I couldn’t feel my body.

It was a very strange experience, waking from something that wasn’t sleep, particularly when I always did the latter wide awake and full of adrenaline. This waking felt nothing like that– it was slow, and groggy, and everything started out numb, my eyes so heavy it seemed they were weighted down with bricks. When I was finally able to open them, everything was blurry, and I had to blink several times– a slow and arduous process– before the world solidified.

And then I had to blink a few more times, because what I was seeing didn’t make much sense.

Hector’s body was lying on the stone altar, but it wasn’t just splayed out as though he had been flopped there. Rather, he was curled up on his side, so as to actually fit on the slab too small for his tall and broad form.

The demon, still in his preferred corporeal form, was standing off to the side, leaning against a tree and playing with one of my throwing knives while speaking to an absolute stranger who was in front of the altar, half obstructing my view of Hector’s body.

The stranger was dressed oddly, all browns and blacks with a leather vest over a thin and old fashioned cloth shirt that made use of ties rather than buttons and was mostly undone. He was tall, even taller than Hector, and while perhaps not as naturally broad, he clearly worked in manual labor based on the state of his arms. He was dark skinned, but not in the same tone as the Westerners here; it was much darker, closer in tone to his shirt than my skin. He had a dark brown beard to match his hair, streaked through with a fair amount of gray, though he didn’t otherwise look particularly aged. His sandals were thin and seemed like they would offer little protection.

And he was carrying a massive warhammer, as tall as he was with a head nearly the size of the altar itself.

He wasn’t presently lifting the massive thing– the top was planted on the ground while he leaned on the handle like a walking stick– but it was truly astounding in size. Aside from that, he had a brown and green cloak carefully folded up on the altar next to him, and a bow slung over his back.

Perhaps most shockingly of all, though, he and the demon seemed to be engaged in cordial conversation.

“The Rifts are… unpleasant,” the stranger was noting, and I thought it such a severe understatement that I was almost instantly revealed to be awake, having to bite back some form of scoff or laughter.

The demon looked up at him dubiously through his eyelashes. “That’s your entire comment on the proceedings?”

The stranger shrugged, looking slightly uncomfortable with the question. “I was not aware that I would ever be able to cross them on my own. It was a strange experience.”

“Unpleasant and strange. Having lived in there for a while, I feel I can say with a solid amount of certainty that you’re full of it. They’re awful.”

“I think the travel lends some level of protection. After all, I maintained my body. But, yes, they are… awful.”

“You were going to say ‘unpleasant’ again, weren’t you?” The demon seemed bemused.

“I have experienced worse things than the Rift by a fairly wide margin,” the stranger finally spoke with a bit of dryness to his tone. “Awful seems an overstatement.”

Rastin arched an eyebrow and also smiled. “The travel must have protected you then.”

The man shifted slightly, adjusting his grip on the hammer, apparently uncomfortable with how confident the demon was that if he hadn’t been protected, the Rifts would have been far worse than whatever he currently considered awful.

They were silent for a short moment.

“How’s your cloak?” the demon asked, bemusement in his tone.

The stranger paused and leaned down to pick up said article of clothing, wiping off some stray leaves. “Fine, thank you.”

“You seemed very concerned with its wellbeing.” Rastin seemed to be attempting not to snicker too heavily.

The man just shrugged as he pulled the cloak over his shoulders, however. “You would be too if it only agreed to work if you kept good care of it,” he said in a sentence that I found highly confusing.

However, by this time, I had slowly regained feeling in my limbs, and felt it was time to test out standing, which immediately drew both of their attention to me, particularly as I very nearly fell immediately back to the ground.

“Well, good morning,” the demon greeted me with a sharp smile. “How was your coma?”

“It was… interesting. How long was I out?”

“Couple of days. You really need to drink something. I’m always the only thing keeping you alive, but it’s getting excessive.”

I hummed noncommittally and glanced over at the stranger standing next to Hector’s corpse– I stopped, my eyes fixating on his body instead of moving over him to the stranger. Hector was breathing. He was curled up on his side like he was sleeping because he was sleeping.

Hector was alive.

“He’s alive,” I said, quiet, trying to keep the turmoil of emotions out of my voice. Somehow, after everything, after I’d seen, I hadn’t been sure. I hadn’t fully believed that it would happen, that the monster in the void that called himself a god would truly live up to his end of the bargain.

The stranger took a hurried step backwards, looking down at the altar and then over at me. “Ah, yes. He’s been alive for a few hours, but he’ll probably sleep for a while yet. He needs a lot of rest to recover from, well, being dead and all.”

I turned to look at the stranger with his giant warhammer, looking back at me with a sheepish expression. “Who are you? And why are you here?”

