Chapters 28-31 (THE END)

Chapter 28: Christopher

I didn't feel necessarily hurt, or manipulated as I began to fall through the portal in Violet's iron grasp. I just felt like an idiot, that I could have fallen into her trap. She had managed to gain my trust, in order to help her agenda, and now that I had become a liability rather than an asset, I was no longer of importance to Violet. She was dedicated to her cause, I'll give her that. Funny how calm you are when you're on the way to being harvested so someone else can control all of magic or something.

Somehow, I knew we were falling, even though I felt very still. There was no wind, or anything, our surroundings were blacker than night. I couldn't even see my hands in front of my face. After what felt like hours I felt my feet touch the ground. Suddenly the surrounding environment was lit by a dim purple light in the distance.

Violet pointed at the light, "That's our destination, now walk." Violet raised her hand and summoned a purple light to illuminate the path ahead of us. As we walked I took the time to scan the surrounding environment. It was like nothing I've ever seen, the sky was completely black, no signs of any stars or clouds. The landscape was also black as night, and void of any signs of life. The whole landscape was seamless and uncomfortably smooth. There was no rubble or rocks or anything, just a dark, flowing landscape. The pulsing purple light that Violet was after appeared to be on top of a hill in the distance.

"So, when do I get to be harvested?" I asked, half joking.

"Keep moving." Violet growled and pushed me in the back. Any sign of the cynical and cleverly funny Violet was gone, replaced with a hateful woman who simply wanted to accomplish one thing, and was willing to do anything it takes to complete that objective.

We kept walking and I had time to ponder recent events. While the beasts from the portal were horrific and decimated our forces, I had been told repeatedly that we would be facing something extremely dangerous. The hundreds of people killed was horrible, but I had been the captain of the guard in Cyphol before all of this, I had been a soldier. There were tales and accounts of battles with tens-of-thousands of casualties. Although Violet had been playing me and appeared power hungry. I believed there was some truth to her words. I believe she really did want to balance the forces of magic, or at least she thought she wanted to. In any case, I was satisfied that we had managed to defeat the enemy. From what I knew, in order for anyone to try to sustain balance between magical forces, they would have had to deal with those creatures, Order of the Skull or not.

I began to wonder if I could resist Violet's 'harvesting' or whatever. I tried to conjure some magic energy to my fingertips and it drained my body, causing me to collapse to the ground. Violet smiled and held up an orb that began to glow slightly brighter now that I'd tried to summon magic. "It's too late Christopher, the harvesting has begun." Well, s**t. I was destined to die in a foreign dimension, my strength slowly being drained away. All I could really do at this point was try to stall as long as possible and hope Cynthia and Darkeen would stop Violet.

Speaking of Cynthia, I was surprised to see her at the portal, even though Violet seemed to know she was coming. What surprised me most was that she'd seemed to have lost her lighthearted sense of humor. She seemed angry, but not violently angry like Violet, but more like she was tired of fighting and having the burden of stopping the Order of the Skull and stopping the rise of dark magic.

We climbed to the top of another horizon and looked behind us. I saw a golden light flicker, illuminating two figures who I assumed were Cynthia and Darkeen. Violet turned around and swore under her breath, "That b***h! She would follow me here? Doesn't she know I've already won?" She then turned back around and faced me, "Keep moving."

I tried to move as slowly as possible without getting killed by Violet, who didn't seem too keen on taking a slow stroll through the dark dimension. "You played me." I said to Violet, pangs of hurt echoed in my voice. "You just wanted me to serve you. You never cared about me."

"Stop being so tender, Christopher." Violet sniggered and shoved me forward. "All you can do is focus on these little bits and pieces of the pictures, you never realize how much bigger things are than you. Once I realized what kind of person you are, I realized you wouldn't be useful to me as a partner, thus a vassal would have to do." She took a deep breath and continued on in her sickly cynical voice, "And once you couldn't see the smoke in front of your eyes, I knew you'd have to go."

"So, is this always what you do, in order to 'save the world'? You get close to people and then harvest them?"

