We've Done It

Stars above and lands below we’ve done it. We’ve made it. Despite my shaking hands my mind is clearer than it’s ever been. As always let’s start at the beginning.
 
We were in a void, falling through time and space once more, an unfortunately familiar feeling as of late. This time we ended up on a battlefield under a blood red sky with equally red sands beneath us, our graves positioned among a million dead and dying. A truly terrible sight.
 
Talion was among them, the halfling well on his way to his own grave, but it wasn’t the one we knew. This was a younger version of him. Poor soul died before we could discern much from him. Warhorns in the distance quickened our steps and we fled straight into quicksand. An army of 15 thousand strong was bearing down upon us, hulking malformed beasts stomping closer, the smell of blood thick in the air, and as we struggled to free ourselves a familiar face appeared.
 
That horrible fiend, the chained one that killed my Marantha, was coming after us too. If I wasn’t already about to die I would have tried to end him myself. Darius had promised to fight him with me to avenge her death, but before we could even start the attack we fell further down into the quicksand. This time we landed in water and trudged towards an enormous clock, hour and minute hands spinning wildly with each step we took.
 
Again we fell. Always falling, never knowing where we’re going to land.
 
Now we were smack dab on a bridge of light that extended out in 500 different directions. Each ended in a portal with an hourglass above them all. All around us stretched a field of unending stars. When I looked I could see myself in various moments of my life, even ones I haven’t experienced yet. I’m no expert but it looked like each bridge led to a different point in time in history. Where was this place?
 
As we pondered our surroundings the Jester showed up. Again he tried to convince us to join him, to wage war against the gods, to take our destiny in our own hands and spit in the face of the mantle. Now, as I have told Darius, I never wanted the mantle. I pride myself in being the master of my own fate, to captain my own ship of life, and no gods are going to tell me how to run it. If that makes me think like the Jester then so be it, but there was no way in hell I was going to join his side, not after what he did to Mari and Ra’Zeed, or what he promised to do to the rest of the world.
 
It’s my choice to make and I chose to fight alongside my crew. In that moment we were all in agreement, ready to stand against the adversary and put an end to his madness.
 
Despite how brave my words might seem I was absolutely terrified. There wasn’t much power I could use to fight against the Jester so I focused on healing those that could do the most harm to him. Of course, being a healer makes you a target and before long the Jester set his sights on me.
 
The feeling of his blades piercing my heart was unlike anything else I had ever felt before. I fell. I was dying, I know I was. I had told Darius of my last wishes in case I died, asked him to take care of Marantha and tell my parents what happened, as well as giving Brauka the diamond back, and while the man agreed to fulfill my requests he also said that he would not allow me to die. He told me I was a selfish man and deserved to live a long life how I wanted, with Brauka and kids and even grandkids, and he would not let me die so long as he could help it.
 
Well, let it be known that Darius is a man of his word. He brought me back with the same kind of potion that I used to save Brauka from her deathbed. Don’t tell him but it did taste better than the ‘grog’ I had shared with him before. One by one we fell but were revived, and we gave it our all to beat the Jester down.
 
At one point the Jester tried to beg for mercy. If I had the chance I would have stabbed him straight through the heart and slept peacefully that night. He made his choice, as did I. There would be no mercy coming from me.
 
Then the worst happened. I blinked and suddenly Herus was dead, the man murdered right before our very eyes. I didn’t think it could happen, he was so strong, so powerful, so untouchable by many a foe we faced. But there his corpse lay for all of us to see, a stark reminder of the fate that awaited the rest of us.
 
And then again the world came to an end. Dax followed Herus in death, the Jester ending her life with as much venom and vigor he could muster. The angel bearing the light that had ended my curse had been extinguished. All we could do at the time was try and avenge our fallen, no matter how agonizing it was to fight around our dead.
 
You already know that we won, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this, but the victory came at a terrible price. Was it worth it?
 