He blinked at me for a moment. “I resurrected your friend. Ari. My name is Ari.”

I took a long moment of just looking at him. I’d only just woken up, and it was already turning out to be quite a day.

“Don’t mind him; you share a name with his dead brother,” Rastin said bluntly.

The stranger blinked at him and then at me. “Naharai. It’s Naharai.”

I shook my head slightly and offered the tall stranger with an even stranger name than me a slight smile. “Apologies. It’s been quite an interesting few days. You resurrected my friend?”

Naharai nodded. “On behalf and request of our mutual acquaintance.”

“The giant dragon god monster in the Rift,” I asked, just to clarify.

Naharai blinked a few times and then nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Great. Alright. Thank you.”

Naharai cleared his throat; we all stood there a bit awkwardly.

“Well, if you’re all done here, I’ll be heading back off,” Rastin announced, pushing off the tree on which he was leaning. He walked over and shook Naharai’s hand and then ruffled my hair, though I attempted to shrug off the oddly familiar gesture.

Rastin smirked at me and then faded away into shadow that soon fled altogether.

The Rift he had opened was still crackling, and I felt a bit of guilt for its presence. The Turyn here would be under threat from its existence.

“I placed a ward over it,” Naharai said.

I turned to look at him, arching an eyebrow. “You what?”

“There’s– protection. I placed protection upon it. It’s not full proof, but it should keep it from causing too many problems for the area.”

“You have my thanks, then. Again.” I looked at Hector’s body. Despite my impromptu, several day long nap, I still felt exhausted and the feat of dragging the sleeping giant back to my skiff seemed now to be an ordeal.

“I can help you carry him somewhere before I leave, if you’d like,” Naharai offered, meaning he was either a mindreader or I looked as exhausted as I felt.

Probably the latter, especially considering how I was still covered in dried blood. I nodded. “That would be deeply appreciated; my thanks a third time.”

“It’s really no trouble,” he assured me before going over and picking up Hector’s upper half under his shoulders.

I grabbed my friend by his legs, and though he mumbled something under his breath in his sleep, his eyes didn’t flutter for a moment.

We laid him in the back of my skiff, and I ran a hand through my hair, wondering how I was going to explain this when we returned to all those who had seen him dead. At least Raesh probably wouldn’t ask too many questions.

“Well,” Naharai said, scratching the back of his head, “I should probably be going.”

I chuckled softly, something about his mannerisms, the nervous, awkward appearance of a gentle giant who worked for an eldritch god and carried with him the power to conquer death itself, striking a cord of amusement within me. “I wish you safe travels.”

He nodded. “To you as well.” With another quick inclination of his head, he walked back into the forest, and I wondered if he truly seemed to feel no dread over stepping back into that horrible void.

I shuddered slightly just at the memory of it before climbing into the pilot seat of the skiff and heading back for the Ildanach Highcity, driving it at a slightly more leisurely pace than I had maintained on my way to the shrine.

I remembered Angelia’s warning, not too long ago, about a trial I had yet to face, about keeping my ambitions and desires focused on this world. Then I laughed aloud into the wind as I drove. Was this what had put us on opposite sides? I had no regrets regardless.

My hand crept up to the mask that covered my face, and I was struck with a strong and sudden urge to simply rip it off and throw it to the ground, to let it shatter into fragments as we drove by. My time as the Hero of Ildanach had come to a close. My time as the Agent of the Imir yl’Hakiir, the Great Dragon, was beginning now.

But not just yet. I had just a few more things to clean up first.

I carried Hector into Berd’s Inn after parking Ialdi’s skiff just outside. I was going to need to pay for it to be cleaned or something, I thought vaguely.

Raesh and Jesne were waiting for me and they froze upon realizing I was carrying Hector still, rising out of their seats in the lobby. I wondered if they had sat there every day waiting for me to come back. I hoped not; I’d given them some things to take care of before I’d left.

“Leon!” Jesne exclaimed before looking down at Hector in my arms.

“Hey. One of you want to give me a hand with him before he wakes up?”

“Wakes….” Jesne’s voice trailed off into silence as Hector stirred and made a faintly grumbling noise in his sleep, undoubtedly due to my manhandling.

“Seriously; I could use a hand.”

Raesh broke out of her stupor sooner than Jes, coming over and helping me work my way up the stairs to dump him in my room. “How?” she asked simply.

“I prayed.”

Both girls simply looked at me.

I shrugged and changed the subject. “How’s the city?”

