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Alice Chen is dying.
In truth, she’d been dying for for a while now, over and over again. Reliving her death in an attempt to escape it. Each time she tried to find the right answer, the winning move, the loophole that would allow her to avoid her death for good and return the world of the living. If she could just think hard enough, she could find a way to survive. She isn’t a ‘Crafter, isn’t a Scion or a Squire. Alice has no magic to save her. She has only herself.
After falling to Erebus’ blade another time, her surroundings reset but something has changed. The hounds’ far-off cries are getting closer. Their ominous laughter is getting feverish. Whatever was holding them at bay has released them and Alice knows they are coming for her.
Surveying the scene before her, Alice sizes up her enemies and plans her strategy. Each piece and its place on the board play in her mind as she plans one move after the next. She looks to her friends, to Bree, William, Sel, and finally Mariah. The baying hounds spur her into action. Letting her gaze linger on the Medium, she takes a deep breath, and whispers to herself, “One more time”.
The supersonic device goes off in her hand and every Merlin in the area falls to the ground, incapacitated. With the pawns eliminated, the shadowed form of Erebus is the only enemy left standing. She’s fought him countless times, and fallen to his blade, his magic, and even his bare hands. He's an enemy she can’t fight. They have to run, to get behind the safety of Volition’s barrier. She attempts to heave Selwyn’s prone form up and drag him to safety, but she’s not strong enough. Just when Alice thinks she’ll be killed by Erebus once more, a quick dash from Bree intercepts Erebus’ attack, sending him into the barrier and to the ground.
Momentary relief floods Alice and she turns to reach for her friend. But she has lived this before and she knows what will happen if she follows the same path. The body is Bree’s, but in her eyes is only the fire of Arthur. Is Arthur an enemy? All around Alice are the bodies of fallen Merlins. They pose no threat to her now. They weren’t the ones who killed her. She died at the hand of her friend. Barking howls interrupt her thoughts. The hounds are almost upon her now. Their howling is all she can hear and she knows this is her last chance.
If only Alice could wake Bree up. If Bree was in control, Alice knows she would be safe. It was Arthur’s reflexes, not Bree, that killed her. If she could just connect with Bree, maybe she would know it’s her. Maybe is this is how it was going to happen all along. She reaches out again to Bree, knowing her time is up. The hounds have caught her.
The scene freezes around her, seconds before her death, and Alice is out of moves. Coming up the hill are the hounds, and among them, a dark figure, cloaked in shadow, with a jagged black crown on his head. The King has come to declare checkmate.
“Got you”, the dark figure says with a fanged smile, and lifts his red eyes to meet Alice’s gaze. Gasping, she looks down at the Merlin boy at her feet, then back up to the smirking demon before her. It is Selwyn Kane that wears the crown.
The hounds bark and circle at his feet, recognizing him as their master. He holds his hand out to her, “Come, Alice. It’s time to leave.”