text: You are sorely tempted. You are really sorely tempted. However, there are a couple factors at play that are preventing you from doing so. One, you're dubious about trusting a bunch of gnome souls. It isn't like they still aren't your enemy no matter what form they take or the situation at hand. The enemy of your enemy is still YOUR enemy as far as you're concerned. This could be a trick to get the upper hand on their part.
  
  Second and most importantly, this is still a mission for the Emperor. If he wanted you to work with Mistress to send a bunch of gnome souls to oblivion then that's what you're going to do regardless of your personal feelings towards her.
  
  You begin to concentrate and try to mentally shut out the voices. Its extremely difficult, in fact you don't actually succeed in doing so, but you do stay focused enough to keep up Mistress' energy. An unearthly howl invades your head as a jet-black orb appears in the center of the room. You feel like its sucking the life out of you and you instinctively start to back away.
  
  "NO! Don't move! You'll ruin the spell! It won't be much longer, look its already working!" Mistress shouts and points to the jars, which are now growing dimmer again. You then see one of the wisps completely disappear; followed by another and another, until they all begin fading away. As the souls vanish, the voices begin to get quieter and more desperate sounding as they beg you to stop. Eventually you hear nothing at all and the orb in the room disappears as well.
  
  "There, that should do it for a while, until the next batch." Mistress remarks as she wipes her forehead and fixes her hair. "Whew, that was a little more strenuous than I thought it would be, it was very helpful for you to be here. We make a pretty good team... "
  "Stop. Just stop." You say interrupting.
  "Stop what?" Mistress asks as if she doesn't know what you're talking about.
  "You know damn well what. I told you that this attempt to be pleasant isn't going to work and its totally transparent."
  
  Mistress smiles, but it isn't that cruel smirk that you're used to, its one more of admiration.
  
  "I guess I deserve this hostility. However, I'd rather you hate me than be weak, though I suppose in some ways you still have a few flaws common to your race... but I can overlook those because I know that they will disappear in time. I just wish you'd recognize and shed those flaws soon, because you may need to do so. As I have said before, I have always tried to help you and I won't stop just because you can't see that or harbor thoughts of ill intent on me. Like you briefly considering listening to those desperate gnome souls. You don't think I don't know how tempted you were to sabotage the ritual just to get a chance to kill me? I could hear everything they said to you."
  "And I didn't because my main duty was to see this mission done for the Emperor, do you have a point?"
  "My point is you have so much more potential than you realize. You just fended off a psychic assault by hundreds of souls. Hundreds of vengeful souls feeding off your already strong desires to do me harm and you still resisted. Not many can boast such will power even if they've had superior training by the best teachers. Now your former classmate Kane? He struggles right now with just one miserable wendigo spirit within him and it's half taken him over already."
  "What are you talking about?"
  "He's a wendigo now or rather possessed by one. It's a spirit that possesses a living host and usually turns them into a slavering beast that is constantly looking for meat and flesh to quell its everlasting hunger."
  
  Well this is a new twist on whatever angle Mistress is attempting to pull.
  
  "If that's the case, why hasn't he been going around eating everyone then?" you ask.
  "Who's saying he hasn't? Wendigo's may have poor impulse control, but they can be cunning when necessary. I imagine he's only managed to hide it so well because he's been associating with the savages and unsophisticated trash in Rask and turned his bloody deeds into the reputation of a ruthless warrior that could be feared and respected. Here? He's overseeing a death factory with a steady supply of meat. Who's going to miss a few dead gnome bodies or living gnomes for that matter? The wendigo probably hasn't completely taken Kane over because it's gotten lazy and happy with its current arrangement."
  "And of course you're the only one who knows all this."
  "Perhaps Jacob suspects something amiss, but I guarantee I'm the only one who knows that doesn't fear the thing that wears Kane's skin. The beast knows I can destroy it within a blink and it would rather continue to enjoy its current arrangement."
  "Hmm, excuse me if I'm having a difficult time believing you. In any case, it doesn't change my own opinions on you, so I'm not sure what you're trying to gain by telling me all this."
  "Look, believe me, or don't, but I assure you there is no gain in this for me by telling you. I merely used him as an example of how you continue to be superior to your former classmates. (Sigh) Sometimes I wonder if I should've showed you just a little more intimacy during our sessions together. Perhaps then you would've at least known to trust me." Mistress says and tries to touch your hand. Once again you recoil at her advances and step backward.
  
