Year 55

Another clear night and you look out across the Arat border from the fort roof knowing that the ED could invade soon…though you've been waiting for about five years now. If anything you'd wish that they'd hurry up and do it or as you've often suggested to Klemto, that you strike at the ED first.

He of course claims he's still trying to sway the royals to do such a thing, most importantly the king. Seems the gnomes are still playing tug of war with their puppet strings. You suggested that a few assassinations would do the trick, but Klemto was a little upset at you for that suggestion.

In any case Klemto better hurry up and get this war started, because more anti-gnome groups are starting to pop up and it's getting harder to keep them quiet, especially since they aren't wrong about their accusations.

As for you, you're a major now and you're not only in charge of Fort Soot, but the entire Gan province as far as military is concerned. You've been busying yourself with having the soldiers keep to their patrols and training. Instilling the same routines that you did at Fort Green. Your results have been more or less just as successful. Dawn is still your second, though she's a captain now and she's more of a concern to you than any potential war right now.

You really should've transferred her to another fort, as she's certainly competent enough to run one and even during the gnoll war you suspected that she had feelings for you that were more than just a professional respect. The problem is, you had feelings for her too and by the time both of you admitted them to each other it unleashed itself in a night of passion. This wasn't like what happened between you and Alison at Fort Destiny though, you didn't separate love and sex from each other and now you're too attached to Dawn to have her transferred.

It hasn't been an excessive problem in day-to-day operations, but to you it's a definite weakness on your part. You don't even know how the hell you can even feel love as you've never really experienced it before, but then you remember Brenda and Roldan and they did. They even worked together and married. Perhaps you're over thinking it.

Speaking of Brenda, you've finally got information on what she's been up to thanks to Warrick's intelligence gathering missions. She's apparently still in charge of all of the Nalin province and the only other Eternal that has equal rank to Edgar. She joined the Eternal Dominion years ago when Edgar came to her in Nalin, but Warrick has told you that she isn't happy with the situation. Warrick has said that she is willing to give out Edgar's plans and troops movements. So far they've been updating their equipment and consolidating their territory still. She claims that Edgar has his sights on either re-conquering Rask or invading the Felkan Kingdom, but nothing is certain yet. The big thing is Edgar has actually managed to completely unite the new eternals under a doctrine that only they are fit to rule and new generations of eternals are still being trained. You have to say, you're a little impressed by his accomplishments.

Edgar a despot, Warrick a brainwashed spy, Brenda a traitorous informant and you in charge of an army that was once an enemy. If someone told you when you were fresh out of Gruz's training school that this is how the four of you would end up, you never would've believed it.

"Roldan, Gerald…Kane, I can only imagine what you're thinking as you watch us all from wherever you are." You say out loud, briefly thinking about the good old days when things were simpler.

You stop with the nostalgia to return to your room to get some rest, where you find Dawn sleeping. You try not to wake her, but you're doomed to failure. She moves over to cuddle next to you.

"Go back to sleep." You tell her.
"Hey, if you're here, who's in charge of the fort?" she groggily asks.
"Lieutenant Baker."
"Him? Ugh, I better go on duty…"
"Hey come back to bed. He's capable of handling it, besides, it's not like anything is going on."
"I guess so. I just feel more comfortable with you or me in charge."
"Yeah, well you've been working too hard anyway. You probably need more rest than anyone, so go back to sleep."
"Mmmm, I'm up now, but if you'd like me to stay in bed, we could do something else…" Dawn says rubbing your chest and kissing the side of your face.

Yeah, you've been over thinking the possible downsides of this relationship too much lately. You take Dawn up on her offer and have fun living for the moment rather than pondering the past or concerning yourself about future.

The next morning you return to your duties as usual. For most of the day it looks like it's going to be another routine one, and that's when you get an unexpected visit from Klemto. When he arrives in your office, he has a slight frown in his face.

