“How is she?” Eugene asked as soon as Nolia stepped outside the bedroom.
She turned toward the door before motioning for Eugene to follow her down the hall. “She is doing better, but she still needs time.”
“It’s been a month though. The city is pretty much running itself, but I am getting questions. I believe people are starting to suspect the Boss is gone.”
“No luck trying to revive him?”
Eugene shook his head. “If what Grobert told us is true, I don’t think it’s possible. Speaking of Grobert…”
Nolia sighed. “I haven’t brought him up yet. I didn’t want what little progress she has made to fall apart.”
“He’s been in holding this entire time. You know he’s only humoring us by staying in there.”
“I know. But when Kalia ordered us to arrest him, she was irate and upset. Can you blame her?”
“No. But from what he told us, he was only doing as the Boss ordered him to do. She can’t keep holding that against him. And what about the children? They haven’t seen their mother since that day.”
“The children are being well cared for until she recovers. They are young enough that they shouldn’t remember this incident in the future.”
“I hope you’re right. At least the spell worked.”
She turned to him. “You’ve gotten confirmation?”
“Multiple countries have verified their arrays lit up at the same moment ours did… You don’t think Norman planned it this way…”
“No. And don’t you dare mention that possibility to Kalia.”
“I’m not stupid,” He huffed. “It would be a very Norman thing to do though.”
“If it wasn’t for Donovan being there, I might believe Lord Norman intended this outcome. What of the other issue?”
“I assume you are referring to magic failing? The leading theory is that magic came from across the dimensional barrier. And our spell is now blocking it.”
A frown creased Nolia’s fair features. “That doesn’t make sense. Why are enchantments still working fine then? We will have to keep an eye on it.”
***
Kalia approached the crater where her husband had perished. It was hard to believe it had been a year since the attack. She had refused any and all company on this memorial trip, even her guards. It had taken her months to come to terms with Norman’s death.
Months where she had locked herself away and refused visits from almost everyone. It was Caleb sneaking in one day that finally got her to remember that she wasn’t alone. She had her son and daughter. Norman’s son and daughter. A painful yet poignant reminder of what she lost.
When she finally came out of her room, she didn’t let Caleb or Heidi out of her sight for the first three months. They were the rocks that kept her emotions from washing her away again.
She also found it in herself to release Grobert. Although she had not forgiven him. The man handed in his badge of office and left. When she asked him why, he simply said he was going after Donovan.
Kalia couldn’t bring herself to thank the man or hug him, she was still furious with him, but she did nod at him before he vanished from Normenia.
Those were thoughts for another day though. She came here to lay a bouquet of flowers at Norman’s grave.
***
Kalia waved at the crowds, her son and daughter beside her on the carriage. This was the tenth anniversary of her coronation. Soon Caleb would reach adulthood and she would hand the reigns over to him.
Much had changed in the last twelve years since ‘Norman’s Sacrifice’ as people had called it once they learned he had died to save the world. She had refused to let Donovan take credit for the act or to let anyone know he had been responsible for her husband's death. The city had grown to three times its original size. With the end of the collapses being declared just the year prior, life was starting to get back to normal. As normal as you could get with the failing of magic.
It was weird though. Enchantment’s still worked fine, although nobody could say why this was the case. This was one of the main reasons Ashvale had grown so much. Everyone wanted to live an easy life, and where best to experience that but in the nation at the forefront of enchanting.
***
“You’re going to go just like that!” Kalia yelled. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so mad at someone.
“It’s been over a century, Kalia. I’m tired. Tired of dealing with the politics, fighting off the ever-growing horde of discontent that surrounds Normenia. Just tired.”
“If you leave, who will take over as Commander?”
Eugene sighed. “There are plenty of people more than capable of taking over my position. I should have given it up long ago, to be honest. You’re not the only one who has children. I was forced to watch mine grow up without a father.”
“Don’t put that on me,” she glared. “You and Matron Astyria both decided on that course of action.”
“I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming myself. My father was such a shit person that I didn’t want any of that rubbing off on my kids. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to reconnect with them. Asteria wants to give it another go, but this time I want to be there for them. To do that, I can’t be stuck in Normenia putting out fires until I grow old and die.”