  "Do that again and you'll pull back a stump. And the next time you need to banish gnome souls or whatever else you can do it yourself."
  "Well that's ultimately not really your call now is it? If the Emperor wants you to help me, then you'll have to right? Isn't it a shame that you can't just do what you want, when you want?" Mistress says with one of her more familiar smirks.
  "There it is. I was waiting for one of your sneering comments."
  "Sneering comments? But isn't obeying the Emperor what you WANT to do? Aren't you glad to follow his every command because he is as you say infallible? How is my comment a sneering one? It just points out the facts, that's all. Your problem is you think I'm your enemy when I've done nothing but try to help you despite yourself."
  "Sure, whatever, I'm tired of your fat musings." you say and begin to leave, but Mistress gets in your way.
  
  "I see you've still got my dagger. Still can't completely get me out of your mind even though you have your little shield maiden fluff on the side?"
  "The memories I associate with this dagger are something you should be wary of, lest I share them with you."
  "Oh? Well why don't you use it right now, if you hate me so much? I gave you a chance to kill me once before and you didn't take it... but it wasn't because you were a coward. It wasn't even because you knew you weren't strong enough to do it. It's because deep down YOU know that you love me and I will ALWAYS be the only woman for you. ALWAYS." Mistress says and with a sudden quickness she grabs your head with both hands and kisses you hard on the lips.
  
  And for a split second that twisted part of you enjoys it. Without thinking you nearly begin to put both of your arms around her, then you come back to your senses and push her off of you and draw out the dagger. She backs off.
  
  "Ohh, you know how I like foreplay! Come on, stick it in mommy!" Mistress says with excitement.
  "You... you... you're one fucked up bitch and I'm not playing your game!" You sharply remark and make your way quickly back upstairs.
  "Remember Eternal, always AND forever! The sooner you learn that, the better off you'll be!" Mistress shouts and begins laughing.
  
  As you're storming out of the furnace building everything is a bit of a blur. You know you knock aside a couple of guards pushing big wheeled containers full of bodies, but you don't really notice anything else until you see Kane again outside in the yard bellowing orders. He looks different though, like more bestial. You look again he doesn't even look human anymore. His mouth has become enlarged with several rows of razor teeth and his hands more like claws. The strange thing is nobody else seems to notice this.
  
  You walk over closer to him and now he looks more like he did. You feel like you're having a hard time focusing. What the hell is going on? As you begin rubbing your eyes you don't notice Kane walking over to you.
  
  "Hey you're still here. I trust your business with Mistress went well?" Kane asks you as you open your eyes and there you see it again. That THING instead of Kane. Between what Mistress told you and this, you justifiably feel threatened.
  
  "Get the hell back! I know what you are!" you say and point your dagger at Kane, which was still in your hand.
  
  Kane's ogre guards look unsure of what to do, as do other nearby guards, but Kane raises his hands up.
  
  "Its okay! Its okay! Nothing to see here, get back to work!" Kane says and then gives a nervous smile, but it isn't a nervous smile to you, it seems more like he's barring his fangs. In fact to you he looks like he might even attack.
  
  You don't know what to do exactly. Obviously you're seeing something odd with Kane, why you weren't before is the strange part though. You don't know if you're really in danger here or if Mistress did something to you to make you see this and possibly do something rash.
  > leave
  Kane isn't making any move against you and you aren't going to kill him based on suspicion especially with all the weirdness going on here in general. The best thing you feel you can do is just get the hell out of here.
  
  As you order the gates to be opened you continue to keep an eye on Kane and he does the same to you. You aren't seeing the monstrous traits like you were anymore which makes you believe that Mistress did do something to you. Possibly when she kissed you.
  
  Then as you begin to leave, Kane calls out to you.
  
  "Are you going to tell the Emperor?"
  
  You turn around and face Kane who now isn't even looking you in the eye. In fact you'd say he even looks ashamed. The funny thing is Kane just gave himself away, though maybe he wanted to.
  
  Since you aren't exactly sure what the situation is except what Mistress has told you, you ask Kane a simple question.
  
