With revenge filling every inch of your body you immediately open the carriage door with the intent of climbing up to meet your attacker. No sooner have you opened the door when a rotting hand from above attempts to stab you in the face with a dagger.

The blade superficially wounds you as it slices across your cheek. Unfazed you immediately grab the hand and pull down as hard as you can. The moment you do so you suddenly feel an unnatural drain of energy. Magic is definitely at work here and it's sapping your strength. Despite this, the shadow tumbles off of the roof, but on its way down it grabs your own arm with its other hand and the pair of you fall from the carriage.

Unfortunately, when you're pulled out of the carriage you don't clear it completely and your ankle is run over by one of the back wheels of the carriage that is still in motion. The bone snaps and you know it's broken along with your nose when you fell flat on your face on the hard road.

The shadow has recovered from his own fall much better having landed on his feet. You push yourself up just in time for his foot to kick you in the ribs. You roll away struggling to put some distance between yourself and the attacker.

"Y'know when I was brought back I was given very specific instructions not to kill you…but I believe I will ignore them. After all I'm already dead, what else can be done to me?" you hear the shadow hiss in a raspy tone.

You attempt to raise your hand to cast a flame blast, but the shadow grabs your wrist and you feel an even greater drain on your strength than you did before. At this close range you can smell the rot more strongly.

"Oh no, you burned me once before, not again." The shadow hisses as it drains your energy. With its recent comments, you realize this isn't just a shadow or even some undead horror possibly masquerading as one. It's Cyrus.

Your whole body feels like its been beaten with a stone pillar yet you manage to muster the strength to pull your dagger and stab Cyrus repeatedly. You aren't even aware of where you're aiming, you stab it in the arm, in the shoulder, in the chest, in the face and wherever else you can reach until it lets you go and staggers back with your dagger still in its body.

You're dizzy, weak, and have only one good foot, but try to stand up anyway. Cyrus pulls the dagger from his body and does his typical shadow speed tactic in an attempt to rush into you with the dagger. You barely manage to put up a small force shield to block the blade from going into your stomach. Still the impact of the hit knocks you back down to the ground breaking your concentration on the spell. Cyrus kneels down to grab your neck, he's not even squeezing and you feel the life leaving your body. You start to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Now I'm going to show you something truly eternal. Death. They say the dead feel nothing, but that's not true. It's a lie just like the lie I believed about Dendrin meeting me for the afterlife. You know what I experienced instead? A very dark place filled with pain until I was ripped out of it and put back here on this mortal realm. That's where you're going brother. You're going to a very dark place filled with pain and I'm going enjoy every moment putting you there."

At this point you have no idea what the hell Cyrus is speaking about, all you know is he's more talkative in death than he ever was in life and that if he's going to kill you, you wish he'd just shut up and do it already.

Things get fuzzy again just as Cyrus' fingers release your neck. What happens next is a blur. You do hear familiar female voice though.

"This one is not yours to take, revenant."

This is followed by an inhuman scream and a bright light which is piercing even with your eyes nearly closed. Between the screaming, the bright light and your weakened state it's all too much for you and start to pass out.

You see a female shape with long hair standing over you, but you can't make out the face.

"…Alison?" you struggle to whisper.
"(Sigh) Blind to your true allies and lovers as always." The figure says and then lays your dagger on your body. "Here, I know how much you treasure this gift to you."
"Oh…fuck…" you say as you pass out.

You don't know how long you're out for, but when you come to you're in a spare bed in the Emperor's quarters. Your ankle and nose feel tender but they don't feel broken anymore.

You look to your left and see the Emperor standing nearby with a walking stick in hand.

"Ah, you're awake and looking much better too. You looked about as bad as I do when Jacob first dragged you in here." The Emperor remarks, sitting in a chair near you.
"Jacob found me?"
"No, actually Warrick and some of the Eyes picked you up off the road when a travelling patrol reported coming across your body and an overturned carriage crashed into a tree a few feet away. I requested that you be brought to me personally when I heard the news. You were severely injured, and I was damned if I was going to let anyone else bumble in the attempt to help you get better."
"Alison?" you ask.
"I'm sorry son, but she's dead. If that bolt to the eye didn't do it, her neck was broken in the crash." The Emperor remarks.

You want to cry out, but you just don't have the energy right now. You still feel woozy for one thing, the other is you had little hope that she was still alive anyway. The moment you saw that bolt in her eye, the moment you felt her blood on your face, the moment you felt her body go completely limp in your arms…you knew then she was dead.

