Year 46

It took longer than you expected, but you've at last tracked down the main lair of the Slin. They've stretched this little war out the longest, but this is where it's going to end.

Arrows unleashed by Slin bows hit some of your Belzak skimishers, but your own soldiers advance on the cave opening undeterred with their shields held up to protect them.

You shake your head when you see the remaining Belzak run away. They've actually been completely useless when fighting the Slin. The only time they seemed to prove useful is when you were wiping out the Fleg tribe.

The Fleg were pretty odd as you came to find out that they were decedents of once regular Empire citizens that started believing in some weird cult that took hold in the Nalin province long before you were around. The Empire stomped it out, but obviously the remainder fled here. Surrender and backing down wasn't an option for them. When you got to their last village you found that they all committed ritual suicide. Their cult finally wiped out.

You and your men fight your way into the cave entrance, several large Slin come lumbering from various tunnels hissing and charging at you. You like that. You appreciate a foe that gives no quarter and doesn't run even in the face of certain death.

It's more than can be said of the wild elves. They were fierce fighters at first, but after you wiped out the Fleg and started making great progress against the Slin, something in them must've changed. It's as if all their courage left them. Their elder came to you and begged you to spare them from genocide. These elves were all former slaves that managed to run away from the Empire long ago. The elder spoke of how he should've known it was folly to run away and that eventually the Empire would eventually find them again even if it took them hundreds of years. You told him that the Empire was no more, but his peoples' attacks on your soldiers was something that couldn't be forgiven.

Taking a page from Captain Krozer's handling of elves in Rask, you had all the adults and elderly killed. Any children were taken to become wards of the state. While slavery doesn't exist in Nalin as it did in the Empire, you figure these children can still be indoctrinated to be proper citizens and given a second chance at a better life. Sometimes mercy can be a good thing.

Several Slin lie dead at your feet. More of them continue to pour in as you and your remaining men travel further into the cavern.

No, there will be no capitulation, or cowardly escape through suicide here. Before you killed the elven elder, he told you that the Slin apparently once lived in the Delerg swamps before being driven out by the Empire. (With the help of the Shadow Guard) Funny how all these people managed to settle in the same area and fight each other rather than unite, but then they all had different reasons and ways of life.

The Slin don't even realize that the Empire has fallen, and attempting to explain it to them at this point wouldn't do any good even if you wanted to bother with such a thing. You're close enough to being one of their oppressors in their eyes and your goals of kill or be killed were locked in as soon as you stepped into their territory

The final confrontation takes place in what you guess to be brood chamber. Even Slin children are vicious enough to take part in battle. The Slin matriarch isn't as big as the ones you've been fighting, but she has the advantage of some sort of primitive magic. She casts a poisonous cloud causing several of your troops that had followed you, immediately gag, cough and vomit. They eventually succumb to the toxins and choking on their own blood and bleeding from every orifice. The cloud doesn't make you feel too well either, but being an Eternal you're made of stronger stuff and have natural immunities to most poisons.
Her brood bite at your legs as you attempt to fight through the haze of the poison cloud. You slaughter all of them and ignore the pain of several teeth cutting through your leggings and into your flesh.

The matriarch hisses at you backing away as you advance towards her. She attempts to cast another spell, but you interrupt her by slashing her staff out of her hand. Lacking any other weapons, she resorts to her natural ones that are just as good to kill someone with. She lunges at you and wrestles you to the ground where you lose your sword in the process.

Having a hard time seeing and breathing due to the cloud, you begin to feel a lot weaker and you struggle to free your arms from her talons.

"Babies! Ssss! You kill my babiessss!" She says attempting to bite your face off. You more your head in such a manner that she only manages to bite your ear off instead. At this time you finally manage to free one of your arms and bring a fist to the side of her head. It isn't enough to knock her off of you, but it's enough to daze her enough so you can free your other arm. With both hands free you take your thumbs and jam them into the red orbs of the matriarch succeeding in pulling one out completely.

