Epilogue: Tears at the Seams
It was strange how little the absence of the gods seemed to affect the world. Everywhere, life went on much as it had, even in Aenea.
For the little town of Albion, the only thing that had changed was their inn gained a few more long term residents. As the balance of power slid back to normal in the mountains, the forces from Aenea grew more concerned with collecting taxes than enforcing religious doctrine.
The change didn't make them any more popular with the locals.
The world seemed to breath a collective sigh of relief at the end of an age long conflict. But despite the good cheer and safer travels, murmurs were exchanged only in the safety of a well lit common room.
Though it varied in the telling, a few details were consistent. Children and animals vanishing without a trace. Water running uphill. Fires spitting frost instead of sparks. And worst of all, tales of monstrous creatures stalking the shadows.
It was worse the farther south you went. The nomadic tribes strayed farther and farther from their traditional paths. Sometimes an entire caravan would go missing for weeks, only to be found as if no time had passed.
In the center of it all was the abandoned city of Drachma. Though plenty of time had passed, no one had started rebuilding. Those who ventured into the boneyard of broken buildings and were seen again swore by both the gods and the daemons that it was haunted.
But warm and full in the golden glow of the hearth fire, such things could be laughed off. And ignored as wild imagination or too much drink. Here, in the warmth of friendship and good company, one could pretend not to notice what was happening.
Something was tearing at the seams.
The final A/N: And that, ladies, gentlemen, and individuals of mysterious and indistinct gender, is how you finish a motherfriggin book.
As you can tell from the all the loose ends in the story (the big ones being She Who Sleeps Below and the stuff implied in the epilogue) the story is far from over. Unfortunately, it's over in this format. I'm not going to be writing the next part of the story as fanfic. I'm going to rework this fic to be completely original and then write the sequel(s) from there. If any of my lovely readers are interested in following that project, feel free to follow me over at my tumblr: .com
And finally, I want to thank every one of you who read, favorited, and/or left a comment on my story. I couldn't have done it without you! I love you all, and I'd love to talk to anyone about writing. Just message me here or on tumblr.
Farewell for now!