Author's Note: I was on the fence about posting this epilogue, as I felt it was too much of a distraction from the main story. But, what the heck; I wrote it anyway, and I will hide no such things from my readers. Enjoy.
Tor Casiama
----
The party of six adventurers had reconvened at the Cathedral of Limena as promised, and were now situated around a table at an inn just off the main square of the town. Almost a week had passed since the night of Rayya's death, and the event still hung painfully in Talos' mind whenever he shut his eyes.
But the drink helped.
Talos contemplated whether the random gift of empathy is just asking for the person receiving to fall into madness and grief. No one should know the
whole
truth. Good people hide the truth from their friends all the time, with good intentions. Knowing everything would make you bitter, and fearful of events that would never come to pass. Or events that had already happened that you're better off not knowing.
It was certainly not a coincidence that both Rayya
and
Alanna had lashed out, albiet differently, with jealousy and anger at words unspoken. Of course, Talos did not fail to register the connection between the two girls either, and the guilt tore at him each day when he thought of Rayya's actions. He found himself frequently wondering if there was not something he could have done differently to raise her better. He needed to learn from his mistakes, now more than ever.
He figured not getting involved with another enchantress would be a good start. One was more than enough for the man, especially now that he was incapable of disabling that one's powers.
Talos scanned the accidental party he was now a part of, all six of them deciding to band together for the final trek to Evorus regardless of Rayya's death. He wasn't entirely sure why each of them had agreed to stick around afterwards, the journey having no other reason than to sate Casiama's curiosity. But he had an idea.
Talos, and by extension the other five, had found a fleeting purpose for themselves in attempting to halt Rayya's path of destruction. And, Talos assumed that the party had stuck together after the fact to look for their next greater purpose, a sense of doing something right with like-minded people.
But there wasn't a greater purpose now. For now, it was a time of relaxation. A calm between storms. Talos finally decided to speak up, joining his companions in their revelry with a story. He was respectfully given the floor.
"Years ago, the night I first met Rayya, I found her cornered in a cavern. She was trying to intimidate a pack of wolves with a stick. Naturally, I drove them off to rescue her. Later, by the fire, she had asked me so very innocently what had made the wolves so angry in the first place," Talos reminisced, smiling at the thought.
"Rayya hadn't realized that she was trying to scare them off with a skewer of meat.
In
the wolf's den. The poor child," he laughed, his party joining him.
"She sure was a crazy bitch, wasn't she cap'n?" Markus spoke up crudely. Sigismund punched his arm and gave Markus a stern look, a look which took Talos back to the good old days for just the moment.
"Show some respect to the dead, huh?" Sigismund ordered, Casiama smiling and nodding at the grizzled veteran as he spoke.
Talos raised his mug, proposing a toast. "To the fallen. And to the crazy bitch," he declared, taking a chug of his ale as everyone cheered and drank with him, laughing as they put their mugs down.
No sense in looking behind you on a night like this,
Talos thought. The group drank and laughed for several hours, and Casiama's head started to sway to a bard's lively music. Talos grinned, recalling the night in Vitvarg.
"So, Vexima. What else is in that bag of yours?" Silvia spoke up, shooting a raised eyebrow to the brown-haired sorceress. Vex thought of lying or declining for a brief moment, before realizing that she had nothing to be embarassed about with this group of misfit adventurers.
"Well... okay. Everyone, prepare to be amazed by the products of a master infuser!" All eyes were on her as she fished a sky-blue gem from her pack.
"This is what I call a Daystone. It will illuminate any darkness as if it were the brightest torch," she explained as she pushed a bit of magic into the stone, their corner of the hall lighting up with a dim, blue glow.
"Boo!" Markus exclaimed to the boring exposition.
"I think our expectations are a bit higher Vex," Talos smirked.
"Fine! That's...
fine
!" She reached back into her pack, bringing a deep-red rose to the light.
"This here is a Summoning Rose. A petal will wither when it's invoked, and an imp will be called from another plane to fight for you," Vex grinned, figuring this a much more interesting invention.
"Is it, um... at least a cute imp?" Silvia asked, clearly feeling the drink. They all were at this point.
"How do you think I got it to agree to the contract?" Vex winked at her. Casiama blushed at the sorceress's words.
"Oh damnit Vex, even an
imp
?" Markus chuckled. Vex placed the rose back in her pack, rummaged around before raising a small rock with an orange letter of the Isbryggans on it's face.
"And
this
