I was about to ask if that was his intention when Angela intercepted me. “Then you have created a cure?”

I glared at her but decided to hold my tongue as this information might be crucial. Dr. Coda gave her a perusing gaze before giving her a gentle smile. “No, not yet. The Ascendants is a fascinating breed which has a far more complex structure than humans. I’ve tried to remove certain parts in order to water down an Ascendant’s structure to a human's more simplistic existence-“

“Such as removing a Monarch’s wings?” I asked coldly and Dr. Coda nodded eagerly.

“But I failed. Removing the external traits of an Ascendants did nothing so I began to remove the internal traits and replaced them with human parts but it didn’t work. The organs and blood were rejected by the subjects.”

Dr. Coda pondered over his failures while my eyes caught signora Karlovic sneaking behind him in order to catch him off guard. I needed to keep his attention on me. “Why are you trying to create a cure?”

“That’s a silly question. You create a cure to cure something,” Angela muttered but Dr. Coda merely chuckled.

“I do miss the naivete of youths. There is no cure for being an Ascendants. For being an Ascendant is no sickness.”

“Then what are you creating?” I asked and narrowed my eyes as I started to envision his goal.

“A weapon. Imagine the power such a cure has! The fear it could instill.”

“Why? Why are you in need of such a weapon,” I sighed wearily.

“It is needed! The world of the Ascendants is cruel and barbaric. We need to control the clans. The threat of a cure can do that,” Dr. Coda said in a mere whisper. Almost like he was afraid to utter his plan.

“Control which clan?” I asked. My suspicion is started to grow rapidly as I could hear the ill-hidden fear and rage underneath Dr. Coda’s voice.

“The Beast clan… You want to control the Therians,” Angela whispered like she was unsure of her own deduction. Dr. Coda merely shook his head.

“No… I want to eradicate them!”

I frowned at his vicious words and turned to Angela.

“Why the therians?” I asked but it was Dr. Coda who answered.

“So little you newborn knows. We, La Strega, ruled this city. Our beautiful Sovereign, Decima Lucania, was the head priestess of the temple of Hecate. She ruled with such grace. Until they came… Those animals!”

“What are you talking about?” I could merely ask as the madman made little sense.

“During the time of the Roman Empire, we Mages ruled this city under our sovereign Decima Lucania. But then the Ursin clan came with the Lombards. As the Lombards conquered Roman cities, their rulers, the therian bear shifter, killed Decima and enslaved the mages. We were later freed by the Monarchs,” Angela explained as she saw my confusion.

“Freed! They took what should have been ours. These lands are ours,” Dr. Coda growled and I was rather surprised by the shift in his temper. Though he seemed to collect himself and brushed off his clothes like he tried to remove the earlier signs of his wrath.

“Lands change rulers all the time. You could hold this land against the Therians, so why not let the Monarchs do it?” I asked carefully as I didn’t want to rile him up again.

“True, we don’t have a clear leader among us and most likely never will as no one could compare to Decima, but they… No, he! He wasn’t punished for ripping her to pieces. He waltzes around like he owns the place and the Monarchs let him.”

I once again look at Angela for an explanation. She seemed to be deep in thought while pondering his words. “You are talking about Clepho di Lombardi, aren’t you?”

The name was familiar to me. Clepho di Lombardi had made a ruckus on the Sovereign’s Christmas ball and now when she mentioned it, he had been the king of the Lombards during around 570s. Alessandro had mentioned that he had been Sovereign in Torino before handing the throne to nephew which in turn started a bloody part in the Ascendants history as the Therians believe that only the strongest should rule so several Sovereigns died as they were killed in combat by their rivals. The bloodshed didn’t end until the Monarchs entered the fray and defeated the Ursin Therians. Clepho di Lombardi and Gundeberga, a wife of a previous Sovereign, are among the few who survived that period.

To my knowledge, there is still rivalry between the Ursin therians, who want to reclaim their throne, and the current rulers the Monarchs. A feud which has become fierce in the present as the Ursin therians had united all other therian tribes in the city, and have become a force which could rival that of the Monarchs.

“You want justice for Decima Lucania’s death?” I asked to keep Dr. Coda occupied as Signora Karlovic was finally in position. She had grabbed hold of a small surgical knife which was far from impressive but it will do the deed and creep closer to the insane doctor who had his back turned to her.

“No, I want retribution. The beast clan is to savage to-“

“No! We need him!” Angela yelled as she finally detected Signora Karlovic in the shadows. I cursed at my friend who had brought our attack to Dr. Coda’s attention. Dr. Coda swirled around just as Signora Karlovic was about to attack. He jumped out of Signora Karlovic’s range and escape with merely a small wound on his cheek.

He touched the blood flowing from the wound and whispered something to the bloodied fingers. The blood turned to dust and Signora Karlovic let out a horrifying screech as her body became paralyzed.

“What did you do, Signor?” I said with ill-hidden horror as I looked at Signora Karlovic who stood there frozen in place.

