End of an Era (Project Chrysalis Book 2) by John Gold (always you kirsty moseley .TXT) 📗

“Sagie, I’m so happy! You found us! I’m so happy!” My parents hug and kiss me.

“Mama, father, I found you. It took me so long, and I even bought our dogs back from the dwarves. I found the soldier who let you into Kargan, too.”

We’re crying; my heart feels like it could burst. Everything I’ve been holding inside me for two years comes pouring out, all the pain, the suffering, the loneliness, the weariness. Again, I hear a baby crying in the house.

“Who’s that? Wait, really?”

Father glances at mama before replying.

“You have a sister named Rosie. When we got to this island, your mother realized that she was pregnant, and little Rosie helped us through a difficult time. She gave us a new lease on life. You’re an older brother!”

It’s one of the most exciting moments in my life. I have a sister! I’ve never had a family or parents, but when you find out that you’re responsible for someone, your world is turned upside down. Pride! I’m an older brother!

“Sagie, let’s head into the house so I can introduce you.”

Father…I see it all. You’re happy, too, with both of your children and your wife under one roof. I feel his pride.

It’s a simple, one-story building that’s more a cabin than a house but it’s my home, and I couldn’t think of anything better than being inside it with the other people who live there. And I’ll kill anyone who threatens them.

The aroma of smoke, porridge, wood, and fish… I’m home!

There’s a small bed in the corner, and I can see that father has done his best. He put together a whole mechanism for rocking the bed that’s powered by ropes and the wind.

Unbelievable. I’m home!

The dogs lie down near the wall, their tongues hanging out. Father locks the door after us, checking to see if anyone else is outside.

“Sagie, are you by yourself? I thought someone else was with you.”

“I think she decided to give us time to talk. She’s my friend, her name is Femida.”

What does a mother do when her son comes home? She warms up the food and places three plates on the table. I’ve missed the homey ritual, everybody sitting down to eat together.

“Okay, tell us everything. Where have you been, son?”

How long I’ve wanted to tell you about my adventures, father!

I talk through the whole evening and the night. It’s the next morning, with my story finished, that father jumps in.

“Okay, so Rachel, the god Leon, and the old god Bernard were all part of the creation ritual?” Father laughs. “I would never have believed it if it weren’t for the fact that I know you wouldn’t lie. Then, you went through Hell, made your way to the center of Hashan Desert, earned an invitation to join one of the most powerful organizations in the world, and were able to find us. Where did you find the strength, son?”

“I…” A lump forms in my throat. “I wanted to see you again! To survive, I had to use forbidden magic and push everything you taught me to the limit, father. I know how to make potions, create artifacts, raise the dead, and create chimeras. You should see what a strong mage I am! And I’m a blacksmith, herbalist, tailor, fisherman, tailor, even miner, and I had to use all of it to survive. I just wanted you to be proud of me. That’s why I pushed myself to be the best in the Sural monster-hunting guild.”

Father laughs.

“Sagie, I am proud of you! Not because you’re a monster hunter, but because you were able to find us. We were afraid of being followed, so we did our best not to leave any traces. But we always believed that you’d still be able to find us.”

“Father, do you remember the last branch of the walk-tree, the one you gave me?”

“Yes, though I don’t see a bow.”

I savor the moment I’ve been waiting for, the moment when I can tell my father about my achievement.

“I was able to make a non-level item called an astral bow. It combined my magic attacks and archery skill, my first masterpiece, and the absolute best I could do back then.”

Father smiles, pleased with me. That’s all I wanted—forget the bow.

“Where is it?”

“The devil took it. He took everything I made in Hell. Oh, you should have seen my sword! It–”

“Sagie, the most important thing is that you found us. I don’t care what happened; you found the way home.”

They say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, though I went from not having a family to having one. Life in the orphanage hardened my spirit and will. I lost my friends and family, but then I overcame myself and my weakness to regain them. If you’re a weak child, stop and take responsibility for your future. That’s the only way you will find the strength to change your fate.

***

Leon’s cult was flourishing. The Golden Hand and his priests had flooded the starting locations in all the dwarf cities, the monopoly they enjoyed on building temples enabling them to create a powerful source of prana. But to get the cities and their people to bend the knee to the new god, they had to complete mountains of quests and provide divine aid to the dwarves. The larger the city and the higher the level of the people in it, the bigger the quests had to be.

The war with the undead was ongoing around the world, and it was harder and harder to keep propaganda going out to the cities. But the dwarves were an enormous source of prana that Leon was able to wrest away from the old gods, both weakening them and strengthening himself.

Just then, a dwarf ambassador arrived. Leon frowned.