Violet chuckled and it sent shivers down my spine, "No, this is quite recent. The other two council members and I used what we had found in the Longevity sites to develop this soul gem." She held the glowing orb up to the light in her hand, "It can capture all the magic potential of a person into a concentrated form, killing the victim in the process. Fortunately, you, who has an affinity for both light and dark magic, has a ridiculous amount of untapped magic potential. I'll combine it with my own and well, you already know what I'm doing. Saving the world from magical chaos and destruction is all."

"You keep saying that." I said grudgingly, "But what exactly does that mean? how exactly are you balancing magic?"

"It's simple." Violet responded monotonously, "From this realm, I can over-energize the central component, where the light is, and take control of it. Then I will be the sole controller of dark magic. I'll be powerful enough to control all dark magic in the land. I can summon more of it or cause it to recede, to balance the forces."

"You're too corrupt." I muttered and spat on the ground. "You'll control dark magic and control these lands!"

"And so, what if I do?" Violet shouted in response. "It's better than watching the entire world die."

"You're insane!" I shouted at her, "There's surely another way to balance it."

Violet laughed in a crazed manner, "Don't you see? Without any ancient elven magic that the Longevity started with, there's no other option. Even if your elven friend was able to stop me, she would have to take control of the dark magic to stop the chaos. And, only a mage as powerful as I could contain the magic. The force of the entire dark realm would tear you, or the elf apart."

We continued walking towards the pulsing light in silence. I refused to believe Violet's insane plan was the only way to beat back the magic. Surely Cynthia or Darkeen had discovered some other way during their travels. Perhaps they could do something with the steps... If they could take it from Violet.

The light was drawing closer and closer and I was slowly feeling my own strength draining away like a wilting flower. Walking, breathing, everything became more and more strenuous with each step I took. I could still run if I chose to, but it would take an extreme amount of effort. I had to keep going though. I had to stay alive and keep stalling until Cynthia could stop Violet's scheme.

We stopped for a brief second to see that Cynthia's golden light appeared significantly larger, she was catching up to us. I smiled weakly and Violet let loose a string of curse words, "We need to move faster." She shoved my hard in the back and I fell to my knees, lacking the strength to keep my balance. "Get up!" Violet cursed again and lifted me to my feet. The pulsing light was growing brighter as we were making our final approach to the light. From here I could see the light was actually placed above a small black tower. The tower looked like a generic tower you might find amongst a castle wall, complete with bricks and ramparts, however perhaps its color, or its glow, gave it a very sinister look.

Violet shoved me ahead of her through the main entrance of the tower. Inside was one of the ice creatures, strangely the first creature we'd encountered in the dark realm. Violet quickly vaporized the creature with a swipe of her hand, launching bolts of dark energy into the creature's body, shattering it into small shards of ice. We then began a slow ascent to the stop of the tower, up the dark winding staircase. As we climbed I struggled to catch my breath, I clutched the cracks between the stones in the wall, trying not to tumble down the steep-stone staircase. More often than not I also found myself leaning against Violet, as she grudgingly helped me climb to the top of the tower.

Barely able to continue walking and completely out of breath, I followed Violet to a door that would surely lead out onto the roof, considering all the climbing we've done.

"Out there." I said ruggedly, trying to catch my breath, and pointed at the door. "What happens?"

Violet put her hand against the door but paused, "You just ask the same question over and over Christopher, knowing what I'm going to say." She turned and took a step towards so her face was inches from mine. "You're remarkably strong willed, I'll give you that. I expected the soul gem to have drained you before we arrived at the tower; But here you are, still able to walk and talk, enjoy it while it lasts." I tried to open my mouth but she placed a finger on my lips, silencing me, "No more stalling, Christopher. I don't even hear your friend near the tower, she's too late. Our time, my time, to ascend has come. And you'll be the only one to see it happen."

