Since resurrecting his body had always run hot. However, now, he felt cold. His breath stuttered in and out as he lay pinned beneath the dead weight, vision dimming.

'I won...' he thought weakly.

He wanted to raise a celebratory fist, but he couldn't move.

An icy numbness rolled over him as his soul slipped free of his body—an all-too familiar drift.

He wasn't scared this time.

Just tired.

Ashamed, he let his second chance at life end before it even began.

He floated upward out of his body.

Then he stopped.

Just suspended there.

He saw the world through the eyes of his soul. As if he had become that small living flame.

It was weird.

The Ravenour he just killed soul flickered nearby—red, furious, still clinging to violence.

Vin, mind half-feral, saw their soul and brought the fight to the afterlife. He hurled his essence into theirs and collided with it.

The flames that shaped him lashed outward, consuming the red light.

A wave of heat flooded him.

Then—

His human body ignited.

The entire jail glowed purple as ash lifted from the floor, swirling into form.

Bone.

Skin.

New limbs.

A whole body, unbroken.

Vin gasped awake.

His violet eyes blinked, doubtful whether what he was seeing was real.

He'd resurrected a second time, lying inside a fire that didn't burn while the bodies around him dissolved into ash, and the jail's metal bars melted.

Not long after, he was called.

Not physically, but he heard the souls of the deceased cry out.

Along with his resurrection came a new perception. As he glanced around the jail, he could see all of the souls of those who'd died.

He listened.

Brief flashes of their thoughts revealed that neither of the princess's guards was born with status or great power. They were as disposable as they came, yet the one-winged woman treated them fairly and took them in at a young age. They wanted to live not for themselves but for her.

As for the Warden, they, too, aspired to live for another. A granddaughter who'd lost everything to war and now only had him to lean on.

The other three Ravenours who'd worn red spoke as well, but only to curse their killer, the older man.

Vin didn't want to listen to any of it anymore.

Without much thought, he moved, instinct guiding his power.

He burned the three assailants' souls, then fed their essence—their lifeforce—to the two guards and the Warden, granting them a second chance.

Not entirely without consequence.

As selfish as he felt, he imprinted something in their minds, just as his had been. A promise in exchange for desire.

The three of them gasped awake as their lungs filled again.

Vin didn't look them in the eyes, only curled up against the burning brick wall, arms around his knees.

Too much.

Too fast.

Too fucked up.

The Warden touched his intact body, then fanned his hand over the purple fire that lit the entire jail. A blaze that didn't burn. After, he quietly approached Vin and knelt in thanks.

Vin turned away.

Something inside him trembled—not fear, but the weight of what he'd done.

He hadn't just come back to life, but he'd brought others from the dead. It wasn't possible; it wasn't a power a human or anyone should have. Yet, he did.

The guards were a few paces away, crying and clinging to each other.

The Warden breathed deeply, unsure what his new life meant but determined to use it well.

Vin observed them momentarily. He had no idea what possessed him to save them, but the fact was, he did. And, it wouldn't be for nothing.

He whispered, "A vow, for a vow. A blessing for a promise."

For the first time since arriving on that world, he wasn't the only one who'd live carrying a heavy debt.