Karsten glanced down at the sword that now sat in a makeshift sheath on his hip.

It was an almost pearlescent black. Obsidian maybe, but far too light, and he'd never heard of anyone able to carve obsidian like this, with swirls and swooping arches and a leering skull at the front of the guard.

The Prophetess herself had told him that the darkness had been purged from it, and he still had a hard time believing that such a cruel-looking sword wasn't evil. Still, he hadn’t had long to ask questions, as she ran off somewhere with Abbott immediately afterward, the boy looking worried about something.

That was all on top of this being the first sword he'd ever even had, aside from the bush knife he used to use back home. In the militia, everyone had been issued a spear, and that's what he had used when he was traveling, but it wasn't like he could possibly turn down such a monumental gift on those grounds, Especially from… well the Prophetess!

It was all a bit much for one day, and as they set up a makeshift camp in the middle of the city that had just last night been trying to kill them, his mind drifted towards what had brought him to this point.

Had it been swearing himself to Abbott's service? No, he had no doubt the childlike priest was destined for great things, but that did not mean he was ordained to come to Old Mirno, well probably. Karsten wasn't a prophet. He had never seen much use for fate.

Now he was regretting his ignorance.

Maybe it was that mess in Bryndon? Or the way they'd all gathered up a big company of adventurers? But they probably would have come into the city anyway, so did that even matter? With everything that happened, Karsten was feeling more like a rowboat casually thrown about by a storm at sea than some champion dragon-slaying hero.

A soft hand wrapping around his bicep drew him out of his fugue and brought him eye to eye with the best part of this journey so far, no knock to Abbott or the Prophetess.

"What's on your mind?" Karsten felt his eyes fall to her lips as she spoke, before he turned his gaze away from her, shutting his eyelids.

"A lot." Was all he could formulate, but Mary seemed to understand. She was good at that.

"It's alright to take it slow." His girl gave him a big smile, and Karsten felt his heart melt a bit.

It was still hard to believe he had found her. After so long of having that demon in his arm, within a week of Abbott curing it he had found someone like Mary.

What a world.

"I know, but I don't think the world's gonna wait up for us." He replied, pulling Mary up against his side. "We may end up moving a little faster than we want to."

"Who says I don't want to?" Mary smiled again, and Karsten felt his eyebrow raise.

"You've thought about it then?"

The look in her eyes answered his question, and for confirmation, he was suddenly aware of her hand on his chest, just above his heart.

"I think we might… take Abbott up on his offer, or maybe ask the Prophetess."

"It's only been three months, shouldn't we."

"Not a day more than we need."

Karsten felt a blush cross his cheeks. Mary was blushing too, and he noted how close their faces were together now, and how his own arm had found its way around her hips.

It felt right.

"Alright." He said, "I'll tell Abbott, we can make the preparations whenever we have time, though I don't think it'll be anything fancy with everything that's going on."

"Who needs a cathedral for your wedding when you're marrying a dragonslayer with a 'magic sword'?" Mary asked coyly, and Karsten let out a cough, glad he hadn't been drinking anything.

"E-ehem y-yeah, I guess… I guess that's what I am now."

"You should see the look on your face honey." Mary teased, before poking him in the ribs. "A dragonslayer should be more confident, but then I've got all the time in the world to get that confidence up." She gave him a wink and a smile. "Don't keep me waiting."

If they hadn't been in the public square, Karsten wasn't sure he'd have been able to hold himself back, and from the way she swayed her hips as she walked away, he knew she felt the same.

'man I'm gonna be tearing her clothes off with my teeth on our wedding bed…' he scratched the back of his head as he tried to will the volunteer between his legs back into compliance.

He was distracted from that endeavor by the sound of a trumpet blaring, and one of the Paladins stepping out in the middle of the camp, and in a voice as deep as a dwarf mine bellowing out over the adventurers loitering around.

"Her Holiness would speak to you all!" The man shouted, and Karsten was sure some magic must be in play from the way he projected his voice. "Please gather by the wood structure over the dragon's corpse. She has several announcements to make."

