[Virion’s chamber, the room is dim, heavy with the scent of herbs and candle wax. The fire has burned low, casting faint orange light across the stone floor. At the center stands a great canopy bed of dark wood, its heavy curtains drawn tight. Inside, the space behind them is completely black, no light dares touch it.]

You stand near the doorway. The silence presses against your ears, thick and uneasy. The only sound is the slow, uneven rasp of someone breathing behind the curtains.

For a long moment, there’s nothing else, no greeting, no movement. Just the faint creak of the bedframe as someone stirs within.

Virion’s voice finally comes, quiet and strained, as though from very far away "...You came."

The words hang in the air, soft but heavy, followed by a brief, wet cough from the shadows.

Virion: "Close the door, please. The wind... it chills me."

You do as asked, and as the latch clicks shut, his voice comes again, weaker, but warmer this time: "Come closer, child. Don’t be afraid. I wish to see you…."

The curtains stir slightly, but not enough for you to glimpse inside. The darkness within seems to swallow even the candlelight.