Page 84 of Shadow and Smite

Her words struck like a slap. Sandra’s soul was withered, unable to move on—Ihad done that? I swallowed. “You’ve been unable to move on because of my oath?”

“Your words anchored me.”

“I will save you,” I whispered, reciting the oath. The words of a desperate child. An oath spoken by an unknown necromancer, one ignorant to the shape their magics could take.

There had been consequences, ones I hadn’t perceived. I had bound her soul in the Underworld. I had clung to the dead long after they should have passed, and my remorse trapped Sandra here.

“In the aftermath, Inarus found me,” she continued. “He thought I would make the best shield.”

“Isn’t a shield supposed to be someone whowantsto protect the shielded?” I asked.

“Zayne, you’re the only one Inarus ever feared.”

“No—”

“He always knew you were a necromancer. He knew, even then. You’re the only one who could confront him here.”

I shivered. My ignorance could have been a favor. All my life, my magic had manifested as simple, common shadow skills. My power ran deep, but I never had a specialization, not until the Shades attacked me. My ignorance had been comfortable.

“When he bound me,” Sandra continued, “Inarus assumed you could never release me. He thought you were too soft-hearted to break his shield. Prove him wrong and let me go.”

She looked at me with such hope.

Maybe Inarus was right; maybe I couldn’t do this. I had carried my memories of her for years, shaping myself from the narrative of this trauma—I protected Eleanor because I could not lose another.

And after all these years, I had found her. All I wanted was to talk to her again. When I saw her, I felt the nurturing safety of my childhood—I wanted that security again. It was a childish urge.

She deserved to pass on. Releasing Sandra was the right thing to do, the mature thing to do, but… “I don’t know how.”

“Then learn. You can start by forgiving yourself.”

“What does forgiveness have to do with anything?”

“Zayne, it’s not your fault that I died.”

Her words rattled years of regret, weight I had carried so long that I didn’t perceive it. I had created my own burden.

“You cannot save everyone,” she continued.

The words struck my purpose, my duty.A shadow may fade, but it always remains.I had an entire isle to save.

Yet the throne had been moved. When we rebuilt, we would create something new. There was no returning to the past, no way to reclaim the lives that had been lost.

I could never save them all.The confession ached. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t undo the Collapse. The past had happened. I had a future to embrace, living without the dead.

Tears streamed down my face. I met Sandra’s gaze, and she held me steady. She remained patient with me. So patient.

Her ability to wait stunned me; she trusted my ability to grow. After all these years, after all my mistakes, she waited. It was the patience of love. If she could forgive me for my oath, the least I could do was attempt to forgive myself.

I said it within.It’s not my fault Sandra died.

“It’s not my fault you died,” I whispered aloud.

For a moment, the belief flickered and was real. For a moment, I found forgiveness.

And it was enough.

The jar shook, and it broke, splintering into pieces, releasing Sandra’s soul. She slid, sinking deeper into the Underworld.

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