The dracolich rises to his full height, scrapping the skeletal spine against the cavern ceiling. Decrepit scales shake loose from the body and crash at our feet. It towers over us, larger— monstrously larger than anything I've ever seen. 

A very primal fear claws at my soul, awestruck by its terrifying visage.

An undead dragon— a dracolich, a creature of nightmares.

Belle summons a gust of wind that whisks us outside of the cave. The spell softens our landing, but our feet make purchase on decaying ground. The soil blackens, grass all around us wither and crumble.

"I wanted to fight a living dragon, not an undead one." Mira sighs.

"H-How are we supposed to kill something that's already dead?" I ask desperately.

"Like this," she digs her hands into the dirt, massive tree roots emerge to wrap around the dracolich, pulling it back into the cave it's trying to crawl out of.

At the same time, Belle conjures a blizzard around us much like the one we escaped from, but it doesn't hurt us nor drain us of magic. She takes to the sky, raising her staff which Luna coils around to the sun.

"Athra'tis, keemi pracht vanis sleuth!" Belle's voice echoes across the mountain range. The elements heed her call. The blizzard she conjured converges at the tip of her staff. She aims it right at the mouth of the cavern. "Vas o'rea!"

The icy sphere fires into the cave, exploding and filling the interior with a frozen sea of spikes. We're blasted with a cold front blowing away the decaying grass until only dirt remains under my feet.

Our victory seemed assured as the ridge falls silent—

Until the barrier of ice begins to crack and splinter. A boney claw punches through, followed by the skeletal head of the dracolich. The jaws open, letting loose a horrifying roar like a thousand nails against a chalkboard, shattering the icy impediment.

Freed from its prison, the dracolich flies into the sky, shrouding the entire ridge in its shadow. It circles above us but doesn't leave the area.

Now, the real battle begins.

"Mira, Belle!" I shout to get their attention over the creature's screeching. "When we were inside, I saw something in its core. Like a heart began to glow before it came to life."

The two of them squint to get a better look, but from down here all we see is its underbelly of tarnished scales.

A firestorm of purple meteors rain down upon us. With Luna's help, Belle raises a barrier of ice to shield us from the attack. Mira further reinforces the wall with her magic.

We're sitting ducks. This battle of attrition won't end in our favor. The longer we remain on the defensive, the more we use up our magic to protect ourselves. And when we're finally exhausted, we'll have nothing to fight it with.

"We need to ground it. I'm going up!" I shout before grabbing onto Rio's leg to fly towards the dracolich. 

Mira calls to me, but her words are drowned out by the explosions. Rio takes us above the dracolich, and I can see clearly a human-sized magic crystal inside its ribcage.

"Igni vas o'rea!" I drop a fireball onto its back, but the spell doesn't so much as breach the skeletal frame, let alone hurt it. We're just a gnat buzzing around a vulture with no means of actually hurting it.

Belle flies up next to me with a storm brewing at her feet. "Dracoliches retain all resistances and magic strength from when they're alive. Nothing short of advanced magic is going to hurt it."

Gargantuan roots rise from below, entangling the creature's body. Mira is trying to bring it down, but it's strength is too much for her magic to take.

"Give me a lift, Belle." As soon as I leap into her arms, I order Rio to attack as well. "Go for the wings, we need this thing as close to the ground as possible."

"Mrau!" Rio slams into the dragon and sinks his teeth into the joint between the shoulder blade and the wing. 

Unable to keep steady in flight, the dracolich plummets, spiraling to the earth. Mira's roots try to keep it down, but it won't stay like that for long.

"With me!" Belle shouts.

The two of us combine our magic together, incanting taboo power words that blister and burn beneath our skin. My living robes keep me unscathe for the most part, but Belle's skin begins to steam.

"Egora mes, aqua vanis slueth o'rea." we whisper together.

Luna opens her mouth, and from it, frigid water pours out and freezes over. A frozen shard as large as the dragon itself forms in front of us. Fire and lightning swirls within the icy confinement. 

Belle reaches out to pat the icicle, sending it crashing down and impaling the dracolich below. We land to see Mira blowing away the dust and debris with a flick of her wrist. The creature lays still, anchored to the earth by our shard of ice.

"I see the core now, but it looks like you just barely missed it." Mira chides as she approaches the dead dragon. She weaves the roots to sink into the skeletal frame. "Don't worry, I'll finish it off for you."

"Oh, please. We were only an inch or two off." Belle says, rolling her eyes.

Mira glances over her shoulder and sneers. "Not working hard enough, are we—"

Belle and I see it too late, and Mira couldn't have seen it coming. The dracolich snaps its jaws onto her. Just as we think the claymore-sized teeth would sink into her body, Mira compelled the roots to entangle the skull, keeping the lower and upper jaw from clamping down.

"Mira, get away from it!" I rush over to help, but a barrage of purple fireballs launch towards me. A barrier of ice erects from the ground to block the spells.