I tried to grab onto her arm and stop her, but I lacked the strength. She shoved me out the door and followed close behind me. Instantly we were hit with a dazzling golden light that faded to reveal Cynthia, her dark clothing illuminated in the majestic light, her hair flowed beautifully behind her as she looked at us with determination in her eyes, golden magical energy sparkled all around her glowing aura.

Violet stood still, shocked she'd been outplayed, been beaten to her destination without any sign of Cynthia passing us. Cynthia just smiled a devilish smile, and with a determined look spoke, "Miss me?"

Chapter 29: Cynthia

When I jumped through the portal, I felt like I had been falling for ages. It took Darkeen and I a couple minutes to actually decide we wanted to go through the portal. Considering we chose to literally jump into hell, I was okay it took us a few minutes to go through.

When we hit the ground, I raised my hand to summon a light, and then I studied the strange surroundings, the ground, the air, the sky. On the far horizon, a pulsing purple light stood, and about a third of the way between us and the light I saw a smaller purple light, Violet.

"Come on!" I shouted to Darkeen who mumbled something under his breath before running after me. We soon began to catch up to Violet and Christopher, who seemed to be moving at a very slow pace, I could hear them occasionally shouting amongst themselves and Violet multiple times produced a strange orb the secreted blue light.

We were getting close to the two when they entered the tower below the large pulsing light. We approached the tower and it reminded me of several of the towers I had seen in Cyphol, I had scaled many of them. If you were a skilled climber, you could scale these buildings far faster than climbing the long spiral staircase. Many times, had I done just that, using the outside of buildings to my advantage to complete different assassination contracts in Cyphol.

I pivoted on one foot and faced Darkeen, "I need the steps, now!" Darkeen seemed very reluctant but then handed them over to me.

"What's your plan?" He asked as he put the pieces of paper in my hand. "Surely this time you have one?"

I smiled and put the steps in my pocket, "Yes, I have a plan this time." I took a running start and jumped up, grabbing a handhold on a crack between two stones. "Stay down here, wait for my signal." Before Darkeen could ask any further questions, I was already on my way up. Jumping between layers of stone and swiftly scaling from one hand hold to another. Before long I pulled myself to the top of the tower and summoned an aura of golden energy around me, pushing back the darkness around me. Now I waited for Violet, to put an end to this all.

Soon Violet and Christopher poured through the door on the other side of the roof and I released a blinding golden light, which they both covered their eyes from. When the light subsided, I first saw Christopher, who looked older, and weaker, like he'd lost several pounds on his way to the tower. Then I smirked at Violet who seemed shocked to see me up here, "Miss me?"

I whistled at Darkeen who entered the tower and began to ascend the long staircase and Violet spoke, still a shocked look in her eyes, "How did you-"

I interrupted her, "What did you do to Christopher?" Violet looked at me dumbfounded, "And stop giving me that look."

"The ancient elven magic!" Violet shouted, "How do you have it?" Christopher looked nearly as shocked as Violet when she said those words. "As for Christopher here, it was deemed a necessary sacrifice."

Ancient elven magic? What was she talking about? Nonetheless I increased the brightness of my aura as an intimidation tactic and demanded, "Give me the step."

Violet laughed hysterically, "Look at you, blessed with magic thought to be lost to the ages, but with no knowledge. I would give you the step and you wouldn't even know what to do with it." Violet laughed again and I held my tongue as she continued. "You'll kill me, over a grudge years old, and let this world burn as you fail to repress the dark magic."

"Try me." I said bitterly, and fired a small bolt of magic that Violet was too late to react to, it entered her shoulder and knocked her a few steps back, still laughing.

At the point Darkeen burst through the door behind her and put her in a choke hold. "The step," he said, "give it here." Violet seemed to have realized she had lost, and turned her head and spat at Darkeen's feet. She then slowly reached into her pocket and extracted an old piece of paper and threw it on the ground. Darkeen carefully reached down and picked it up. He then turned to me, "Cynthia, the other steps please?"

I paused for a second, "I'm the one with the ancient elven magic, shouldn't you give me the step."

