At the center of a large crater, the world seemed to come back to focus and directly onto what would have been a terrifying and legendary sight to anyone who wandered upon such a scene.
In the ground near the dust covered wall that had become pretty much completely unidentifiable as to what it had once been, embedded in the ground-
The polearm of a halberd had been plunged deep into the earth, letting its long and shattered edge stick into the air with a grim sight atop its broken blade.
The head of a once known warlord had been stuck to the edge of the blade, being held up like a flag symbolizing the end of a war.
Near it...
A boy sat with his head hung on a broken pillar, his shattered sword resting in the dirt near his position.\
His golden hair flowed with the wind of the calmed crater as his eyes were shut tightly.
His body was riddled in scars and gashes as a faint green light flowed along his skin.
Behind him, a wounded girl pressed her hands against the back of the boy as her magic continuedly healed his once fatal wounds.
She cursed, smacking him in the back.
"What the-"
He turned his head, scowling at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Do you know how much of a pain it is for a Seer to heal little wounds? Now imagine how draining it is to heal this?!"
She yelled, hitting him again in the back.
He was wearing nothing but his own blackened skin of ash for a shirt, and his broken leggings were barely held together around his legs.
Cracks ran through all of his remaining armor, showing just how dreadful his recent battle had been.
But he was alive.
Which seemed impossible to the both of them as dust slowly settled even after it had been hours since the explosion had taken place.
He wondered how the girl had survived such an explosion, but figured it would have taken too much energy to even ponder such a thing.
He let his head hang again, barely feeling the numbness fade from his aching body.
If everything had gone according to plan: Which the main part of it hadn't... But nobody but Chase was aware of that.
"What am I to do...?"
He asked himself in a mutter, leaning his ashen chin against the newly threaded skin of his right hand.
His eyes wandered to the halberd sticking out of the ground, causing him to grin to himself at the act of rebellion he had made first priority once his worst wounds had been healed.
However, that had made Ivy's job three times as hard, as plunging the weapon into the ground alone had reopened several wounds.
But he couldn't lie about the feeling it had given him.
He smiled softly, returning to his distant gaze directed at the dirt below him.
"Rest Leander... For I have buried your killer beneath his own kingdom..."
Finally feeling a sense of accomplishment in the boy's life, he realized that he would turn seventeen towards the end of this year...
'I will leave my kingdom... Search for treasures and bounties, try to build a fortune that can hold up an entire kingdom...'
It was wishful thinking, but just maybe... If he could convince some of his allies, he could get them to join him and form a real adventurer's party. He would leave Zephyr as acting king of The City of The Sun... And let Zelenna take on the role of headmaster of Phoenix Academy... And he always had Luke if she chose to decline.
But Chase had a strange feeling that Luke would want to join him on his next journey...
"In the meantime- HACK! HACK!"
He started to cough uncontrollably as he stood up, leaving Ivy looking at him as if he was a madman.
"I'm not-"
He held a hand up, shrugging carelessly.
"You're tired... I'll be fine for now..."
He turned around, gazing through the giant hole in the ceiling of the strangely perfect landing position of the different walls and floors that had formed a near fortress-like structure around him.
He looked onward as several soldiers began to descend the crater with ropes, in the very far distance.
"Let us reunite with my people..."
End Of Volume 4: The Dark Horse... And End Of The Rider Revolution...