The anger drained out of Kalia and she slumped into a nearby chair, resting he head in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she began to cry.
She heard the floor creak as Eugene walked over and put a consoling hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Caleb is a good King. Has been for the last fifty years. And if the revival array still functioned, he would be for as long as he wished.”
Kalia laughed sadly, wiping the tears from her eyes. There was something rather darkly poetic that she was one of the last people to get revived through the array before the magic failed completely. With magic failing all over, the potions to keep the undead going were also failing. So anyone that had wanted to live a little longer had been forced to be revived. Fewer people than you might imagine took them up on that offer.
The issue was, that her son had been one of the first to undertake this step as a means to assuage the people’s fear. This meant he aged at a normal rate. She could now pass as Caleb’s grandchild.
It was a fucked up situation, to say the least. But she had had half a century to come to terms with outliving her own children and some of her grandchildren.
***
Eugene sipped at a cup of tea as he looked out on the steppes of G’kafkis. It was what his wife's people called their lands. But even her nomadic people weren’t immune to the changing of the times.
He rubbed his sore joints as he sat in the wicker chair. He was getting old, nearly two-hundred years by this point if he included his time before he was turned undead, the decade he spent dead, and then after that before getting resurrected to live out his life with Astyria.
Speaking of his wife, she slowly made her way out of the house to join him. He made to stand and help her to a seat but she waved him down.
“Bah, I’m not so frail that I can’t sit on my own.”
He chuckled at that, letting himself slowly back into the chair. Both he and his wife had shrunk considerably as they aged. Neither one carried the imposing presence they did in their youth.
“Paw paw!” Three youngins screamed as they sprinted through the house until they found the elderly couple sitting on the balcony.
“No running!” he heard their mother shout. Not that the children minded their mother’s words at all as they all ran to hug him and Astyria.
Eugene returned the hugs. “You best listen to your mother or there won’t be any stories tonight.”
There was a chorus of aws but the children promised to behave.
Soon their mother walked out on the balcony. Jenavieve was Eugene and Astyria’s sixth and final child. And much like the rest of his children and grandchildren, she was large. She also sported a lighter red coloring to her skin. Which made all of his offspring stand out amongst the clans. Not that anyone was dumb enough to call them outsiders.
He hugged his daughter. “Where is Gamet?”
“Have you not heard? There is war with the drorgoth.”
He frowned, “Again?”
“They won’t be satisfied until they wipe us out or we do the same to them.”
“Let me guess, Queen Kalia has pledged her support?”
She nodded.
He sighed at that. With the loss of magic, people had grown desperate and jealous of Normenia’s riches over the decades. With so many enemies, adding another didn’t sound like a very smart move. But then again, if they could show their enemies that they still had teeth, perhaps they would leave them be.
Eugene only wished that Kalia hadn’t had to take control. After Caleb passed away, there was a struggle for power amongst the Ashvale grandchildren, both Caleb’s and Heidi’s. Kalia had been forced to put a stop to it. A very bloody one. It was something he would not have had the stomach to do.
He hoped she knew what she was doing.
***
Kalia strode through the remains of the drorgoth city. The combined forces of the barbarians and Normenia had finally broken the siege of their capital and managed to wipe out the remaining threat. It was rather easy given the drorgoth’s lack of magic. Her army lacked magic as well, but they could fall back on enchantments to make up the difference.
She didn’t shed so much as a tear as she strode past the broken bodies. Her last tears had been shed long ago. Back when she had been forced to kill some of her own grandchildren to prevent a civil war.
The castle of the drorgoth king was much like all their buildings. Black and imposing. Inside she was greeted by the King on his knees, bound with enchanted chains that were staked deep into the floor.
The King attempted to break free upon seeing her enter, but a few prods with the pulse batons calmed him down again.
He was gagged, so whatever words or foul threats he was attempting to speak were garbled. She didn’t bother removing the gag, she simply produced a scroll and read off the man’s crimes.
Once she was done, she handed the scroll off to an aide. “You were given every opportunity to coexist on this planet. This is the result of your own actions.” She nodded at one of the guards.
