I stumbled out of the forest like a drunken man, half-limping, half-floating, still riding the high of being alive. Blood crusted the side of my face. Cuts and bruises burned across my arms, every breath scraping against my ribs like sandpaper. My clothes hung in rags, what was left of it, soaked through with sweat and dirt. And I was grinning like an idiot.
I made it.
The sunlight hit me first, streaming through the trees in thick beams, warm against my skin. It set the roofs of the village treehouses aglow, turning the mossy planks and woven platforms into a tapestry of gold and green. The sight was surprizingly breathtaking.
It felt like stepping into a painting. Like the whole world was pausing, just to say, You did it.
For a second, I just stood there, swaying, drinking it in.
This moment... it was the kind of thing Bardroc would've lived for.
When I played Oblivion back home, I'd always imagine moments like this. How it would feel to receive the praise first hand in saving someone's life. To be the hero, battered and bleeding, returning after a quest no one else could survive.
Back then, it was just a fantasy.
Now?
I was living it.
I let out a shaky laugh and glanced down at myself. My boots were wrecked, my arms caked in blood and dirt. Every step felt like a gamble, like my knees might buckle and give out at any second. I tripped on a root and stumbled forward, catching myself just before hitting the ground.
A sharp pain shot through my side, probably bruised ribs, but I kept going, one foot dragging slightly behind the other.
I wasn't graceful. I wasn't steady.
But I was moving. Breathing. Alive.
I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and started toward the village.
I didn't know the name of this place, and honestly I didnt want to. I didnt want to start to think of this place as a home. I needed to keep the hope alive that I would make it back home. That right now this was just a pitstop on the journey to where I needed to be.
I followed a narrow path worn between the roots of a few trees, the packed earth still cool beneath my boots. A few beastfolk were just stirring outside their homes at the base of the trunks, half-hidden among wood, cloth, and bark. Some of them watched me as I passed, eyes lingering too long.
I had one person to find and I kept my mind focused on that fact and ignored the eyes glued to my back.
I reached Levi's house, halfway up a huge oak, the platform worn smooth by years of footsteps, and climbed the rope ladder two rungs at a time, heart hammering. I could already picture it: Levi's proud smirk, the clink of a cup raised in toast, maybe even a rare clap on the shoulder.
I pushed the door open.
And stopped cold.
The house was too quiet. The kind of quiet that made your skin crawl.
Light poured in through the windows, falling across the low table where Levi's cloak, tunic, and boots were folded neatly.
Something was wrong.
"Levi?" I called. My voice cracked.
Movement by the hearth snapped my attention sideways. I reached for my belt out of habit, empty, before realizing it was only Wayne, hunched on a stool, his face buried in his hands.
When he looked up, his face was a wreck. Red-eyed, jaw trembling.
"Jeremiah," he choked out. "You're alive. You actually... you made it back."
I nodded stiffly, scanning the room again. My stomach was starting to sink.
"You alright?" I asked, softer than I expected. My throat still felt raw.
He looked up slowly. His mouth opened, then closed again. He gave a small shake of his head.
"No," he whispered. "Not really."
I stepped in further, scanning the room, the stillness pressing in around me.
"Where's Levi?" I asked.
Wayne winced, like the question physically hurt him. He rubbed his hands through his hair, pacing in a tight circle before blurting, "Radamar came. He said he came to collect Levi. He wanted to ensure that he wouldn't run away especially with the time coming to an end.
Wayne spat the words like something bitter.
"I kept my end of the deal. I fought that damn monster. I survived."
Wayne nodded hard. "I know. I know, Jeremiah. That's why it felt wrong."
He paced once, then stopped, rubbing his palms together like he was trying to wipe something off them.
"Radamar didn't come in asking questions. He came in accusing."
My chest tightened. "Accusing him of what?"
Wayne hesitated. "I don't know. That's the thing. I was in the back room when he showed up. Keeping quiet."
He swallowed. "Radamar asked Levi what game he was pulling this time."
