I liked you. I thought we understood each other.

They did. That was why…they found themselves standing here. Exactly like this. The [Singer] standing on her rooftop, facing the rotting giant and the [Necromancer].

Cara looked again past the man, at the undead, at his army of defiled people. So that was what he meant. She felt sick to her stomach.

And he? He looked down at her.

The man stood there, with the power no one on Earth could dream of. The power to raise the dead. He seemed so…normal. He shook his head, watching her, and then touched a single burn on his cheek.

“A song. You sang, but you didn’t change anything. Not yet.”

He looked down at her. Almost regretfully. Cara shook her head bitterly.

“No. It’s just music. It shouldn’t change a thing. I wish it did. I told you that.”

For a moment, the two Humans stood in understanding. Cara gazed into his eyes and saw something similar.

A conversation at a bar. He whispered, looking at her like a friend. Like he thought they still were, somehow.

“Someday, you might have that. A song to deliver this world what it lacks.”

She choked on her reply. With a trembling hand, the [Singer] pointed at him.

“What? If I could sing—it would be to stop you. You…you monster.”

The man’s face went slack for a moment. The [Necromancer] slowly raised his arm, and the giant’s rose, mimicking him. He inspected his bloodless skin, then looked at her. As if he remembered. He smiled, ruefully.

“Ah. So you are like the others. But…do you see? This is my gift. My way of righting it all.”

Cara’s eyes focused on the giant, then the man.

“What? Is this your justice? This—is your vengeance? This is…”

She looked around. She wanted to vomit. But she clenched the hatchet in a tightening grip. If she leapt—

He just looked at her. Then past her to the keep, the fleeing people. He shook his head, as if snapping out of a daydream. The [Necromancer] pointed at her.

“Do not stand in my way. Your songs cannot stop me. You…I will let you alone live if you swear to flee and not to interfere again.”

He waited. Almost…hopefully. The [Necromancer] watched her.

“It would be suicide to do otherwise. You have no ties here. You have no reason to stand in my way, girl.”

Cara looked at him. Just looked at him. Her breathing was ragged. She felt bile welling in her throat, and saw his abominations flooding the town. She looked him in his wretched eyes.

“Yes, I do. You…how could you ask me that? You are a monster.”

The [Necromancer] bowed his head. His dyed-white hair blew around him. Cara crouched to leap and his staff rose.

“Indeed. [Deathbolt].”