Dark Age Legends

[D. Ein]

"Trying to think of the ultimate one-liner to throw down at the light-absorbing Retan and the army below, I instead took out my M-Grid orb and dialled The Enlightenment, specifically, the Hammer's control centre.

-"Sovereign! The Hammer is fully armed and powered! If we wait any longer, it will melt!!"

Somebody else interjected over the M-Grid orb:

-"Also, our brilliant scientific minds slightly underestimated Sol's power, Sovereign. The beam is expected to last as long as thirty seconds, and the surface temperature will soar seven times above what our calculations. You'd best get inside the Citadel to avoid accidental burns."

-"I see," I muttered, heading toward the sealed door. "The final word, I suppose... Fire."

---

Whatever was left of the clouds simply vanished as the pillar of light came down. Those who didn't die of the initial heat shock slowly melted into an unrecognizable puddle, the latter evaporating momentarily. The ice below Gros Morne quickly ceased to exist as the divine beam drilled through the frozen mass. The city had a huge, gaping hole smack in the middle of it in a matter of five seconds.

However, that wasn't enough, it seems. The shining tower was still only gaining energy as it began to slowly creep down the middle of the city, literally splitting the land in half. The vast amounts of vapour rising into the atmosphere gave birth to atmospheric super cells, creating two massive hurricanes on either side of Gros Morne. The Hammer's beam continued to advance, accelerating as it went - right onto the diminutive silhouette of the Dark Emperor...

[Xorlak]

- Gros Morne -


Velkens tended to express their animalistic instincts better than humans.  Renard was a prime example of his race.  When everything went bright white, he only knew one thought.  One primal emotion.

Run!!

Tail between his legs, he turned and grabbed Riuki by her collar, then zipped out of there with ungainly Velken speed.  On his way past, he nabbed Ven's hand and dragged him through the sky with strength he did not know he had.  (Or perhaps Riuki was merely helping him.)

Everything around him burned as he succumbed to the raw primal fear that made him flee.  He shut his eyes and clenched his teeth and just went straight the fiery air.  He didn't know how long or how far he ran.  He just ran.

Eventually rational thought returned to him and he opened his eyes.  The fire was gone, and a cool ocean mist blew in his face.  The knight was far too heavy, and he slipped out of his claws, falling onto some flotsam in the ocean.  A piece of a building, perhaps?  He fell down by the human's side, utterly exhausted.

He tried to comprehend the image of the mushroom cloud far in the distance through blurry eyes.  In the distance he could hear the cry of seagulls as the floated atop the wreckage in the middle of nowhere.

What had happened...?

"Duilin..."

Tears began to streak down his face, and panic rose in his voice.  "Duilin~!"

----

"Insects."

The Dark Emperor snarled, extending his claws at the lowly forms trying to engage him.  Blackness crackled around his body, and orbs of shadow swirled around.  He opened his mouth to obliterate them all...

And then the heavens opened and light engulfed all.

Direct hit.

He had no reaction to the blast.  He was simply gone, amongst the massive incinerating fireball.  The three weapons he held flew skyward as the city exploded, taking an aura of bright white and scattering to the far ends of the globe.

Meanwhile the beam cut deep into the planet like a surgeon's knife, the resulting storms and tidal waves heading for the continents to the south...

Gaian groaned.


(Chapter ends in 5 days.)

[Dark Spartan]

//Here we go. I think I'm finally able to get back into the swing now.\

The wind howled outside, sending temperatures well below freezing.

“So much for going anywhere now,” Alex said. “We’re snowed in. To leave now isn’t smart. Once the blizzard lets up then we can move out.”

“Very well,” Midna said, reclining on thin air. “You know, we’ve always been so busy to really talk, with all the conflicts between the Kandarinians and the Twili. Why not tell me a little about yourself?”

“Probably because there’s so much to say,” Alex said. “Lemme start from the beginning. I don’t remember much about my childhood, but I do know I never met my parents. Caulus was the closest thing I had to a father.”

