Epilogue
Through the Aether
The spirit of Rhaken watched from beyond as Oku fell, taken at last by Emdief, none other than her arch enemy. Rhaken had always known the lad was meant for great deeds. Perhaps this was the greatest deed of all.
The spirits of the fortress champions stood in a semicircle, watching the destruction of Steelhold from beyond the veil. Rhaken with hands behind his back. Jackal with arms folded across his chest. Lorius with hands clasped. Front-row seats to this spectacle, an ending to all the madness. At least for a time. Once it was all over, Rhaken was the first to speak.
"So. It is done."
The soul of Emdief appeared through the aether, dragging a new soul from the wreckage of their destroyed home. Uristador. For he, too, was now counted amongst the dead. Emdief walked toward the champions, toward the soul of the dwarf he had considered an ally. Ally? Not quite. Something else though, something far more precious. A friend.
Rhaken clapped the engineer on the arm.
"I believe it is time you join us at last, lad. You've earned your place, more than any us."
The three champions made room for the fourth, and Emdief took his place among them with a wan smile. Gazing down through the endless light through to the mortal world, he sighed.
"And to think, all I wanted was revenge." Staring down at the wreckage of his late home in life - both lives - Emdief shrugged. "We could have had our dream, had things been different," the champion said. "We could have been free. I guess this will have to do."
"The truest of freedoms is ours now, my friends," Lorius Zane chipped in, "for it is eternal and divine. A reward for our deeds in life, that shall forever endure beyond our time among the living."
Uristador looked at the four dwarves standing before him, the glory they exuded making him feel smaller than ever. The eyes of each one of them was fixed upon him, expressions veiled. A prolonged silence filled the air with antecipation.
It was Jackal who broke it.
"Rise, Uristador," he said, and the guardsdwarf realized he had been kneeling. He straightened, yet felt no larger in their presence.
"Do not be afraid, warrior," the Warden continued. "It is time to be rejoined with your ancestors."
Uristador's shoulders slumped. How could he possibly join his ancestors? He was a vampire. His soul was lost, unholy, barred from the afterlife and sentenced to destruction in holy fire. He had heard enough of Karius Durtis's sermons and tirades to know that much.
"You're joking," he said at length, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "I'm an abomination. The gods won't even take my soul."
"Not so, warrior," said Lorius Zane. "The gods have decided that you deserve better."
Uristador was taken aback. "What do you mean?"
"Guardsdwarf Uristador," the Priest proclaimed, "for your actions in this time of darkness, your soul has been cleansed of Curse and Crime and allowed entry into the afterlife."
Just like that, it was done. Something shifted inside Uristador, as if a great weight had been lifted from his soul, and he started to disperse. The Heroes of Steelhold faded from his sight, and in their place appeared an endless city of gold.
Uristador walked into the afterlife and into the embrace of loved ones, shedding a single tear of joy and thanking Gods and Heroes.
Jackal craned his head. "Here she comes."
Up through the aether rose the spirit of Modi, brows furrowed and lips thinned to a line.
"I don't think that was the end of it," she told the Heroes as she walked to Jackal's side. "Shank, Kivish, Corley and Asmoth still live. The first two may be trapped, but I don't know for how long."
Emdief scowled. "Can't we fix that?"
"I'm afraid not," Rhaken replied. "Our influence in the mortal world is dim and limited. For now, we can only bide our time."
"I don't know about you lot," quipped Jackal, an arm around Modi's waist, "but I'm content to do just that for a while."
Emdief grinned. "I guess the Warden's right. What's the point of having all of eternity if you don't get to spend it doing what you want?"
The engineer's statement was met with smiles and nods of assent. Though the evils of Steelhold were by no means extinguished, they were sealed away at the edge of the world. It would be many years before they could rise from their obsidian prison.
"That settles it then," said Lorius. "We will all meet again someday, my friends. Until then, Armok keep you. And may the dwarves of the mortal world never forget our deeds and our home."
The meeting of the Ascended had come to an end, and each spirit faded away, to enjoy their afterlives until such a time came that they would need to convene again.
Rhaken walked through the aether, a smile upon his lips. Though he could have chosen to look young again here in the beyond, he decided to remain old. It was how they would remember him. How he would remember himself.
Ahead of him stood Onul, still looking old, yet as beautiful as the day they had married. In one hand, she cradled their baby, taken from them both at the end of her mother's life, now with them once more. In the other, she held the hand of their first daughter, Sibrek, lost to them for decades, now once more reunited with her mommy and daddy. Behind stood his eldest son Udil, grinning, glad to see his father again.
Rhaken kissed his wife, hugged his lost children. Words could not describe how much he had missed them. The tragedy of outliving most of his children, set right at long last. They had a lot of catching up to do.
The old warrior smiled. He had all the time in the world.
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Topic: The Insidious Sons of Steelhold -- Revival Succession Fortress (Read 282329 times)