The King glared at her as the guard positioned himself next to the man. He readied a glowing axe and sliced downward. There was no blood. The axe cauterized the wound as the giant drorgoth’s head bounced against the floor.
***
Kalia stood on the balcony, her shawl blowing in the wind and doing little to keep her aged body warm. But she refused to go inside. She needed to see.
A massive army of neighboring kingdoms was gathered in the distance. They had already destroyed the outlying cities of Normenia. Only Ashvale still stood. And they no longer had any allies to call on. Eugene had been the last of her allies, and he had passed away three years ago. She smiled sadly at that. He had led a long happy life and died peacefully amongst his loved ones. His being here wouldn’t change the outcome of this fight.
She had made attempts over the years to make new allies or rekindle old ones, but she never had Norman’s or Caleb’s gift for making friends. She was too introverted and too preoccupied with her enchanting work to put in much effort. She had also grown cold and cynical after the purge.
In her time as ruler, before Caleb took over, she had relied on their existing ties. When Caleb passed, those ties and the ones he had forged started to fray. Eventually, they snapped one after the other as the people in charge changed throughout the generations. Gone were all those who had known her husband or respected her son. In their place grew animosity and jealousy.
Some of their former allies had grown weary of Normenia. They feared its strength. She knew much of this fear and hatred was brought on by Raigen, her great-grandson. He possessed a similar charisma to Caleb. Only he used it to poison people's minds. She couldn’t blame him for his choices.
The boy had been orphaned when she had been forced to execute his father for treason. She had then banished the rest of his family from the country. He had never forgiven her for that act or his banishment. Much like his father, he believed he was the rightful heir of Normenia. Perhaps this was karma?
In the distance, drums started to beat, heralding the beginning of the end. She watched as the enemy army marched forth, appearing like a dark blanket pulled over the landscape. Her army was tiny in comparison. They did their best to keep them from the walls, but no matter how good, they were outnumbered twenty to one. The battle was fierce, but eventually, her people fell. Then the siege began.
Only the enemy had come prepared. Enchanted artillery began to bombard the outer wall. Another betrayal by Raigen. The enchantments and the defenders on the wall held out for a few minutes, but soon the enemy was through the first layer of defenses.
From there it was only a matter of time until they reached the heart of the city, but still, she did not look away.
There was a popping sound behind her and when she turned to see what it was, she found someone she had not expected to ever see again. “Grobert?” The man looked the exact same as he did the last time she had seen him, almost two hundred years ago. Which should be impossible.
The man didn’t say anything, instead, he walked up beside her and looked out on the fighting. He stood that way for a minute before speaking. “I found him.”
“Found who?” she asked.
“Donovan.”
“Oh.” That was a name she hadn’t thought about in a long time. “What about him?”
“… he says there might be a way to bring Norman back.”
She tried to squash her hope, but it was hard to do so. “Why? Why now?”
He shrugged. “Man could just be looking to rid himself of the curse.”
“The curse? How is he even still alive? More importantly, how are you still alive, and still undead?”
The infuriating man shrugged again. “No clue. I just am. Is the vault still secure?”
“Vault, what vault?” It took her a moment to think. “…You mean the blood vault. It should be. The room has been sealed off over a century ago since it was no longer needed. Why?”
“Why do you think? There is no telling how long it will take to bring Norman back. Maybe a year, maybe a decade.” He nodded out toward the city and the invading armies. “I kinda don’t think you have that much time.”
“You could stop this,” she spoke quietly.
“Not anymore. It takes time for me to generate enough mana to teleport. And I used a great deal of it to arrive here. But have faith. I will bring Norman back. And when he’s back, he will restore what was lost.”
Then he vanished again. She questioned whether or not the whole affair was a hallucination. She decided it didn’t matter. It gave her a tiny flame of hope where there hadn’t been one before.
Despite the sounds of battle and people dying in the distance, Kalia smiled. She smiled even after the enemy artillery blew apart the castle and dislodged the balcony, causing her to fall to her death. For she knew, that when she woke again, if she awoke again, Norman would be there for her. And if not, then she would finally get to be with him in death.
