Hey everyone. Amazing... it's the last chapter. Six chapters over what I originally thought this story would go to... But this has been an enjoyable little jaunt. I've only finished one other story (and seeing as how a prequel started immediately after finishing that one, it doesn't count) and so I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. I guess I should start like this....
Thank you to every single reviewer. ?, Long Shot, Johnathan Tailban, Tiger5913, Galandria the Vampire Queen, Redskin, and all my other friends. Thank you guys so much. Your reviews and comments have meant a great deal to me. We have never met face to face, but we are friends nevertheless. Good to have you around!
The only review question I got to see before writing this (I've been away at a political camp called Boy's State for a week) was comments on Dimitri's apparent religiousness. Remember that this is AU, and I'm screwing with the storyline- Humans spread out all over the universe in my backstory. They took their religion with them, and henceforth Dimitri is Christian (of indeterminate denomination :). Likewise, most of the other races are Christian- note the Christian myths of the Felinos and Incubi/Succubi- due to the fact that they are descendants of humans. My own little way of inserting my religion into things.
I've said enough. So, to close the curtains on my very first book, I'll make this announcement. My friends, it is time to call an end to this delightful tale. It saddens the heart to think of it, I know. But fear not- stories never end. They merely quit on pen and paper, while living on in the heart and soul. So, I shall close the curtains on this tale- but! First, I must announce the opening of it's last chapter! Henceforth, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dukes and Duchesses, Kings and Queens and Guests of All Ages! It's....
"SHHHOOOOOWWWTIIIIMMMME!"
FINAL CHAPTER
CHAPTER 26
Wake From Dream
The Deeping Dream of Hell. No place, no time.
Pyron's true form was oddly fireless, for a creature whose name itself suggested flame and death. It was brown, a mound of enormous flesh, and seemed almost a dead thing, bloated with foul fluids and the corruption of death. His body was long and serpentine, stretching to the floor in a legless tail that dragged across the broken, rocky plains of this nightmare land. Two enormous arms, both thick as ancient oaks, plunged down from the staggering height of his shoulders and supported his titanic upper body. On the back of this creature, fleshy tentacles rode, and each tentacle ended in a body. One was B.B. Hood, a screaming, fell wreck of a woman, hissing and spewing blood.... one was Donovan, maniac's gleam burning in his eyes as he lifted his sword.... others shook and laughed and screamed and raved on Pyron's back, all souls lost to darkness, all weak things taken in by lies. As these things swayed on Pyron's back, the monstrosity moved it's ponderous bulk and turned to face them. Pyron's face, incredibly small on the great bulk of his new form and strangely unchanged, glared at them. Part of the face was cut apart, as if recently wounded by a spear blow.
" This is it," the creature said, in a thousand voices that echoed and redoubled each other. " One last fight. Then I end you... vampire.... and with you, all that remains in this world to fight me."
" Wrong," Dimitri said, grinning. " Kill me and you just end me. You still have to deal with my friends. You still have to deal with Jedah. And you will still have to deal with forces entirely beyond your comprehension. You know almost nothing... you can understand nothing."
" Brave words for a dying man," Pyron said. " Here, in my world, you cannot stop me."
" Can't I?" Dimitri said, a mad grin still pasted to his face. " What does this world mean? What does all this show and frippery mean? What does any of it mean, when you place it against the fact that I am a man of Good? It means nothing. Nothing at all."
Pyron shrieked with a thousand vocal cords. " You shall die!"
Dimitri sniggered again. " We'll see about that, Pyron."
With that, Dimitri threw a fireball against the figure. It didn't do much more than annoy the creature, but that little annoyance was enough to let Dimitri gain a small advantage in time. He ran forth, Ebonrule ready, looking for a spot to strike.
Felicia launched herself as far as she could, pouncing as only her kind could pounce, flying across the broken rocks to touch briefly on ground and leap again. She soon outpaced Dimitri and leapt at one of Pyron's arms. The mass was thicker than her entire body was. She leapt and stuck her claws in it, tearing and scratching, looking for tendons or muscles to cut. Black blood leaked out and burned her hands. She cried out but kept slashing.
Jon dropped to all fours and ran forth as well, and then one of the cadavers on Pyron's back let out a scream. It opened it's mouth and spewed forth a wave of sonic force. It struck the werewolf's sensitive ears and shoved him into the ground, pressing him with such force that he cracked the rocks beneath his body. Jon howled in pain.
Morrigan threw a fireball of her own, trying to help Jon, but it entered the path of the shriek of the thin corpse on Pyron's back and was extinguished in seconds. Taking to the air, Morrigan shot again and connected solidly with the corpse. It stopped it's scream as fire consumed it's forehead. Soon, the fire was absorbed by Pyron, but the damage was done- the thin corpse would bother them no more. It sagged and fell sideways onto Pyron's back. The other corpse-tentacles pulled away from it and kept fighting.
Donovan's body flung itself into the air, stretching to the limit of the tentacle to which it was attached, and struck with it's sword. Morrigan felt the wind of it as it passed her, and she grabbed for the corpse. Her hands found it's neck, and she soon wrapped herself around it in a strange parody of lovemaking, trying to hold it's arms so that it could not strike her with it's sword. As she held the creature and jerked her head left and right to dodge it's biting jaws, her tentacles shot out and pierced the corpse's sides and face. Donovan jerked twice, and then the corpse fell from the air, falling towards the ground at a terrific rate. Morrigan leaped off the corpse and spread her wings to control her descent, but it was too late; her wings weren't enough to prevent a hard impact with the ground. Dazed, she moaned and tried to clear her head.
Dimitri ran to one of the great forelimbs of the monster and raised his spear. Ebonrule blazed, and he pierced the limb with it's length. The beast shuddered, and Dimitri jerked and twisted the spear in the arm, shattering vital nerves and muscles within. Pyron's body jerked, and B.B. Hood's form flew from his back, spewing foul blood-poison from within itself. Two blasts splashed against Dimitri's cloak, burning and eating away at the leather so it could touch his skin. Dimitri yelled and let go of the Ebonrule, flinging his cloak away. The acid spread and consumed his cloak, reducing it to a puddle of boiling acid. As Dimitri patted himself to make sure no acid had reached his skin, Pyron moved on great, mountainous arm. Dimitri dodged and rolled, trying to avoid being crushed by that enormous hand. He ended up near the still-fighting Felicia, Ebonrule stuck in Pyron some distance away.
