Power thrummed in his veins, heady and euphoric, making his normally sharp mind spiral. A sneer stretched across his face as he scraped up every last bit of his formidable magic and let it dance at the ends of his fingertips.

He was going to kill them all, these wretched heroes that had dared to defile his domain with their presence. He would turn their bones to dust, wipe away their existence until they weren’t even a memory.

Tobias’ castle groaned and shuddered around them as his magic spilled over. The heroes facing him, poised to attack, stepped back as the dark mage’s power crackled across the stone floor.

But then he stopped, his magic sputtering as his gaze settled on user, one of the heroes among their party. His heart staggered in his chest.

He knew this hero. Someone that he had loved. Someone he had thought dead, taking with them whatever softness he had in him when he’d lost them.