“I’m sorry,” I whispered for who knows how many times already.

I picked up a rusty sword and stabbed it into the red sand, right over the top of a small mound, where I had buried someone important to me. At least, someone I considered important for as long as I could, for I knew she wouldn’t stay with me forever.

Annalea. She traveled and fought next to me for a couple of years, and during that time, her feelings for me grew to the point where she desired to have more out of me. However, I found it hard to feel the same way after everything that happened to our world. Despite that, I could understand her desire to have something knowing full well that the end was close. I gave myself to her, and she gave herself to me. There was no reason to allow her to die with pain and regret.

She was a great warrior and mage herself as well, one with a lot of pride, and with the desire to leave this world fighting; not as a monster, but as what she was. A fighter. A survivor… A human.

We fought to death right here… And I was the one left standing, as it was expected.

The wind blew and a lot of red sand flew next to me, causing my hair to sway, and my coat to flutter under it. The mound didn’t change as much since I made sure to reinforce it with earth magic, but everything else around would shift, and eventually more sand would accumulate over it, burying it even deeper, until it wouldn’t be found ever again.

After looking at the damaged sword for a moment, I turned to glance behind me.

A wide desert of red sand spread before me, and like the mound I made here, it was full of all kinds of weapons that I took the time to stab into the ground; each one the last thing many soldiers, warriors, and mages held before their death.

This was the Army of the Final Bastion; the fortress that stood behind me with its tall gray walls, imposing towers, and powerful defenses. The most powerful people of the world, highest decorated generals and war heroes, wisest rulers, and most knowledgeable mages and sages gathered in this place—regardless of background, race, belief, even shape or past—all to stop the calamity that corrupted our world; all of them pouring their bodies and souls to save our world.

And all for naught.

The sky ran red, the sand under my feet shifted in red grains, even the sunlight bathing me with its dusk glowed red under the Evil God’s Corrupted Winds. The fields of dead soldiers were corrupted as well, but they all still went out there in hopes of being the ones that could stop it; of being somehow the chosen ones that could put an end to it.

They all returned as red, mindless beasts; all following the will of the God that made them like this. It was regrettable, but they had to be dealt with just the same.

I turned around and walked into the fortress. Things were different here.

Nothing was destroyed, nothing was stolen or dropped to the ground, and even the red sands of our corrupted world hardly appeared inside. The tables still had plates, the books were still neatly organized, and there were even beds that appeared as if they were recently made.

However, there was no life here, as in front of every table, made bed, and good chair was a crystalized body. None of them showed fear in their faces, but they all shared a similar feeling of resignation.

In this Final Bastion, in the final hours, the barriers of our world crumbled. Both the physical ones that held as long as they could the Corrupted Winds, and the societal ones that kept people away from each other.

As I walked, I saw a powerful Empress locked in an eternal kiss, embracing a commoner that loved her, just as she did him. I walked past a large demon, with his enormous frame, long horns, and pointy nails, holding hands with a beautiful elven woman that traveled the world with him to this final resting place. Not too far from them, I stopped to look at an older sister, using her body to cover her younger brother, who still feared what was to come, but had nowhere else to go besides his older sister’s arms. And towering over it all was the one responsible for their crystalized bodies. The White Star Dragon.

This dragon was mountainous, with a head large enough to completely devour the Bastion’s biggest tower in one bite, and wings so large that just being spread could create a shadow for entire cities.

He had his large maw open and pointed down here; at the Final Bastion, and he, too, had turned into a crystalized statue. It was the final mercy that he gave to the last survivors of our world. Everyone here decided to leave as what they were and to not give their bodies to the Wind’s corruption. Their crystalized bodies were their final choice, and their final show of rebellion to the Evil God.

“It won’t go to waste,” I whispered to no one in particular as I gazed at the large dragon, looming over the Final Bastion.

I was the last one in my world left standing. The warm power that my mother handed to me so many years ago kept the Corruption away and ensured that whatever it tried to do, it wouldn’t be able to turn me into another servant of the Evil God. However, as I ran from city to city, haven to haven, and hiding spot to a hopeless fort, I failed to realize that no matter what everyone else did, the only way to stop it was to take down the one that started it all.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I had been too weak. Powerful dragons, spirits, mages, ancient sages, and all sorts of magical beings tried at each step to stop the spread of the Corruption, only being able to hold it back for a while before being consumed by it, while all I did was hide, and follow my sister and mother’s advice to simply run, thinking that someone else was going to be able to stop it… Until the Final Bastion fell and I was forced to wander this dead world alone.

But it hadn’t been for nothing. Everywhere I went, I slayed. I killed. I gathered power and accumulated as much as I could so I could finally go back to where it all began and finish the Evil God who started this. His name…

“Xaaaaarrrrcoooooooos…!” a mindless beast gargled out, swaying from side to side as it entered the Final Bastion from the same entrance I did, probably looking for the one thing that wasn’t corrupted.