Jon got up dazedly and glanced over at the battle still raging. Felicia now looked like she'd been badly sunburned, the black blood of Pyron wounding her even as she damaged it. A snarl of rage and determination covered her face.
Jon got up and ran forward, on all fours again, and as he reached the leg he jumped up as high as he could. He stuck in the upper portion of Pyron's arm, claws buried deep in the foul flesh. Howling as the blood burned him, Jon began climbing up the creature in slow, painful leaps and jerks, repeating his assault on the Fragment that B.B. Hood had become. His teeth were gritted, and howls of pain locked themselves in his throat.
B.B. Hood's body turned and rushed at him, meaning to knock the offending wolf off, but before she could a fireball caught her face. She screamed and spat poison, dousing the flames. Morrigan stood up on the battlefield, head still ringing from her impact with the ground. Morrigan stood there, and called to herself all the rage and pain she still remembered, from Garik's betrayal, from her inner pain, from her hurt. It was not madness, but close enough to give her strength. She began summoning another fireball, this one a whirling maelstrom of her own bright flame.
Pyron turned to face her and grinned. She was going to use fire on him, of all things. Fire could harm the lost souls on his back, of course- they were part of him and yet separate, so were without his demonic protection from such things- but against him? Against his real body? What good could that do?
Morrigan let loose with a gout of fire that would have done a dragon proud. It spun as it traveled, making a vortex of bright fire that lit up the battlefield. Pyron screamed, for he had forgotten that here, it was the intent and not the attack itself that mattered. He fought back with his own power, breathing out dark flames to counter Morrigan's orange fire. The two fought and warred in the air of the battlefield. Morrigan held her hands out, her face taut, her body shaking with the effort of summoning this great flame. It burned out of her in a continuous spinning stream.
With Pyron distracted for the moment, Dimitri got up as fast as he could and ran to Ebonrule. Jerking it out of Pyron's arm (causing Pyron's flame to falter for a moment and Morrigan to regain some ground lost), Dimitri turned and threw the spear into the chest of Pyron's body. It was intercepted in it's flight by B.B. Hood's corpse, the dead face screaming all the while, and her body exploded in blue flame when Ebonrule touched her. The spear lost it's momentum and fell point down towards the ground.
Felicia seemed to wake up from a strange, semi-drugged state of berseker fury (very unlike anything she'd ever done before) and saw Jon above her. Abandoning her futile attack on Pyron's arm, she crawled up the arm as well, following her love. He was almost to the top, and Felicia was right behind him when an enormous thing struck him. He fell off the arm with barely a cry. Felicia screamed and grabbed at him, her claws catching his shoulder. Jon howled as Felicia's own hand pierced his skin, but he was still thankful; a fall from this height would have killed him. Felicia swung him over to the arm and he latched on again. Above them, a fat and bulging corpse lolled it's tongue at them. It was a Fragment of Gluttony, and it grinned at them with a million mouths. It had no eyes. Felicia gritted her teeth in a snarl and leapt at it. It dodged incredibly fast for such a large object, going in a circle pattern, and when it finished it's circle it's back collided with Felicia. The blow tossed her high into the air.
" Felicia!" Jon screamed. Felicia said nothing as she plummeted downwards. Jon leapt off the arm and dove, forgetting how high up they were. As he grabbed her in mid-air, it occured to him that he had now secured not only Felicia's death but his own; neither of them were going to survive a fall from this height onto the rocky ground of this place.
[ And maybe that's not so bad, after all,] he thought, in the few seconds before impact. [ To die like this.... isn't it best to die a hero?]
Then they struck the ground, and knew no more. Yet, miraculously, they both survived; for Jon's dive had not been in vain. He'd pushed both of them far enough to the side that they landed on Pyron's fleshy tail and not the ground. The impact knocked them out, and they were still in a bad place, but for the moment, they were still alive. Pyron shifted and they both rolled off him, onto the ground nearby. By the wonder of luck (or something more) Pyron took no notice of them.
As they were falling through the air, Morrigan felt her strength waning, and the stream of flame coming from her hands weakened accordingly. Pyron drew on the near-endless strength of the lost souls he'd corrupted and breathed forth with renewed strength.
[ Your flame cannot match my- Ugh!] Pyron thought, his mind triumphant up until the point Dimitri threw Ebonrule through his chest. He'd grabbed the spear and aimed directly for where Pyron's heart would have been at. Seeing as how Pyron did not have a heart (in both the figurative and literal sense), the blow was merely extremely painful.
Pyron stomped backwards (causing Dimitri to scatter and dodge those enormous hands) reeling from the blow to his chest. Morrigan increased her flame as much as she could, and almost defeated Pyron's darkness before he recovered and fought back. Her strength almost gone, Morrigan's fire was soon consumed by the dark, rolling blaze. Only a small fire, mere feet from her body, remained to combat Pyron. Morrigan backed away slowly, seeking some escape from the fiery waves rolling towards her.
It was Dimitri who granted her reprieve, for Ebonrule had returned to him, and his throw was perfect. The fat Fragment attempted to intercept the spear, but it was too slow. The spear tip struck Pyron's face and plunged forth.
Right into the crack where Dimitri had already wounded him.
Pyron stopped breathing fire immediately, as Ebonrule's black tip struck his inner darkness and true essence. Morrigan, who was so exhausted she was almost unconscious, dropped to her knees and breathed a sigh of relief. Dark flames burned and died all around her.
" No!" Pyron shouted, jerking and shaking. The spear tip trembled, shivered, fell. " No! I deny it! I deny all of it! I DENY EVERYTHING!" Pyron's form suddenly went black, blacker than the darkest night. " I will not succumb to some pathetic piece of obsidian a dog made! I am more than that! I am Pyron!"
" You're right, in your own way," Dimitri said, as the darkness that had now become Pyron spread out over the burning battlefield and wiped away the light. " You won't succumb to an obsidian spear. The spear's just a representative. What you will succumb to is the force behind the spear. The force of redemption, of tears in the rain..."
And from somewhere far away, falling like the first gentle rain of the first pure world, water droplets struck the surface of this newly black land. They fell slowly at first, and then struck faster- but they never struck hard, or painfully, or blindingly. They merely came on faster, gentle as teardrops and just as sweet. Dimitri lifted his face to them and raised his hand, a light smile barely touching the corners of his mouth. Morrigan looked up as well and closed her eyes, feeling the gentle rain run down her face, cooling and soothing. As they struck Jon and Felicia, the two lovers awoke, groggy and in pain at first, but the rain soon washed that away and they were whole.