"This time?" I said.
Wayne nodded. "He said they'd been through the routine before. Over and over. Said he only ever allowed it out of habit. Out of boredom."
I felt something cold settle in my gut.
"Then he asked why, after all that, a human suddenly showed up."
Wayne glanced at me. "Like you weren't an accident. Like you were a variable."
"What did Levi say?" I asked.
Wayne's mouth twitched. "He told him he didn't know what he was talking about. Said stories can't stay the same forever. That eventually you need a different character. A twist. Otherwise no one is entertained."
Wayne exhaled sharply. "That's when Radamar lost his temper."
"How?"
"He said he wasn't entertained." Wayne flinched. "Then he hurled a bottle across the room. Shattered it clean against the wall."
Wayne's voice dropped. "He told Levi that if whatever he'd allowed this time actually succeeded, it would mean more work for him."
I clenched my fists.
"Then he laughed," Wayne said quietly.
"Said he hoped Levi didn't think this would make him free. Maybe freer. But that when one monster falls, another always rises to take its place."
Wayne looked away. "That's when I heard Griz and Lenny coming."
He met my eyes again, shame clear on his face.
"I didn't wait. I jumped out the window. Didn't want either of them catching my scent."
His voice cracked.
"When I came back... Levi was gone."
My fists clenched, but I forced myself to breathe.
No.
Radamar made a deal.
And I was here now.
He'd have to honor it.
That was the Promise.
I kept staring at the floor, but my thoughts were racing now. I started trying to fit together pieces but I didn't have all the pieces yet.
"When did he come for him?" I asked.
Wayne rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers twitching nervously. "It was a couple hours ago. Maybe more. He just... showed up."
"Was the moon still on the Horizon or higher in the sky?"
Wayne frowned at me first, then nodded. "It was definitley high in the sky. He kinda looked panicked when he came in."
I clenched my jaw.
"That was probably the moment the Centilito started acting strange.
Radamar must have felt it somehow and reacted instantly.
It wasn't about securing an investment.
It felt more like he was tying off loose ends."
I scanned the room again, my pulse climbing. Shards of broken glass lay scattered in the corner.
Evidence that Radamar had already lost his temper before he ever walked back into the village.
Something about the whole interaction felt wrong now. Off.
The timing. The urgency. The way Wayne described it.
Then a thought crept into my mind, slow and unwelcome.
Had I made things worse by surviving?
If I'd failed... would Levi still be alive?
Or had Radamar already decided how this would end long before I ever fought the Centilito?
Wayne, catching the change in my posture, stepped quickly to the small chest in the corner. He popped the latch and pulled out something wrapped in cloth.
He turned and held it out to me with both hands.
"This..." he said, voice tight, "Levi wanted you to have it. He said it would've been better against the Centilito. Meant to give it to you before you left, but everything happened so fast."
I unwrapped it slowly.
I wrapped my hand around the grip. It felt heavier than I expected. Not impossibly heavy. Just enough to remind me it wasn't a toy.
I didn't know what made a sword good. I didn't know if this one was.
Levi had meant for me to use it against the Centilito.
But the Centilito was already dead.
So what was I supposed to do with it now?
Levi giving it to me meant something. I just wasn't sure I was ready for what that something was.
Carrying it meant I was expected to use it.
And that scared me more than the weight did.
I I wrapped the cloth back around the blade, tighter this time, leaving a long strip loose. I slung it over my shoulder, dragged it under my arm, and pulled it across my chest before knotting it in front.
The sword settled flat along my spine, the wrapped edge pressing between my shoulder blades. The knot dug slightly into my ribs when I moved.
It wasn't comfortable. It wasn't neat.
But it would do.
"What was he doing before Radamar came?" I asked.
Wayne hesitated, glancing at the floor. "He was pacing. Back and forth, nonstop. Kept mumbling to himself. I think he was trying to decide if he should've gone with you... like he regretted not being there."
I turned toward the door.
