I Made A Promise

It is summer, in a place called Demillo. I have come seeking adventure and glory, young in my years and skeptical of the ways of my elders.
It is later that evening. I have been assigned to seek my glory with others: a human man of sword and shield, and two elven women, one of cloak and dagger, the other of sorceries. Little do I know, nothing was by chance. Little do I know, this would become my Ohana.
It is that same summer. Demillo is burning. People are dying. A terror from a land past the western waters lays claim to this land. I come close to meeting my ancestors for the first time during the assault. A first in a long line of close calls.
Heroes. That's what they start to call us. I know the weight of such a title, even in my youth. Alas, I have yet to know its cost.
It's a few months later. A boy is dying in my arms. Dying in my defense. One of many I cannot save. I curse the gods. Curse them that he died so I could live.
It is a year after that initial summer of fire and death. I meet a woman of the forge. Desi. She says her name is Desi.
I'm in a fortress now. Desi kisses me for the first time and tells me to think of this so that I can call upon it for strength.
It is years later. I hold another dying one in my arms. She tells me she loves me. She's gone before I can say my peace. I want to curse the gods once more. But, there's no one left to curse.
It is the siege of Castle Dorn. I mount the head of a fallen general and mark it with the sigil of my clan. In my youthful defiance, I mark my first Ohana with a curse of suffering.
I'm near the lake by the castle now. I try and comfort a friend who had just lost about everything he had. I don't do very well. Something awakens in him that day. I was so young.
It is in a forgotten hold now. I'm working on a lost legend of my people, a titan of metal and gears. I feel my people's history flow in and out of me as I work. The boy comes and hands me a handkerchief and an apple. I bite into it. He smiles.
It is at that castle once more, and a wedding is being celebrated. I watch as my sorceress friend is approached by her love. He asks her something. She nods, and they quietly go to a room in one of the towers. I smile as they leave, knowing they're happy. Knowing they'll have their own Ohana now.
It is near the end. Her love asks me to guard what's most important to him. He's trying to buy us time. I give him my word.
It is in a faux cavern, and I am staring down a Hydra. I do not falter. I do not waver. I stand tall.
It is in a forgotten place of my people now. I reawaken ancient legends to aid us in battle.
I stand atop a mountain peak now, holding aloft the head of ruinous kin.
It is nearly the end now. It kills him in front of her. My Ohana cries out in anguish, pinned by the maw of a demon. It tells her it will take the last thing she holds dear from her, before finally ending it all.
It moves towards me. I am all that stands between it and the child.
It is in the space between spaces now, and a woman in a green cloak tests my resolve.
It hits me with all it has. The child cowers behind me.
It is in a sleepy town now, and I commune with his god. Joan, she calls herself. She asks me to protect him. I swear on my ancestors I will.
It is near the end now. He lays broken on the ground beside it. He did all that he could.
It is in the castle now. My friend of cloak and dagger laments the boy's death. I do what I can to comfort her.
It is near the end now, she lies wracked by ruinous powers.
It is at the end now. My shield is hit with an unholy barrage and I feel it crack and splinter. My arms are missing chunks and my armor has chaotic energies dancing off of it, destroying it. My blonde beard is almost singed away to what is left of my skin. 
I am afraid.
The child holds onto me. She looks at me with that look. I know I am her last hope.
I feel Desi's kiss on my lips.
I feel fear, for the last time.
I defy it all.
Pain.
Loss.
Weakness.
Inevitability.
It looks shocked as I push back.
Even with all its might. All its strength. All the malice. All the evil.
It can do nothing with all it has to what I hold onto.
It cannot break what I had forged.
I made a promise.
I made an Ohana.
And that means no one gets left behind.