"I'm suspecting bad news." You say.
"Well, it's fifty fifty I suppose. Warrick has just given me news that Edgar is planning on attacking the Rask frontier. Not exactly sure how long it'll take him, before he sets his sights on us again though. There isn't really a government system in place there, it's more of a collection of isolated towns relying on mercs to keep monsters at bay from what I'm told."
"Edgar and I were both stationed at Rask for many years. He's got the advantage of knowing the area and everything else, but he also has to know that the place tends towards lawlessness. He might be able to easily conquer towns, but the manpower involved in keeping them under control is a constant drain. Not to brag, but if it hadn't been for me keeping a tight leash on things there, the Empire would've never gotten control of it as well as they did.
"Heh, well the ED has several eternals to keep a tight leash on it as you say."
"And those eternals aren't me."
"Well, you seem to be in proud mood today."
"Just stating the facts."
"I see, well in any case that brings me to the next bit of news. You may be getting a transfer soon."
"Transfer? Why?"
"Well the king and several others have always been uncomfortable with you in charge of the armies here on the frontlines as you probably know. It's only due to the threat of the potential invasion and my circle's influence that we managed to keep you in power here."
"Are you fucking kidding me? After all their worrying about an invasion for years, you mean they're suddenly not anymore, because Edgar's attacking Rask? That's pretty fucking short sighted." You say.
"No, the intention is to still keep up the defenses here and keep the same procedures you set in place of course, but just uh, replace you."
"Right, because I could suddenly raise an army and try to overthrow the throne at any given time…fuck. I thought you were supposed to calm those fears!"
"I tried! I really did! I mean I think I'm lucky we accomplished what we did! And I tried to fight for you on this too, but it's just too much now and they want you gone. It'll make everyone feel better."
"Yes, everyone but me obviously."
"Hey you've always claimed to be a soldier dedicated to the kingdom for good or bad. Isn't this one of those times where you stepping down quietly to make everyone feel better would be best for the kingdom, instead of causing a fuse and potentially causing more problems?"
"So I accept this, and then what happens? Where am I getting transferred to? Some fort in the middle of nowhere again?"
"Well, that's just it, you're kind of going to be transferred to the uh…private sector. Are you familiar the merchant's guild at the capital? Well, you'll be the new head of security there!" Klemto says trying to make it sound impressive.

You can't believe this.

"Are you telling me I'm not even going to be part of the damn army anymore? I'm just going to be a glorified guard?"
"You'll be well paid and get a better place to stay than this dreary fort!"
"You know I don't give a shit about all that, I'm a warrior! I want to fight!"
"And that's still an option! I mean it's not like you'll be sitting around doing nothing. In fact with the guild could use a little extra protection since the rise in anti-gnomism going on lately."
"Trust me, there's some of that going on here too, right now."

Klempto seems like he wants to pat your arm reassure you, but decides better of it.

"Look, I'm sorry about all this. It sucks I know, but the popular opinion is just not in our favor. That's why we want you at the guild; most of my faction of likeminded fellows are there. We think we could still remedy this later."
"You'd think with all your influence and control of the economy you'd be able to do something about this now."
"Yes, well it isn't as easy as you think."
"Yeah, well it could be." You say.

Klempto musters up all his courage and points a finger at you.

"And I don't want to hear you talking like that anymore! I know what you're implying and the answer is no! Unlike you humans, we gnomes don't kill one another despite our disagreements! Now I suggest you prepare for your transfer, take care of all your affairs here and a carriage will come and get you in a few days. I suppose you'll want that Dawn girl to take over here, which will be acceptable. I managed to convince the opposition of that."
"Gee, thanks for small favors."

At this point Klemto just backs away from you and begins to leave, before he does though he speaks once more.

"Y'know, you shouldn't really see this as a bad thing. I mean think about how old you are getting. You humans don't have that high of a life span. Shouldn't you want to start slowing down on the war and battle a bit and start concentrating on enjoying your approaching elderly years?"
"If you're still trying to convince me you're failing miserably, because that's the biggest load of shit I've ever heard for several reasons that I'm not even going to get into. But I'll address the age thing briefly. Yeah I know I'm not twenty, but I fucking know I'm still a better warrior than any of the soldiers under my command, let alone an average Felkan soldier. And while you keep saying I'm human, I'm not. I'm a fucking Eternal. We're better than a normal human and when the ED invades they're going to SHOW you that they are mainly because they aren't afraid to do whatever it kill their enemies, unlike you lot."