  "Are you still loyal to the Emperor?"
  "Yes." Kane says looking up, straightening himself a little and making a major effort to look you in the eye.
  "Then he already knows, otherwise I would've been sent here to kill you."
  
  Kane nods and begins to form disjointed sentences. You imagine he's probably going to try to explain his side of things, but quite frankly after the day you've had here, you don't care.
  
  "I don't need to know how it happened. I don't need to know why it happened. I am not your judge. Just continue to serve the Empire and the Emperor with distinction and loyally as you have been. However the moment that thing inside you takes over completely, the moment you stop doing your duty, the moment you are considered a dangerous liability to the Empire...  I will be your executioner. Remember this."
  "I will." Kane says.
  
  Kane steps forward and raises his hand in a salute. You return the salute, which seems to make Kane happy. You get back on your horse and ride away eager to put as much distance between you and Gnome's Home as fast as possible.
  
  When you arrive back at your own war camp, your two main commanders Captain Ackerson and Battlemage Galen are arguing over the battle plans as usual. They're competent men its just too bad that they can't get along if you aren't around to bang their heads together. You learned very quickly why Roldan was quick to shove them on to you.
  
  "Sir, I'm glad you're back, I have tried to reason with this hedge wizard, but the man is being an unreasonable asshole. He doesn't see that sending in our remaining golems on a suicidal run on Fort Tinker will result in a much quicker collapse of its walls and allow the rest of the troops to just pour in and overrun the place. The quicker we take this fort the quicker we can march on the capital." Captain Ackerson says.
  "And do you realize the waste you're suggesting? What if we need those golems for our assault on the capital? You think golems are easy to make? No of course you don't because you're a muscle bound moron who just thinks brute strength and numbers are going to win the day!" Galen remarks.
  
  You're in no mood.
  
  "Will both of you idiots shut the fuck up, I'm sick of your petty arguing! Look, use half of the golems to bring down one of the walls and back them up with a couple cannon units. The golems will probably be destroyed and those cannon crews are probably going to get hammered by whatever new gnome invention the Felkans have, but it should be enough. Or come up with something else, I don't give a shit right now, just get it the fuck done and don't bother me again until you've made more progress!" you yell and leave the war tent to make your way to your own private tent.
  
  As soon as you open your tent, you have another unexpected encounter in your long line of unexpected encounters lately, however this one is much more pleasant.
  
  "Alison? What're you doing here?"
  "I figured I'd surprise you. The eastern front has been pretty quiet ever since we destroyed the majority of the gnoll horde you know. It's not like I can't sneak away every once in a while. I was actually surprised when I got here that you weren't around, so where did you sneak off to?"
  "Orders from the Emperor. Special mission. It was... ugh... it's done and I really don't want to talk about it right now, I'm just glad to see you. You're a welcome sight right now."
  "Aren't I always?" Alison remarks with a smile.
  
  You and Alison speak a bit, but you both know not to waste an opportunity like this and the pair of you get to doing what lovers normally do. It's a good feeling, but its not just the sex (though that's certainly good too) its just the fact that you still can't believe someone can make you feel this way.
  
  You wouldn't admit to this openly, but sometimes when you're with Alison you feel a bond there that might even rival your bond with the Emperor. There have even been times you've briefly worried if there will come a day where you'd have to outright choose between the Emperor or Alison. The concern though isn't that you'd have to do it, your concern is that there is the possibility that if it came down to it, you might choose Alison. You try to dismiss such thoughts however, after all when is a situation like that ever going to occur? Better to focus on the pleasant present rather than the possible grim future.
  
  As the pair of you lies together, Alison starts to drift off in your arms and says something a little strange.
  
  "Thank you."
  "Thank you? For what exactly? The orgasm?"
  "For this night. I just feel so loved right now. And I love you too. You do know that don't you?" Alison asks looking into your eyes.
  "Of course I know that, I love you too."
  "Just laying here with you makes me feel so safe." Alison remarks and cuddles into you even more.
  "I suppose, but I'd hardly think you'd need me to protect you when you're more than capable of doing it yourself. Is there something wrong? You don't normally talk like this."
  "Nothing's wrong. I guess I just felt a little girly there for a moment. Still, it's nice to hear you say it to me and it's nice to know this side of you." Alison says and begins to drift off.
  
