It was a moment before anyone managed to muster up the words needed to speak. Everyone was just a little bit too busy staring at Derek and the door hanging open behind him. Murky green energy churned just behind the door in wait for anyone to step into its depths.

“Well,” Alex said, drawing the word out for a second longer than he needed to. “I think that means we fulfilled our end of the deal.”

“You can do that?” Alyssa muttered, sounding equally parts stunned and annoyed. “I’m genuinely offended the puzzle was that easy. The River King was right the whole time. What a stupid requirement.”

“I’m just surprised that Derek’s magic counts,” Claire muttered. “That seems like a bit of a cop-out, doesn’t it? But either way, Alex is right. We completed our end of the bargain. Feel free to go on ahead, Vincent.”

The Starfallen’s lone eye blinked through the gap in his glossy silver mask. “You knew you could do that the entire time?”

Derek shrugged and wiped some of his blood away from his face. “I mean, it was a pretty safe bet. People die when they are killed.”

Vincent stared at him for a second. Then he shook his head. “Very astute of you. No matter. You have fulfilled your end of the deal. I will not renege on my promises. Consider our business concluded and congratulate yourselves on a contract well bargained.”

The Starfallen strode toward the door.

And then, when he was a step away from entering it, he froze.

Alex’s brow furrowed. A second dragged by. Vincent made no signs of moving again. He just stood a few feet away from the door, seemingly staring into the depths of the energy vortex twisting beyond it.

Is he just trying to figure out what’s beyond it? Or is the door itself a trap? I wouldn’t put something like that beyond the Rotkeeper.

It really didn’t seem that likely that someone as powerful as Vincent would be all that threatened by a trap, but even a well-placed pebble could spell the death of an experienced swordsman. There was nothing wrong with being careful.

As the second dragged onto another, it became painfully clear that this wasn’t just some simple pause to check for traps. Vincent wasn’t moving.

At all.

Alex’s eyes widened slightly as his gaze lowered. The other man’s foot was suspended an inch away from the ground. That wasn’t the kind of position that somebody took on when they were pausing to make sure they weren’t about to blow themselves up. It was far too unstable.

The only reason someone would freeze mid-step was if someone had made them.

A footfall fell on the grass behind Alex.

He spun. The others did as well, all turning in time to see a second foot emerge from a rippling line of dark purple splitting the air in a hazy vision.

From within the darkness stepped Absolution, his lips twisted into a cold sneer. He held his scythe in a loose grip at his side. The eye in his chest burned with a sickly intensity, its gaze fixed firmly on Vincent.

“Starfallen,” Absolution whispered, his fingers tightening around the haft of his scythe. “Did you really think you’d be able to make it past me that easily?”

Oh, come on. Are you kidding me? How long has he been hiding here? And is he an idiot? There’s no way he’s strong enough to take on a Starfallen, is there?

“Another wierdo,” Wess groaned. “How many of them are there? You know, I’ve never dealt with this many oddballs in my life. Heck, it’s an oddity even in the apocalypse. Is one of you cursed?”

Absolution didn’t even grace Wess with a glance. He stepped right past Alex and the others like they weren’t even there. Every single scrap of his attention was affixed upon Vincent.

A tremor ran down Vincent’s hand. Then his head twitched. The Starfallen slowly turned, bringing his lone eye around to look over his shoulder at Absolution.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Absolution,” Vincent said. And, for the first time since Alex had met the terrifyingly powerful man, there was a new emotion in his voice. Hatred. “I should have expected that you would show your face.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Absolution said with undisguised malice. “Because the Starfallen never consider that anyone bear the abilities they do. The mere idea of an enemy being a threat is so foreign to your ilk that the thought of my existence never could have crossed your mind.”

“You’re right,” Vincent said. His body twitched again, and a shimmer of silver slipped out from under his robes as his snakelike blade reared its razor-sharp head once again. “But the implication that you pose me a threat is sorely mistaken. You should have struck when you had a brief opportunity.”

Absolution’s laughter echoed the grassy hills of the Ancestry. “Why? You broke out of my Soul Manifestation several seconds ago.”

