Being the Raven Queen's Champion was deadly boring most of the time, bad pun not intended. During his life, he had often been told self-deprecation and chronic depression were two unattractive aspects of his personality. People who said that were probably right, but if he had been depressed when he was alive, they needed to invent a new word to describe how the Champion felt while walking through the Raven Queen's domain. There was only endless darkness. Everything was dark from the building to the sky. The only entertainment was to speak with the crows, but they became boring quickly. The Champion, who was no longer Vax'ildan, but still clung to that identity like a dying man clung to a friend, spent most of his time waiting for his goddess to send him beyond the Divine Gate. He feared the day he would forget the memory of ever having been alive.

He had been dead for twenty years. Twenty years since he left the living world to accomplish his destiny. Twenty years of only seeing rare glimpses of the people he had known and loved. The Champion only left the Raven Queen's domain to do her will, punishing the goddess' enemies or helping her chosen few. He would never be out of a job. There would always be men and monsters wishing to control or enslave death. Someone had to take them out of the game, and that someone was him. The Champion disliked that aspect of his job but felt a brutal satisfaction in it. He remembered the damage the Whispered One had done and the price he had personally paid in the fight against the wannabe god.

Sometimes, not often enough in his opinion, the Raven Queen sent her Champion to help frightened souls on their passing. He preferred that task. It suited both the Champion he was and the mortal he had been. He preferred death to be associated with compassion rather than justice or punishment. And, occasionally, the Raven Queen looked away so that the Champion could see the faces of the newborns in his family, like Pike and Scanlan's kids, Juni and Wax, but especially Vesper, Wolfe, Leona, Gwendolyn, and Vax'ildan the second. They had named him after Vax because Percy and Vex had a wicked sense of humor and hoped to force him to come in person to protest against their choice.

He hadn't. Humor and anger were foreign to him now. But he had smiled at the attempt as he watched the scene from the tree where he perched in his raven form.

Those moments were precious to him. Seeing children's eyes open for the first time allowed him to cling to the remnant of his humanity, like when he sent his consciousness into a raven every day to look at Keyleth's life in Zephrah or on her travels. The Champion loved these stolen moments because he knew that one day the Raven Quen would let him go to help these people who had been dear to Vax'ildan's heart to die. He wished that moment would never come, but everyone had to age and die.

Death comes to everything in due time. The Champion could only hope death would come late for his old friends. For Vax'ildan, it came both too soon and right on time. Now, he had an eternity to question his choice, while he would never regret them. The Champion couldn't, now that he could see the fate of mortals.

Still, there was too much humanity left in him for him to bear easily the long years of waiting between his all-too-rare excursions on Exandria. The Raven Queen's domain was seemingly endless, but aside from her, her ravens, and her angels, the Champion was alone in there. As he was the newcomer and of mortal origin, most angels looked down on him, even after thirty years. And since crows are not usually very talkative companions, the Champion had himself for only company. It suited him just fine.

Usually.

As a champion of the goddess presiding over destiny, he had gained a certain instinct for sensing major changes in the mortal world. Even without that sense, he knew a Celestial Apogee was near, so the Champion was on his guard. His goddess might need him. He was glad his mask helped him hide how much he was dying to be called while he stood guard near the exit to the Divine Gate and from there to Exandria.

Suddenly, there was a rustle of wings next to him. He didn't jump or blink. Surprise was for mortals, and he had no reason to be surprised. If the Champion had felt something twist in the destinies of mortals, the Raven Queen must have felt it too. He did not have her vision, so he could only wait for her to say where he should go and who he had to kill. Patience was the key, even if it was hard to stay still right now. A lump in his stomach was trying to tell him something, a remnant of his mortal instinct that he must ignore. Sometimes, he hated himself when he realized how simple it was to think like that. Time would take the last remnant of his humanity soon enough. He only hoped was there would be enough left of him left the day he went to get Vex'halia's soul. He feared he would be long gone when it would be Keyleth's turn.

"My Queen," he said, still looking at the gate.

After all these years, his voice echoed strangely in his ears, bouncing inside his mask. He would get used to it someday. The strangest thing was the way the goddess's voice echoed in his head and around him. In her domain, the Raven Queen was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The ivory mask she wore was a kindness toward him. She didn't want her presence to crush him, but that kindness wasn't necessary. The Champion had long since become used to her presence. The man he had been remained grateful for this small favor.

"Champion," declared the goddess. "The time has almost come."

