Chapter 1

Saranie woke up taking off her broken helmet. She pushed her hair away and coughed up any remainder of food in her body. Rolling on to her side, she lay there on the ground blinking. Eyes, ears, even her touch were all gone. It was like her senses were trying to rework themselves. She shivered as her senses quickly came back. She groaned in pain as she could feel the cuts on her body and smell the burnt flesh from those attacks from the portal.

*Cough Cough*

Breathing in and calming herself down she attempted to get to her bearings. Opening her eyes she saw the bodies of the cultists around her in darkness. The portal was gone and she was alone. A part of her was relieved. No longer bound to a war; a battlefield. Then again she was aware that this was merely a calm before the storm. There would still be some pockets of cultists and those who do not know who the real war was with. People scattered throughout the world that have been put to shambles.

Looking up at the dark sky, her eyes started to adjust to the darkness. Suddenly a bright light broke through the clouds and she needed to shield her eyes. Her senses started to get mixed up. She felt wet and cold. Everything was too bright and loud noises appeared around her. Screaming. she found herself screaming in pain. It was strange to know that and be unable to stop whatever was happening.

She looked around at the bodies on the ground, but at the same time it was a darkly fire lit room. A three women and a man off to the side. Their attire, she quickly recognized it. One of the women on a bed covered in sheets was sweating and panting heavily, but smiling like the rest around her.

"It's a boy!"

---

Not only the words, but the whole experience was a big shock to her. As she woke up, using her two sets of eyes, in both bodies, her senses continued to overlap. She struggled to even stand without nausea taking over her body. So she rationalized the situation to focus her thoughts.

Destroying the portal had separated a part of her soul or someone had done something to interfere and transferred a part of her soul to a baby. Obviously her lifeforce had gone a change when she destroyed the portal, so the rainbow magical energy had to signify the change. That was a whole other thing she needed to test out as well, but there was no way she was going to mess that right now. Back to her soul, whatever magic was involved, her own or something from the other side of the portal, she had no idea. Also she didn't specialize in magic. So that didn't help either.

Saranie was taught magic. Mana dart, flame, a minor healing spell, water…

She was thirsty. Not just her main body, but the child as well. She cast some water to drink up for the meantime. Her training with magic was basic, nothing more than that. Although it was basic, they had taught everyone to cast without hand signs or speaking. It just so happened that the few she knew, she was really efficient at. Saranie was able to cast the spell directly into her mouth, both mouths, without much thought.

Suddenly with her baby body, she started coughing up the water and the people around her started getting worried. They put her baby body over the shoulder of the man, the father she guessed, and lightly patted her back. Looking at what the babies' body coughed up, she found that it might have been for the best. There was still some nasty stuff that popped out.

"Is Nehmet alright?"

As she recognized the words being spoken, one word stood out the most. A young boy had been around her baby body asking that more than most. She realized she had fallen asleep before she could hear the name for the baby.

'Nehmet.' It was strange to be called a different name. 'It's not my name, but the name of the newborn.'

Separating her real life from this… whatever had happened, was getting difficult. Though she was in need of food and carrions were flying around the battlefield. It was best to get out of the way for now, search for food and make shelter. There was a forest in the distance, so Saranie started to crawl there. It was too difficult to stand, let alone walk, with two separate senses.

---

Her mana reserves popped back up after she did a small heal on her wounds. Covered in cuts and bruises, it was best to close them up as soon as she could. For now she tried to stop using mana as she didn't need it to protect her life. Also she was unaware of the consequences of using it on Nehmet. She had no control over separating each bodies' action, so avoiding getting found out was the best.

Messing with souls was more than illegal and she had no way to prove that she didn't do it herself. Everyone she knew was gone. Either dead or ran away.

'Whatever…'

She scavenged any items she could from bodies. Food, coins, even some cloth. She would need as much as she could carry when she made it in the forest. It looked to be about a half a day to get there crawling. She was already exhausted crawling, let alone having to deal with two separate senses. One of her bodies, the younger one, was extremely tired and she tried fighting it to stay awake. She had to get out of this area as fast as possible and falling asleep was a death sentence. Without precautions at least.

On the side of her baby body, Nehmet just fell asleep. It was weird to be both awake and asleep at the same time. She needed to spend this time getting used to this feeling, because if she was in battle it would end her.

At least with Nehmet's eyes closed, she could focus on walking now. She was so tired…

---

It's been about six bells. Well it took half the time she had predicted getting to the tree line because she was walking, but with the sky completely covered in darkness it made telling time quite difficult.