“The Cathedral has been shut down. Ildanach sent an official inquiry into the workings in Isaria along with several of the Loyalists, a written testimony for Keric, Keric himself, and several priests who seem to be on our side of the matter,” Jesne said, shaking herself. “Ildanach isn’t divorcing itself from the Chantry by any means, but the lords are not happy. Neither is Rufais. He seems to have regained some of his agency.”

I nodded. “Probably for the best in the long run. Dahl?”

“No sightings since he fled,” Raesh said.

“Well. Seems that’s pretty much done then.”

“Done?” Jesne echoed. “He’s still out there somewhere, as a monster. And you don’t believe Isaria is going to–”

“Isaria is a completely different issue, but from what Keric said, Dahl was the one leading all of this. With him gone, it should stop– at least temporarily. Temporarily is all we can really worry about right now. The peace with Aeron finalized?” I moved on.

Raesh nodded. “Yeah. Ildanach is shockingly stable after everything its been through. Obviously still working through some things, and the people are a little disquieted– the soldiers are very disquieted– but Ialdi seemed confident they would be fine.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Great. Well, if nothing’s pressing then, I’m going to take a shower.”

Neither of them argued for even a moment, quickly removing themselves from my room.

I looked over at Hector, sleeping soundly on my bed still. He’d be happy the city was good. It meant nothing to me anymore; so many things had stopped meaning anything to me when I had seen his cold, dead body lying on the hard ground.

I took a deep breath and got cleaned off, leaving my room to go back downstairs with the girls. “Do me a favor,” I said as I approached, feeling considerably better now that I was clean, my hair dripping a bit.

Both of them turned to listen, giving me quizzical expressions.

“Keep an eye on Hector. I don’t know when he’s going to wake up, and I don’t want him to be alone when he does. I’m not sure how much exactly he’ll remember.”

The girls frowned at me. “What are we supposed to tell him when he does wake up?” Raesh asked pointedly.

“That he was seriously injured helping me fight Dahl, but that he’s fine now,” I said simply.

“He died, Leon– we all,” Jesne started.

“He’s not dead. If you want to believe I somehow managed to get him resurrected, believe that. If you want to believe he was only mostly dead, and I managed to find a healer who could do something, believe that. Regardless, he’s not dead. So we can stop talking about it now,” I said firmly. “I have one last thing I need to do.”

“One last thing?” Raesh echoed.

I didn’t answer, leaving the inn instead.

The central courtyard of Ildanach was destroyed from my battle with Dahl. There were workers out everywhere, ripping up cracked stone and lying new pieces, trying to make it look uniform with the original setting. The guards were clearly turning most people away, but they dropped their pikes the second they saw my face, watching with somewhat wide eyes as I walked directly past them and into the work area. I did my best to stay out of everyone’s way, making a path to the Highlord’s Manor.

The Guildmasters were there. Rufais was there. Several other random people of importance were there. I remembered Raesh telling me that the wedding was in a week or so– which had been nearly a week ago.

“Captain,” Faolain greeted me as I entered. “How can we help you?”

“I wanted to thank you.”

There was a moment, as clearly no one had been expecting that.

“Mostly for being self-serving but, as that description fits all of you, I would like to thank specifically the two of you,” I gestured to Faolain and Whelan, “for being smart in your self serving ways. It would have been unfortunate if the city had fallen, and it would have been difficult for me to save it while being exiled, so you have my thanks.”

They didn’t seem entirely sure what to do with that, eventually inclining their heads.

I turned to Ennis. “I wanted to thank you. You’re a good man, and I appreciate your friendship.”

Ennis blinked at me. “As I do yours. Leon, are you–”

I turned to Rufais, “I still hate you.”

“What are you doing in my house?” the Highlord rebounded, though he did sound more sane than the man who had attempted to condemn me to die by having me fight a small army on my own.

“I would like to try to convince your new bride not to marry you,” I said very bluntly.

Rufais scowled at me. “She made her own choices.”

“I believe you.”

Rufais paused and then leaned back in his chair. “Fine. I want you to leave my city.”

“I was already planning on it.”

“Don’t come back as long as I live.”

“Deal.”

The nobles were watching the back and forth exchange with various amusing expressions, but, honestly, it had gone entirely too fast for any of those who valued my presence to object. It wouldn’t have mattered, anyway. I was leaving, and I didn’t intend on coming back.

Rufais shrugged. “She’s in the back. Trying on her dress.”

I inclined my head to the gathered officials and then headed to the back of the Manor, knocking on the door to the room I knew had once belonged to Rufais’ wife when she had yet lived.

“Who is it?” Ava’s voice came through the door, gentle and kind.

“A friend.”

There was a long pause and then the door opened.