The matriarch shrieks in pain holding her face and you push her off of you. Blind and crawling on the ground, she attempts to look for her staff. You stand up and easily grab your own weapon and put the matriarch out of her misery with a chop to her leathery neck. Another severs her head completely.

You stagger out of the Slin brood chamber coughing up some blood from all the poison you inhaled from the now dissipating cloud. Some of your troops that were still fighting Slin in other parts of the cavern see that you're not feeling your best and go to help you.

You don't remember exactly what happened after that. You must've passed out briefly because the next thing you know you're lying outside the cave surrounded by some of your soldiers and a few of the belzaks who must've regained their courage after they ran away. You're still not feeling good, who knows how much of that poison is in your system.

"I've seen this before! He needs certain herbs to cure the poison, and I have some, I can mix up an antidote right here!" one of the belzak says.
"Shut the fuck up tribal, you oughta be glad we're not executing you right now for desertion on the battle field! In fact let's take care of that right now!" a soldier remarks and you hear a scuffle and protests of wanting to help and begging for life.

You struggle to get up, and you manage it just barely. You feel like you're going to collapse again and you aren't sure if you're going to make it to the medic back at the war camp.

In the meantime the belzakians are begging you to call off you soldiers.

You have them killed

"Kill these fucking deserters and get me to the medic." You say.

The screams of the belzak deserters begging for their lives and death squeals fall on deaf ears…or rather ear as the case may be now.

Eventually you manage to make it to the medic who immediately starts administering an antidote to you. You're out of commission and very sick for a couple of days, but after which time you're at least able to stand without feeling ill anymore. Your chewed off ear isn't an excessive problem as you can still hear relatively well, still you do feel a sense of "loss."

In any event the expansionist eastern campaign is over. All the tribes have been either wiped out or subdued to the point of submissiveness. Brenda will be relieved to hear it, as you know she was always concerned about having most of the veteran troops there instead of the northern borders. She'll also be pleased that there weren't many losses overall.

You're satisfied with the results, though now you're just wondering what you're going to do with yourself again.

Year 50

"Our defenses are strong in the north. Have been for years. No need to be concerned about that." You say.
"I know, but this is a big thing. I mean after all these years now Edgar wants to speak with us?" Brenda asks.
"My reports say he's gotten a lot more organized and isn't dealing with anarchy in his ranks anymore. He even re-conquered the old core lands of the Empire. It could be that he wants to see how strong we really are. His message said he's coming alone without anyone else."
"Well, maybe that's a good sign. Maybe he just wants to talk."
"Or maybe he wants to kill us both to a great show of strength so Nalin will capitulate with minimum fuss." You point out.
"Yeah…there is that tactic. (sigh) Well I guess we all knew this day was coming. Guess I better practice my combat skills., which sadly have probably declined from lack of use. Would you spar with me?"
"Of course. Don't worry, I'm sure you're not that out of practice." You remark.

You and Brenda go to her personal training room where you and her prepare to spar. Brenda makes a few remarks about this being like the old days when Mistress made you fight each other. Brenda mentions the time when you broke Gerald's arm and Kane's nose when she pit them both against you.

"Yeah, I remember that. That was my first match. Mistress had it in for me after I begged for my life. I was always pretty aggressive after that, well at least until Gruz told me I should master my anger better, and I did…anyway let's get on with this." You say not really wanting to think about those days or any of the names mentioned.

Brenda isn't quite as skilled as you remember her to be and she has indeed let her talents decline. Then again as you remember she always was more skilled with the bow. Something you never quite got the hang of yourself. You begin to get more in a "drill instructor mode" and shout commands at her to watch her techniques.

"Alright, alright, I told you I was out of practice." She shouts back.
"Well you shouldn't have let it get this bad in the first place." You say.

After this remark, Brenda begins to get a little annoyed, which of course means she makes even more mistakes.

