Year 30

You throw another log on to the fire in an effort to keep warm. A futile task, but it's better than freezing. You'd like to stay in a town, but Empire troops seem to be everywhere in Rask nowadays ever since they halted the war with the Felkan Kingdom. From what you hear it wasn't exactly on favorable terms either, but you imagine that they needed to just so they had enough manpower to fight the rebellion.

And if it isn't them, then it's the shadows who you've had a few unfortunate runs in with over the past couple years. Seems Cyrus told everyone you were a heretic after all. You aren't really surprised though, you even understand it. He's trying to solidify his power base and he still sees you as a potential threat even though you have no desire to take anything he has, let alone the shadows. You haven't even heard Dendrin's voice since you left the shadows and while you're glad of that, it's still like everyone has completely abandoned you. (Your shadow magic abilities have weakened quite a bit, but aren't gone completely, so you're guessing Dendrin's probably still watching you for whatever twisted reason.)

You wish you could figure out why Talia turned on you though, but the only answer you can come up with is her bond with the shadows was stronger than her bond with you despite everything you shared.

It doesn't sadden you so much as it disappoints you though perhaps you had too much faith in the relationship. You laugh to yourself about that one since you probably lost faith in the Empire and Dendrin quicker than you did in Talia. Even now you still hold out the hope that she'll return to you and see that her own in Dendrin is incorrect.

Of course this also makes you question why the hell you're still doing all this. Like fighting the Empire for instance, why are you still bothering? When you were first part of the shadows, you were united with them in their cause if not their reasons. It wasn't probably the best motivation, but it was enough for you at that point because back then you were so damn confused about who you should even be loyal to.

When you got together with Talia, your motivation became stronger. However that motivation is all gone. Talia isn't around and the shadows have for the most part turned on you. Why bother? What are you getting out of it really? Even if the Empire does fall, then what? The shadows original plan was to go back to their old ways of private worship, but if Cyrus' leadership is any indication that plan will be thrown out. He'll most likely just try to carve out a nation of his own using similar oppressive measures.

You doubt he'll get the chance though. Sure the Empire has been greatly weakened, but by your observations it'll eventually overwhelm the rebellion through sheer numbers alone and things will most likely go back to the way they were before and the people will just accept it. It's not like your efforts are even appreciated by anyone at this point. The more you think about it, the more you think how you probably should've just stayed loyal to the Empire. You would've saved yourself a whole lot of hassle.

You wonder if you're just going through the motions because you don't have anything better to do. Though perhaps that's not entirely true, there is ONE thing that has stayed with you and that's your love of battle.

You think that has to be a major part of it. You could be fighting Empire soldiers or shadows and it ultimately wouldn't matter to you (And it really doesn't at this point because they're both hostile to you) you just like getting into the thick of combat and striking down whatever enemy that's in your way. Makes you think you'd probably be better off working as a mercenary like those svelk do. Unfortunately you don't really have that option considering both sides of this conflict hate you. If you wanted to pursue that life you'd have to move on to a different land somewhere, after the world has to be a bigger place than what you've seen right?

Still, you aren't and have never been motivated by money. You figure if it really is battle lust that's keeping you going then you might as well stay here since there's no shortage of it. And despite your brief period of re-assessing your situation, you are still hoping Talia will one day see the light and come back to you.

In the meantime you're just going to have to live off the land and continue the fight though you don't even know how much longer that's going to last, Captain Kane has been pushing for final victory a lot harder lately.

You know Cyrus has sent out assassination attempts against him, but they've all failed. Kane might not have the fancy shadow tricks, but he's still an Eternal and a pretty vicious one. Really you're sort of disappointed that Cyrus wouldn't at least try to do the deed himself, if he's serious about being a leader.

Likewise Kane has tried to take Fort Defiance, but so far it has lived up to its name, the problem though is it won't for long. The Empire has slowly been putting down the major rebellions in the south, and Captain Roldan has been hunting the remaining shadows still down there and doing a good job of it too. This means more troops have been getting sent up to Rask lately. Not enough to finish off the shadows, but enough to start making a difference in swinging the long stalemate.

