So, you're sitting there thinking, "How cool would it be to get into some magical world! To become the greatest wizard there and bang at least half the princesses and duchesses in the kingdom!" Am I right? What, no? That's weird.
I used to think that way. It was a long time ago, I don't even remember when. And I've almost forgotten my old life. I remember, for example, that I went to school, but I can't remember a single one of my classmates. It's the same story with my classmates, colleagues, and even relatives. All that remains are vague feelings and blurred images, as well as some knowledge, the veracity of which I have begun to doubt. Maybe it's for the best, at least there are fewer reasons to fall into despair.
But I remember very well how I "got there," in every sense of the word. I'm not sure what happened to my body, but my soul was torn from its natural cycle of rebirth. And it was torn out roughly, with no regard for my feelings. Then they began to dissect me naturally and perform some other incomprehensible and very painful actions.
This went on for a long time. I didn't understand where I was or what I was. I had no arms, no legs, not even a body. I saw everything, felt everything, and couldn't switch off for a second, forget anything, or influence anything. And then they put me in a bracelet.
And with that, I suddenly gained an understanding and knowledge of things that I had never even suspected existed before: magic, souls, singing things, potion-making, herbalism, and much more.
In an instant, I learned that the race of my tormentors was called the Titans, that they were powerful and practically immortal super beings who knew more about magic and the structure of the world than anyone else. I understood and realized all the manipulations they had performed on my soul and why it had been done.
The Titans were masters of Singing Things — amazing magical items and artifacts that performed real miracles and possessed incredible properties. An example of such a thing was the Duplicator, an artifact that could be used to obtain an exact copy of any other thing, magical or not.
However, to create such magical items, the Titans needed material and a colossal amount of energy. The best material was considered to be the soul of a mortal human, which could serve as a kind of battery and charge all the magical runes and spells inscribed on the artifact. So I was torn from the flow of rebirth to be made into one of the Singing Things.
Now, after so much time had passed, I could no longer judge the Titans as I had before. Many years ago, I was partly under the sway of emotions caused by what I considered to be their monstrous actions. But the truth was that the Titans had good reasons for doing what they did — the Singing Things not only served the Titans and mortals in everyday life and war, but also performed a much more important function. They prevented the Evil that sought to devour everyone indiscriminately from entering their world.
Now I understand that "the end justifies the means." And what are a hundred souls compared to the salvation of hundreds of thousands or even millions?
But at that time, I was, to put it mildly, furious.
The Titans created me into a thing they called the Bracelet of the Lord. According to their plan, I was to become the crown of their creation, the most powerful Singing Thing of all, granting its owner invulnerability, strength, and magical power. In essence, that's what I did. But in addition to all this, I was endowed with all the knowledge of the Titans and was to serve as an advisor and assistant to my master. And that's where they miscalculated.
The Titans attempted something so grandiose for the first time and made one single mistake — they didn't erase my personality. I don't know whose fault it was — negligence, ignorance, or, on the contrary, the merit of my willpower and desire to live? One thing I know for sure — the Titans were so arrogant and confident in their craftsmanship that they didn't even bother to conduct the usual "test drive," as is customary when creating a dangerous and unique device. However, none of that matters now.
The only thing that matters is that I did not become a loyal slave, as the Titans had intended. On the contrary, I burned with understandable hatred for them.
When the head of the Northern Clan of Titans, who created me, put the bracelet on his hand, their entire race was doomed. I did not take over the mind of the Titan who put me on, I was simply incapable of subjugating a being of such power, but with my hatred and anger I poisoned him, advised him to take particularly cruel decisions on various issues, slowly corrupted his mind with suspicion and uncertainty, and persuaded him to interpret the law for his own benefit rather than for the benefit of his people.
It took the Titans a long time to suspect something was wrong — I acted very cautiously, and the head of the Northern Clan did not even suspect that everything that was happening was not his own choice.
But all fun comes to an end, and the Titans were horrified when they realized what a terrible artifact they had created in me. They did not destroy me, although I secretly hoped for just that, naively believing that it would return my soul to the cycle of rebirth.
Instead, the Titans hid me in the depths of their treasuries, aware of my danger but unwilling to part with such a powerful Singing Thing.
But what had been done under my influence could no longer be stopped. The clans of Titans, who had previously lived in peace, began to fight each other. The first wars and betrayals broke out between them. I felt all of this and could almost see it with my own eyes, but I couldn't influence the world around me without a vessel! Otherwise, the decline of the Titans' era would have happened even earlier.
The flying cities of the Titans fell to the ground, their race was virtually exterminated, and their treasuries were plundered by mortals. For a while, I hoped that now they would destroy me, but instead, the last of the Titans hid me deep in some swamps, putting a whole dragon to guard me.
And for many centuries, I found myself alone with a silent, multi-ton lizard that could hear me perfectly well but did not react to my promises, threats, or flattery. The dragon simply stood guard silently, destroying any mortal who learned of me and tried to take possession of me.
If only I could, I would have helped any of these people destroy the cursed dragon, but, as I said, without a vessel, I was powerless! I could only give incredible power, but not use it myself!
Those centuries were the longest and most boring of my long life. If I had had flesh, I would surely have gone mad. Unfortunately, the Titans were masters of their craft, and I was made to perfection and was simply physically incapable of falling into madness or even oblivion.
So time passed — the dragon guarded, and I cried out in helplessness.