  You briefly wonder if you lived a "normal" married life, most of your nights would be like this. Lying in bed holding your significant other. Getting up in the morning to do your mundane peasant job. Would you also have children? That's something you've never even considered, though given your several intimate encounters with Alison you're a little surprised you haven't gotten into possible baby complications. Perhaps you've just been lucky, or maybe she's been taking Stillness potions bought from Empire alchemists. Of course she might just be barren, or maybe you're sterile. abort
  
  Whatever the case she's never brought up the subject and you certainly don't intend to since it isn't a priority and as far as you're concerned, never will be.
  
  With these final thoughts you join Alison in sleep.
  
  Hours pass and you are awakened by the sounds of cannons and warfare in the distance.
  
  "Ugh, I guess they've started... (Yawn) I suppose I better get up and see what's going on before Galen and Ackerson start arguing over how to best execute the survivors. Hey did you need to... " you say and then realize that Alison is no longer laying anywhere next to you. She's not even in the tent. What you do see is a piece of parchment nearby.
  
  You pick it up and you feel something is wrong as soon as you do.
  
  Your first thoughts are perhaps it is some sort of "break up" letter. You have heard of such things occurring with soldiers that have been far away from their wives or husbands sometimes. Perhaps Alison sees the futility in your current arrangement since you have such a significant duty to the Emperor and doesn't want you to have to "choose".
  
  However, after you read the words on it you WISH it were a break up letter.
  
  The words merely say:
  
  Always and forever. Remember this.
  
  Your heart sinks. You just slept with Mistress.
  
  She must've magically disguised herself as Alison. You don't even know how to react. Your normally reserved emotions are all over the place. You feel a little sick, you definitely feel rage, but more at yourself for not being observant and falling for Mistress' tricks once again.
  
  You end up nearly destroying everything in your tent in rage screaming incoherent obscenities not giving a damn about what the soldiers or officers walking by might be wondering what's going on. In fact it's a good thing none of them pop their head to investigate since you're so angry you might've killed them.
  
  After you're spent, you fall to your knees feeling defeated.
  
  "I'm sorry Alison... I'm sorry... " you say over and over again in between catching your breath and looking at your portrait of her.
  
  And worst part of all this, is you still enjoyed your night with Mistress. Even if it really wasn't your fault, you briefly wish you hadn't allowed yourself to grow so attached to Alison so this wasn't even an issue. You should've just been concentrating on your duty to the Emperor and now you're paying the price for not staying focused. You're focused now though.
  
  With the battle of Fort Tinker already in full swing, you make your way into the war torn fort and unleash the rest of your renewed energy there. Your enemies suffer greatly that day.
  
  By the time its all over you feel slightly better even though you know you'll probably still have to deal with Mistress' shit later. Until then though there are important tasks still at hand and the major one being that the Felkan Kingdom needs to be destroyed and you intend to see that through.
  > Continue
  Year 30
  
  The day has come at last, the Felkan capital; Dessel has been broken wide open. Its defenses have been shattered and all that's left now is to scoop out the soft underbelly within.
  
  "How long do you think they'll hold out?" Roldan asks.
  "A few more hours, perhaps even a day. No more I suspect. I have to admit that I thought the remaining Felkan ruling class would've surrendered long before now, let alone fight to the bitter end. I suppose they were still carrying out the will of their gnomish masters even though most of them are dead or soon will be." You remark.
  "I know they had a lot of influence and were responsible for the technological inventions along with running the merchant guilds, but do you really believe the Felkan Kingdom was run by gnomes?"
  "Of course. Its what the Emperor believed and ultimately that's been the purpose of this whole war, to eliminate the gnome threat. Happily with this final nail in the coffin, that's been accomplished."
  "You know some of them probably escaped long before the war started going badly for the Felkans."
  "Perhaps, but I'm sure in time they will be found. The Emperor's domain has already been extended much within the past few years alone, I'm sure eventually it will cover the entire world and in the long run all those that oppose the Emperor will be brought to justice. Either by me, or by someone else loyal to his service."
  "Well, until such time I'm just wondering where I'll be assigned after all this. Personally I'm hoping to get a little free time so I can see my wife Brenda again. It's been so long and I miss her. I'm sure you feel something similar about Alison."
  