It doesn't help that the alliance with the orcs has broken down with the shadows and you've heard rumors that their ring leader Gruz was finally caught in the act of sabotaging and misinformation and executed. Flog took it upon himself to take charge and didn't agree with how Cyrus was doing things since the orcs were still taking the brunt of the casualties. One would think this would've ended in bloodshed, but Flog apparently was remarkably forward thinking for an orc.

Flog took the remainder of his people and headed even further north to where the giants, ogres and other manner of monsters make their homes. As far as he was concerned the Empire wasn't going to ever be able to extend its territory that far north in the state they're in and saw no more reason to waste more lives to help the shadows (who only saw them as tools anyway).

As it stands the shadows, civilian dissidents and even some soldiers that turned traitor are about all that's left to defend Fort Defiance. Village and town support is next to nil now. There are probably still a few rebel bands hiding in the wilderness (much like you do) but you'd venture to say that they do even less damage than you do, which is pretty sad considering they at least have a bit more support and people than you do.

This rebellion will be crushed in a few months if something doesn't change quickly and about the only thing that's going to do that at this point is doing something Cyrus has been failing to do: Killing Kane. Get him out of way and it'll probably take months for the Empire to get their shit together before they put in an equally competent person. (You'd guess that will probably be Roldan, but you'll have to deal with that later.) It'll give the rebellion a bit of breathing room up here in Rask at least.

The question is how to do it. You could try to break into Fort Destiny, but security there is always at maximum and your shadow magic stealth tricks aren't as strong now. Even trying to disguise yourself as a guard might only get you so far. Still, you can always trust that your combat skills will get you through day if magic and trickery fail.

You also could wait for an opportunity for Kane to leave the fort, he does do that from time to time when he wants to make an example of a town or engage in a major battle. The problem is the next major battle he'll probably engage in is trying to take Fort Defiance again, and by that time it'll be too late since he'll probably win this time.

This means you're going to have to do something that'll make him so angry that he'll want to make an example of some hapless village that isn't falling in line with the Empire.

You lure him out

If you actually had a little help, you probably would be able to pull off killing him in the fort, but the risks are too great and while you might have a love of battle, you also have a strong sense of self-preservation. So luring Kane out it is.

The next day you come up with a plan and your first step is seeking out a lone peasant. It doesn't take long and after you get him to calm down you ask him a few simple questions such as if he has family, where he lives, is he part of the rebellion, etc.

Happily he's pretty informed on things being a travelling peddler and all. He ultimately tells you he has no ties to the rebellion, but he's aware of certain villages that he's visited that still have sympathies a lot stronger than they let on. You make a note of where to head to for the third step of your plan. The second step involving killing the peasant and disguising yourself as him, well not as him, but as another wandering merchant.

After disposing of his body you set off towards the town of Volgst. You start off by assessing the Empire strength there. It's moderate, but nothing that couldn't be handled. It's obvious the people are just trying to go about their business, but if what the peddler said was correct, this place has just been temporarily cowed into submission due to occupation and closer proximity to Fort Destiny.

You decide to head to the local tavern and take in some of the atmosphere. You order a drink sit at a table in the corner and pretend you're just going through some of your inventory. You get a few people asking you about some of the jewelry you have on the table. To you it looks cheap and it probably is, so you don't charge much, just what you think its worth since you aren't here for that anyway.

You sit there a few hours and then finally some Empire soldiers come through the door. The tavern gets a bit quieter and that's when you decide to make things louder again.

"Hey barkeep! Gimme another ale!" you shout walking up to the bar interrupting the soldiers who were attempting to order their own drinks.
"Uh, hold on sir. I just have to serve these gentlemen first."
"Oh come on, I was here first and they aren't supposed to be drinking on the job anyway!"

