Wayward Tail: The Mortal Realms Trilogy, Book 1

Epilogue

The following was written by Likescatstoomuch

The battle was won. There was cheering all around us and I excitedly looked around to the exhausted but smiling faces of my friends. But one face was missing. My mind flashed back to the last time I saw him and where he should be on the beach now. Without a word, I ran. My ears were ringing and ignoring the stinging in my chest that still kept me from catching a full breath, I ran. I pushed through the crowd with Krusk, Jameth, and Irel following close behind. The sea of men and giants began to part for us and as we got to the spot where the crowd had huddled around, a hush fell over the beach.

Salty sea air whipped my hair around as I stared in silence at the two bodies. They must have been only a few moments behind, though it felt like ages where I stood in silence, but at last Krusk, Jameth, and Irel caught up. The sound brought me back and I ran to kneel next to my friend. I attempted to feel for a pulse, but felt nothing through the scales. With tears streaming down my blood stained face I begged Jameth to heal him. I pleaded with my friends that still stood in a shocked silence. "We can bring him back like last time. Please, he's our friend."

At some point Irel shook off the shock and went to check for herself. She found no significant wound on the body and relayed the information to the group. Jameth finally spoke, "This isn't like last time, Azrael... He ascended. He's gone."

We built a pyre that night along the shoreline and the four of us stood in silence under a thick blanket of stars. I watched the glowing embers dance up into the endless night sky and listened to the waves gently lapping against the shore. There's probably always going to be a part of me that believes he's going to appear out of the darkness someday and laugh at us for falling for his elaborate joke.