The dunes were black as ink, just barely shifting in the wake of those slow winds that graced the area around the Obelisk.

Intisak stood upon the crest of one such dune, tall, broad-shouldered, his long white hair streaming behind him like pale smoke. The fur of his cloak stirred, its silvered edges catching faint glints of the golden light that bled from the pillar of stone before him.

The Blackstone Monolith. It rose out of the desert like the spine of some buried god.

Its runes burned faintly---golden, geometric veins crawling up its vast surface and vanishing into the dark clouds above.

Intisak did not move, his hands hanging loosely at his sides as breath left his lips in calm rhythm. Yet inside his mind, another voice stirred.

"So ya done returned, den."

The sound rumbled through him like gravel dragged through water, deep, ancient, layered.

Intisak's silver eyes remained plastered to the obelisk, but he said nothing.

"Ya used de Laws of the Black-sands to have me test him," the voice continued, colder now, edged with disapproval. "Ya should know by now dat Abisai does not appreciate such manipulations."

The wind curled around Intisak's boots, pushing streaks through the black sand. His cloak flared, then settled again.

"I apologize, Great Abisai," he replied aloud, calm as ever, "But it was necessary. I had to know if the boy could do all that he claimed to do. The wilderness could just as well have been enough to test him---but this way, I'll know for sure. And if he hasn't lied to me, then he'll only be rewarded."

A low rumble vibrated at the back of his mind. "Hmmm. De child is smarter than most. His mind was more capable den I expected. But other than dat… I saw nothin' in him. He is only Silver. Sub-par Axemanship. Not a single comprehended Magical Law. I would say this one is far behind most any other Silver Ranked Hunter."

Intisak's eyes sharpened, "And yet he bested ALL of our Silver Rank hunters in a Trial of Blood. You underestimate him greatly."

Silence answered him.

"His gift has allowed him to bridge the gap between Stages, despite all that he lacks," Intisak continued. His eyes lifted toward the endless height of the monolith. "Just imagine what he can do if he's guided. Sharpened to a point. He can save us. I know it. He will be the one to return to us our freedom."

He exhaled softly, the mist of his breath curling into the air. "He has what it takes to wield the Codex. That is, if his Gift truly is what he's led me to believe. And the Trial of Sand will test just that. We will know, in twelve hours' time."

"Twelve hours?" The voice carried a faint trace of amusement now. "Ya don't expect him to kill it, den?"

"No," Intisak replied. "I gave him a restriction that won't allow him to go all out. So if he does kill the beast, then he will have gone against those instructions. But even without that ability, if all he said is true, then he will survive...and dominate the Aspect with ease."

A faint hum rippled through his thoughts, "Hmmm. You've stoked my curiosity, young Intisak. But you know just as well as I that peering into the Trial is impossible...Even for one such as I."

"I know." Intisak bowed his head slightly. "I only ask that you analyze the Monolith's Clearance Report as well as the boy's rewards once he returns. If all goes well, he should be able to match my Resonance."

A low chuckle rolled through the desert wind. "Mm very well. But it is surprising, Young Intisak...Abisai has never seen you hold such confidence in another. But it is good. De position of Chieftain has changed you for the better."

For the first time that night, a faint smile touched Intisak's lips. "Perhaps it has."

A few grains of black sand rolled down the dune beside him.

After a long pause, Intisak asked quietly, "How long has it been now? Since he went in?"

"Mmm… one hour and ten minutes," Abisai said. "It will be a long wait."

Intisak nodded slightly, the movement slow and deliberate. He clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head upward once more, taking in the sheer size of the monolith.

He watched it for a while, but not for long. The air grew stiller. The cold deepened. Somewhere below, the dunes whispered and shifted.

Then---

A tremor ran through the desert. The runes upon the monolith brightened, one after another, racing upward in sequence.

Intisak's eyes widened.

A low pulse shook the air. The tower flared once, a brilliant gold, and then dimmed again.

"Intisak…" Abisai's voice carried a weight that pressed behind his eyes.

The chieftain swallowed, knowing full well what the voice was about to say.

"The Trial is completed."

For a heartbeat, Intisak simply stared at the monolith.

"A new clearance record," continued Abisai, tone unreadable. "One that crushes yours by a mile."

Intisak's pulse quickened, jaw tightening as he muttered to himself, "So he broke the conditions..."

The monolith pulsed again — slow, deliberate — as though answering.

He did not need Abisai to confirm it. If the boy had cleared the Trial in barely over an hour, then he had not followed orders.

And yet…

His gaze lingered on the light spilling from the runes, the faint echo of power humming through the dunes. A whisper of reluctant awe crossed his mind. If he truly killed a Failed Disaster in just one hour… then perhaps Abisai wasn't the only one that underestimated him.

Abisai's laughter rippled through his consciousness. "Seems ya done found yaself a troublesome child, Chieftain."

