Liora's breath came heavy as the battlefield dissolved into darkness. The red sky, the shifting undead warriors, the blood-streaked soil—all of it shattered like a broken illusion, leaving her standing in a vast void.
Silence.
Then—footsteps.
Velkar emerged from the shadows, his ancient robes drifting around him like wisps of smoke. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes gleamed with something between amusement and… expectation.
"You have learned much, little necromancer."
Liora straightened, still feeling the weight of the undead warriors she had connected with. Their presence hadn't vanished. They were still with her, bound not by control, but by shared will.
"I learned what you refused to tell me," she shot back, narrowing her eyes. "You wanted me to fight like a tyrant. To enslave. But I've seen another way."
Velkar tilted his head. "And yet, here you stand, waiting for the next lesson. Tell me, Liora—do you truly believe you have won something?"
Liora's fingers tightened around her staff. She had turned the undead to her side, yes—but was that enough? She had defied Velkar's expectations, but the weight of his presence told her this was far from over.
Her silence was all the answer Velkar needed.
"You think because you have found a way to connect with the dead, you are now their equal?" Velkar's voice grew colder, his figure distorting as the void around them shifted. "That you are now worthy of their power?"
The shadows quivered, and suddenly, the void came alive.
A presence unfathomable and vast surged around her. It wasn't just Velkar anymore—something else loomed, something watching from beyond the edges of existence.
A presence unlike any she had ever felt.
Her breath caught. No. This wasn't just magic.
This was something older.
Something primordial.
Then—
"Kneel."
The voice did not belong to Velkar.
It came from everywhere.
A deep, resounding command that rattled her very soul. The sheer weight of it sent her to one knee before she even realized what was happening.
Her chest tightened. Her limbs trembled.
She clenched her jaw, fighting the unseen force pressing down on her.
Velkar watched in silence.
"This is the weight of true power, Liora." His voice was calm, almost indifferent. "The power you think you understand. The power you claim you have mastered."
Liora gritted her teeth, her fingers digging into the void beneath her. No.
She wouldn't break.
She refused to break.
Her necrotic energy flared, dark tendrils coiling around her as she forced herself upright. The weight pressing against her didn't relent, but neither did she.
"I. Will. Not. Kneel."
A low rumble echoed through the void, as if the very essence of the world had acknowledged her defiance.
Velkar exhaled, something akin to approval flickering across his expression.
"Good."
The unseen pressure eased, and Liora staggered but remained standing.
Velkar raised his hand, and the void shifted again. This time, something took shape before her—an altar of blackened bone, pulsating with eerie, violet light. At its center rested a single object.
A book.
Bound in something dark, something alive, its cover writhing as if it breathed.
Liora's heart pounded.
"Your trial is complete. You have proven your will is strong." Velkar stepped beside the altar, his hand hovering over the book. "Now, it is time for your reward."
Liora swallowed. "What is that?"
"The Tome of Hollowed Souls." Velkar's gaze locked onto hers. "The key to necromantic mastery. To raise the dead is one thing. To command the souls that have passed beyond? That is something only those who have truly embraced death may wield."
Liora stared at the book.
It called to her.
She could feel it. The knowledge within, the whispers of the countless souls it contained. A tome like this… with it, she could reach new heights.
But then—
A flicker of doubt.
Velkar was never one to give freely.
"What's the price?" she asked, her voice steady.
Velkar smiled, slow and knowing. "Clever girl."
He gestured toward the book. "To take the power of the Tome, you must offer a soul. Not one of the weak. Not one of the nameless dead."
His eyes darkened.
"A soul you hold dear."
Liora's breath caught.
A soul she held dear.
Her thoughts raced, flashing through the people she had known. The ones she had fought beside. The ones she had lost.
And then—
Kael.
Her stomach twisted.
He was gone. She had known that for some time now. But the idea of using his soul—of binding him to necromantic power—
She clenched her fists.
Velkar watched her, his expression unreadable.
"You hesitate."
Liora closed her eyes, her mind warring with itself.
She had to grow stronger. That was undeniable. If she didn't take every opportunity, she would be left behind. Weak. Vulnerable. At the mercy of those who would destroy her.
She had vowed never to be weak again.
But at what cost?
Kael's face surfaced in her mind. His laughter. His voice. The way he had looked at her before his final breath.
Could she truly sacrifice that?
The silence stretched.
Then—Liora exhaled.
She lifted her gaze to Velkar's.
"No."
Velkar's brow arched. "No?"
"I won't trade his soul for power," she said, voice steady. "Not his."
Velkar watched her for a long moment. Then—he let out a low, amused chuckle.
"Then perhaps you are stronger than I thought."
The Tome shuddered, its whispers fading. Velkar gestured, and the altar vanished, the void returning to stillness.
"The path you walk is dangerous, little necromancer. To refuse power is to invite death. Remember that."
Liora met his gaze without flinching.
"I don't fear death," she said. "Not anymore."
Velkar's smirk widened.
"Then let us see if you are ready to embrace it."
The void collapsed—
And Liora fell.