The Chains of Capitulation — George Straatman

‘I will forewarn you, when the last of these shadows has been swept away to reveal the brutal reality of your existence, all that awaits you is the embrace of bitter despair. Do you have the courage to confront your true identity without the protective mantle of delusion or bias, Daughter?' Myrhia to Islena Doraux. After surviving the harrowing trek through the Land of Shades and locating the legendary king, Islena's burgeoning hope is crushed by the truth of her own insurmountable inner darkness. Above the cloth of the world, the eternal triangle of conflict spins…a recurring cycle of misery and incessant struggle of which she is the pivotal element…tearing asunder the illusions that have characterized her life. As she embarks on the next leg of her epic journey, the final layer of Islena's sequestered identity is stripped away by an epiphany that will reveal the irreducible core of blackness that resides in the fabric of her nature. In the moment of terrible insight…Islena Doraux comes to divine that it is she who poses the greatest threat to everything she strives to protect. To avert this calamity, she is left with no recourse but to willingly accept the chains of capitulation that her avowed enemy has held out to her.