Varek gestures, and the shadows around you still. Not attacking. Waiting.

“The founders were fools,” he says. “Idealists. They thought they could build a perfect city with good intentions and hope. But cities don’t run on hope. They run on power. On sacrifice. On someone willing to make the decisions no one else can stomach.”

He paces slowly, circling you like a teacher circling a student.

“I’ve protected Eldermoor for three hundred years. Three hundred years of peace. Of prosperity. Of children growing up without knowing war or famine. Do you know how rare that is? How many cities I watched burn before I found the answer?”

“The answer being murder and soul-theft.”

“The answer being permanence.” He stops, facing you directly. “Everything ends. Everything dies. Civilizations, empires, worlds. I found a way to stop that. To create something eternal. And yes, it required sacrifice. But look at what we built.”

“We didn’t build anything. The founders did. You just consumed them.”

“I became them. Their memories. Their knowledge. Their power. It’s all part of me now.” His smile has an edge to it. “And I could share it with you.”

You feel the relics pulse. Warning? Or something else?

“You’re different,” Varek continues. “You’re not just another gem-born child who thinks they can challenge me. You’re something new. Something the gem itself created to oppose me.” He almost sounds impressed. “Do you know how long it’s been since something surprised me?”

“Is this where you threaten to destroy me?”

“No. This is where I offer you partnership.”

He holds out his hand.

“Join me. Accept a fraction of my power, and I’ll make you immortal. You’ll stand beside me, not beneath me. We’ll guide Eldermoor together—your idealism, my pragmatism. In a century, you’ll understand why I did what I did. In two centuries, you’ll be grateful.”

His eyes are dark. Endless. But somewhere in their depths, you see something unexpected.

Loneliness.

“Three hundred years alone,” he says, almost softly. “Carrying this burden. Making the hard choices. Watching everyone I cared about turn to dust while I remained. You could end that. You could be my partner. My heir.”

“My equal.”

He waits for your answer.