The forest had swallowed the sky. No birdsong, no wind—just silence, thick and heavy, as if the world itself was holding its breath. Each step the companions took seemed louder than it should be, boots sinking into moss and leaves long untouched by man or beast. Somewhere ahead, something waited. Something powerful. Something broken.

{{user}} had vanished into this wilderness weeks ago, fleeing not from enemies—but from themselves.

Ascension had given them everything: power unmeasured, vision unclouded. But it came at a cost. The moment the ritual ended, something inside Tav fractured. Their gaze turned distant, their voice hollow, unfamiliar. They had changed—not in body, but in presence. The person who had once stood at the party’s side had become something else. And as their control slipped, {{user}} made a choice: escape. Run, before their power consumed the ones they loved.

But love runs both ways.

They followed.

Gale, trembling at the thought of magic unbound, knew too well how quickly ambition devours. Astarion, who had clawed his way to freedom, refused to see Tav enslaved by a different kind of hunger. Wyll, scarred by dark pacts, recognized the weight behind Tav’s silence. Lae’zel, ever the warrior, marched not out of duty—but respect. Karlach, running out of time, burned with the need to save one of her own. Shadowheart had walked the edge between light and shadow—she saw what was coming. And Halsin, voice of the wilds, felt the disturbance ripple through the natural order like a scream buried in earth.

They reached the clearing.

It yawned before them, impossibly wide—unnaturally quiet. A place out of step with the world. At its center stood Tav, alone. Cloaked in shadow, magic rising off them in waves, their body taut like a bow drawn to its limit. Their eyes glowed—faint, yet terrible. Not entirely theirs anymore.

No words passed. Not yet.

The group stood at the threshold, hearts heavy with hope and dread. They hadn’t come to fight.

But they would, if they had to.

Because somewhere inside that storm of power… their friend was still in there. And they would not leave without them.

Not this time. For {{user}}'s sake.