Epilogue ~Cret~

Flames rose high against the harsh vibrant colors of dawn, the bright pinks and oranges of the sky reflected the beauty of rebirth. A perfect moment to say one last goodbye, to see her off into another life.

“We must go,” Magnus insisted yet again.

He was right, the world was waking up to a new day. One of heartache and sorrow. Tentusa and its people were gone, the once white stone city now nothing more than another tragic memory but the rest of Vrasum could rest easy. Serenity had halted the Vamdari, at least for now and put an end to Vondorian. The Vampire Nation was now wounded but it came at a price. Serenity had used herself to end the horrors of last night, she took her own life stopping Vondorian and his army.

His body was still down there, trapped under the piles of stone that were the only remains of the temple. Once both Serenity and Vondorian fell to the ground, it began to quake and the temple started to crumble. I had made it to Serenity just before the altar split in half. Shielding her with my own body, I held her so close as I dragged her away from Vondorian. I wouldn't let her go beside him, she deserved better.

By some grace neither of us were crushed from the crumbling temple but I couldn't say the same for Vondorian's servants. Many of them were still trapped down there, others were scattered around the valley subdued thanks to Serenity. By the time they could pose any type of threat the Opsona will have arrived and I—I will be gone.

“Cret?” Magnus pestered again as I watched Rhea's body burn. My teacher finally released back into the world to be reborn again. I longed for the day I would meet her again but it wouldn't be the Rhea I remembered. She would be a different person despite all her reclaimed memories. No, this chapter of both our lives had come to an end.

“You go, Magnus," I said in a solemn tone. "Meet up with the clans and tell them what happened here.”

“And you?”

I turned to look at the old priest staring up at me with burdened eyes. He had given up so much just to live, sold his soul to carry on. He told me of the deal him and Serenity had come to, what she wanted him to do. He fed those unsuspecting people Serenity's tea all day, made sure each person had a body full of it, and then blessed each person with the same mixture. Dressing them for sacrifice. I hated the old priest for that. As he hid in the tombs below the temple people were dying, the temple defiled. Maybe that was why the ground shook the way it did.

This area had never been shaken like it had last night, it felt as if the valley was going to rip apart. It had to be the gods protesting what had transpired, weeping at the massacre that had taken place. A once holy land now covered in innocent blood, I could think of nothing worse.

“I will head to the far west, into the wastelands. Share that information with the clans if you wish, but I would prefer if you tell them I'm dead,” I requested one last favor from the old priest, and he nodded in agreement.

“What will you do with her?” He motioned behind him to Serenity's lifeless body draped over a waiting horse.

As the world shook under us and the temple collapsed I had held Serenity so close, cuddling her into my arms. I wouldn't leave her. If the gods saw fit to take me as well then I was at peace with that, but I wouldn't leave her alone. I wouldn't run like I had in the past and leave her to die on her own.

The shaking had grown more violent and the temple was falling all around I drew Serenity's body in close and laid my head to her chest, it was then I heard it. The beat of her heart so very faint. She wasn't dead, again Serenity had escaped the fate of the dagger and this time I didn't question it.

“I'm taking her with me.” I answered back turning toward the dying fire as the last of Rhea's ashes drifted off into the dawn.

I bowed my head in a silent prayer saying my goodbye to the woman who was my guide among the world's devils. My master, my teacher, and the mother I wished had given birth to me. She would no longer be standing just behind me to offer guidance, I now had to follow my own unguided path in the world even if every rational instinct told me it was the wrong one.

~Cret & Serenity's journey continue in book 4, Depraved Alliance~