"Time for what?" the Champion asked. Remembering who he was talking to, he cleared his throat and corrected himself. "Time for what, my Queen?"

"To intervene more openly in the affairs of Exandria. The gods can't stay away any longer."

The gods. So she wasn't the only one concerned by the mortals' affairs, but she was the one the Champion served. He could sense fear in the Raven Queen, or something close to it. She doubted the intervention would be enough. Odd. If the situation was as dire as he assumed, the Champion would have expected her to bring him in sooner, even though he still didn't know what exactly it was about.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

Instead of answering, the Raven Queen waved her hand. Suddenly, his entire domain lit up as millions of golden threads of fate appeared, each thread representing a life. The Champion could sometimes see them when he walked around Exandria, but here only the Raven Queen could make him see. According to her, he would one day see them on his own, but it would be better if he didn't until after his beloved had passed away, or he would look at them all the time in anguish.

The Champion looked. He was used to seeing the threads by now. The Raven Queen taught him how to recognize from this thread when they could intervene to change a life, a right she denied to others. The Champion immediately noticed the changes in the Fate's Web. Some threads shone as brightly as they used to, but most of them were fading and writhing as if their future was more uncertain than ever. Sometimes their light went from gold to an eerie red. The Champion had never seen this before. It was different, and therefore deeply disturbing.

"Has this ever happened?"

"Once, at the dawn of what mortals call the Calamity. Never have I needed to take so many souls to the other side than on that single day. It was the day Avalir fell, and the earth shattered in shock. There were more deaths afterward, but the fall of Avalir was a trial for gods and mortals alike."

The Raven Queen fell silent. The Champion imagined her closing her eyes behind her mask, like a human relieving an old wound.

"My Champion at the time, Purvan Suul, was powerless to warn the mortals of the danger. The other gods didn't believe me either. We could sense the danger but had no facts to offer them, and that's what they wanted, facts, as if fate were anything other than perpetually malleable. The Calamity would still have happened, but..."

"There would have been more survivors."

The porcelain mask turned to him.

"Once again, you think like a mortal. Death comes to everyone. One day, the last mortal of Exandria will pass away. I'll be prepared for that day like I prepared for the Calamity. One death, a million deaths... it means the same. There were so many deaths, the day the Calamity began. I wish our intervention had prepared mortals and gods for Avalir's fall. Above all, I would have liked these poor souls to depart more easily. Death can be so violent."

Beneath her mask, the Champion blinked. He couldn't think that way and hoped he never would. The man he had been thought that every life was precious and that saving even one life was enough sometimes. Death was natural, but it should be fought like an enemy, like when he had saved Vex's life and paid the price. But that man was nearly gone.

"What's going on there?" he asked rather than lingering on that thought.

"An old threat, coming back unexpectedly."

In his head, he listed all the threats he knew she might refer to. A sudden realization stopped him in his tracks. The Raven Queen's thread of fate was visible, fainter, and thinner than the others. He looked down at his own thread. It was nearly translucent.

"You are the one in danger. Someone is trying to take your place."

"Not exactly. Someone is trying to get rid of the gods, all the gods, Betrayers, and Prime Deities alike."

"Like Aeor, then."

"In a certain way, yes. But the other gods talk about a threat older than my Ascension. They call it Predathos and they fear it. But no two events ever take place in the same way. It is Aeor and Predathos again, and it is not. I may die or disappear soon. Maybe there will be no more gods after today. We should prepare for anything."

"You're not afraid."

"When I seized this power, I never thought I would be immune to death. Everything dies one day, including the gods themselves sometimes. The others do not want to say it aloud, but why should I lie to myself? I know what happened to the one I dethroned. I'm not afraid to die. But this is different. These mortals wouldn't just destroy us. Our demise would cause some of Exandria's magic to disappear forever, and not just divine magic. Even arcane magic could disappear and even primal magic is threatened. If they succeed, they will lose a good part of what they take for granted."

They're putting everything in jeopardy, including their chance to gain the afterlife, so I must oppose them."

"Do you? Are you fighting for mortals or yourself?"

If the Raven Queen had been human, she would have hit him for his insolence, but she wasn't. Instead, she watched the threads of fate for a long time. Her Champion wondered if the gods saw the threat with the same clarity as she did, without access to the precious threads of fate.

"I do not fear the gods' death like my brothers and sisters. From the Dawnfather to the Crawling King, they're all terrified. Presently, they're trying to convince or force their followers to save their lives."

"Not you?"

