The Lich was gone. The Death Knight was scrap metal. But the room didn't feel safe. It felt… heavy.
Reed stood in the center of the Foundry, the violet smoke slowly dissipating from his shoulders. He felt like he had just chugged ten energy drinks mixed with liquid nitrogen. His heart now sharing space with a ghostly passenger was beating a slow, thumping rhythm that echoed in his ears.
Thump... Thump...
"You are shaking," Kaelen noted, stepping away from him now that she was on her feet. She looked at her hand where she had touched him. It was trembling.
"Adrenaline dump," Reed lied. It wasn't adrenaline. It was the hunger. The Void energy he had ripped from the Death Knight was settling into his system, demanding fuel.
He looked down. Where the Lich had hovered before being dismissed, a single object remained on the scorched iron floor. It was a shard of crystal, jagged and pulsing with a deep, sickly indigo light. It hummed a sound like a choir screaming underwater.
[ITEM IDENTIFIED: VOID SHARD (CLASS: APOCALYPTIC).]
[ORIGIN: The Abyss.]
[NOTE: Do not touch with bare skin unless you want to lose a finger. Or your soul.]
"Heretical contraband," Kaelen said sharply, her Inquisitor training overriding her exhaustion.
She stepped forward. She was battered, her white cloak singed and stained with soot, but she regained her composure quickly. She reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out a pair of silver alchemy tongs.
"That is a fragment of a Void Lord's consciousness," Kaelen stated, her voice tight. "It is a corruption hazard. As an officer of the Silver Flame, I am confiscating it for containment and—"
"No."
Reed didn't shout. He didn't have to. The word rolled through the room like a physical wave of pressure. The shadows in the corners of the Foundry stretched toward him.
Kaelen froze. Her hand trembled, the tongs clicking together nervously.
Reed walked toward her. His boots made no sound on the metal grating. He moved with a predator's grace, the residual Necrotic Energy in his veins making him feel taller, sharper, dangerous.
He stopped inches from her. He looked down into her blue eyes. His own eyes were a swirling, deep amethyst.
"You cannot contain that, Kaelen," Reed said softly. "It will eat through your containment box in an hour. It eats Light. It eats Order."
"And you think you can hold it?" Kaelen challenged, though she took a half-step back, hitting the railing. "You are already corrupted, Avatar. I can smell the rot on you. If you take that… you will turn."
Reed smiled. It wasn't his usual goofy 'Dad' smile. It was sharp.
"I'm already the monster, Inquisitor," Reed whispered, leaning in until he was breathing the same air as her. "I'm the trash can. I clean the mess so you don't have to get your white gloves dirty."
He reached past her. He didn't use tongs. He didn't use a spell. He wrapped his hand in his velvet coat sleeve and picked up the shard.
The crystal hissed. The shadows around Reed's hand flared, fighting the void light.
[INVENTORY UPDATED: VOID SHARD.]
[STATUS: DORMANT (FOR NOW).]
He slipped it into his pocket.
Kaelen stared at him. She should have arrested him. She should have drawn her sword. But she didn't. She was staring at his throat, her pupils dilated. Her breath hitched.
"You are…" Kaelen swallowed hard. "You are reckless."
"I'm efficient," Reed corrected.
"Sir," Maira's voice cut through the tension like a scalpel.
A holographic projection of the Demon Maid flickered to life from a damaged emitter on the wall. Maira looked unruffled, though she was furiously signing paperwork in the background.
"While the testosterone display is fascinating," Maira clipped, "we have a tactical development. The Lich has fled, but his army has not dissipated."
Reed turned, the violet light in his eyes dimming slightly as 'Manager Mode' tried to reassert itself. "They didn't despawn?"
"Negative," Maira said. "Without a commander, the Undead revert to their base programming: Seek Life."
She brought up a map of the region. A red mass of dots was moving away from the dungeon.
"They are ignoring us," Maira explained. "They are following the path of least resistance. They are marching toward the highest concentration of life in the sector."
Reed's blood ran cold. "Stonebridge," he said.
