Sai climbed the final set of stairs up to the chamber where he always awoke after he died. It looked the same as ever. The battered cot with its threadbare blue blanket. The ruined dresser. The lone pot. The torch that cast no shadows. It was familiar. It almost felt like home.

  Nichal finished ascending the stairs behind him. "Gah!" the lizard cried, recoiling enough to almost fall back down the stairs.

  Sai drew his trident. "What?" he asked, surveying the dark corners of the room.

  Nichal's eyes were fixed on the bed. "You…" the lizard stuttered. "You're…"

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  Sai lowered his weapon and sighed. "Yeah, this is my cell," he said. "This is where I wake up every time I die."

  Nichal fixed his eyes on the orc's face. Sai gazed back. The lizard's vocabulary had grown significantly during all their psychic training in Somber Tune. It wasn't like him to stumble over his words like this. "You can't…" Nichal said.

  "No," Sai confirmed. "I can't die. Syn won't let me."

  "That's…" Nichal's voice trailed off, and he looked back and forth between Sai and the bed several time. Eventually he gulped, his tail thrashing behind him. "I'm sorry, Master Sai."

  "For what?" Sai asked. "If I can't die, Syn can't beat me. I'm going to get out of this vale. We're going to get out of this vale. Together."

  Nichal nodded slowly, his eyes glancing back to the completely empty bed only one last time. "…Of course, Master Sai," he said.