The Champion felt something like amusement emanating from the goddess. She had focused a lot of her attention on her devotees' prayers and dreams lately, and they both knew it.

"No one wants to die, not even a goddess," she agreed.

"Some people want to die."

"No, they don't. They want their suffering to end, even if it means to die. But take away the pain, and they'll beg for the right to live a little longer. I don't want to die either, and neither do the other gods. But above all, I fear the price to be paid if these people kill us. It would unleash the power we possess on the world. Well-prepared wizards or warlocks could seize a part of it, as I did in my time and as you saw the Whispered One do. And if one could take all the power for himself? Imagine, a single god with the power of life and death, arcane and nature, possessor of all secrets, master of poisons and war, writing the law and dispensing justice, able to inflict eternal darkness, winter or summer..."

"Absolute power above everything and everyone."

"Which could only lead them to madness and destruction. And let's not forget other creatures are lurking for such power. The Primordials would use it to eradicate everything that lives on Exandria besides elemental forces. Not to mention that without our divine will to focus these forces, there would be chaos. Imagine, nature pushing out of control, deadly inventions's ideas invading mortals' dreams, deadly sunlight, and rising tides without rhythm or limitations."

"You mean... The veil?"

"Yes, the veil. The boundary between life and death would crumble. It would strike the dead souls who found peace behind the veil with madness, pushing them to attack the living. Ghosts, specters, banshees, ghosts... They would swarm the world and destroy everything. And that's only one outcome. Probably not even the worst one."

The Champion nodded. He understood the gravity of the situation. Suddenly, he felt old.

"Your last champion was Purvan Suul. You chose him just before the Calamity."

"So did I. I had a feeling he would be of use, like I knew I would need one for today's trials. I don't see the future, but I have an insight into people's destiny that no one else has, mortal or otherwise. It was enough for me to understand I would need a champion, but how could I impose such a fate on a mortal? That is why I searched the threads of destiny for the right soul for the task ahead. I had found a few that seemed to fit, but time was running out and I had to choose. When Vox Machina entered my champion's grave, you caught my eye."

"My... Vex'halia was the one hit by the trap."

"Yes."

"She was supposed to be your champion."

"Fate does not work like that, and you know it. Nothing is written. But even if fate is ever-changing, some people are more likely than others to have a great destiny. Vex'halia would have been a great champion, but what she is today, the family and children she has, were also a possible destiny for her. Her death took one possibility from her. I collected her soul and was going to give her the choice between continuing to the other side of the veil or to fight on a larger battlefield."

"That's when I interrupted you."

Take me instead, you Raven bitch.

"I received another proposal, yes. I contemplated your thread of fate, Champion of mine. I knew you would be just as great as her. Seeing both your souls and destiny, how the death of one would change the life of the other, I made my choice."

The Champion almost asked her what criteria she used, but he already knew the answer. Vex'halia had survived her brother, mourned him for a long time, and still did today, but she had her own life, children to look after, a whole destiny Percy's stupidity almost took from her. Put in her place, Vax'ildan would not have survived his sister long enough to make a difference. Despite all his friends trying to hold him back, he would have let himself be killed in the fight against the Chroma Conclave. Unlike Vex'halia, Vax'ildan couldn't handle such a loss. Better she had survived than him. When fate was at stake, there was no "right" or "wrong" choice, but he was still grateful to the Raven Queen for choosing him instead of her.

"I gave you as much time as I could before taking you to my side, even if I knew we only had a few years. Thirty years was a short time to prepare you. And here we are."

Vax'ildan would have said he was ready, even if he was panicking inwardly. The Champion he became just nodded. He felt no fear, but couldn't say if it was a bad or a good thing.

"I hear you, my Queen. Am I ready?"

They looked at the Champion's thread of fate, translucent, like it was going to disappear.

"Hope is not my domain. Still, I hope so."

"Who should I kill, then?"

"It's too late for that. I did not find these people soon enough. They've hidden themselves from my sight and my followers long enough to put their plan into motion. Killing Ludinus Da'leth now would not stop his minions. They can pursue without him."

"When does it start?"

"At the Solstice. Today."

He didn't understand. It was absurd. The Champion should have been called long before now. Why hadn't she seen fit to use him before now? The Champion nearly accused her of passivity, but he was feeling something. Before today, nothing had pulled him toward Exandria, except his regrets, but something in his thread of fate was pulling him now, and it wasn't his duty, or not only.

"Will my intervention now make a difference?" he asked, trying to fight the need to go.