Pyron screamed, for the rain that touched him was not gentle, but driving and brutal. Harsh and killing. Pyron felt the life go out from him.
[ Am I real?] he thought, one last time, before all that he was and ever would be was extinguished and made unreal for all time.
[ We did it,] Dimitri thought, before he felt light rushing towards him.
And all around him, the Dream was broken, and the sleepers awoke to a new dawn...
Dawn rose over the world, hours early. Weary, bestraggled vampires gazed up at the sun, at first in terror, then in wonder as they saw that it did not burn their skin. Werewolves, hunting in the woods, heard the most beautiful birds sing, heard all birds sing in a cacophony that was both chaotic and wild and structured and true, a symphony that had never been heard before in that world and would never be heard again. The survivors of the devastasted lands of Aensland looked up at the sun, and images of their departed and lost loved ones appeared to them in those first bright rays. The patrols of Jedah's camp, already receiving refugees, heard the music of perfect silver bells that rang on and on over the rocky shores, and the soldiers and guards looked about in wonder as the whole world seemed to spin and sing, and laughter broke out over the camp as they saw themselves in a new light, in a true light, and saw that they were, in their own way, good. All over the world, sleepers, regardless of how tired they were when they went to sleep or how long they'd been sleeping, awoke entirely refreshed, and feeling as if they had just escaped a terrible nightmare. The soldiers of Pyron's encampment felt fear and terror such as they'd never known, and the ringing of the bells tore into their minds as they ran and ran. In the Western Wastes that the humans had been forced to live in by the Darkstalkers, flowers bloomed, and a great rainstorm appeared out of nowhere, to blanket the land in a soothing rain. And as the rain touched their skin, the humans in those lands found to their wonder that something had awoke in them. Their heartbeats were louder, their stance taller, their stride greater. The Elder Race from which all races had come woke once more on the world of their sacrifice.
And even through the rain, the red rays of dawn filtered through.
One hundred years later. The First Grand Banquet of Reunited Worlds, at the Royal Castle of the Jurai Empire, on Capital World of Jurai Empire. Dawn.
Dimitri rose up and stretched himself. That had been a good dream, if a long one- starting from the time he'd woken up that first morning when he'd met Morrigan, ending when he'd destroyed Pyron- and he was well rested. Beside him, stirring lightly in her sleep, Morrigan dozed. Dimitri got up and walked over to the window of their room, looking up into the not-quite-dawn not-quite-night sky of Jurai. Jurai had a different solar cycle than Makai, and so Dimitri usually awoke before dawn on this world. He liked that just fine. Watching the dawn rise was still one of the greatest pleasures of his life, even a full century after he'd watched his first dawn rise, from his position in the middle of Pyron's encampment, as the tents and black box that Pyron had used to convey his army and himself faded away to nothing. The tent poles disappeared and the cloth had blown away, fading and crumpling and folding itself into nothingness in the wind. The box had shuddered and then fell apart, and as Dimitri and his three friends looked into the morning sky, the crumbled ruins had dissolved into dirt and sand. They had all stood, their legs weak and shaking, and Dimitri had cried tears of happiness. The sun was more beautiful than anything he'd ever imagined, better than he had hoped it to be, and without the curse the sunbeams were gentle and loving on his skin. Morrigan had went to him and held him, and they'd all cried there, as they watched the sun rise.
Morrigan yawn-moaned in her sleep, and Dimitri knew from long experience she would wake soon. Good. They had a lot to do today. It was the Grand Banquet, a meeting of all the recently reunited worlds, and it was going to be a hell of a thing to go through. So many worlds, so many people, all meeting for the first time...
Soon after defeating Pyron, Dimitri and his friends had made their way to Jedah's camp. The freed slaves had already told Jedah of their saviours, and so Jedah and his men were waiting for them when they came. As Morrigan and Dimitri approached, he had walked forward and knelt on one knee. As he rose, he declared in a voice that trumpeted over the battlements of his army and was heard for almost a mile around, " Morrigan, Queen of Aensland and all this world. Welcome back."
The rebellion had ended before it had begun. Jedah pledged his immediate support and to this very day was one of the most loyal Dukes of Aensland that Dimitri possessed. Odd, that a man who once planned to kill Berial would pledge complete fealty to his daughter.
Or maybe not so odd. After killing Pyron, Dimitri had noticed that the luck of all four friends had went through the roof. They were blessed people, seemingly, and not one of them had suffered after that last, final, titanic battle. Jon and Felicia had gotten married, and now had three kids (and, if Dimitri knew his friends, a fourth would not be too soon in coming). Jon was Head of Royal Guard, and Felicia had become Royal Storyteller. In those few moments when Morrigan wasn't with her and Dimitri's own two kids, Felicia would regale them with tales of their parent's bravery (much to Dimitri's embarassment).
Dimitri and Morrigan had gotten married as well, making Dimitri Royal Consort (a title that had made him cringe when he first heard it; he had told Morrigan he might as well have been named "Royal Gigolo", and she, laughing, had gotten it changed to King) and securing Morrigan's power over all Makai. She'd immediately moved her people to Moongrace, and oddly, the castle had not rejected them. When the small army Morrigan had called together had breached the castle, all the knights had already been destroyed, replaced with pretty shield and weapon decorations where they once stood. Dimitri had been entirely dumbfounded until he'd spotted a small red hair, floating in the breeze, attached to a chair. Smiling, Dimitri had held up this memento of his enigmatic friend Traveler and blew it up into the breeze. The hair, as if realizing it's job was done, floated off out an open window.
Moongrace had solved most of their problems immediately; game was plentiful in the forest near it, and Moongrace itself was just so beautiful that it was hard to live near it and not be on your best behavior, for some reason feeling that one should not disgrace such a thing with arguments or bad tempers. Morrigan had recalled the surviving heads of state, instituted new ones, and immediately got word out of her two biggest proposals: that Humans were now equals with Darkstalkers, and that the hunting and fighting between the groups was to stop. Vampires were almost manic in their support for her and Dimitri (for obvious reasons; who else had given them the power to stand in sunlight and be unharmed?) and the other races were thankful enough to give in to their proposals. There had been some nasty times, particularly early in their reign, when several wars had broken out between Humans and Darkstalkers; but with the aid of Ebonrule, their newfound luck, and the legions of faithful soldiers that replaced the devastated units of the Fell Time (as the Darkstalkers had taken to calling it), the wars were stopped and peace reigned. Dimitri and Morrigan had settled into daily life, and twenty five years into their marriage (a short time indeed for Darkstalkers) young Garik was born. Dimitri had almost freaked when he heard what Morrigan had decided to name him; but she'd calmed him down as she held their son, saying, " I named him Garik because Garik- besides you, anyway- taught me more about myself than anyone. This is my way of breaking with the past." And she'd held Garik and cried, and Dimitri had held her and cried, and the doctors all around simply stood there and looked confused. No one ever really knew about the origins of Garik's name, and that was a good thing as far as both parents were concerned.
