The grand hall was empty now.
Just me, Tory, and him — the Wizard, standing there with that smug, self-satisfied smile.
Tory looked at me, confused and unsure, but I... I understood.
I crossed my arms, glaring at the old man.
"This was nothing but a game to you, wasn't it?" I said, voice low, sharp.
The Wizard's smile widened."Yes," he said simply, almost laughing.
I clenched my fists.
"The murder. The dinner. All the suspicion. All fake."
He shrugged like it was nothing."They were all in on it. Every last one of them — actors. They knew I would 'die'. They knew it was fake. All part of a grand game."
Tory looked horrified, taking a step back.
I stayed planted, anger burning under my skin.
"But the reward?" I asked.
The Wizard nodded."Yes, it is real"
I breathed in, slowly. My hands shook.
Fine.
I would ask the real question.
"The fire," I said, voice sharp. "A fire no magic can control. A fire so dark it burns through magic it self. What magic is it?"
The Wizard's face... shifted.Confusion.Real confusion.
He tilted his head slightly.
"No such fire exists," he said, like he was explaining something obvious to a child.
My chest tightened.
"LIAR!" I snapped, stepping forward. "I SAW IT! I WATCHED IT KILL THEM!"
The Wizard didn't flinch.Just looked at me... almost pityingly.
"Your question is invalid," he said simply. "Because there is no answer. No magic like that exists."
I opened my mouth — maybe to scream, maybe to cry — but before I could, he raised a hand.
A flash of light.
I felt the world twist around me.
Suddenly, I was outside.
Thrown onto the cobblestone streets like trash.
Tory stumbled out after me, looking panicked.
The mansion behind us shimmered — then disappeared. Just... gone. Like it had never existed.
I sat there, staring at the empty space, feeling my heart hammer against my ribs.
Tory knelt beside me.
"Lia..." he said, voice soft. "I'm sorry."
I didn't answer him.
Couldn't.
The anger, the hopelessness, the sheer betrayal clawed at my insides.
I pushed myself up, my body stiff, and started walking.
Tory followed without a word.
We made it back to the tavern — that miserable little place where it all started.
The two cups of beer we'd left behind still sat on the table.Untouched.Warm.Stale.
Perfect.
I grabbed one of the cups, lifted it to my mouth, and drank — every last drop — in one go.
The bitter taste barely registered.
I slammed the cup down on the table and shoved the second one toward Tory.
He blinked at me.
I didn't wait to see if he drank it.
I just turned around and walked out of the tavern, the door swinging wildly behind me.
Tory caught up to me a few seconds later.
We didn't say anything.
There was nothing left to say.
The road stretched ahead of us — cracked, dusty, endless.
The road to the Dashin Empire.
The road to answers.
Or maybe just more lies.
I didn't know anymore.
But I did know one thing:
I wasn't going to stop.
Not until the thing that killed my family was burned out of existence.
Not until I had answers.
And not even death was going to stand in my way.
day 12.