"You're but a child!" Darkeen said in a cynical tone I hadn't heard previously heard before. "If anyone is going to be able to wield dark magic for the good of the world, it's me!" Darkeen hit Violet hard in the back with the butt of his axe, sending her sprawling across the floor.

Violet started hysterically laughing again, "This is too good! The only other person Cynthia has, succumbing to the temptation of power!"

"That's now what this is!" Darkeen stated bitterly, "It's just that after all my life, all I've dedicated to making the world better... I deserve this. Besides, you don't know anything about the steps, Cynthia."

"Neither do you!" I cried, "You know as much as I do!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Darkeen always seemed so simply content, not the kind of man to be tempted by this sort of thing. "Don't do this. Give the steps to me! This can be ended right now!"

Darkeen quickly removed a shiny brown crossbow that could be operated with a single hand, and pointed it at me. "The steps, Cynthia, please." I stood frozen, never had I anticipated I would be in this situation. I tried to flick the crossbow out of his hand but I couldn't get it to move. Darkeen shook his head, "This crossbow is one-hundred percent copper, completely magic resistant." I was at a loss, no other options. I walked across the length of the tower roof, and placed the two other steps in Darkeen's outstretched hands.

"I can't believe you." I muttered to Darkeen as I placed the steps.

"This is the lowest risk solution," Darkeen stated matter-of-factly, "Better to have me than Violet in control, and better to put someone in control that can handle the magic, rather than try to seal the breach with your ancient elven magic and failing."

After I handed Darkeen the steps I started to back away. He started muttering the words on the steps, as well as some old ancient elven tomes. I started sulking, knowing I'd lost when I heard Christopher's coarse voice shout, "Look out."

Violet had regained her strength and summoned a large bolt of purple energy. I tried to react or summon some sort of spell or something, but it was too late. Darkeen hardly had time to react as the bolt of energy ripped through him, incinerating the center of his body. He couldn't even scream as his body collapsed to the floor. The man who'd more or less held our journey together, and helped bring us to this place, who had dedicated most of his life to the elven people, another victim of the corruption of power and a victim of Violet's power-hungry bloodlust.

The steps, having fallen out of Darkeen's unmoving hands, lay perfectly still on the ground, right between Violet and I. I dashed forward towards the steps, but was hit with a powerful wave of energy, knocking me back. I witnessed Violet make a run for the invaluable pieces of parchment and pushed my hands forward, summoning a wave of energy towards Violet that knocked her off her feet. I walked forward and she summoned a bolt of energy that I quickly parried with a swipe of my hand. I launched my own bolt of energy that Violet had to scoot backwards rapidly to avoid. She reached back and realized she was at the edge of the tower, no more room to go. She panicked, launching dozens of bolts of energy at me, which I summoned a golden shield to deflect. I pushed both of my hands forwards and I stayed stone faced as my wave of magic sent Violet off the edge of the roof. The way down was long, I hoped that would be the last I would see of her.

While Violet was gone, I was still far from done. I looked at Christopher to see him out cold, hopefully not dead. I stepped over Darkeen's dead body and picked up the complete set of three steps. Altogether, in the presence of my aura of ancient magic, the steps seemed to also glow a bright golden color. I approached the pulsing purple light and using all the strength I could muster, made my golden aura as powerful as possible. I raised the three steps to my face and began to speak loudly, "Enter the darkness of what has passes." A loud sound, like a powerful spell being perpetually cast echoed throughout the area and a green beam of bright light entered the pulsing light perpendicularly and continued outward for as far as the eye could see. I hoped that meant the steps were working, "Through the darkness, bring the light." The pulsing sound of energy echoed again, louder this time, and another green beam of light entered the purple-central light.

I opened my mouth to read the third and final step, but froze as I heard the click of an armed crossbow behind me. I turned around to see Violet, armed with Darkeen's crossbow. Her body was shaking violently. I opened my mouth to ask how she'd survived the fall, and managed to climb back up here, but she shouted at me "No!" Before I could ask anything. "I will not have everything I've worked towards, be dismantled by some dim-witted elf!" She began stumbling towards me, crossbow in hand. "I should never have allowed you to leave Evanuan! All you've done is f**k everything up. You come here and play hero! Not realizing that you're putting the lands of this world at risk! Give me the steps, you're playing with forces beyond your comprehension."