Garik was now seventy-five, and growing up to look almost exactly like his father (although Dimitri had never sported small black bat wings on his head). He was an accomplished swordsman, though Dimitri had tried his best to teach him the spear. Garik was well-liked about court, and was having a far easier time growing up than Dimitri had.
The Ebonrule which Dimitri still carried (he'd thought it lost at first, since it had not left the Deeping Dream with him, but when he'd entered Moongrace it had been waiting there, stuck point down in the carpet before the stairs leading to the throne; Dimitri had originally thought Traveler had done that too, but something inside him had said that Ebonrule had come of it's own free will) would eventually go to Lei-Lei, his younger daughter. She, too, seemed to be a carbon copy, this time of Morrigan, though she had the long fangs of a vampire. Unlike Garik, she also had the lower wings of an Incubi (though no head wings; genetics always confused the hell out of Dimitri). She had taken up weapon practice, and much to Dimitri's pleasure, had liked the spear immediately upon picking it up. When Dimitri was dead or too old to wield it anymore, he would give the weapon to her. Ebonrule would lose power in the hands of an innocent, but it would still be a formidable weapon nonetheless.
The strangest thing had happened a year ago. Moongrace had pulsed, suddenly, as if it were a great heartbeat. Dimitri and Morrigan had stopped in their small walk across the parapets and listened. It pulsed again.
Dimitri had ran down the stairs as fast as he could, Morrigan behind him, and met with a great crowd in a large room of Moongrace that had never been used. In the middle, a great pulsing ball of light floated, and a voice was coming out of it. It was perky, grating, and yet somehow smile-inspiring, a funny little voice that was actually quite cheery and made a strange contrast with the solemnly glowing ball of light.
" Can anyone here me? Holy shit, I think we did it! We turned the transporters on! My God, commander, do you know what this means?"
A second voice, more authoritive and commanding, had broken in. " Yes, Washu, I know. And I'm excited too. It won't mean anything if we can't figure out whether there's anyone on the other side or not..."
Morrigan had stepped forth, leader of her people again, and said, " There is."
There was a scream of joy from the ball of light. " Holy shit! There's people over there! Thank God! What world is this? Terra? Gaia? Or maybe even... Earth? The old land?"
" I know not of what you speak," Morrigan said, managing to sound quite royal considering the circumstances. " This is the world of Makai, and I am it's ruler."
Another scream, along with some muffled shouts in the background behind (in? Where were the sounds coming from?) the sphere. " Holy shit! Makai? The vampire homeworld! Commander! This is great! We've got contact with Makai!"
" Washu, I'd normally yell at you for screaming, but I'm so damn happy at the moment I'll let it pass. Can I step through?"
" Sure! Let me screw with these controls... got it! Go on through! Hey, you people on Makai! We're sending someone in to talk face to face! Don't freak out now!"
Morrigan had smiled and said, " It's a little late for that."
Another scream of happy laughter. " I guess so! Here she comes now! Hold on to your ass, Kiyone!" And then the sphere had grown brighter for a second before slacking off and becoming tall and angular, like a door.
And in had stepped a blue-haired, armored soldier. She'd taken off her helm, and spoke a greeting which had been repeated endlessly across Makai afterwards:
" Greetings. I am Commander Kiyone, of the Jurai Empire. I am here to welcome your world back into the universe."
After that, things had fallen into place. Jurai was apparently an enormous, multi-world empire that had recently discovered technology from the Sundering War. And that technology had been the ability to cross stars in an instant. Within seconds, the universe was reopened. Jurai scientists (the afore-mentioned Washu first among them) had reopened world transporters. Within a month, over five worlds had been rediscovered, and attempts to reintegrate them into the universe were on. A plan for a great banquet of world leaders was launched, and that had led to this.
Dimitri and Morrigan were the representatives of Makai, along with friends and family. Both of their children were here, asleep in a nearby room. Jon and Felicia were in another adjoining room as well, their kids past them. As Dimitri looked outside, dawn began to rise over the Jurai Empire. He watched it rise, marveling as always in the million colors that the light seemed to break into, the way the light changed things and made them greater and grander somehow. Dimitri sighed and looked at the world outside his window, discovering that others were up as well. A long-haired blonde man was standing in one window to his left and above him, his face drawn and sad, almost hunted. He wore bright armor, and a warhammer was strapped to his back. Dangling by a chain from his waist was a book, and Dimitri could just make out a small cross etched on it's cover.
To Dimitri's right and below him, a young woman looked out on the dawn, an enormous purple ribbon tied to her back, a match for her light (very light) purple hair. Her entire outfit was made of various shades of purple, and had Dimitri not been married already, he would have attempted to contact her; she was beautiful in the extreme. Her eyes, however, belied that beauty and made it worthless; they were sad, hating, and most of all cold.
The last watcher Dimitri saw in his casual scan was located in the highest towers of the castle, directly visible from his room. Another young woman with long, dark purple hair was looking out onto the world, her clothes and manner dictating that she was a princess of some kind, and though her eyes were invisible from this distance, Dimitri thought he could feel a sense of nothingness come from her, of someone who hadn't given up on life because they had never really lived in the first place. It was odd, to see all these people, and for some reason to know their problems without ever having met them. Dimitri wondered at this, and then heard a call.
It was a voice without a voice, a sound that was utterly silent. Dimitri looked up. Above him, red hair ruffling in a newfound breeze, cape blue as ever, Traveler was smiling down at him from a high balcony. Dimtri smiled back and tapped his fingers to his forehead in an age-old sign of acknowledgement among his people.
Traveler tapped his forehead back and turned his gaze to the dawn. Dimitri did so as well. When he looked back, Traveler was gone. Dimitri smiled and laughed, waking Morrigan with his chuckles.
" A hero's work is not only never done," Dimitri said, as he watched the other three souls leave, three souls who he just might be able to help if he believed and was true, " it is also the only work worth doing."
And he turned to wake his friends, as the rays of dawn brought the world to life around them.