  You pause for a moment before speaking.
  
  "I will go where my duty takes me after this assignment. Alison understands that, she is a military woman after all." You remark.
  "Well of course, but I was just stating that it would be nice to take a break from duty for a moment to enjoy the company of someone you care about."
  "We're Eternals Roldan. So is Brenda for that matter. Our existence is duty. You would do well to remember that."
  "I am aware of it! I was just... oh forget it." Says and walks away from you.
  
  You and Roldan have been a little less cordial to each other lately, then again the two of you never have quite "clicked" with each other for some reason. Actually there are probably several reasons on your side as well as his, but you aren't going to waste your time pondering them since you are both able to work together in a professional manner and never engaged in anything other than the low level disagreements. As long as the respect is still there between you two, why bother analyzing it?
  
  Besides this mission is nearly over now anyway. You're fairly certain you'll be reassigned somewhere else. You do wonder if you'll get some down time as Roldan mentioned though.
  
  If you do, you're more than likely going to try to spend some of it with Alison, though you've still been going back and forth on how well that's going to go when you tell her what happened two years ago. You certainly couldn't tell her something like that in a letter and from what letters you've received from her she still doesn't know. Mistress probably wouldn't tell her to stir up chaos because it would be more fun letting you worry about it for all this time. You're just glad you never had to help assist Mistress at Gnome's Home again, though now you're even wondering if that was ever a real order from the Emperor when it did occur.
  
  You haven't spoken to the Emperor directly or even indirectly in quite some time either. That's actually been a little concerning to you as well. Still, you figure you soon will be when this is all over and the Felkans have finally been crushed once and for all.
  
  You watch the capital smoke and burn in the distance. Occasionally a small explosion causes pieces of the already breached wall fly into several directions.
  
  "Well I'm not going to miss out on all the fun, before it's over." You say to yourself and head towards the city.
  
  As it turns out you don't miss much. The city's defenders consist of mostly children and elders at this point. They don't provide too much resistance now that they have no walls to hide behind. The royal guard is still around but quick work is made of them. As for the royals themselves most of them took the coward's way out. You find several of them lying dead at their lavish dinner table with several knocked over empty wine cups.
  
  Upon further searching you find what you guess to be the royal bedroom and who you guess to be the Felkan king and queen lying dead in the bed. They must've taken the same poison since you see the same cups near the bodies. As you study the pair of them and how they are holding hands in death, you notice a crib in the corner of the room. While you're inspecting this, Warrick walks in.
  
  "Oh there you are. We've found that some of these rooms lead to a system of secret passages. We've already started to explore them, but we haven't found anyone yet. I don't even think they lead outside the city, just to other portions of the palace. Looks like we won." Warrick remarks.
  "Looks that way. Sort of a disappointing climax given how the Felkans insisted on dragging this out. Continue your search though; someone still might be hiding in them. You find any gnomes?"
  "No and I don't believe there are any in city either. At least no reports have popped up about any."
  "Guess we got all of them then. The Emperor will be pleased to hear that. Carry on."
  
  For the next few days you observe the destruction of Dessel. Roldan remarks that the city shouldn't be destroyed, but rather appropriated by the Empire as it wouldn't take much to rebuild the damage and would be easier than building a brand new city here. Orders are orders though. While the Emperor might've relaxed his zeal on burning every Felkan city to the ground, he was still pretty clear about the capital. You imagine he sees it as the last symbol of gnomish defiance.
  
  In the middle of this process Jacob unexpectedly visits you.
  