Ava was wearing a wedding dress of green and red, the colors of House Ildanach, the colors of trees and forests, of autumn and the coming winter. It had little cuff sleeves, a v-neck, and layers over the tight upper bodice before dropping to fall in a long and full skirt with a train. Her hair wasn’t done, as it wasn’t the day of the event, and it fell loosely and somewhat messily in twisted curls over her shoulder and down the front of her gown. She was absolutely stunning. “Leave us,” she ordered the several maids who were accompanying her.

They fretted, clearly not particularly pleased with leaving their lady alone with a strange man, but after Ava gave them another stern glance, they scurried off, closing the door behind them, leaving us alone.

“Why are you here, Leon?” Ava asked me softly. “I had thought you made your position quite clear.”

I arched an eyebrow. “I was hurt. Did you expect me not to be?”

She sighed. “I don’t know what I expected. I thought maybe you’d simply forget about me long before we ever saw one another again.”

“That never would have happened.”

We stood in silence for a moment, and then she met my eyes, searching my gaze. “Why are you here, Leon?” she repeated, quiet.

“To offer you an alternative.”

Ava looked down and away, sighing. “Leon–”

“He’s not powerless. You won’t be able to manipulate him like you could when he was unwell; he’s getting better.”

“It’s not about the power.”

“Then what is it about, Ava? You cannot possibly love him. If I’m wrong, I will leave right now.”

She looked me in the eyes again, and this time I could see the calculation there. She was thinking about lying to me just to get me to leave. Then she sighed. “Of course I don’t love him. But I…. Leon, I grew up with nothing. Moving from place to place, raised by a performer. She loved what she did, but she had nothing. I never knew my father. And when she sent me away, I lost her, the only thing I had ever had. The outer towns have nothing. And I read books and dreamed of being a princess. You don’t get anywhere just by dreaming.”

“And you tell me it’s not about power?”

“It’s about legacy. It’s about heritage. It’s about leaving something of worth for my children. If I marry him, my son will be the Highlord of Ildanach. My son! What future could they have otherwise? What future could we have had with you?”

“I’m not asking you come away with me for me. I understand that I can’t give you what you want. But you don’t need to be bound to him. He’s not a good person, Ava. He’s not a good father. I knew his last son. You would be better with a simple life and a man who would love your children than him.”

“I had nothing! I don’t want that for them!”

“You had a family. That’s not nothing.”

She looked at me for a long moment and then turned away. “You offered me an alternative. I’m declining.”

“You’re going to regret this someday,” I told her quietly.

“Is that a curse or your wish?”

“Not my wish. I hope you find everything you’re looking for. I just know that what you’re looking for won’t satisfy.”

She turned back to meet my gaze again. “Maybe it just wouldn’t satisfy you.”

I looked down and shrugged before meeting her eyes for the last time. “Have a good life, Ms. Norel.”

“Farewell, Elyon.”

I inclined my head briefly and then left her room, taking a deep breath as I entered the hallway. I’d thought her wiser than that, once. Of course, I never could have given her what she wanted regardless. I shook my head slightly and then returned back into the main room.

“She refused?” Rufais said smugly.

“If you are not better to your children than you were to Callian, for as long as you have the chance to see them, I’ll come back just long enough to make you regret it,” I told him simply, no anger in my tone, only a promise. “I’ll be out of your city by the end of the week,” I added while he was sitting in somewhat stunned silence. I headed for the door, having already said my goodbyes, though I lingered for just a moment by Ennis.

“Watch after them,” I said softly.

“Them?” Ennis echoed.

“The innocents. The people who get caught in the crossfire of all this. You’re the only one who even tries to sit among them. Watch after them.”

Ennis nodded. “Watch after yourself.”

I grinned. “Don’t I always?”

With that, I departed the Highcity. I made a quick stop at Doria Hrade’s seamstress shop, apologized that she had lost Ava. She seemed more offended on my behalf than her own, and I spent just a few minutes saying my goodbyes. She hugged me and wished me well. I silently prayed a quick blessing on her and thanked her.

Then I stopped at my old place of employment– the Peacekeeper base that I hadn’t visited in weeks. I knocked on the door to Ialdi’s office in the back; she looked at me in surprise and waved me inside.

“Leon. I didn’t expect to see you back. I’m so sorry about Hector.”

I decided it would easier not to attempt to explain and just nodded. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to tender our resignations.” I laid both my badge and Hector’s down on the desk, having retrieved his from his belt. He never seemed to not be wearing it.

Ialdi swallowed somewhat hard and nodded. “I thought as much. Leon… I want you to know that I’m sorr–”

I cut her off by walking around to her side of the desk and hugging her.