I clutched the steps closer to me and slowly said two words, "F**k. You." I maintained eye contact as Violet sniggered and lifted the crossbow to her shoulder. However, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christopher, slowly drag his feet towards Violet. "I think I'll seal this magical breach now, thank you very much."

Christopher wrapped his arms around squeezed tightly, pushing the crossbow upward a few inches, sending the crossbow bolt flying over my head. "Finish the ritual!" He tried to shout at me, but I could tell he was running out of strength.

I turned back towards the pulsing light and raised the final step up and read aloud, "Not all is lost, for light will emerge, and the bewitched darkness, shall be purged." I was slightly surprised by how lengthy the final step was. However, before I could ponder the thought too much, a final pulsing sound echoed and a third beam of light emerged.

A spirit, the same one that I had encountered in the Temple of Longevity, floated down from the pulsing purple light and spoke to me, "You have reached the final stages of the summoning, you now have two options available to you."

The spirits words came slow and I looked to my right to see Violet and Christopher struggling to escape from each other's grasp, however it didn't look great for Christopher. I turned back to the spirit. "Well what are my options, let's make it snappy."

The spirit continued at the same speaking pace, ignoring my words. "You could have this breach destroyed, and the excess dark magic with it. This place would be destroyed, and everything within would likely perish."

So, if I'll die if I destroy this place, Christopher would die too. "What's my other option?"

"You could establish control over this breach." The spirit spoke calmly, "A control over the flow of dark magic into your world." That's what Violet, and surprisingly Darkeen were after, power. And now here I was, being offered nearly limitless power. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted by the offer. I could easily save the rest of the surviving elves, and make the Chammelons pay for what they've done. I could take back and reestablish all of the elven kingdom with little resistance. All I had to do was tell this spirit that I wanted to control this breach...

I heard Christopher yell and I looked back to see Violet, blood crazed and power-hungry, on top of him. She hit him in the side of the head with an orb, and he screamed. I shook my head, tossing away my visions of controlling the breach. No one should have that much power, simply a desire for that kind of power ended up causing all this madness. I didn't want to end up like Violet.

I looked at the spirit, "Destroy this place." I commanded.

The spirit raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure, the chance of you surviving is about zero."

I nodded triumphantly, "I'll take those odds." The spirit nodded and retreated into the pulsing light above. A few seconds later, the orb exploded with ear shattering force. "NO!" Violet screamed as bits of the orb came crashing down. She climbed off of Christopher who was unmoving with blood all over himself. Violet snarled at me and started running towards me like an animal. I picked up the dropped copper crossbow and squared my shoulder. Violet took a final lunge at me and I squeezed the trigger. The copper bolt flew towards her, and no amount of magic was going to be able to save her. The bolt entered her eye, killing her instantly. She collapsed to the ground next to Darkeen's body, and lay just as still. I ran over to her and grabbed the blue orb she had been holding, whatever it was, it seemed to affect Christopher, I might need it to save him.

A tremble murmured throughout the area and the ground began to shake under my feet. The tower was collapsing! I ran over to Christopher's body. Blood was everywhere and he looked weak, I lay my head against his chest and prayed. Yes! I detected a faint pulse, it was weak, almost non-existent, but it was there. I picked him up and started dragging him towards the exit to the staircase. I was shocked by how light Christopher was, whatever Violet had done had withered him away.