Inside the dracolich's open jaw, something ignites. It unleashes a breath of fire that consumes Mira before she can even react— fire so strong that it licks at the barrier in front of me. When the flames subside, a charred shadow without a shred of fabric on her staggers back and collapses, a smoking mess.

My heart drops. Despair grips at my mind, but worse— the sight of Mira lying motionless like a piece of charcoal fills me with blinding rage. A surge of energy wells up within me. Black tendrils seep out of my body like ones similar to Eudora.

A pair of sharp talons land on my shoulder, returning me to the surface of my sanity. 

"I'm still alive, but barely." Mira's voice comes through from Talos' open beak.

Without needing me to say so, Rio swoops in to fetch Mira's charred body from the dracolich. He drops it down between me and Belle.

"I don't smell as good as I thought when I'm burnt to a crisp." Mira says through Talos.

Belle pinches her nose and grumbles. "You're in an uncharacteristically joking mood for a roasted witch."

I bend down to administer a restoration potion into Mira's mouth. Her body begins to rejuvenate, but it isn't as fast as I'd like. Pouring more won't speed up the process, her body has to mend itself. It must be the lack of magic in the lands that's slowing the healing.

Talos flies onto my hat. "I'm not out of commission quite yet. I can still assist you through Talos, but don't count on my body."

"We're running low on magic. Nothing we throw at it is working. What can we do?" I ask.

The dracolich is still stuck thrashing on the ground with the ice shard impaled through it. It won't be long before it frees itself, and we'll be back to square one.

"It's you," Mira says, flying in front of me. "I can sense the prideful soul stirring within you now that I'm inhabiting my familiar."

My hand instinctively clutches my heart. I haven't given the soul stone of pride much thought since I swallowed it. There hasn't been a desperate need since I fought the adult red dragon. However, I did feel its power swelling when I thought Mira died

I resolved to swallow it that time, so I have to take responsibility for this power.

"How do I use it to defeat the dracolich?" I ask Mira.

"The souls are all necromantic in origins— pride more so than the others. Black magic is our best shot at getting through the dracolich's resistances to destroy it," Belle says, falling into thought.

Mira nods her little raven head in agreement, and I can't help but pet her.

I'm still terrified, but my conviction remains strong. With the soul of pride, I can do this.

"Hold the dracolich down for as long as you can!" I shout, racing past the barrier.

The creature slams its claws into the ground, digging trenches into the earth as it tries to wrench itself free. Limp tree roots spring to life again, coiling around its body. Ice forms on the arms and legs, weighing it down from escaping.

When I reach into my own well of magic, a dark and unnatural presence pulses alongside my heart. A surge of power, frothing violently to the surface, manifests to the surface and blends into my magic signature.

The robe I was just wearing has completely changed, much darker and savage than it appeared before. It flares back, giving the impression of black wings. The neckline and hem, an amorphous haze like vapor oozes with necromantic magic.

This can't just be from the soul stone of pride— something else is granting me this magic. 

Extending my hand towards the dracolich reveals a wispy tether that connects to the core. It isn't the only chain, I see many more that leads off further into Talmora. I loop my finger around the one connecting to the dracolich and tug until it snaps— suddenly, it lurches and crashes forward.

The magic core inside has gone inert. Not a single trace of magic can be detected from within it.

"Ellori… what did you do?" Belle asks, keeping her distance from me.

"I don't know..." 

A gust of wind batters me from behind, nearly knocking my hat off. My new regalia has disappeared, returned to the usual Academy-issued robes.

Belle points behind me where the unnatural storm previously was, is now gone.

***

Our trip back to Vessyra is made in silent reflection and theorizing of what exactly I invoked. It was nothing like the first time I used the prideful soul— No. It was pride, but another power seemed to have manifested.

It felt both divine and demonic.

When we return to the city, the inhabitants welcome us with open arms. They receive us with drinks in their hands, many are already sloshed, others dance in the street. There are some brave enough to have sex in the open, to the excitement of onlookers.

The high priestesses rush out of the castle to see us.

"We felt a strong wind blow this way— were you successful?" Sheila asks, her tail wagging in anticipation.

"We were," I answer, "and the barrier between Vessyra to the rest of Talmora has been dispelled."

Ceris grabs my hand, much to Sheila's envy. "Then as promised, we will assist you. Vessyra blesses us this day. Surely you have time to stay and celebrate this victory before leaving?"

Mira, who came to unconsciousness on the way back and wears only a cloak around her, agrees to a well-deserved celebration. With the unnatural blizzard dispelled, we can take the teleportation circle back to the witch's tower and fly back to Lotherain in less than half a day.

"There is one thing we neglected to tell you when you completed Vessyra's trial." Gale opens a lockbox in her hand, revealing three gold necklaces with the statuette of the Goddess hanging from it.

They each take one to put around us.

Mira inspects the necklace, unimpressed by its design. "I noticed you three priestesses are the only ones who wear this. What is the significance of it?"

Sheila, Gale, and Ceris take a step back, bowing their heads and putting their hands together in prayer.

"Passing Vessyra's trial also makes you eligible to become high priestesses. Nothing in our laws state there can only be three," Ceris answers.