The elven warrior moved like the wind.


    [Heroic Strike]


    She cut off several of its fingers.


    [Shield Bash]


    She slammed her shield into the creature''s leg, shattering its knee.


    [Battle Roar]


    She screamed a bloodcurdling scream, and Abad felt stronger than he had. The troll swiped at her, but her blade flashed.


    [Counter Strike]


    Half of its hand flung into the air and landed a couple feet away from Abad. He watched as the woman held off the mighty creature with everything she had, her love and pain spurring her on. Using the opportunity, Abad channeled as much energy as he could spare into [Burn the Weak], the flames cascading up his arm. He could feel his fingers go numb from the strain. First circle spells could only handle so much mana. Their simple weaves broke down easily.


    Giving as much essence as he could to his spell, the flames in his hand doubled in size, sparking and sputtering with excess energy. The warrior saw his spell and rolled away from the massive beast. A wall of flame rolled off of him, engulfing the troll and setting the bushes behind it aflame. Its fur incinerated in a puff of acrid smoke, and the creature recoiled away from him, clutching at its back in agony. Abad grinned as its leather skin caught on fire, flaking away in the soft breeze.


    Shani pressed the attack, slicing into the creatures stomach, side, leg—everywhere she could reach. The troll was falling back, trying to escape the warrior''s merciless blows. He smiled. They would win. He began pulling on more essence, but he was beyond spent.


    [Burn the Weak]


    He gave as much energy as he could to the flame, which roared to life in his hand. He concentrated, calling on anything left, but the candle only grew slightly.


    And then, Abad''s grin faded.


    Something was wrong.


    It wasn''t enough. As fast as Shani struck, the wounds would close. Fingers were growing back. Skin was repairing itself. Even the burnt flesh on its back had begun to knit itself together after the flames sputtered out.


    The troll giggled, then attacked Shani with more ferocity than they had seen. Abad threw his flame at it, but the creature hardly seemed to notice as its skin caught on fire, sputtered, then the flame went out. It was everything she could do to hold the creature off. The creature cackled as if the injuries meant nothing. She severed its hand again, and it attacked with the stump. A deep cut exposed its thighbone, but it didn''t even hobble it. Shani cursed under her breath as she realized, as had Abad, that their attacks weren''t doing any lasting damage.


    Abad tried to join the fray, trying to preserve what little life force and mana he had left, but the attempt merely almost got him crushed.


    "Stay back! You''re in the way!"


    [Hobble]


    She stabbed into the creature''s knee, the blade emerging from the other side, slowing the troll slightly.


    The troll giggled again.


    "What''s so funny?" She screamed at the monster.


    "You weak, meat! I strongest!" The monster lunged and snapped its teeth at the girl, catching the edge of her shield. With a mighty heave, it ripped the shield away, tearing it from her arm. There was a loud crack, and the elf screamed in pain. She was thrown several feet and tumbled to the edge of the road. She cradled her arm to her chest, the hand pointing the wrong direction. When the troll charged at her, Abad summoned another ball of [Burn the Weak]. He threw the meager thing, then immediately vomited.


    The troll turned and snarled at him. Abad didn''t have anything left. He had put everything in that last spell. It''s only purpose was to buy Shani time to get away, which she used to rush toward A-Nis. He could maybe attack one more time, but that was a big maybe. His vision was swimming. He hoped the creature couldn''t resist his next move. It would be the only thing that would save him. The ability might cost him his life if it didn''t land.


    [Burn the Weak]


    His flames roared as they struck the troll''s chest, but they quickly went out, the skin healing almost as fast as it had caught alight. He tore some essence from the creature, healing a bit, but it wasn''t enough. The troll was strong, resilient. The monster took a lumbering step toward him, its instincts telling it to be wary of more flames, but its eyes showing it knew better. It could see the warlock was done.


    "Bad meat. Bad elf meat. Why you smell bad, elf meat?"


    He thought a moment. Did it really matter anymore? He was done with this. The hiding. "You know what? I''ll show you why I''m bad meat." He was going to die. He knew it. And if he was going to die, he''d go out in his true, glorious form. He let his [Mask of Many Faces] fade. His skin turned back into its rightful color. His black nails glinted in the moonlight. He felt a portion of his mana free up.


    He heard a sharp gasp from the left, but he didn''t dare take his eyes off the troll.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The troll took a step back. "Eater..." It snarled the word, eying him warily.


    <hr>


    [Eater]: Bestowed by the troll Graul, this title marks you as one who consumes what others would discard, taking strength from the remnants. When you consume the essence of an enemy, you gain a brief but potent surge of energy, temporarily enhancing your body, mind, and spirit, and sometimes catching glimpses of their final memories or emotions.


    <hr>


    "Eater?" He felt it. The name resonated with something inside of him.


    [Burn the Weak]


    Flames sprang to life in his hand.


    "Eater. Bad one. Hungry one. Hurt. Bad meat." The troll snorted and growled, backing up several more steps but never letting its eyes move away from Abad''s.


    "Yes. Eater." He smiled his wicked, terrible smile. "That''s what I am." He took a step forward. "How about this, my kind troll. Why don''t we make a deal?"


    "Grawl no deal. Grawl eat meat. You meat!" the troll pointed its nearly-restored pointer finger at the warlock."Meat die. Grawl eat!" Then, in a mockery of thought, its dumb eyes looked through him for a moment. Then a horrible jagged smile spread across its lopsided face. "Eater leave? Grawl eat, eater leave? No eat eater. No eater burn Graul."


    The words washed over Abad. It wanted him to leave. It wanted him to abandon the others. It didn''t want him to fight anymore.