Sensing he better leave this time, Klemto quickly runs off out of your office, leaving you to ponder your situation. Just last night you were feeling good in the arms of Dawn, and now you got a bunch of shit shoved at you that you're supposed to just sit and eat it.

It's enough for you to attack the Eternal Dominion anyway

You disobey orders

You wouldn't have gotten promoted if you hadn't reported Captain Eckers, and you wouldn't have gotten this command if you hadn't took it upon yourself to launch an attack on the gnolls. The fact is, throughout most of your life, you've followed orders, but it's only when you've taken matters into your own hands on important decisions that you've gotten anywhere.

Why should this time be any different?

For one thing, just because there are reports that the ED aren't planning an invasion any time soon, doesn't mean that's true. Not that you doubt Warrick's skills as a spy, but there's always a possibility that false information is being leaked intentionally and that someone is on to him. Hell, maybe its even Brenda pretending to be on his side, you don't know.

The other thing is even if the info is true it's not like they couldn't still invade during or after their invasion of Rask. And it would be better to catch THEM off guard instead of the other way around, because you're pretty sure they aren't expecting the Felkan Kingdom to attack first.

You're most likely going to get into a shitload of trouble for all this, but when you get this war started, the ED isn't going to listen to diplomacy, when they get attacked; they're not going to stop. When that happens the kingdom isn't going to have any choice but to help you. Or it could just backfire horribly.

It's all a gamble, but one you're willing to risk, because you're damned if you're going to grow old and just become a guard for fat gnome merchants after all you've done and sacrificed. And if you die in battle, then it'll be a death you've been destined for since birth.

You find Dawn and tell her that you want orders put out to all the forts in the province. A full offensive across the Arat border and into ED territory is to be launched.

"So the ED is invading soon?" Dawn asks.
"No, but after we destroy a couple of their forts and towns they will be. Have the message sent out that all forces are to converge on that ED town about twenty miles past the border, Bucklesberg. I'll meet the rest of the battalion commanders there and plan the next attack after the place has been razed to the ground."
"Wait, you're going?"
"Yes, I'm leading this attack personally. I'm not some helpless old man you know!"
"I didn't say…wait, this plan isn't official is it? What did that gnome tell you?"
"A bunch of shit as usual. Now I'm going to need you here to keep things orderly on this side of the border. It might get ugly, but I know you can handle it. Just remember, we're doing this for the good of the kingdom, even if its leaders are too stupid to see it."

Dawn looks a little concerned and it reminds you of when you first asked her to completely wipe out a gnoll village, but then she proves herself, as you knew she would.

"It will be done, my love." She says and leaves to send out the messengers.

You order all troops in the fort to ready themselves for battle save for a skeleton crew to protect the fort. When they're completely ready, you ride your horse up and down the line of them and are glad to see the dedication they are displaying. You can see that they have no need for any sort of long-winded motivating speech; they've been anticipating this moment for years, just as you have.

"For the kingdom!" you shout which is followed by a loud cheer from your soldiers, then your army begins its march to war.

When you get within a mile of Bucklesburg, a scout reports that the town isn't completely undefended. In fact there is a larger than normal group of soldiers there along with Eternals. There may even be a mage there.

"Hmm, it might appear that Edgar might've been amassing troops to prepare for an invasion after all, either that or he's just distrustful. Doesn't matter, we're killing everything there anyway."

The battle of Bucklesburg is a massacre. The ED puts up as good a fight as they could have, but ultimately they're overrun and outnumbered. The town is completely burned to the ground and the only survivors are the few villagers that had sense to run when you were seen coming in the distance.

This is just the first step of the plan. When the rest of your soldiers arrive from the other forts you march again.

By day nine, you've taken one the Eternal Dominion's forts. It's very damaged from the fighting, but you figure it will serve as a temporary base of operations while you plan your next attacks. After this battle you've also confirmed from various documents that you've found in the commander's office that Edgar WAS planning to invade the kingdom, meaning you were right to attack.