It fell to Darius and James to finish the fight. I healed Darius as best I could and watched the man fall further into a rage than I have ever seen before. Mimz was unconscious, Herus and Dax were dead, James was giving it his all, and even Sargeras entered the fray. The Jester had fallen further into his own madness, delving into the very depths of despair and hate, snarling and coming at us like a rabid dog that needed to be put down.
 
Eventually it fell to Sargeras to land the killing blow. Who knew that such a little creature (although not so little anymore, he’s had quite a growth spurt) would help us save the world? He’s a good dragon.
 
The light left the Jester’s eyes, and for a moment he was Marcus Siegfried, the man who had been cursed by the mantle, a man afraid of his destiny. Too bad it was far too late to pity him. He died without a prayer from any of us.
 
Mimz woke up and despite how distraught he was he managed to keep Dax and Herus’s bodies from decaying, which meant that we would hopefully have enough time to do a proper ritual to revive them. It would fall to me to cast that spell to bring them back, like when we brought back Ra’Zeed, although it wasn’t guaranteed that it would work and I would need a proper place to do it.
 
We found ourselves stuck on the platform with no easy way out. The hundreds of paths that had spread out all around us had been severed during the battle, the moments in time winking out of existence, leaving us with only a rift to look through.
 
The Jester, despite our efforts, had put his plan in motion. Through the rift we could see that dark and abysmal future we had traveled to before, the darkness leaking through and threatening our bright and hopeful world. It looked as if the two worlds were being forced to exist together. Two worlds trying to occupy the same space would only spell certain death for everyone, and it was up to us to put a stop to it.
 
Of course this would come at a terrible price. Someone would have to go through the rift and close it from the other side. I am a selfish man and did not volunteer. I tried to tell myself that I had to live so I could cast the spell to bring Dax and Herus back, but really I just wanted to live. James, a far more honorable man, volunteered to go through. Darius put up a bit of a fuss but Jimmy convinced him in the end.
 
I wish I had gotten to know James better. I made fun of him for being a noble but really, he is far more honorable and noble than I could ever be. He asked Darius to watch over his family, especially his little brother, and gave him a sword to return to his family. Darius and Mimz gave him some parting items and then he was on his way.
 
It was up to Mimzy and James to close the portal. We were so tired, so beat down, so close to being defeated, and it seemed as if this is where we would fail. Yet once again this crew prevailed. After much toil and torment the portal finally closed.
 
James disappeared into the void. Another one of our own was gone.
 
Then we were awake. Back in the cave in Rhue, waking up from a nightmare turned reality. James was gone, Herus and Dax’s bodies lay still and silent at our feet, and it was up to Mimzy, Darius and me to drag ourselves out into the open and see what awaited us.
 
Around us were blackened boulders that were rapidly disintegrating in the sunlight that streamed through the black skies above. As the light fell upon us, bathing our weary, wounded bodies, we could finally feel the victory we had been fighting for. We had won. The world was saved.
 
But there were still two that needed to be returned to this newly saved world. We hurried to Dervia, the teleportation circle feeling empty without James standing with us, and ended up back at the house we had all but destroyed. There was no way I could cast any sort of spell in the condition I was in so we all agreed to rest first.
 
Mari was waiting for us at the house. Darius broke the news of Dax’s death to her. I discovered a fat Ra’Zeed in the closet with an incredible hoard of cheese. Stranger things have happened. We slept like the dead that night. Well, not entirely like the dead. Those words are in poor taste.
 
The next day I messaged my beloved Brauka and was delighted to find her alive and well and enthusiastically saucy. Once I was able to focus beyond the suggestive message she sent to me I was able to tell the others that her village had a perfect ritual circle we could use to try and bring Dax and Herus back.
 
It was an uneventful journey, thank the stars above. Again, thanks to Mimz, the bodies did not turn. We still had time.
 