We didn't even get halfway to the door when part of the tower collapse and we slowly came crashing to the ground. The roof became slanted as it fell and we slipped towards the edge. I used every ounce of strength I had to hold Christopher up as we dangled from the side of the roof. Soon the roof was relatively close to the ground and I let go, crashing to the ground. Christopher's limp body landed on top of me, knocking the air out of me. I had no time to react though. I got up and started dragging Christopher's body across the ground, trying to escape the falling tower. The slanted roof was coming down towards us and I struggled, trying to move more quickly, we had to get out of the way. I tensed as the roof fell and hit the ground, just where we had been a few seconds ago. I slung Christopher's body across my back and began walking as fast as I could with the extra weight on my back. The landscape around me was truly falling apart, the ground behind us simply fell endlessly away, hills and raised platforms in the distance combusted into fountains of energy and dark colored fire.

I kept my eyes focused on the entrance to the portal in the distance, perhaps it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but the portal seemed to slowly get smaller and smaller. I had to get to it before it disappeared and we were stuck here forever. However, even if we don't escape. We managed to seal the breach, save the world from a magical chaos and collapse. At least I could die knowing I did the right thing. But I wasn't giving up yet, not even close! We would escape! I'd survived so much already and come so far; Surely, I would survive this, we both would.

We were now over half way to the portal and that's when creatures started emerging from the shadows. Wolves, and the creatures of fire and ice, approached us. Amazing! How could this get any better! I thought to myself as I tried to pick up the pace. I was tired, and having trouble focusing. Christopher was becoming heavier and heavier with every step. We were closing in on the portal, that was still growing smaller, however the creatures had closed the distance between us and them. I struggle to keep moving as I used one hand to balance Christopher, and used the other to fire bolts of golden magic at the creatures as they approached. I was beginning to get overwhelmed. Mere feet from the portal, I was bogged down, I couldn't keep moving. There were too many of them. I crouched down as several of the creatures swiped at me. I shut my eyes and thought hard, trying to fight through the throbbing pounding in my head. I stood up and shouted, blasting the creatures around me away with a magnificent wave of golden energy. This was my final chance, I had a clear path to the portal and I had to get there. One foot at a time. I thought to myself as I slowly moved forward. Left. Right. Left. Right. We had made it. The portal was now only a foot in diameter. I slowly fit Christopher through the small portal, head first. I was running on fumes as I used any last strength I could muster to keep the approaching creatures at bay.

Christopher was now through the portal and I lunged after him, but got caught. One of the wolves had grabbed my leg. I kicked violently as the portal kept shrinking smaller around me, threatening to crush me alive. I shouted and blasted the wolf in the face with a ball of magic. It let go of me and I kicked off of the wolf and pushed myself through the portal.

On the other side of the portal I landed on top of Christopher and looked back just in time to see the portal seal itself for good. The smell was overwhelming, dead flesh rotting in the sun. Bodies lay all around. I looked up to see my entrance startled a group of about a dozen surviving mages from the battle. They stood up and looked at me.

"I don't recognize her." One of them said, "Do you?"

"Not at all." Another murmured, "Should we kill her?"

"Perhaps we should." Another said scared, "She's an elf. My mother always warned me you can't trust an elf."

"Enough!" I shouted, startling all of them. I've had enough violence, I wanted these mages gone so I could try to fix Christopher. "The breach is sealed, don't you see! It's over. Go home." The mages stood still, too scared to move. "Go!" I shouted and they all quickly ran out of the area, away from Evanuan. I lifted Christopher, moving him away from the nauseating stench of dead bodies. Perhaps by instinct, or maybe just luck, I found myself at the remains of my old home. The roof was gone, and only half of one of the walls remained. The inside was overgrown with random shrubs and I put Christopher down inside.

I lifted the orb up to Christopher and shook it, nothing happened. "Come on!" I muttered to myself as I hit the orb with tiny sparkles of magic too afraid to break it. I sighed, a sigh of both relief and sorrow. I had done it. I had finished the job, but I'd lost the only two people I'd ever really gotten to know in the process. I felt a tear run down my face and crushed the orb in my hand. Brought it all the way for nothing. I let the tears flow down my face. I don't think I've actually truly cried since last time I witnessed a major battle at Evanuan, when I'd lost my parents. I cried for many reasons. Nostalgia for my old home in Evanuan, for my people. The knowledge that my parent's lives had been taken, simply as a calculation. The fact that Darkeen threatened me and had to die. Despite all my efforts, the fact that Christopher had died. And especially, the fact that I could suffer so much, to stop the world from dying, and everyone would continue to go about their daily business while I would once again be alone and empty.

