Letting the Darkness around me dissipate a little, I let myself sink down to the ground. While the aftermath of the Nidhögg’s devastation wasn’t as welcoming and homely as the frozen wastes left after the ice storm we had conjured had faded, but the darkness wasn’t too bad. It was quiet and solemn, nothing around to disturb me.

There was no life in a massive radius, nothing I could see, just enough magic to soon turn into an area of Wild Magic. Only, for now, all that magic was still faintly linked to me, giving me a heady rush. From what I could feel, I was relatively certain that the Nidhögg had devoured almost all of the Vitality linked to that dryad, leaving only a tiny percentage of inefficiency that was lingering in the area but even a small percentage of a humongous amount was quite a bit of power. That power, along with the lifeless wastes around me, gave me the confidence to relax a little.

With a minuscule amount of effort, I conjured up my throne, sitting down comfortably and for a few moments, I simply let my gaze wander around the wasteland, taking in the devastation. It was incredible, far beyond what I had thought possible, even if I sacrificed hundreds of people. There was nothing left, no trees, no grass, no life, nothing but grey dust, as far as my eyes could see in the darkness of the night.

Another thought created a stand for the Soul Prison, a dragon’s claw of Ice that reached up from the ground, allowing me to place the Prison there, while I considered the next steps.

Feeling the magic still linked to me, I could estimate that the radius of devastation around us was about two kilometres, the realisation making me both grin with happiness but also feel a little gloomy. Sure, we had laid waste to a wide area of the forest but in the grand scheme of things, even this massive area was nothing but a speck of dust, a smudge on the map.

Stretching out my hand, I let some of the Darkness around us coalesce again, my mind lingering idly for a moment, not willing to take the next step, to deal with the next issue. Messing around with magic might distract me from my grief for a few moments but even as that thought came, the grief flooded back, the magic no longer attractive.

Instead, I reached into my magic bag and pulled out the things I had shoved in earlier, Sigmir’s possessions and what little remained of her. The grey dust she had crumbled into was still there, lifeless like ashes and no matter how I touched it, magically or physically, I just couldn’t feel anything from it. It was just that, dust, the matter retaining no connection to the person once composed of it.

“Some wind, please,” I quietly asked Lenore, gently nudging her to leave her Hallow and she obliged, stepping onto the armrest next to me, softly flapping her wings and conjuring up a swirl of wind.

Reaching out, I placed my hand into the wind, letting freezing air flow from it, turning the wind cold, adding snow and Ice. It was far from the storm we had conjured up earlier but it was a nice touch of home, of the frozen forests of the north where I had met Sigmir.

I knew we wouldn’t be able to create any permanent memorial, not here, not without the elves desecrating it, but giving Sigmir a small send-off felt right.

Rising from my seat, I let the dust sprinkle into the wind, letting our magic carry it up before letting it fall back down, dust and snow mixing together, landing on the devastated soil all around us. This had been where we struck the first blow of our vengeance and this was a suitable place for Sigmir to rest. A memorial of a different kind, the first of many, a scar that wouldn’t easily heal. Maybe that was the best memorial for a warrior like her, a cairn built from the skulls of our enemies.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Next to me, Ylva was howling, her sorrow filling the air with a mournful sound. I wanted to join in but simply lacked the necessary organs to produce a suitable howl. Instead, I closed my eyes and let my magic move with my emotions, trying to impart my sorrow onto the wind and into the world. Lenore joined me, our magic turning the gentle wind to a whistling storm, hail whipping around, as the sky itself wept for my lost love.

The dust had long since been blown away, scattered across a massive area when the winds around us died down, no longer getting whipped into a frenzy by our magic. Wiping away some of my tears, I took in a deep breath and sat back down, looking at the next item from my bag.

It was Sigmir’s weapon, the Lok’nar of her father, originally well-crafted but time, hard usage and repeated maintenance in less-than-ideal circumstances had slowly taken their toll. Looking at it, I could almost see Sigmir’s hands taking it back up, ready to charge into battle once again. It made me wonder what her father would have thought about me, our relationship and the path we had taken. Would he despise me for leading his daughter to her death? Or would he rejoice for Sigmir, for the conviction she had shown in walking her path to the end? But of one thing I was certain, he would be satisfied with the vengeance we would wreak. If those slain in Sigmir’s honour would accompany her to whatever afterlife there might be, my beloved would have a train worthy of a dozen kings and queens.

Putting the Lok’nar aside, it would never be used again, I simply lacked the mass to swing such a weapon, even if I might have the strength, I reached back into the bag, pulling out her armour. There were some tears in it, some cuts and some areas crumbled by blunt impacts, showing just how hard that last battle had been. Looking at my own clothes, I could see similar marks, but mine were almost pristine compared to Sigmir’s. It showed just how well she had protected me.

Shaking my head, I put the armour next to the Lok’Nar, intent on burying them somewhere together, somewhere where the elves would never be able to disturb my beloved’s rest. Maybe in the Nexus we were heading to, or high in the mountains, near the eternal Ice of the glaciers, where the cold winds of the mountains could keep her company?

I would find a good place, one where Sigmir could rest until this world ended and I came for her once again.

Looking into the bag once more, there were a bunch of miscellaneous items remaining and something I had yet to understand. The small, pale-blue gem that had coalesced when Sigmir’s body had vanished. What it was, I had no idea but was eager to find out.

Looking at it normally, all I could see was a dim glow, reminiscent of Sigmir’s skin colour but not quite. It appeared to be cut, countless facets fragmenting the glow out, but where that glow originally came from, I couldn’t see. Giving it a sniff, there was a faint scent about it, one that I immediately recognised as Sigmir’s, the scent of her aura and person, that completely personal scent devoid of any outside traces.

Fresh tears welled up in my eyes and I pulled my legs inwards, curling up on my throne as I held that gem in hand, my eyes closing as the scent enveloped me. Memories of that scent, of times when I could let myself lose in that scent, right after Sigmir and I had taken a bath played in my mind. Her voice echoed in my mind, sweet nothings she had said to me, sounds of pleasure and contentment I had pulled from her throat, all those wonderful memories, they were flowing through my mind, oh so sweet but also so incredibly bitter.

“I’ll always be with you…” My ears twitched when I heard that voice, carried on the gentle wind that was still swirling around the throne I was sitting on. Instantly, I shot up, my eyes darting around, searching for the source of my beloved’s voice, only to see nothing, but devastated wastelands.

Looking at Yvla and Lenore, both of whom had been resting, I was reasonably certain that they hadn’t heard her and yet, I was certain that I had.

Shaking my head, I finally decided to use the Identify-Skill on the gem, getting a simple, blue box devoid of anything but a name. Lover’s Memory.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet, I knew I would keep that gem with me, for as long as I drew breath. Pulling out my dagger, I made a cut into my forehead, pressing the gem into it and using my Blood Magic to encase it there. Now, Sigmir’s memory would be forever in my head, right where I wanted it to be.