The worst part was that right now she was dreaming while being awake. Nightmares from the battlefield covered her vision as she made it into the forest. It haunted her like any dream would, but she was walking at the same time. There was no way she could explain this to another.

'Would anyone believe me?'

An explosion to her right popped off. She took cover on the ground. Nehmet woke up sweating and breathing heavily. Saranie was no different. Her senses kicked it up a notch to see what was going on. After a bit, nothing moved. The forest was silent, no dust or debris flowed around her. It was from her dream, she realized. Sleeping separately was not a good idea.

---

While Saranie searched and created a shelter, she was learning more about Nehmet. He was a human boy born to commoner parents. The reasoned she recognized the clothing was that she too was a commoner and there were a few times she had helped out on delivering a baby. Less the clothing, and more how it was worn. Context.

The parents of Nehmet, not hers, were talking off to the side. The younger boy, Nehmet's brother, Aidelan, watched over her baby form. After the nightmare, they had been worried and casted healing spells. One of them was a higher level spell that calmed the target. She had seen medics do it all the time to those that were injured or dying to help them. Something she was not capable of.

"As your big brother, I will protect you." Aidelan spoke softly, but with determination. That helped Nehmet calm down and subsequently her.

A strange feeling for knowing the younger boy, nine or ten years old, for close to half a day. It worried her as she was not Nehmet, but at the same time she enjoyed being a part of a family. Sure her brothers and sisters at the orphanage were her true family, but this was different. Less chaotic and something she could only imagine.

Sunlight peeked through the window in the room. The mother, sitting in a chair resting, and the father next to her called over to Aidelan.

"Aidelan could you make some breakfast for your mother?" The father asked.

"Yes father!" Aidelan smiled towards Nehmet and his parents before leaving.

'A good kid.' Nehmet… Saranie thought. That was weird, but so was this whole thing.

Saranie now knew that it was day time, at least where Nehmet was. She found a little burrow in the ground, soft from the moss she had lied down. Crawling inside, she placed a lattice of sticks covered in moss overtop and attempted to sleep. Right now their parents had picked up Nehmet and now the baby was having his breakfast as well. It was delicious if not extremely uncomfortable.

She shortly fell asleep with both bodies soon after that.

---

Waking up, it was night time in both locations. There were patches of sky above Saranie where stars poked through, but otherwise dark clouds were still there. Since it was a similar scene, she realized she was much closer to Nehmet than she thought.

Taking out some dried meat from her pouch, she started munching on it after crawling around the forest. With her lattice of moss tied to her back, she was able to bring along something that would help her through the forest.

There was talking around Nehmet and then she recognized the voices of his parents and then attributed the names being spoken with them. Although they were in the next room, she could still faintly hear them during the night.

Eryll was the mother. She seemed like a sweet soul. Her long dark hair matched both Aidelan and Petarian, the father. Nehmet would probably share the same.

Again, a part of her was starting to imagine a future as Nehmet. It didn't feel wrong or dangerous, but the fact that this was starting to feel normal was beyond her.

---

Days passed by. She was starting to separate the senses between the two and now she was attempting to stand. It took a moment for her head to stop spinning. Then she took one step with her hand leaning on a tree. She landed, then took another. Success!

Saranie had to change directions once the sky cleared up and once she did, she was on the path towards a village. Her next stop was to make it back home to the orphanage and help out there. It was her goal at least. Sure the obvious Nehmet problem with her soul was something she needed to figure out, but she would be passing a few cities along the way where she might be able to find information like that. Perhaps one day she might meet Nehmet. Another day and she would be out of the forest, so that would be a plus.

On Nehmet's side of things, the family was really caring. Taking care of him and being exceptionally kind. Although she recognized they were worried about him. Possibly the fact that he didn't let them know if he was hungry or had made a mess in his pants. Also that thought there worried Saranie the most. Her body… one she had access to at the moment was not like her own. It didn't help her sanity, so she pushed those thoughts away and pushed forth.

Aidelan had been banned from seeing Nehmet for a while after he dropped a toy, a soft toy, on Nehmet. Saranie didn't cry about it, but Eryll saw and was not happy about it. Probably thinking if that toy wasn't soft or if he was holding Nehmet. Didn't matter as he was no longer allowed in the room. Actually Saranie laughed at that, but so did Nehmet as she was still trying to separate her senses.

Petarian took over for the night as Eryll needed sleep from watching Nehmet all day.