She clearly hadn’t been expecting that, but after a moment of stiffness, she returned the gesture.

“Thank you. When it counted, you were there. Everything else is forgotten.”

Ialdi hugged me a little harder.

If she looked a bit teary eyed when we pulled back, neither of us commented on it.

“Be safe, Leon. Look after yourself.”

“You as well,” I said softly. “It was an honor working with you.”

“It was my pleasure,” she responded.

I left the badges on the table, feeling the weight of her gaze on me until I left the building altogether.

Next, I returned to the inn, but I didn’t head straight to my room. “Have you heard that we’re going to be leaving?” I asked Berd, who was, as he often was, reading behind the counter of the bar.

“Thought it was a rumor going around. Planning to ignore it and hope it went away.” He sighed, standing. “Nothing I can do to convince you to stay?”

“Afraid not. Besides, you’ll probably get more business once everyone realizes you stopped hosting me.”

“Bah, people out here aren’t religious.”

“Oh, I know most of them didn’t mind I was a Turyn. A Peacekeeper, on the other hand,” I noted wryly.

Berd laughed and then looked at me for a moment. “You take care of yourself, hm?”

“Everyone keeps telling me that; do I give off the impression of taking risks or something?” I asked innocently.

Berd scoffed and shook his head. “I expect to see you again.”

“Rufais doesn’t want me back until he’s dead.”

“Bah. You come by and see me; not like the Highlord’s ever out here.”

I smiled and nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Berd nodded once, and I was struck not for the first time by how little he questioned me. I had walked in here covered in blood, injured, carrying a corpse, in a hundred other questionable ways, and I had left on missions days or hours later, apparently healed, or with a friend who had returned from the dead, and he never questioned any of it. I wasn’t entirely sure what it said about him in general, but it meant he had been a good friend to me.

I smiled at him and then headed upstairs, opening the door to my room.

I blinked in surprise to find Hector sitting upright in the bed, apparently arguing with Raesh over something as the other girl appeared to be going through a bunch of his things– things that hadn’t been here at all when I had left.

“Did I miss something?”

“Leon!” Hector said, going to stand and nearly falling over as he reached his feet.

I quickly moved over to support him. “What are you doing? You need to take it easy.”

“Yeah, apparently Dahl really did a number on me, hm?”

I looked at him for a moment, something about the way he asked the question making me wonder if he somehow knew everything.

But then he continued, “I don’t really remember anything after I attacked him– some pain and then darkness.”

“Yeah, he did serious damage.”

Hector pulled off his shirt, making me blink, Raesh rolled her eyes– though I could have sworn I also saw her looking– and Jesne pointedly look away. “Here?” he pointed at five small scars on his chest, right in the center of his sternum.

It took me a moment to realize that must have been where the points of Dahl’s claws had pierced through his skin on the other side, and I attempted to surreptitiously look at his back– surprisingly, there was nothing there. “From his claws,” I said, honestly.

Hector made a face. “Claws.” Then he got back on track, after using the single word to apparently express his full distaste for the fact that the Inquisitor had undergone such a transformation. “How come they’re healed already?”

“You know how Angel is really weird and does amazing work?”

Hector blinked. “Yes?”

“I found someone weirder who does even more amazing work. You should still take it easy.”

Hector frowned at me momentarily. “I’m not getting anything more on the topic, am I?”

“No.”

He looked at me a bit longer, and then he just trusted me. He always trusted me. I couldn’t let him down. “Well, what’s the plan?” he asked.

“I’m heading off as soon as possible.”

“Finally,” Raesh said, with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. “I’ve been packed for a week.”

“Did you ever unpack?” Jesne demanded.

Raesh shrugged. “Besides the point. You’re ready to go too.”

Jesne didn’t deny it. “Morrigan, right?”

I looked between them both and then at Hector.

“I asked them to grab my things so I’d be ready to go too. Obviously, if we start now, I’ll have to take plenty of rests, but we can still make decent progress if– why are you smiling like that?”

“It’s weird,” Raesh seconded, though she was smirking.

“Surely you didn’t think we weren’t coming with you?” Jesne teased. “You made such a good pitch.”

I was in fact smiling a bit weirdly– some might even say sappily, though none of those present were stupid enough to do so. “I was confident the entire time,” I said, using the exception in my bargain for sarcasm to allow me to blatantly lie. “You’re all ready?”

Another chorus of affirmatives met me.

So we left, saying goodbye to Ildanach at the front gates, walking away from it’s tall walls and lush trees, walking away from all the sorrow it had brought, and the happiness too, leaving it all behind as we set off together, heading towards something new.

High above as we walked, a raven circled, trailing along behind us.