Andal sat on the palisade walls looking East. This fortress had been built to shield the known world from the unknown world, since the other side of this mountain range was largely unknown. You couldn't approach it by ship, since there was ice blocking the way above and another continent in the way below. Evacuating everyone though the Marble pass was a strange thing, but it meant that the council of nations didn't think they had any other choice. They'd given up hope of beating the Haverdash, even after all Andal and Jeva had done.

The captain of the guard climbed onto the wall. Andal would have waved, but his hands were tucked into the large fur coat they'd given him and he didn't want to give that warmth up. He raised his head to be a little more visible through the large hood, catching a little bit of that northern wind.

"Morning, Andal! Boy, am I glad you're with us. It gives all these new soldiers confidence to be alongside you and the lady."

"Good, then I can be useful without doing anything."

"Hah, I guess so."

Andal shifted his gaze to the horizon, seeing the first wave of evacuees. "Captain, when did this plan start? Jeva and I were cut off from any news until recently."

"As soon as the Council heard Tiermac fell. With the nominees dead, we assumed you and Jeva were there too, they lost confidence in a counter assault. Not everyone was on board, and not everyone is evacuating either. Lots of people will stick it out in their homes, bless them. Nobody is being forced, but the future of humanity is past these mountains. Tubarai was smart to start leaving first. They probably inspired the council to do it."

Andal nodded, "I see."

"Say, you told me there was a Haverdash force on their way. I don't suppose you have any specifics about when they'll get here?"

"Today. My information came from a good source, but that's as specific as I can be. There will be a Glorious Haverdash leading them, the last one."

The captain huffed, "Not looking forward to that."

"Jeva and I will take care of her. That's why we came here. For years now I've had the goal of killing all the Glorious Haverdash, because I was told that was one way to end the war. It seems it's a little late to end it, but the effect should still be felt. After we killed Manier, I felt it. There was a change in the Haverdash. Now that we've killed Trots, who was stronger than Manier, I'm sure there's been a change again. Once we kill Salva, I don't think the Haverdash will recover."

"Well good." The captain looked west, at the Marble Pass. "Maybe they won't follow us then. I was thinking this was futile, but perhaps not."

"Perhaps not. That's the best we can do it seems."

Jeva climbed onto the wall. Andal gave her a hug, giving up his comfy hand position. "Did you finish the spell?"

"I did. I think we're ready for Salva."

The captain asked, "If you don't mind, how do you two intend to kill a Glorious Haverdash by yourselves? Is this 'Salva' known to be weaker than Manier?"

Andal put his hands back in their comfy position and he and Jeva leaned against each other. "I doubt it, but I think we're ready. Just trust us, we don't have any other options anyway."

"Hmm. When you put it like that, it isn't very encouraging."

"Sorry."

A watchman called down to them from a tower, "Captain Bolten, Haverdash coming from the South!"

"Good eyes, soldier!" He saluted Andal and Jeva, "Excuse me. I have to mobilize the men and get those evacuees behind these walls before the Haverdash are upon us."

Jeva saluted back, "Her majesty bless you."

"Thank you ma'am!"

The captain climbed down the wall. Andal nudged Jeva, "'Her majesty bless you', really? I haven't told him we serve the Queen of Graves."

She smirked and nudged him back, "I know. I wouldn't have said it if he knew, it would make him uncomfortable."

"Right, well does the queen even bless people?"

Jeva shrugged, "Probably? Gods do that, right? I've never officially served a god before."

"I guess. Nishir does, obviously."

The gates swung open with a heavy clang, and the soldiers rushed the evacuees in as quickly as they could.

Jeva asked, "What do you think happens when we die? We have until the end of the day, where will we go?"

"I don't know," Andal admitted. "Maybe it's different for every god, or maybe some have a special place for you to go and most of them don't care. The Templars taught that with Nishir you become part of a heavenly army that keeps enacting justice even past death, but we serve the Queen of Graves now."

"We probably should have asked her, but there's no way she would answer that."

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"No, the unknown is part of mortality, I'm sure she gets a kick out of it."

Jeva's eyebrows went up, "Here's a thought. She loves mortality, right? So she wouldn't want people to exist in any eternal state of any kind. I bet she reincarnates people.”

