A single decade later...
The tavern was loud in the best way possible.
Warm light from floating crystal lanterns painted the wooden tables gold, the air thick with the smell of roasted meat, spilled ale, and the faint sweetness of the Divine Realm's better wines.
Laughter bounced off the walls.
Somewhere in the corner, a bard was butchering a love song and somehow still getting applause.
I sat at a corner table with James and Derek, the twin disasters I still called my best friends after everything.
Both of them had the same messy brown hair and the same stupid grin, but ten years had put a little more weight on their shoulders and a lot more stories in their eyes.
James slammed his mug down hard enough to make the table jump.