At this point one of the soldiers addresses you.

"We happen to be off duty right now citizen."
"Off duty? When there are rebels running around all over the place? What the hell man? You should be out there killing the sons of bitches, not getting drunk!"
"I can assure you we are, and citizen you need to calm down."
"Why is it taking so long anyway? Is that captain of yours just sitting on his fat ass in that fort all day while rebels terrorize the area? I thought the Empire was supposed to be doing something about it, but it looks like it's as impotent as ever!"

At this point now several bar patrons start to take notice, some try to get you to calm down, others just outright leave. The soldiers to your surprise haven't tried to kill you yet. It's almost like they're trying to diffuse the situation and dismiss you as some loudmouth drunk because all they really want to do is relax after a long day. Oddly enough, you can understand it, unfortunately you can't relax either.

You step it up and physically push one of the soldiers. That does it, and the swords come out. You kill two soldiers almost immediately, the third one runs off for help, leaving the fourth one to try to finish you off. He fails miserably when you run your sword through his chest.

Three bodies lay at your feet and several patrons are in shock along with a very scarred bartender.

"What the fuck did you just do? We're all dead men!" he screams.
"You were dead long before I got here. Now if you want to live, you'll help me fight these Empire assholes and get them the hell out of this town."
"You dumb fuck, don't you realize they'll just send more troops? The Butcher of Rask himself will probably come here himself and lay waste to the entire town!"
"That's what I'm counting on. Now I know this place still has rebellion sympathies, and I'm telling you right now, if you really want to be free of the Empire you'll start helping me rather than hiding…or don't if your conviction is lacking. Either way I'm stepping outside and I'm going to be killing Empire soldiers and I'm not stopping until all of them are fucking dead. Do what you like."

You take your leave at this point and face the small platoon of soldiers that is running in your direction. You don't use any shadow magic, just pure skill to put soldier after soldier down. After you've killed about six of them in the open street, some of the citizens actually start growing a backbone and begin to help.

A riot ensues and you've accomplished your mission. The remaining soldiers are quickly overwhelmed and those that aren't manage to run off. You could easily catch up with them, but you figure Kane will show up quicker if someone's alive to talk about what happened. While the celebrating is going on, you take the opportunity to slip away before someone holds you up as some sort of hero when you really aren't. This is all just a means to an end to you.

Your escape back into the wilderness isn't completely unnoticed though and you draw your weapon again when you sense yourself being followed.

"Alright I know somebody is following me…shadowing me even. Might as well come out now so we can get this over with because no cloak is going to help hide you."

A lone shadow materializes. To your surprise it's Brother Gannon. He's little older now and a lot more worn looking, almost beaten. He has no intention of trying to kill you.

"Did you have to do that? That place was one of the few towns left that was still able to sneak supplies to us! When Kane finds out what happened he's going to destroy the place! We're suffering from a lack of supplies and allies as it is!" he exclaims.
"Yeah? Well maybe if Cyrus was taking a more personal hand in this war like I just did, he'd be inspiring more people to follow him more openly. What the hell happened to him? I've been out here on my own for five fucking years and I've seen nothing but Cyrus make mistake after mistake! Pulling back and attempting to lay low? Losing your orc allies? Not reconnecting with the shadows south of Rask?"
"Actually we did try to do that, but…(sigh) nevermind you're right it's all gone horribly wrong. Master Cyrus' leadership isn't like Master Ebon's. I mean I know he's the one that's guiding us and speaking to Dendrin personally, but his need for control is so uncompromising sometimes. As much as I hate it, I'm actually glad I got assigned to be this town's liaison, anything to be out of that fort! He keeps saying that Dendrin won't let us lose and that final victory will come, but it seems so bleak now. I'm trying to keep the faith, I'm really trying, but…oh why won't Dendrin just hear our prayers and help us now?"

You shake your head and smile at the delusion that continues to plague the shadows. "Why should he? It's more amusing for him to see you all desperately try to squirm out of your hopeless situation."

