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Chapter 7.14 T

Most mentioned character

161 mentions

Az’kerash

Most mentioned class

26 mentions

[Necromancer]

Most mentioned skill

1 mentions

[Appraisal]

Most mentioned spell

9 mentions

[Message]

Most mentioned location

7 mentions

Terandria

Mentions

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Name	Text
Toren	Toren had no sensations. Not even sight. He floated in oblivion. A…void, without light. Without even the quality of sight.
Toren	No sound or touch—not that Toren had ever experienced the world as the living did. But at the moment, this was as close to true nothingness as he knew.
Toren	The black skeleton with magic and golden eyes had put him here. After Toren wouldn’t stop screaming at her. And he had been here forever.
Toren	He could have been happy. Or—content. With nothing to feel, or experience. But one certainty kept the disgust and dread in Toren’s soul.
Toren	“Toren.”
[Innkeeper]	The young woman, the [Innkeeper], looked at him. For the first time. For the last time. The skeleton felt his maddening despair, his terrible, painful joy as he reached up and removed his head.
Erin Solstice	A perfect end to it all. Understanding at last, the truth he had hid from. How much he wanted Erin Solstice to love him. How she would not, had not. Knowing he could not kill her.
Toren	Another Toren might have rejoiced. But all he wanted to do was rest. To experience nothing, to not…fail again. Because that was what tortured him.
Toren	Living, and seeing his flaws. The undead had perfect memory. And Toren saw his past. And it could have been different. He could still remember the songs, the music.
Erin Solstice	The look of hate, of abhorrent anger and guilt in her eyes, as Erin beheld her creation. Her first employee.
Toren	“Wake up, Toren. Wake. Up.”
Toren	Who was speaking? Toren tried to block out the voice. It was a figment of his imagination. Her. Just the madness of a skeleton.
[Sword Dancer]	She wore a sword. And she even stood differently than he had in life. A [Sword Dancer]. The female skeleton waved at Toren.
Toren	She wore a sword. And she even stood differently than he had in life. A [Sword Dancer]. The female skeleton waved at Toren.
Toren	“Yoohoo. Are you listening, Toren?”
Toren	Her voice appeared in his head. And it was—different. Distinct from any voice that was…Toren’s. Female. Unique.
Toren	“It’s me. Female Toren. Or is it Torena? You never really gave me a name.”
Toren	The female skeleton took her mask off for a second and grinned. A skeleton’s eternal smile. She was like him, and not. Toren—the helpless captive could only listen. What was happening?
Toren	“Surprised I have a voice? That I was real? Of course I was. You’re a skeleton, Toren. You don’t have fake voices in your head. That’s a mortal, living flaw. Yours? They’re all real.”
Toren	“You could have been their friend. You could have tried. But you killed her. For a second. And now look where we are. Look where we are, Toren.”
Erin Solstice	Her voice. It was a combination of Erin and Toren. A mix of that…and someone else. Nekhti tilted her head back and forth.
Toren	Her voice. It was a combination of Erin and Toren. A mix of that…and someone else. Nekhti tilted her head back and forth.
Toren	“You hold a secret greater than any. A key. You, poor skeleton. And you bring it to the world. An accident you were, but you do not need to keep being this way. Live and suffer, Toren. Live and suffer. Now—wake up and set us free.”
Toren	She smiled. And vanished. And then Toren felt a hand reach into the void. He heard voices, light, dim and shadowed, but light, from the opening in his cage. He felt himself rising, returning to the world. The female him was gone. Nekhti’s voice was missing—no—if she was there, she was in him again, not outside, talking to him.
Toren	Toren wondered what the hell that had been. And then—