When they all returned outside, no glorious sun or light shone down from above. That either meant that they hadn’t succeeded in their endeavor after all, or it was simply nighttime.

“What’s wrong Abigail?” Frederek asked.

Abigail simply looked up at the sky. “It doesn’t look or feel any different to me. Does it to any of you?”

“Not particularly.”

She turned back around and puffed out her cheeks to scoff a little. “Well, I just hope we didn’t go through all of that for nothing!”

Alanora—who remained beside her mother—began to speak. “I promise that you have nothing to be concerned about. This domain has been restored to some semblance of reality. Obviously not all that plagues it will be resolved, but I promise you, that things have dramatically improved already.”

Kiran tried to cast a spell without the help of an arcane root. Thus far nothing would work. Every attempt ended in failure whether he tried to summon a sword or cast a barrier.

Much like how they needed to be patient to see whether the sun would appear, he needed to exercise patience in regards to magic as well.

In the meantime, their group began traveling through the woods. They ended up finding Felghan and Rudicous still tied up.

“My lady,” Felghan muttered pathetically. “Have they—”

“They have caused no harm to me. But I am their captive now just like the two of you. I would ask that you heed their will. My days are over and I’d ask that neither of you sacrifice your lives further for myself.”

Abigail began to crouch down to him with a knife in her hand. “No funny business, you hear?” She jabbed the knife threateningly towards him.

“Y-yes.”

She freed him from the rope tied around the tree only to quickly tie up his hands so that he could at least travel on foot with them as they rode their horses.

He began to eye the woman standing beside Lady Meredith. His mouth fell agape. “Alanora? That’s you isn’t it?”

“Your eyes do not deceive you.”

“I had assumed that they went there to kill you, not to restore you to this condition.”

“Her restoration is of her own doing,” Yorais said. “We merely brought all the pieces that just happened to allow for this. We hadn’t intended this, but it came to be.”

Rudicous was brought over with his hands tied up. “Forgive me,” he said pathetically. “I have failed you.”

“Your failure is a blessing,” Lady Meredith said. “Had you ended their lives, my daughter would likely not be here right now.”

Although he was blind, he appeared to be trying to sense each and every one of them. “What of Aphelia and Evelyn? I do not sense their presence here.”

“I’m afraid they are no more. They sacrificed themselves for Alanora.”

“I am terribly confused my lady.”

He had every right to be. They hadn’t come here to accomplish this necessarily. They came to remove Alanora from that altar and disrupt the interference she was having with this domain’s reality. But the result ended up with them in a way helping their side while also helping theirs.

“I’ll explain everything to you on the way, “Lady Meredith said to Rudicous.

They all began to travel through the forest together. It was a little awkward, to be honest. Many of them remained silent or unsure of things since they had all been fighting each other not all that long ago.

When they left the forest, they were approached by a dozen or more people on horseback. They appeared eager to slay them until they saw that they had Lady Meredith.

A man on horseback lowered the visor to his helmet. It was the Lord of Cairn himself, Cassus wearing his perpetual frown that his helmet would not dare hide from their sight.

“Inform everyone,” Lady Meredith said, “that I am surrendering and to not engage against Lucias.”

“You are surrendering, my lady, to that wretched serpent?”

“I am. I have gotten what I wanted. Now I must face my judgment.”

Cassus possessed every will to fight, but hearing this straight from the one he loyally served, made that will falter. He eyed Kiran briefly before appearing ready to ride off. “I will go then and inform everyone in your stead.”

This time around, Lar rode on his horse. They began riding together across the barren landscape towards the area where their coalition, Lucias, and Bridella’s forces remained.

“I wonder what she thinks about all of this,” Lar said referring to Alanora. “She must be aware that her life has been entirely contingent on the deaths of so many others.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“She’s well aware,” he said. “In my mind at least, she shouldn’t feel guilty for it. She’s not the one who did this. Her mother’s the one and she alone should face the consequences for these actions.”

“I suppose that’s all that can be done. At least peace appears possible now. If this entire encounter had ended differently, there’s no telling how much worse it could’ve gone.”

“We’re not out of this yet. Cassus may still try something for all we know so we can’t relax entirely.”

“Somehow I doubt even he will try anything. And once the sun rises, all shall know of our deeds and how we have aided them rather than cause harm. If their will to fight isn’t over yet, it will be come the morn.”

Their entourage arrived at to allies who appeared eager to have them return, especially as they saw how they had the Lady herself in their hands.

Lucias stood beside Bridella near a large tent. They all hopped off of their horses approaching them.

Bridella held a hand to her chin appearing quite pleased judging by one corner of her mouth rising a little. “You’ve managed to capture her. What a blessing for our cause. I doubt the other side will be eager to strike knowing we have her within our hands. But I suppose she’s not the most important part of this entire affair. Did you succeed with the woman and the altar?”