"Correct," Maira nodded. "Five hundred skeletons, three Siegebreakers, and a battalion of Ghouls are currently en route to the village. ETA: Four hours."
Reed looked at his team. Terra was slumped against a wall, Grika welding a patch onto her chest. Seraphine was leaning heavily on her spear, her magma armor dim and flickering. Elara was still hiding inside his chest, recovering from the Soul Sync.
They were wrecked. If he marched them to town, they'd crumble. And if he brought a giant snake and a magma golem to a human village, the guards would attack them on sight.
"We have to stop them," Reed said. "If that army hits the town, the Authority will blame us. They'll say we lost control. Vane will use it as an excuse to glass the entire mountain."
"We cannot march," Seraphine hissed, wincing as she tried to uncoil. "My scales are cracked. Terra is leaking hydraulic fluid. We need a long rest, my Lord."
"I know," Reed said.
He turned to Kaelen. The Inquisitor was watching the map, her face pale. She had family in the capital, but she knew the people in Stonebridge. She bought her tea there.
"You have a transport?" Reed asked.
Kaelen blinked, looking offended. "I am a High Inquisitor. I ride a Silver-Barded Destrier. He is tethered at the treeline."
"Is he fast?"
"Valor is bred for chasing down Wyverns," she said haughtily. "He does not trot, Avatar. He thunders."
"Good," Reed said. "You're driving."
"Excuse me?" Kaelen bristled. "I am not your chauffeur. And Valor does not tolerate passengers. Especially not... necromantic ones."
"I'm not a necromancer," Reed grinned, the violet light in his eyes flaring. "I'm the heavy artillery. And unless you want to explain to Director Vane why Stonebridge is a crater, we're riding double."
He turned to his staff. "Seraphine. You have the conn."
"No," Seraphine snarled immediately. She slithered forward, blocking his path. "I do not accept this. You are wounded. You are corrupted. You cannot go alone with… her."
She pointed a claw at Kaelen. "She is a Paladin," Seraphine spat. "She will stab you in the back the moment you run out of mana."
"I would never—!" Kaelen started.
"I need you here, Sera," Reed said softly, stepping into the Lamia's space. He reached out and placed his hand on her cheek.
Seraphine froze. She leaned into his touch instantly, her eyes slipping shut, a desperate purr rumbling in her chest.
"Terra needs repairs," Reed explained. "The dungeon is breached. If Vane sends a second wave, you're the only one strong enough to hold the door. Can I trust you to defend our home?"
Seraphine shuddered. She opened her eyes. They were slits of green fire. She grabbed his wrist, pulling his hand to her lips. She bit him, not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough to leave a mark.
"Go," Seraphine commanded, glaring at Kaelen over his shoulder. "But if you let him break, Paladin… if he does not return to me… I will burn your Authority to the ground. I will not leave a stone standing."
Kaelen swallowed. She adjusted her grip on her sword. "I will keep him alive, creature. It is… my job."
Reed turned to Grika. The goblin tossed him a heavy leather satchel.
"Emergency Kit!" Grika chirped. "Grease scrolls. Flash-bangs. And a Bag of Holding filled with scrap metal and black powder."
"A bomb?" Reed asked.
"A spicy purse," Grika corrected. "Don't arm it until you throw it."
"Thanks, Grika."
Reed buttoned his velvet coat. He checked his pockets: Void Shard (Left), Bomb (Right). He looked at Kaelen.
"Ready to ride, Inquisitor?"
Kaelen looked at the exhausted monsters. She looked at Reed, standing there in his torn clothes, radiating dark power and dad-energy. She sighed, a long, suffering sound.
"I am going to regret this," she muttered.
She turned and marched toward the exit tunnel, her armored boots clanking on the stone. "Keep up, Avatar. If you fall off the saddle, I am not stopping."
Reed watched her go, then glanced back at his family one last time.
(Be careful, Reed,) Elara whispered in his mind. (The Shadow is quiet now. But it gets hungry when it's cold.)
"I know," Reed whispered.
He turned and ran into the dark, chasing the Paladin toward the surface.