I crash against the wall of trunk, and then, inexplicably, straight through its hard bark as if it’s as insubstantial as vapor, my heart shattering over the loss of Yvan and Lukas and all my loved ones...over the loss of my life. And over the destruction of Voloi and the devastation of its people. Consumed by the rush of sorrow, I sail into the Great Tree’s darkness, Vogel’s scream tearing from my throat, his rage ratcheting up to a nightmarish level.

And then I’m falling into the Tree’s darkness in a body I can’t control, limbs splayed out, lines consumed by Shadow. I can sense the Great Tree’s awareness of the corruption inside me as I’m enveloped in III’s fury and I realize that this is truly the end.

You’ve won, I hurl out to the Great Tree as its fury stabs into me. You’re killing the Black Witch! It’s too late for me now, but know that I never wanted to be this Shadow thing! So, go ahead! Kill me! Or Vogel will use me to destroy everyone and everything!

Vogel lets loose a great, snarling cry, his claws of power raking at my lines with desperate, covetous force. A knifing pain stings through my magic. And then, a wrenching sensation of release as his magic is swept away in a spiraling vortex.

I struggle to catch my breath as confusion spikes through me and I regain control of my body, my limbs flailing then stilling in the infinite dark. And I wonder—Is this what it is to die?—before I’m swallowed up by grief, and the whole world goes silent.

I’m suspended in a great nothing, not knowing up from down.

Completely alone as the tree’s thick cloud of fury thins...

...then slowly withdraws.

The sting along my fastlines dissipates then disperses into the great darkness along with the last tendrils of Vogel’s Shadow magic. Vogel’s stolen Wyvernfire bond snaps away from my lines, the sensation of claws on my fingertips fading. My limbs splay out, freed from every last binding.

Suspended in the infinite dark.

And then...

...the sudden, burgeoning sense of branches lifting me, winding under and around my form like a great cocoon, but not confining.

Cradling. Waiting.

Listening.

My heart breaks open within me.

I wanted to help them, I whisper to III, too weak to move, my cheek pressed to what feels like a broad branch as I begin to sob. I wanted to use the power to help my loved ones and fight the cruelty. But... I couldn’t control the power...

I’m dancing on the edge of consciousness as I cling to III and pour my heart out. I cry and rage and mourn as I tell the Great Tree the entire story of my life, my struggle, my grief.

My failure.