I heard a cough behind me and spun around quickly. It was Christopher! The dust from the orb had settled on him and it seemed to have worked! He coughed again and sat up. He smiled at me weakly, "We did it." He looked weak but the orb seemed to have returned most of his strength.

I hugged him and continued to cry into his shoulder, "I suppose we did."

He chuckled nervously, "Where's Darkeen?" He looked at me, "Is he?" I nodded solemnly, "Oh. I had no idea what Violet was up to." He said quickly. He looked ashamed.

"It's okay, Christopher." I said calmly, my eyes still watering, "It's over now." I then chuckled lightly, "I had no idea you were such a bad-a*s mage." We talked lightly for about an hour. Just trying to wrap our heads around what had just happened.

"So, what now?" Christopher asked hopefully. "You've beaten back the forces of the dark realm, defeated the one responsible for the destruction of your people, and reclaimed your home. Anything else on your bucket list?"

I wanted to talk so positively, but I didn't even know where to begin. "I don't even know where to start, honestly. I thought that if I could actually manage to reclaim Evanuan, everything else would come naturally, but I'm just as lost."

Christopher tenderly placed a hand on my shoulder, "We just have to start small. Find other elves and find sympathizers to spread the word. Tell them of an elf with the power of the ancient mages, who managed to single-handedly reclaimed Evanuan!"

I shoved him playfully, "Well, almost single-handedly."

"You can lead your people back here, Cynthia." Christopher spoke softly, "Give them somewhere safe to live for once. Somewhere they can finally call home."

I nodded and smiled at him. "We'll do it together." I couldn't imagine having to do such a task alone, and Christopher was the only sort of friend I had left.

Christopher laughed softly, "Well I guess I don't have much else to do now that the world is saved... And I've probably lost my old job as captain of the Cyphol guard."

I raised an eyebrow sarcastically, "I thought Werdyn's soldiers were allowed weeks of unannounced leave time."

"They're actually not so kind of it, surprisingly." Christopher said in response. We laughed lightly again, each of us seemed to be forcing our laughter, there'd been too much recently for me to just forget it all. However now, I had a goal. To reunite the elven people in our capital. Despite whatever hardships I'd experienced, I could now work toward what I'd envisioned for years. A home for my people.

Chapter 30: Christopher

What I remembered of the events on the tower were faded and fuzzy. I remember tackling Violet, and flashes of green and purple light. I vaguely remember being carried on Cynthia's back as well. Despite being there during it all, I was still shocked and surprised to hear Cynthia describe the details to me.

We spent the night in Evanuan, laying in the overgrown fields of northern Evanuan. In the morning we set out west, towards Werdyn. The plan was to travel along the human settlements near the old Elven kingdom, where theoretically the most elves should be. Slowly, day by day, we would bring back the elven people back to their homeland, where they could prosper.

It had been quite the journey traveling across the continent, meeting all kinds of people, discovering the terrifying secrets of the Order of the Skull. I had planned my life to take after my father, progress through the ranks of Werdyn's army. My plans have been forever changed, but I would never go back, even if I could. It was worth fighting for the betterment of the continent, rather than stick my head in the sand and ignore the world's problems like most people do. No matter what other challenges we might come across; I was glad to be helping other people. Together, Cynthia and I can change this world forever, solve the problems it presents and assist those in need, spreading the word of reclaimed Evanuan.

The first elves we spoke to first were bitter and angry with us. They were convinced we were lying to them. They refused to believe that after all the elves had suffered that someone had managed to reclaim Evanuan. Other elves were hopeful and amazed. Spending long nights in the tavern, questioning us about how such an event had come to pass. Once satisfied, they left nearly immediately for Evanuan.