This cynical (yet true) answer is met with a dead silence. Poor Gannon looks so forlorn that he's probably agreeing with you in his head. Gannon might come in useful though so you decide to try to not break his spirit completely.

"However, MAYBE Dendrin did answer your prayers, namely in the form of me. I probably just bought you all a little more time." You add.
"What? Your big plan to kill Kane? The Butcher of Rask? I heard you down there in the tavern! If Captain Kane even comes he's going to come with a company of elite soldiers not by himself! Besides, Cyrus sent the best shadows against him and he's killed them all! Why do you think you have a chance?"
"Simple. I'm an Eternal and if Cyrus remembered that he was instead some Dendrin worshipping fool, we wouldn't be in this situation now."
"Yeah? Well Sister Talia is one of you Eternals too, she could've done something as well. I don't see you blaming her."

You grab Gannon by his collar before he can react. You stop yourself from killing him, because you know he's just pissed at his lot in life right now. Not to mention he's got a point.

"You know what you're right. She could've. It's not really important right now though, what IS important is that we get prepared for Kane's arrival."
"We?"
"Oh yes. You want to help turn things around, you'll help me."
"How?"

How is a good question. The easiest way is to have him help you organize the townsfolk so that they can at least put up a good fight against the soldiers while you take care of Kane.

The long shot would be to send him back to Fort Destiny to explain your plan and hope he can convince the shadows to come help you. It's a gamble, but maybe Cyrus hates the Empire just a little more than he hates you.

You send Gannon back

While the people of this town can probably put up a bit of resistance, they aren't going to last too long if Gannon is to be believed. You need some help of worth, so you tell Gannon that he needs to go report back to his master.

"What? Master Cyrus isn't going send anyone to help a heretic like you!"
"He will if he wants to keep this town still supplying you lot. I'm not asking him to come down here himself, since I know that would be too much for him now, but I'm saying he could at least send some shadows down here to help kill someone who is detrimental in your continued existence. However, regardless of what you or Cyrus decide I'm going to be fighting the Empire, because contrary to popular belief, I'm not your enemy."

And with those words you head back to your campsite to get prepared. You check up on the town the next day and see they're already starting to barricade the place. If they're lucky, you figure they'll only lose about a half of the town before the battle is over. A couple days later you scout a little further south of Volgst and that's when you see a large group of soldiers approaching. Several on horseback, many more on foot and unfortunately a single catapult as well. If Kane is actually with them, you'd guess he'd be on horseback, but then you can't tell at this distance.

You find a good elevated spot in some trees and when the mass of troops get in range you do a little sniping with your bow which you've gotten a lot better with over these past five years thanks to your need to hunt on a regular basis (And certainly a lot better than your single shot armbow which you practically never use anymore) You fire at the ones on horseback first, you don't get Kane, but you do find out he's the one that starts shouting the loudest about getting that sniping sonofabitch. Turns out he was walking the entire time. You try to aim for him, but now the chaos is so great within ranks that he wisely takes advantage of getting lost in the mass.

Doesn't take long before they figure out where it's coming from and start responding in kind. You immediately dash from your position and retreat deeper into the wilderness. A group of soldiers are sent to look for you though you dispatch them with relative ease as you use the terrain to your advantage.

By the time you're done with the goon squad that was sent after you, the rest of them are hastening their way towards Volgst. If Cyrus is sending anyone, they're obviously coming at the eleventh hour, or more likely not at all. Can't say you're surprised, but it would've been nice to have some help.

When you make it back to the outskirts of Volgst, you see that it's prepared for a frontal assault. You watch from distance for about a half hour before Kane's company arrives. He doesn't bother with any sort of diplomacy and orders the catapult to fire. A rock smashes through the barricades and the make shift wall that was set up in front of the town. They're wide open for the Empire troops to pour in now, with the Butcher leading the way.

