Lord Shadowseed Introduction:

(Scene opens on a purple sky with the sun about to set. The camera follows the tiny, orange orb as it sinks beneath the horizon before panning downward. Below it is a smoldering crater that used to be a village. Wooden houses, once proud and tall, have been reduced to nothing but burnt-out skeletons and debris. Formerly green grass is black and dead. Poisoned stumps remain behind where a lovely grove of trees used to be. The smell of smoke and burned wood permeates the air. In the middle of the misery, three women crawl out from under the wooden planks of a fallen house. Two of them are very poorly dressed, wearing clothes so tattered and threadbare that they might as well be naked. The third woman is only slightly better off, covering her own tattered outfit with a fluffy jacket. The three of them look at each other.)

    Woman 1 (hoarse): Are we s-safe? Is she finally gone, Serilda?

    (Serilda, the woman wearing the jacket, nods her head.)

    Serilda: Yes, Lucia. She's gone. We're okay. We're safe. Are you all right, Valdis?

    (The third woman clenches her fist.)

    Valdis: All right? You call this all right? Our home is gone, our bodies are wounded, and our friends are either dead or captured. Damn that Ruthless Renny! May Amraura above strike her dead where she stands! May the spirits of our fallen brethren haunt her sleep forever. May she be dragged screaming into the searing pits of Hell!  May her--

    (Serilda slaps her on the back.)

    Serilda: Quiet Valdis! There will be no curses uttered this day. Not even upon one as wicked as Renny.

    Valdis: No curses? Look around you. That craven wretch has stolen the food from our bellies and the water from our throats. She's taken everything but the clothes off our backs. (Losing steam.) She-she even took my son away. M-M-My only son who had just come of age. (Sniffling.) Oh, Luka. Oh, my precious child.

    (Valdis just sits there on the verge of bursting into sobs. Serilda stands up and pulls Lucia up along with her.)

    Serilda (somber): Valdis. Curses will not revive those Renny has slain. And if she truly is immune to magic as she claims, then they will have no effect anyway. Our efforts will be better spent on the move before scavengers arrive to loot us. (She takes off her coat and covers Valdis with it.) Are you well enough to walk? And you Lucia?

    (Lucia nods grimly and starts sifting through the rubble.)

    Lucia: I can travel. But without supplies, we'll be dead in hours. We'll have to salvage what little we can.

    (Valdis scoffs but starts helping anyway.)

    Valdis: 'What little we can'? Do we even have that much?

    (They gather supplies. Serilda finds a backpack. Valdis finds a few bags of dried food. Lucia walks to a broken down well at the center of the crater and managed to squeeze out a single pitcher's worth of water from the wheezing apparatus. Lucia puts a bottle of oil and some matches into the pack. Serilda adds a few more pieces of food. Once they finish, they come back together.)

    Valdis: Great. Now instead of dying in hours, we'll be dying in days. Great work everyone.

    (Serilda slaps her again.)

    Serilda: That's enough, Valdis. Our morale is low enough as it is without you dragging it down further. If you don't have anything nice to say then you should keep your mouth shut.

    (Valdis pouts but obeys.)

    Lucia (pointing north): The closest village to ours is about three miles in that direction.

    Serilda: True. But Renny's forces came from that direction before they attacked us. For all we know, that village has been wiped out too.

    Lucia: If that's the case, then we should find assured sanctuary if we can make it even further north to the First Sanctum.

    Serilda: Then that's where we'll be going.

    Valdis: The First Sanctum? Are you mad? That's a three-day trip!

    Serilda: Yes it is. But not only is it one of the few locations that have never been conquered, but it also takes in people just like us, who have nothing left.

    Valdis: And how do you know we won't run into Renny on the way?

    Lucia: She and her army marched off to the south. Even if they do change direction, they'll have to recuperate before launching another attack. Taking care of that many troops isn't easy. It means mouths to feed and bodies to clothe.

    Serilda: Then it's best for us to put as much distance between ourselves and her army as possible. (She starts walking away.) Let's be off.

