1 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

An almost mother and almost father caught at the border of a foreign country. Why did he fall in love with her? Maybe because of her energy. Whatever she did, contained more energy and joy of life, than any other being could generate. She could take a shit with more passion, than two lovers on a reunion after years of separation.

But this was not the most striking attribute about her. Her skin was as black as black can be, with white lines across her body. On first look, they seem random. On a second look, you could see a pattern, as you do in the electronic devices from your world. But this was not the most striking attribute about her. Maybe it's her horns, as massive as the fangs of a dragon, or her body, so beautiful that no sculptor of the kingdom could make a statue. But no. Neither was this the most striking attribute about her. It was her eyes. To be more accurate, her eyes two minutes before she died. That's when her eyes change from pitch black into scarlet red.

In contrast, he did not look special in any way. Average hairs, body stature, and size; average in all aspects you could think of. But what was it that made the princess of the demon tribe fall in love with him? Maybe the power of his words. No seducing or flattering, for those are just empty words. His words were different. When he said something, there was power behind it. It was as if his words were reality.

In Germany, there is a saying: "One man, one word. " In this world, that is reality. Every word that is followed by true and effective action will change your identity and ability to create whatever you want in this world. It is said that Ragnar has never, since been born, betrayed any of his promises or commitments. Neither those he made to others nor himself. So, nature gifted him with the unique ability to change reality with his words.

And then, there was Max. A bastard with the timing of herpes.

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Gabriel was the guardian of fire. He's able to burn through iron with his sword and heal the wounds of allies with his fire. Astra, the guardian of water. She pierces through weak points with her spear and shields herself with water against attacks. Zesus, the guardian of thunder. His thunder arrows detect the position of his enemies and follow their target for days.

Ragnar fought all three guardians in vain. Not even 13 seconds into the fight, he lost an arm against Gabriel. Deyna wasn't better off. She couldn't use her magic, for it could harm her baby. She started to press, even challenging Ragnar in his blood loss.

"Ragnar, it's not too late old friend." Begged Gabriel after cutting his arm off. "Come to your senses. I can still heal your arm. "

"You're not fit for cutting." mused Ragnar with gritting teeth. "Your flames already closed my wound. That's very kind of you."

Thirty seconds into the fight, Ragnar lost his second arm. A clean hit with the spear of Astra, through the shoulder of Ragnar. The three guardians were still on guard, for they knew Ragnar's power, the master of words. While Astra and Gabriel continued to attack, Zesus shot arrows towards Deyna.

YOU.CAN.NOT.PASS.

Those were the words of Ragnar, and so they became a reality. A barrier appeared, surrounding all three guardians. Even the arrows stopped in their track as if disobeying Ragnar was no option. Enraged, the guardians hit the walls with all they've got. Not even a crack formed.

Two minutes into the fight.

"How's this possible?! There should be no barrier strong enough to withstand our attacks for such a long time!" Gabriel whined.

"Could this be a divine will?" Astra feared.

"Divine my ass; it's one of his word tricks! There must be a condition to it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible with his powers. He's not even an augmentor, so there must be a heavy burden on him".

And Zesus was right. Every hit on the barrier took a part of Ragnar's lifetime. While Ragnar focused on not getting unconscious, Deyna was busy pressing Max out.

Ten minutes into the fight, Ragnar's leg became black and lifeless. He balanced on one limb, feeling the barrier losing its effect. The guardians started to lose control over their minds – eyes getting white and foam at their mouths. They were used to dominate almost every being in this kingdom. But at this moment, one half-starved man, without limps, treated them like infants who didn't behave and were punished by a time-out. A humbling experience if you ask me, but the hell on earth for their egos.

They started to sacrifice their health for the sake of increasing their attack power.

Crack.

Meanwhile, Deyna managed to press Max out, at the cost of half her blood.

Crack.

Max was frightening calm about the process of birth and didn't even cry after getting out.

Crack.

But Deyna had no time to worry and put him on the ground. Not even seconds into this world, and already separated. She felt terrible, but she also knew that -crack– this is the end for her and Ragnar. Her only hope was to save her child.

BAM.

The barrier broke. Ragnar gritted his teeth with shattering force, cracking some of them in the process. Deyna limped towards Ragnar to help.

"STOP. DON'T COME CLOSER! RUN WITH MAX, I'LL TAKE CARE OF THIS SITUATION."

"But... Wait. Max?"

"It was not my decision. Usually, infants are born without a word. But this one already had one, even before being born. I don't know whether this is good or bad. But he is special, and we don't have time to be happy about it. Now, RUN."

Deyna's body started to move. Her mind screamed and tried to defend, but her body simply moved. She took Max and started to run. Astra instantly charged at her.

"Stop!" Zesus shouted. "She's weak right now. We will find her after we finished him. Ragnar may be in terrible shape, but if we underestimate him now, we will regret it. "

Astra stopped and fixed her attention on Ragnar. This was confirmation enough. All three guardians charged at Ragnar from different directions. Gabriel created hundreds of copies with his fire to confuse Ragnar.

He stood still.

Astra chanted a reinforcement spell for their weapons and speed.

He did not move.

Zesus aimed at him with a binding spell.

He did not flinch.

Bound by chains of thunder, and attacked by reinforced weapons, Ragnar did not attempt to move. All weapons hit. The sword burned through his lounge, the spear pierced through his kidney, and arrows hit the throat. Ragnar was not able to utter one more word, rendering his power useless. In theory.

Ragnar did not say a word. He cracked a smile and just moved his lips. All three guardians watched his lips anxiously, reading AN.EYE.FOR.AN.EYE.A.TOOTH.FOR.A.TOOTH.

Confused and anxious, all three jumped out of the way, but nothing happened. His body stopped moving, his heart stopped beating, and his lounges stopped working. It was over.

Suddenly, his mouth cracked open, and darkness escaped. His mouth opened wider and wider. If you'd thought "it can't go any wider," you would've been surprised about how it could. And so, his mouth opened so wide that at some point, it couldn't be called "mouth" anymore.

A hand reached out of the hole, once called mouth. It was a skeleton, rising out of Ragnar's body. The whole process reminded me of someone undressing after a hard day of work. When the skeleton was out, Ragnar's body fell to the ground like a wet rag. Ragnar was dead. The only thing left was his unrecognizable body on the ground and his last words in the form of this beast.