You make your way towards town and jump into the battle, which naturally isn't going well for the citizens of Volgst. When you arrive it gets a little better, but even you can't stop the carnage and what will probably be the utter destruction of Volgst. Right now though all you're trying to do is seek out Kane and kill him.

And as luck would have it, you bump into him, or rather the pair of you catch sight of each other in the middle of the chaos. He doesn't dodge you or even make any sort of threatening war cry, he just walks straight towards you and you to him.

When he stands before you, he certainly displays the signs of a battle-hardened warrior, but there's something more to it than just his size, armor and scars. It's his eyes. Not like a hate filled wraith behind them, but more like he's experienced something that's caused the light in them to go out. Almost soulless.

"The Butcher of Rask, himself. At last we meet." You say.
"Yes, and you would be the shadow outcast and it will be a pleasure to finally bring you to the Emperor's justice that you've evaded for so long."
"Hmm, guess you better get to it then."

Kane swings his axe, which you dodge and the battle is joined.

"You're weak. You cannot hope to win this battle." He says preparing for another swing.
"Right now, just getting rid of you will be sufficient." You reply.
"You think you can best me? This isn't Mistress' class anymore and you're no Eternal. When I look at you, I see the mockery of what is supposed to be an Eternal. You're not even a shadow. You are a pariah that has no honor at all. You're part of the sickness that has infected the Empire. A sickness that will be cut out and purified like all others."

While Kane tells you what he really thinks about you, he's also matching you in combat skills. To be quite honest you might've been a little too over confident in your abilities because he's really putting you to the test. It doesn't help that in the midst of this one on one fight you also have to dodge other attacks. You use a little shadow magic to speed yourself up and it helps, but it isn't nearly as strong as it once was not to mention you feel the drain a lot quicker. You land a couple of good hits on Kane before you have to stop from fatigue. Kane however has no such problems and isn't slowed at all by his wounds

"Is that the extent of your precious shadow magic outcast? No wonder you were kicked out." Kane says and catches you with a glancing blow across your chest followed by a hefty to your left knee, which causes you to lose balance and fall. You barely roll of the way of his next swing.

You stagger back up only to get your sword knocked out of your hand when you attempt to block another of Kane's axe blows. Becoming desperate you fire your armbow and a bolt flies into Kanes chest. It doesn't stop him and he charges into you knocking you back onto the ground. He doesn't follow up with his axe this time, instead he puts all his crushing weight upon your chest by sitting on it and attempting to choke the life out of you with his own hands.

"You're going to die here today, because you believe in nothing and that makes you nothing and when I'm finished choking the life out of your pathetic body I'm going to eat your fucking heart because I can." Kane at this point pauses with a deranged little smirk. "Heh, maybe one of those wendigo bastards did get to me just a little…" then his face becomes deadly serious again.

As you struggle to remain conscious all you can see are the souless eyes of Kane looking down upon you as he intends to make good on his threats. You punch him several times in the face to no avail. You even take out one of his eyes and he's still not deterred as it dangles uselessly from its bloody socket. You'd probably be a lot more scared if you weren't teetering on passing out.

During this walk along the line of life and death a familiar numbness washes over you and you hear a voice you haven't heard in a long time…

"You're lucky I still find you interesting." Dendrin says and then within that moment you feel Kane's hand release their death grip followed by him bellowing in pain. His weight is soon lifted off you and you attempt to regain your assessment of the situation.

Still feeling woozy you grab a nearby sword and see Kane (with a brand new bloody dagger in his back) fighting what looks to be a blurry shadowy figure. It's Talia and you're glad to see her in more ways than one.

Wasting no time, you run up behind Kane and hamstring him. He falls to his knees cursing you the entire time. Talia follows up with a slash to his neck.

"(gurgle) Long live (sputter) the…Em (gurgle) pire…" he utters and falls to the ground dead.

