“Shayma!” My fox-girl collapsed to the floor, blood pouring from her eyes and ears, and I recalled her despite the fact that she was still connected to the estate on the other side. There was a horrible tearing sensation as the part of me over in Port Anell was ripped away but I really didn’t give a damn. “Shayma!” I tried again, but she wasn’t responding. Her health was dangerously low and still ticking downward as the void mana writhed throughout her body.

I reached out and grabbed Keri from where she was eating lunch, teleporting her next to Shayma. She toppled over and scrambled to her feet, staring around for a moment before seeing Shayma and blinking. Then she recovered her senses and hurried to Shayma’s side.

“Heal her!” I yelled it even if Keri couldn’t hear me, and didn’t really need the direction anyway. She fairly jumped over to Shayma’s side, putting her hands on Shayma’s chest, but the numbers didn’t stop falling.

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“I’m calling in my favor,” I said, and while she still couldn’t hear me the atmosphere changed. “Heal. Her.”

Keri bowed under the weight of the command, pouring all the mana she could into it. But I could see the void Affinity that suffused Shayma swallowing it up, mere second-tier healing not enough to counteract a fourth-tier Skill. Shayma’s health reached zero and I just watched, completely helpless. Something snapped. Keri recoiled as the failure of her favor sent her sprawling backward. [Promise] cracked in half and fell to the ground.

“She’s—” Keri started, then stopped as Shayma’s body seemed to sag in on itself, reverting to black dungeon-flesh and vanishing.

Shayma was dead.

I went mad for a time.