On day sixteen you get a message from Dawn, stating that the entire Gan province has been declared "under hostile control" and that all fort commanders are to relinquish their control to the kingdom immediately. Naturally this hasn't happened, but the rest of the kingdom's soldiers are supposedly being prepared to take back the province by force, however there is a lot of civil unrest going on as well due to some of the public opinion openly agreeing with conquest. She says that it's part of the anti-gnome movement that claims they've been keeping the kingdom weak on purpose. She also says she is doing everything in her power to keep control of the Gan province and sends her love.

On day twenty-two you get a visitor to Fort Ruin (as you've renamed it).

"Hello Klemto, I hope your journey here wasn't too dangerous, we've been trying to keep the road to the kingdom somewhat safe." You say.
"Eternal, we've got a lot to talk about."
"Yes, I suspect we do. So here, this'll save time." You say and throw a journal at Klemto who catches it.
"What's this?"
"It's the ex-captain of this fort journal. Makes mention of all the plans for the invasion on the kingdom, as well as a few amusing sexual desires. Second generation eternals certainly are a twisted bunch even when brought under control."
"At least they can be brought under control, which is more than can be said for you."
"I don't understand, I'm did this for the kingdom and the proof is right there that I'm right! Don't believe me? I've got more official documents I can give you."
"It doesn't matter if you're right! It never fucking mattered! What you were supposed to do is obey orders! You pushed a boundary that's too far this time I can't fix this! Not now!"
"I question if you ever could in the first place. I'm sure you only kept me around as long as it served your purpose. Build up the pitiful defenses along the Felkan borders and then just get shuffled off to defend your fat merchants because they're getting death threats from bigots that actually have a point whether they even know it or not. Face it, YOU fuckers helped create the Felkan government and you share part of the problems with it. Me? I'm just serving it. I told you before, I pledged myself to the kingdom, but my only stipulation was that I do things my way and that I not be held back in doing it. You got in my way and I had no choice, but to defy you. You can't give a sword to me, and tell me not to kill the enemy with it. That's what a fucking sword is for."

Klemto, rubs a hand over his face and sits down in silence. His face has a slightly gaunt appearance than you last remember it. Every time you've seen him he's always been dressed very nice, but even his expensive clothing is a bit disheveled, even a small tear in his jacket. He takes a deep breath and speaks.

"Major, you really don't know what's going on back home do you?"
"Dawn sent me a letter recently about a week ago about some of what's going on. I hear the Gan province has been declared hostile and the rest of the kingdom army is planning to retake it."
"Yes, and even that is being put on hold, you know why? Because somebody blew up the merchant's guild two days ago! The day before? A duke was executed for conspiracy to kill the fucking king! At this point the Eternal Dominion doesn't need to invade us, the Felkan Kingdom will be in ruins by the time their armies even arrive! You haven't saved the kingdom, you've destroyed it!" he shouts with his eyes beginning to water and nearly hyperventilating the whole time. You have to say, you've never seen him ever this upset. You quickly get some water from a nearby pitcher and pour him a glass.

"I don't know what we're going to do…I don't know what we're going to do…" he says in between drinks.
"Look calm down Klemto, maybe it isn't as bad as you think." You tell him.
"Bad? It's fucking tragic! With the destruction of the merchant's guild, the economy is going to go down the fucking privy hole, the king is an ineffectual idiot that'll probably be successfully assassinated in a couple months, we're suffering from civil revolts, we got a rogue province and on top of everything we're at war with the Eternal Dominion!"

Sounds pretty familiar.