"Brenda, come on I know you're better than this! Focus!"
"I am!"
"Well prove it!"
"Well, I'm sorry I'm not the fucking lord of war that you are!"
"You don't need to be me, you just need to be an Eternal!"
"What the hell for? The Empire is fucking dead and we've just been upkeeping a parody of it for the past fifteen years! I don't even know what I'm doing trying to run this fucking country anymore! I never wanted this! I…I just wanted…to spend the rest of my…(sob) life with Roldan…(sob)"

At this point Brenda sits down on the floor and completely breaks down in tears. You can honestly say you weren't expecting this.

"Brenda…"
"I'm sorry, but I can't be the Eternal you are. I can't even be the Eternal that Edgar is. I lost that edge when I fell in love. I wasn't supposed to and neither was Roldan! If we hadn't been so weak, he'd still be alive and…"
"Dammit Brenda, you can't keep blaming yourself for his death! Your relationship and whatever feelings you had for each other had nothing to do with some insane asshole blowing him up. What's bringing this all on? Edgar? I think you're worrying about him more than you need to. I mean for all we know he just wants play catch up and even if he doesn't we're going to be ready for him and his army of half assed Eternals…"

Brenda shakes her head and tries to compose herself.
"No, it's not Edgar. It's you."
"Me? What do you mean? Out with it."
"I…I think I've developed the same kind of feelings for you that I did for Roldan." Brenda says.

Another surprise for you today, not exactly the best timing with all that's coming up soon.

"…Uh…I don't know what to say…I guess…I mean…are you sure?" you ask.
"I think I'd know. It's been building up slowly over time. At first I was just happy to have you around, another Eternal to talk to. Sure you weren't Roldan, and you're certainly less fun loving than he could be, but there was that familiar bond. Then when you were so instrumental in helping to keep order in this place, I remembered why we all admired and respected you as a leader so much back in the day. It also began to remind me of how Roldan and I complimented each other in keeping order here during the days of the Empire. You were bringing the memories of those good old days back and making them reality again."
"You probably just still miss him and are transferring those feelings."
"I thought so too, which is why I didn't do anything before. In fact I was feeling guilty about it, I thought I was dishonoring Roldan's memory. Wasn't until I heard about your close call with death during your campaign in the east that I knew it was more than mere transference. I was so happy that you were still alive, I nearly told you how I felt when you came back. I just didn't think you suffered from such weaknesses and I wanted to remain strong because your respect was more important than my silly attractions."

You don't have much experience with any of this, but you need to say or do something make Brenda feel better.

"Brenda, you'll always have my respect. As for anything between us, I never thought about it because I figured you'd always be carrying a torch for Roldan. I'm not opposed to the idea however. I mean we do have much in common and contrary to popular belief, I'm not quite the unfeeling golem that most consider me to be. I do have feelings, even if I don't show them a lot and I would've thought you knew that."
"I know you do, but you're in control of them or you at least direct them better. I worry that if by some chance something would to occur between us, that you would lose your edge. I don't want you to become weaker or distracted because of me. You're needed as you are now."

You're about to reply, and then there's a knock on the door.

"Sorry to disturb your training, but I've been told that the leader of the Eternal Dominion has been spotted at the northern border. He's on a horse by himself, and several soldiers are already escorting him to Fort Glory. Did you want to meet him there or did you want us to escort him all the way to the capital?" a voice asks from behind the door.

The pair of you didn't expect him this soon, let alone be in the middle of the discussion you're having now. You'd probably both like to wrap this up before having to focus on Edgar, though the question is if you'd have enough time to do it anyway.

You meet Edgar at the fort

You and Brenda might have a bit more on your mind now, but this is much more important.

"Brenda, I know emotions are running high right now, but I think we need to go meet Edgar. We can talk more about this later." You say.
"Yes. Yes, of course. We need to get back to business. I'll be okay. This was silly anyway. Need to focus." Brenda says standing back up and wiping her eyes.