    (Lucia follows after her. Valdis takes one long, lingering look at the village before following after them. A silent montage ensues of them trudging through the wilderness with somber music playing. Camera fades back up to the sky as the sun sets, thrusting the three into darkness. Cut to Serilda and Valdis trying to sleep under a tree while Lucia stands guard. Her head nods forward once, twice, before she screams, jerks awake and throws a stick ahead of her. Zoom in on a pair of red eyes inside a bush that narrow at her before disappearing. Camera pans up to the sky once again as the full moon gives way to the morning sun. The three are now walking through a forest. While Serilda surveys the path ahead of them and Lucia marks a tree that they've passed, Valdis simply walks along quietly between them. She stumbles, and her right foot rips through the mesh of her shoe, exposing her foot. Valdis's face turns red, her teeth grind against each other, and her fist shudders before she rips the ruined shoe off and throws it away followed by the other one. She nearly starts jumping up and down before Lucia places a restraining hand on her shoulder. Camera zooms out to show all three of them walking forward before transitioning to nightfall once again. This time, Serilda and Lucia sleep while Valdis watches over them. Her body sways as she braces herself against a tree. She nods once, twice, then a third time before shaking herself awake. The soles of her feet are raw and red, so she reaches down to massage one of them. The music stops.)

    Valdis(grumbling): Why are we even doing this? For all we know, the Sanctum might not be there by the time we arrive. And even if it does, Renny will still find it eventually, and she'll do the same thing there as she did to us. Are we really extending our lives by this trek or are we just prolonging our deaths? Is there even a reason to keep going?

Unknown: You should just give up.

    Valdis: Right. I should just (jolts upright) g-give up? Who said that?!

    (She whips around. Mere inches away from her head is the pair of glowing red eyes from before. Beneath them is a figure cloaked in shadow barely distinguishable from the darkness around it. Valdis screams and scrambles backward, tripping over a root and falling on her back.)

    Valdis (petrified): Who are you? What do you want? Get away. GET AWAY!

Unknown: Valdis.

(The eyes move closer.)

    Valdis: Stay back. I'm warning you.

    (Her hands glow with magic, and she throws a few fireballs at the figure. Nothing happens. There's no sound of impact, no grunt of pain, no indication of the attack being blocked or countered. The eyes don't even pause.)

Unknown: Valdis.

    (Valdis's back hits a tree. She shudders and futilely holds her hands in front of her.)

    Valdis: No please. H-h-help me. HELP ME!

    (The eyes dash right at her.)

    Serilda: Valdis, wake up!

    (Valdis's eyes snap open. She's laid back against the tree she was originally standing against while Serilda and Lucia stand over her with concerned looks on their faces. The sun is just barely poking over the horizon. Valdis turns her head towards where the figure was; but as expected, nothing is there. She looks at her comrades.)

    Serilda: You were screaming and thrashing around. Were you having a nightmare?

    Lucia: Did you see them too?

    (Valdis calms down and takes a few drawn-out breaths.)

    Valdis: T-T-Those eyes. Those horrible eyes.

    (Valdis loses her composure and begins to sob while Lucia pulls her into a hug. Serilda, however, looks at them in confusion.

    Serilda: Eyes? What eyes? What are you talking about?

    (Valdis opens her mouth to explain but only lets out a loud shudder instead. Lucia tries to take over only to shudder as well. So after a while, Serilda shrugs and goes back to sleep. A few seconds pass before the other two join her. And as the sun rises on the third day, the three continue to slumber even as their bodies sweat in the heat. By the time the three finally rouse themselves, the sun has reached the point of late afternoon. A cluster of dark, gray clouds moves in from where they've come with the sun only slightly ahead.)

    Serilda: Oh no. We overslept.

    Lucia: And that's not the only problem.

    (At this point, the clouds announce their presence with a rolling crack of thunder.)

    Serilda: Hurry! We've got to get away from these trees!

    (The three of them bolt through the forest at full speed, Serilda in the lead, Lucia behind her, and Valdis struggling to keep up. Although the actual downpour hasn't started yet, the wind stirred up by the oncoming storm bites through their clothes and chills their skin. They keep going, clinging to the last few strands of sunlight as the clouds cover more and more of the sky. Low-hanging branches scratch at their arms and faces, and one of them claims Serilda's coat off of Valdis's body. The pitch of the wind rises to a gale, buffeting them about. Then after a few minutes, Lucia starts.)

    Lucia: We're almost there! I can see the end of the forest.

    Valdis (shouting): WHAT?

    Lucia (shouting): I CAN SEE THE END OF THE FOREST!

