During the night, Miria and Asher slept side by side. Suddenly, a vision struck Miria: Vareck sitting on the floor in the middle of a dark room, murmuring complex incantations.
She woke with a start. She looked at Asher, who was sleeping peacefully beside her, and smiled. Gently, she stroked his face, then carefully removed the arm he had placed around her waist without waking him. She got out of bed.
Miria knelt in the center of the room. She traced runes in the air. One by one, candles lit themselves and formed a perfect circle around her. She sat in a meditation position, closed her eyes… and dove in.
She found herself in an unknown place, a gray and misty dimension. A familiar, mocking voice rang out.
"Well, well… if it isn't my little Miria."
Miria turned around, already irritated.
"So Vareck… I'm here. What do you want?"
Vareck appeared surprised.
"Wait… you don't think you're in a dream?"
"Vareck, I know you were performing an incantation to connect our dreams so we could meet. It wasn't you who called me. I came of my own free will. So talk."
He displayed a provocative smile.
"Aren't you afraid I might hurt you here? After all… this is my world."
Miria smiled, amused.
"You'd do more harm to yourself than good. So spit it out. What do you have to tell me?"
Vareck lost his smile.
"Very well. I think it's time to end this. Since you don't want to give me the grimoire… well, with or without the grimoire, I'm going to destroy you. And I will rule over the clans… and over the world."
Miria burst out in a light laugh.
"Well… has your madness finally reached its peak?"
"I see Asher has passed on his sense of humor to you," Vareck growled, annoyed.
"Oh really? I'll let him know about your compliments on the subject."
"Do as you wish," he spat. "But I'll be waiting for you near the Eldermyr forest… in the Valley of Ashes. Don't be late."
With those final words, Miria snapped back to herself. She opened her eyes in her room.
A voice immediately surprised her.
"What did he say?"
She turned her head. Asher was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, fully awake.
"He said he wants to end this. And that he'll be waiting for us near the Eldermyr forest… in the Valley of Ashes. And that we shouldn't be late."
Asher absorbed the news, his face dark but determined.
"Tomorrow… we'll inform the others. And we'll prepare for battle."