Andal raised his head and smiled widely, “I like that. And, if we do reincarnate, I’ll find you.”

“Aww. Same. So, I hope we’re in the same country. I’d find you anyway, but gosh, that’d be a lot of looking.”

“Oh, yea, nobody needs that in their life.” They chuckled, then the sound of the gate closing behind the evacuees split the air.

Arrows were being slung in both directions, and the amount of shouting quickly increased. The Captain climbed back onto the wall, “Andal, Jeva! You got her, right?” He pointed to the center of the gathering Haverdash, where Glorious Salva could be clearly seen. Her aura of light was smaller than that of Trots or Manier, but glowing orbs danced in the air above her. The orbs moved with the mass of Haverdash, each with its own assignment, keeping the whole attack force illuminated.

Jeva slapped her hands to her side, "Well, we'd better get out there before she breaks this wall down."

Andal made a shield for them to step on, not light, but pitch black. They walked over a path of shields, protected from arrows and slinging stones by the black shell Andal put over them and the deflecting stars that Jeva dangled in the air around them.

The Haverdash jumped weightlessly into the air, as if carried by the orbs of light, scaling the walls quickly. The clash of swords and cries of fallen soldiers increased behind them, but Andal and Jeva kept their pace as they headed directly for Salva.

An orb left its assigned Haverdash and flew at them, so Andal made dark swords that they could grab on and jump forward before the orb smashed into and shattered the shield they'd been standing on. The orb chased them, so they diverted their momentum with blasts of wind off of a shield Andal made, then grabbed another pair of swords to stream toward Salva again.

They'd closed the distance, so they let themselves drop and cushioned their fall with wind. When they landed Salva spoke, "Don't think I don't know who you are. You helped kill Manier, and somehow Trots is gone as well! These are crimes that you will not-!"

Andal hit Jeva in the back with a strong burst of wind, sending her flying into Salva. She wrapped her arms around Salva in a hug, and put her chin on her shoulder. "Goodbye, Andal."

"Goodbye, Jeva."

Salva's eyes went wide, but it was too late to stop. Andal put a black dome over her and Jeva, and Jeva exploded into a blazing inferno. It filled the dome, but couldn't expand any more, so it continued to bounce back to and incinerate anything within the dome.

The orbs of light grew dim, and the Haverdash all paused to look back at Salva. After several seconds she fell against the side of the dome. Her skeletal frame could be seen through the blackness by virtue of the inferno behind her shining through, showing her groping at the walls as she continued to burn. She put her hand against the side a final time, then collapsed. Andal released the dome, and the pressure from the explosion rushed out.

The Haverdash remained silent, shocked and confused. Andal knelt next to the burnt earth, there being no trace of a body for him to hold. He wiped the tears from his eyes and leaned on his knees. "My heart hasn't been aligned with the Queen of Death, but at least somewhat, I get it now." He looked up at the Haverdash around him, "I really want all of you to die."

A sword of darkness pierced one, and Andal suddenly appeared where the Haverdash had died. He struck another before it realized he was right next to it, continuing to teleport as he killed Haverdash, using his new position to kill more.

The Haverdash began to scatter, and Andal chased them. The bulk of them ran south, and he was able to effortlessly keep up with them by teleporting to the position of each one that he killed with a ranged attack. He pursued them the whole day, all the way down to Donfas, until in the middle of the night the dark waters that had been creeping up through his legs finally took his life.

*

The words that Makarif had spoken to Andal all those years ago on the Tower of Tubarai rang true. Without the Glorious Haverdash acting as a countering force, the religion of the Haverdash evolved to a new level that prioritized intense feelings over any concept of ambition or accomplishments. They doubled down on production of a variety of drugs and ways to consume them, but they did not expand in other ways as a culture. They never fully subdued the continent; the furthest reaches never saw a Haverdash face. There was never an attempt to follow the humans over the mountains or across the desert either.

Though the scent of blood decreased from the world as the war came to an end, it did not cease. The lives of the Haverdash would continue to be colored with blood, that of surrounding creatures or of each other. Other scents also increased as the Haverdash fell further into their lifestyle, causing other dramatic effects on the land. No enemy rose up like Mal Maggog, Kollus and Gol, who could have wiped out the Haverdash if not for Trots, but the Haverdash never knew a minute of peace because of other hostile forces that rose up.

