The vision ends, but the founders’ voices linger.

“Now you know,” Seraphine says. “The truth of what we did. The truth of what was done to us. And the truth of what must happen next.”

“How do I free you?” you ask. “The relics—”

“The relics are keys,” Aldric explains. “They can unlock the bindings that hold us. But the locks are inside the gem itself. Inside Varek’s domain.”

“You must enter the heart of the Purple Gem,” Thornwen adds. “Face Varek in his seat of power. Use the relics to break the chains that bind our souls.”

“And then?”

Silence.

“Then we don’t know,” Seraphine admits. “We’ve been bound so long, we cannot see what lies beyond. Perhaps we will simply… cease. Perhaps we will finally rest. Perhaps something else entirely.”

“But there is one thing we do know,” Aldric’s voice grows heavy. “Freeing us will not be without cost. The gem’s power has sustained Eldermoor for three centuries. When the Binding breaks, that power will be released—all at once.”

“Someone will have to contain it,” Thornwen says gently. “Someone will have to take our place, even if only for a moment, to prevent the release from destroying the city.”

Your blood runs cold. “You’re saying someone has to sacrifice themselves.”

“Not necessarily forever,” Seraphine says quickly. “If the containment is temporary—if you can channel the power elsewhere, into something that can hold it—”

“But yes,” Aldric interrupts. “In that moment of release, someone must be willing to give everything. To become the anchor, even for an instant.”

The light fades completely. Your allies stare at you, their faces pale.

“Someone has to volunteer,” Mira says flatly. “To maybe die.”

“Or worse,” Theron adds. “To take their place.”

Wren says nothing. But she’s looking at you with those ancient eyes, and you know she’s thinking what you’re all thinking.

Who among you would make that sacrifice?