  "Didn't expect to see you here." You remark while sharpening your weapon.
  "Well the Emperor wants to see you, plus I also have to speak with Roldan and Warrick about their next assignments, so I figured I might as well come here in person." Jacob says looking around at the destruction. "So, it's finally done. The Felkan Kingdom is no more. I have to admit, I was worried about this war on more than one occasion."
  "You don't need to tell me, you told me on more than one occasion. You should've had more faith in the Emperor, he knew its destruction was inevitable."
  "Well, thanks in part to your actions no doubt." Jacob says with a brief smile.
  "I am merely the weapon which does the job. If you're looking for Roldan, he's in the large tent on that small hill over to the east. Warrick's probably with him. I need to get going if the Emperor wishes to see me... is Mistress going to be there?"
  "I don't believe so."
  "Good, don't really need the negativity ruining this moment." You remark and begin to leave.
  "Um... there's something else I need to talk to you about before you leave." Jacob says hesitantly.
  "What?"
  "It's about the Emperor, he's uh... well... "
  "He's what?! What is he?! Jacob, just spit it out."
  "He's sick."
  "What? Sick? That's ridiculous! I've never known him to ever show illness."
  "I know it may seem hard to believe, but I'm telling you last time I spoke with him, he didn't look well. He seemed very tired and just really pale."
  "He runs the Empire! Of course there's going to be times he's going to be tired! It has to be taxing keeping track of everything. As for being pale, he doesn't exactly go skipping about in the sunlight you know."
  "I know all that. Look, just when you see him you'll know what I'm talking about. I mean I'm sure the Emperor will live a very long time, but we should prepare... um... just in case... "
  "Just in case what Jacob?" you ask beginning to get angry at the insinuation that the Emperor may die. Jacob sensing he's overstepped a boundary quickly shuts up.
  "Erm... nevermind. Forget I said anything. I'm worrying too much as usual... but still... (sigh) forget it. I'll let you get on your way."
  
  You shake your head and begin to leave again, when Jacob once again stops you.
  
  "Oh one more thing. Before you go see the Emperor, you're supposed to make a visit to Gnome's Home first."
  "Are you fucking kidding me? Aren't all the gnomes there dead by now?"
  "Maybe, I dunno. Something to do with souls I think. I never did know exactly what went on there, and I don't really think I want to know. All I do know is you're supposed to assist."
  "Assist who? Mistress? I already assisted her once there and let's just say what transpired wasn't pleasant. She hasn't needed my assistance for the past two years since that time, why does she need it now all of a sudden? Fuck that, I'm not helping her anytime soon. In fact if I saw her again, I'd probably kill the bitch after what happened last time!"
  
  Jacob begins to step back from you.
  
  "Easy now, I'm just the messenger here. I don't even know if she's there. It's what the Emperor told me to tell you. I mean if you don't want to do it, I suggest you take it up with him personally."
  
  At this point you might just do that. Nobody can question your loyalty or your dedication to the Emperor, but this request... its just asking too much. You thought he spoke with her about leaving you alone and she's already ignored that. How long must you put up with this svelk bitch?
  > head to Gnome's Home
  An order from the Emperor is an order from the Emperor no matter what. If you have to go to Gnome's Home, then you have to go. If you have to assist Mistress then that's what you'll have to do. Doesn't mean you have to like it though.
  
  You get on your horse and make your way to Gnome's Home. On your way you think about how you're going to handle the situation if you have to assist Mistress. Then you realize that the time has come.
  
  You're going to kill the bitch. This has been a long time coming anyway. You aren't sure if you're just going to attack her if you see her or if you'll do something a little more subtle, but one thing is certain, she's going to be dead by the time you leave that gnome murder factory.
  
  When you arrive at Gnome's Home the outside looks about the same the last time you were here and when you're let inside the gates, it smells about the same as well. Probably even a little bit worse.
  
  You step inside and see a lot less living gnomes and lot more dead ones. A few pathetic examples lay half dead outside their dwellings covered in their own filth. Whatever attempts at keeping this place slightly clean have long since stopped. The entire place is disgusting and you feel like you're going to catch something just standing here.
  
  "Hey, I heard you were coming, welcome back!" you hear a voice shout. It's Kane. He's a bit unkept and wild looking, but still friendly. You notice he doesn't have his ogre friends with him any more.
  
  "Hello Kane. You're looking... well."
  "Thanks. I've been feeling well. Been keeping very busy what with all the gnome killing and all. As you can see, we're almost finished. Figured we'd speed up the process by cutting back on the clean up portion, I mean this whole place is going to be shut down after we kill 'em all anyway. I'll be sort of sad to see it go, but nothing lasts forever right?"
  "Right, so my assignment was to assist in something?"
  "Oh yes, sorry. I don't get to talk to many people nowadays. Anyway Mistress is waiting for you down in the soul obliteration chamber. I'm not actually sure if that's what it's called, but given what happens there, seems as good a name as any."
  