"Well, maybe it is as bad as you say. The question is what are YOU going to do about it?" you ask.
"Do? What can I do? I'm just one gnome! I'm hated in general by most non-gnomes and even most of my own people since they personally blame me, for having a hand in allowing you to be in charge of all the military in Gan. Even most of my friends that agreed with me were all killed in the bombing! I have nobody to help me fix this!"
"You're wrong there, you've got me. Look, take all these documents concerning the invasion plans, and do your best in convincing everyone and anyone important that this first strike was very necessary. If you're telling me that the king already is in danger of being assassinated…well maybe it'll be best to let that happen and place someone who is more likely to support the cause. I have to imagine that there's some power hungry royal ready to step up to the task."
"Assassinate the king, this is what it's come to? I don't know maybe you're even right, it's just I really hoped it wouldn't come to that. We gnomes have been puppet masters, but we've never engaged in assassination tactics before."
"Well, I think you're going to have to forget your previous tactics if you want the kingdom to survive regardless of who is actually on the throne. It's either that or cut your losses and leave like I did with the Empire. I caution you though, if you truly believe in the kingdom and love it like I think you do, you might later regret that decision."

Klemto calms down a bit and looks at you to see that you speak from experience with that last remark. And it is true; there is a part of you that misses the Empire for all its faults. You're making the best of things and you even manage to be content most of the time, but there is always something "missing" and you can't get it back.

"Okay, Eternal. Okay. Hand me all the documents that you mentioned, and I'll get started on a plan. (Sigh) I just hope you can hold back the full wrath of the Eternal Dominion all by yourself."
"Don't you worry about that, I brought this problem on, so I'll be the one to take care of it. Just try to keep the rest of the Felkan army off of my back, even if they aren't going to help."

Klemto leaves with the documents and you return to your duties. You can't be sure what's going to become of the kingdom, but one thing is certain, you aren't going to abandon your duty like last time.
Year 58

Your soldiers stand ready at camp as a single enemy approaches you. He shows no fear and has a look of determination and blazing fury in his eyes. He might even be able to cut down everyone in his path just to get to you, but that won't be necessary, as you have ordered everyone to stand down. This is between you and him. He's an Eternal, a true one that you once served with, if either of you are to die today, it should at the hands of the other. No others are worthy.

He's stood in opposition to you for a few years now and now that his side has finally lost completely, his side has resorted to acts of desperation to continue a long lost battle. This is just another example of that desperation.

The pair of you look at each other and say nothing. It wouldn't do any good anyway, neither of you is going listen. You both believed in the same thing once, but not anymore. In his eyes you ruined all that.

The two of you clash swords.

You remember when you saw him after a long stretch of distance from each other; you felt a sense of relief. There you were in a hostile environment not exactly knowing what would come next and you saw a friendly face that was more than willing to help out.

You land a kick to his stomach and smash his face with the pommel of your sword, destroying several of his teeth. He staggers back mouth filled with blood, but manages to block your next attack.

After that last time you saw him you were soon separated again. Oh sure, you heard about him, and he probably heard about your deeds as well, but you haven't actually seen each other until this moment. No matter who wins, it's going to be the last time.

You feel the deep cut of the sword sinking into your shoulder. Fighting through the pain, you manage to keep a firm grip of your sword and swing it into his side. You both hear a crack signaling that not only have you opened up a severe wound, but also broken a rib or two. He reels back from you as his side now drips red with gore. He's unsteady and breathing hard, but he's not going to stop. He's got nothing left to lose. If you were in his shoes, you wouldn't stop either.

The funny thing about this is you always thought you'd be having this battle with Edgar, not Warrick.

A slash at your leg brings you down to one knee, but Warrick isn't able to capitalize on bringing his sword down on your head, since you slash upward into his groin. He screams out, dropping his weapon and you painfully lift yourself up on your one good leg and land your own strike across his head. The sickening sound of skull meeting metal is heard and he falls to the ground with blood and brains leaking out the side. He gurgles a few unintelligible things, but some of it starts to form complete thoughts.

"You…? Wha…what are you doing here? I thought…you were still stationed in …Rask… I…don't rem…gnomes…"

After all this time, his memory is starting to come back. Your hit to his head, must've done something. You kneel down beside his bloody body and provide him a better last memory.

"I was sent here to help you Warrick. It was a very important mission for the Empire. You got blown up by a trap, but we succeeded Warrick. We won. Remember this."
"We…won…yeah…we…" Warrick mumbles and then finally expires.

You tell your soldiers to burn his body and not to disturb you for the rest of day, despite the medic insisting that you really should have your wounds seen to.