    (She is correct. Before them lies a hilly clearing still cloaked in the light of the sun. And beyond it, at the top of a second hill, is a great, stone building in the shape of a giant crown. In contrast to the chaos around them, it stands at peace, its steeple reaching up to the sky. As each of them lays their eyes upon it, the women's faces glow with wonder. Even the wind and storm behind them pause in their advance.)

    Serilda: That's it. That's the First Sanctum! We made it. WE MADE IT!

    Lucia: We're saved!

    (Tears come to Valdis's eyes.)

    Valdis (quiet): Thank Amraura. We're still alive. We're going to be okay.

    (Another thunderclap brings them back to the present, but they press forward with new energy. With one last push, they leave the forest behind them, just as a bolt of lightning strikes one of the trees a few hundred yards behind them, setting it on fire. The force of the strike knocks the tree down, spreading the flames to the other trees around it. Fortunately, the wind from the oncoming storm blows the fire in the opposite direction that they're running. Once the three get far enough away, they stop and look back upon the flames.

    Lucia: Oh the poor forest.

    Valdis: At least we won't have to worry about being attacked from behind.

    Serilda: Indeed. (She looks up toward the Sanctum and sighs with relief.) We'll have a warm meal and a good sleep tonight, my friends.

    (The three of them press forward up into the clearing and up the first hill with Valdis in the lead. A new spring accompanies their steps. Wide smiles alight their faces for the first time in weeks.)

    Valdis: So Lucia. How did you know about the First Sanctum to begin with?

    Lucia: One of the other villagers told me about it a few days before Renny's attack. It's a holy sanctuary for those who are downtrodden and destitute.

    Serilda (awed): That such a place could exist at all in this wretched world is almost unthinkable.

    (Lucia nods before continuing.)

    Lucia: It's said that the Sanctum's Master is blessed by Amraura herself. Thousands of armies have tried to lay siege but all have failed. (Holds up her hands.) Now the accuracy of these rumors is questionable, but I've been told that he once battled Ruthless Renny for five straight days, never succumbing to fatigue nor injury. After that, he gained the distinct honor of being the first person to hand the "Empress" a legitimate defeat.

    Valdis(stunned): Is he a man or an angel? What's his name?

    Lucia: His name is Balder. Father Balder.

    Valdis(grinning): Well any enemy of Renny's is an ally of mine. Hopefully, he'll allow us to train under him. If he could defeat someone as powerful as Renny, then maybe he'll be able to help me get strong enough to rescue Luka from her clutches.

    (While they've been talking, the three have nearly reached the top of the first hill. Lucia has taken the lead from Valdis.)

    Lucia: Well Valdis, you'll be able to ask him shortly, because we're almost.... (Stops dead in her tracks.) No. Oh no. No. No. No. No! No! NO!

    (Valdis and Serilda's smiles die on their faces.)

    Serilda: What is it?

    Valdis: What's wrong?

    Lucia (Pointing ahead of them): Look!

    (The three of them have finally reached the crest of the hill. And as Serilda and Valdis climb over the ridge to join her, a horrible sight meets their eyes. Between the hill they're standing on and the hill where the Sanctum rests lies a giant ravine, a ravine that the hill's ridge had blocked from their earlier view. The other side is about fifty yards out of reach. Four stories below them is a river churning with white water. The shore around it on both sides is covered in jagged rocks against a wall of clay and dirt. But worst of all, there's no bridge, ropes, or any other way to get across. Lucia just stands there looking at the abyss in front of them before sinking to her knees. Serilda slumps down and lets her posture droop. As if to emphasize their loss of spirit, the sunlight above them disappears as the clouds finally catch up to them. It begins to rain, drenching the three.)

    Lucia: I don't. I don't understand. There isn't supposed to be a ravine here. The villager I talked to never mentioned one even once. This isn't supposed to be here. This isn't supposed to be here! No. No. No! (She bangs her fists on the ground.) Why?! Why did this happen? We were so close! So close!

    Valdis: What do you mean? We can't stop now. The Sanctum's right there.

    Lucia: Right there and tantalizingly out of reach. How can we possibly get across?

    Valdis: We'll just climb down, swim across the river, and climb up on the other side.

    (Serilda holds up her hands, showing her cracked and chipped nails. The palms themselves are filthy.)