“He was a mage,” Midna responded. “I’m sure he wanted you to apprentice under him.”

“That’s pretty much the gist of it, but I never took too much of an interest in magic. I always wanted to fight for myself. I wanted to be a soldier.”

“And what did he think?”

“Despite respecting my decision, he insisted I learned at least a little about the magic arts. As the years passed, his physical condition worsened. He was edging close on being a hundred years old. He died when I was about seventeen.”

“That must’ve been hard,” Midna said.

“It was, for a while. Since Caulus had passed on, I didn’t know what to do with my life. I wandered around for a few years, trying out various things to get by, until one day, I was sitting in a bar, minding my own business. A big tough guy comes up to me and tells me he doesn’t like me. I told him I was sorry, and that there was nothing I could do about it.”

“So what did he say?”

“Nothing. He drew a pistol and told me I had three seconds to leave before he blew my brains out.”

“What did you do?”

“I did what I had to do. I drew my sword and cut his hand off. Then I took the pistol and shot him square between the eyes.”

“You killed him?”

“He was threatening me, I couldn’t do anything else.”

“What next?”

“Some of the other guys in the bar noticed what happened, and told me he was one of the most notorious bounty hunters on the continent. It took balls to do what I did. It was then and there that I knew what I wanted to do with life. I obviously wasn’t afraid of death, so I became a mercenary.”

“Judging from what I see around your house, it looks like you were good at your job.”

“You could say that. Full frontal assaults, recon and sabotage, assassinations, you name it, I’ve done it.”

“So you just hired yourself out? You didn’t support any faction?”

“Not really. At that point all I cared about was getting paid. Often times, as soon as I finished work for one group, I was hired by their enemy, and I destroyed what I had done for the other side. To keep from being found out by either side, I changed my identity a lot.”

“You’ve had an extensive run. Any jobs that stand out in particular?”

“There was one job, where I had been hired to protect a diplomat. What an ass.”

“You didn’t like him?”

“I tried to avoid him as much as I could while still doing my job, which wasn’t too often. He was paranoid as hell that someone was out to get him, probably someone I knew, and he would never leave his house without me escorting him.”

“What happened to him?”

“Some of the other mercs who were out of a job at the time saw this as an opportunity. Fortunately for me, this guy paid in advance for my protection, and I decided to turn a blind eye to his untimely demise. As soon as questions of his death came up, I disappeared.”

“You deliberately let him die?”

“If you had seen this guy, you would too. He wouldn’t get out of bed without knowing I was there to protect him.”

“Whatever works, I suppose.”

“Hey, I didn’t say it was the job I was most proud of.”

“So what made you decide to quit?”

“After a few years the war conflicts died down, and a lot of the other mercs were out of a job. I decided to settle down here in Glacia, safe from anyone who might have questions for me. This place is so remote, that nobody knew I lived here.”

“Truly a fascinating life story,” Midna said. She looked out the window. The snowstorm had died down from whiteout to flurries now. “We should get going. The capital’s not going to destroy itself.”

[Dude Man]

- Gros Morne -


Duilin saw the dragon open his mouth, completely oblivious to the giant beam of light coming down, he pointed the Iduran at the inside of it's mouth, ready to shove his blade into the inside of the beast...

Rink looked up, noticing what was going on and then disappeared in a plume of smoke...

And then everything stopped, and there was a dead silence.

---

Lagart ran away as fast as he could from the blasting beam of light, he jumped and dived for cover. He dropped the vial of liquid and it rolled off out of his sight.

The lizard man shielded himself, dust and heat brushed against him. He could feel the burn on his clothing and his skin. He hopped it would heal, he doesn't like skin burns.

He looked up and saw the Velkens and Ven were safe. But what about Duilin and Rink? He was still too afraid to get up.

