Year 55

You always were one to defy the odds, but you knew it could only end like this.

Luck certainly played a large factor in your favor at the beginning. First off the invasion rumors were still just rumors for quite a while. It gave you and Lena more time to prepare and it was definitely preparation that was needed.

By the time the eternal warlord Victor sent anyone to establish dominance, most of the population had actually been motivated to help. This was mostly thanks to Lena again, as well others she recruited. Victor's first attempt was surprisingly diplomatic, as he sent in an ambassador of sorts along with a company of his troops in Sinkhole. There was an attempt to talk the Delergites into just capitulating with assurances that no harm would come to them if they had. Ultimately these empty promises were wasted and with your help, the first battle of Delerg was a crushing defeat for Victor. There was a lot of celebrating afterwards.

You knew it was just the beginning though.

The first few years were a back and forth guerilla war. Victor immediately seized Sinkhole and made it his base of operations. Battles were fought throughout the swamp and jungle. Some of the villages were occupied during this time, but there was still hope.

Then came the moment you knew was going to happen and that's when Victor got tired of playing nice.

Losing way more troops and spending a lot more time than he wanted to, Victor started making demands that if the Delergites didn't surrender immediately he was going to set the whole province to the torch. He also wanted you personally to be delivered to him dead or alive. He probably assumed that since you were a shadow, you were actually the main one responsible for leading this thing.

There were a couple attempts to assault your home, but you had made sure it was a death trap for anyone even entering the nearby area, let alone the ruins themselves. The other attempt was to surround the area to at least contain you, but that didn't really work either considering you just used a different access route that you made years ago and they'll probably never find that one since its nowhere near the ruins and you have to actually swim underwater to access it.

Eventually an order was given to just try to kill you on sight when possible and that the subjugation of Delerg was the main priority.

To her credit Lena managed to maintain the Delergites' enthusiasm of resisting Victor and most continued to fight, but heart alone isn't enough sometimes. Victor just sent in more troops and began to make good on his promises of setting the province on fire. Village after village burned. Those that weren't killed were taken away, probably in slavery.

Things got so grim that you briefly pondered the idea of praying to Dendrin for help if only to try to get your shadow magic back, but given that it didn't save Talia, you saw no reason to bother. Dendrin even told you not to bother, as he knew you'd never be a believer. Apparently your mere lip service would no longer be sufficient at this point.

Dendrin did suggest that you attempt to convert others to the shadow religion though and he'd be more than willing to grant them powers providing they went through all the normal procedures. You laughed at that idea, you're no missionary and had no time to bother with whatever self-serving plan Dendrin was hatching. Besides, the Delergites weren't interested in anything else except surviving the next attack by Victor, they were already committed to one "cause" and that was more than enough.

And now here you are in Lena's village, the last stand of the Delerg resistance. It doesn't much resemble a village anymore so much as it resembles a small walled fort now. And when Victor's forces attack again, it'll resemble a smoldering ruin.

As you look around the village through the rain you see so many wounded and many more just plain exhausted. Things weren't even this bad for them under the Empire during its last days. They weren't even this bad under Brutus' gang.

This is what fighting the good fight has brought them. Death for those that resist and slavery for those that gave up long ago. All of them have to be thinking or have already thought at one time: "Was it worth it?" Some probably think no. Some probably think yes. And they'd both be right.

It's definitely what you think and have thought in the past.

The difference is you know that YOU can survive this. You'll live to fight another day. Its what you've always done and it'll probably what you'll continue to do until some lucky bastard manages to kill you. Who knows? Maybe that day is sooner than you think.

You really aren't worried about yourself though; lately you've been slightly more concerned about someone else.

And it isn't Lena.

"Hey Uncle Shadow, are the invaders coming today?" Tulla walks up and asks you seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's raining.

You have no idea where she got the idea to call you "uncle shadow", but she's been doing it for so long now that you don't bother to tell her not to anymore.

"Probably not in this rain. Victor's soldiers are still going to need a catapult or battering ram to get through the gates. They aren't going to be able to drag one of those things here in the mud at least not effectively. Not just mud either, but water as well; the rivers and marsh are overflowing because of the rain. If you look down there you can see we've practically got a small moat around us. No my guess is they'll wait for the rains to stop and then a few days after so the water level drops." You explain while fixing your hood over your head.
"And then they'll attack?"
"Yes, and then they'll probably attack."
"And will we win again?"

You don't answer; instead you motion Tulla to the overhanging roof at a nearby sleeping house.

"Didn't your mother teach you to come in out of the rain?" you say shaking off your own water soaked tunic.
"I like the rain. It feels nice." Tulla remarks.

It's funny to see how Tulla was brought up in such a warzone yet she maintains an innocent sense of appreciation for simple things like rain.

"Where is your mother anyway? Shouldn't she be looking out for you?"
"Oh you know her, she's busy a lot making plans with people to fight the bad people that attack us. It's boring to sit there."
"Perhaps, but you still should stay near her. Its not exactly safe out here."
"But I am safe, because you're here and you're a great warrior! Mommy says so!"
"Hmm. I'll bet, but I'm also busy and I can't keep an eye on you all the time."
"I'll bet you can! Mommy says that you're also the fastest warrior here!"
"Mommy talks a lot about me to you does she?"
"Yes! She says that you're a lot more useful than daddy was."

