3

Jacob's mind raced with questions. "How do you even steal a sun!? No, wait, why do you even have one? And who did you steal it from?" he blurted out, his urgency palpable. What if someone tried to reclaim it? He needed to know whose property he would be in possession of.

"Well, technically, I didn't steal it from someone, but rather plucked it from a realm – specifically, the realm of the Vampires. Well before I took the sun, it belonged to the realm of Ichor, but we can save that story for another time. Just know that you will now be in possession of the catalyst for the creation of the Vampires. Now, onto the next gift," Zyl explained, attempting to move the conversation forward.

Jacob's curiosity got the better of him, and he interrupted, firing off rapid questions. "Why did you steal it? Why is it the catalyst for the creation of vampires? Why was the realm of vampires previously called the realm of Ichor?" His face lit up with excitement at the importance of this object beyond being just a sun. He was ready to ask more questions, but Zyl's expression of annoyance prompted him to control himself promptly.

"Firstly, do not interrupt me. Secondly, I stole it out of curiosity to see what would happen if the realm of Ichor lacked a sun, given its heavy reliance on it. Thirdly, you don't need to know why it is a catalyst. And finally, that information can wait for another time, as it isn't important now… Now, for the next gift," Zyl said, placing the miniature sun in a container on the table. Zyl then extended his palm, and three cards appeared in his hand. He spread them out on the table in front of Jacob.

"These are your three chances to come back from death. The moment you die, one of these cards will light up, and you will face a trial that corresponds to the card. If you pass the trial, you will be resurrected. If you fail, well, you understand the consequence. But there are rewards for completing the trials, which will remain a mystery for you to discover," Zyl explained with a tone that suggested he was looking forward to it.

Jacob, seeing two out of the three gifts Zyl was giving him, shook with excitement at the prospect of his newfound power. "So you are giving me the power of the sun from the realm of the vampires and granting me three chances to come back from the dead… isn't that a bit much?" he asked, genuinely puzzled by Zyl's generosity.

"Yes, I can see how these gifts might seem excessive for a mere kingdom liberation," Zyl responded with a smirk. "But you have a strong fate for something greater than just liberating Lunethora. Compared to what fate has in store for you, yes, it is small."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jacob asked, his anxiety rising as he contemplated his uncertain future.

"That is something you will have to find out for yourself," Zyl replied cryptically, his trickster nature evident in his vague response. "Now, I intended to give you the third gift, but I think I will save it for after you use up your last question. Don't worry; it's not something you will need immediately."

Jacob wanted to express his grievances about Zyl postponing his gift but realized Zyl never said he had to give them to him right away. He had done the same thing by saving his last question for another time, so why wouldn't Zyl do something similar in return?

"Well let's start the process now," before Jacob could react, Zyl put his palm on Jacob's chest right in the center of his heart, three blank cards start glowing as they moved towards Jacob's heart. Jacob started howling in pain; his chest heated up as if he were being stabbed by multiple knives. As the cards disappeared into his chest, his heart beat rapidly in response to the pain caused by these cards. He could feel them moving around his chest cavity, cutting through bone right before they arrived at his heart. Surprisingly, he felt no pain; instead, he felt like his chest was healing, albeit still painful as bones regrew and skin was put back together. There was no evidence of harm left on him except for a tattoo of a snake eating its own tail on his heart.

Jacob is amazed by how his chest was all torn apart before but now besides the tattoo on his heart everything seems normal, he hoped the next gift wouldn't be as painful "Sorry but this will be more painful than your previous experience "motherfu—" Zyl abruptly pushed the miniature sun inside of Jacobs chest, Jacob is on the ground shaking and screaming from the pain as he feels like his whole body is being burned alive starting from the inside, all he can think is when will it stop, someone just put him out of his agony as he starts gasping for air as his lungs are slowly burning the ash blocking his airways, he feels like he will die from lack of oxygen before he can be burned alive, He looked at Zyl hoping for his assistance but all he sees is him sitting on his chair smiling as he looks down at Jacob, he doesn't even flinch at the sight of someone being burned alive in front of him, Jacob's vision starts going blurry as the heat is melting his eyes, the lack of oxygen has gone on for too long. Jacob can't even give any last words before his life is snuffed out. Zyl looks down, smiling at Jacob's dead body. "1…2…3," Zyl slowly counts down as the tattoo on Jacob's heart lights up. A card pops out of Jacob's chest; before, it was blank, but now it is revealed to be a tarot card. The card presents itself as a reversed Sun. One of Jacob's chances at resurrection has been used. What will be revealed during his trial as he tries to escape death's hand?