  You thank Kane and make your way to where Mistress is located. Along the way you see the usual piles of bodies being tossed into the large furnaces by bored guards. When you get down to the chamber you see that Mistress is already in the process of preparation. You see more jars containing souls than you did last time and that gives you the idea of how to kill her.
  
  "Hey lover, you're here right on time." She remarks.
  "Yeah, let's just get this over with." You say.
  "Well, I'm certainly glad you didn't feel that way during our last encounter."
  "You tricked me during that last encounter!"
  "True, but didn't it feel so good? Besides its not like anyone knows so what's the harm?"
  "You know what? I'm tired of fighting it, maybe you're right." You answer.
  
  Mistress is a bit surprised to hear you say that.
  
  "Er... of course I am! I've always had your best interest in mind. That's what I've always been telling you."
  "And I think I finally realize it after all these years. I mean you were the one who practically taught me everything I know. Who would know better for me than you?" you say and walk over to Mistress.
  
  You grab Mistress around the waist and give her a passionate kiss. All part of the act of course and part of you hates it, but the other part is definitely getting excited.
  
  Afterwards Mistress looks at you with a glee that you've only really seen when she's torturing someone. (Which was usually you).
  
  "Okay, down boy, we've still got business to take care of here. Glad to see you're finally seeing things how they really are though. After this bit of business perhaps we can talk more about the future. Our future."
  "Looking forward to it." You say and slap her on her ass before taking your position on the circle line.
  
  Mistress goes on to tell you that the process will be just like before, but will require even more focus than last time. She says one of the reasons why she wanted your help this time (Other than wanting to see you again) was because she wants to dispose of more gnome souls than usual. She says that while she enjoyed the torture, suffering and extermination of an entire race she absolutely hates the smell and general dirtiness of the place and the sooner she's out of here the better.
  
  Your plan is simple. You're going to sabotage the ritual. You're fairly certain the gnome souls will try to convince you to do it like they did last time anyway.
  
  Mistress begins chanting and soon the spell begins to take effect. You begin to hear the whispers of gnome souls in your head. More than last time and saying the exact same thing.
  
  "Break the circle! Save us! Kill the svelk! Save us from oblivion!" you hear and you begin to do just that and stop focusing your energy towards Mistress. She of course realizes what you're doing, but doesn't say anything, instead she just shuts her eyes as if to concentrate harder.
  
  You decide a blade through her body should really take her off her game plan, since she's either going to have to stop you which will expose her mind to the vengeful souls or not stop you and get stabbed which will have the same effect.
  
  You draw your sword and then suddenly your own mind shield is completely shattered and multiple souls assault your mind. The pain is excruciating and you collapse on the floor and begin convulsing.
  
  "Did you really think I couldn't see through your charade?" Mistress shouts as your mind continues to be destroyed by the gnome souls. You don't know why they're not attacking Mistress, but you see why they're attacking you. You aren't innocent in all this as far as they're concerned. Your involvement in the Felkan campaign has probably resulted in most of the gnomes being rounded up and sent to Gnome's Home in the first place.
  
  For the first time you not only see the horror that has been this place, but you also experience all of it. Your mind can't take it and neither can your body which begins to lose all control of its functions. You're leaking all manner of bodily fluids out every possible place you could be leaking from.
  
  Eventually you're nothing more than an empty shell, but not quite dead. The souls have stopped attacking and Mistress stands over you.
  
  "I really had hoped you were serious, but I just couldn't take that chance. I reinforced my own mental shield and cast a repulsion spell. Of course the souls have now completely escaped annihilation, but what the hell, that's the Emperor's obsession not mine."
  
  You continue to stare upward and slack jaw in a comatose state.
  
  "(Sigh) I suppose the malicious svelk thing to do, would be to continue to keep you alive in this state for a little while longer, but I think you're probably too far gone for me to even get any enjoyment out of that. Besides, even I couldn't do that to you. I'm just a fool for love I guess."
  
  Mistress kneels down and takes her dagger that she gave you a long time ago and holds it to your throat.
  
  "Well at least I got to kiss you one last time." She says and ends what remains of your life.