---

That light, the blinding light. What just happened? It looked like the gods just stomped down, and crushed Retan. I could have done it myself, why couldn't I?

Did I just get killed? Did I just allow myself to be killed, for nothing? After all that determination, after everything I put in. Some huge beam of light just rips him apart, and I was too close to get away.

What about Rink? He was pretty close too. Is Rink okay? I don't even know if I'm okay and here I am worring about Rink.

I love that guy, I really do. He's done so much for me. I don't know what I'd do without him.

I hope I'm going to be okay. Bell, loves me so much, I barely even know why, but I can't die happy knowing she'll be stricken with such greif. And not just Bell, but everyone. Rink, Ven, Renard I'll bet even Ben will be pretty upset. I haven't known a lot of them for very long, but I love them all so much...

---

Bell was running from the ship, into the destroyed Gros Morne streets. Her face was drenched in tears. She hear Renard cry out Duilin's name, and she assumed the worse.

"Duilin!!"

Lagart got up on his feet and limped towards Renard and Bell, but nearly fell on his face after a few steps.

"Where is he?"

Lagart looked back, at the huge burning crater, which looked like it had completely nothing left alive in it. He looked really worried as he turned back at Bell. "I..uh...don't think he..."

Bell then held the giant lizard man in a huge and started crying. "No..."

Lagart gently patted her on the head. "It be okay." He held out his other arm, inviting the Velken for some comfort, who looked grief stricken.

[Xorlak]

- Gros Morne Ruins -


"Duilin!"

Renard raced through the air, back towards the city, or rather where he thought it once was.  There was nothing left.  Even the thick layers of ice the capital was built upon was blasted away, leaving a smooth sheen that grew steeper and steeper towards the impact point.  He recognized the human woman Bell and the Lizard Man Lagart consoling each other, and he absolutely knew the worst had happened.

Or had it?  Had Duilin just sacrificed himself to destroy Retan?  Or was that light something else?  Was there any other way he could possibly had been defeated?  He floated there for a moment, a myriad of questions racing through his mind.  One thing he was sure of, and that was the sick feeling in his stomach.

Victory shouldn't have felt this awful.

He landed next to the two and turned at the rumbling sound behind him.  Perking his ears towards the distance, he spotted a small black airship headed their way.  Panic filled his heart for a moment, as he tried to discern who was aboard the ship by feeling their auras.  But he could not.  It was as if the very polarity of Gaian had been disturbed by the blast so greatly that the normally readable stream of energies had turned into a violent confusing waterfall...

[Drannic_Lord01]

/Sorry I'm having trouble keeping up. Work is hell right now.

- Gros Morne, rubble -

"Damn it all. I was able to deflect the blast from myself, but now I'm powerless." Ben fell to his feet. His color returned to normal, except that the demon side of him was gone, along with his wings. He heard the other's grieve for Duilin, then looked back at the battlefield... or where it once stood.

"Rest easy, Duilin. My the gods find you worthy of a better place than Gaian." A few small tears trickled down Ben's face. He limped over to the others. His head was severely messed up with all of the energy that surrounded the destroyed Gros Morne. It was as if it blocked his senses; and apparently all the others' senses as well.

"He's in a better place, Bell." Jacobie appeared under a pile of rubble near by. The entire city was utterly lost to the power of the divines. But was Retan really defeated?

"I'm going to return to my love and get outta here. Good luck, guys." Jacobie headed for the airship. In some of his time working with the empire, he'd been around a few people who worked in the skyward division. Hopefully, he'd be able to pilot the ship back to where ever they wanted.

// Jacobie is now inactive.

[Dude Man]

- Gros Morne -

"Don't say that Ben!" Bell cried. "He's not gone! He can't be gone!"

Lagart patted her on the head, as Bell still hugged him, not saying a word.

Bell opened her eyes, and noticed something; it looked like a cyclone of smoke swirling together. She let go of Lagart and stepped towards it. The lizard man turned to see what it was.

