A fun session, Matt thought, a climactic battle that his players fought well. He chuckled, though not one without casualties; the ranger, Vex'ahlia, had fallen in battle protecting her brother after taking a blast of dragon's fire to her torso.
They'd gone on to win, though, and they'd vowed to resurrect Vex, but he'd cut the session before they could.
He was a nice man, he conceded as he sat on the couch waiting for Marisha to finish in the shower, but he still gained a certain level of satisfaction from seeing anguish on players' faces as the dice failed them. He supposed it was the storyteller in him, the part of him who loved seeing people so viscerally affected by worlds he himself had crafted.
Suddenly, he sensed something behind him; a presence, like someone was there, watching him. He chuckled for a moment, about to call out to Marisha as he thought it was her, but then he heard a voice and froze, remembering that she'd only got in the shower five minutes ago.
"There you are Matthew Mercer... so you're the one. The one who is responsible for my sister's death."
Matt's eyes widened in terror at the voice that spoke from the shadows, it was a familiar one. A heavy swallow.
"Liam? What're you doing here?"
"Vax'ildan." the voice spat, correcting him with hatred thick in every syllable. "And you know full well why I'm here~"
Matt felt the icy bite of a dagger at his throat and he began to shake. "T-this isn't funny O'Brian, you can stop now."
The blade was pressed harder against his flesh and a dark chuckle sounded right in his ear, making him tremble even more violently.
"Oh, quite the contrary; I find this quite entertaining to see you squirm like this. Now, shall I make this quick? Or do I make you suffer the agony Vex'ahlia felt?" Vax threatened, pressing the blade even harder into Mercer's neck, now breaking the skin and drawing a little blood.
Matt could feel the blood pounding in his head, hear it rushing in his ears. He was terrified, but he forced a chuckle, tried to act calm. "I-if I can help it, neither would be cool. I-I mean I didn't kill her, the dragon did. And the dice gods. It was all in the hands of the fates."
The rogue growled, "Liar. You orchestrated everything to begin with, from our meeting Vox Machina to begin with all the way to her death. You put the dragon there, you made it attack and you made it target me, knowing Vex would try and protect me." He tightened his grip on his dagger of life stealing and grinned. "A life for a life, that's how it works when those I love are involved. You owe Vex an apology. Let's just hope the rest of your life makes up for your merciless slaughter of my friends so you can deliver it to her yourself." With that he dragged the blade across Matt's throat, slicing the flesh and blood vessels and sending deep crimson arterial blood spilling down the human's chest before the man fell limp; eyes wide and empty and his face frozen in an expression of horror and agony.
But by then the rogue had already vanished back to his own realm, he knew Vox Machina would have the resurrection ritual prepared when he returned. And now he'd brought Vex's true killer to justice, even if she didn't return to him, she'd at least be able to find peace.