Requiem

I conducted Father Alton’s funeral myself at his church in Daletopia. It was a small service, all things considered, attended only by myself, Lynessa, Ser Erik and various residents of the town. I read a small selection of passages from Father Alton’s own tome, including a few that the old man had marked in the final weeks before his death. I thought them fitting for the occasion, to represent the thoughts of a man who knew that he would not live to see the end of this war.

We buried his cremated remains in the church’s cemetery and placed a headstone of pink marble over his grave. Engraved on the stone was simply ‘Father Alton’, alongside a carving of his face. The old man had been born with another name, a more famous name, I learned as I commissioned the headstone, though I’d left his grave at just the name he chose. It seemed to me that was what he would have wanted.

When the service had ended and the guests had left, Ser Erik and I stood alone beneath the shade of a willow tree in the cemetery and stood by his grave. The two of us had been the closest to the old man, and we both owed him our lives. Ser Erik for the wounds he had healed, and I for his wisdom that had spared me from the grave.

“I hope that there is a heaven waiting for him.” I said, “I hope his years of belief were not for nothing.”

“After all of this time, you still don’t believe?” Ser Erik asked.

“I have a hard time doing so.” I responded, “I’ve seen something beyond this world. I’ve glimpsed at the breadth of the stars and what lies even further in the dark reaches of the cosmos. How can one star of trillions control our destiny? What makes this one world significant? Why do any of us bear importance amidst an endless sea of other beings?”

Ser Erik looked down at Father Alton’s grave. “If nothing matters, then why did you care for him?”

“Because,” I said, “In the end, I’m only human. It’s my birthright to care for the nothings, to be overwhelmed by the loss of impermanent things that we were destined to lose.”

“I think you’re looking at the universe from the wrong place.” Ser Erik said.

“And I think you’ve never seen the void stare back at you.” I responded hotly. A flash of tentacles seared across my mind. Eyes opened from every corner of colorless, fathomless depths. Stars melted to droplets of water on an invisible pane of glass. “Once you have glimpsed Eternity, you will only ever see the world that was and despair.”

“What are you talking about?” Ser Erik asked, concerned.

The images faded as quickly as they’d appeared, slipping from my mind like some half remembered dream. I blinked slowly, feeling the darkness that had momentarily clouded my thoughts vanish entirely. I shook my head.

“I’m not certain.” I said.

“Why are you holding that?” Ser Erik asked. I looked down at my hands. The Duskknife gleamed back at me, my face reflected in its polished black blade. I quickly sheathed it.

“We should go.” I said, “We have preparations to make. Those demons are still out there somewhere, and they won’t just be waiting for us to attack. They’ll be preparing, and we should be too.”

Word had been sent to the Four Kingdoms, warning them of the reunification of the Demon Generals. Not all had listened. Folona refused to pledge more troops, citing that the power of the Legendary Hero would be enough by itself. The Spirit Kingdom had waved away the concerns entirely. They of all the kingdoms had fared best during the Demon War, and thought us to be exaggerating.

Fortunately, the elven kingdom of Nabouti proved more than helpful. They’d been hit hardest by the Demon War, and had been the direct victims of Spineripper’s campaign of terror across their lands. For the joint effort to eradicate the demons, they’d provided ten thousand swords commanded by their finest general, who turned out to be Arthur’s elder sister, Gwendolyn.

Joining us, too, was another friendly face. Imalor had heard of our ‘victory’ at Gemmen, and had arrived with no less than five thousand dwarves from the collected mercenary companies of Carsinex. They had rallied together after hearing of how I had defeated the demon general who had so severely scarred their land, and pledged their swords to the cause. Imalor arrived with even greater news as well, the standing army of Carsinex would be mobilizing as well, and sought to join our crusade.

The dwarf approached me with a broad smile, hands clapping together in excitement when he saw me.

“I knew I was right to have faith in you!” He said, “We’re going to send those demons straight to hell, and if they like that, then we’re going to find them in their homes and kill them again!”

“It’s good to see you too,” I said, “And you were right. Even if this is not my land, we must do what’s right and ensure its safety before I try to go home.”

“And how’s Lynessa taking that decision?” He asked.

“Poorly.” I said, “Though I’m sure it’s just out of shame. It was a tough decision she made, choosing to abandon her homeland.”

“Well, you can do better than her, anyway.” Imalor said, “You’re the Divine Speaker, the Legendary Hero, and the wielder of the Duskknife! If I had those titles, my bed would never be empty again!”

“I’m just trying to focus on the war.” I said, “We still need to find the damn demons if we want any hope of defeating them once and for all.”

“Fair enough.” Imalor said, “Plenty of time for that afterwards. Now, who have we got roped into this?”

“Oh, the standard fare.” I replied, “The Honoured Heroes, or what’s left of them anyway. Two and a half thousand from the Sisters of Saunlan, five hundred of the Crimson Vanguard. Eight hundred assorted priests and healers from the Order of the Golden Sun, not to mention the ten thousand elven regulars and five thousand screaming dwarves we’ve acquired today.”

“Five thousand and eleven.” Imalor corrected, “I talked my old buddies from the pub into pitching in as well.”

“Atlas?” He asked.

I sighed.

“Without your truck…” He began.

“I know.” I said. “You’re right. We need all hands on deck.”

Atlas was lurking in his den in the hills just outside of Daletopia. It was a small hollow in the woods, wedged between a large boulder and a gnarled oak tree. Bones of what I hoped were deer were littered everywhere outside.

“You’re back.” He sniffed. He looked out of sorts, with his fur dirty and tangled. His eyes regarded me dimly.

“I am.” I said.

“I don’t suppose you’ve found a way back home?” He asked.

“Nope.”

“Shame.” He said, slumping back to the ground.

“Spineripper has my truck.” I said.

“He’s had it before. Didn’t do him any good then.”

“He’s got a larger army now. The other demon generals now call him Demonlord.”

I said, “They say he’s planning something big.”

“And why should I care?” He asked.

“Because I’m going to fight him.” I said, “And if I die, so do you.”

“I don’t care.” Atlas replied, “I’ve been done caring for a long time.”

I sighed, then looked down at my feet. I’d been worried about that. Atlas hadn’t appeared during the siege of Gemmen, nor had he tried to track me down in the days afterwards. He was well and truly done.

“I’ve learned something recently,” I said.

“Don’t care.” He replied.

“Death is just so agonizingly final.” I continued, “Do you want the last days of your life to be spent in misery, just waiting for some unknown force to kill you out of nowhere? Or do you want to fight, to stick it to some smug demon who thinks that he’s better than us, and emerge from the other side a hero?”

“I’ve told you before, we aren’t heroes.” Atlas growled.

“But have you ever considered what heroism could do for you?” I asked, “Think about it Atlas, you’d be widely respected and adored. You’d have wealth beyond your dreams, as much food as you could ever eat, comfortable bedding and a warm place to sleep for the rest of your days. And all you have to do is kill someone you already hate.”

“You’ve used this speech before.” Atlas muttered, but he rose to his paws. “Don’t think I’m going because you made a few good points. I’ve just realized that I can’t have you taking full credit. This world will realize you’re nothing but a lucky idiot one of these days, and I intend to be there to see it happen.”

I smiled. It was a wonder I hadn’t figured it out before. Atlas may have been a tiger, but he was still a cat, and deep down he wanted what all cats implicitly desire. Fame. Power. Revenge.

I chuckled. “I’ve gotten a lot better at killing demons recently. You’re going to have to work to catch up.”

Atlas looked at me with a hurt expression. “Even if that was a joke, it was not very funny.”