Rolan

Like a cascade of gravel, a voice thundered from the space above a clearing rimmed by fire, "What are you? A lord?" His instincts begged him to capture it for Babylon, but he had to know what it was first. Written into leviathans' genetic code was the desire to serve their superiors, both in accruing benefits for them and safeguarding them from potential threats.

In Babylon, the citizens existed for the government, the government for the Princeps Dominorum, the princes for the Serpentis Reges, and the serpents for The Leviathan. Each one had their own desires; their servility did not subsume their minds entirely, but it was certainly there.

After Farron became whole again, his eyes darted around like a trapped animal, searching for any sign of his tormentors. The darkness was finally gone, but Farron would remember the torture forever. He would be known as a warrior against the darkness in the future, but this would not be because of chivalry or magnanimity. He would vanquish the dark because he was afraid of it. 

Seeing that the anomaly remained quiet, Rolan glided down on supple wings before slapping him and asking again, "What are you?" 

But Farron's brain failed to recognize the impact or its source for several seconds. When his mind finally realized that a response was expected, he screamed and fell back before catching himself and trying to stand. Unsteadily, he stammered out, "W-w-what? W-who?" He exhaled and tried to calm his beating heart. He spoke slowly to get out what he wanted, "W-who. A-are. Y-y-you?" He exhaled after succeeding.

"I am Rolan, a lord. I see you are at least partially human, but what else are you? How have you survived so long?"

"I-I am j-just human." He gasped. "I'm a l-lord, too."

"You neither look nor sound like a lord. More like a pitiful, quivering coward. If you really are a lord, I'd say that Life has chosen very poorly. Your abilities are interesting, but I see no other reason why I shouldn't kill you. Unless you can offer me something, of course." He wanted to investigate, but he could serve the empire just as efficiently by allowing a lord under them to become more powerful. This prospect was especially attractive if he were the lord becoming more powerful. 

In response, Farron only laughed. He had just been killed repeatedly for hours on end, and he was being threatened with it again by his supposed savior? Rolan simply stared at him and waited for the laughter to die down, but after several minutes, he grew fed up and punched his nose to snap him out of it.

Farron stopped for a few seconds but couldn't prevent a smile from appearing and the laughter from pouring out again. Nothing was funny, and he knew it, but he still laughed and couldn't stop.

Rolan watched the tears roll from his eyes and gave him one last chance. "If you do not cooperate, you will die here." It only set off a fresh bout of hilarity, to which Rolan responded by promptly severing his head with a guandao he took from a sheathe on his back that was underneath a pack of supplies.

But all that did was add to the pile of ash and put a new stain of red on the black river. When Farron returned to the present world, the laughter was gone, and he was sober. But more tears fell, these without humor and retaining only a trace of melancholy and brokenness. With a breaking voice, he revealed the truth, "I can't die. You can't kill me because even I can't kill me, fucking idiot." 

The shock that was still present in his system enraged him, making him yell, "Where do you think this pile of shit I'm lying on came from?! Huh?! I'm lying on a pile of my own remains! Ha, ha, ha! I could build a sand castle out of myself! What do you think of that?" He scattered the carbon in the air to emphasize his point. "Funny, no? I'm immortal! What a glorious gift! I love it! I'm so blessed to have it! Ha! Ha, ha… ha… ha…" 

As he calmed down, a vicious smile attached itself to his face and refused to leave. Suddenly, however, the same voice from beyond that first told him his gift whispered in their ears, "Attention to all participants. Twelve hours have passed since the beginning of the event. The event will end in another twelve hours, and those who have not escaped or fought will pass with the rank of seventh ordinary."

"Escaping will now allow a participant to pass with the rank of seventh wood. The rank has decreased from second bronze because you have failed to escape even though twelve hours have passed. In recompense, direction will be provided to all lords. To escape, find and destroy the core. After it has been destroyed, all lords nearby will pass. The core has possessed the most intelligent life form in the area, excluding the lords."

Thinking of the voice on the wind he heard before the event started, Farron's tears dried, and his heart raced. He didn't know what happened when the core possessed something, but he knew what the most intelligent lifeform nearby was. And he also knew he wouldn't; he couldn't let anything happen to her. He could only check on her after the event and ensure she was alright.

He was in shock but realized what he had to do. His tears immediately dried, his mind became silent, and his expression became neutral. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Rolan, do you know where the core is? I can help. I can find it. I can't do much to the shadows because they're too fast for me, but I know how to get out of here."

"How?"

"I know the area. I don't know exactly which beast is the most intelligent lifeform here, but I know their burrows and caves. If you deal with the shadows, I can guide you."

"You may be from the area, but can you recognize it in the darkness? I'd get lost in my own room if it were this dark. What gives you the confidence to find the core?"

Farron paused for a moment, trying to think of a convincing argument, before saying, "Any guidance is better than none, and your fire can give me enough light to go by. I may make more mistakes than if the sun were shining, but it will be better than wandering randomly like you are."

Rolan paused before reaching into his pocket and making a few motions. He used a metallic device given to the Babylonian lords in the event. After a few moments, he agreed, "Alright. I've sent for someone to help us search. After he arrives, you will concentrate our efforts, understand? Nothing more." Farron nodded but realized he had forgotten about the other lords that might find her.

"How many lords do you know nearby? If you're allies, ask for them all to be here."

Suspicious and reluctant, Rolan's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Life said all lords nearby will escape when the core is destroyed. Does this mean that everybody under the influence of the core will escape or only the people directly in front of it?"

"We considered that already. We don't need others with us. I called for the other one because he has exceptional eyesight and can spot it from the air. The others are scattered and searching on their own so that we can cover more ground. If any of us find it, we'll call the others."

"But do the others have lights to help them see? How effective will they be if they're looking for a shadow in the middle of the dark forest? And if you're using this firestorm, what if you eliminate it by accident? There's too many unknowns, and they can help us look." Farron was effectively pleading but knew he had to act like he wasn't desperate, so he only brought up so many arguments.

Rolan was entirely unconvinced because two of the other three were peers that he competed with, and succeeding in the event while they didn't was an attractive prospect, but he was concerned about the leviathan that he had invited. The one he had invited was a lord who took the body of a prince, making him his superior and one whose well-being he genuinely cared about.

Although High Leviathans were expendable to princes, the strength of these Leviathans was valuable to them, even if they were not the prince directly in charge of them. Strengthening another prince's subordinate, particularly if that subordinate was a lord, was worth several favors and could easily earn allies.

If the prince he'd invited caught wind of Rolan sabotaging the others, he would make sure that some form of punishment was headed his way. And what if this person brought up these points while he was guiding him and the prince? 

He'd already told the prince about him, so he couldn't kill Farron and pretend he never existed, so he had no choice but to inform the prince of what Farron said and let him make the choice while he changed the message slightly to be less convincing.