Vincent’s eye narrowed. Then he turned, all previous difficulty in his movement gone. The Starfallen extended his hand to the side and a strand of silver slivered down his sleeve to form into a razor-thin rapier in his hand in a flash. He pointed the weapon at Absolution.

“You’re with them?”

“Nativeworlders?” Absolution asked in disgust. “No. I have no need to rely on their like. I come for you alone, Starfallen. Just like I came for all of your brothers and sisters that came before you — and just like how I will come for the ones that come after.”

Claire caught Alex’s eye. Her gaze flicked to the portal, then back to Alex. She didn’t have to say anything. Nobody did. Things were about to go pretty bad. Sticking around was looking like a pretty poor decision.

Alex had absolutely no idea what Absolution was trying to pull off here, but he didn’t fancy the bald man’s chances against Vincent, nor did he have any desire to be around to find out what the aftermath of the fight would be.

“You are more foolish than we believed,” Vincent said, stalking toward Absolution at a wide angle. Despite his words, he wasn’t just attacking the way he had before. Vincent was being cautious. “You truly believe you are powerful enough to take me on in an honest fight? Your continued survival has gone to your head, Crestless.”

Absolution’s lips curled into a grin. “We shall see.”

Claire stuck her fingers out, moving as little of her body as possible to avoid drawing any attention. There were three — and then there were two.

And then one.

The final finger fell.

She exploded into motion.

Everyone else did the same. Alex’s feet beat against the ground as he propelled himself toward the door with every muscle in his body that could lend itself to the task. He could hear the others racing along behind him, but there was no time to look back and risk glancing to see if Absolution or Vincent were trying to stop them.

Claire plunged into the depths of the green portal, through the rippling energy an instant before Alex met it himself.

Then the world was nothing but a distant roar.

For a moment, there was nothing but the pounding thump of Alex’s heart and the coursing rush of blood pumping in his ears. He spun through a vortex of green. The ground became the sky became the ground again.

His mind spun. He could have sworn he was in a dozen different places at once. Bile welled in his stomach as he found his existence twisted like a piece of taffy.

Then it snapped back together. He drew in a sharp breath, stumbling. Alex was on solid ground once again. Stone. Claire stood by his side, looking every bit as ill as he felt. The others were there as well. Wess doubled over, throwing up as Alyssa tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her face beside him.

Derek made a sickly hacking noise that nearly made Alex join Wess in voiding the contents of his stomach. But, before he could, his eyes affixed on something familiar.

This stone… he’d seen it before.

Alex forced his gaze upward.

They stood in a courtroom. But, this time, it was full.

Every single row of the massive stands looming all around them had been filled by giants. Or, to be slightly more specific, Shawn.

There must have been dozens of him. They were clad in all sorts of wigs, various pieces of old clothing, and just about everything in between, but there was no doubt about it. All the giants in attendance, regardless of what they wore, was Shawn.

A single Shawn stood at the center of the room and directly across from them. A grin full of rotted teeth spread across his lips and ancient robes fell across his shoulders. It was exactly what the giant had worn when Alex had first met him.

Does this mean he wasn’t actually just tossing a wig on each time we met? They were different versions of him? Seriously?

“Hello again,” the lead Shawn said. “It’s been a pleasure watching your trek. It brought a great deal of amusement to this old man’s heart. I never expected this would be the way it would end, but life has never been the predictable sort.”

“Somehow, I can honestly say I didn’t see this coming, even though I really feel like I should have,” Alex said. “So you weren’t playing a joke on us? Those were all different versions of you?”

“In a way,” the lead Shawn said with a chuckle. “But does it really matter? You’ve made it to the Grave. Congratulations, all of you. You’ve completed my Ancestry.”

“Wait,” Claire said. “Your Ancestry?”

Shawn tilted his head to the side. Then he blinked. “Oh. Yes. Dear me. It’s been a while. You’ll have to forgive me.”

The giant pulled a plain brass ring off his finger in a smooth motion. And, in that very instant, the words shimmering above his head shimmered and changed.

Shawn, Last Shade of the Rotkeeper (Master 1)

“Good. That’s all squared away. Now, where were we?” Shawn asked, amusement wrinkling the skin around his eyes. “Ah, yes. Rewards. I was about to choose who would inherit my Legacy.”