"Did you need some time alone?" the Emperor asks.
"No…I suppose I already knew." You respond. "I'm sort of overwhelmed by everything that happened. I imagine I will grieve later for her."
"I know how much she meant to you. I know she was also a loyal soldier and officer. She will be missed not just by you, but also by the Empire as a whole. Whatever type of funeral you wish for her, you know you've got it. I mean if you want a holiday to…"
"That…isn't necessary. I believe I will just have a simple funeral for her. She was like me, she didn't seek out a lot of attention."
"As you wish. Remember though, whatever you need. You got it."
"Can you manage an execution for a certain svelk bitch?"

The Emperor starts one of his coughing fits before answering.

"I assume you're talking about Mistress. Yes, I fear I did uncover some evidence that it was she that was behind all this chaos. How did you know about her involvement though? Is she the one that attacked your carriage?"

You explain to the Emperor what happened. He seems surprised to hear that the shadow wasn't alive and was in fact undead. He concludes that Mistress must've raised Cyrus from the dead since she certainly has the skill to do it.

"Necromancy eh? Raising the dead is dangerous stuff to dabble in, especially when summoning something as powerful as a revenant. (cough cough) Very difficult to command something that's dead, yet still control of most of the skills they possessed in their old life. Too willful. Still I didn't think that even she would be insane enough to try something like this. Her obsession (cough) with you must be great indeed. I'm not even sure what she hoped to accomplish, other than more chaos and strife I suppose. Hmm, well I guess that does sound like a svelk."
"All I know is she deliberately set this up. Her standing over me as if she was my savior. I'm not fucking fooled! Next time I see her, she's dead!"
"Well unfortunately Miss Semra D'vessa has fled the Empire and who knows where she's gone. There aren't even many svelk mercs within borders of the Empire anymore. There still might be a few in Rask, (cough cough) if you'd like I could make that law to have all svelk executed on sight. Hell, I think I'll do that anyway. Someone needs to take the blame for this and it'll certainly make the citizens happy to have mass hangings of dark elves. I know the elves will love it."

While the Emperor's attempts to cheer you up with small acts of genocide are kind, you begin to feel the need to be by yourself. Your silence and your eyes looking downward are all the signs that the Emperor needs to take his leave.

"Don't worry son. We'll get her." He says and then leaves you to your solitude.

You sit in bed for a long time trying to take everything in. Alison is gone. You'll never see her smile, you'll never feel her touch, you'll never hear her voice, you'll never enjoy anything involving her ever again. You almost feel like you don't want to go on living and you never thought you'd ever feel something like that especially since survival has been beat and ingrained into your very being.

That isn't the worst of it though. You didn't even get revenge on the one that killed her. In fact her assassin would've killed you as well if you hadn't been saved, but that's still not the worst of it.

Semra…Mistress…svelk bitch…whatever you call her. She saved your life.

As far as you're concerned that's the worst of it. However you'll get over it and grow stronger from this experience. You always do.

All it takes is time.

You kane's Retirement (Year 34)

Year 34

Through the extreme cold, the wailing the winds and the relentless snow, you look up and finally see your destination in sight; A lonely outpost which consist of a small watch hut on a hill near the Rask Mountains.

How the hell such a structure continues to exist is amazing. The rough weather around here is bad enough, but the fact that it exists on the very edge of ogre and giant territory and who knows what else living in those mountains is almost impossible to believe.

Yet the very fact it continues to exist is a testament to the man who lives inside it. A man who has been doing his best to serve loyally despite his condition.

A condition that has at last become too unbearable for him. You received the letter a week ago. As far as you know, you're the only one who knows this. He apparently hasn't even told this to Jacob.

This has been a long time coming. You knew it was only a matter of time, you just hope it isn't too late.

You wake your way up the long winding path up to the hut. There are signs that a battle occurred here weeks ago. Fresh ogre skulls have been put on several sharpened wooden poles like a grisly totem pole. A frozen giant head lies nearby the poles, some of it looks like its been eaten. This is a good sign at least. Kane has probably still managed to contain his hunger to his enemies and hasn't been thinking about other potential victims.

The closer you get to the hut, the more cautious you become. You have no idea what Kane's state of mind is right now. Has he completely lost it? Is he still relatively in control? Will he attack you as soon as you enter the hut?

You're about to find out when you open the door up with sword in hand.

Kane sits by a kettle making some sort of stew; you can guess what it might be. He looks up and you can see in his face that he is much different than when you last saw him. The beast within is taking over. His mouth is wider and exposing his teeth which are now fangs. His hands have become more like claws. Just like you saw him temporarily during your visit at Gnome's Home.

Despite his appearance, he doesn't seem hostile or out of control.

"Got my letter I see. Glad you could make it. Wasn't sure if you were busy, I don't get much news this way." He says testing his soup.
"Actually I don't have much to do nowadays. The Empire has stopped its period of expansion for now and all of its enemies are inconsequential."
"Huh, tell that to the giants that lumber down from the mountains around here. You know how hard it is to instill a fearsome reputation among creatures that are twice or three times your size? It isn't easy."
"I would imagine it isn't, but given that Rask doesn't suffer as many giant or ogre raids anymore I'd say you've done a good job."