“This animal was far too rowdy for my taste. Better to put her in a cage,” Dr. Coda said and turned back to us with a gentle smile which sends shivers down my spine.

“She is not hurt! He only used an ability called Blood Craft. It allows him to sacrifice blood in order to change reality,” Angela said hastily while I glared at her.

“I would not speak if I was you, Angela! I am utterly irate at the moment.”

“I…I just… We need him to show us where the cure is!” Angela tried to clarify but I mere flashed her my fangs in rage.

“So that you can threaten the balance in the world of Ascendant as this maniac. Let me clarify, as you seem to have a hard time hearing me. I do not care about the cure! I care about this maniac who has kidnapped, killed and mutilated innocent people. Not necessarily in that order.”

“They were hardly innocent,” Dr. Coda chuckle but at least Angela seems to relent a bit.

“Neither are you, Dr. Coda!” I replied and used a nail to cut my finger. I forced myself to not show pain on my face and merely glared at Coda before using Blood Arc to take control of the few drops of blood which dripped onto the floor. I made sure that they were hidden both from Dr. Coda and Angela, who had proved to be a nuisance.

“None of us is innocent. But I must say that lady luck sure smiles on me this day. I might be a bit of a collector and it infuriated me that I only had one piece of a set. Now, with fair Signora Angela’s help, I have both a Le Lune and I Soli. Imagine what I could discover from both of you!” Dr. Coda mused as he walked closer.

“But, she-“ Angela began to stutter but Dr. Coda interrupted her with a smile.

“I have not forgotten you, Angela. I wager that you are fairly competent I sure miss having a nurse to aid me in my studies. Say, there is an opening. Are you interested, signo-“

I did not let Dr. Coda finish as I raised my hand and let the bullet I have created fly across the room. Dr. Coda had hardly a second to react and his faces twisted into shock as he registered what had just happened. It turned into a death mask as the bullet hit him directly in the forehead with a disgusting sound. He was dead the moment it hit.

Dr. Coda’s eyes stared into the void as his body became rigid as it fell to the ground. That was the end of the mad scientist who had preyed upon innocent visitors.

Signora Karlovic suddenly moved. She let out a groan and stumbled a few steps in which she almost fell over before I rushed to her side to give her support.

“Is the mad man dead?” She asked before she noticed his body. Signora Karlovic spat at it with vicious eyes.

“That’s for torturing me, kurac!”

“Are you well? He froze you for a while,” I told her while perusing her for any wounds. She gave me a smile.

“Mages and their incantations. They are deceitful to the bone.”

Signora Karlovic’s callous eyes turned to Angela, who looked at us with weary eyes.

“I did not mean to do you any harm, Signora!” Angela muttered.

“No harm! You were handing me over to a mad man,” Signora Karlovic yelled while I hushed her as she was still fatigued and in no shape to start an argument but my glare at Angela told her that I agreed with Signora Karlovic.

“I wasn’t! I was fooling him. After he had shown me the cure, I would have saved you!”

“After he had mutilated us or before?” I asked coldly and supported Signora Karlovic as we started to walk out the door.

Suddenly I felt pain rush through my left arm and I dropped my source of light. I was thrown into the wall. I stared at the bloody Dr. Coda who looked far from his original amiable state.

“You damn creature! I will gut you like the pig you are.”

I grimaced as I crawled up the stairs with the raving Dr. Coda after me. At least he seemed to forget about Angela and Signora Karlovic. It at least gave me some peace of mind as a ran as fast as I could in order to reach the sunlight on the upper floor. It would give me the power to heal.

I could feel Dr. Coda's hands just a few inches from me when I threw myself out of the exit and landed in the rubble. Dr. Coda cold laughter sounded in my ears and I tried to crawl away from him only to have his foot reach my stomach. I writhed in pain from his kick and cough up blood. It was far too powerful for a mage. What had he done?

I reached for the sunlight when my eyes went wide as the sky suddenly were covered in dark, thundering clouds.

“It seems even the heavens are on my side,” Dr. Coda laughed and reached for me.

“That is questionable.” I voice sounded and Dr. Coda froze at the sight of the person in front of him. I did as well for I recognized the face from one of my father's lessons.

A short man, too short for a normal man, stood in front of me with sharp eyes leaning against a cane. His body was crooked and his cheeks round. At first glance, he might have looked like a child but I know from the history books that this man had been deformed since birth.

This was Prince Oddone, Duke of Montferrat. The deformed prince who died only nineteen years old during the last century. He was rather renowned for his intelligence and I had admired him as a child. To have the world against you and still make the best out of it, it requires valor I wish I had.

“I reign in the heavens and you are not welcomed there,” the young prince said and slammed his cane into the ground. I had to cover my eyes as a bolt of lightning struck Dr. Coda who released a daunting shriek as his body turned to ash.

“In my time, you treated a lady with respect,” Oddone said with a dramatic voice, similar to those of old people.

I could help but to laugh in relief were I laid upon the ground. The clouds vanished and displayed a clear sky. The sunlight hit my face and returned my strength as I watched Signora Karlovic hobble herself out of the dungeon.