“You did it. You fucking did it, Dalius! Thank you! Thank—”

She laughed, stumbling, half-blind towards the door. But she felt the clean air. She laughed—

And then realized she hadn’t heard the ghost. Cara whirled.

“No.”

He was gone.

No trace of him remained. The young woman looked around. She shouted.

“Ser Dalius! Dalius?”

But there was nothing. Just the tomb—the magical seal broken. Cara stood there, forlorn.

“You idiot. Couldn’t you have dodged?”

She laughed—laughed until she cried. She burst into tears, searching around. For any scrap of him. But here was nothing. Just—memory. She hunted around the dust and rubble, as if hoping a piece of him remained.

Her tears ran down her chin and dripped onto the ground. For a man’s memory.

Only the wetness running down her cheeks feeling cold in the fresh air made her turn. The young woman gazed up.

The sky. The breath of fresh air blew across her. Tantalizing. Full of life. Promise.

She looked around one last time. But then the enticing breeze snatched at her soul. It had been too long. Slowly, she began to climb. The rubble and dirt cascaded around her as she struggled over the broken doors, gripping bits of rock, dirt, scrabbling upwards, desperate.

The living soul left the tomb. Cara O’Sullivan climbed. Doggedly going higher and higher. Slipping, but dragging herself upwards, pursuing the vision of the sky. And eventually—she reached the top.

She looked back only once. The dark chasm of the Tomb of Afiele lay far below her, down a trail of rubble. Two broken doors let sunlight and air flow into the tomb. Little mice scurried around in a panic.

Cara shuddered as she saw the twilight beyond, turning to perfect blackness.

A prison for the dead. Or their resting place, perhaps. Not a place for living. She turned and shook her head. Cursed stupid knights. But her tears had cut a path through the dust on her face. Then she left the tomb, her prison, behind. And she hoped Dalius had found something better.

Grass ahead of her. The young woman pulled herself up. Her legs shook as she stood, staring at the dark soil. The greenery. She stared up at the sky. And it was so different from her world. Vast. Grey. But—

She took a breath. And the tears ran from relief this time. Cara stumbled forwards, looking around.

Wondering.

——

As she walked into the light, shading her eyes and gasping with relief, she didn’t see the ghost rematerialize far below.

The ghost stood in the darkness of the tomb, staring longingly upwards towards the light. The figure of the young woman moved out of view, stumbling, awkward.

For a moment, he took a step into the light, and saw how the beam of daylight pierced his body. Then he stepped back. It was the hardest thing in the world.