Intisak nodded in agreement, but his eyes never left the monolith.

"The Report, Great Abisai?"

Abisai laughed again, "Impatient as ever. Let us see then."

A moment passed.

Then another.

Then a few more.

"...Abisai?"

"Dis..." said the voice, "...shouldn't be possible."

Intisak's eyes widened, "What's happened? What has he done?"

Abisai continued speaking, more to himself than anyone else, "None of dis should be possible, mon. How? What in Great Abisai's name has dis child been gifted with? It is not possible. 'Tis just not."

The Chieftain's hands came loose from the vice behind his back as he looked to the Monolith in shock. He had never---not once---heard Abisai sound so rattled.

"ABISAI! Tell me! What has he done?!"

Intisak heard Abisai swallow in disbelief.

"He doubled your Resonance, Intisak."

The Chieftain's jaw went slack, "...What?"

"One Hundred Percent Will Resonance. Do you understand what that means, Intisak? He hasn't merely dominated the beast's will. He's...destroyed it completely...and taken its body for himself. 100% Resonance...means there is only him. The beast's will...is no more."

Intisak's eyes widened further, "But how..? One mind cannot inhabit two bodies! This is known!"

Abisai went silent for a moment. Then...

"Heh. So that is how he managed to hide his thoughts from me...He really is a smart one."

Intisak looked completely lost. He didn't understand at all.

Abisai explained, "If one mind cannot inhabit two bodies, Young Intisak...then use two."

"You mean to say..?"

"...I do. This child has two minds. 'Tis the only explanation for dis. We know the Trial takes half of the challenger's consciousness to fight a battle of wills, and the other half to fight a battle of the body...but for one with two minds...half of two...is one. An entire mind vs half the mind of a beast...he may not have even noticed a battle of wills, Heh."

Intisak's shock grew further, but then his brows furrowed, "If that was the case...then why did the Trial even take this long in the first place?"

"Resonance. The Trial judges completion through the resonance of both parties...and you know as well as I how that manifests usually."

Intisak nodded slowly, "The Mindscape...usually, the beast's avatar manifests within it, alongside our own. It is a shared space...So you mean to say that there was no such space in him, despite him possessing two minds. And so completion was judged by the resonance between his own two minds..."

"Correct."

The Chieftain stared up at the obelisk with solemn silence. "The Rewards for such a thing..."

"---will be unimaginable. Even acquiring the previous maximum of 50% Will Resonance with a Beast a rank above your own would have yielded immensely powerful rewards...but this...I can't imagine what the Monolith will grant him."

Intisak exhaled, slow and deep, letting all the new information sink in.

And sink it did. He hadn't expected Axel to be such an anomalous existence. To say he had potential was an insult. The boy's gift alone was ridiculous...but two minds? How did anyone even go about acquiring such a thing?

Intisak didn't know. And he hadn't heard of anyone that had done so either. It was a feat well beyond the realm of possibility even for an Adamantium Ranked Hunter like himself.

And yet, this strange, amnesic child that had stumbled upon their clan, had managed to do it.

Axel Vorous...just who the hell are you, really?

As if in answer, the Tower pulsed right then, golden light pouring over the black dunes that surrounded it. And then the glow deepened.

The runes along its surface began to pulse faster and faster, no longer in sequence but all at once, until the entire Monolith throbbed like a living heart. The air hummed, thick with charge. Sand lifted from the ground in trembling streams, spiraling upward in slow, shimmering ribbons.

Intisak narrowed his eyes, silver light flashing across his irises as he steadied himself against the force pressing outward from the tower. The dunes beneath his boots began to vibrate. A low, thrumming tone rolled through the desert, felt more in the bones than heard.

The runes blazed again, brighter this time. Then brighter still. The darkness of the surrounding miles of desert fled entirely, erased by radiance. Intisak threw an arm across his face, his cloak whipping about him in violent currents of wind.

"ABISAI! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" he roared over the sound---

---but there was no answer.

Only the deepening light.

The brightness reached a fever pitch. It swallowed the Monolith, the dunes, the horizon---everything became white, searing, absolute. Then, with a sound like the breaking of glass across the sky, the light exploded.

A colossal ring of golden radiance tore outward from the Tower. The air screamed as it rolled over everything, and raced beyond sight---out, out, until even the dark clouds that hid the ceiling were dissipated.

And then...silence.

The light dimmed. The wind died. Slowly, the black dunes returned to view beneath the faint afterglow.

Intisak lowered his arm, blinking against the fading brilliance.

And there, collapsed upon the sand at the Tower's base...lay a figure.

Its limbs gleamed faintly, its shape distorted, half-formed, its surface black and rippling as if still deciding what it was meant to be.

Intisak's eyes widened, his words coming out a whisper,

"Great Mother...what in all Hells is that?"

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