Ira found himself drifting through a murky darkness that threatened to submerge him for good. The previous event barely registered in his mind and he wanted to do was close everything off for an eternity. As thoughts of letting go filled his consciousness, he felt a growing sense of comfort that wrapped around him and brought untold warmth, persuading him further.

‘It would be nice...to just let go…’ He thought as he sunk even deeper.

But something inside of him seemed to resist and the harder he tried to be rid of it, the fiercer it resisted. The feeling of resistance began to stir him awake and he was filled with frustration.

‘Just let go!’ He screamed inwardly, desperate for the release that seemed to be within an arm's grasp.

And then a sense of awareness struck him harder than a boulder being dropped in a small pond.

“I can’t!” Ira shouted as he opened his eyes.

The darkness disappeared and he was met with a endless white expanse. One he had seen enough times to immediately make sense of his location.

The dark silhouette of a wolf stood in front of him, observing him with its glowing yellow eyes.

Ira checked his body and saw that his limbs were a faded black color while small cracks decorated his entire body like a fractured vase. A faint trace of black mist would occasionally surface from his wounds only to evaporate into the air.

“Why...can’t I...regenerate…?” Ira felt all the energy he had left began to rapidly fade. He tried to channel his regeneration as much as he could but his body gave no response.

“You are dying,” The Wolf spoke without a trace of emotion, it’s ancient voice echoing throughout the infinite space.

“...Oh,” Ira replied, faintly caressing his own face, finding that it was extremely hollow. At first glance, he resembled a pale grey corpse with dark limbs.

When Ira checked his hand again, he was shocked to see it crumble like weathered stone.

“So...I really am dying?” Ira made a weak grin. “Did...I...at least kill that thing?”

“The sentient being you faced has been destroyed by you.” The Wolf responded.

“Good.” Ira let out a few weary laughs and a few more pieces of his body began to fall apart.

“Are you fearful of what comes next?” The Wolf questioned Ira who began to laugh even more.

“...Of course,” He answered, feeling himself slip further away with each passing second. “I want to live...don’t you know?”

“If that was true, you would have abandoned all attachment to your physical form long ago.”

“And become like you are now? Do you really think that’s living?” Ira asked in response, forcing the Wolf to become silent.

His body was fragile and each word seemed to push him further to the brink.

“Hey...answer one question of mine.” Ira felt his vision fail him as his sight first grew blurry before fading altogether.

“What is it?”

“Why is it...that you just watch over the Void and nothing else?”

The Wolf seemed to think about Ira’s question heavily before giving a response. “The Void...The darkness that you’ve felt and that you’ve held...Your world is one that simply exists within it.”

“What does...that...even mean?” Ira furrowed his brows in confusion, a small action that cost him even more of his remaining time.

“Occasionally, a world will be born from the endless darkness of the Void. When the darkest reaches of the Void gather together and collapse, a world may suddenly be created, like the one you’ve lived in.”

“So that means you...watch over all of them? Like that Entity?” Ira asked before spitting out a dry chuckle. “Then...you’re just as miserable as me.”

“You are wrong,” The Wolf replied.

The surroundings began to change and an incredibly realistic cluster of lights and structures formed in Ira's mind like a star map. There was a piece of darkness which was obviously the Void and similar sized piece that held a violet hue. Then, there was a piece of strange flesh with bones and teeth along its surface, it seemed to be only a little smaller than the piece of darkness. All around were strange structures that were pushed against each other like a puzzle.

“I only seek to defend the Void itself. Beyond the primordial darkness, there is chaos, there is hunger, and many other beings like me. They’ve existed long before you and I have. During the time before I became as I am now, they ate away at the Void which remained without an entity to guard it. It was by accident that I arrived, consuming it as it, in turn, consumed me, making me into what I am now.”

“...I see.”

Maybe because his life was ending before he knew it, but Ira gave a listless response. He hadn't the time or inclination to think about what else lay beyond the Void since his end was fast approaching.

The Wolf didn’t seem to find any fault with his response and returned to being silent. It seemed as if Ira would die right there with a bit of knowledge that had no real value to a dead man.

After a short period of time past and Ira only clung to life by a thread, the Wolf spoke.

“Do you wish to live, Ira?”

Ira’s body was still and his eyes were frozen, staring ahead at nothing. It seemed as if he had already died but his lips slightly parted as he tried to force out a single word.

“I grow...exhausted of this role...If you inherit my duties and allow me to sleep, I will grant you life and a way to keep your physical form as you desire. Will you accept?”

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The Wolf’s offer seemed to come a moment too late as Ira no longer showed any signs of life.

Whether or not the Wolf noticed it, it opened a black hole near Ira and a nightmarish creature was spat out.

A grotesque lump of tendril-ridden pale, oily, flesh covered in countless octopus-like eyes and hundreds of mouths that bore thousands of sharp teeth, fell into the white expanse. The corpse of creature, towered over Ira’s half broken body.

“Drink.” The Wolf spoke and blood from the creature spilled into Ira’s mouth.

After what was left of Ira’s body was completely covered in the blood of the creature, black mist rose from the ground and began to swallow what was left of Ira’s body.

“Soon, this will be your burden to bear.”

The Wolf disappeared soon after Ira and the endless white space became one of complete darkness.

…

Ira’s promised return was broken as two years went on without him reappearing. Two became three and then four and finally, after five years of waiting, Avery found herself just as broken.

She took care of her children as best she could, but that was all she could do. She held no desire to lead the Valkyries who do much else. So, she spent most of her time staring into the distance. That time became more frequent as her children grew old enough to do most things themselves.