You and Brenda ride off to Fort Glory. The ride there is done with minimal talking, but that's sort of to be expected. The thing is you never seriously thought about Brenda in that way until she just brought it up today. Sure you always knew you had that bond from both of you being Eternals and the fact that you've served together for so long. You may have even had the occasional sexual thought about her, but like you said to her, you always figured she would've carried a torch for Roldan. You would've just been a substitute at best.

Now you're having scenarios in your head about the two of you being together in a closer way and you really shouldn't be thinking about that at this moment. Maybe she's right in a way maybe if you did have something together it would cause you to lose your edge. It's certainly clouding your judgment right now and you're not even together.

When you get to Fort Glory you're told that Edgar is waiting for you in your meeting room. When you ask how he seems, the soldiers say he's been stand offish, but not overly hostile. About what you expected.

When you and Brenda reach the meeting room, you ask her if she's ready, and she remarks that she is. The door opens and you both step in and see Edgar sitting in a chair with a big grin on his face. He stands up and addresses the both of you.

"Well it's about time! I've missed the both of you! Come here!" he says jovially with his arms out walking towards you.

"Uh… yeah, hey Edgar. Good to see you too." Brenda says when he gives her a big hug.

Looks like it's going to be a day of surprises…

Edgar stops hugging Brenda and then looks at you. You stand a little back from him as you don't want to be hugged, but Edgar doesn't try it.

"Oh don't worry, I know you're the serious minded Bane of Rask! Bane of Nalin too now I hear! Heh, but how are you?"
"I'm fine Edgar." You say.
"Good, good. I just have to say it's really great seeing the both of you again! I mean you two are like my brother and sister! No, you ARE my brother and sister!"

The last time you heard this sort of sibling talk before was from Kane and if you weren't wary before, you certainly are now.

"Edgar, I'm glad you seem to be in a good mood and all, but I sent envoys to contact you several times in the past and none of them ever returned. We always assumed you had them killed and were angry at us." Brenda says.
"You did? When was the last one?"
"Mmm, last one was about six years ago I believe. After that, I saw no need to waste lives."
"Aw! You should've kept sending them! I don't know if you're aware of just how much anarchy and infighting I've had to put up with! Those envoys probably got killed by the new Eternals and nobody ever told me about it! Hell, they might've even gotten killed by run of the mill bandits, it was pretty lawless back in the early days! Shit, if I had known you guys weren't pissed at ME, I would've made this trek sooner!"
"Wait, so you weren't mad at us?"
"Mad at you guys? What the hell for?! Oh you mean seceding from the Empire? Well I have to say I was more shocked than angry about that. I mean YOU especially." Edgar says pointing at you. "But in time I heard about what you two were doing down here and I respected what the pair of you were attempting to do."

You and Brenda look at each other, wondering what Edgar THINKS you both were trying to do.

"Oh? And what was that exactly?" Brenda asks.
"You saw that the Empire was a lost cause, but you were trying to uphold a portion of it, though this patch of territory. I've heard about your great success in keeping order and how you've even added more land to your nation. Only an Eternal could do something like that and that's why both of you were successful!"

Edgar isn't far off, at least from your perspective. Though he probably has a more idealistic vision of it than the reality, which was this; you didn't know where else to go and over time Nalin was transformed into a "mini Empire" because you didn't know any other way. Brenda's reasons are probably based on simple emotional attachment.

"Well, we were doing the best we could under the circumstances, but you forged a whole new nation, so you've been successful too Edgar." Brenda says.
"Ah yes, but it wasn't easy! There were many times I almost wanted to give up and come join you two! But I knew I couldn't do that, I had a vision that I had to make work! A nation run by Eternals and I'm proud to say it's all finally coming together and I think it's finally time for us, to reunite like we were meant to!"

You and Brenda look at each other again.

"Edgar, I don't think it's quite as simple as all that. We're going to have to discuss this, all of it." Brenda remarks and the three of you sit down to do just that.