    Serilda (resigned): As much as I hate to admit it, she's right, Valdis. We're exhausted enough as it is. Even if we managed to get to the bottom without falling and impaling ourselves on the rocks below, the river would sweep us away before we made it across. We'd either drown, or the current would bash us against the rocks. By some miracle, if we made it across, we'd have to call on energy we no longer have to climb back up. (She holds the leaf of a nearby plant over her head in a futile attempt to cover herself.) Walking is doable. Climbing isn't.

    Valdis (stammering): B-b-But, how can you say that? We're so close. You were the one who said we had to find sanctuary, and there it is. We can get there. We can make it.

    Lucia (irritated): Why are you so optimistic? You've groaned and complained with every step you've taken before, so why are you pushing us forward now?

    Valdis (determined): You don't understand. I didn't think there was any hope left for us after Renny wiped out our home. You had at least heard whispers about the Sanctum's legend; but for me, it just seemed like a piece of wind and sky. As far as I knew, we were chasing the horizon, just counting the moments until Renny caught up to us and finished us off. But now, I can see it. Now, I have something palpable to strive for. I can't stop now, and I won't. Do you understand?

    (Lucia ignores her and simply stares at the Sanctum while Serilda lies down on the ground. Valdis looks toward them, then the Sanctum, and then back to them before sitting down between them. As the storm rages on, the three huddle together to keep warm. They shiver with the cold as the rain cuts through what little protection their clothes can offer. Hours later, the rain subsides just in time for dusk to fall. While Lucia continues to stare into the distance, Serilda tries to wring out her wet outfit as well as she can without taking it off. Valdis heads back into the burnt forest, somehow managing to find enough dry wood to make a fire pit. Then, after dripping a few drops of oil onto the pit, Valdis ignites it with a fireball. While she stands to watch once again, Serilda and Lucia get as close to the fire as they can without touching it, desperate to get warm. The camera pans upward to the sky as the cloud-covered sun gets replaced by the full moon. Scene changes to a First-Person POV shot of someone running through the darkened forest. She's breathing hard, and each step she takes echoes through the air. She stumbles once, corrects herself, and dashes a few more feet before stumbling again and falling on her knees.)

    Valdis: Ouch!

    (Still looking through her eyes, we see that her knee's been scraped. Grunting, she races along on all fours. Camera shifts to a medium shot of her back as she reaches a clearing.)

    Valdis: They're coming. They're coming! They're COMING!

    The campfire sits on its last legs. Only a few flickers of flame remain among the charred logs. Serilda and Lucia sit right next to it, with their hands almost in the fire. The two of them turn towards their compatriot.

    Lucia: You saw those eyes again? Oh, why does this keep happening? No matter how far we move, they still breathe down our necks. Are you sure it was them, Valdis?

    (Valdis rubs her scraped knee before pulling on the other woman's arm.)

    Valdis: There's no mistaking it. I'd recognize those glowing, red eyes anywhere. Now come on, Lucia. We have to get out of here, NOW!

    (Lucia swats her arm away but stands up nonetheless. She slouches over and takes a few shallow breaths.)

    Lucia (weary): What's the point? There's nowhere else for us to go, so we can't escape. If those eyes are going to keep following us, then why not just get it over with?

     Valdis(shocked): What? D-D-Don't say that, Lucia. We have no idea what they'll do if they catch us. And we still have a chance to escape. (She turns to the other woman.) Back me up here, Serilda.

    (Serilda stands up, clicks her teeth a few times, and shakes her head.)

    Serilda: I'm sorry, Valdis. But Lucia is right. We have our backs to the wall. I mean think about it. Even if we do escape The Eyes, we're too weak and low on supplies to keep traveling. Sooner or later, we'd just keel over anyway, so why keep putting off the inevitable? (She groans.) Why couldn't we have ended up facing Ruthless Renny instead? At least then, she would have killed us quickly.

    (While they've been talking, the fire near them continues to die. Outside of the small area that they're sitting in, everything else is pitch black. The breeze from before dies down into absolute silence. There are no crickets chirping. There are no birds singing. No background noises at all. Cut back to the conversation.)

    Valdis: What's wrong with you two?! They haven't even shown up yet, and you're already giving up? (She grabs Serilda and starts shaking her.) Think about all our friends, our homes, our lives. We have to keep going. We have to survive! We have to--ouch!