“Mother.” Liliara entered Avery’s quarters with a softened expression. She was still a child but she seemed more like royalty. Her clothes consisted of a long black dress decorated with silver jewelry as well as a silver circle with a black gemstone on her head. In her hands she held a silver bident with wolves carved into the shaft.

“Hmm,” Avery replied. Her body remained unmoving and her eyes looked toward nothing of note.

“My forces captured several elven cities within the Great Forest. The prisoners will be brought here shortly.” Liliara reported in a dutiful manner.

“...Very good, Liliara,” Avery said without turning to look at her daughter.

It may have seemed as if Liliara was pretending as a game, but a closer look showed traces of blood dripping along the tip of her bident showing that she had done just as she described.

After getting nowhere with her mother who only grew more distant each day, Liliara left the quarters and entered a dining hall with her siblings.

Raveria appeared to be in the middle of her teenage years while Zephyr and Valeryn weren’t too far behind, leaving Liliara and Nephele as the youngest.

“Don’t bring your weapons to the table, Liliara.” Raveria looked at her younger sister who met her stern gaze with a slight hint of defiance but ultimately relented, handing her bident off to a group of Dark Elves that could barely manage to carry it away.

“And weren’t you supposed to wash up, Nephele?” Raveira questioned her youngest sister whose face was covered in dirt.

“Ah! Sorry, Ravi!” Nephele seemed to notice and a Dark Elf approached her with a bowl of water and towel.

Zephyr laughed at his absent-minded younger sister while Valeryn showed a faint trace of a grin. After Nephele was cleaned up, food was brought to the table and the siblings began to eat together.

As the meal progressed, each of them found the silence growing increasingly heavy. Their bloodline connection made them understand they all shared the same feelings of sadness and loss.

Rhys eventually arrived and sat at the table before joining them in their meal. She spent most of her time training aimlessly training alone as if seeking to distract herself so it was rare for her own children to see her outside of a training room.

...

Even as her children came together, Avery remained by herself. She decided that once she had mourned enough she would go back to them if she could but things wouldn’t be the same without Ira.

Just thinking of him caused her heartache and before she knew it, tears silently ran down her face.

“I haven’t been a very good husband, have I?” A familiar voice filled her ears and her body jolted as if she was struck by lightning. Believing it to be her own imagination she slowly turned around and when she saw him standing there she nearly fell to the floor.

“I...Ira…?” Avery’s expression showed pain and relief as she rushed toward and felt his face with her hands.

The young man with long black hair and bright yellow eyes that stood in front of her was none other than Ira but something about him had definitely changed.

He was wearing simple black robes under a long black cloak that Avery began to fiddle through. She pulled him closer and studied every inch of his face only to find his pupils had become narrower, faintly resembling the eyes of dragons. The texture of his skin had also become softer which made her feel too much force would bruise him but it remained undamaged as she held him firmly.

“I...I don’t know if...I can’t tell how much you’ve changed...It’s been so long since you’ve-”

Ira interrupted Avery's rambling by embracing her.

“I’m sorry, Avery. Really, I’m sorry for everything.”

As Ira held her for the first time, she finally accepted him as being real and she began to weep in his arms. It was surprising for Ira to see the stoic Valkyrie he married to cry so easily but he found that it made him feel worse.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated once more as he brought his wife closer to him.

After she had finished crying, Avery guided Ira to the dining hall and he couldn’t help but feel nervousness with each approaching step.

“Do you think they would still recognize me?” Ira asked.

His face structure was altered in some ways which his children would notice from the bloodline memories they inherited. There was also his sharper pupils which had changed shape.

“They will just as I have...Though, you’re different than I remember.” She held his arm tightly as if fearing he would disappear in an instant.

“I’ve changed, I will admit.” Ira nodded in acknowledgment. Beyond his physical changes, his temperament seemed calmer and more collected. “There are things that forced me to change.”

Sensing he didn’t want to speak on the subject, Avery replied, “...I won’t force you to tell me, Ira.”

“No, I’ll tell you all, just not now.”

As Ira ran into the Dark Elves who maintained the fortress, they immediately prostrated onto the ground.

“Praise the Keeper!”

“Praise the Keeper!”

The shouts grew louder as the Dark Elves found out about Ira’s arrival, he nodded or waved which caused the noise to grow even louder as they moved toward the dining hall.

“Please, do not be so loud with your praises during the dining...hour…” A Dark Elf trailed off as she looked at Ira standing in front of the door. She stood completely frozen in disbelief as he stared at her.

“Am I not allowed to enter?” Ira asked with a warm smile.

“No! No I-I meant to say, yes! Yes, Keeper! It is your home!” The Dark Elf continued nervously shouting in Ira’s face but he maintained as he gently pushed her aside and she collapsed to the ground with a look of awe.

“Thank you.” Ira nodded as he moved past her and entered the dining hall with Avery following right behind him.

The children had stopped everything they were doing and looked at Ira with blank expressions. Even Rhys was like a statue, holding a soup spoon just centimeters away from her jaw that hung open in pure shock.

“So, I take it everyone can recognize me?”

As Ira finished speaking, he found his five bodies clinging to him for dear life.

“Father!”

“Dad!”

“Is it really you?!”

“I’ve missed you, Dad!”

Perhaps the one who seemed the most excited was Liliara as she rubbed her face against Ira’s.

“Papa!” Liliara said. She normally showed the behavior of a monarch but unexpectedly addressed Ira in a childish manner while crying.

“It is me.” Ira held them, glancing at Rhys as she slowly approached.

She hesitantly reached out toward him before touching his face for confirmation.

“Seriously, it’s me,” Ira repeated another person was added to the hug.

“I’m sorry I made you all wait for so long.” Ira closed his eyes and let himself sink in the warmth of his family.