Rel could feel the heat as Jargen approached --
A walking furnace.
Steam hissed off his body as the tar imprisoning them recoiled and melted.
Rel: "AGHH!"
His skin burned.
Jargen: "ENDURE, KID."
Rel gritted his teeth as Jargen stepped closer.
His body radiated heat, hotter than before -- hotter than should’ve been possible...
The monster flinched back.
Its form wavered, liquid shifting uncertainly.
Jargen nodded toward Dmitri’s motionless body.
Jargen: "DMITRI. GET THE ANTIDOTE FROM HIM. GO!"
Rel moved.
Supporting Punjo, they stumbled forward.
Behind them --
Jargen’s breathing grew heavier.
Blood dripped from his eyes, his nose, his ears.
His skin darkened -- his body screaming for mercy.
Yet mercy, much like his humanity, had already been left behind.
The monster slithered forward.
Whispers leaked from its form...
Monster: "Weak... Die...!"
Jargen took a step back -- toward the exit.
He glanced at Rel and Punjo one last time.
Jargen: "Find another way out... The cellar will no longer be an option."
Rel’s stomach twisted.
Rel: "Jargen --!"
Jargen just smiled.
Jargen: "It was a pleasure to have crossed paths with you... and to fight beside you."
He stepped backward, drawing the monster away.
Jargen: "Don’t ever let anyone take our home from us again...!"
And then -- he was gone.
Outside, in the corridor --
A distant rumbling.
Heavy.
Fast.
Growing.
Guard: "What is that noise?!"
The group of patrolling guards halted, hands on their weapons.
The walls trembled...
Something was coming.
Jargen (distant): "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!"
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The bend exploded --
Jargen raced toward them, thunder in his footsteps.
But he wasn’t alone.
Behind him --
A shifting, writhing mass of darkness flooded the corridor.
Guards: "T-that’s -- Dmitri’s experiment!"
Some turned tail, sprinting for their lives.
Others bolted for the upper floors, desperate for safety.
It didn’t matter.
The monster was faster.
Tentacles lashed. Teeth tore.
A trail of blood painted the hallway red.
Guards: "RUN! RUN!!"
As the guards scrambled for their lives, Jargen made a sharp left turn and headed down the wooden stairs that led to the cellar. As soon as the creature followed his descent into the cellar, something aroused its senses.
It moved -- faster than before...
Jargen: "What...?"
... Yet strangely, it ignored him completely.
Instead, it surged past --
And lunged...
For the corpse floating in the wine.
Tyssa sprinted from behind the foudres.
Tyssa: "RUN, JARGEN!!"
She snatched the matchbox --
But, something lashed out.
A black tendril.
It coiled around her leg, yanking her backward.
She toppled forward, fingers inches from Jargen’s outstretched hand.
Jargen: "FUCK!"
Tyssa vanished into the writhing mass.
Jargen leapt after her --
Exactly what the beast wanted.
Tendrils shot out, coating the cellar walls in tar...
A cage of black.
Jargen: "Think this can stop me?"
He clenched his fists -- veins bulging.
Jargen: "I’LL BECOME A DAMN SUN IF THAT’S WHAT IT TAKES TO STOP YOU!"
Jargen burned.
His skin glowed like molten iron, veins surging with fire.
Each step forward boiling the wine-flooded floor.
And before him --
Tyssa.
Tangled in the creature’s grasp, pulled toward its gaping maw.
Tyssa: "JARGEN...! RUN! SAVE YOURSELF!"
Tyssa fought.
Her fingers stretched toward the matchbox --
Another tendril lashed around her wrist.
Squeezed.
... Bones cracked.
She screamed.
And the matchbox fell --
Splash.
It vanished beneath the wine.
Jargen: "No, Tyssa..."
Jargen stepped closer.
Jargen: "... I'm not the one worth saving."
His heat pulsed outward, tendrils melting as they touched him.
But it was slower, now.
The creature adapted.
It wasn’t recoiling like before.
Jargen was running out of time.
His muscles tore.
His bones ached.
His blood boiled.
Still --
He reached for her.
Jargen: "No. More."
Jargen clenched his jaw.
Jargen: "My whole damn life, I took the easy path... No more."
His fingers wrapped around her ankle.
Her skin seared.
Tyssa: "AAAAHHH!!!"
She screamed as his touch burned through her flesh.
Jargen: "Sorry."
Jargen winced.
Jargen: "You'll be the last person I ever hurt."
With his free hand, he plunged into the wine --
Found the matchbox.
Crushed it in his fist.
The matches inside ignited all at once --
A small inferno in his palm.
He hurled it.
The burning matchbox slammed into the tar-covered exit.
For a moment --
The darkness recoiled.
A hole opened.
Just large enough for her to escape.
Jargen: "Take back what's ours."
Jargen turned back to Tyssa.
His vision blurred.
Blood streamed from his eyes, mixing with the sweat on his face.
Jargen: "Rel and Punjo should be making their way outside soon..."
Tyssa shook her head violently, reaching for him.
Tyssa: "NO!"
Jargen gritted his teeth, his body trembling.
Jargen: "The future of our people is in your hands now."
Jargen grabbed her by the arm --
Lifted her with one last surge of strength—
And threw her.
She soared through the fire-carved hole.
Landed hard, smashing through the flooded stairs.
Wood splintered.
Pain shot through her burned leg.
But --
She was free.
That's when she turned...
... And saw him one final time.
A silhouette of fire.
A man turning to embers.
Tyssa: "JARGEN!!!"
And then --
The hole closed.
Jargen stood alone.
The wine around him began to boil.
Steam hissed, rising in thick clouds.
The fire caught.
Flames spread.
Walls turned to infernos.
Jargen: "I'l be joining you soon..."
Jargen exhaled.
His legs buckled.
His skin peeled.
Still -- he smiled.
Jargen: "Syl... Cabdan..."
His vision blurred.
Jargen: "Wouldn't be surprised if we all end up in Mortmundus... Heh."
He closed his eyes.
Jargen: "But..."
A tear slipped down his cheek.
Through the agony, through the fire --
One thought remained.
Jargen: "If there's another life waiting for me in the beyond... I just hope I meet her again."
The flames consumed him.
Jargen: "Would you be proud...? Or would you be disappointed, if you saw me now, I wonder...?"
He collapsed, a wide smile imprinted on his face.
The creature wailed.
Its body melted --
Tar boiled --
Bone charred --
And in the inferno, its final screams tore through the night.
Outside, Tyssa lay sprawled on the ground.
Her body trembled.
Tears blurred her vision.
Tyssa: "Jargen..."
She clutched the wine-soaked journal --
The key to Cabdan’s fortune.
And as the cellar burned behind her...
She sobbed, enwrapped by the cold night's breeze.