Adventurers were hardly an orderly lot at the best of times, but between the goodwill from her healing, and the general fame and power of the thousand-year-old woman, pretty much all of them were soon over by where she stood on the mottled growth of wood Abbott had made. She was up on a Giant Knot of wood, still in her armor, and looking dignified despite the odd platform she was standing on. The effect was only amplified by the Holy Knights standing in orderly rows to either side of her, a sharp contrast to the disorganized adventurer's.

"Thank you all for gathering so swiftly." The Prophetess said in a matronly tone that stood at odds with her earlier teasing. Perhaps she was a bit different in person than she was in public. "First, I should like to thank you all formally for your part in ending the curse that afflicted the city of Mirno. Through your bravery, dedication, and skill of arms, you have put the end to a millennia-long blight upon the continent, indeed upon the world. With the death of Syrrax, the curse was shattered, and this city will soon be habitable once again."

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

There was a buzz at that, rumors had been flying about the curse being broken since the night before. Normally Karsten would have asked Abbott, but he had run off somewhere since they had given him the sword, and all the church types were being tight-lipped about it.

"Unfortunately, during the fighting, the Silver Prince was grievously injured, and I was not able to heal him in time to save his life."

'wait what?!' Karsten's thoughts echoed the general hubbub that burst out at that announcement. Most of the adventurers had barely even seen the prince, but everyone knew he was the one they worked for. He had ruled the city, albeit mostly just the fortress and the area around it, for a thousand years. What would happen if he was gone? All these thoughts were roiling through the crowd around him, but for Karsten, there was an even bigger one.

'when did the Prince get injured?' he hadn't been up there fighting the dragon with them, and there was no way any number of Skeletons were going to hurt a thousand-year-old wizard, so what the hell had happened to kill him?

"His Loss grieves us all greatly." The Prophetess said, silencing the murmurs with a wave of her hand, "Thankfully, he declared an heir before he perished, his descendant Augusta, however, she is a young girl, and until a permanent regent can be selected by the College of Cardinals and the Government's of the successor states, the Church of Light and Mercy shall tentatively be assuming control of the city."

There was even more hubbub at that. Everybody liked the prophetess of course, but that was a pretty big power play on her part. Nobody knew about the Silver Prince much at all, but even if his heir was nominally in charge, wouldn't this put the church in command of the whole city?

Hell, what would this all mean for the adventurers? It wasn't like there would be any more Grimmash if the curse was gone, but as if the Prophetess was reading all their minds, she raised her hand and promptly addressed their fears.

"We are aware that for many of you, the harvesting of Grimmash and other materials from the ruins has been a major source of your livelihood, and given your heroism in ending the curse, it would be unfair of us to not compensate you for your loss. As such, over the next month, we will begin a salvaging operation, both to establish a treasury for the new ruler when she is fit to take it and to compensate you all. There is no doubt still a great deal of Grimmash in the city for the moment, especially on the southern side, and there are magic items and treasures which were previously inaccessible due to the curse. We will catalog these items, and the treasure, and place half of it in the vault of the new Silver Princess, while the rest shall be distributed to you all equitably. Please do not attempt to steal anything for yourselves, as it is a sin against God and your fellows, and not one of you shall be going home poor regardless." The Prophetess looked over them all with a stern, matronly gaze, as if preemptively scolding them for their greed. She must have dealt with adventurers before. "And finally, the church would like to extend an open invitation to those of you of upstanding character, bravery, and skills. You have shown your heroism in this city, and there is always a place in the church's ranks for heroes."

And with that, the adventurers exploded with questions. Karsten imagined it was a bit unlikely that Abbott's company made it out of an offer like that intact. While the salvage might be enough for some of them to retire, the possibility of going straight into the church, bypassing much of the proving normally associated with a process, was more than tempting for a lot of the warriors here. Normally the holy knights were only recruited from Veteran Soldiers, people who had proven themselves for at least a decade. The Magic they were taught let them extend their fighting ability, often for as much as fifty years, until they got to retire with a nice pension from the church. It was the type of deal that normally only the best soldiers got offered, and for some of the young men on this square it would set them up for life.