The lives of the humans who hadn't fled the continent changed dramatically. Some avoided the Haverdash entirely by staying in the furthest reaches of the land, but they didn't avoid the hostile and corrupt forces that the Haverdash caused. Many ended up living with the Haverdash, and often their lives were better than the slavery that humans had lived in under the Haverdash conquest. The Haverdash had become so dismissive of daily life, things that did not cause intense feelings, that their civilization may not have run properly if they'd run it purely by themselves. Humans inhabited every level of office, never being officially given titles, but there were even a few defacto governors who did the work that the Haverdash governor never bothered to do. Because of this dependency, the Haverdash made sure to leave habitable sections of their cities for non-Haverdash residents.

As time went on other exceptional Haverdash did rise up, some who they even called Glorious and who shone with a unique light, but the Glorious Haverdash of those days were nothing like those who had risen up at first. Nor were they like they would have been if those first Glorious Haverdash hadn't been snuffed off.

The prophets ceased in those days, as Haverdash lost hope for his people. Only one remained, Lohant, though he died by the nature of mortality 38 years after the deaths of Andal and Jeva. He'd found success in turning Haverdash from their ways, but nothing on a national scale. By his teaching, multiple families of Haverdash fled that land, going into the great unknown where they could start new lives.

Makarif did well across the desert, with the people of Tubarai. The day even came when he married a human woman, and he rejoiced to see that the Haverdash were not so changed that they couldn't have children with humanity. One would hope that others would find something wrong with their world, as Makarif had done, but that was no easy thing in the Haverdash Empire.

Lars became a legend to those in Tubarai, though they didn't know his name. He was referred to as that unknown Haverdash who saved the royal family in their final moments, turning on and wiping away a Haverdash army.

Similarly, Andal and Jeva became legends to those who had escaped over the mountains. They were the two surviving nominees who had been selected to lead the counter attack against the Haverdash, and though that idea had failed, those two had only ever succeeded. They were known as the ones who killed three Glorious Haverdash, and who put armies to flight by themselves. That was especially significant since the idea of the Haverdash changed over time. They were spiritualized, becoming hideous transformations of humans that could stalk you at night. Nobody ever did cross back over the mountains, for the east was an evil land which no human should ever walk, as it was told. Ships from other lands didn't approach those shores either. They could tell by the beasts of the sea and the colors of the sky, that was no place to go.

*

Noric sat in a tree and watched a boy, probably thirteen, walking up to him. "Hello, youngin. How did you get here? Trying to find your way back?"

"I don't remember how I got here. The last thing I remember I was in my hometown. Though, I think I was dying. Is this the afterlife?"

"Far from it, more like an alternative life. Why do you think you were dying?"

"I'd just drank something that was definitely poisonous. I was being dumb. It was some Haverdash drink, and I just wanted to look brave. The way I felt… I can't imagine dying being worse."

Noric slid down from the tree, "Yea, gotta stay away from Haverdash stuff. I'd say take it from me, but I think you learned that lesson as well as anyone. What about when you got here though? People don't just come here randomly, where did you show up?"

"I was surrounded by willow trees, and there were puddles everywhere. I remember there being a shadowy person next to me, just hovering there. I didn't like it, so I left. I've been wandering ever since, just trying to stay alive."

Noric's face darkened, "You've been here a while?"

"Yea, I think so. The days don't seem to pass regularly, but it's felt like a while."

"What's your name, kid?"

"Lars, what's yours?"

Noric stepped back, then leaned against the tree. Lars looked at him oddly, then Noric began to laugh. "I'm Noric! Sorry, excuse me. Good to meet you, Lars. I've been wandering this place for a while, want me to show you how to get around?"

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

"And I'm Heffer!"

Lars looked around for the new voice, but Noric explained, "The cow skull on my head, meet Heffer. He'll help, we'll show you the ropes. Since you're still young, I'll get some life lessons in there too. I think you'll turn out alright this time."

"This time?"

"Misspoke. Let's go, kiddo."