“How is she?” Eugene asked as soon as Nolia stepped outside the bedroom.
She turned toward the door before motioning for Eugene to follow her down the hall. “She is doing better, but she still needs time.”
“It’s been a month though. The city is pretty much running itself, but I am getting questions. I believe people are starting to suspect the Boss is gone.”
“No luck trying to revive him?”
Eugene shook his head. “If what Grobert told us is true, I don’t think it’s possible. Speaking of Grobert…”
Nolia sighed. “I haven’t brought him up yet. I didn’t want what little progress she has made to fall apart.”
“He’s been in holding this entire time. You know he’s only humoring us by staying in there.”
“I know. But when Kalia ordered us to arrest him, she was irate and upset. Can you blame her?”
“No. But from what he told us, he was only doing as the Boss ordered him to do. She can’t keep holding that against him. And what about the children? They haven’t seen their mother since that day.”
“The children are being well cared for until she recovers. They are young enough that they shouldn’t remember this incident in the future.”
“I hope you’re right. At least the spell worked.”
She turned to him. “You’ve gotten confirmation?”
“Multiple countries have verified their arrays lit up at the same moment ours did… You don’t think Norman planned it this way…”
“No. And don’t you dare mention that possibility to Kalia.”
“I’m not stupid,” He huffed. “It would be a very Norman thing to do though.”
“If it wasn’t for Donovan being there, I might believe Lord Norman intended this outcome. What of the other issue?”
“I assume you are referring to magic failing? The leading theory is that magic came from across the dimensional barrier. And our spell is now blocking it.”
A frown creased Nolia’s fair features. “That doesn’t make sense. Why are enchantments still working fine then? We will have to keep an eye on it.”
***
Kalia approached the crater where her husband had perished. It was hard to believe it had been a year since the attack. She had refused any and all company on this memorial trip, even her guards. It had taken her months to come to terms with Norman’s death.
Months where she had locked herself away and refused visits from almost everyone. It was Caleb sneaking in one day that finally got her to remember that she wasn’t alone. She had her son and daughter. Norman’s son and daughter. A painful yet poignant reminder of what she lost.
When she finally came out of her room, she didn’t let Caleb or Heidi out of her sight for the first three months. They were the rocks that kept her emotions from washing her away again.
She also found it in herself to release Grobert. Although she had not forgiven him. The man handed in his badge of office and left. When she asked him why, he simply said he was going after Donovan.
Kalia couldn’t bring herself to thank the man or hug him, she was still furious with him, but she did nod at him before he vanished from Normenia.
Those were thoughts for another day though. She came here to lay a bouquet of flowers at Norman’s grave.
***
Kalia waved at the crowds, her son and daughter beside her on the carriage. This was the tenth anniversary of her coronation. Soon Caleb would reach adulthood and she would hand the reigns over to him.
Much had changed in the last twelve years since ‘Norman’s Sacrifice’ as people had called it once they learned he had died to save the world. She had refused to let Donovan take credit for the act or to let anyone know he had been responsible for her husband's death. The city had grown to three times its original size. With the end of the collapses being declared just the year prior, life was starting to get back to normal. As normal as you could get with the failing of magic.
It was weird though. Enchantment’s still worked fine, although nobody could say why this was the case. This was one of the main reasons Ashvale had grown so much. Everyone wanted to live an easy life, and where best to experience that but in the nation at the forefront of enchanting.
***
“You’re going to go just like that!” Kalia yelled. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so mad at someone.
“It’s been over a century, Kalia. I’m tired. Tired of dealing with the politics, fighting off the ever-growing horde of discontent that surrounds Normenia. Just tired.”
“If you leave, who will take over as Commander?”
Eugene sighed. “There are plenty of people more than capable of taking over my position. I should have given it up long ago, to be honest. You’re not the only one who has children. I was forced to watch mine grow up without a father.”
“Don’t put that on me,” she glared. “You and Matron Astyria both decided on that course of action.”
“I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming myself. My father was such a shit person that I didn’t want any of that rubbing off on my kids. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late to reconnect with them. Asteria wants to give it another go, but this time I want to be there for them. To do that, I can’t be stuck in Normenia putting out fires until I grow old and die.”
