"On three, it ends for you," the vampire said, locking her green eyes on me.
They burned like fire, her smile with those long fangs shining with that dark triumph I knew all too well. Too many had seen that smile right before their deaths.
"You'll see you were wrong… and witness how it ends."
She lifted a finger, long and black-nailed.
"One!"
"You've lost your spellbook."
The ground gave way beneath me. I fell, landing hard on the stone floor — but I didn't drop the book. I held it tight in my right hand.
"You lie, witch! I'll show you!" I started opening my magical book.
The floor was littered with human bones. The edges of the room vanished into pitch darkness. From that darkness came hoarse wails, and pale, half-decayed corpses crawled toward me on all fours. Horrifying, rotting figures with inhuman malice on their faces. Blue lights glowed in their empty eye sockets.
They grabbed my arms and legs. Others snatched the spellbook and dragged it into the impenetrable darkness. I howled in helpless fury.
Through the mass of corpses, the vampire appeared.
She held up two fingers.
"Two!"
"You've lost all your magical power."
I found myself in a dark, dense forest. Alone. Spellbook gone.
The vampire stood among the trees, grinning, fangs bared. I raised my hand to cast magic, but some terrible force held it back.
From the trees, monstrous creatures emerged — long gray hair, clothed in tattered white. Black eyes. Black mouths opened wide, sucking my energy. Dark, raging whirlwinds of power vanished into their huge, black maws.
Before long, I was lying on the ground. Powerless. Crushed under the inexorable weight of fate that had fallen on me.
Summoning my last strength, I lifted my face to spit at my tormentor.
But she held up three fingers.
"Three!"
"Your worthless existence ends here, wizard."
I woke in a twilight chamber of a tall tower, lying on a filthy floor stained with dried blood.
Two figures in black clothes and masks stormed in. Behind the mask slits, merciless, evil eyes glowed. They seized me roughly and dragged me up a stone staircase.
We reached the tower roof. Night stretched above. Impassive mountain peaks spread around us. Not exactly the best night to die.
At the center of the roof stood a massive wooden block, drenched in blood.
One of my tormentors pressed my head onto it and lifted a massive iron axe. One swing through the air… one powerful strike — the last thing I remembered.