to spy on you.”

  Hearing the answer, Thomas started shaking and lost control of his strength, ripping his neck open as blood started to flow from his wound, being projected into the carriage. Immediately the twins jumped to him.

  “Master, calm down !”

  Tira was using his flow to heal the wound while Tari was searching in his pocket, taking out a box of cigarettes, putting one in the Shaman’s mouth and lighting it up. It took a few minutes of panic, but eventually Thomas leaned back and rested his head against the window, exhaling the smoke in satisfaction. With a flick of his wrist he finished to heal himself and pushed the twins back to their seats. The two boys were looking at him with anxious eyes.

  “Are you okay now, master ?”

  “Shut up.”

  He was back to his usual self, curt and impolite with his eyes lost in the void.

  “Not having weaknesses is good, but maybe scaring them off is a good option too ?”

  Tari tilted his head in confusion.

  “What do you mean ?”

  Thomas showed a twisted smile, pointing to the carriage’s interior covered in blood.

  “Do you think they will like this ? Won’t that stop them from messing with me ?”

  Both boys lowered their heads in terror. Eventually, Tira whispered :

  “Master… You won’t be hurting yourself again, right ? Please ?”

  The Shaman looked at the pink haired boy as if what he had just said was ridiculous.

  “Why shouldn’t I ?”

  “Because we worry…!”

  Tira had jumped up and screamed, but couldn’t finish his sentence. Thomas’ gre was hollow and lifeless, as if he was looking at an object. He didn’t see his two personal servants as humans, he wouldn’t understand their feelings. Eventually the boy sat back and tried to hide his tears in his brother’s arms. Tari was looking at Thomas with a hurt face.

  “Master, why won’t you accept us ?”

  “Because you’re a bunch of egoistic liars.”

  He had answered without batting an eye, and the twins started shaking.

  “What do you mean ?”

  The Shaman finished his cigarette and stuffed it in his portable ashtray, then slowly lit up another that he pced between his teeth.

  “I went through your personal library, the one hidden behind your office. I probably would have never found it if I didn’t have the demonic power to feel people’s presence and monitor them. Anyway, there were a lot of useful books about the Shaman and how that whole thing works, like for example the fact that a new Shaman can be born between the current one and a familiar.”

  The boy’s eyes grew wider as they shook uncontrolbly. Thomas continued in a low voice.

  “Then I wondered why you always wanted me to do circutions all the time, and were so happy when you found out that I didn’t hate it as much with Simon. And this crazy idea hit me : Their current master abandoned them for several hundred years, and apparently that wasn’t the first time. When that happened they were alone without a Shaman, that must have felt like a nightmare for artificial familiars born to serve. What if, it’s a crazy theory, when they were alone they devised a pn for the new Shaman, who doesn’t know anything, to push him into a familiar’s bed and unwillingly have a baby, so that they could have a new master to serve when he would be gone ?”

  Tira found the courage to speak.

  “Master, that’s not…”

  “And I found out something even more extraordinary : There are ways for a Shaman to learn to control their power, should they ever lose their memories and forget how to manipute the flow. However you didn’t give this method to me. How strange, knowing that when a Shaman loses control they change into their Shamanic form, one of a beast, and in this situation the flow allows them to put their seed into anyone.”

  The twins couldn’t answer, they only lowered their heads and held each other’s hands. The aura around Thomas had become murderous, filled with so much rage and resentment that they felt they would die at any moment.

  “So, by not giving me the method, you risked putting me and everyone around in danger, all so that you could harvest my child. Did you hope I would sleep with a servant ? Was that why there was always someone wandering around my room ? Did you think I would lose control and bed them, offering you the tool you have been waiting for ?”

  Silence answered him. Tira was so terrified that he looked like he was about to wet himself. But Thomas’ face didn’t rex. His voice became softer, but it was even more scary for the twins.

  “I could have lost control in my Shamanic form, ripped everyone’s throat, killed hundreds of servants, all so that you can have a master when I’m gone. You wanted to use me for my seed, no matter the repercussions. If I killed that many innocent people, did you not think I would feel bad ? I could have gone crazy and killed myself, you know.”

  They lowered their heads even more, as if they were trying to disappear. Thomas, however, had stopped looking at them and was one again looking through the window, his gaze lost in the void.

  “Anyway, that’s why I don’t accept you. I don’t trust you and I never will. Once I’m done with the artifacts, I’m out of here. And you shouldn’t worry about a child since I can’t get it up.”

  His brows furrowed as he smoked. Eventually, he exhaled in a sigh.

  “I can’t imagine myself ever liking sex.”