You sit in your tent in silence trying to rationalize killing yet another one of your former comrade in arms. He was trying to kill you. Warrick was on the wrong side of the civil war. A new king had to be installed and new policies had to be implemented. It had to be done, to protect the kingdom. Just like you had to kill Kane to protect the Empire…

It was a shitty end to an honorable man, but death by your hand is probably the best thing you could've done for him and at least in his final moments he believed he was elsewhere. You sometime wish you were.

The next day, you get your wounds properly patched up and get back to the business of holding off the Eternal Dominion, which hasn't been the same since Edgar was assassinated last year. Apparently the new eternals didn't agree with his leadership since it wasn't producing the results they wanted. They might not have agreed with it, but he was doing better than whoever the idiot that's in charge now is.

You wonder what happened to Brenda, you knew she was up there with Edgar in ranking, but since she's not in charge of the ED you can only assume that she was killed along with Edgar. You're the last one left and you think back to Gruz's last words to you.

"You'll outlive everyone…"

It's finally come true.

Year 65

More aches and pains as you slowly get out of bed. With every passing year you feel more of them and it's getting to a point where you can't reasonably get into the thick of battle anymore with sword in hand. Sure you're still a good fighter, but you're slowing down and don't have the strength that you once did. Of course some would say you weren't supposed to be doing that anyway as a leader should stay in the back and give orders from behind the safety of his soldiers. But then you always did cling to your old ways.

Still, it's not like you need to anymore, as the Eternal Dominion hasn't been a threat in years. You knew they'd fall apart soon after Edgar died. Their territory or what's left of it basically consists of petty warlords fighting each other more than fighting anyone else, let along the kingdom. Nowadays your job as a general mostly consists of pushing a few bits around on a map. Sometimes you still try to remain active by visiting areas that are experiencing heavy combat.

With no real opposition anymore and a stronger king in charge, the Felkan Kingdom is entering a period of aggressive expansion. With the newly acquired Arat province under control right now the king is looking towards Rask due to its resources. Diplomatic feelers were sent to see if the towns up there would join willingly, but no luck. You know from experience how difficult it is to hold, as the land is wild and its people are fiercely independent minded especially since they threw off the shackles of Empire rule and aren't willing to have another large government tell them what to do.

While you're certainly the most qualified to carry out an invasion on Rask, you aren't sure if you still have the energy anymore. Granted you wouldn't be personally, but you still remember the headaches of holding the place. Ever since Dawn retired to become an instructor, she's been dropping hints about you retiring as well. Perhaps it's time to follow in your wife's footsteps and join her.

You continue as general

You can't retire, at least not yet. Despite your aches, pains, and old age, you still feel the call of war within and the fire of it still hasn't disappeared from you. You wonder if it ever will, but until that time, your place is on the battlefield despite your diminished capacity.

Within a few months the decree in passed. Rask is to be invaded, as you knew it would. You know how the powers in charge work. They want results and they want them fast so you're going to try your best to provide just that, you amass a large army and send it forth to conquer. Since you've got access to more powerful weapons this time, perhaps this invasion won't be as difficult as you think if you show an overwhelming display of force.

The first strike is against Kenneth's Rest which you once knew as Fort Destiny. The place apparently had been converted into a hang out for mercenaries and a trading spot. Your army faces a lot of dark elven mercenaries that were enjoying their pay at the time, but most of them flee seeing as there isn't any profit in defending a place they don't actually have any loyalty to.

When Kenneth's Rest is taken, you ride out to it so you can carry out your orders closer to the action.