Kane gives you an unsettling toothy smile.

"That's all I've ever wanted to hear, you know? However, I'm not entirely successful since there are still attacks I have to stop. I don't think there's much for it though, some are just too plain stupid to know the meaning of fear. When I'm gone make sure Fort Defiance gets extra troops. I know we've since invented all these great killing machines and new weapons that can kill a lot faster, but extra manpower can't hurt."
"Is it really that bad now?" you ask.
"What do you think?" Kane answers as if his appearance is enough to prove his condition is indeed getting to the point of no return.

"I can't take the hunger pains any longer. Each day I grow closer to giving in completely. The funny thing is, this… creature inside me is probably the closest thing I've ever had to a friend. It sometimes even speaks to me as if it is a comrade in arms. In some ways it is. I don't believe I could keep up some of the things I do without its great strength helping me. It has allowed me to serve the Empire longer than I probably would have otherwise."

You almost want to say that the abomination that has possessed Kane's body is not his friend and has only been using him to help feed its unending hunger, but Kane is probably struggling to find some measure of peace in his situation, so you do not lecture.

"Perhaps it was meant to be." You say.
"I like to think so…but I also know it is time. As much as I would like to continue serving my duty forever, I know I cannot. So I called upon you. The only one I know that could take me down if need be. The only one worthy to. I know even though we never spoke much, those moments we did talk in Gnome's Home I knew you to be a man of honor. You found out the truth about my situation, yet you saw that I was still an Eternal at heart. You will always have my thanks for that brother."

Kane continues to sit focusing on his stew. At this point you feel as if it would be best to get this over with quickly. You walk over to him with your weapon still drawn. He makes no effort to defend himself and even puts his head down so as to expose the back of his neck to you for a better cut.

"I was sorry to hear about your wife. Major Krozer was an excellent warrior. It was also a loss to the Empire. So was the death of Roldan, as will the death me, but I know the Empire will survive. And because it will survive, I will survive along with all others who died within its duty. Just promise me two things brother."
"Yes?" you ask preparing to strike.
"Tell them I died in battle with ogres and giants."
"And the second?"
"Steel your mind. The demon will attempt to possess you, but I imagine you'll be stronger to resist it than I. You always were the best of us. Perhaps the only true Eternal."

"You're an Eternal Kane, you always will be." You remark and bring your blade down on his neck. It isn't a quick death mainly because Kane isn't himself. The wendigo inside is finally unleashed and Kane begins howling and snarling as he writhes on the floor with his neck half severed.

"You will torment this honorable man no longer, demon." You say and finish the decapitation. Kane's body still twitches on the floor even with his head now detached. It even manages to weakly kick at you. The deed is done, but now you do indeed feel the invading presence of the wendigo.

"I remember you from that wonderful place where all those delicious gnomes and that obnoxious svelk woman were. You are strong and powerful, but just think how much more powerful you could be if you just let me in…" the wendigo remarks.
"If you do remember me, then you also know that I've been psychically assaulted by hundreds of angry gnome souls at the same time. Do you really think you stand a chance?"
"Ssssss! I am no weak gnome soul! I am wendigo! I am hunger everlasting and forever yearning! And soon YOU will share that desire!" the wendigo hisses.

The wendigo's threats are in vain however. You are more than equipped to take care of one now. You've long since strengthened your mind from psychic attacks and you also took the time to study wendigo lore before even coming here. You begin chanting.

"What…what are you doing?" the wendigo asks, but you ignore it and concentrate on banishing it. In the middle of this process you sense that the wendigo halts its pathetic attempts to possess you and instead attempts to escape back to the land that it was originally bound to, but you aren't letting it get away.

"No! Not oblivion! Stop or I'll make you suffer mortal!"

More empty threats. Funny how even a demonic spirit like this one when faced with the possibility of ultimate death it still pleads for its "life" just like…well a mortal would.

Eventually its voice disappears along with its very essence. The wendigo is gone and you're left with another dead "sibling."

After a bit of clean up you report the incident to Jacob, who while not as upset when Roldan died, is still visibly saddened.

"I didn't know it had gotten that bad. He never said…" Jacob remarks.
"I don't think he wanted you to know. Probably thought you'd keep trying to protect him, especially since Roldan died two years ago. And he knew I'd take care of it. Not just killing him, but killing the demon within him too."

Jacob begins looking through his paperwork for a blank piece of paper and starts writing. It's probably some decree to give Kane a proper military funeral along with the usual accolades about how he died gloriously in battle with several giants.

"His duty to the Empire won't be forgotten. I'm going to make sure of that." Jacob says.
"That's all he ever wanted." You reply and take your leave.