You don't even know how to respond to that. You always figured that even if Lena never did truly "love" Henry, you always thought she at least respected and cared for him. Henry wasn't a bad guy; he just wasn't cut out for fighting. It's certainly not his fault that he died trying to defend this village. He's only been dead a year and it really doesn't seem right that she's bad mouthing him to their daughter like this. Its not really right that she's always been so distant to Tulla in general, but you've never understood that.

Or maybe you do.

Lena's deluded herself that she's always pursued this resistance because it's about defending her family, other families and the homeland from tyranny, and it is to an extent. But her real reasons? She still hasn't let go of the hate she has for eternals and she wants to kill as many as possible before she dies. (Never mind the fact that it's mostly other humans actually making up the rank and file of Victor's troops and Vic himself isn't anywhere near the battlefield)

In the scheme of things she never really wanted a family because as far as she was concerned her family died when she was a little girl and all that was left was the hatred that burned within. Everyone else to her is a secondary concern. You might be the exception because you managed to better focus her rage and possibly even quell the fire of it a bit.

Who knows what might've happened had you taken Lena as some sort of youthful substitute for Talia. Who knows what might've happened had Victor not invaded. Would Lena still have insisted on her vendetta?

You don't know and it isn't important because it's the past and now is the present. She has obviously chosen a path and its not one you're going down because you're not responsible for her. You've helped as much as you could and you're done.

Still, while it probably won't do any good, part of you feels like you should go confront Lena before you leave.

You just leave

You're not wasting any more time with Lena or stretching this out any longer than you have to. You begin to leave.

"Uncle Shadow where are you going?" Tulla asks.
"Home. And I suggest that's where you go. Tell your mother if she's got any sense of self preservation left she'll get you and herself out of here too."
"But aren't you staying to help us fight the bad men?" Tulla asks, not fully understanding the situation.

"No, I'm not. (sigh) I'm sorry Tulla, but even if you don't realize it yet you've been dealt a bad hand in life. If your mother doesn't flee soon like I think she won't then I can only tell you one last thing."

You put your hand on Tulla's shoulder and look her in the eyes.

"When the bad men come, you HIDE. Find a safe place and hide, and then run when you're able. Even if you see or hear them doing bad things to your mother you continue to run or hide. They won't show mercy and they will do bad things to you as well. If you want to survive, you will listen to me."

It's a cold hard truth and Tulla just stares at you with the rain continuing to pour down on the pair of you. You think she's probably more upset that you're leaving than anything else you've told her. You can't do anything for her though except hope that she absorbs your advice.

As you start to leave, you briefly consider taking Tulla with you, but you dismiss the idea. You already "took in" one young girl in trouble and you can see how that turned out. You're no parental figure and you're not responsible for Tulla either.

Your journey back home is an uneventful one. When you finally arrive you immediately head to the garden.

"I'm back Talia. For good this time, as I don't believe I'll be making many more trips topside."

The silence continues to question you.

"Why? Well because I'm done with it all that's why. I mean I tried to relive the thrill of battle and that only has a temporary effect on my good mood, eventually it just gets boring. I've explored most of lands and found nothing of interest save for hostile people and unfriendly terrain. I've helped those in need and it only serves to either make their situations worse or prolong the inevitable. What's the point of it all? I've come to realize that down here with you is where I belong and it's where I shall stay for the rest of my life. However long that happens to be."

After telling all this to Talia, you feel like a great weight has been lifted off of you. It feels good to no longer have to worry about anyone other than yourself again. You excuse yourself to Talia and head off to your bedroom to get some much-needed sleep…

"While I appreciate that you finally had the common sense to abandon a hopeless cause I'm a little concerned by your return to a hermit life style." Dendrin remarks.
"Yeah, well I would think by now that you'd know I don't really care about your opinions on my life."
"But you can still be so much more, or at least you could still be destined for greater things. I see that, how come you don't?"
"Maybe I don't want to be destined for such things even if they are true? Maybe I'm happy just spending the rest of my life here? What difference does it make? Besides I'm sure my so-called destiny would only serve to benefit you in some way so that's not exactly a motivator either. And if you don't like what I'm doing or you no longer find that I provide you with the amusement that your own pathetic existence so desperately craves then you can fucking leave me alone."
"Very well Eternal. I can see I should waste no more time with you. My only regret is I did not see your inadequacies sooner. Perhaps I should've picked someone more motivated. Oh well. Time to move on."

And with that, you never hear from Dendrin ever again. You also never go to the surface again.

 as they always do. You more or less keep yourself occupied by writing in your journal and speaking with Talia. It's not much stimuli, but don't seem to mind it at first. In time though you begin to get a little more detached from reality. You begin adding new people to speak with, such as arguing with Cyrus on a regular basis about how his tactics will not work against an Empire encampment or laughing at Murk on his latest tale of how he's failed to woo Bianca.

In other words, you practically go mad. One moment you're fully aware of your surroundings and living in the present, the next you're living in the past again. You've created your own reality and aren't leaving it anytime soon.

You continue like this for a few more decades until you eventually die as the mad hermit you are, and like most mad hermits, you leave no lasting presence in the world.