An unknown time later faint lights began to seep into the seemingly endless darkness as the dark elf's senses began to return to him. Wearily, he opened his eyes, the sight of a familiar ceiling greeting him.
“Fuck.” Was the first word he groaned in a faint whisper as he tried and failed to move his body, fire spreading through every nerve inside him, clearing up his hazy mind.
He tried to look around but his body didn’t obey his will, slow and antagonizing seconds passed by as the numbness finally began to pass and his neck started to turn. Looking down, he saw that he was lying in his bed, covered with a blanket. Letty was sitting right beside him, bending over with her head laid on his stomach while sleeping.
His right hand couldn’t move as it was under the sleeping wood elf, his left slowly responding to his will as it sluggishly freed itself from beneath the blanket, only to reach out and stroke Letty’s hair. The response was immediate as the young woman stirred and looked up at him, tears springing from her eyes as she practically jumped up to hug him.
“You bloody idiot,” she muttered between two sobs. “You scared me to death! Don’t ever do that again, you hear me?”
“Trust me,” he whispered in a dry voice. “I never planned to get stabbed in the back in the first place.”
“Idiot.” She chuckled with a relieved tone, not letting go for a single moment.
“What happened after I got... poked in the back?” The loremaster asked awkwardly as he finally managed to sit up properly with some help.
“We all ran over to help,” Letty explained, her voice still creaky from her previous outburst. “You were bleeding out, choking on your own blood at that point. Everyone used healing magic on you simultaneously and we somehow managed to pull your back from the brink of death, although it was a bit of a touch and go from a moment. After that, you wouldn’t wake up no matter how we tried to snap you out of it.”
“How long was I out?” Regis asked as Letty helped him get out of bed, the still wobbly dark elf trying his best to get dressed.
“Three days. I tried to spend as much time as I could here with you but...”
“It’s okay,” he tried to calm her. “I know you had a lot to deal with. What about the others? Did anyone else get hurt?”
“No. It seems that you were the only one to get attacked. Although the soldier belonged to one of the nobles, his last words made it clear that he got enthralled by Ulgrath. Osmond believes it happened before she made the Archaean oath.”
“That would make sense.” He agreed.
“He also explained how you secretly plotted to nuke Ulgrath once she left the Shardlands.”
At this point, the wood elf gave him a scrutinising and rueful look.
“You should have told us what you were planning.” She chided as the two left the room with slow steps.
“It had to be done quietly with as few people knowing about it as possible.”
“Were you afraid that someone was spying for them?”
“Can you blame me,” the loremaster sighed. “If anything, getting stabbed in the back proved that they had sleeper agents pretty much everywhere.”
“I guess you’re right. Still, you could have at least told me.”
“I wanted to but it was safer this way,” he admitted while activating his far-caller. “Good afternoon everyone. I’m awake.”
His words prompted a landslide of replies, mostly asking if he was alright or telling him that they were on their way. Letty dragged him toward the dining room where Dana the maid almost screamed up in surprise when she noticed them.
“Milord,” she squealed. “I’m so happy you’re alright.”
“Thanks, Dana. You wouldn’t happen to have something to eat, would you?”
“Just sit down and I will bring you something to eat immediately.” She promised before rushing over to the kitchen.
Regis sat down with Letty by his side, barely having to wait before the maid returned with a cart packed with food. By the time he managed to eat half of what was brought out for him, the rest of the outlanders had also arrived.
“Look who decided to come back from the dead for a hearty meal!” Amanda said with a burst of laughter as they walked into the dining room.
“Took you long enough to snap out of it,” Cruz noted with a grunt. “If you make my sister cry that hard again, I will bash your head in. Got it?”
“Yeah,” the loremaster sighed at the mock threat. “I don’t plan on getting stabbed in the back again any time soon.”
“I’ve got to admit,” Valerie spoke up as they all sat down. “You sure surprised us with your little nuke-in-a-barrel trick. I doubt anyone imagined you would do something like that.”
“Osmond explained everything,” Quentin joined in the conversation. “That was one hell of a gamble.”
“And an unnecessary one,” Fabien remarked. “You already had Ulgrath out of our hair, Why the hell did you have to... bomb her?”
“I’m pretty sure that him getting stabbed in the back answers your question,” Osmond replied. “Ulgrath proved that she can’t be trusted, so what makes you believe that she won’t send her forces over to ransack this world once she becomes stronger and well-established? To be honest, I would have done the same and so would Regis. That’s why she had to be taken out.”
“I’m just glad you managed to do it without anyone getting hurt.” Sophie said from the side.
“You mean beside him?” Cruz quipped.
“Do you think it worked?” Mary asked with a shaky voice. “The bomb, I mean.”