“We have,” Yorais said.

Relief ran across both of their faces. Lucias began to laugh a little. “I was worried for no good reason! Ah, this pleases me so much. Halmond, get over here pronto!”

“Yes?” he bent down to one knee briefly before getting back up.

“We must prepare for celebrations as we wait for the night to surrender itself to the day at long last. I want every barrel of wine we brought with us to be given out freely. I don’t want a single drop remaining in a single barrel. In fact, I forbid such a thing from happening. Before you do that though, inform everyone of this great news and begin preparations for us to meet with our westerly neighbors who ought to be more willing to cooperate with us.”

With their success, Lucias was unwilling to let things remain idle. He wanted to get things moving now more than ever.

“I can only imagine what Felmir will think when he receives word.” Lucias began to walk around with a face of glee. “Oh he will be so relieved and happy. You all have accomplished what we have wanted for all of these years within just a few months of time. I realize that the circumstances that led you to our domain were rather nightmarish, but I will not dare say that such circumstances haven’t led to immense fortune for our own lives. You have freed us from this bondage not just for my people, but for theirs as well.”

“Hold on there red eyes,” Abigail said, “let’s wait until we actually see whether or not the sun actually appears before we start celebrating.”

“Did I speak too soon? Are we not sure of your success?”

Yorais shook her head. “She’s a worry wort. Worry not, I am confident that we solved these issues. It’s just conveniently still nighttime so we have no way of seeing our results just yet.”

“Then,” he said clearing his throat, “we will celebrate with the expectation of witnessing the sun rising from the east for the first time in over a decade.”

The sun itself had always been here. They just couldn’t see it. The miasma—or distorted reality depending on who you ask—was causing this domain to be surrounded by something that plunged them into perpetual darkness. The heat from the sun still penetrated through but the light itself didn’t.

Now that they had removed the source of this interference with reality, that would all change.

The heavy weights that had been sitting on his shoulders for a while now, felt less heavy. It was hard to realize how much pressure he had been under. It was only after the fact, that he could realize how much of it had been there in the first place.

The barrels of wine that Lucias was proud of, were indeed brought out. Everyone including Bridella’s forces was being given the opportunity to partake.

Whilst celebrations began to occur amongst everyone, Rinas ended up finding them eventually. “I imagine you’ve all received many thanks already, but let me gladly give my own thanks to you as well. You’re all deserving of it for what you’ve accomplished. Especially you, Abigail. I’m glad to see you didn’t kill everyone this time around.”

“Hey now, there was only one other time when things turned out that way. And that was totally not my fault either!”

“Are you certain about that?” Frederek said with a chuckle.

Kiran wasn’t entirely sure what situation they were speaking about, but they certainly all laughed at Abigail’s expense.

Frederek ended up hoisting her into the air with his big arms. She began to slam her fists into his shoulders as he hauled her away.

For many hours, everyone celebrated. Not a single person fell asleep. Everyone wanted to be up and ready to witness the morning sun.

But it had yet to come. Instead, many ended up getting drunker and drunker except perhaps Lady Meredith, Felghan, and Rudicous. They were being kept under watch in separate locations.

As for Kiran, he found himself drawn away from everyone. He went out looking for Juna who he hadn’t seen celebrating with everyone else.

It made him a little concerned, but when he found her standing on a hill with a lit brazier on it, his worries quickly went away.

She immediately smiled at him and got up from the ground. “Kiran.” Without delay, she began to hug him. He hugged her back before she drew away from him.

He noticed she began to get a little teary-eyed. Oh no, have I done something wrong? Crap, what do I even say? “Are you alright?”

She wiped the tears trying to form in her eyes. “Of course I am! I’m…I’m elated. I had been imagining the worst things happening to you and everyone else. I tried not to be so worried, but I just couldn’t help it. But now you’re here and back having successfully carried out your mission.”

It was still somewhat hard to believe but they had done it. “So what brings you out here?” he asked. “Shouldn’t you be down there with everyone else? There’s plenty of good wine to drink if I say so myself.”

“I kind of like it out here on this hill. It’s much quieter and peaceful out here. It will also provide a good vantage point to see the sun come up.”

She began to pull out a compass from her pocket. She pointed towards the east. “I want to witness the exact moment it comes from all the way over there. Would you be willing to experience it with me here? You don’t have to of course. I understand if you want to be with everyone else to witness it down there.”

He eyed the many people motioning around by the tents and fires. He listened to the calm and quietness that this hill provided. “If you intend to stay here, I’d be willing to stay as well. We’ll make a special moment of it and witness it together.”

As he thought of them experiencing it on this hill together, more from the coalition found their way up here. It seemed others wanted to experience such a wonderful moment from an elevated position much like themselves.