You take a quick look around at your surroundings and see that most of the town has indeed been destroyed or on fire. Bodies are everywhere, but it looks like what remains of the Empire is in retreat mainly due to the death of their leader who you have to agree was a pretty impressive figure. As for the townsfolk, a lot of them are just trying to help their wounded along with open grieving for their dead.

The one thing you aren't seeing are any shadows. Well other than Talia of course who is now walking towards you.

"Thank you." you say to Talia still trying to catch your breath.
"You know that's not necessary, but I do question what the hell you were thinking attempting to take on not just the infamous Bane of Rask by yourself, but a whole company of Empire troops as well."
"I thought I was trying to change the tide of the rebellion, because if you haven't noticed it isn't going well for you."
"I'm surprised you even still consider it your concern actually. You don't believe in the Emperor, you don't believe in Dendrin, why bother taking any side? You could've just left years ago."
"First of all you do know I believe in Dendrin, I just don't worship him. Second of all I made a vow to you years ago and I've never abandoned it. So if your fight is still with the Empire then my fight is also still with the Empire. Besides, I've always believed the Empire is made up of a bunch of arrogant oppressive bastards that need to be taken down a peg anyway. So where are the rest of the shadows?"
"There aren't any. I'm it. Cyrus had no intention of helping you, in fact he even killed poor Brother Gannon for not attempting to kill you when he had the chance. That's when I left."
"Didn't he try to stop you?"
"He made threats, but ultimately did nothing other than saying I was a heretic and mentioned that I would be considered an enemy of the shadows from now on."
"Well I'd probably tell you right now that you should've done that a long time ago, but considering you just saved my life, I won't."

Talia shakes her head.
"You realize you just said, "I told you so" anyway don't you? Doesn't matter though because my reasons for leaving are slightly different than yours. I still believe in Dendrin, I just don't believe in Cyrus, at least not anymore. Though I was questioning his leadership ability for a few years now. Guess this suicidal attempt of taking on the Empire by you was just the final kick I needed to get me to leave because I never abandoned my vow to you either. So thank you as well."
"Not necessary." You say with a smile and the pair of you embrace.

There are still a lot of unresolved issues between you and Talia, but none of those really matter right now. What does matter is that when you needed help she helped you thus reconfirming your belief that not all your waiting was for naught. As for Dendrin, you can't really be sure if he actually had anything to do with guiding her to you, or if he's just giving the impression that he did, either way you're still not worshipping him.

Though you imagine you'll have plenty of time to debate about religious philosophy with Talia now that the pair of you are reunited, it's just a question of where you're going to go and do now.

You time passes...

Year 31

Sometimes it seems surreal that the Empire hasn't attempted to retake Rask yet, but then there have been a few major changes all decidedly not in the favor of the Empire.

First off, Kane's death was a bigger deal than even you thought it would be. Kane's "Butcher of Rask" infamy wasn't exactly the most efficient way of keeping the plebs in line, but it was working better than nothing at all. Not to mention it was also keeping his command in line as well. When he died, Empire troop morale in Rask dropped and the native Raskians' morale went up significantly. The towns finally unified enough that they declared Rask to be independent of Empire law and rule.

You figured the Empire would send more troops to re-establish order, but instead they started withdrawing from the area entirely. Apparently some of the shadows still causing problems for the Empire south of Rask started engaging in suicidal tactics and taking out high ranking commanders, including Captain Roldan (Who you always thought would've been one of the first to be sent to Rask) With this set back, the Empire decided it would be better to crush all the opposition in places where they at least had a majority of control, hence Rask was left alone for now at least.

In the meantime, the shadows are…well a shadow of their former selves. It is almost quite certain that all of them south of Rask are being ruthlessly hunted to extinction and there weren't many left in the first place (even less when they started with suicide tactics). The last shadow "stronghold" is Fort Defiance where presumably Cyrus still rules over his small group of brainwashed followers. You say presumably because nobody has heard anything from them since Kane was killed. You haven't even been the target of any revenge assassination attempts. The place is still intact, but has effectively closed itself off from the outside world. Despite the major shadow influence on starting the rebellion in the first place and people helping them in the past, nobody is in any particular hurry to thank them and Fort Defiance is looked upon as a monastery of religious fanatics that should be steered clear of.