    And that''s when Abad realized something.


    He didn''t have to. He could just walk away, right then. He had his out. No one would ever know. He could just walk away, and these three would be a footnote in his own legend, destined to be forgotten by everyone but him. Shani screamed, but he couldn''t hear her over the sound of his thoughts.


    The troll''s smile widened. "Eater leave now?"


    "Abad..." He heard the woman''s voice. It was pitiful. She could see his thoughts. That''s when those words came to him again. The ones from his dream.


    Would you make the same choices, Abad-Shai, Lord of Nothing?


    He thought about the last week. It had been... not fun, exactly. Pleasant. They had been his companions. They took him in. They trusted him. He couldn''t remember the last time someone felt that way about him. He liked Firtz'' surliness and excitability. The man cooked well. Shani was proud and kind. A-Nis was honest and forthright. They were good. Fundamentally good. Nothing like him.


    No one from his past had been kind. Honest. None of them would ever risk revealing their hands. There was always an angle. Something to gain. Some political maneuver to outpace a rival. Depose an enemy. They used one another. They used everything. He used everything, consumed everything in his quest for glory.


    These people weren''t like his old allies. They weren''t like him.


    It was stupid. The situation was impossible. If he did nothing, they would die. If he tried to help, they would still die, but he would die with them.


    The choice seemed so simple.


    But what would he gain by leaving them? Would he live longer? Maybe. Or maybe he''d be hunted down this very night once the creature had its fill. And if he did survive, what then? Would he wander alone, sacrificing everyone and everything to some dark destiny that was determined to make him suffer?


    No.


    He would simply continue to exist, with nothing and no one at his side.


    His blood ran hot. Abad wouldn''t run. He wouldn''t surrender. He wouldn''t turn tail and run. He was many things, but he wasn''t a coward. He wouldn''t be bested by some monster. He wasn''t about to be eaten by some disgusting creature in the woods at the edge of nowhere. No misshapen thing would be his master. No one would command him.


    He stepped forward proudly. The creature''s smile faded. It was afraid.


    It should be.


    If the Great Hero herself couldn''t end him, then this Graul stood no chance. He was destined for far more. He was more. He wouldn''t die at the hands of some misshapen mongrel. And these three were part of his legend. They were his now. And he didn''t give away his things for free.


    "I''m done with this game, Graul."


    "Eater no deal?"


    [Burn the Weak]


    "No deal."


    Abad pulled everything from his ring, channeling it all into the spell. Flames roared up his arm. The troll backed up a step, confused.


    That''s right. Recognize me for what I really am.


    "I have one deal for you, monster." He took another step forward. He pulled on every ounce of essence he had, every bit of life force within. He burned every single mote of light buried in his black spirit. And then his spirit itself caught alight. If he would die, he''d die his way, in a blaze of glory. "You can run now. Right now. If you do, you might live."


    The troll laughed heartily. "Me no die. Who you? No one. Me Graul! Me strong!" he roared to the sky.


    "I''m Abad-Shai, Master of the Vault. Eater. And the Dark One''s Heir. I am your death."


    The creature giggled, but it''s smile slowly faded as Abad''s flames grew brighter. It took another step back.


    "Oh? Do you want to take my deal?" Abad''s shirt smoldered as his spirit''s flames consumed his sleeves. His bracers burned around his forearms as they grew red hot. He had never pulled on this much life force at once. He had never been willing to die before. His vision swam and his ears rang. Everything hurt. He felt himself slipping away.


    "No deal, meat."


    He gave it all.


    His spirit burned.


    His body burned.


    Everything was fuel for his spell.


    The troll''s eyes were wild. Its instincts and mind were at war with one another. It began drooling. It took a step forward. Then it stepped back. It grunted and roared. Charged forward. Squealed at the heat rolling off of the warlock and rushed backward.


    "Graul no die! Graul strongest!" It roared again, beating its chest in protest to the flames.


    Abad''s vision was a black tunnel. His shirt was on fire. His skin sizzled under his bracers.


    He ignored it all. All the pain. The fear of death. The weakness. He looked inward. There, deep inside, at the edge of his burning spirit, there was something. It glowed at the edge of nothingness. If he could just reach it... He tried. It was so close. Just out of reach... He reached as far as he could, but the boundary of his spirit pushed him back. The troll took another step forward, its tongue licking its lips. Its instincts were winning.


    One of their deaths was imminent.


    Then, at the edge of death, his spirit dissolved. Everything within him burned to ash. The chains holding him back snapped. He was no longer Abad. He was the flame.


    His eyes opened. Fire erupted from them. His clothing burned away. His ring melted. His bracers fused to his skin. The winds roared around him. The earth beneath him smoldered, then began to melt, pools of obsidian forming around his feet. The forest around him was ablaze.


    The only thing he could see was the troll. The only thing he could feel was hate. Elation. Joy. Freedom.


    Power.


    He roared with all his centuries of rage, his throat burning as hot magma erupted from his lips, splattering on the ground in a puddle of liquid stone. The area around him shined as if the sun itself were ignited within him. The troll screamed in fear. It turned to run away, but it was too late.


    Abad raised his hands, and the thing that was at the edge of his burning spirit finally came into the light. He grabbed it.


    [Hellfire]


    Sand liquefied. Rocks exploded. Trees shattered. Flesh became ash. Everything was swept up into the flaming cyclone.


    In the center of it all, there was only the flame.


    And when the flames became flickers, which cooled to wisps, became cinders, a pile of smoldering bones were all that was left before him.


    Abad smiled. He was strongest.


    And then the darkness claimed him, and he was gone.