"Have you tried jumping?" Syn asked.

  Master Sai stepped back from the ledge, and Nichal breathed a sigh of relief. "What?" he asked.

  "Jump," Syn repeated. "Right off the edge. Into the stars."

  "You want me to kill myself?" Master Sai asked.

  "Isn't that what you want?" Syn asked in return. "Freedom? From the Vale? From me? From everything?"

  "That's…" Master Sai fumbled to respond. Nichal felt himself stop breathing again. "Not wrong…"

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  "What then is stopping your flight to the stars?" the canyon asked.

  "Please, Master Sai," Nichal said, putting a hand on the orc's shoulder. "Don't do this. Don't listen. I know it hurts. And it's not fair. But you have to bear it a while longer." He did his best to smile, though Master Sai wasn't looking at him. "We're going to get out of here, Master Sai. For real. Not like this."

  But Master Sai wasn't listening. He was staring down into the abyss. "Well…" he drawled, counting the nearby stars below. "Nothing's stopping me." And he fell.

  "Master Sai!" Nichal screamed as the orc slipped through his fingers. He lunged forward, trying to grab hold of something, anything that would stop his Master Sai from falling into the void. But as slow as time seemed to move, Master Sai fell far too fast, as if the Void itself had reached up to pull him down. By the time Nichal fell to his knees and looked out over the edge of the cliff, he could see only darkness. He did not hear Master Sai hit the bottom, though it was possible the sound was lost amidst his sobs.