The Giant Guardian falls to the ground with a crash. You are victorious. Before you stands the Millennium Tower… and the end of your journey. Within its crumbling walls, The Herald awaits.

The Tower’s enormous wooden doors creak open as you approach. You take a deep breath, steeling yourself for whatever waits beyond, and then step cautiously into the Tower itself.

When you see the Tower’s interior, you gasp in awe. Some great battle has clearly taken place here. Fragments of enormous columns – the Tower’s supports, you guess – are scattered haphazardly across the central room, and yet the Tower stands. You feel a wave of disorientation wash over you as you realise you’re unable to tell whether the damage happened millennia in the past, or just moments before you entered.

Warily, you move up the spiral staircase in the centre of the room, testing each step to see if it will still support your weight. They hold. The interior wall of the Tower is decorated with a vast variety of paintings, murals, and carvings, all impossible to place. In one, a godlike being strikes down a gigantic, shining beast, the like of which you’ve never even heard of, let alone encountered. In another, a tiny figure stands before five enormous thrones, inhabited by – yes, you realise, those must be the gods.

You continue to climb, up to the second floor of the tower, where the staircase ends in an opulently decorated antechamber. You look up, and for a moment, you think you’ve climbed high enough to stand among the stars – but you look again and see that the ceiling is speckled with a thousand tiny holes to let light through. It glitters across the faces of gold-clad warriors, standing frozen on the gilded walls. You feel a flicker of memory stir in the back of your mind and feel, suddenly, as though the statuesque figures are not statues at all, but dear old friends. You catch yourself in the midst of reaching out to touch one, to make sure she isn’t real. Their faces seem eerily familiar.

You swallow your unease and turn towards the door leading to the central chamber. This must be where The Herald is lurking. You check your weapons one last time, and venture inside.

The central chamber is larger than you ever could have imagined. You can’t help but look up as you enter, but the ceiling seems to stretch miles into the sky. A vertiginous wave courses through you as you realise you’ve seen this place before and felt just the same. You look around, seeing the chamber with new eyes. This is where it all began. This is where your life changed forever.

Before you stand four thrones – the thrones of the gods. Empty. Where are they? You search, heart in your chest, and spot a fifth, still greater throne, looming behind the others. On that throne sits a tall, dark figure, wreathed in shadow. All you can see of their face is a pair of bright, piercing eyes. The Herald.

Frozen in awe, you can do nothing but watch as The Herald stands and floats down towards you.

“Well, well, well. The hero returns at last.” They intone, dryly.

You summon your courage and shout up at them.

“I’m here to fight! To make you pay for what you’ve done!”

The Herald chuckles.

“Is that what you think?” they ask.

“No. You’re here for one reason, and one reason only. Because I summoned you. You went to my Sanctuary. You read my directions. And at every turn, you followed the path I chose for you – to your doom.”

Dread fills your heart as you realise you can’t summon the ability to speak. You try to back away, but your feet are frozen to the floor.

“Do you even know the extent of my power?” The Herald continues. “I see into the past. I control the future.”

You know then that The Herald is behind everything. The Dark Mist, Ahrenia’s fate, even the gods… it had all been decided from the start. Is there really no way out?

The Herald begins charging a bolt of shadowy magic, turning it backwards and forwards in their hands.

“Did you really think I’d give you the opportunity to defeat me?”

You open your mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. The bolt of magic in The Herald’s hands has grown into a huge, crackling ball of dark energy. Sparks fly as they draw back and prepare to strike. You look them dead in the eye, standing your ground – not that you have much of a choice.

In the distant reaches of your mind, past the adrenaline roaring in your ears, you feel the amulet around your neck grow warmer, burning from within.

At that moment, a deafening roar shakes the Tower walls. Malcs! The Herald looks up, their concentration broken – and you feel your limbs unfreeze. You seize the opportunity and jump back, right as a column of flame courses through the centre of the tower, straight towards The Herald. They howl in agony, releasing the ball of dark energy from their hands. It careens upwards, into the shadows, and hits Malcs with a crackling shriek.

Malcs hurtles to the floor with a crash that makes the whole Tower tremble. You just about keep your balance – as does The Herald, who has turned their attention back to you.

“What’s the matter?” You taunt, “Scared of a fair fight?”

The Herald cracks their long, spindly fingers, like a spider preparing to strike.

“Enough games!” they hiss. “Your little rebellion ends here!”

Raising their hands, they rip a chunk of stone from the wall of the tower and send it hurtling towards you. You dodge towards them, sword in hand.

“For Melvor!” you cry, as the battle begins…