The tunnels grew darker, the air heavy with damp and rot. A whispering hiss echoed from every direction, as though the stones themselves were breathing.
Then came the illusions.
Mamir staggered as a vision seized him. He saw Seiren, his beloved sister, standing in the square of Harland, her clothes torn, her eyes filled with sorrow. Stones flew at her from an enraged crowd. She fell to the ground, broken and bloodied. Mamir's chest tightened until he could barely breathe.
"Protect them, Mamir… protect our people."
Her voice—her last words—echoed inside his mind.
Ener fell to his knees nearby, his eyes wide. In his vision he was back on the battlefield, his shield shattered, his comrades dying one by one. He heard the sound of his own defeat, the roar of an enemy he could not overcome. Shame burned in his soul.
Runya's cry cut the darkness. She was lost in her own nightmare—trapped in an endless void, her magic useless, Mamir's hand slipping from hers as the shadows dragged her away. "Mamir! Don't leave me!"
From the shadows slithered black serpents, their scales glistening like oil, their eyes glowing crimson. They coiled around the three companions, biting, hissing, suffocating.
And then she appeared.
The Serpent Queen. Medmaran.
From the waist up, she was a woman of haunting beauty, long dark hair flowing like a river of night. From the waist down, her body became a colossal serpent, scales rippling as she moved. Her golden eyes gleamed with cruel intelligence.
— "Your minds are weak," she hissed, her voice a mix of seduction and venom. "Your fears are mine to command."
The snakes lunged at once. Mamir swung his Elven Lightblade, severing three heads in a single arc. But in the chaos, one serpent sank its fangs deep into his shoulder. Burning venom shot through his veins, forcing him to one knee. His vision blurred, the illusions pressing harder, crushing his spirit.
Yet in that crushing darkness, Seiren's words returned—not as an illusion, but as memory.
Protect them, Mamir… protect our people.
Mamir clenched his jaw, forcing himself back to his feet. The light of his blade flared, cutting through the shadows around him. He roared like a lion, his voice shaking the cavern.
— "I am Mamir of Harland! Son of Visernes! You will not have me, nor my friends!"
He cleaved another serpent in two, its body dissolving into black mist. But Ener and Runya remained ensnared by their nightmares, their blades and spells faltering. Dozens more serpents surged forward, and above them all, Medmaran watched with a smile.
The first battle against the Queen of Serpents had begun.
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