I’d seen so much over the years and paid my dues… But I hadn’t really been given the chance to live. I’d loved a compassionate woman and she’d passed, but I was yet ready to love again. There was only thing I had left to do- regain my daughter’s confidence and again find her trust. Like most things in my life as of late, I was quite burdened by the image of Essetia. I imagined her a beautiful, young woman now…I had no doubts that she would make my old heart proud. If she was anything like her mother, she would be a kind and selfless creature, one best made to forge her own path.

I hoped that I too could decide my own fate.

The past few months had been a number of different things: painful, joyous, frustrating, and enlightening. But I wanted to pick up where I’d left of and I’d been allowed no such mercy until now.

It was true, I was now a mere shell of my former self. But I’d come to see it remedied. The Edge had given me so much throughout my life that I lacked proper gratitude for her mercy. It was with that in mind that I ventured, for the second time, to the Veins of the Gods. The first time I’d laid eyes on the sacred monuments had been when I was but five years old. I’d been a foolish, young lad hoping for greatness. However, I’d learned that success was not something given because one desired it… It was awarded through the endless trials of life- ones I now claimed to have suffered.

I had come seeking the Earth God, the only ethereal being to shower me with his grace and accept me beneath his wing. It had been so long ago that he’d allowed me favor in my journey to help Tamira, but as I reminisced -basking in the perfect light of his compassion- I was almost convinced it had been only days ago.

Would he show me similar courtesy after all these years?

With the land bridge stretched out before me, I attempted to soothe my racing heart and trembling bones. After all, it was not every day that one sought to call upon their Gods.

Tentatively, I moved forward across the bridge, captivated by the roiling azure magma just beneath my feet. I couldn’t bring myself to question the power of the Gods, but I couldn’t help the mild fear that bloomed across the lengths of my aging soul. The pendant I’d received from the almighty Turtle hung loosely about my neck, but would the Earth God guess why I’d come? Would he understand that I was yet able to serve my family, a warrior? They now called me their Specter but I knew the risks of such entitlement, knew of the craving I’d acquired for the heat of battle.

I’d come to see the pendant blessed by the might of the Earth. I’d come to engage in my final stand.

Before me, the shrine split by blackened years and dotted with luminous blue, waited ominously. I bowed before it, eyes closed as I sighed softly, “My Grace, I come seeking your guidance- your help.”

Would he find noble soldier before him or a mere ghost of what once was…?