The smoke then started to take a familiar shape. Swirling together, faster and faster. Then finally there stood Rink, still in his high imp form, holding Duilin's motionless body, in his 'half-way' form.

"Duilin~!!"

Rink then put Duilin on the ground and then nearly passed out, falling to his knees and then rested his head on the ground next to Duilin's body. He then shrunk back to his normal form, and opened his eyes, and started breathing deeply.

"Rink..." Bell said to the imp, almost smiling.

"I used my teleportation spell..." Rink said gasping after speaking the words. "But...it was distorted by that beam."

Bell went down to Duilin's body and held it. His skin was mostly burnt on his right side; his right wing seemed to be fine, likely because he got harmed in his human form. "Duilin...please don't die..."

"It might not be too late to save him..." Rink assured. "...He was able to regenerate most of the damage he got in that millisecond before I grabbed him when teleporting..." Rink coughed a few times.

"Will you be okay?" Bell asked, not wanting to sound like he was ignoring him.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." Rink closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then opened his eyes again and looked at the others. "But you need to do something quickly. I'm not sure any basic healing spells or potions will work. But he still has some life left in him. We've just got to spark it back up before we loose him..."

[Xorlak]

- Gros Morne Ruins -


"Spark it back up?"  Renard looked perplexed.  He scratched the back of his head.  "How do you suppose we do that?"

"By giving him some of our own energy."  Ven snapped from behind.  Somehow he had stumbled all the way back to the ruins, looking like he was going to fall over any minute. Hunched over, he tripped and the Velken rushed to catch him.

[ElderScrollinIt]

- Gros Morne -

"I feel so weary... Ugh, my head." Ko'ji stumbled around a couple of times like a drunkard. She then regained some of her balance and focus, and was able to steadily hold herself still.

"I can give him some energy," she then mentioned after Rink spoke, "I've not much left to give, but whatever I have, I shall." Ko'ji then knelt down by Bell and placed a hand on Duilin's chest. Energy could be seen in all colors as it left her body and entered his.

"I might pass out... but I'll be ok... I just need a place to rest." It was as she'd said. Ko'ji became a lifeless mass and fell on her back. Her breathing was steady though. She was merely knocked out.

[D. Ein]

- Gros Morne Ruins -

"Like I'd kill myself... Honestly. I've faced tough times in life, but I've never even thought of... Bah, who am I kidding. Life has not yet offered a challenge difficult enough for me to even become seriously worried.

I bet the whole lot of them, whoever is still down there, think they've gotten rid of me. Well, they should just keep at it, then."

---

It was unusually bright in the Arctic Region. Even the charred rift in the middle, created by the Sovereign's Hammer, was shining with droplets of water. The clouds retreated far away from the impact site, creating an enormous circle of azure blue sky above where Gros Morne used to be.

Just as it seemed that the tortured land found peace at last, the earth shook again. A terrible sound, similar to that of groaning metal, spilt outwards from the chasm. The triangular shadow engulfed the land, as the Citadel rose above the ground, its earth-binding chains severed from its sides. Once elevated to a certain level, the structure began floating away - somewhere to the North-North-West - while filling the air with the humming of massive flotation crystals and the dull scraping of stone bricks.

//End chapter for me.\

[Drannic_Lord01]

- Gros Morne Ruins -

"Heh, it appears he's alive after all..." Ben walked towards Duilin and held a hand out above him. His hand glowed a faint white and an orb shot out from his body. The orb floated down to Duilin and gently entered his body.

"That's all the energy I have left... all that I can spare, in any case."

------------

[Dude Man]

Okay, what's up with all this light? First I was blinded by this huge bright white light and then everything went dark.
 
Then there was nothing. I think I actually saw nothing. I can't remember it.

But yeah, now there are these colours all over the place? A bunch of colours, all sorts of colours and then some more white.

God, I really hope everyone is okay...