"I cannot say," the Raven Queen answered honestly. "It might even make things worse. I sense a trap. I'm not the only one. I want you to stay here. Despite the danger, the other gods have made the same decision. All our angels and other divine servants will stay on this side of the Divine Gate. It is not the decision we want to make, but it is the right one. We will not stop them today, but we can keep our strength to fight tomorrow. That, I can see, even if I can't see many things right now. Will you stay, knowing that?"

"Can't you just forbid me to go? You said nothing about mortal agents. You must have some on site."

"I do, and other gods have sent theirs. Fate has brought together a group to stand against this threat, as it brought together yours against the Chroma Conclave and the Whispered One. They call themselves the Hell Bells."

The Raven Queen pointed to six threads whose light blazed through the darkness and one blackened thread. Before them, the seven threads were almost wrapping around each other like a rope. The Champion brushed against these threads, conjuring their owners's faces for a few moments. He saw a Gnome with a beast inside of him, a sentient machine, a Human whose fearful eyes saw too much, a Halfling with resolution in his eyes - one the Champion had seen a few times alongside Keyleth -, a Genasi inhabited by a strange light, a Faun with fire in her eyes and her hands, and finally a Hollow, one of those bodies which continued to move after the soul has deserted them. She looked a bit like her sister. The Champion's finger lingered on the thread. Then he saw the tree, the hanging body, and Delilah Briarwood's dark shadow stretching behind her, and understood who she was.

Poor girl. The Raven Queen did not approve of the Hollows's existence, like all things that stood against the natural rhythm of life and death. But they were accidents, and that Laudna had not asked to be what she was, so the Raven Queen let her be, especially since she might help to annihilate what remained of the Briarwood. After all, Hollow or not, death would take her eventually. No one could escape death, even if some did for centuries.

"Shouldn't I help them?" the Champion asked. "Don't you want me to defend these Hell Bells while they stop Ludinus Da'leth?"

"Don't you feel the risk if I send you to the material plane? You touched their fate. Will they succeed, with or without you?"

The Champion touched the thread a second time and saw.

"They will not win this fight. But I don't believe they will fail either. They should survive and continue the fight."

"They probably will. We'll see. The gods cannot intervene on the material plane like they did before the Calamity, but we've sent the Bell Hells all the help we can. Besides, you and I know how ingenious mortals are. They may surprise us and give us something the gods themselves find hard to control."

"What?"

"Time. Enough time to understand what's happening, react to our enemies' plans, and convince Exandria's people to rise against the threat."

"That's what you want me to do."

"Yes. But you might want to make another choice. And let me tell you, it would be a bad thing"

The Champion could see she didn't want to talk. Beneath his mask, he frowned. When he became her Champion, he had kept his free will. He would not be of much use if he were just a soulless instrument. But until now, the Raven Queen had never said a thing when he went to Exandria in raven form to observe his friends. She had never implied his free will could be an obstacle to her plans.

It could only mean one thing. In his inert chest, his heart jumped in dread.

"Who is it? Who's in danger?"

A gesture from the Raven Queen brought to them another thread of fate. Without touching it, the Champion knew who it was by its aura.

"Keyleth."

The thread was so thin a breath could have broken it. Keyleth was going to die.

"I assume you remember what happened six years ago?"

"I had a feeling and looked for her thread. I felt she was in danger, but... you tried to divert my attention, even if you had no right!"

"Six years ago, I denied you the right to intervene, not out of disregard for her life or what she was to you before, but because I knew you didn't need to. Her destiny wasn't to die that day."

"But today..."

The Raven Queen sighed.

"She could have lived, but choices were made by her and others. Some were good, but at least one wasn't. She'll die."

"Why tell me that? Why torture me like this?"

Vax'ildan felt shook. He had never felt so human in thirty years.

"Nothing forced me to take a mortal champion. I could have chosen a Deva or a Planetar. Some would say that would have been wiser, or safer. But I was mortal, once. I believe no one fights harder than to protect the people they love. I could indeed have chosen a champion three or five hundred years ago to make sure they were trained enough for this day, but if I did, that champion would have no reason to fight."

"Because everyone they would care about would have died and passed the veil long ago. They would have no one to protect."

"Exactly."

There were presently two people standing in front of the Raven Queen, even if they shared the same body. One was a mortal, afraid for the one he loved, his emotions written on his face. The other was a battle-hardened Champion hidden behind a bone-white mask. One hadn't disappeared yet, and the Champion realized he was still that man. The two took time to contemplate the icy mask of the goddess they had sworn to serve. Both wanted to spit in her face.