Edgar starts off by saying that while he respects what you've done, he doesn't think that you're going about things the right way and that you're still thinking like "The Empire" and clinging to the old way of doing things. He points out that within his new regime he's pushed for advances in weapon technology like the Felkan Kingdom has and managed to even "acquire" such gunpowder based weapons. He's also managed to get a few mages to help in getting the Eternal process started again.

When you bring up your experience with the new Eternals, Edgar reassures you that they don't have the discipline issues at all anymore. He says he's manages to instill the pride of being an Eternal into them and they've shaped up enough to no longer behave like the bloodthirsty children you knew them to be. He also says the next generation of Eternals are almost ready to prove their worth now as well and says he has made sure that their training was stricter and more in line with how you were trained.

"Don't you see I'm creating a new nation like the Empire, but how it should've been run! A nation run by us Eternals! Only we are able to efficiently run things. The lessers can either wisely listen to us, or be crushed underfoot."
"That sounds very nice Edgar, but what is our place in this new nation?" you ask.
"Well, you'd be helping of course! I mean we would be ruling as…uh…a council! Yes! A council of three! The Eternal Council!"
"A council huh? Don't you think that might ruin your standing with the new eternals who you've probably conditioned to listen to a single strong leader?" you ask.
"And they'll still listen to me, because if they don't they'll get executed!"
"So…you'd actually be in charge then."
"Well yes. I mean no. I mean…fuck, why are you fighting me on this!? I just want us to all work together again like we should've been doing a long time ago!" Edgar says in an exasperated tone. He's actually getting upset. You're not really being a dick on purpose, but you have a lot of reservations about this plan Edgar has, even if he has genuine good intentions.

Brenda has been fairly silent for a while, but she suddenly stands up and says to Edgar that she needs to speak to you outside. He says okay, but is obviously troubled by how this is going.

Brenda and you leave and after dismissing the soldiers standing outside, you're standing in an empty corridor.

"I think we should join Edgar." Brenda says.
"What? Just like that? You'd be giving up control of your own nation. Don't you have some concerns?"
"Not really. I think you heard me say not too long ago, that I never wanted it. And you heard him, it sounds like Edgar's done a good job so far and just wants our help."
"And I'm not sure if I want to. I know he claims to have those second generation Eternals under control, but I just don't trust them. And now he's saying there's a whole new batch to deal with."
"I'm sure we can handle it, that's probably why he wants us to help. Besides, we'd be with others of our kind at least; don't you wish for that sometimes? To not constantly be alone?"
"Maybe my experiences are different, but not particularly. Besides, you're not alone. You've got me."

There is an uncomfortable silence with that statement. The unresolved issue between the pair of you has reared its ugly head again.

"I know, but I still have conflicting feelings about you and if we don't join Edgar he's going to declare war on us. Can we truly have any sort of meaningful relationship then? Would you become less focused with me on the back of your mind? If we join Edgar, the pressure to constantly run things would be off of us. We would have time to explore the potential for a deeper relationship. Look, I know your feelings on the new Eternals, but I don't think it's just that. You're in charge here at least in the military aspect of things, which quite frankly is the only thing that does matter to you. You don't want to give that up and I understand, but I think you need to look at the bigger picture here."

You join Edgar

Maybe Brenda's got a point; maybe you need to let go of your control a bit. Edgar has certainly proven to be a more capable leader than when you last knew him, and he seems to genuinely want you and Brenda to have an equal partnership. You're still a little skeptical of that, but you'll see how it goes.

There's also your unresolved situation with Brenda. She has feelings for you and you realize you do have them for her. If there is the potential for something deeper here, maybe it would be better if the pressures of potential war with the Eternal Dominion were eliminated. Plus she wants to join, and you feel as if trusting in her judgment would be a positive step in your relationship.

"Okay Brenda. I agree. Let's join the Eternal Dominion." You say.

Brenda smiles and gives you a hug added with a kiss, which startles you a little. You both very nearly make out in the hallway, but then you remember Edgar is still waiting for you.

You and Brenda return to the room where Edgar looks a bit on edge. You decide to let Brenda break the news to him.