--- ---

- Gros Morne -


Duilin's fingers started to twitch and there was some slow breathing, but he was still unconscious and needed just a bit more energy.

"It's working!" Bell cried.

"We're almost done..." Rink said. "Just a little more..."

Rink placed his hand on Duilin's chest.

"Ven...Renard..." He said weakly to the two standing above him.

[Drannic_Lord01]

------------

"Sir, shouldn't we take a ship back to Ariosis? I'm getting rather bored with Tjed. I miss my family."

"Quit whining. You don't think I miss my family, too?"

"I know you do sir, that's why we need to go back! King Henri is dead now, what kind of negotiations could you possibly make with Tjed?"

"I want Tjed to become a part of the empire. We will not have full control over them, but we will be able to command their army in a time of need, as well as force trade. Not quite force trade prices, but trade none-the-less."

"Ah. You plan to destroy the Dark Empire?"

"Indeed I do. With all of our senses fucked up like this, I don't see how conquering a few kingdoms or soverignties without harm could do us any real damage. I need as many people to join the Ario Empire as I possibly can!"

"But sir, wouldn't it be a better idea to use force?"

"The one means that wins the easiest victory over reason may very well be terror and force, but that is not our way. I though I told you this already!"

"Yes, sir, but what of the elves in the forrest? If you cannot even control your own forrest, how can you control islands separated by sea?"

"I do control Nurngar. Let's just say the elf king was... put out of comission."

"You... killed him?"

"Oh heavens, no. I merely persuaded him to let go of his post as king and join the empire. For some reason, he eagerly obliged. Perhapse his rule was wearing him out. You do know that he is five hundred years old, correct?"

"Yes, sir. The elves are immortal, but may still be killed."

"Actually, no. No elf has lived longer than the king. They are not immortal, they just live more than six times longer than humans. He's at the end of his rope, actually."

"You mean... he's going to die anyways?"

"Yes. He has lived quite a very long life, you know. It will be an even longer one should he accept the offer made to him by the Gaian Republic."

"Wait a second, what's the Gaian Republic?"

"It is the name of the Union I've started. While Dranniville may be a part of the empire, the forrests of Nurngar aren't a full part of the empire. The king's son is a minister in the Gaian Republic. If I can get the Tjedian King's heir to become a minister, then Tjed will not be a part of the empire, but a part of the Republic."

"Hmm... sounds crazy enough to work. What about any other places? I know there has to be another area besides Tjed with free people!"

"Yes, in the Arctic region. There are three more kingdoms set up there, actually. One is ruled by a mad liche, another is ruled by an immortal vampire, and the third is ruled by my brother. The names of the kingdoms are Vos, Tel Vos, and Kandarin. Vos should be easy enough, I merely need go there and ask my brother to be a minister. Tel Vos may be a bit harder, but hopefully, I'll be able to pull through. Kandarin will be the most difficult yet."

"How are we going to pull this off without a ship!?"

"You are wrong, my friend. I've had the citizens of this port start building already. I've also got the crystals of lordship. I merely need give a minister one of these and he will be able to control a part of the crystal cave. If they just so happen to need more crystals, they just cast a spell on the crystal and it will duplicate. However, the crystals will respond to me over them. They must ask me first. When I allow it, they will seem more rich than ever."

"All this time you were using enchantments? So these crystals are fake? That sure explains a lot, but what of the duplicate crystals? Do they respond to magic?"

"No, only the original pieces from the crystal caves will respond. That is why I shal give the ministers a piece of the true crystal."

"How will we get Tjed to join the Republic?"

"I haven't the slightest clue, but don't worry. Ven will be back soon. I'll just ask him. The ministers don't all have to be leaders. I'm going to ask a few other fellows as well. Virmir is among them, along with Valimore, Kronos, Seymore, Duilin, Lagart, Jacobie, Galery, and the list continues."

"Who are all those people?"