As soon as we arrived at the village we placed Herus in the ritual circle. Much like we had done with Ra’Zeed we placed items around him and said words to convince him to come back. I had a look inside his notebook and was surprised to find that our dear Herus was an artist. There were sketches of scenes from his life, from wars and battles and people he had experienced and met. There were drawings of all sorts of folk, perhaps his kin, and portraits of various soldiers, each with their own page dedicated to them. It was like looking into his life, in a way, seeing his world through his eyes. Many sketches of the woman that I assume to be his wife. There was even a drawing of their wedding.
 
Not every page was of joy. Herus was a man who had seen far too many deaths and carried them all upon his shoulders. And he still carried them with him even as he fought to protect us. In the notebook he drew us all, memorializing us, and included a scene of us at the Pickled Boar. Inside the cover he thanked us for everything, acknowledging that his death would be saddening, but assuring us that it was ultimately his choice.
 
He also offered us his home, which may have been a bit too generous of him seeing how he inadvertently destroyed the last home we were offered, but you know, we can’t deny a man his dying wish.
 
The ritual succeeded but Herus didn’t want to come back. He was able to tell us that he was finally happy, finally able to be carefree, and we had helped him find that peace again. Even though our time with him was brief, it was meaningful, and we were able to make the old man smile once more. He had vowed to never be the last one left alive and finally he was able to fulfill his vow. It was a tearful goodbye but a final one.
 
Herus was gone of his own free will. Can’t deny a man his final wishes, even if that means we are left behind.
 
Next was Dax’s turn. Once more we went around and gave her our words and items. I gifted her the diamond Brauka had bestowed upon me, the diamond that got me into this whole mess, the one that I carried with me all throughout our journey together. I remember seeing how Dax’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw it in my possession. Rosie had said it signified my heart, and now I was giving that heart to Dax so that she could live again. It wasn’t her time, I said, she still had so much to do, and also I knew she had always coveted the diamond from the start so she might as well have it. At the very least she had to come back so poor Mimz wouldn’t be left alone with only me and Darius to look after him.
 
Darius… he tried. He gave her the strange mannequin that she had constructed so that she and Mimz could… er, enjoy each other’s company in a most agreeable way. Mari, bless her heart, did not comment on that. She said her words for her sister and gave her all the love she had.
 
Then it was Mimzy’s turn. It’s odd seeing a self professed monster be the most human out of all of us. The speech he gave brought the rest of the orc tribe around us, and we all watched as he read her a poem he had written, gave her back the love letter and a sapphire she had given him, and even offered one of his hearts to her. Truly there was nothing else more we could do for her, not after all that Mimzy offered to her.
 
I cast the spell. A golden light surrounded her, the radiance healing all her wounds, restoring her to how she was meant to be. It was a truly magnificent display, yet… she remained lifeless. Mimzy lost it, holding her and sobbing his poor remaining heart out. Me and Darius started to walk away to give him space, neither of us understanding how it could have possibly failed, when suddenly…
 
She was alive. Dax had come back to us, it just took her a minute to find her way. Never had there been such a celebration upon seeing her open her eyes.
 
Among the cheering came another wonderful sight. My Brauka, my beloved, my reason for fighting and pushing through all toil and torment and trying to make a better man of myself, had arrived. All of the pain and heartache that lead up to this point was worth it as I took her in my arms. We had found each other again. Death had not parted us.
 
Even her father was a welcome sight. I didn’t even run away this time although his affections towards his son in law will be the end of me.
 
Now Brauka and me are about to be married. There’s no more time to wait, not after all we’ve been through. I managed to find a quiet corner to write this but soon enough the others will find me and corral me to the altar. I’m not quite finished telling my story but hey, when have I ever had time to finish a thought?
 
After the celebrations I’ll write a real conclusion to this tale. For now I have to put on my bravest face and go become a proper husband. I’ve just helped save the entire world, surely I’ll be strong enough to walk down the aisle!