"Come on," I said. My voice felt like stone in my throat, but it came out steady. "We're getting him back."
Wayne blinked. "You think Radamar'll just... give him up?"
I pushed the door open. The light was sharp, but I didn't flinch.
"I survived. That was the deal. I'm here now. He has to keep his word."
Wayne stared a second longer, then grabbed his satchel and followed.
The walk through the village was a blur, but Wayne's chatter buzzed at my side like a mosquito that couldn't leave me alone. His spirit was lifting now knowing that he would see Levi soon.
"So... what happened?" he blurted finally, glancing sideways at me. "How'd you survive the Centilito?"
I kept my eyes on the path ahead.
"It wasn't pretty," I said. "The thing was... vicious. Too strong for me to kill head-on. I tried everything ... ambushes, force, nothing worked. It tore through them like they were made of paper."
Wayne's eyes widened. "So what'd you do?"
I exhaled slow.
"I realized I couldn't win. Not on my own. So I baited it. Led it through the forest, wore it down. Then... I had an idea."
I hesitated, remembering the sick rush of fear when I crossed that invisible line from forest to desert.
"I lured it to the sands. To where the desert worms hunt."
Wayne's jaw dropped open. "You went all the way out to the sands?!"
"I sort of just ended up there," I said. "The worm came... and it took the Centilito down. I just had to stay alive long enough to see it happen."
Wayne let out a low whistle, somewhere between awe and horror.
"Did it scream?" he asked suddenly. "Y'know... when it died?"
I blinked at him. "What?"
"The Centilito. Did it scream in its final moments?"
I stared at him, still catching my breath from everything I'd just relived. "Why does that matter?"
Wayne shrugged, a little sheepish but still determined. "That thing killed a bunch of people, Jeremiah. I just... I don't know. I want to know it felt something in the end. Humor me."
I hesitated, then gave the faintest nod.
"Yeah," I said. "It screamed."
Wayne didn't smile, but there was a flicker of something like closure in his eyes.
"Good."
I crossed the narrow wooden bridge that curved over the moat at the base of the great tree. Water moved quietly beneath me, circling the thick roots in a slow, steady current. The boards creaked under my boots, and for a moment the sound of running water drowned out everything else. It felt calm. Too calm.
We could see the bar up ahead now. I flexed my fingers around the sword's hilt.
We were here. Radamar was waiting.
And Levi... Levi was counting on me.
The bar looked abandoned at first.
The porch creaked under my boots as I stepped up, Wayne trailing close behind. The door hung crooked on one hinge, swaying just enough to let the sour stink of stale beer and smoke leak out.
I pushed it open slowly.
Inside, the bar was dim, sunlight slipping through rough window holes and drifting across the space like tired breath. Dust floated in the air, quiet and still.
My eyes went straight to the center.
Radamar and Levi stood facing each other, locked in some low conversation I couldn't hear. For a second, it looked almost normal. Levi's head was bowed. Then Levi looked up slightly, his expression unreadable and he said something.
Then everything snapped.
Radamar's arm moved. Steel flashed.
For a heartbeat I didn't understand what I was seeing. Then the sword burst through Levi's chest.
Levi's eyes widened. His mouth opened like he wanted to say something else, but nothing came out. Radamar held him there, calm, steady, as if the act meant nothing at all.
The blade slid back.
Levi's body folded. He dropped to his knees, then toppled sideways onto the floor. The sound of him hitting the wood was small, almost soft, completely wrong for something so final.
Wayne's scream tore through the room. He sprinted past me, dropped to his knees beside Levi and pulled him into his lap.
"Levi... Levi, get up. Please." His voice cracked as he pressed his ear against Levi's chest, searching for something that wasn't there.
I couldn't move. The world sat crooked, like my balance had split in two. All I could see was the blood spreading under Levi, dark and slow.
Radamar wiped the sword against his sleeve and looked at me with a mild, almost bored expression.
"You're late," he said, as if he hadn't just murdered him in front of us.
