For what seemed like forever, I aimlessly wandered down the city’s streets, half-hoping I’d run into humans that might end me. I vaguely recalled passing through the wealthier neighborhoods at some point, observing the same violence there as I’d seen in the slums. It seemed I’d discovered the one way that the different classes might be found equal.

As something burbling and manic filled the air, other people on the street paused long enough to cast uneasy glances my way.

I wondered where they were headed. Did they have a vain hope of escaping this battle? Did they have any sort of plan at all?

If so, I envied them. I didn’t know where to go or what to do with myself. How did I keep going without…?

“Sepi,” Lirilith whispered in my mind.

My daughter. She needed me.

Slapping my cheeks, I focused. Lirilith—I flinched at a summoned image—had said they were taking Sepiala to Arivor.

No. Doldimar.

So, I needed to think. Where would my… was he still my friend?

I shook my head. Where would he be right now?

That was an easy enough question to answer. After checking my weapons, I started trotting toward the temple.

When I arrived, something impossible was happening. I’d read about it in reports but always discounted it as overexaggerated versions of what had really occurred. It appeared that I’d been wrong.

While plastered on a roof opposite the temple, I watched Doldimar fling a web of pulsing strings over it. I wasn’t sure what that dark substance was, but it reminded me of what Arivor had summoned when Rafe had died.

The city’s Councilors were cowering behind him, surrounded by unmoving soldiers. As I ran my eyes over them, I was surprised to find that Reive was missing. Did Doldimar have something special planned for him-?

My heart, long abused today, stuttered before resuming its rhythm. There. In the middle of the Councilors, a little girl with my daughter’s distinctive red and green hair was standing. Why was Sepiala there?

Cursing in my head, I made my way to the street. I’d reached it, getting halfway to the Councilors when a rumble sent me skittering into shadows. As it grew louder, I glanced toward its source, and my eyes widened.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The web surrounding Alouin’s temple flexed, and slowly, the building crumbled, jetting dust and debris into the air.

“Shit,” I said.

Was this the power Doldimar had gained from my disastrous experiment? Stars… how would I…?

No. I couldn’t think about it. Instead, I considered the fact that a temple had been destroyed.

“He must hate Alouin now,” I said.

Shaking awe and fear off, I resumed my approach, moving as fast as I could. By the time the Councilors had come into view, Doldimar was standing in front of them with his feet shoulder-width apart, inspecting them like he would have with his troops during the first war. Something passed over his face, and he cocked his head, gazing at the sky.

“I know you’re here. I can feel you,” he said. “Did you save Lirilith, Eriadren?”

Restraining a hiss, I kept myself from leaping forward, clutching my sword’s hilt instead.

“My subordinates tell me they left her mangled,” Doldimar continued, “and I must confess. I was curious about whether you’d use your annoying power on her, but from your presence here, I’d guess you didn’t. I’m told that healing from the wounds you assume takes a while. It’s too bad really. I always liked my cousin, even after she murdered Rafe.”

He paused, as if expecting me to attack him, and I almost did. The only thing that stopped me was the knowledge that it was probably what he wanted. I couldn’t save Sepiala if I was dead, no matter how guaranteed my return to the living world would be.

Sighing, Doldimar slumped.

“Still not enough of an impetus for you, huh?” he said. “You have to hate me, Eri. We’re writing a beautiful story here, one that needs a hero and an antagonist, but we can’t have that if you refuse to see me as your enemy.”

The fuck was he talking about? Was he killing people, killing Lirilith, because he thought we were in the middle of a damn book? Was he insane?

“I will make you hate me, Eri. By the time we’re done, you will despise me to the core of your essence,” Doldimar said. “I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen.”

That was enough. I was almost close enough to the Councilors. A few more steps and I could dart for Sepiala before escaping. With my immortal body as a shield, doing that shouldn’t be too difficult.

Before I could try, Doldimar snapped his attention to the Councilors.

“I find you unworthy of sharing my strength,” he said.

Dozens of black spikes sprouted from him. Each one arched through the air to skewer a Councilor, and as I watched this, the world hiccupped for me. Blinking images told me of how the spikes quickly dissolved into the air, of how bodies fell on top of one another, of how Doldimar laughed.

And really. Seeing all of this? I should be rage incarnate. I should charge the bastard who’d murdered…

I should be raining hell on him, screaming all the while, but I couldn’t move. My eyes wouldn’t shift away from a pile of the dead.

“Well?” Doldimar shouted. “Is this enough for you?”

He needed to die.

I couldn’t do it now, though. I needed an opportunity where I was guaranteed success, and if he truly could ‘feel’ me, like he’d said, then I’d need allies who could distract him.

He started another goading monologue, but I didn’t hear it. Backing away, I made it somewhere safe before running. I needed to escape this city, my home, but once I had, I could regroup.

And once that was done, maybe I could figure out why I couldn’t bring myself to grieve the death of my family.