"Valimore leads Tel Vos, whilst my brother, Seymore, leads Vos. They have an alliance, so it will be an easy cross if I just go into Vos first, then cross over to Tel Vos. Kronos is the Soverign of Kandarin, and the rest are all extremely skilled. We may as well get started. The ship is completed. Gather the Elite."

"Yes sir!"

------------

[Xorlak]

- Gros Morne Ruins -


Renard put his hand on Duilin's chest and Ven followed suit, putting his hand over the fox's.

They were interrupted by a rumbling sound, and the looming shadow of a black airship hovered over them.  Ten blurring figures dove down from the open hatch and surrounded the group.

"Renard, if you would lead us in casting an energy transfer circle."

Renard's eyes widened at Virmir's voice, but there was too little time to be surprised.  He hovered a few inches above the ground as Helix and the other Battle mages formed a circle around Duilin's body.  A bright white star formed in the air, their claws connected by glowing lines.  Virmir, Anslem, and the other Blade Knights put their hands into the ethereal shape floating above the half demon.  Bryce took Ven's arm and showed him how to donate some of his own power through the circle.

After a moment of bright flashes and sparkly lights, the spell faded and Renard anxiously hovered over Duilin's body.

"He will be fine.  Give him a moment," Virmir said, placing a claw upon Renard's shoulder.  The former High General of the Dark Empire turned and placed his hands behind his back, staring to the south.

"Our work here is done."

Renard's ears drooped.  "Welkin... Our home... it's gone, isn't it?"

Virmir nodded.

Helix and Anselm gently lifted the unconscious Riuki off the ground.

Renard sighed.  "Where will we go now?"

"No way the humans will ever accept us..."  Helix interjected.

"Or most other races, for that matter." Anselm said solemnly.  "Our will or not, we've destroyed a great many lives in this world...."

Virmir folded his arms, his tail slowly snaking behind him.  "We will live out of the humans' way.  Our paths need not cross ever again."  He pointed to the south.  "The fire mage Draven had a floating island.  Similar to the ones back home.  It is uninhabited as far as we know.  We will build our new home there."

[Dude Man]

- Gros Morne Ruins -


Duilin's eyes started to slowly twitch, until they finally opened.

"Wha...what happened?" Duilin asked.

"Duilin!" Bell cried in joy and hugged him.

"Whoa." Duilin laughed. "What happened? Did we beat him?"

"Sort of." Rink replied getting up and looking in the sky. "Something, I don't know what it was. But something killed Retan."

"So, we risked ourselves for nothing?" Duilin asked, sounding a little upset.

"Well, I wouldn't say so." Rink assured, looking at the group. "Retan would have likely detected that beam and flew off, if we weren't there to divert his attention."

"Yeah...I guess so." Duilin grinned and then sat up. "Ooo..." He then rubbed his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Bell asked in concern.

"Nothing, I just need to lay down." Duilin did so, and took a deep breath. "Well...I'm glad everyone's okay. So what happened? Like, to me?"

"You were almost burnt up by that beam." Rink explained. "But I was able to teleport us both out, before it did too much damage. Yet, there was part of a split second where you were exposed to the beam. We almost lost you." Rink then motioned to everyone. "But all of us gave you an energy transfer."

"Well, thank you. All of you." Duilin smiled. "So, what are you guys going to do now?" He asked the Velkens.

Virmir then explained they would make their home in Draven's old castle. Apparently Draven must have been killed by Retan earlier.

Good riddance, Duilin supposed.

Duilin then got Bell and Lagart to help him up. He had his arms around both of them.

"Renard." He said his Velken friend. "I want you to know that I'm not angry at you for what you did. I understand why you and your friends wish to isolate yourselves because it's true that the others won't accept you. But I will, so if you ever need me to do anything in the future, I'll do my best to help."

---

Vandrin slowly and carefully walked through the ruins. It was amazing he just had to see the damage. Many other Kandarins who survived started to crowd around and pick up things.