- And there you go. The last chapter, my friends. May God and Honor stay with you all your days, and the sun shine on you always. May we meet again on the road of life!
Your Friend and Fellow Author,
-Silverlocke980
Thank you to every single reviewer. ?, Long Shot, Johnathan Tailban, Tiger5913, Galandria the Vampire Queen, Redskin, and all my other friends. Thank you guys so much. Your reviews and comments have meant a great deal to me. We have never met face to face, but we are friends nevertheless. Good to have you around!
The only review question I got to see before writing this (I've been away at a political camp called Boy's State for a week) was comments on Dimitri's apparent religiousness. Remember that this is AU, and I'm screwing with the storyline- Humans spread out all over the universe in my backstory. They took their religion with them, and henceforth Dimitri is Christian (of indeterminate denomination :). Likewise, most of the other races are Christian- note the Christian myths of the Felinos and Incubi/Succubi- due to the fact that they are descendants of humans. My own little way of inserting my religion into things.
I've said enough. So, to close the curtains on my very first book, I'll make this announcement. My friends, it is time to call an end to this delightful tale. It saddens the heart to think of it, I know. But fear not- stories never end. They merely quit on pen and paper, while living on in the heart and soul. So, I shall close the curtains on this tale- but! First, I must announce the opening of it's last chapter! Henceforth, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dukes and Duchesses, Kings and Queens and Guests of All Ages! It's....
"SHHHOOOOOWWWTIIIIMMMME!"
FINAL CHAPTER
CHAPTER 26
Wake From Dream
The Deeping Dream of Hell. No place, no time.
Pyron's true form was oddly fireless, for a creature whose name itself suggested flame and death. It was brown, a mound of enormous flesh, and seemed almost a dead thing, bloated with foul fluids and the corruption of death. His body was long and serpentine, stretching to the floor in a legless tail that dragged across the broken, rocky plains of this nightmare land. Two enormous arms, both thick as ancient oaks, plunged down from the staggering height of his shoulders and supported his titanic upper body. On the back of this creature, fleshy tentacles rode, and each tentacle ended in a body. One was B.B. Hood, a screaming, fell wreck of a woman, hissing and spewing blood.... one was Donovan, maniac's gleam burning in his eyes as he lifted his sword.... others shook and laughed and screamed and raved on Pyron's back, all souls lost to darkness, all weak things taken in by lies. As these things swayed on Pyron's back, the monstrosity moved it's ponderous bulk and turned to face them. Pyron's face, incredibly small on the great bulk of his new form and strangely unchanged, glared at them. Part of the face was cut apart, as if recently wounded by a spear blow.
" This is it," the creature said, in a thousand voices that echoed and redoubled each other. " One last fight. Then I end you... vampire.... and with you, all that remains in this world to fight me."
" Wrong," Dimitri said, grinning. " Kill me and you just end me. You still have to deal with my friends. You still have to deal with Jedah. And you will still have to deal with forces entirely beyond your comprehension. You know almost nothing... you can understand nothing."
" Brave words for a dying man," Pyron said. " Here, in my world, you cannot stop me."
" Can't I?" Dimitri said, a mad grin still pasted to his face. " What does this world mean? What does all this show and frippery mean? What does any of it mean, when you place it against the fact that I am a man of Good? It means nothing. Nothing at all."
Pyron shrieked with a thousand vocal cords. " You shall die!"
Dimitri sniggered again. " We'll see about that, Pyron."
With that, Dimitri threw a fireball against the figure. It didn't do much more than annoy the creature, but that little annoyance was enough to let Dimitri gain a small advantage in time. He ran forth, Ebonrule ready, looking for a spot to strike.
Felicia launched herself as far as she could, pouncing as only her kind could pounce, flying across the broken rocks to touch briefly on ground and leap again. She soon outpaced Dimitri and leapt at one of Pyron's arms. The mass was thicker than her entire body was. She leapt and stuck her claws in it, tearing and scratching, looking for tendons or muscles to cut. Black blood leaked out and burned her hands. She cried out but kept slashing.
Jon dropped to all fours and ran forth as well, and then one of the cadavers on Pyron's back let out a scream. It opened it's mouth and spewed forth a wave of sonic force. It struck the werewolf's sensitive ears and shoved him into the ground, pressing him with such force that he cracked the rocks beneath his body. Jon howled in pain.
Morrigan threw a fireball of her own, trying to help Jon, but it entered the path of the shriek of the thin corpse on Pyron's back and was extinguished in seconds. Taking to the air, Morrigan shot again and connected solidly with the corpse. It stopped it's scream as fire consumed it's forehead. Soon, the fire was absorbed by Pyron, but the damage was done- the thin corpse would bother them no more. It sagged and fell sideways onto Pyron's back. The other corpse-tentacles pulled away from it and kept fighting.
Donovan's body flung itself into the air, stretching to the limit of the tentacle to which it was attached, and struck with it's sword. Morrigan felt the wind of it as it passed her, and she grabbed for the corpse. Her hands found it's neck, and she soon wrapped herself around it in a strange parody of lovemaking, trying to hold it's arms so that it could not strike her with it's sword. As she held the creature and jerked her head left and right to dodge it's biting jaws, her tentacles shot out and pierced the corpse's sides and face. Donovan jerked twice, and then the corpse fell from the air, falling towards the ground at a terrific rate. Morrigan leaped off the corpse and spread her wings to control her descent, but it was too late; her wings weren't enough to prevent a hard impact with the ground. Dazed, she moaned and tried to clear her head.
Dimitri ran to one of the great forelimbs of the monster and raised his spear. Ebonrule blazed, and he pierced the limb with it's length. The beast shuddered, and Dimitri jerked and twisted the spear in the arm, shattering vital nerves and muscles within. Pyron's body jerked, and B.B. Hood's form flew from his back, spewing foul blood-poison from within itself. Two blasts splashed against Dimitri's cloak, burning and eating away at the leather so it could touch his skin. Dimitri yelled and let go of the Ebonrule, flinging his cloak away. The acid spread and consumed his cloak, reducing it to a puddle of boiling acid. As Dimitri patted himself to make sure no acid had reached his skin, Pyron moved on great, mountainous arm. Dimitri dodged and rolled, trying to avoid being crushed by that enormous hand. He ended up near the still-fighting Felicia, Ebonrule stuck in Pyron some distance away.
Jon got up dazedly and glanced over at the battle still raging. Felicia now looked like she'd been badly sunburned, the black blood of Pyron wounding her even as she damaged it. A snarl of rage and determination covered her face.