The anger drained out of Kalia and she slumped into a nearby chair, resting he head in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she began to cry.
She heard the floor creak as Eugene walked over and put a consoling hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Caleb is a good King. Has been for the last fifty years. And if the revival array still functioned, he would be for as long as he wished.”
Kalia laughed sadly, wiping the tears from her eyes. There was something rather darkly poetic that she was one of the last people to get revived through the array before the magic failed completely. With magic failing all over, the potions to keep the undead going were also failing. So anyone that had wanted to live a little longer had been forced to be revived. Fewer people than you might imagine took them up on that offer.
The issue was, that her son had been one of the first to undertake this step as a means to assuage the people’s fear. This meant he aged at a normal rate. She could now pass as Caleb’s grandchild.
It was a fucked up situation, to say the least. But she had had half a century to come to terms with outliving her own children and some of her grandchildren.
***
Eugene sipped at a cup of tea as he looked out on the steppes of G’kafkis. It was what his wife's people called their lands. But even her nomadic people weren’t immune to the changing of the times.
He rubbed his sore joints as he sat in the wicker chair. He was getting old, nearly two-hundred years by this point if he included his time before he was turned undead, the decade he spent dead, and then after that before getting resurrected to live out his life with Astyria.
Speaking of his wife, she slowly made her way out of the house to join him. He made to stand and help her to a seat but she waved him down.
“Bah, I’m not so frail that I can’t sit on my own.”
He chuckled at that, letting himself slowly back into the chair. Both he and his wife had shrunk considerably as they aged. Neither one carried the imposing presence they did in their youth.
“Paw paw!” Three youngins screamed as they sprinted through the house until they found the elderly couple sitting on the balcony.
“No running!” he heard their mother shout. Not that the children minded their mother’s words at all as they all ran to hug him and Astyria.
Eugene returned the hugs. “You best listen to your mother or there won’t be any stories tonight.”
There was a chorus of aws but the children promised to behave.
Soon their mother walked out on the balcony. Jenavieve was Eugene and Astyria’s sixth and final child. And much like the rest of his children and grandchildren, she was large. She also sported a lighter red coloring to her skin. Which made all of his offspring stand out amongst the clans. Not that anyone was dumb enough to call them outsiders.
He hugged his daughter. “Where is Gamet?”
“Have you not heard? There is war with the drorgoth.”
He frowned, “Again?”
“They won’t be satisfied until they wipe us out or we do the same to them.”
“Let me guess, Queen Kalia has pledged her support?”
She nodded.
He sighed at that. With the loss of magic, people had grown desperate and jealous of Normenia’s riches over the decades. With so many enemies, adding another didn’t sound like a very smart move. But then again, if they could show their enemies that they still had teeth, perhaps they would leave them be.
Eugene only wished that Kalia hadn’t had to take control. After Caleb passed away, there was a struggle for power amongst the Ashvale grandchildren, both Caleb’s and Heidi’s. Kalia had been forced to put a stop to it. A very bloody one. It was something he would not have had the stomach to do.
He hoped she knew what she was doing.
***
Kalia strode through the remains of the drorgoth city. The combined forces of the barbarians and Normenia had finally broken the siege of their capital and managed to wipe out the remaining threat. It was rather easy given the drorgoth’s lack of magic. Her army lacked magic as well, but they could fall back on enchantments to make up the difference.
She didn’t shed so much as a tear as she strode past the broken bodies. Her last tears had been shed long ago. Back when she had been forced to kill some of her own grandchildren to prevent a civil war.
The castle of the drorgoth king was much like all their buildings. Black and imposing. Inside she was greeted by the King on his knees, bound with enchanted chains that were staked deep into the floor.
The King attempted to break free upon seeing her enter, but a few prods with the pulse batons calmed him down again.
He was gagged, so whatever words or foul threats he was attempting to speak were garbled. She didn’t bother removing the gag, she simply produced a scroll and read off the man’s crimes.
Once she was done, she handed the scroll off to an aide. “You were given every opportunity to coexist on this planet. This is the result of your own actions.” She nodded at one of the guards.