"You're a strong boy Nehmet. Your mother and I love you a lot." He said in a soft voice.

---

Saranie reached the village. After five days of crawling and two more of walking somewhat normally, she saw people bustling around.

This village was heavily guarded as it was near the main battlefield that took place. Although not by her troops, but a separate kingdom. There were a few other kingdom soldiers roaming around in patrols. They needed these soldiers stationed here to encircle the enemy where they were. No one was allowed to escape.

Which that thought stopped her from leaving the tree line. She would need to tell them it was all over. Sure sooner or later they would learn that it was over, but if she was alone and no one to vouch for her was here, they might think she was a cultist. Also if someone checked her soul and saw something was wrong, she might get hunted.

'Not good…'

It was a risk, but she didn't want to fight anymore. She was done and hoped there was someone who she knew.

Stepping out from the tree line, she made her way along a dirt and gravel roam. It was a little muddy like the rest of the forest this morning. Her armor and clothing were a wreck, but functional. She had extra weapons, cloth, food and gold carried on her. She did leave the moss lattice of sticks back. No more sleeping in some hole or on a tree. Well one night was spent in a tree, last night, as it had rained a little.

A patrol quickly spotted her and made their way over to her. She showed her hands and made no sudden movements.

"Who are you and where did you come from?" It was a group of three, none of them wearing her kingdom's armor.

"My name is Saranie and I'm with Vellheart Kingdom. I'm a survivor from the battlefield that way."

"Where's your squad?" They would have been told about the squads sent to close the portal.

"Dead or fled. I don't know, but the portal is gone and cultists dead." She had no intention of mentioning that she was the one to close the portal.

"We will bring you to our commander. You will be stripped of weapons as we enter. If you make an hostile action, you will be treated as one and put down."

"I understand."

Saranie was quickly brought over to the village and then met the commander there.

---

While this was happening Nehmet was moving his arms and legs separately from Saranie. It was training to separate them. Well it didn't seem like separating was the right word, but she was making an attempt to be in control of both bodies at the same time.

Eryll was watching her baby boy in fascination.

"Aidelan never moved as much as you. Nehmet you are such an energetic boy."

The sweet smile never left her face.

---

"I will be sending scouts out to make sure the portal is gone. There's a Lieutenant, Refseler, from Vellheart. We need to verify your identity. I'm sure you can understand."

"I do."

---

Nehmet relaxed as did Saranie. Eryll was reading a story to help Nehmet take a nap. It was working as he turned away from the window and closed his eyes. Saranie followed after sitting in the chair.

Moments later the door opened. She saw Refseler, someone she had seen many times although never interacted with him. Standing up suddenly and performing a salute. Nehmet was awake looking at Eryll sleeping with the book slipping out of her hands.

"At ease Saranie." He turned to the commander. "She's from Vellheart. I've seen her roaming around."

At that everyone relaxed around the group. Even Saranie and the two guards outside the open door.

She began explaining after a prompt from Refseler about what happened. Leaving out the obvious soul stuff and saying there were a few extra people helping her out. It would be suspicious if she ended it all by herself, but it did happen. Of course she mentioned they died after the portal collapsed and she was barely alive. Casting a healing spell on herself. She mentioned that she crawled for days, which was true, and helped sell her other lies. Eventually she caught up to the present.

"I see. Commander, we should discuss a clean up mission and look for survivors."

"Refseler, I agree. We are going to need to meet up with the other remnants and start hunting the rest of those cultists after we centralize our efforts."

"Thank you Saranie. We have a room for you. They'll lead you there after you see a healer." Refseler gestured to the guards.

She saluted after the commanding officers left and then was guided out by two guards. One of them spoke up to her.

"Are they really gone?" He sounded unsure.

"The ones working on that portal are. I saw them all die. Even if they were alive, that magical energy destroyed the area. I still have no idea how I survived it…" She trailed off and the conversation ended.

After being healed, she was led to the room they had prepared and fell straight asleep. A bed after so long had been what she needed. Even if Nehmet had one the whole time, she needed one herself.

---

Two days later, the search party was sent out. The whole village lost about a third of its presence. The commander had asked her to stay and confirm deaths of high ranking officers in the alliance they had set up. While she knew those from her kingdom, those outside of it were more difficult as she never really interacted with them. At least it gave her something to do. Not having to fight made her feel like Nehmet. Just eating, pooping and sleeping.

'I'm a baby.'

