Hero's End

[Urthdigger]

Comments for Hero's End here.

[Urthdigger]

Life can be funny sometimes. I tried to leave my past behind so I wouldn't have to keep running anymore, but I just continue to run in this life as well. The owner of my castle grew suspicious, and beseeched the goddess Ishtar herself for information on my whereabouts, and her wish was granted. My apprentice was also a bother, though I feel I may have given enough false clues to crush her hope. What I decide to do with my life is my own business, not theirs. I just want to be left alone. Unfortunately people keep believing they have a right to know. I don't care if it's business, friendship, or if the gods themselves care. My life is mine.
I heard rumors about the guild... I was aware of the destruction of Drandiss, and that they had survived. There was talk that the Imam had reincarnated, that there were no strong Gifted left in the guild. Some whispered hopefully that the guild would be better if the Champion were to return... How pathetic. Even without my destructive tendencies, the guild continues to die. Maybe it's fate. Perhaps it's just them focusing too much on the loss of their champion and not enough on why it happened. Nothing lives forever, and if the guild should perish, so be it.

In my restless dreams, I see... paradise. It's changed since I was a follower. On this particular night I notice the sky hasn't shone in ages, basked in perpetual moonlight. The simple rose garden I used to attend to is long gone, as is the single black rose that grew within. In it's place stands a massive rose maze, with thick leafless brambles covered in sharp thorns forming the walls, with only the occasional rose to lighten the view. I still knew enough about interpreting dreams to understand what it meant. Each of the roses in the old garden represented a vice or obsession, their proliferation a sign of their strength. This new rose, the plant that comprised the entire maze, represented a new vice of mine. Apathy. The other roses likely laid at the center, but the attempts I made to reach them were fruitless. Not like I was trying hard however. Apathy, remember?
I was aware that I was not alone after a while. She always showed up... a remnant of Cyllyl's promise, meant to mock me. The arakun servant held a bloodied carving knife in her paw, a grimace marring a face I used to admire and love. Her fur visibly quivered with anger as she yelled at me, but no sound came out. She never made any noise. As usual, I paid little attention to her. No sense listening to someone who can't talk. I wasn't surprised when she attacked. It had become almost uniform, every night, the same routine. I delivered a kick to her face as she closed range, and she was knocked back, blood dripping from her nose.
"Leave me alone, I don't serve your master anymore!" I shouted out at her. She replied... noiselessly. I readied myself to counter her approach again. This happened every night. No wonder I didn't sleep well. I idly wondered if this arakun was the same that tried to choke me to death on my final vision. I followed what the vision said. I took heed of Cyllyl's hostility towards me and left before I could do any more damage. Yet still this servant continues to harrass me. It's too late to wonder whether what I did was right or wrong. Dwelling on the past never helped anyone. For now, all I can do is try to get some sleep, and try not to get involved in anything else that'll just get me hurt in the end.

[Urthdigger]

I managed to find the guild again... a sad husk of the shell it had in Drandiss. "Pathetic..." I muttered, unable to help myself. Thumbing through the records of the recent Imams, I saw that it had changed rapidly since I left. A new Fidai. A mustajib. A bug. Was this a dream? Could things really be so bad for the place I once held dear? I left the guild, paying little attention to the mustajibs loitering near the entrance, as they paid little attention to me, their apathy as bad as the rest.