"If I go down, can I save her?"

The Raven Queen was still holding Keyleth's thread between her fingers. She sighed. He couldn't be sure, but she seemed to be sorry for them.

"I do not know."

"If I don't go, she will die. If I go, she may not. All you know is that there's danger down there."

"You are right. One of my mortals agents says that the Ruby Vanguard was waiting for the Voice of the Tempest. Anticipated it, even. You know what it means."

The Champion nodded. When it sounded like a trap and tasted like a trap, it was a trap. It remained to be seen whether they wanted to avoid the trap or break it from the inside, but they needed to decide now. Keyleth was the bait, and it left a foul taste in his mouth.

"If you do the sound thing and stay rather than go down and fight, will you be able to fight after?"

The Champion had to say yes. That was who he was, who he needed to be in this darkest hour. Thirty years before, he made a choice in desperation, but he freely assumed the price. Over time, he had come to believe in the Raven Queen's cause. When he was alive, he had seen too many horrors. Now he was proud to hold the line between life and death and save mortals from them. It was a noble calling and one that involved sacrifices. If he could be more useful in tomorrow's fight, he should stay and wait.

But if that meant sacrificing Keyleth's life?

For the first time in many years, he thought of the Briarwoods. The vampiric duo had been willing to damn all of Exandria to conquer death together. He didn't want to be like them. Death was a part of life, even for nature-loving druids who wanted to protect as many lives as they could. Even for pretty redheads who smiled at strangers, expecting them to be as good as they were.

All around them, crows fussed.

"We're running out of time. You need to make your choice. Make it right."

The Champion put his fingers on Keyleth's thread. Instantly, a vision replaced the Raven Queen's world of darkness and he saw Keyleth, falling from the sky in her elemental form, with the force and speed of a meteorite.

Beneath the Champion's mask, Vax'ildan smiled. She was as beautiful and fierce as ever, and even more powerful than the last time he saw her fight. The elemental raised, undamaged. In a wave of light, her allies were healed and charged forward, invigorated by the Tempest's presence. The Champion's heart rose for the first time in years, slowly at first, from lack of use, then faster and faster. He wanted to believe the Tempest enemies didn't stand a chance. He knew his wish wouldn't get an answer.

"Right on time", said an all-too-satisfied voice.

A trap, the Champion wanted to scream. He had called it. How couldn't she have seen it? A spell cast, and the elemental froze. A trap. Had he wanted, Vax'ildan couldn't have let go of Keyleth's thread. He held her life in his hand and he had never felt so afraid. Now he understood why the Raven Queen talked to him. She knew he would have felt Keyleth's suffering and tried to give him time to prepare and the strength to let her go. Except it wasn't strength, it was cowardice. The Raven Queen was proud to remember she had been mortal once, but she didn't remember what it was to love if she thought it would be enough for him to let Keyleth go. Death hadn't excised love from Vax'ildan's heart. Did she think reason would?

In Exandria, a gray-haired woman slipped behind Keyleth with her three identical echoes. She looked determined to kill, had done it before, and would do it again without regrets.

"She prayed to me, that one, a long time ago. I sensed her doubts, but not her betrayal. Mortals allegiance's chance. If I stopped them or forced them to believe in me or do what I want, I would be no better than the Betrayer Gods."

The woman raised her blade. Her three echoes did the same. A trap. The four blades slammed into the elemental again, and again, and again, and again, sending stone flying all around them. The elemental fell to the ground. A trap. The woman was still cutting through the rock, aiming for Keyleth's stomach and shoulders. Too wounded, the elemental disappeared, leaving only Keyleth, still unable to react, her eyes wide with fear and pain, her body lacerated with deep bloody gashes. The killer was playing with her, prolonging her agony when she could have let her die quickly. She loved to see her suffer, but there was something else. She was trying to drag things out to give the witnesses the illusion they could still step in to save Keyleth. A trap. The killer and her echoes inflicted new cuts on Keyleth's skin. A pool of blood grew at her feet. With a careless gesture, Da'leth broke the spell that held her. That monster knew he no longer needed to waste his magic on her. Keyleth couldn't get up and remained on the ground. She looked like a disjointed doll. She was losing too much blood, too fast. The killers had taken their time, but the next blow would be the last.

No. Vax'ildan, the Champion, turned to his queen.

"I can't. I can't fight to avenge her when I could have fought to save her. Even knowing it's a trap."