That got a laugh out of her and Nehmet that night. Petarian and Aidelan were in the room smiling at Nehmet.

"He's laughing at you dad."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Saranie was in simple clothing. Linen shirt and pants. She had her dagger under her pillow, just in case. The battlefield taught her to be prepared. A knock came from her door.

"Come in." She said, sitting up.

Refseler walked in. Saranie stood straight up and saluted.

"Relax Saranie. I just came here for a quick chat before you go to bed."

"Sir."

"Well I wanted to say you did a good job. I never got a chance to say that before. You made my whole job easier here." He took a dagger from his back and stabbed it into his shoulder and started screaming.

Other than the immediate shock of what happened, she quickly realized what was going on. He was a cultist or an enemy in general. Instead of fleeing or just standing there, she cut his neck, stabbed his head, and his smug grin changed into horror. Probably not expecting her to do that. Thankfully her dagger was under her pillow and easily accessible to her.

Guards burst through the door. Seeing the body, the added another charge of murder to her.

"You are surrounded. You will never get away with killing the commander and lieutenant."

Another piece of the puzzle was put in place for Sarane. She grabbed her leather vest she wore during these last two days with one hand and kicked the table towards the guards with her foot. Using the momentum to push her through the open window out onto the dirt.

Nehmet started breathing heavily and was matching her movements. Petarian cast a healing spell then a calming one in hopes of helping his newborn son. That actually helped Saranie process the information.

Refseler was a traitor. By himself or with help, they killed the commander and were planning on framing her for the crime. Of course her training had prevented her capture and now she was on the run. Until she could guarantee someone could see through lies and was trustworthy, she was on her own. She heard bells and the rest of the guards around the area searching for her.

Thankfully she spent time walking around the city the past two days and already was heading towards her destination as fast as she could. Keeping to the shadows would only delay her and help those around her to capture her.

The stables had some guards already there locking the place down so she couldn't escape with a horse. Thankfully she had been moving fast. The calming spell helped her prioritize a path to her goal.

She rushed over to one of the guards, in her leather vest that she had been able to strap on her run, and tackled her to the ground. She tore off the helmet and bashed her skull in until she could no longer conscious. It was brutal to do that to her ally, but she needed to make this fast. Running forward, she burst through one of the windows. In one look at the interior, she saw a stable boy cowering in the corner after seeing her jump through the window.

She lifted the bar that locked the barn door, opened the doors, and ran over to the first horse she saw. They were already jumpy from the noise, but this horse was calm. It had been in many fights already, so she hoped on it and broke out.

---

"What's wrong with Nehmet dad?"

"I don't know. Go tell your mother." After Aidelan left, Petarian continued. "It's okay Nehmet. Everything is fine."

Nehmet was probably hyperventilating right now as Saranie had sprinted, ran away, and fought. A part of her knew that she needed to separate their senses from each other so they couldn't interfere. Thankfully 'Saranie's mind' was the one in control, so she controlled her breathing on both ends to relax.

"What happened Petarian?" Eryll yelled as she entered the room.

"He just started breathing really fast and then now he seems to be calming down."

---

The horse was fast. She was able push past the guards and jump over the fences around the village, leaving to go on the road. It was a reddish-brown horse with a darker mane.

"Thank you." Saranie spoke aloud to the horse.

She rubbed the horse as they sped further out of the village. Thankfully she had seen a map of the area with the patrol routes. She knew where to avoid and where to go. There was another village to the east, but instead of going to that place specifically there would be a river there she could follow to the west and north. It would give her time to plan out her escape.

Only once she was past the patrol paths did she feel a sharp pain in her side. A knife was stabbing through her leather armor. She recognized it as that guard she beat up.

"She got me good."

Pocketing the knife next to the one she had made when she was a blacksmith, she cast a healing spell using her lifeforce. It was glowing with that rainbow colored energy, but it cost much more for the spell to work. More than it normally has. Thankfully she could feel it healing more than her meager control has ever allowed. More cost for a better result. She could get used to it, but it made her much more exhausted than normal.

She grit her teeth in pain, but Nehmet cried out in pain. At least each body did something different.

Nehmet's family went crazy at the scream. They ended up wrapping Nehmet up and running outside the house. It was the first time she had seen the city outside and recognized it. She expected the place to be far away. A village out of the way hiding. But the bell tower was familiar. Sure it was night time, but the tower was lit up. On top was a statue of an angel. She had been there once in the past helping out before moving south.

It would be her next destination. Her plans have changed.