As for you and Talia, you're exceptions, but not by much. You were known as a shadow outcast long before Kane's death so nothing much has changed with how people treat you, though sometimes you get a few small thank yous for directly being involved in Kanes death, then on the flip side you also get a few fuck yous for indirectly being involved in the near total destruction of Volgst.

Talia on the other hand doesn't get much of either. It's somewhat known that she was the one that actually killed Kane, but due to her continued dedication to Dendrin, she's just looked upon as one of the "acceptable" religious fanatics, rather than any sort of hero. Not to mention nobody wants to piss off the killer of the Kane.

In keeping with your outcast nature you and Talia have made yourself at home in one of the many abandoned cabins in the wilderness. It's not much, but after fixing it up it's a suitable home. You both are fairly self sufficient

While things are currently peaceful, you're finding it harder and harder to find ways to pass the time. Part of you is always on guard believing that one day the Empire will eventually come back or even closer to home, that shadows will attempt to kill you. You've set up many traps and scouted several potential escape routes as possible. Even with that large of a concern you're still left with a lot of extra time which is mostly spent with Talia and that's becoming another situation lately.

Talia is also finding herself restless, possibly even more than you are. Part of the problem is that she was once part of a bigger community that she identified with and now she is effectively isolated from that community. That isn't the only the problem though, she still believes in Dendrin and the "shadow way" and namely that means all her ideals and plans for the future have practically gone by the wayside. She once stated to you that one of the reasons why she bonded with you is because she had this idea that when the Empire was brought down you and her would spawn several Eternal shadows to become little Dendrin worshippers and presumably strengthen the community because of it.

Well, the Empire hasn't fallen, the shadows are near extinct and Talia hasn't gotten pregnant despite how much the pair of you have had sex. To be quite honest you were never really paying too much attention to that last one until Talia started bringing it up recently. You always figured she was using some sort of shadow magic to prevent such a thing in the past due to how inconvenient it would be (You know planning a rebellion and all), but now in this time of "peace" it's been brought to your attention that something must be seriously wrong.

Given that you weren't really a true shadow to begin with, the whole legacy thing wasn't really something you were placing a priority on, though you do find it a bit odd. You can only come up with the conclusion that you, her or perhaps both of you just can't produce offspring. Talia on the other hand feels that something NEEDS to be done to try to correct this, and that something is placing greater faith in Dendrin to bless you with children.

This in it of itself is asking the impossible of you, but Talia also wants to travel to the Delerg province to locate his original temple. She remembers where it is and she figures that perhaps the connection to him will be stronger there.

As one can imagine this has caused a great source of arguing on your part. Disregarding the fact that Derlerg is still Empire territory and that both of you aren't exactly wanted there, there's also the fact that you're never going to "believe" in Dendrin like Talia, no matter how much she wants you to. The best you'd be able to do is fake it, and you've tried that before, didn't work for you. You also aren't really convinced that he'd bless you with children anyway, given how unhelpful he is in the first place and that's assuming he's even able to do such a thing.

However, all of these arguments have fallen on semi-deaf ears. Talia is quite aware of your feelings on the matter, but she would like you to make the attempt. She tries to point out that Dendrin has been guiding or at least looking out for you in some way, because if he wasn't he wouldn't have spoken to you on a regular basis in the past or guided her to you when Kane was getting the better of you. If that were anyone else telling you about that last one, you'd think they'd be trying to get you to do what they want as "payment" for saving your life. However, given that it's Talia, you know she's being sincere in her belief, which makes it even harder to argue against since you can at least understand the idea of owing someone.