Jon got up and ran forward, on all fours again, and as he reached the leg he jumped up as high as he could. He stuck in the upper portion of Pyron's arm, claws buried deep in the foul flesh. Howling as the blood burned him, Jon began climbing up the creature in slow, painful leaps and jerks, repeating his assault on the Fragment that B.B. Hood had become. His teeth were gritted, and howls of pain locked themselves in his throat.
B.B. Hood's body turned and rushed at him, meaning to knock the offending wolf off, but before she could a fireball caught her face. She screamed and spat poison, dousing the flames. Morrigan stood up on the battlefield, head still ringing from her impact with the ground. Morrigan stood there, and called to herself all the rage and pain she still remembered, from Garik's betrayal, from her inner pain, from her hurt. It was not madness, but close enough to give her strength. She began summoning another fireball, this one a whirling maelstrom of her own bright flame.
Pyron turned to face her and grinned. She was going to use fire on him, of all things. Fire could harm the lost souls on his back, of course- they were part of him and yet separate, so were without his demonic protection from such things- but against him? Against his real body? What good could that do?
Morrigan let loose with a gout of fire that would have done a dragon proud. It spun as it traveled, making a vortex of bright fire that lit up the battlefield. Pyron screamed, for he had forgotten that here, it was the intent and not the attack itself that mattered. He fought back with his own power, breathing out dark flames to counter Morrigan's orange fire. The two fought and warred in the air of the battlefield. Morrigan held her hands out, her face taut, her body shaking with the effort of summoning this great flame. It burned out of her in a continuous spinning stream.
With Pyron distracted for the moment, Dimitri got up as fast as he could and ran to Ebonrule. Jerking it out of Pyron's arm (causing Pyron's flame to falter for a moment and Morrigan to regain some ground lost), Dimitri turned and threw the spear into the chest of Pyron's body. It was intercepted in it's flight by B.B. Hood's corpse, the dead face screaming all the while, and her body exploded in blue flame when Ebonrule touched her. The spear lost it's momentum and fell point down towards the ground.
Felicia seemed to wake up from a strange, semi-drugged state of berseker fury (very unlike anything she'd ever done before) and saw Jon above her. Abandoning her futile attack on Pyron's arm, she crawled up the arm as well, following her love. He was almost to the top, and Felicia was right behind him when an enormous thing struck him. He fell off the arm with barely a cry. Felicia screamed and grabbed at him, her claws catching his shoulder. Jon howled as Felicia's own hand pierced his skin, but he was still thankful; a fall from this height would have killed him. Felicia swung him over to the arm and he latched on again. Above them, a fat and bulging corpse lolled it's tongue at them. It was a Fragment of Gluttony, and it grinned at them with a million mouths. It had no eyes. Felicia gritted her teeth in a snarl and leapt at it. It dodged incredibly fast for such a large object, going in a circle pattern, and when it finished it's circle it's back collided with Felicia. The blow tossed her high into the air.
" Felicia!" Jon screamed. Felicia said nothing as she plummeted downwards. Jon leapt off the arm and dove, forgetting how high up they were. As he grabbed her in mid-air, it occured to him that he had now secured not only Felicia's death but his own; neither of them were going to survive a fall from this height onto the rocky ground of this place.
[ And maybe that's not so bad, after all,] he thought, in the few seconds before impact. [ To die like this.... isn't it best to die a hero?]
Then they struck the ground, and knew no more. Yet, miraculously, they both survived; for Jon's dive had not been in vain. He'd pushed both of them far enough to the side that they landed on Pyron's fleshy tail and not the ground. The impact knocked them out, and they were still in a bad place, but for the moment, they were still alive. Pyron shifted and they both rolled off him, onto the ground nearby. By the wonder of luck (or something more) Pyron took no notice of them.
As they were falling through the air, Morrigan felt her strength waning, and the stream of flame coming from her hands weakened accordingly. Pyron drew on the near-endless strength of the lost souls he'd corrupted and breathed forth with renewed strength.
[ Your flame cannot match my- Ugh!] Pyron thought, his mind triumphant up until the point Dimitri threw Ebonrule through his chest. He'd grabbed the spear and aimed directly for where Pyron's heart would have been at. Seeing as how Pyron did not have a heart (in both the figurative and literal sense), the blow was merely extremely painful.
Pyron stomped backwards (causing Dimitri to scatter and dodge those enormous hands) reeling from the blow to his chest. Morrigan increased her flame as much as she could, and almost defeated Pyron's darkness before he recovered and fought back. Her strength almost gone, Morrigan's fire was soon consumed by the dark, rolling blaze. Only a small fire, mere feet from her body, remained to combat Pyron. Morrigan backed away slowly, seeking some escape from the fiery waves rolling towards her.
It was Dimitri who granted her reprieve, for Ebonrule had returned to him, and his throw was perfect. The fat Fragment attempted to intercept the spear, but it was too slow. The spear tip struck Pyron's face and plunged forth.
Right into the crack where Dimitri had already wounded him.
Pyron stopped breathing fire immediately, as Ebonrule's black tip struck his inner darkness and true essence. Morrigan, who was so exhausted she was almost unconscious, dropped to her knees and breathed a sigh of relief. Dark flames burned and died all around her.
" No!" Pyron shouted, jerking and shaking. The spear tip trembled, shivered, fell. " No! I deny it! I deny all of it! I DENY EVERYTHING!" Pyron's form suddenly went black, blacker than the darkest night. " I will not succumb to some pathetic piece of obsidian a dog made! I am more than that! I am Pyron!"
" You're right, in your own way," Dimitri said, as the darkness that had now become Pyron spread out over the burning battlefield and wiped away the light. " You won't succumb to an obsidian spear. The spear's just a representative. What you will succumb to is the force behind the spear. The force of redemption, of tears in the rain..."
And from somewhere far away, falling like the first gentle rain of the first pure world, water droplets struck the surface of this newly black land. They fell slowly at first, and then struck faster- but they never struck hard, or painfully, or blindingly. They merely came on faster, gentle as teardrops and just as sweet. Dimitri lifted his face to them and raised his hand, a light smile barely touching the corners of his mouth. Morrigan looked up as well and closed her eyes, feeling the gentle rain run down her face, cooling and soothing. As they struck Jon and Felicia, the two lovers awoke, groggy and in pain at first, but the rain soon washed that away and they were whole.
Pyron screamed, for the rain that touched him was not gentle, but driving and brutal. Harsh and killing. Pyron felt the life go out from him.