He wanted to beg the Raven Queen to do something, to protect Keyleth, but it would do no good. Only a cleric's prayer could allow the gods to intervene on the other side of the Divine Gate, and Pike was nowhere in sight. Only Vax'ildan could, and he shouldn't. But he needed to do something. Anything was better than letting her die there. He couldn't just help her soul pass the veil and apologize to her for watching her die. She would probably forgive him, but he couldn't, not when one day Vex would die and he would have to tell her what a coward he became.

The Raven Queen sighed. I feared so, she didn't say.

"Then I must forbid you to go, or you may doom us all, including her soul."

Vax didn't listen.

He ran.

He ran and flew through the Divine Gate, Whisper already in his hand. The wind was howling in his ears, but not as loud as Keyleth's wounded whine. He landed on the ground in a whirl of black feathers, his wings outstretched over his lover's body. His knee slipped in her blood. Too much blood, but he couldn't think about that. Whisper met the killer's blade, stopping it inches from Keyleth's heart. Vax could breathe at last. He was just in time. Gods, he hoped he was.

"Don't even dare", he spat in the assassin's direction.

The woman smiled cruelly. She didn't seem surprised to see him there. Worse, there was a a cheerful glint in her eyes. A trap. Well, so be it. Vax would fall into every trap in the world if he could ensure Keyleth's survival. He could never do less and was ready for this to be the last thing he would ever do. He couldn't see fate, but he knew this: if Keyleth lived and he died, she would save the world. If he lost her, he would watch it burn, unable to save what she loved, because he wasn't brave like her.

Vax made the mistake of looking away from his opponent long enough to search her eyes and make sure Keyleth was still alive. He wanted to see if she still knew him, if there was still love in her beautiful eyes. He should have taken off his mask. He wanted her to see him smile, wanted to swear everything would be alright, that she was worth his sacrifice. When she looked at him, his heart broke a little. Her eyes, usually so full of life, sparking with happiness, were only filled with fear.

"Vax."

It was the only thing she could say, having no forces left for anything else.

A trap, her eyes cried. She knew and was more afraid for him than for herself. She shouldn't be. He was already dead.

I know, he wanted to say. But I couldn't let you die alone.

He couldn't waste time telling her that or saying all the little things he longed to whisper to her, all the things he hadn't had time to tell her before he became the Raven Queen's champion, and the things he'd been thinking about since he had to watch her from afar. Only in novels a battlefield was the right place for a lover's reunion. People were dying around them. Lives were in danger, including the gods'. Even if he had stepped into a trap, Vax would fight to get himself and Keyleth out alive. He needed to hurt every person who had hurt Keyleth.

Did they think they could trap him and move forward with whatever nefarious plans they had? Let them try. He was the Raven Queen's champion, chosen by her for this day. They were going to find out what kind of ma he was. Beneath his mask, the Champion smiled coldly. Vax rose to his feet and aimed his two daggers at the assassin's face, planning to gouge out her eyes before cutting her throat.

A Halfling in green armor reached the assassin before he could. Vax recognized Keyleth's bodyguard, Orym. His smile deepened. Keyleth didn't need protectors, but they would still protect her while she got up, ready to reduce her attackers to dust. The Halfling's small sword, barely longer than Vax's daggers, sliced through the device the assassin carried behind her back. It sparked, but the woman parried the second attack that would have broken the device.

"Don't interrupt us," she spat.

Three flaming shots and an enchanted dart aimed at her spot, nearly hitting her. Vax was starting to like those Hell Bells. They weren't the type to run when they saw a dragon flying toward them, like Vox Machina in its time. But it was time he showed them how to deal with such a threat. With both daggers raised, Vax lept up, ready for the kill. The woman took a step back, parrying his blow, still smiling. There it is, he had time to think. The trap. They wanted him to be there; they needed him, not Keyleth. The Raven Queen was right, but what were they trying to do?

"And now the final piece," Ludinus Da'leth said from above them, grinning. "the sliver of divinity. The lens."

With a snap of his fingers, a dozen of energy beams pointed straight at Vax. Before he could react, he felt a pain starting in his chest. It spread to his legs, his arms, his head, his whole being. Vax clenched his hands on his daggers by instinct, but his mouth opened to let out a cry of agony he couldn't contain. Vax, the Champion, was already dead, but never had he felt such pain. The only reason he knew he wasn't dead was because the thread connecting him to the Raven Queen was still there, thinner than a hair, almost broken, but still there.

Move, he thought. Attack.

Then he only saw shadows and could only scream in pain.