    (Serilda shoves her. Valdis hits the ground, grimaces, and crawls backward away from the two, who advance upon her with their bodies jerking erratically.)

    Serilda (droning): Don't you understand yet?

    Lucia (also droning): None of that matters anymore.

    Serilda: There's no point to this now.

    Lucia: No point to anything.

    (Valdis screams and scrambles to her feet, grabbing the fire's last branch as she does so. A single flickering flame is all that remains.)

    Valdis (apprehensive): Stop it, girls! You don't really believe that. There's still time for us to escape. We can still find sanctuary.

    Lucia and Serilda (in unison): We're not going anywhere. And neither are YOU.

    (Extreme close-up of a horizontal split-screen showing both of their faces. More specifically, their eyes. A black, inky-like substance pours into their sclera like food coloring into water. After circling around the outer rim of the eye, the substance works its way towards their pupils, enveloping them as well. When the process is finished, their eyes are completely gone with no trace of where they used to be. All that remains is a black void of absolute nothingness. And beyond them, staring into Valdis's soul, are the pair of glowing Red Eyes.)

    Valdis (stunned, then horrified):  No. No. No. No. No. Girls, please! Don't give up. Don't let them infect you. DON'T LET THEM WIN!

    (The two of them stretch out their arms and walk towards her as one. Their mouths open once again, but someone else speaks through them.)

Unknown: 'Let them win?' You misunderstand, my child. My victory was already sealed as soon as you knew of my presence. (Valdis and Lucia both gesture to themselves.) With limited food and low morale, it was only a matter of time before they succumbed. The spirit can only maintain so much strength in the face of a weakening body.

(Valdis grits her teeth.) 

    Valdis: Who are you? Do you work for Renny?

    (One of the Eyes rises as if flexing a curious eyebrow.)

Unknown: Ruthless Renny? Hardly. As powerful as she is, even the 'Supreme Empress' has refrained from battling me. Consider me her equal yet opposite.

Valdis: Then who are you? And what did you do to my friends?

Unknown: I am Lord Shadowseed: The Sage of the Temple of Darkness. As for your friends, I have done nothing yet everything.

Valdis(Angry): What's that supposed to mean?!

Shadowseed: Those who have lost their will to live, have become too weak to continue surviving, or have given up all hope for the future become Brokenhearted. Once they fall, I make use of them.

Valdis (realizing): So that dream, when you told me that I should give up. You were trying to turn me into a Brokenhearted too!

    Shadowseed: It would have been easier for you. Do you think I wanted you to get all the way to the Sanctum just to realize that everything you did was all for nothing? No. It would have been far easier to surrender before receiving false hope. 

    Valdis: Quiet! You wanted this to happen. I know you did. Well now, you're going to undo what you did, or I'll splatter your heart all over this forest!

    (The two eyes shake back and forth.)

Shadowseed: You misunderstand, it was not I who made them lose hope. I merely took advantage of the circumstances after they occurred.

Valdis: Liar!

Shadowseed: Then see the truth for yourself.

(Serilda stumbles forward and lands facefirst on the ground. Valdis runs to her side and turns her over.)

    Valdis (shaking her): Serilda, wake up! Wake up!

    (Serilda groans.)

    Serilda: Valdis, why did you wake me? I was having a wonderful dream.

    Valdis: It wasn't a dream. You've were possessed. We're still in danger, even now. We have to get away.

    Serilda: Why? Can't you see nothing has changed? We still can't get across the ravine. And Renny will kill us if we try to head back. Just give up, Valdis. There's no point in hoping anymore.

    Valdis: No. No! Don't let him control you, Serilda. Wake up, please!

    (Without warning, Serilda slaps her across the face, her eyes returning to normal as she does so.)

    Valdis: Ow!

    Serilda: I'm not being controlled, Valdis. I've just accepted the truth, while you cling to a dream that will never come true. You're the one who needs to wake up. The sooner you do that, the sooner you'll be at peace. (Her eyes return to the black void.)

    (Valdis rubs her burning cheek. Shadowseed speaks through the girls once again.)

Shadowseed: Now do you understand? I don't need to break their spirits. Life does that to them without my help. I just find a use for them afterward.

Valdis (snarling): What do you WANT?

Shadowseed: I want two things. The first, I'll be taking right now.

