Anastacia awoke in a dark void, much like the one where she had met Sylvia for the second time.

“Oh come on! Am I dying again?” She asked, not really expecting an answer.

“No, you’re doing just fine.” Someone responded from behind her.

Anastacia turned around to see a man sitting on a throne, in the middle of the darkness. On a table next to him was a small lantern and a bracelet, exactly like the one on Anastacia’s wrist.

“What the hell is this? I had just left the blacksmith and… and…” Anastacia struggled to remember.

“Yes. The fact that you’ve woken up here means that you’ve lost most of the control over yourself. It takes a couple of days for me to take over your mind properly.” The man explained.

“Take over? So you’re the reason I was being an asshole to everyone!” Anastacia guessed and walked up to the man.

“No, you’re just an asshole. Has no one explained to you how all this works?” The man asked and looked confused. “Could you tell me how you acquired my bracelet?”

Anastacia explained how the bracelet was forced on her and the changes in her personality it had caused. The man listened and started to look more and more concerned.

“This isn’t how any of this is supposed to happen! My bracelet is supposed to be given to kings or queens of the realm!” The man stated and hit the throne’s armrest with his fist. “What has happened to my kingdom?!”

“Uh… I don’t really know who you are.” Anastacia pointed out.

“You’re a necromancer and don’t know who I am?! Has our line fallen so low that they do not remember Alabaster the eternal and immortal king of the necromancers?!” The man cursed and got up from his throne. “Child! Tell me what has transpired in the mortal world after I chose to move myself into this bracelet!”

“You’re that guy! The cult still worships your skeleton. I was actually supposed to keep it reanimated but I kind of escaped Mournvalley…” Anastacia told him.

“My… skeleton? Why do you think I made this damn bracelet?! And you useless idiots worship my bones?! I can’t believe this…” Alabaster sat back down and took a deep breath. “And I thought my plan was perfect… But wait! You’re certainly an exceptional necromancer, I can feel it! Maybe I can work with this… I can make you the queen and then you’ll restore my kingdom to its original glory!”

“That’s nice and all, but can I just go back to my body? I would really like that.” Anastacia asked.

“No. I can feel that you lack almost every important quality needed to become a true necromancer. Ambition, lust for power, ruthlessness, they’re all mandatory for a ruler. So I’ve taken it upon myself to ‘amplify’ those qualities of you. Eventually you’ll become just like me, a strong leader for our kind!” Alabaster stated victoriously. “The original plan was to give the bracelet to whoever took the throne after me, to make sure they’re up for the task.”

“Or we could, you know, not do that and just let me take off the bracelet.” Anastacia said. “The cult has been trying to hunt me down for a while now. I doubt they’d make me their leader anyway…”

“Then we just kill them all, along with anyone else who tries to stop us!” The necromancer king laughed.

Anastacia wasn’t about to let the ancient necromancer king control her, even if it would make getting rid of the cult easier. She walked around the throne but found no signs of an exit, or anything else for that matter.

“Hey, if I’m here and you’re here, who is being me on the outside?” Anastacia asked, hoping she wasn’t just lying in the ground, unconscious.

“It’s not like that, the you on the outside is like a combination of both us. Since you appeared here, it’s about half and half right now, but in couple of days you’ll be more like me and less like you. The final ratio depends on how weak you are as a person.” The king of necromancers explained. “And I can tell that you’re weak, which why you never really got anywhere.”

“So we’re just stuck here forever and the Anastacia on the outside is just a power-hungry asshole from now on? Is there a way out?” Anastacia worried.

“I don’t understand? Why would you want to leave? You will be the most powerful person in the world, and rule over the world as you see fit. And when you die, you’ll continue your reign even in the afterlife.” Alabaster said and seemed confused over Anastacia’s worries. “Of course, you’ll go back to normal if you kill me, but that’s just not going to happen.”

Anastacia concentrated on the necromancer king, but it felt like running into a stone wall. No cracks or anywhere to start with. This would take days at the very least but weeks or months seemed more likely.

Fighting a dragon was not a simple task, even for Coquelicot and her apprentices. Xamiliere had wrapped her roots around one of its leg, just barely preventing it from flying, but the wet and slippery terrain and the thrall’s massive size forced the necromancers to spend almost all their time either dodging the dragon’s flailing or trying to stay close enough to actually deal damage. After fifteen minutes, they had made almost no headway, and some of the necromancers started to get tired.

The undead beast had no such concerns as it spread its wings and tried flying again. Its wingspan was almost twenty-five meters, but the skeletal structure of its leg made it easy to hold on to, and Xamiliere’s roots were dug deeper than any tree’s. The spriggan herself was in charge of keeping an eye on Anastacia, and watched the fight from the top of the necromancer’s metal restraints.

“They’re not really getting anywhere with this…” The spriggan sighed. “I wish Dammar or Gil was here. They’d come up with something. Like get some cannons and blow the damn thing into pieces. Shame we’re so far away from the city too, the guards probably can’t see this far in this rain.”

“Serves them right for trapping me!” Anastacia laughed. “Let me out and I’ll get rid of it!”

Xamiliere looked at the inquisitors, realizing it wouldn’t be long before the dragon actually got its first kill. She wasn’t able to help them either since she had to keep one of her feet in the ground at all times to control the roots, meaning she couldn’t move quickly. But something had to be done, so Xamiliere bent open the metal pieces that were holding Anastacia still.