Charred remains and undisturbed grass were all that was left of the once-secluded village of Greenhaven. Rotten black timber littered the landscape, a reminder to Loldirr of the last time she stood in this place.

She felt hollow and her stomach felt tight, recalling the burning village and stench of death as the Death Wraith, Sir Wendon Pykeston, laid waste to the once cheerful community.

Each step forward on the unkempt grass felt heavy, it may have been months ago since she was last here, but she could recall the trauma as if it was yesterday.

To her surprise, there were no remains. The people who were slaughtered mercilessly had long since departed this area, yet there were no obvious signs of animals exploiting their vulnerability.

Loldirr looked toward the hulking trees that littered the landscape, focusing on one in particular. A rope dangled from it effortlessly, its thread cut at its tip, frayed and bare to the elements. Remembering the traumatic moment that Willis' mother was hauled into the air fighting to stay alive as the rope cut into her airway, it instantly brought tears to her eyes, but as both Mr and Mrs Billingslea's lifeless bodies were nowhere to be seen, it didn't take long for Loldirr to pull her bow off her shoulder, and an arrow between her fingers.

Sigurd and Jeffry had initially thought nothing of this ruin, but as the huntress beside them became alert, they too grabbed their weapons preparing for an ambush.

"What is it?" Sir Gervais asked, seeing the caution in Loldirr's eyes.

"This was once Greenhaven," Loldirr explained, "once my home and generally untouched by civilization until it was decimated by the Shadow. The bodies, they are all gone, it is somewhat bizarre."

"Animals?" Jeffry asked, his eyes flitting around, determined to find some aggressor.

"Initially my thought," Loldirr responded, her careful steps determined not to disturb the ground that she walked on, "but that rope hanging from that tree, it has been cut."

All eyes briefly descended on the rocking rope, being pushed back and forth by the light breeze. They were alert and anxious, but as Jeffry took his first few steps forward, his hand gripped tightly on his bastard sword, it eventually eased as he raised the tip of the blade toward a grassy pasture.

"There, look," he commented, causing his temporary companions to look toward where his sword was pointing.

Loldirr lowered her bow, before inadvertently causing herself to let out an undignified splutter. Her eyes glistened brightly and her tears felt damp, but as her tears moistened her eyes, she couldn't take her focus off the scores of wooden x's pushed into the ground. The sign of Qhyagi, the God of death.

Sigurd, Gervais and Jeffry all immediately stopped in their tracks watching Loldirr as she stumbled toward the makeshift graves of the people of Greenhaven. Standing in front of one of them forced her to crumble to her knees.

Sir Gervais was the first to stand by her side, while the other two warriors resheathed their weapons. He immediately recognised the symbol on a medallion wrapped around the cross of the grave where Loldirr knelt. A raven of mixed silver and gold, here lay the remains of Sir Edric Darke.

Loldirr's cries were subdued as if she didn't want the man beside her to feel the deep anguish that plagued her body. Her focus on the previous lord of Ravenscourt, the man who gave up everything to raise her, was nothing short of intense.

"Lord Darke was a great man," Sir Gervais commented.

"Yes, he was," Loldirr commented, "yet I failed to see it until it was too late."

Sir Gervais knelt beside her, his eyes remained fixated on the medallion. "A sentiment I fully understand. It takes a tragedy to determine how a man is moulded, and none were much greater than the Grand Duke of Ravenscourt."

"You knew him?" Loldirr asked, her gaze eventually removing themselves from the shining medallion.

"Yes, I had the pleasure of attending some of his banquets and fought him once as a young knight at a tourney. His skills on horseback were rudimentary, but damn his swordsmanship was exemplary. The whole empire quietly mourned his faked passing."

Loldirr looked at Gervais speculatively, before abruptly standing to her feet. "You were the spymaster of the usurper, you were involved in my parent's death?"

If the Death Wraith could have sighed, he would have done so. "You ask me questions about things you do not want to hear the answer to."

Rage seized Loldirr as she gripped the dagger, Death's Bain, by her side. With one stab of this supernatural weapon, she could rid the world of this abomination and it was taking all her energy not to slide it from her belt and plunge it deep into the Death Wraith.

Sir Gervais raised out his hands and turned so his dead eyes could fixate themselves on the greens of Loldirr.

"I served Arnaud loyally for several winters and yes, I was instrumental in the usurping of the throne. I can offer you my apologies, yet we both know it would be futile. My role had always been to stand by his side and support him in the shadows, something I excelled at, and as a result, it has caused chaos within the land for the last sixteen winters," Sir Gervais explained.

"Then why do it?" Loldirr asked, her cheeks red with anger, her grip on the dagger stronger still.

Sir Gervais frowned, as if the question insulted him, "Loyalty! Loyalty to a man I thought I knew, whose desire for absolute power was something I could not comprehend until I put forward plans in motion that destabilised the empire. Do not think that all I did, I did with a clear conscience. I argued his decision, his plans, several times fervently, yet his ambition far exceeded my influence on him."

"You could have stopped him, stopped it all, ended the tyranny before it had started, yet you didn't!" Loldirr cried, her anger starting to overflow.

Stepping forward, Sir Gervais lowered his hands. "Look around you, this was your home, a small insignificant village of no importance except to provide you with what you needed to survive. Now, you are the Empress of Isovine, the Elemental Sorceress, what do you know about integrity, honour and following the orders of your superior, knowing the potential consequences that said orders could produce? I was young, and I was foolish, but there is no pleasure in hindsight. I expected his plans to fail, for your family to overcome his insubordination and as a result, my integrity and honour would remain intact. Nonetheless, I had not expected that Arnaud had other forces in play that would all but confirm his supremacy."

Something about the way that Gervais spoke made Loldirr pay attention to his words, "What do you mean?"