At this point, if you really insisted on staying put you aren't sure if Talia wouldn't just leave again, after all she did put her faith of Dendrin over you before. This makes you question if this is even going to work out to anyway. Sure, you and Talia have had some good times in the distant past and even recently, but this just might be an obstacle that's always going to be between you both and going to be insurmountable.

You stay in Rask

Maybe Talia's a believer, but you're not and you aren't about to go traveling across miles of hostile territory, let alone staying in it, just for the purpose of her religious beliefs. You've put up with enough of Dendrin and this shadow nonsense long enough and you're not pointlessly risking your life because of it. You put your foot down and tell Talia that she can worship Dendrin all she wants, but you're not going on some fool pilgrimage in the hopes of having children.

Talia doesn't argue anymore, she just resigns herself to her defeat. However, things between the pair of you are noticeably strained now, if they weren't already.

Year 33

She hadn't been happy in a long time, you knew that due to the fact the pair of you barely spoke to each other anymore. You even figured you'd wake up or return from hunting one day and she'd be gone like last time. But you didn't think it would be like this.

You finish covering up her snowy grave and stand there for a while cursing the whole situation. The suicide note simply stating the words "I'm sorry" will forever be embedded in your mind.

The thing is you don't think it was just the conflict of religious beliefs or even the desire to have child (which was tied to her belief of Dendrin being able to help in that matter). To be sure those two factors probably didn't help, but you always got the impression there was something else. Something you think she wanted to tell you, but couldn't for some reason.

Doesn 't matter now whatever the case may be. She's dead and that's that.

You return to your cabin.

Year 35

You always knew the Empire would come back to Rask, but you thought they'd come back to conquer it, not destroy it.

There were always rumors, but you never paid too much attention most of the time mainly because you had so much else going on in your life, but when the announcement of the Empire's new eternals came about, you had no choice but to pay attention especially since there was a lot more of them, hundreds actually. And the first place they sent them was to Rask to raze the place to the ground.

Town after town has been completely obliterated by these new eternals and the people no matter how united can't stop them. Some have tried to pledge their allegiance to the Empire again, but they were killed like everyone else. Not since the days of Kane has Rask experienced such brutality on a wide scale.

You thought what remnants of the shadows are left would be trying to do more, but so far there hasn't been a peep from them. Cyrus seems content on keeping all of them hold up in Fort Defiance. It won't work because you know that they're the main target, the rest is probably just combat practice and to send a message. When the time comes, Fort Defiance and all the shadows within are going to massacred. You've toyed with the idea that you could probably easily evade the advancing army if you went further north and laid low in the mountains or deep forests. You're pretty confident that you'd be able to survive this onslaught that way.

The thing is you've sort of lost the will to go on. You haven't been the same since Talia died. Even when you were apart for five years the hope of her returning was still there to keep you going. Even when your relationship had been strained in the last years of her life she was at least still there. But now? She's dead and she won't be coming back and there's no more reason for you to fight the Empire any longer. Even Dendrin hasn't spoke to you in years; you're guessing he's moved on. Makes sense given that you haven't been very entertaining lately.

From your estimates an army should be passing through your area soon, you need to get prepared…

The next day you visit Talia's grave for the last time.

"For what's worth… I'm sorry too Talia." You say and head towards the main road.

You stand in the center and see a massive force in the distance, won't be long now you think as you draw your weapon. Several hundred eternals march straight towards you on foot and horseback. They don't even stop to see if this is possibly an ambush of some sort. Perhaps they don't care or are confident that if it is, they'll be able to handle it.

Doesn't take long before you can hear them shouting about how they're going to enjoy killing you and the rest of your shadow "friends". You can't help but smile at that one.

You do about as well as someone could be expected against an army of eternals. Meaning you kill about three of them, before you're enthusiastically overwhelmed and ultimately chopped, stabbed, crushed and stomped into bloody pieces.

You last dying thoughts are how these new eternals might be young but they're already vicious bastards. Didn't seem very disciplined though. Who knows, perhaps they will eventually become a problem for the very Empire that created them.

You certainly did.