“It did,” the dark elf confirmed. “Before I got... stabbed, I received a message from the Heart that it recorded my deed of killing Ulgrath.”
“Good,” Valerie nodded from the side. “At least we don’t have to worry about her coming back for revenge.”
“Or anyone else for that matter,” Osmond added. “With that many elemental stones packed in that bearer beside the ‘domain heart’ to increase its destructive power, the blast must have been enormous. There’s no way anyone survived from the ones that followed Ulgrath.”
“It kind of makes me feel bad, to be honest.” Regis admitted.
“Why?” Letty asked, surprising everyone with a question. “They were all cultist and criminals, brainwashed murderers of power-hungry people. I know it’s not nice to say this but they’ve made their choice and deserved what they got for it.”
“Perhaps,” he sighed. “But as I think back about what happened, I think Natalie tried to warn me.”
“She did?” They asked in unison.
“Before she left, Natalie told me to try not to get stabbed in the back by some power-hungry idiot. I think she meant it as a veiled warning about the assassin.”
“Even if she did, that won’t absolve her for her past deeds. She got what was coming for her.”
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“You don’t have to justify what I did,” the dark elf said with a morose tone. “I knew full well that there would be collateral damage if my plan worked and I'm ready to bear that.”
“Alright,” Amanda sighed. “That’s about enough with the depressing shit. Shouldn’t we talk about the more important matters?”
“We should,” Regis agreed. “What happened after I was... out of commission?”
“It’s pretty much what you would expect,” Osmond said from the side. “There was a bit of an uproar due to the assassination attempt and they also questioned me about the whole bomb thing. Once I explained it, shit went downhill pretty fast. Some were simply glad that Ulgrath was gone, others argued the necessity of your little plot, but the all-out consensus was that the threat was gone and it was time to recuperate.”
“Everyone went on their way and we brought you back home.” Valerie added.
“What about the townsfolk?”
“I already called for a town meeting and the others explained what happened,” Tristan stated. “The people were a bit shocked after hearing about the events and were obviously worried about you, but after Father Steon claimed that you would wake up in a few days, they calmed down. In your... absence, we reopened the trade routes and tried our best to sell our extra supplies to those in need. At a fair price, of course.”
“Don’t forget to mention the gifts." Cruz brought it up, making the steward sigh.
“Gifts?” Regis asked puzzled.
“The day after you were brought back, the different noble families as well as the princess had sent some gifts to you to thank you for helping get rid of the Archdemon. Their gifts were deposited in your personal storage.” The steward explained.
“Oh.”
“Her Majesty also sent a message. She hopes that you will accept her request and create a few more guardian golems for the capital. Some of the greater cities also tried to broker similar deals to replenish their destroyed or sabotaged guardian golems.”
“Figures,” the loremaster nodded. “Anything else I should know about?”
“We finished harvesting the crops and herbs,” Letty spoke up. “It was quite substantial as you can imagine. The fields have been cleared up and fertilized again as well. They should start planting the new crops tomorrow.”
“That’s good to hear,” Regis said with a relieved smile. “I guess this is it, huh? We earned ourselves some leisure time.”
“You bet,” Cruz agreed with the other nodding as well. “You know what? We should celebrate. I mean... the archdemon had been slain and the continent is safe again. Sort of. You woke up as well, so... party time?”
Everyone looked at the dark elf for confirmation, earning a white smile and a nod.
"I'll send out the word and start the preparations then." Tristan said, standing up from his seat and heading toward the door.
“I guess we have to ride a cart over to the vineyard to bring back a barrel or two.” Valerie remarked as she grabbed Quentin by the arm, leading him away.
“We should help with the preparations too,” Sophie said with a happy smile. “There are a lot of stuff to move about.
“And don’t forget about the fire pit,” Cruz noted. “We shot a couple of boars yesterday. It would be a sin not to roast one or two.”
Her words made the group even more excited about the coming festivity as they left the manor. Regis stayed behind at the behest of Letty who told him that they left something in his study. As he entered the room, the loremaster found his breastplate placed on a wooden mannequin with a blade placed on the desk behind it. Coming closer to have a better look at it, he found the part where the blade slipped through between the scales of the armour.
It even managed to sever some of the inner links connecting the scales. Pulling his gaze away from the damaged breastplate, he looked over to the weapon that was used to assassinate him. It had three deep blue runes glowing on it, all of them familiar to Regis.'So it has an 'excellent' grade piercing, sharpness and bleeding rune on it. No wonder it managed to get through my armour. This thing was practically made to backstab people.' He mused while putting the breastplate down. After he quickly repaired his armour, the loremaster stopped for a moment to think, letting out a sigh as he made up his mind.
