Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Agent 34's Epilogue

25 Years Later

Sir Bradford stood atop his small castle, watching the sun rise above his newly rebuilt village of Ilrenia. It had taken about ten years to construct it back to its former glory, and it took a good two or three years to get villagers to move back into it. After that, it was thriving and easily grew to be one of the biggest villages in terms of population.

After the sun rose, he went back inside and prepared to leave the castle for a bit before being stopped by two letters that Ismara held out to him. "It's for you," she told him. "One's from King Thad, and as for the other, there is no name on it anywhere,"

He grabbed them from her, planting a kiss on her lips and embracing her. "Thank you," he told her. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, taking a seat on the couch in the current room they were in.

Agent 34 was previously illiterate. While they were rebuilding the village, Ismara began to teach him how to read and write after they were married. He was now fluent in depicting their language.

Bradford opened Thad's letter first and read it aloud to Ismara:

"Agent 34/Bradford,

How's it going? I see you were successful in rebuilding Ilrenia, as I expected. It's been a while since we have talked or even seen each other. I decided it was a good time to give you a long awaited update on how things are going here and with the rest of the Destigems.
First up, Marque and Vrängr: they ventured into the unknown. They packed everything up onto a boat and headed out northeast in search of a new continent. Vrängr mainly went for 'spiritual cleansing', or whatever that meant. I think he just wants to clean himself from all of the evil he had been involved with. Marque genuinely wanted to find what was out there.
Sercon has become my loyal second-in-command. He will easily succeed me and become the next king when I retire from the throne. He has found a wife and had a child who is now, as of writing this, only three years old. His birthday is next weekend and I'm sure he'd be thrilled if he got a 'Happy Birthday!' from the legendary Agent 34.
As for me, well, I'm still King Thaddeus. Nothing has changed for me. We relocated the capital from Urania to a new city called Zenian. It's located in the middle of the continent, come check us out sometime!
As for Barjual as his dragon friends, they're out on adventures every day. I don't know what they're doing half the time and have even went off the coast of Renya and into new land. Multiple times. They refuse to tell me of what is out there and won't tell me until I see it for myself. Plans to sail across the waters are coming up soon.
Calvin has been married to Cathy and adopted Ben, Rose, and Carter as their children. They live a happy life and Calvin is working on a new type of magic that he calls Bright Magic. He is producing it as a way to counter Black Magic and evil in general. He's working on mastering it himself, and will then start teaching it to original members of the Zena and the Destigems.
There's something else that I think you'd be glad to hear. We have immortalized you in statue form here in Zenian. We are going to make every Destigems immortalized in stone here in the capital and have monuments depicting the gruesome battles we faced when your brother was in control.

It'll be good to hear from you again!
- King Thaddeus."

A smile spread across Agent 34's face as he folded the letter and sat it down on their coffee table. He walked over to his desk in the corner of the room and pulled out a piece of paper, taking the ink pen on his desk and beginning to write a letter back to his friend.

"Thad,

It's a pleasure getting to hear from you again and hear what you've been up to. I appreciate the updates on everyone else's adventures, and tell Sercon that I wish his child a Happy Birthday!
I bet you're wondering what I have been up to as well. I suppose you deserve an extensive update on everything that has happened since me and my wife left the Zena.
             Ismara and I began constructing Ilrenia from the ashes that it previously was. Venon helped us in this effort and we soon made a castle for me and her to live in and built a house for Venon as well. We soon began to build the rest of our village and some of the villagers who had lived here before it burned down began to return, the ones that survived the tyrant that was my brother did.
             It took around ten years to construct all of the village back to its former glory. We have left the expansion of the village in the villagers' hands, as there are now many of them to do it. We have rebuilt the former glory that was Ilrenia and hope we can get it on the maps sometime soon. This is no longer a simple farming village like it once was.
             Ismara and I were married a couple years after our arrival. We had two beautiful children, both boys, who I am currently training to take my place as Sir of the village soon. That's not the only thing I'm training them for, however. I am going to start to teach the ways of the Destigems and how to protect Renya from the clutches of evil.
             We have also built a statue here. We have turned Fáolar to stone and he stands in the center of Ilrenia, forever watching over it as the guardian.
             I think that's pretty much all we have been up to. It's been very peaceful since my brother has been defeated. My mother moved into our village, yet we have no word of my father's whereabouts. He was Linx, wasn't he? Linx from the Traverials?

— Agent 34."

Bradford stuck the note into an envelope and sealed it shut. He laid it on the desk, a smile spreading across his face.

"Ahem," Ismara said to him. "There's still more mail."

"Oh, right, right," he said. He stood up from his desk and grabbed the other letter, tearing it open. He pulled the piece of parchment out, opening it and reading the text written upon it.

"Bradford,

It's been a while, hasn't it? The last time I saw you was around thirty-five years ago. You most likely don't remember who I am, but rather, the role I served for you.
I am your father. I have made a return to Renya. I left after that damned snake turned every inch of my blood evil. I'm sure your mother was devastated. How is she? I hope she's doing well.
How's your brother doing? I couldn't seem to find any trace of him in the Zenian. I ventured into the capital(by the way, why would you ever want to relocate the capital? Urania was perfectly fine.) of the continent to try to find you, but instead found a statue of you and a place to mail this letter to you. I decided it was time to give you a few words from me.
I am not here to stay in Renya, for it is not my place in this world. I am leaving back to the continent which I have dubbed as The Darkness. It's my home. I am not good, I am not evil, I am not neutral. I am too dangerous for this world. Renya isn't ready for my kind. Don't come looking for me. The Darkness is too dangerous for mortals. It's a place full of purely evil, and I'm sure that there is a place full of purely good. Somewhere out there, there is.
I hope you get this letter and tell your mother and brother that I love them very much. I love you as well, Bradford. You have appeared to have done something good with yourself, as you have statue erected in the middle of the capital. I'm proud of you.

— Your father, Linx."

Agent 34 closed the letter, thoughts flooding through his head. Ismara read the letter over his shoulder, many thoughts going through her own head.

"He wouldn't be proud of me if he knew why I got that statue," Bradford told his wife. "I killed my own brother."

"No," she told him, wrapping her arms around her husband. "You saved the world."

They shared a kiss, Agent 34 folding the parchment up and sticking it into his pocket. His father was still out there. Somewhere.