[ Am I real?] he thought, one last time, before all that he was and ever would be was extinguished and made unreal for all time.
[ We did it,] Dimitri thought, before he felt light rushing towards him.
And all around him, the Dream was broken, and the sleepers awoke to a new dawn...
Dawn rose over the world, hours early. Weary, bestraggled vampires gazed up at the sun, at first in terror, then in wonder as they saw that it did not burn their skin. Werewolves, hunting in the woods, heard the most beautiful birds sing, heard all birds sing in a cacophony that was both chaotic and wild and structured and true, a symphony that had never been heard before in that world and would never be heard again. The survivors of the devastasted lands of Aensland looked up at the sun, and images of their departed and lost loved ones appeared to them in those first bright rays. The patrols of Jedah's camp, already receiving refugees, heard the music of perfect silver bells that rang on and on over the rocky shores, and the soldiers and guards looked about in wonder as the whole world seemed to spin and sing, and laughter broke out over the camp as they saw themselves in a new light, in a true light, and saw that they were, in their own way, good. All over the world, sleepers, regardless of how tired they were when they went to sleep or how long they'd been sleeping, awoke entirely refreshed, and feeling as if they had just escaped a terrible nightmare. The soldiers of Pyron's encampment felt fear and terror such as they'd never known, and the ringing of the bells tore into their minds as they ran and ran. In the Western Wastes that the humans had been forced to live in by the Darkstalkers, flowers bloomed, and a great rainstorm appeared out of nowhere, to blanket the land in a soothing rain. And as the rain touched their skin, the humans in those lands found to their wonder that something had awoke in them. Their heartbeats were louder, their stance taller, their stride greater. The Elder Race from which all races had come woke once more on the world of their sacrifice.
And even through the rain, the red rays of dawn filtered through.
One hundred years later. The First Grand Banquet of Reunited Worlds, at the Royal Castle of the Jurai Empire, on Capital World of Jurai Empire. Dawn.
Dimitri rose up and stretched himself. That had been a good dream, if a long one- starting from the time he'd woken up that first morning when he'd met Morrigan, ending when he'd destroyed Pyron- and he was well rested. Beside him, stirring lightly in her sleep, Morrigan dozed. Dimitri got up and walked over to the window of their room, looking up into the not-quite-dawn not-quite-night sky of Jurai. Jurai had a different solar cycle than Makai, and so Dimitri usually awoke before dawn on this world. He liked that just fine. Watching the dawn rise was still one of the greatest pleasures of his life, even a full century after he'd watched his first dawn rise, from his position in the middle of Pyron's encampment, as the tents and black box that Pyron had used to convey his army and himself faded away to nothing. The tent poles disappeared and the cloth had blown away, fading and crumpling and folding itself into nothingness in the wind. The box had shuddered and then fell apart, and as Dimitri and his three friends looked into the morning sky, the crumbled ruins had dissolved into dirt and sand. They had all stood, their legs weak and shaking, and Dimitri had cried tears of happiness. The sun was more beautiful than anything he'd ever imagined, better than he had hoped it to be, and without the curse the sunbeams were gentle and loving on his skin. Morrigan had went to him and held him, and they'd all cried there, as they watched the sun rise.
Morrigan yawn-moaned in her sleep, and Dimitri knew from long experience she would wake soon. Good. They had a lot to do today. It was the Grand Banquet, a meeting of all the recently reunited worlds, and it was going to be a hell of a thing to go through. So many worlds, so many people, all meeting for the first time...
Soon after defeating Pyron, Dimitri and his friends had made their way to Jedah's camp. The freed slaves had already told Jedah of their saviours, and so Jedah and his men were waiting for them when they came. As Morrigan and Dimitri approached, he had walked forward and knelt on one knee. As he rose, he declared in a voice that trumpeted over the battlements of his army and was heard for almost a mile around, " Morrigan, Queen of Aensland and all this world. Welcome back."
The rebellion had ended before it had begun. Jedah pledged his immediate support and to this very day was one of the most loyal Dukes of Aensland that Dimitri possessed. Odd, that a man who once planned to kill Berial would pledge complete fealty to his daughter.
Or maybe not so odd. After killing Pyron, Dimitri had noticed that the luck of all four friends had went through the roof. They were blessed people, seemingly, and not one of them had suffered after that last, final, titanic battle. Jon and Felicia had gotten married, and now had three kids (and, if Dimitri knew his friends, a fourth would not be too soon in coming). Jon was Head of Royal Guard, and Felicia had become Royal Storyteller. In those few moments when Morrigan wasn't with her and Dimitri's own two kids, Felicia would regale them with tales of their parent's bravery (much to Dimitri's embarassment).
Dimitri and Morrigan had gotten married as well, making Dimitri Royal Consort (a title that had made him cringe when he first heard it; he had told Morrigan he might as well have been named "Royal Gigolo", and she, laughing, had gotten it changed to King) and securing Morrigan's power over all Makai. She'd immediately moved her people to Moongrace, and oddly, the castle had not rejected them. When the small army Morrigan had called together had breached the castle, all the knights had already been destroyed, replaced with pretty shield and weapon decorations where they once stood. Dimitri had been entirely dumbfounded until he'd spotted a small red hair, floating in the breeze, attached to a chair. Smiling, Dimitri had held up this memento of his enigmatic friend Traveler and blew it up into the breeze. The hair, as if realizing it's job was done, floated off out an open window.
Moongrace had solved most of their problems immediately; game was plentiful in the forest near it, and Moongrace itself was just so beautiful that it was hard to live near it and not be on your best behavior, for some reason feeling that one should not disgrace such a thing with arguments or bad tempers. Morrigan had recalled the surviving heads of state, instituted new ones, and immediately got word out of her two biggest proposals: that Humans were now equals with Darkstalkers, and that the hunting and fighting between the groups was to stop. Vampires were almost manic in their support for her and Dimitri (for obvious reasons; who else had given them the power to stand in sunlight and be unharmed?) and the other races were thankful enough to give in to their proposals. There had been some nasty times, particularly early in their reign, when several wars had broken out between Humans and Darkstalkers; but with the aid of Ebonrule, their newfound luck, and the legions of faithful soldiers that replaced the devastated units of the Fell Time (as the Darkstalkers had taken to calling it), the wars were stopped and peace reigned. Dimitri and Morrigan had settled into daily life, and twenty five years into their marriage (a short time indeed for Darkstalkers) young Garik was born. Dimitri had almost freaked when he heard what Morrigan had decided to name him; but she'd calmed him down as she held their son, saying, " I named him Garik because Garik- besides you, anyway- taught me more about myself than anyone. This is my way of breaking with the past." And she'd held Garik and cried, and Dimitri had held her and cried, and the doctors all around simply stood there and looked confused. No one ever really knew about the origins of Garik's name, and that was a good thing as far as both parents were concerned.