Gervais' deathly glare seemed to screw up into anger as his thoughts raced into the past, "Your parents were loved by both the nobles and the people. A quality rarely found by anyone in power. If Arnaud had taken Lionmane by force, the Kings and Queens of Isovine would have raised their banners, and within days he would have been executed for treason. In one large coordinated attack, Arnaud had eliminated them all and killed anyone who could unite the people against him. I am an excellent spymaster, yet Arnaud neither had the resources or personnel to achieve such a feat."

Loldirr's grip on Death's Bain subsided slightly as thoughts raced through her mind, some were hers, and some were from the undead man in front of her. "The Necromancer?"

Sir Gervais nodded, "I was tasked with planning the coup, ordered to establish the most efficient way to take absolute power if resources were unlimited. On that fearful night, my plan was executed with absolute perfection, except for one oversight. An oversight I welcome with open arms."

Loldirr's cheeks were still red with anger, "and that oversight?"

Sir Gervais turned his head down toward the sign of death pushed deep into the ground, "Lord Edric Darke. I could not have seen that he would forsake his land, title, wealth and family all in the name of loyalty to the realm. I could never foresee that much devotion by someone who had everything to lose."

Sir Gervais turned his head back to Loldirr, whose eyes and cheeks were now drenched by the dam of emotion that had been burst by the words praising her guardian.

"Lord Darke and I were similar in our loyalty, the difference is that he chose the right side, despite losing everything as a result."

Loldirr could hear the tinge of regret from the undead man that stood beside her, she watched as Gervais stood, downcast as he stared at the grave of Loldirr's misunderstood guardian. She felt the heaviness in his heart as if it was her own heart pulling against her. Eventually, the heaviness was replaced with anger, a rage that was like a whirlwind inside of her. Her naivety had brought her sworn enemies' right-hand man with her on this journey, listening to the son of her dead guardian now appeared as the most sensible solution. Rubbing the side of the exceptionally crafted handle of Death's Bain, her thoughts were conflicting, calling for her to end Sir Gervais' life where he stood.

He was the reason that she never remembered her mother or father, the reason why she never played with her brother. The entire empire was in chaos and on its knees for sixteen winters because of his actions, but what was done could not be undone by severing his connection to the world now.

Edric had given up everything to save her life. He had sacrificed his family to train and prepare Loldirr for this journey, a sacrifice that she must recollect every time her anger felt that it would get the better of her.

"Your wisdom has so far proved valuable," Loldirr commented through teary eyes, "and it's your value that keeps you here today. The moment that value ceases to exist, I will be happy to insert Death's Bain deep into you, and I shall take pleasure in listening to your screams as you are torn from this world and sent to the realm of the dead."

"As is your right," Sir Gervais responded, a wry smile appearing on his face, "I am not here for redemption, my existence is far beyond that, but I will do all that I can to ensure that Lord Edric's plans are pushed to completion. On that, you have my word."

"Your word currently means nothing to me," Loldirr spat, "now leave me be, I wish to say my final words to Edric."

Sir Gervais bowed before stepping away.

"Sir Gervais?" Loldirr called before Gervais could step too far, "the Necromancer, does he control the usurper still?"

He clenched his fists as thoughts rushed through his mind, he refused to turn, but Loldirr could still sense his anger, "That he does. The bitch by his side, she is a Sorceress of the Second Sphere, and she manipulates him to perform acts deemed essential for the Necromancer's plan. She needs to be eliminated and I just pray that I am the one to feel her last breath."

"Walk on without me, I shall catch up," Loldirr watched as Sir Gervais walked toward the trees, where Sigurd and Jeffry awaited, and as they started to meld back into the forest, Loldirr thought upon his words.

Nimue, a Sorceress of the Elements, who seduced and tricked her way to be beside Emperor Arnaud III was an agent of the Necromancer. Loldirr recalled her moments in the ice plains of Jorguldheim, how she was also allowed to stand beside him as one of his agents. She also remembered how Ixnja, the Ice Queen, was given the opportunity, something she refused and almost paid for with her life.

With all her focus on restoring Isovine and uniting Ruvia, she must not lose sight of the bigger picture. The Necromancer was determined to bring death to the world and he had been planning and executing his reign of terror for longer than Loldirr had been alive. Sorcerers of the Elements had been given an ultimatum, join him or die, and if he had a legion of the most powerful people that exist, Loldirr was simply not equipped to fight him.

Divide and conquer, something Edric had taught Loldirr in her strategy lessons. That was the Necromancer's plan while he prepared his forces down south, and he was doing it on such a large scale that perhaps Loldirr's thoughts were too simplistic.

Edric's cross stared back at her, lifeless like the man six feet below it. She placed her hand on the dirt and closed her eyes, imagining the advice that her guardian would have said should he be with her right now.

What had been divided, could be restored and the reason for Edric's death was that the Necromancer's forces were tasked with killing her. Despite his power, his subterfuge and his intelligence, he feared Loldirr. The Necromancer believed Loldirr was a genuine threat and that she was capable of uniting the world against him.

Lionmane and Isovine felt like a huge task, but all in all, it was a drop in the ocean for what was to come. Her task was clear, she needed Ruvia to conquer Isovine, and once she sat on her father's throne, she needed to do all she can to unite all humans across the twelve realms, something that had never been achieved before.

They never saw eye to eye, but Loldirr couldn't deny the influence that Lord Edric Darke, the Grand Duke of Ravenscourt, had on her to this day. She owed him everything and her final words of anger toward him would forever plague her memory, yet now she felt determined to do right by him and ensure that his sacrifice was not in vain.

Standing to her feet, Loldirr wiped the tears from her eyes. Looking toward his final resting places, Loldirr smiled before uttering the words that she failed to say to him during his lifetime, "Thank you."