Her eyes fixed on him, alight with pain. Cara gasped, let go, and swayed. But she reached for the bindings again. Her hands stopped before they touched the dark filaments. They shook with fear. Dalius stared at her. The young woman grabbed the deathly rope and pulled, then stumbled back.

Yet she tried again, crying out with frustration.

“I have to. I have to.”

She looked at him, and her eyes flickered with something else. A desperate, mad surge of hope.

The [Knight]. A Level 40 warrior from an old era. Cara looked to the tomb. To the faded, grey light in the distance. If—

“They need you, Dalius! Culin is alive! Princess Seraphel—the people of Afiele, Duchess Grishen—the

[Necromancer] is going after them. They need you. No one else could kill that giant!”

The ghost looked up. He saw Cara’s skin grow pale, the lack of color race up her arms. She let go with a cry and fell backwards as the spell nearly drained her of life. The [Knight] stirred. He pulled, as he had done a hundred, a hundred thousand times. But the spells were too many. Too powerful.

He was too weak. He gazed at Cara. She lay, trying to pick herself up. He tried to believe. The ghost whispered.

“One of House Afiele lives? Who?”

“Culin. His name is Culin. And—Princess Seraphel of Calanfer. Duchess Grishen. They’re all alive, but they need…you. Someone to defeat the [Necromancer]. You, Dalius.”

Cara’s tongue felt heavy in her mouth. She tried to move; her body jerked. Shaking, she looked at the ghost’s imprisonment.

“You have to save them. I can’t.”

A pained laugh answered her. Dalius’ eyes rolled from left to right before focusing on Cara. He spat.

“How can I believe that? I have never left this place. You could be lying to me. A [Princess]? I would have believed you again. If you had come to me—see what you’ve done? Cara, oh, Cara. How am I to believe you now? A [Princess]? Which land does she come from? Calanfer? As fake as the other one to me! She might as well be a [Queen] or [Oracle] from Chandrar!”

He laughed like a madman. Cara closed her eyes. She remembered the first lie she had ever told to him.

She bowed her head. The [Knight] stopped laughing. He stared at Cara’s face, then looked away from her.

“…Even if I wanted to fight for my home, I cannot escape these spells. If I was alive—I could. But I am just a ghost. Pathetic, at the mercy of a single [Necromancer]. I have failed Afiele in every way. All I can hope for is my own end. Leave me be, Cara. I believe you. Leave me in that lovely little lie and I will rest believing it.”