The King glared at her as the guard positioned himself next to the man. He readied a glowing axe and sliced downward. There was no blood. The axe cauterized the wound as the giant drorgoth’s head bounced against the floor.
***
Kalia stood on the balcony, her shawl blowing in the wind and doing little to keep her aged body warm. But she refused to go inside. She needed to see.
A massive army of neighboring kingdoms was gathered in the distance. They had already destroyed the outlying cities of Normenia. Only Ashvale still stood. And they no longer had any allies to call on. Eugene had been the last of her allies, and he had passed away three years ago. She smiled sadly at that. He had led a long happy life and died peacefully amongst his loved ones. His being here wouldn’t change the outcome of this fight.
She had made attempts over the years to make new allies or rekindle old ones, but she never had Norman’s or Caleb’s gift for making friends. She was too introverted and too preoccupied with her enchanting work to put in much effort. She had also grown cold and cynical after the purge.
In her time as ruler, before Caleb took over, she had relied on their existing ties. When Caleb passed, those ties and the ones he had forged started to fray. Eventually, they snapped one after the other as the people in charge changed throughout the generations. Gone were all those who had known her husband or respected her son. In their place grew animosity and jealousy.
Some of their former allies had grown weary of Normenia. They feared its strength. She knew much of this fear and hatred was brought on by Raigen, her great-grandson. He possessed a similar charisma to Caleb. Only he used it to poison people's minds. She couldn’t blame him for his choices.
The boy had been orphaned when she had been forced to execute his father for treason. She had then banished the rest of his family from the country. He had never forgiven her for that act or his banishment. Much like his father, he believed he was the rightful heir of Normenia. Perhaps this was karma?
In the distance, drums started to beat, heralding the beginning of the end. She watched as the enemy army marched forth, appearing like a dark blanket pulled over the landscape. Her army was tiny in comparison. They did their best to keep them from the walls, but no matter how good, they were outnumbered twenty to one. The battle was fierce, but eventually, her people fell. Then the siege began.
Only the enemy had come prepared. Enchanted artillery began to bombard the outer wall. Another betrayal by Raigen. The enchantments and the defenders on the wall held out for a few minutes, but soon the enemy was through the first layer of defenses.
From there it was only a matter of time until they reached the heart of the city, but still, she did not look away.
There was a popping sound behind her and when she turned to see what it was, she found someone she had not expected to ever see again. “Grobert?” The man looked the exact same as he did the last time she had seen him, almost two hundred years ago. Which should be impossible.
The man didn’t say anything, instead, he walked up beside her and looked out on the fighting. He stood that way for a minute before speaking. “I found him.”
“Found who?” she asked.
“Donovan.”
“Oh.” That was a name she hadn’t thought about in a long time. “What about him?”
“… he says there might be a way to bring Norman back.”
She tried to squash her hope, but it was hard to do so. “Why? Why now?”
He shrugged. “Man could just be looking to rid himself of the curse.”
“The curse? How is he even still alive? More importantly, how are you still alive, and still undead?”
The infuriating man shrugged again. “No clue. I just am. Is the vault still secure?”
“Vault, what vault?” It took her a moment to think. “…You mean the blood vault. It should be. The room has been sealed off over a century ago since it was no longer needed. Why?”
“Why do you think? There is no telling how long it will take to bring Norman back. Maybe a year, maybe a decade.” He nodded out toward the city and the invading armies. “I kinda don’t think you have that much time.”
“You could stop this,” she spoke quietly.
“Not anymore. It takes time for me to generate enough mana to teleport. And I used a great deal of it to arrive here. But have faith. I will bring Norman back. And when he’s back, he will restore what was lost.”
Then he vanished again. She questioned whether or not the whole affair was a hallucination. She decided it didn’t matter. It gave her a tiny flame of hope where there hadn’t been one before.
Despite the sounds of battle and people dying in the distance, Kalia smiled. She smiled even after the enemy artillery blew apart the castle and dislodged the balcony, causing her to fall to her death. For she knew, that when she woke again, if she awoke again, Norman would be there for her. And if not, then she would finally get to be with him in death.