"Edgar, we've talked it over and we accept your offer."

Edgar looks incredibly relieved and leaps out of his seat to shake both of your hands.

"Great! That's great! Whew! For a moment I thought you weren't going to go for it, but I should've known you'd see the wisdom in this! This is going to be the best thing for all of us! You'll see!"
"You realize, there's going to be a lot of things to sort out Edgar." You say.
"Oh yeah! I know we'll hammer out the details and we'll be equals in this. You don't know what this means to me! The rest of our family united again, nothing can stop us! Not even that traitor Warrick!"
"Warrick?" you and Brenda ask in unison.
"Yeah, he joined the Felkan Kingdom didn't you know? He joined a former enemy of the Empire! I guess you two probably wouldn't know being so far away from it and all. Oh well, doesn't matter we'll take him down like with did with Kane! Eh? Remember that?" Edgar says nudging you.
"Yeah I remember Edgar." You reply.

Edgar is so happy right now, you think he's almost about to cry. It's definitely not a side you've ever seen of him before.

"Ah, well I wish I could stick around longer to celebrate, but I have to return. Got some things to take care of and prepare before the great merging of our territories! But we'll be seeing a lot of each other soon enough!"

Edgar leaves in good spirits and biding you both goodbye. As you and Brenda see him ride off, you shake your head in almost disbelief after all that's happened today.

"It's been an overly emotionally day for you today I imagine." Brenda says.
"You're not joking. I guess I am an emotionless golem compared to the rest of you."
"Oh I wouldn't say that. You handled everything very well, for a golem."
"Heh. I just hope this is the right decision."
"You still think you and Edgar will clash?"
"After today, it's not really Edgar that I'm concerned about, there's still all those newer generation of Eternals to deal with. I hope Edgar really does have them under control."
"I'm sure everything will be fine. Odd news about Warrick though, thought he was dead."
"Yeah, that was just one of the many surprises today."
"Well enough about them, I think we've got us to discuss."

You and Brenda retire to your quarters at Fort Glory. After an hour or so of talking, you both decide that it's time to take it to the more physical side of things. The night of passion you spend with Brenda is just one of many you hope in the years to come.

Year 53

You and Brenda now oversee the Nalin territory as a married couple. The transition hasn't been a completely easy one, there was a lot of outright dissent when the announcement that Nalin was going to be annexed by the Eternal Dominion. Many of the citizens saw you and Brenda as their protectors against the ED, and then you went and joined it, and they had no say in the matter.

Multiple rebellions had to be put down, Edgar wanted to send in Eternals to take care of the problem, but you and Brenda disagreed with that idea as it would just reinforce the fears of the less rebellious population. You instead resorted to more traditional means using normal Nalin troops, though your soldiers weren't exactly happy about it as they felt betrayed as well.

While things in Nalin eventually settled down, the area feels like it could erupt with another rebellion at any time. You and Brenda haven't really been able to enjoy your newfound relationship with all the problems cropping up, though you do make the time when you can.

In the meantime Edgar has suggested that you and Brenda move into the royal palace and live there instead. He's wanted you to do that for some time. He's also been hinting and letting the Eternals go in and reinforce law and order at Nalin once and for all.

"We've already joined the Eternal Dominion why not leave and live in the palace? It is the capital after all and we are partial rulers." Brenda asks.
"Because there's still problems here and I'd like to fix them before traipsing off to some cushy palace." You reply.
"You're just stalling. We've done the best we can to get this place to assimilate, and at this point it really would be for the best to let the Eternals come in and maintain the order now. We've moved beyond this, and we deserve spending some downtime together. Besides, I would've at least thought you'd want to talk with Edgar about his battle plans to invade the Felkan Kingdom. Best way you can do that is to be at the palace."
"Because…ah shit. You're right. I am stalling. It's still hard to let go of personally managing this place I suppose. There's also the fact that I still don't like the idea of having to deal with those second gen Eternals on a daily basis."
"Oh come on, you've spoken with some of them when we visited the palace before. They all seem pretty respectful." Brenda says.
"Yeah, I suppose, I dunno…okay let's move to the palace. I suppose we do deserve the break of living on the edge of dirty peasants possibly storming the gates."

