Sunset

Asa sat up on the roof of Castle Calaelen, and stared at the sunset. The roof of the castle had changed dramatically. A third level had been added, to house High Lady Maya D'Larariel, and rooftop garden had been added atop that. The castle no longer creaked in the wind, and the best minds from Glodsson Heavy Industries had done their best to repair the worst of Orlinde Calaelen's terrible architectural choices.
Sitting with him was Chefit, by now his constant companion. Between them had a large jug of Haku's third-best beer, which was doing a good job of softening the horizon. As always, Chefit was drinking the lion's share, but Asa didn't have the heart to tell him off. The little scamp was a font of enthusiasm that didn't let the dark times get him down, and Asa wasn't about to tell his friend how to be.
The door to the stairs opened, and Javier arrived, bringing with him another jug of beer. Javier drank very little these days, and had taken up Mitraism with earnest. The money he'd once spent on alcohol and fine cloth now went straight to an Mitran orphanage in Tarren's Junction, where Javier spent half of every month helping out. Asa was sure that Javier would one day soon move there for good, and this made him sad. Not because Javier was particularly good company; the giant of a man had slow, stumbling speech and no wit to speak of, but because he represented one of the few things to stay constant in the last two years' flurry of changes.
Javier joined them staring out at the sunset. After a minutes pause, he spoke 
"When is night?"
Asa shrugged. "I think it is night. It must be not long before midnight if the clock is to be believed, but I don't think it's going to get darker than this. I heard one of the priests saying that the tear in the sky is glowing, and that's why it's not getting dark.
Chefit belched a cloud of smoke, and checked to see if his jug was empty. Noting that it was, he looked up at Javier with a hopeful expression. Javier handed Chefit the new jug without taking his eyes off the horizon, then asked:
"Spoke to Lady Kath. She said that what the light is is the light of the end of times. Is that what it is?"
Asa didn't reply. Somewhere down in Dejune, Karina and Frey were probably going to be working long into the night, planning for what would happen if things did go wrong. The plan, as far as he understood it, was to head west to Sandpoint, and then head north to the mountains to take refuge in an old dwarven hold. Asa didn't know exactly what "things going wrong" might entail, or if the dwarven hold would be adequate shelter against it. 
Given a choice, he'd remain at the castle, cooking food for the staff right up until the point where there was no castle or kitchen left. He'd said as much to Karina, who'd just laughed. "That's because you're not responsible for anyone".
Asa had been responsible once, for a small trading post inside Aberdeen's borders. He wasn't Aberdeenian, but he looked the part, and was therefore a good person to have as a face for the business. He shook hands and wrote sum and took gold, while Karina packed wares and did inventory. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember if he'd loved or hated that life. He'd been content to just live life as it had come, until it had all come to a shuddering halt. The owner of the business had been arrested for smuggling, and Asa and Karina were suspected collaborators. So they'd done the only thing they could, which was to flee the town with only the clothes on their backs.
Before long they were found by one of the many roving gangs, and made themselves useful in return for food and protection. They spent most of the time starving, scraping together what they could from those stupid enough to cross the gang's path.
One chance meeting and a few firebombs later, and they were here. Asa retrieved the jug from Chefit, and drank what little was left, and kept staring out at the sky. For a moment, the sky shone with a brilliant burst of blue light, before the red glow resumed. 
"Do you think it's a sign?" inquired Javier "Sister Kath would think it's a sign, I think"
Chefit belched a think plume of hopsy smoke. "Everything's a sign about something for someone at some time. Don't think about it too hard"
Asa straightened up. For all of his life, he felt like his fate had been laid out before him, with no choice in the matter. His unique appearance had landed him his job, which had landed him in the forest, which had landed him in the castle. Even Javier had at least tried to take control of his destiny. Asa never had, and the glowing red sky warned him that what came next in his life was still entirely outside of his control.
"It's a sign all right. It's a sign we should get back in the kitchen so Karina or Frey don't come at yell at us."
Chefit looked excited "Oooh! Ooooooh! We can get started on the strawberry pies! Do you think we can get all the pastry done before bed?"
Asa nodded, and patted Chefit's head. "My friend, I'm sure we can. I think it's our destiny".