He rummaged through his drawers, pulling out a tiny wooden box which he pocketed before leaving the manor and heading to Landwaker Square. While walking, he met some of the townsfolk, they greeted him with cheery smiles and relieved sighs. Landwaker Square was already filled with people by the time he got there, everyone either busily decorating the place or preparing the tables and party supplies.
“I am glad to see you finally woke up.” Father Steon spoke from the side, Bray nodding in agreement beside him.
“You gave us quite a scare there, lad.” The old potter added with a deep sigh.
“Luckily I’ve managed to pull through.” Regis said while shaking hands with the two.
“You did not have much of a choice," Bray remarked. "Otherwise, it would have been a hollow victory against the demons.”
“Indeed,” the priest agreed with Bray. “We all heard from your companions what you did and what it nearly cost you. I hope you know that we are all proud of you.”
“Thank you.” The loremaster replied, both his attention and hands being grabbed by Letty as the wood elf dragged him in front of the gathered crowd.
“Go on,” she urged him. “They’re waiting for their lord to speak.”
“Fine,” he relented, his mind running in overdrive to come up with something even remotely resembling a speech. “Thank you all for coming, even though this event was quite sudden. I’m sure the others have already told you what happened three days ago but now that I’m awake, it’s only fair if you hear it from me as well. It took some effort but the archdemon who came to our world had been vanquished.”
His words found relieved sighs and agreeing nods in the crowd.
“These were trying times for everyone but in the end, the Shardlands is free of Ulgrath’s and her minion’s threat. My companions and I have both agreed that this is a cause for celebration and I hope that all of you will enjoy today’s festivity as much as we plan to.”
Here he accepted the vine-filled goblet Letty held over to him and raised it high in the air.
“To peace and prosperity!”
“To peace and prosperity!” The crowd raised their cups in high spirits as they shouted after him.
The dark elf drowned the content of his chalice, raising his hand to the air, signalling to the crowd that he was not done yet. He turned toward Letty, taking her empty cup and handing it over to Tristan along with his own.
“Since you put me on the spot just now, it’s only fair if I return the favour.” He said with a cheeky smile as she pulled her out into the open.
“These past weeks showed us all that we can never be sure of what will happen next. As corny as it sounds, it also made me rethink what I wanted to do with my life here.” As he said those words, Regis lowered himself to a half-kneeling pose as he pulled out the small wooden box from his pocket.
“I know that I’m a selfish, workaholic fool. I know that I have my share of shortcomings, some of which will never change. And I also know that even though we planned for this to happen a few years in the future, I still want to ask you now, Leticia Mira Moreno. Will you marry me?”
The crowd went deadly silent upon hearing the confession and marriage proposal with most of the outlanders going slack-jawed as they stared at the dark elf. After about five seconds of awkward silence, tears began to well up in Letty's eyes as she smiled at him, holding her hand toward him.
“Of course, I will. Dummy.”
The gathered townsfolk burst out in cheers as Regis slipped the ring on Letty's finger, embracing her while their companions came forward to congratulate them.
“Took you long enough to get your shit together,” Cruz remarked after hugging her sister. “And just so you know, if you treat her badly, I’ll break your legs.”
“In other words,” Osmond chuckled. “She’s trying to say, good job.”
“Who would have thought,” Valerie spoke from the side. “It only took you a near-death experience to finally make up your mind. Now if we only had a certain someone to do the same.”
“I thought you didn’t want to get married yet.” Quentin replied to the not-so-veiled reprimanding of his girlfriend, starting an argument between the two that made everyone laugh.
“I guess this is it, huh? Peace and prosperity.” Letty looked at Regis, hugging him.
“It took a while, but we got here in the end.”
“We did. So... the summer solstice?”
“Fine by me.” The loremaster nodded as he understood his bride-to-be’s idea of the date of their wedding.
The celebration that followed was a merry one, their many hard-fought battles now lying behind them with a wedding and a hopefully long-lasting peace ahead. Over the next couple of weeks, the three kingdoms of the continent made peace, in no small part due to Queen Helena's political skills and her rising force of guardian golems and loyal followers.
The Shardlands finally became serene once again after its long series of misfortunes, its people breathing up and turning their attention toward rebuilding. Thus came an end to The Archdemon war. And while the people of the Shardlands were content with forgetting the wars and going on with their lives, the void still cared about the events that occurred.
‘Have you had enough?’
‘I guess I did. It really seems to be true what they say about happy ever afters. It makes people far less keen to ask questions.’
‘Or to look for what they’ve lost.’
‘They can’t cry over what they don’t know about.’
End of Book 5