Brenda moves closer and hugs you in a loving way and kisses you. Despite all the shit you've had to deal with concerning Nalin, you've never felt happier than you have with Brenda. It is still weird to you that you can even feel this way. You never thought it was possible to feel so comfortable with another person on this sort of level, not even with another Eternal. Brenda has a way about her that manages to make you feel like everything is going to be okay. Safe even.

You and Brenda send word to Edgar that you're both making your preparations to move and he sends a letter back stating how pleased he is and will send one of his personal royal carriages to come pick you. You accept, what the hell, why not ride in needless luxury?

You both pack what you can and intend on sending for the rest of your things later. The pair of you board the carriage when it arrives and settle in for a long ride.

"See, told you the new Eternals respect us, you saw how polite our drivers are." Brenda says.
"Well these ones seem to be anyway. But I have been thinking more about it and I'm starting to accept the idea of making this change. I've been thinking of some ideas about Edgar's plans for the Felkan Kingdom invasion."
"I figured you'd see a bright side to it."
"Yeah, he's going to need my direct help on that plan. I'm just glad I managed to talk him out of invading Rask. That would've been a disaster."

You excitedly tell Brenda what you plan to tell Edgar for the Felkan Kingdom invasion, and she listens intently, but also gives her own input on some things. You take some of her ideas into consideration and generally enjoy this time you have. Later the pair of you begin to drift off together, not exactly the easiest thing to do in a carriage, but you've always been a light sleeper any way.

Times passes and then suddenly…

"SHIT! ATTACK!" you hear one of the Eternal drivers shout followed by the sound of a pistol shot.

You instantly wake up and Brenda does likewise. You look out the window on your side and see several people armed with bows firing at the carriage. You then hear a loud crash that sounds like it came from in front of you, then the carriage screeches to a halt. The sounds of dying whinnies of horses soon follow.

You grab your own flintlock and fire off a shot from inside the carriage; Brenda meanwhile loads up her bow and fires off arrows from her side. You can hear the two Eternal drivers jumping off and yelling about getting to cover and closing the gap on these attackers. That's exactly what you had in mind; you never did get the hang of these gunpowder weapons.

You step out of the carriage and head for the nearest tree to get some cover. You look over at the other two Eternals ducked behind a large rock and motion them to run around the other way to help Brenda, They seem to understand.

In the meantime you manage to dodge arrows by ducking tree to tree and when you finally close the gap, you cleave one of your attackers' heads clean off. The rest of them draw their own swords and axes to attack, but in close combat it's no contest. You dispatch all of them with ease. They don't appear to be the unwashed rabble you've been pissing off lately, they're too well armed and armored. You doubt if they're simple bandits either. These are probably mercenaries, but you don't have time to figure out right now who hired them, you turn around to go help Brenda.

By the time you get to the half destroyed carriage again, you don't hear anymore sounds of battle. When you see the Brenda's side of the carriage has been opened and some blood stain you begin to worry. Running over to the other side, you see several bodies of the attackers and then a few feet away, you see Brenda lying face down on the ground. Your heart sinks.

You run over to her and turn her over and your worst fears are confirmed, her eyes show no signs of life. Your eyes begin to water and a mixture of rage and sorrow causes you to cry out. As you hold her body you don't see any arrow or sword wounds, you do notice two gunshots to her chest though…

Upon the realization of who killed your beloved Brenda, you don't even get to face the treacherous dogs. The two Eternal drivers blast you from afar, one shot to your back and one to your head, killing you instantly.

Your deaths are blamed on an ambush by some of the disgruntled population of Nalin. To his credit, Edgar doesn't believe the story and has the two Eternals executed for suspicion and incompetence.

It's of minor consequence though, the real conspirators of this assassination remain uncaught and you're still dead.