As Makena stood in the aftermath of the battle, she looked at the corpses around her... they were the bodies of every innocent life she had unwittingly taken.
Her father's voice echoed through her mind, reminding her of her "duty" to the clan, but each of his words felt like another rope tightening around her throat.
She felt suffocated, as her identity was swallowed by a role she had never chosen.
The evil sect, watching from the shadows, sent their acolytes to gather the crimson essences left from the scorched corpses.
They didn't see Makena as the prodigy she was raised to be but as a resource, a well of unending power they could drain.
The High Priest of the sect approached her, a grotesque figure dressed in dark robes.
His skeletal hand reached out, touching her shoulder with a mockery of kindness.
His touch was ice against her skin, chilling her to the bone, yet she couldn't move, bound by the potion that eroded her will.