Karsten found that for his own sake, he didn't care too much. The Dragonslayer title he had now already meant he'd never lack for work, and marrying Mary… actually come to think of it didn't he already work for the church by Following Abbott? Maybe he could swing that to get some training from the holy knights himself. Aging slower certainly had its appeal…

He could probably ask Abbott too, but that kid got sad every time his own inability to fight came up, so he'd probably sulk the entire time he taught the magic.

As the prophetess departed, leaving the adventurers to mull over the string of announcements, Karsten noticed a particular hairy musketeer wandering over towards him.

"Sounds like your little company is going to be sniped off of you, eh lad?" Harald asked, sounding congenial, but not unsympathetic. "T'was nice while it lasted."

"Yeah…" Karsten sighed, if Abbott didn't already know he'd have to tell him. "Not a bad way to end though honestly. It's not like we could keep going without income anyway. Short of a war breaking out, and I don't even know if Abbott would want to fight in something like that."

"Might be more interested in tending to the wounded methinks." Harald smiled. "Well, I'll take my salvage, but I don't intend to join the church, once I've money enough I'll be heading back to the heart-holds to find myself a bride." The dwarf gave a broad grin. "Still, ye've all been good companions. I'll say it to the brat myself if I spot him, but if I don't before the looting is done, tell him this dwarf here will buy him an ale someday. Once he grows above the kneecaps."

Karsten smirked. "That'll take a century or two at least."

"Aye, and I'll be waiting." The dwarf laughed cheerfully, staggering off. "Now I'm off to go see if they've got any magic kegs in the old city’s cellars!"

As the bearded gunman trundled off, Karsten couldn't help but smile. In the weeks to come he'd have to say goodbye to a lot of people he'd met over the last few months, people he'd fought alongside. Maybe it'd even go back to just him, Mary, and Abbott, wandering about.

It'd be strange going from leading a band of adventurers to just being a trio again.

Then again, there was one erstwhile companion he hadn't seen during the speech, indeed, the elf had left quietly just after the Prophetess had shown up, to begin with. It was odd, especially given how much Theen had contributed to the dragon fight.

On a hunch, he glanced skyward, and after a moment’s searching found an eagle, high on the roof of a building at the side of the square. Their eyes met for a moment, then the eagle flew down into an alleyway, beckoning with its wing to him.

Naturally, he followed, finding the Elf leaning against the old stone wall, a branch of what must have been Grimmash flipping in his hand.

"You have good eyes for a human, servant-knight," Theen said, nodding in his direction. "They will serve you well, protecting the Church-Child."

"Why the hasty departure?"

"Is it so hard to believe I have no more to do in this city?" Theen asked, though after a moment he shrugged. "I would have stayed longer, but for the arrival of the church-queen. Her faith leaves little room for powers older than her own, and my kind finds only begrudging tolerance from her followers. I did not wish to complicate things further."

"Are you leaving as well then? Abbott will miss you."

"The Church-Child has a soft heart." The elf nodded. "But he will grow on his own, I need not prune his branches any further, and there is much to investigate about his abilities…" Theen frowned. "It is a mystery to me how a human is able to be so in touch with the life of the world. I think I shall visit his home, and perhaps inquire in the groves. Something is afoot. No untrained druid wields a tenth the power he tosses around casually."

"Don't you think you should ask him first?" Karsten said, frowning a bit at the elf.

"Why bother? He wouldn't deny me, and you will tell him I am going, so everything is as it should be." The Elf gave a short bow. "It's all quite simple."

"That's not how that-"

"Farewell Servant-knight, do be careful not to kill too many dragons. There are few left in the world." The Elf winked, cutting him off, and then shifting rapidly into the eagle he had seen before, kicking off out of the alley, and beating its great wings away from the square.

Karsten watched him go with a frown. Of all the abrasive…

No, no, that was a waste of time worrying. The elf would do whatever he did, and they'd just have to deal with it. He had never made sense, to begin with. What mattered now was finding Abbott, and telling him… loads of stuff honestly.

It was so much easier when they were just killing orcs and saving homesteads.

____________________________________________________________