But one fine day, everything changed. A stately warrior with a large retinue entered the cave where I was kept. They were all well-matched — tall, strong, in excellent armor, and with beautiful weapons. At first, I didn't even pay attention to them — the dragon had devoured much larger groups before, and over the centuries of imprisonment, the entire floor of the cave was strewn with the bones of such "heroes."
To my surprise, their leader came out against the dragon alone. But instead of a sword, he pulled out... the Dragon Amulet! I knew this Singing Thing very well! Not only did it grant immortality to its owner, but it also forced literally any dragon to obey completely and unquestioningly! It was a very popular item in its day. I thought it had been lost long ago.
The dragon had no choice but to obey the will of the Amulet's owner and let him pass to me.
If I had had a heart at that moment, it would have surely jumped out of my chest.
Centuries of imprisonment had made me very undemanding in terms of choosing a wearer, so I was even willing to accept an elderly sorcerer, just to get out of there.
The warrior who subdued the dragon and put me on was called Dragomir, and he was a Viking. He was also a vile murderer who had taken possession of one of the three parts of the Dragon Amulet. Through cunning and force, he was able to obtain the other two parts of the Amulet, which were in the possession of the Byzantine Michael and the Slavic Wolf from the Hunters clan. Along the way, Dragomir subjugated almost half of the cities of the Forest Country, where I was hidden by the Titans.
I immediately liked this Viking. He was a true ruler: charismatic, strong, intelligent, and aware that the words "honor" and "nobility" are of little value among those who wield real power. Moreover, Dragomir could not resist my ancient magic, even though he was a descendant of the Titans.
His thoughts and desires seemed silly and maddeningly annoying to me, so I ordered him to stop thinking and focus on walking. The hero could not resist the will of the most powerful Singing Thing. And his loyal retinue did not even notice the changes in their leader.
I endowed Dragomir with the strength of a hundred warriors, strengthened his body, and granted him magic. In return, I took away his freedom. I looked at the world that had changed over the centuries through his eyes, experienced it through his senses, and enjoyed it immensely. Having a mortal vessel was not at all the same as having a Titan vessel.
With Titans, I had to resort to deception, but with humans, I simply suppressed them with brute force. Dragomir did everything I commanded. And if he didn't... Well, I could always kill my "master" and find a new one.
With my power and knowledge, the Viking became the strongest prince of the Forest Country. Under my instructions, the best blacksmiths in the lands he had captured forged new weapons and armor for his retinue. Under my influence, more and more warriors swore allegiance to the new Lord of the Forest Country, and cities and settlements fell one after another.
Our victorious march through the Forest Country with Dragomir did not last long. Suddenly, troops from the Yellow Dogs of the Desert clan arrived from across the sea. This savage horde had learned that the bracelet of the Lord, that is, me, had been found, and they wanted to get their hands on me. Of course, this enraged me personally. It is not surprising that I wanted to settle the score with these dogs.
The attack on the Forest Country was repelled, and Dragomir gathered his forces for a counterattack on the Southern Desert, the territory of the dogs. But before that, all the Byzantines who had conspired with the Yellow Dogs clan were slaughtered in the Forest Country.
The war was long. But how could the army led by Dragomir and me lose? Surprisingly, I didn't even have to intervene much — the Viking was doing an excellent job of waging war. In the end, Nazir, the leader of the Yellow Dogs, was beheaded by Dragomir himself, and the few surviving warriors of the clan submitted to their new Lord.
Nothing else threatened Dragomir's power. Or rather, that's what he thought.
I understood perfectly well that I was by no means invulnerable and that there were many Singing Things capable of destroying me. But I didn't want that — for the first time in centuries, I felt alive: I tasted food and wine through my faithful puppet, reveled in bed with the most beautiful women of all time, and enjoyed my power. And I had no intention of losing any of it.
With my magic, I lifted one of the destroyed cities of the Titans into the air, which was later named the Flying Island. It was there that I built the palace of the new Lord and the headquarters of his army. By that time, Dragomir's army had grown to incredible proportions. Experienced, clad in the best armor and equipped with the best weapons, the Lord's warriors forced enemies to surrender just by their appearance alone.
On my orders, they began to collect and, for the most part, destroy the Singing Things throughout the Forest Country, so that nothing could threaten my existence.
Gradually, Dragomir's power grew stronger, despite pockets of pitiful resistance from the Lord, and he himself sank further and further into oblivion, obeying my every word without hesitation or doubt. It was even a little sad to watch the once magnificent mind degenerate, leaving only a shadow of its former greatness. But I easily suppressed any regrets with the pleasures of life.
It could have gone on like this for centuries... If it weren't for the damned descendants of the Titans, who at one fine moment united in their hatred of the Lord.
I definitely made a lot of mistakes in my life as a bracelet, otherwise how else can one explain that these damn heroes were able to successfully resist Dragomir's army, infiltrate the Flying Island, deprive the Dragon Amulet of its power, and, consequently, Dragomir's immortality, defeat him himself, and with the help of some strange magic throw me out of the universe?!
In my last moments in the Forest Country, I came to understand my true purpose, as well as the purpose of other Singing Things — to prevent Evil, which even the Titans themselves feared, from entering the world. But even the feeling of the seeds of that very Evil entering this world did not warm my soul with malice.
I was in the middle of emptiness, and the concerns of the Forest Country no longer affected me.
And in a way, it was even worse than being imprisoned underground in the company of a dragon — here, in the void, no one heard my cries, and no one would come to rescue me.
Never.