You emerge from the archives into the night.

The city is quiet now. Unnaturally so. The survivors have retreated indoors, their windows dark. The streets that were so full of life this morning are empty, lit only by the flickering purple glow of the gem.

“We should get somewhere safe,” your ally says. “Plan our next move.”

You nod, but something makes you stop.

A feeling. A prickling at the back of your neck. The same sensation you felt in the ceremony, in your visions, in that moment when something looked at you through the gem.

You turn.

The square is empty.

Except—

There. Across the cobblestones. Standing in the shadow of the founders’ statues.

A figure.

Not moving. Not breathing. Just watching.

The purple light of the gem doesn’t touch it. Shadows pool around its feet like water, spreading outward, reaching toward you.

It’s wearing armor. Old armor, from another age. And its face…

Its face is wrong. Handsome, almost. But the smile is too wide. The eyes are too dark. And when it sees you looking, its smile grows wider still.

I’ve always seen you.

The words aren’t spoken. They appear in your mind, cold and certain.

Did you think I wouldn’t notice your little investigation? Did you think the archives held secrets I didn’t already know?

You can’t move. Can’t speak. The figure’s presence is a weight, pressing down on you.

The founders tried to stop me. Seraphine hid her pathetic hopes in children and prophecies. And here you are. The latest in a long line of disappointing saviors.

The shadow spreads wider. Your ally shouts something, but the words don’t reach you.

I’ve killed so many like you. Every century, another gem-born thinks they can challenge me. Every century, they fail. You’ll be no different.

The figure takes a step forward.

But not yet. Not tonight. I want you to understand what you’re facing. I want you to feel the weight of three hundred years of inevitability. And when you’ve truly comprehended how hopeless your situation is…

The smile impossibly widens.

I’ll come for you myself.

And then, like smoke in wind, the figure dissolves. The shadows retreat. The pressure lifts.

You’re on your knees, gasping. Your ally is beside you, shaking your shoulder.

“Are you all right? What happened? You just… froze.”

“I saw him,” you manage. “Varek. He was here. He…”

You stop.

He warned you. Which means he’s not ready to kill you yet.

Which means you have time.

But not much.