Wayne shook his head over Levi's body, tears running down his face. His hands hovered over Levi's heart, trembling.
He looked up at me, eyes hollow.
"He's dead," Wayne whispered.
The words didn't make sense at first.
I heard them. I knew the sounds.
But they didn't fit together.
They couldn't.
Dead? No.
Levi was tough. Levi was stubborn. Levi was waiting for me. He had to be.
I stumbled the last few steps, dropping to one knee beside Wayne. I pressed two fingers to Levi's neck, desperate, clumsy.
Nothing.
The world felt like it was collapsing inward, one slow inch at a time.
I stared down at Levi, black scales, the slack mouth, the chest that no longer moved, and something inside me buckled. No.
Not after everything.
Not after the Centilito.
Not after surviving the worst night of my life.
Radamar chuckled, low and quiet.
"Don't look so surprised, boy," he said. "The only reason he lasted this long was because I let him."
My head snapped up.
The calmness in his voice.
The casualness.
I could feel it rising inside me, a heat so intense it left my fingers trembling.
"You lied," I said. My voice sounded raw to my own ears.
Radamar shrugged lazily. "No. I said if you succeeded, I'd consider letting him live. I considered it. I changed my mind."
"Poor little human. Thought words meant something here."
Wayne let out a howl, pure grief, and buried his face against Levi's chest.
I rose slowly to my feet, every muscle in my body screaming for action.
The sword on my back called to me like a living thing.
Radamar had stepped away from Levi's body and made his way to an empty chair, spreading his arms lazily across the backrest.
The weight of the room shifted, thickened, like the air itself was bracing for violence.
Wayne's sobs filled the space behind me, but I tuned them out, locking eyes with Radamar.
I set the sword free from it's binding in one smooth motion.
The metal sang in the stillness.
Radamar's smile faded, just slightly. Enough to tell me he hadn't expected that.
Good.
I planted my feet. My palms were buzzing with adrenaline, every instinct screaming at me to move.
The floorboards groaned under Radamar's shifting weight.
I tightened my grip on the sword, feeling my palms slick with sweat. The blade felt too small now, like a child's toy against a thunderstorm.
I tightened my grip on the sword, feeling my palms slick with sweat. The blade felt too small now. Too thin for what stood in front of me.
"Kid."
Griz's voice cut in from the side, low and steady.
I didn't look at him.
"Calm down," he said. "That's not a smart thing to do."
My jaw clenched. "He killed him."
"I know what he did." Griz stepped closer, not aggressive, not afraid. "But look where you are. Look who you're standing in front of."
"I don't care."
"That's the problem," Griz shot back. "You should."
His hand hovered like he might reach for the blade, then stopped short.
"You don't understand the situation," he said. "This isn't some forest monster. This is—"
"I don't care," I said again, but this time it came out rougher. Less certain.
My grip loosened for half a second.
Just enough.
Radamar smiled.
Not wide. Just the smallest curve at the corner of his mouth.
That did it.
I shoved past Griz before he could grab me and stepped forward.
Radamar's skin rippled, veins bulging like bright green vines crawling under the surface. His muscles ballooned unnaturally, thick cords twisting along his arms and shoulders, stretching his tunic until it tore at the seams.
His face twisted, jaw sharpening, brow jutting forward, fangs peeking out behind his widening lips.
I swallowed hard. Every survival instinct in my body screamed at me to run.
But I didn't move.
Wayne stumbled back, bumping into an overturned chair, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air.
Radamar's laugh rumbled through the bar like distant thunder.
"You really thought a monster like the Centilito was the worst thing this world could throw at you?"
His voice wasn't right anymore. It doubled, tripled, like echoes scraping across broken stone.
I fought to keep my breathing steady, forcing air in and out of my lungs.
This wasn't a man.
This wasn't even a beast.
This was something else.
Griz and Lenny had backed off too, giving Radamar space, not because they were afraid, but because they knew what was coming.