It was a slow process, meeting with elves face to face, however we wanted to keep it quiet, we didn't want to risk another Chammelon invasion if they found out to early about the reclamation of Evanuan. Despite the slow process, there was no feeling like telling a hopeful elf, that they might return to Evanuan and live peacefully.

This was only our first town, on the frontier of Werdyn, but I feel good about what we're accomplishing. One day soon Cynthia and I will return to Evanuan, and help organize the people there so they might prosper. But until then, we'll keep meeting with elf after elf, telling them of Evanuan, and wishing them a brighter future for them and their family.

I knew we'd done a good thing, closing the breach from the dark dimension. However, since it closed and magic began to stabilize, magic began to return across the continent, farmhands and blacksmiths would wake to realize they could summon fire, or fix a cut hand with their minds. It didn't take long for word to spread throughout the continent, some wanted to kill those with the gift of magic, worried about the destruction it would cause, kings and princes tried to rally them to their armies, nobles with the gift sometimes turned to kill their brethren and challenge the monarchs. Although we'd stabilized the continent from an outside threat, tension was on the rise between different factions and kingdoms all across the continent...

Chapter 31: Cynthia

Giddy, is the word I would use to describe my feelings as I told fellow elves about the freedom of Evanuan. Not all elves were interested in returning to their homeland, some had acclimatized, but the majority of them were overjoyed, some of them jumping out of their seats and hugging me tightly. I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else.

After we'd visited a few smaller settlements, we returned to Evanuan and the elves who'd travelled there. The main city was still standing and there was no lack of housing. We organized farms at first, a society needs food to survive. But the people there settled quickly, within a week the elven people started setting up small businesses. While the elves were at first weary of Christopher's human presence, his quick-witted humor and loving heart quickly gained him acceptance by the elven people. Christopher became vital to setting up the city's militia, and trained with the other elves while we were in Evanuan.

I was against setting up a militia force so early on, but as more and more elves came, more and more did I worry about another invasion of the city.

After our second visit to the city Christopher and I were preparing to set back out, to search for more elves to bring to the city. "Ready to go?" He asked me.

"Hell yeah." I said with a smile as we rode away from the city.

Nothing could truly heal all the scars I had obtained during my life, from the fall of Evanuan to my fight with Violet in the dark dimension; But helping my people prosper and rebuild, something I had always dreamed of, helped the scars fade farther under my skin. I would always remember them, I had to. It helped me keep going every day, helped me remember what it took to get here. However, my scars would no longer haunt me. They'd just serve as a reminder of what I've been through, something to steel my mind as I travelled from town to town, searching for my people.

This time Evanuan would remain strong, it would not fall. It would serve as a beacon, my beacon, of hope and promise for all the elves who have suffered like I have. I smiled as I rode out of the city, Christopher and I side by side, knowing I had not lost and suffered for nothing. Knowing I was making a brighter future for my people. Knowing I had avenged my parents, and accomplished my goal of reclaiming Evanuan. The future isn't always clear, but maybe that's okay. As long as I keep my goal in sight, and dedicate my future to my people, and to Evanuan, nothing can stop me from accomplishing what I set out to do.

With that final thought, Christopher and I set out west, into the sunset with a sparkle in our eyes. We smiled as we set out to accomplish more good, throughout the rest of the continent. It had been a long journey, and it was far from over; But I was glad to be at the center of it all.

Although I could rest happy knowing we'd stopped dark magic and saved Evanuan, there was still so many things I wanted to investigate. Why the Chammelon's to the north hadn't even shown signs of life was worrying. Although we'd already journeyed through St. Cory, I remembered what Darkeen had said about there being bodies found there similar to Violets. I wanted to uncover these secrets, figure out what Violet was, or what had corrupted her and those around her. I also longed to investigate the battle of Farakeen, I hadn't seen Violet summoning demon armies which worried me that someone else was interfering with the natural balance of magic.

While I felt closing the portal was a victory, I had a gut feeling that all closing had done was bought us some time. This was my home, my kingdom, and my continent, and I'd rather go down in flames than see it taken from me

The End

To Be Continued?