"By the gods. This is...kinda cool." Vandrin smirked. Then something caught his eye, it was partially burried underneath some rubble. It appeared to be a vial of some sort.

He walked over towards it, and picked it up. It was a glass vial, surprisingly it wasn't fully broken, but it had some chips and cracks on it. It would likely need a new container. He looked at the contents inside. It was an eerie blood red liquid, he looked into it, there was definitely some sort of power inside this.

"Hmm." He looked at the vial a little longer, but then he spotted a crowd of people, he thought he recognized one or two of them. He felt a little uncomfortable. He pocketed the vial and then walked off.

--- ---

- Somewhere in the Dark Continent -

Valos had a shovel and was digging a hole in the ground.

"Lousy demons. Lousy drakens. Lousy everything." He rambled as he dug. "I hate them all. They're all after me. They'll never get me. None of them."

There was a rapid rustling sound, which quickly stopped as Valos looked up where he thought he heard the voice.

"What was that?" Valos asked himself.

"It was nothing, you're just being paranoid." He replied, to himself.

"Fuck off. I'm not paranoid. I've seen those demons. They actually ARE after me damnit."

"They don't care about you. Besides, you are half demon aren't you?"

"No, I'm not! My father was no demon. I have no father."

"Yes you do. Don't deny it."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!! I HATE YOU!!!"

Valos then chucked his shovel several yards and then grabbed his head and then curled up in the ground. "They can't find me. They won't get me!"

"Well...if they really are coming for you. Why don't you just hunt them down? Kill them before they kill you?"

Valos stood up. "Yes...Yes!" He then climbed out of his hole and then clenched his fists and raised them high over his head. "YEEEAAEES!" He then broke into an insane laugher that echoed throughout the field...

--- ---

- Arctic Region -

A large black scaled wyvern was standing on a hunk of ice drinking the freezing cold water. It didn't seem to even notice the cold. The black scaled beast then lifted its head and then looked up in the air with it's piercing green glowing eyes. The wyvern then took off and flew into the sky...

A tall black robed man was watching the black wyvern and stared at it, as it flew off into the distance.

"Alright, break time's over." The robed man said. "Now let's find this boy the big daddy was talking about..." He then floated off towards the northwest...

--- ---

//A few minutes later...\

- Gros Morne Ruins -

"Well, that sure was educational." Duilin said, still laying on the ground. "I may have almost died and have very little muscle movement left, but I honestly never felt so alive."

"Really?" Bell asked, laying down next to him.

"I just faced Retan. I made that guy know that no matter how big he thinks he is, that people will always step up to him. I think he had a very unpleasant time before he died, and I'm glad to say it's all my fault." Duilin said half jokingly.

Rink, Lagart and Bell laughed.

"Yeah, but as I was laying there. When I thought I was dieing, I felt worried. Not because I was going to die, but well. Because I knew you guys would miss me. Especially you Bell. I couldn't die happy knowing that you'd be upset."

"That's sweet." Bell smiled. "I...I love you Duilin.

"I love you too." Duilin and Bell then kissed.

"Blah. Get a room!" Rink snapped.

The couple laughed. And then looked back up in the sky.

"I don't want to be a downer. But I still feel like we're not just done yet." Duilin said. "I'm not going to retire just yet. I think I'll at least be able to slow things down. Maybe get a nice place to live. Perhaps there might be a place for me as a General or something."

"You going to join Tjed?" Lagart asked.

"Maybe. I'm thinking we might need to start something new. Like maybe some sort of alliance. Like I'm sure there are some other good nations out there. If we can organize everything then maybe that'd prevent more wars breaking out, and massive takeovers."

"We definitely will have a lot of work to do then." Rink replied. "But hey, that's not such a bad idea." Rink looked up in the sky.

"Not such a bad idea at all..."

//teh end 4 me.\