Radamar took a lumbering step forward, the floorboards shuddering under his weight. His arms were thicker than my torso now, and his claws, because they were claws, not hands anymore. They flexed and curled like a predator savoring the moment before the kill.
He didn't need weapons.
He was a weapon.
I gritted my teeth and raised the sword higher.
He grinned wider, his teeth serrated now, gleaming under the broken beams of light.
"You think that little toothpick is gonna save you?" he rumbled.
I didn't answer.
Radamar let out a sound, somewhere between a growl and a chuckle, and rolled his massive shoulders.
"You should've run when you had the chance, human."
Every instinct I had, every memory of fighting, clawing, surviving. It all screamed that I was about to die.
And still... I stayed.
If I was going down, I was going to make it cost him.
Radamar lunged.
I dodged left instinctively, feeling the rush of air as his massive arm swung past me, slamming into the bar wall. Wood exploded outward, raining splinters across the room.
For a split second, I realized something strange. My ribs weren't screaming the way they had been. My legs weren't buckling. When I'd stepped into the village, I could barely walk straight.
Now I was moving.
Everyone in the bar started to scatter at this point.
Wayne shouted something, I barely heard him, too focused on Radamar's next move.
I darted forward, slashing at his side.
The blade bit deep, but not deep enough.
Radamar snarled and backhanded me across the room.
Pain exploded in my ribs as I hit a table, flipped over it, and crashed onto the floor, gasping like a fish out of water.
I forced myself up, vision swimming.
Radamar stalked toward me, slow and deliberate, savoring it.
"You're stubborn," he said. "I'll give you that."
He flexed one massive clawed hand.
"I'll even make it quick. A mercy."
Wayne rushed at him, a desperate, stupid move, fists swinging wildly.
Radamar swatted him aside like a gnat. Wayne crashed into the wall with a sickening thud and slid to the floor, groaning.
"NO!" I shouted, adrenaline ripping through the pain.
I charged.
No plan. No strategy.
Just raw, furious survival.
Radamar met me head-on, and the clash shook the room.
I ducked under his first swing, raking the sword across his thigh. Black blood spattered the floor.
He roared, more annoyed than hurt, and swung again.
I rolled under the blow, came up swinging, aiming for his exposed side, but he was faster than I thought.
He caught my wrist mid-swing and squeezed.
I screamed as pain lanced up my arm, the sword clattering from my numb fingers.
Radamar hauled me off the ground effortlessly, holding me up like a cat with a captured mouse.
"That wasn't how this was meant to go," he murmured.
My brow furrowed. "What?"
He didn't answer. "Now I have to adjust."
His eyes settled back on me, cold and steady.
"This has become repetitive," he said, almost gently. "And I am tired of this game."
"You're not ready," he said, almost gently. "Not for this world and I am tired of this game."
Repetitive?
My stomach tightened.
How many times had this happened before?
How many people had stood where I was standing now, thinking they were different?
His grip tightened slightly, like I was already finished.
Like Levi had been.
Like I was just another mistake he'd correct.
Something in me snapped again.
I spat blood into his face.
He laughed, a deep, horrible sound, and flung me across the room.
I hit the far wall hard, the impact rattling every bone in my body.
I lay there, gasping, blinking away the darkness crowding my vision.
Wayne was trying to crawl toward me, one hand outstretched, his mouth moving but no sound coming out.
Radamar loomed over us both, a living mountain of muscle and death.
"This," he said, his voice low and final, "is where your story ends."
I forced myself onto my elbows, my body screaming in protest.
No. Not like this. I wouldn't die groveling. I wouldn't die alone.
I thought of Levi.
Of the trust he'd placed in me.
Of every trial, every failure, every scrap of strength I'd clawed my way toward.
I locked eyes with Radamar, teeth bared.
Even if I died here...
I'd make sure he remembered me.
I pushed myself to my feet, swaying, blood dripping from my temple, and raised my fists.
No sword. No plan. Just me.
And if that was all I had, then I would make it enough. I stepped forward, fists lifted, ready to give him the last breath I had left.