(Two purple-black tendrils stretch out from the darkness around and skewer the two Brokenhearted. Valdis tries to intervene but is repulsed by a slash from one of the tendrils. As she watches, a rainbow-colored liquid flows out of their bodies and through the two tendrils. Beneath the Red Eyes, a mouth appears, twisting itself into a menacing grin. Once the process is finished, Serilda and Lucia slump to the ground once again. Their clothes fall to pieces as the tendrils are removed from their bodies, leaving the two of them completely naked. A little bit of color can now be seen within Shadowseed's silhouette.)

    Valdis: What did you do to them?

Shadowseed: I drained what little magic they had right out of their bodies. That's all I need. They can keep their lives. Unlike Renny, I'm not a butcher.

Valdis(sarcastic): Oh no. You just drive people into utter despair instead of driving them six feet under. How kind of you. So what happens to me?

Shadowseed: I will admit, I am impressed with your resolve. You may have griped and complained, but you didn't actually give up. And even now, you remain unbroken. So I will give you a choice. You can either surrender your magic to me, and I'll leave you as I've done to them.

Valdis: Or what?

    (One of the tendrils puts something in Lucia's hands and she steps forward towards Valdis.

Shadowseed: Or you can serve me as one of my disciples. This Dark Crown will prevent you from ever becoming a Brokenhearted. It will give you a new will and purpose. It will amplify your magic a-thousand-fold. And most importantly, you'll never have to worry about Renny again.

Lucia and Serilda (in unison): Shadowseed is Peace. Shadowseed is Life. Shadowseed is our All in All.

    (Valdis alternates between looking at them, and the crown.)

    Valdis: And if I refuse both options?

    (Shadowseed's eyes narrow.)

Shadowseed: You won't. Because you won't abandon your friends. Even if you made it all the way to the Sanctum, your victory would be hollow and alone. Now, what do you choose?

    (Valdis stares longingly at the Sanctum before turning back to Lucia and Serilda. Tears well up in her eyes.)

    Valdis: Serilda, Lucia, forgive me. (She steps forward.) I will become your disciple on a single condition.

Shadowseed: And that is?

(We see Valdis talking, but her dialogue is inaudible. Camera zooms out and then fades to black. Cut to the next morning. Lucia and Serilda wake up and sit up. Both of them realize that they're naked but don't have a very strong reaction to it. Instead, they sit up and look around. Their eyes have their pupils back but the pupils themselves are still black.) 

    Serilda: What happened?

    Lucia(groggy): I remember shadows, and fire, and red eyes, and...Valdis!

    (Her eyes return to normal as she sweeps her gaze over the area.)

    Lucia: Valdis! Valdis, where are you?

    Man: Hey! Hey there! Are you two all right?

    (The two turn around to see a well-dressed man in flowing white robes walking downhill towards them. Blushing bright red, the girls try and cover themselves as best they can. Before continuing the conversation, the man hands them two cloaks which they gratefully accept.)

    Lucia: Thank you, Sir.

    Man: Think nothing of it. All are welcome at my Sanctum.

    Serilda: 'Your Sanctum'?

    Man: Yes, up there. (He points behind him.)

    (Above the girls is the same stone building they saw the previous day. And as they turn back the way they came, they realize they're on the other side of the ravine. The two of them drop to their knees. Serilda's eyes return to normal.)

    Serilda(crying with joy): We're safe. We're free! Amraura must have sent you to save us during the night.

    Lucia (also crying): Thank you so much. Are you Father Balder?

    Balder: I am Father Balder. (confused) But I wasn't the one who saved you. I only just saw you sleeping down here on my way to my morning prayer.

    Serilda(confused): But if you didn't save us, then who did?

    Lucia: And where's Valdis?

    Balder: There will be time to figure that out later. I think the two of you need treatment first.

    Lucia: What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine--(her nose scrunches up) I'm fi...fin...FIAAH-CHOO!

    Balder: Please come inside and eat. We don't want you getting sick.

    Serilda(reluctant): Okay.

    (The three of them follow Balder uphill to the Sanctum. Across the ravine on the other side, Valdis is on the edge of the forest, bowing her head low. The Dark Crown now sits on her head, and her eyes have turned purple. Beneath one of the trees lies Shadowseed's silhouette. Without a word, he begins moving away from the Sanctum and gestures for her to follow him. She obeys.)

    Valdis: I serve you, Lord Shadowseed.