"So... I'm guessing you used to be one of the Hands of the black rose?"
I sat in midair in the mayor's office of a small village on Perdow, idly floating around. I still remembered the secrets I learned in the guild... one being that all positions of power on Perdow were controlled by them. Judging by the man's reaction, my guess was right on the money.
"What's it to you... and who are you anyway to be barging into my office?" asked the irate human. I noticed his hand reaching for the fold in his cloak, behind which undoubtedly hid a blade.
"Who I am is of little concern." I said, stretching out and turning so I was lying down facing him, still disconcertingly refusing to touch the ground "I'm a friend of Cyllyl's. Tell me, what is your opinion of the recent destruction of the guild?"
The man scoffed "It's not really my concern. I keep an eye on the people here, and report to the Imam if I have to. I have my position, it's all I need."
"You don't need to report often do you... a do-nothing job, for a do-nothing man." With that, my demeanor changed as I curled my fingers around his throat, rapidly chanting the incantation for a spell. He could scarcely draw his dagger before the flames burnt through his neck, a concentrated torrent of flame consuming the rest of his body. I finally decided to land, dipping a paw into the ashes and renewing the ashes on my face and tail. "A hand that causes the body harm should be amputated. Don't you agree?" I said, casting the former Hand a backwards glance as I left the room.

Back in my room, I looked in the mirror at the ashes I wore "Cyllyl... I always was wishy-washy wasn't I... encouraging my students to enjoy their life when they should have been preparing for the harshness of reality. I know now what your message was about. The Hands of today are too soft, believing they have strength in being hard to find, not realizing that the reality is none consider them enough a threat to bother finding. They've grown complacent... they need to learn fear, in order to instill fear themselves. And if nobody else will step up to the task, it is up to me to turn back the tide of apathy."

[Urthdigger]

The arakun relaxed back in paradise while Urthdigger was awake. At times she wondered why she was even bothering to help out her project. Helping a man who didn't want to be helped... she was getting so stressed it didn't seem worth it to save him. After a time, she was approached by Cyllyl
"You have 2 days left..." said the goddess. There was a touch of humor to the tone.
"Yes, I'm aware of that..."
"Shima, because of your insistence that you could change fate, one of my Hands is now dead. " said Cyllyl, her humor gone "You have noble intentions, but I'm afraid you seem to be forgetting who is the goddess and who is just a servant."
"I'm sorry my lady..." pleaded the 'kun "I assume I am to be punished?"
The arakun's eyes glances over at one of Cyllyl's blades. Though she could not die, the sensation of touch was something her master had left her to make her work more enjoyable... and her punishments that much painful.
"No... I already had my suspicions that he would go this far when I permitted you to give him a second chance. It may have been your fault that things have accelerated... but consider this a controlled environment to see what happens when you think you know better than a goddess."
Shima said nothing, merely bowing, ashamed. Cyllyl started to leave, saying one last comment before fading away "He's going to be asleep soon... are you going to give in to your urges to give up? Or continue to lecture the deaf? Either way, you and I both know what will happen to him. It's just a matter of when."

Shima waited a while to decide before crossing the boundary between Paradise and the world of dreams. She knew well the path to the former champion's mind, and found herself once again in a dark and twisted version of her home. It both sickened her and brought her to tears. The vulpin himself was a little ways off, and like most people was quite perceptive of an outside influence in his dreams.
"You need to stop coming back here!" cried out Shima. She was aware that he couldn't hear her, the dream changing reality to fit Urth's perception of how things were. "You need to let the past go, that's what I've always been trying to tell you!"
"Ah. It's you again. My mute little pain in the side. Have you come to attack me again? Or perhaps to let me know that I am indeed following Cyllyl's wishes?" Said Urth, giving a lewd smile to the arakun.
Shima trembled. Usually the dream exaggerated her movements, made an innocuous action appear hostile, making him strike her in "self-defense". But now, she was faced with a dilemma: To continue to try and negotiate, and let his diseased mind continue to commit crimes against Cyllyl? Or to attack the same person she was trying to protect...
Shima walked over to him, her tail idly swaying behind her. She layed her paw on his arm, gazed deeply into his eyes... and kneed him in the crotch.
The vulpin yelped, wincing at the sudden assault "You still hate me? I've only been doing what you wanted me to!"
Shima left the dream behind. Cyllyl was right, there was no point in lecturing the deaf. Her only hope was to try and keep him confused and harmless until the time limit she had requested was up. Then he'd be in Her hands.