Garik was now seventy-five, and growing up to look almost exactly like his father (although Dimitri had never sported small black bat wings on his head). He was an accomplished swordsman, though Dimitri had tried his best to teach him the spear. Garik was well-liked about court, and was having a far easier time growing up than Dimitri had.
The Ebonrule which Dimitri still carried (he'd thought it lost at first, since it had not left the Deeping Dream with him, but when he'd entered Moongrace it had been waiting there, stuck point down in the carpet before the stairs leading to the throne; Dimitri had originally thought Traveler had done that too, but something inside him had said that Ebonrule had come of it's own free will) would eventually go to Lei-Lei, his younger daughter. She, too, seemed to be a carbon copy, this time of Morrigan, though she had the long fangs of a vampire. Unlike Garik, she also had the lower wings of an Incubi (though no head wings; genetics always confused the hell out of Dimitri). She had taken up weapon practice, and much to Dimitri's pleasure, had liked the spear immediately upon picking it up. When Dimitri was dead or too old to wield it anymore, he would give the weapon to her. Ebonrule would lose power in the hands of an innocent, but it would still be a formidable weapon nonetheless.
The strangest thing had happened a year ago. Moongrace had pulsed, suddenly, as if it were a great heartbeat. Dimitri and Morrigan had stopped in their small walk across the parapets and listened. It pulsed again.
Dimitri had ran down the stairs as fast as he could, Morrigan behind him, and met with a great crowd in a large room of Moongrace that had never been used. In the middle, a great pulsing ball of light floated, and a voice was coming out of it. It was perky, grating, and yet somehow smile-inspiring, a funny little voice that was actually quite cheery and made a strange contrast with the solemnly glowing ball of light.
" Can anyone here me? Holy shit, I think we did it! We turned the transporters on! My God, commander, do you know what this means?"
A second voice, more authoritive and commanding, had broken in. " Yes, Washu, I know. And I'm excited too. It won't mean anything if we can't figure out whether there's anyone on the other side or not..."
Morrigan had stepped forth, leader of her people again, and said, " There is."
There was a scream of joy from the ball of light. " Holy shit! There's people over there! Thank God! What world is this? Terra? Gaia? Or maybe even... Earth? The old land?"
" I know not of what you speak," Morrigan said, managing to sound quite royal considering the circumstances. " This is the world of Makai, and I am it's ruler."
Another scream, along with some muffled shouts in the background behind (in? Where were the sounds coming from?) the sphere. " Holy shit! Makai? The vampire homeworld! Commander! This is great! We've got contact with Makai!"
" Washu, I'd normally yell at you for screaming, but I'm so damn happy at the moment I'll let it pass. Can I step through?"
" Sure! Let me screw with these controls... got it! Go on through! Hey, you people on Makai! We're sending someone in to talk face to face! Don't freak out now!"
Morrigan had smiled and said, " It's a little late for that."
Another scream of happy laughter. " I guess so! Here she comes now! Hold on to your ass, Kiyone!" And then the sphere had grown brighter for a second before slacking off and becoming tall and angular, like a door.
And in had stepped a blue-haired, armored soldier. She'd taken off her helm, and spoke a greeting which had been repeated endlessly across Makai afterwards:
" Greetings. I am Commander Kiyone, of the Jurai Empire. I am here to welcome your world back into the universe."
After that, things had fallen into place. Jurai was apparently an enormous, multi-world empire that had recently discovered technology from the Sundering War. And that technology had been the ability to cross stars in an instant. Within seconds, the universe was reopened. Jurai scientists (the afore-mentioned Washu first among them) had reopened world transporters. Within a month, over five worlds had been rediscovered, and attempts to reintegrate them into the universe were on. A plan for a great banquet of world leaders was launched, and that had led to this.
Dimitri and Morrigan were the representatives of Makai, along with friends and family. Both of their children were here, asleep in a nearby room. Jon and Felicia were in another adjoining room as well, their kids past them. As Dimitri looked outside, dawn began to rise over the Jurai Empire. He watched it rise, marveling as always in the million colors that the light seemed to break into, the way the light changed things and made them greater and grander somehow. Dimitri sighed and looked at the world outside his window, discovering that others were up as well. A long-haired blonde man was standing in one window to his left and above him, his face drawn and sad, almost hunted. He wore bright armor, and a warhammer was strapped to his back. Dangling by a chain from his waist was a book, and Dimitri could just make out a small cross etched on it's cover.
To Dimitri's right and below him, a young woman looked out on the dawn, an enormous purple ribbon tied to her back, a match for her light (very light) purple hair. Her entire outfit was made of various shades of purple, and had Dimitri not been married already, he would have attempted to contact her; she was beautiful in the extreme. Her eyes, however, belied that beauty and made it worthless; they were sad, hating, and most of all cold.
The last watcher Dimitri saw in his casual scan was located in the highest towers of the castle, directly visible from his room. Another young woman with long, dark purple hair was looking out onto the world, her clothes and manner dictating that she was a princess of some kind, and though her eyes were invisible from this distance, Dimitri thought he could feel a sense of nothingness come from her, of someone who hadn't given up on life because they had never really lived in the first place. It was odd, to see all these people, and for some reason to know their problems without ever having met them. Dimitri wondered at this, and then heard a call.
It was a voice without a voice, a sound that was utterly silent. Dimitri looked up. Above him, red hair ruffling in a newfound breeze, cape blue as ever, Traveler was smiling down at him from a high balcony. Dimtri smiled back and tapped his fingers to his forehead in an age-old sign of acknowledgement among his people.
Traveler tapped his forehead back and turned his gaze to the dawn. Dimitri did so as well. When he looked back, Traveler was gone. Dimitri smiled and laughed, waking Morrigan with his chuckles.
" A hero's work is not only never done," Dimitri said, as he watched the other three souls leave, three souls who he just might be able to help if he believed and was true, " it is also the only work worth doing."
And he turned to wake his friends, as the rays of dawn brought the world to life around them.
- And there you go. The last chapter, my friends. May God and Honor stay with you all your days, and the sun shine on you always. May we meet again on the road of life!
Your Friend and Fellow Author,
-Silverlocke980