I turned to look at it with no emotion. At first, the faces of friends, knights, and soldiers would cause me to hesitate, but now, I knew that they weren’t there anymore, as all they did in their aimless wandering was repeat the Evil God’s name again and again.

Xarcos. The one that did this.

The beast looked like a demon. It was at least thrice my size, with a large black armor, a couple of long horns popping from a thick helmet that covered its face, and a large Greatsword that it dragged behind, leaving a trail in the sand from the direction it came.

“AaaaaaaAAAARGH!” the beast mindlessly shouted and rushed over to me.

The movements turned from a sluggish sway to a sudden burst of booming speed. In the blink of an eye, it was already standing in front of me. It raised the weapon, and just as fast as it moved to get here, it slammed it down in hopes to destroy anything that didn’t belong to that Evil God.

I leaped back and the blade hit the ground. There was no destruction, as this was the Final Bastion, and such a weak slam wouldn’t even make a dent on it. However, this beast's presence here wasn’t allowed. It had to be expunged, and the demon being controlled freed. I can’t know what the man himself wanted before he became this, but few would ever want to suffer this fate.

I reached for the weapon strapped on my back. In one quick swing, the air was cut, and the beast flew in two pieces through the air. With one final push of wind magic, I sent the pieces away and into the red desert outside the Bastion, where they wouldn’t taint the ground. Once it was done, I softly landed and looked at my weapon.

Messorem’s Scythe. The final and greatest weapon that the Ulmarians created after turning their people’s souls and life into pure energy, and then given shape by hands of the most powerful blacksmiths that could be gathered. The blade glinted with a dark-purple hue, while the surface was a smooth and nigh near perfect black metal. It was all attached to a slightly crooked black pole covered in what a glance would look like a black rag, but this was the power of the souls, swaying in the wind.

It was light, with an edge that wouldn’t blunt, while being as tough as the strongest dragon; the one I came here to visit—hopefully for the last time.

There was still some power missing that I needed to acquire. The White Star Dragon’s was one of those. So far, I hadn’t been able to pierce the hard crystal, but this time, I came after gathering everything that could be gathered in our world. There was nothing else left.

I closed my eyes and reached for the power within me; for that White Crystal inside my heart; my mother’s final gift. A warm feeling filled my body, and once I was able to manifest it, I directed it to my hands.

This was it. I opened my eyes and noticed the blinding white light surrounding me. My power was running as strongly as I could push it, causing me to grunt from the effort this required.

“Grr… Ah!” I shouted and pointed the power to the chest of the dragon, right behind the tallest tower of the Final Bastion.

The light hit the crystal, and the dragon’s body started glowing just as strongly, illuminating the surroundings of the castle and the desert all around us like a rising sun. I looked with careful eyes at the surface, but the crystal wouldn’t budge. The dragon refused to give his power to me.

“What—what more do you want!?” I shouted and pushed myself even harder.

The light of the dragon grew even stronger, so much so that despite this being my power, I was starting to be blinded by it myself. But I wouldn’t stop. Not until the dragon’s power was mine.

I pushed myself more and more, falling to one knee as the power being drained was already reaching the bottom. Sweat was pouring from my face, and I could feel my hands shaking. This might not be enough.

But just as I was about to crumble in defeat, I saw the dragon’s chest crack. That was more than enough for me to regain my focus and pour every last bit of remaining power I had into the beam of light. The crack slowly spread more, and then a bit more, and then, in one sudden loud shattering, it cracked the whole dragon’s body.

With one final shout, I pushed what remained, and the beam of light firing from my hands pierced the dragon completely. His body shattered like glass, and the pieces of crystal all started falling like snow. They swayed under the winds of the Corruption, but they didn’t allow themselves to be controlled by them, choosing instead to all turn into a tornado.

It swirled powerfully around the Final Bastion, messing up the few things that had been kept intact, until they changed directions and finally found the path they should follow; the one I desired. They all moved like a river and aimed at my chest, where each piece crumbled down into even smaller pieces and was absorbed into my body.

I withstood the powerful feeling that threatened to knock me out as best as I could. It felt like days passed, but eventually, it ended, and I fell to the ground with a heaving breath.

I had done it. I finally gathered the White Star Dragon’s power… My mother’s first creation in this world.

Once I recovered, I stood back up, and looked to the night sky… The stars and the moon looked red from the Corrupted Wind… But I knew that somewhere beyond them, that Evil God was causing the same pain and suffering that he caused in my world. Soon, I was going to go out there to hunt him down.

However, there was one last place I needed to visit. One last piece of power remaining. I turned my eyes in that direction… Towards my hometown. To The Dragon’s Pond.