"So you'll be leaving soon again?" Dawn asks.
"You know how it is, if I don't make a personal appearance they're likely to fuck up my orders."
"They can't handle it themselves?"
"While I'm sure they could, I'm still the most familiar with the area. I think it would be best if I went there myself. Dawn, you shouldn't really worry. I mean I'm not even going to be on the frontlines and there were more times in the past of when I could've been killed."
"It's not that, it's just I dunno, when we got married and as we both get older I suppose I just figured we'd settle down a bit more so we could enjoy our remaining time together."
"Like a normal married couple?"
"Well, yes."
"Dawn, I think you know you didn't exactly marry a normal person."
"Yes, I know that too. Still, I do wonder when you'll eventually realize that you don't need to prove yourself anymore. I think everyone knows you aren't an armchair general. Ever since the new king took the throne, you've actually had nothing but support. I'm pretty sure your name will go down in history."
"It's not about that, I pledged myself to this kingdom and its survival. Part of that is me making sure this invasion of Rask doesn't go badly, because while we're on top now, I'd rather make sure we stay that way and it doesn't become a drain on our kingdom which then has a chain reaction of making things worse."
"You didn't abandon your duty." Dawn says to you.
"What?" you ask, turning to face her.
"You didn't abandon your duty to the Empire. I know that's why you try so hard here and still do. I've always known that the first time you told me of your past. You always speak in such a way about it with a mix of regret and frustration yet always with a sense of pride. You still struggle with that one thing that you consider a failure on your part, when if you think about it…it was the best thing you ever did."

You hold Dawn's hand and the pair of you look at each other's wedding rings. She has an argument that can't be debated as far as that is concerned. If you hadn't left the Empire when you did, you doubt if you would've been married. Most likely you probably would've gotten a knife in the back by one of those treacherous new eternals by this point.

You hold Dawn tightly and kiss her, before explaining.

"You're absolutely right of course. It was the best thing I could've done, but that's not the whole picture. I was raised different than anyone in the Felkan Kingdom, hell I was raised different than most in the Empire. I was brought up not just for war, battle and combat, but also to this ideal. An ideal that wasn't reality unfortunately, but there it was still implanted in my mind regardless. The thing is while that ideal barely existed in the Empire as I knew it, I see the spark of it coming to pass here in the Felkan Kingdom, and it's like I finally belong here and I want to be apart of it's glory as much as I can before I'm too old to be of any more use. Maybe I'm trying to live out the rest of my life as IF the Empire had never fallen. Perhaps that's what I've been doing all along for the past few decades."

Dawn nods and understands, but you know she would still prefer you to stay closer to home.

"Someday Dawn, someday." You tell her before you leave for Rask.

You almost feel like history repeating itself when you enter Kenneth's Rest, though it's a comforting feeling.

Using Kenneth's Rest as your base of operations in the Rask province, you decide the next attack should be the largest town in the region, which is Keplavisk. While Rask doesn't strictly have a proper central government, Keplavisk is the closest thing to a capital. Take that out and everything else should be a lot easier. You tell your captain that when he enters the smoldering ruins of the town to relay a message to the survivors.

"Tell them that the Bane of Rask has returned."

Year 75

You have to admit, that while retirement has it's good and bad points, you think you've finally gotten your "struggle" out of your system now. You initially thought after you retired you would still have that "pull" but you don't. Your successful campaign in Rask was truly a bookend of sorts. Maybe it was a kind of closure for you.

Your retirement basically consists of you spending a lot of time with Dawn which is time well spent as you grow old together. You sometimes wonder if Dawn wanted children, though she never specifically addressed it. Nature never took its course in that area. Dawn is about twenty years younger than you, and she was still in her childbearing years when you first got together. You don't think it was a problem with her though, you hold the belief that it probably was with you. Perhaps Eternals weren't meant to reproduce, or maybe you weren't. Still, you know that Roldan and Brenda never had any children that you know of, so you maintain the belief that it's one of the limitations of an Eternal. After all if an Eternal could breed offspring his attention might not be solely on war.

Besides your time with Dawn, you sometimes fill your time giving instruction at one of the military academies. You attend the occasional special royal event and recently you just accepted an award for everything you've done for the kingdom. There are also plans on having a statue made of you, but that isn't set in stone (literally) yet.

You sometimes walk down the streets of the capital and see how much it's changed in such a short time and continuing to thrive. Soldiers marching down the street keeping order. Citizens going about their business, proud of their nation and not trying to overthrow anything.

This is what the Empire should've been like.

This is what you were taught to believe in.

And it fills you with happiness that it was you that was part of making this come true.