Hierarchy (Book Four of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Letter to the Reader:

Dearest reader,

Of all the letters I've included in this story of mine I find this one of the most difficult to write, as I skim these half finished pages. Thinking back to the time these events transpired is a difficult thing and leaves me with a bitter stomach. So much life lost, so many terrified people.

Maybe I'm just too good at holding grudges. Maybe the cynicism I garnered from these and following events has not fully worn off.

Lugaria tells me I've grown bitter, and I suppose that he would know.

Though, it would be unfair to speak of Kryrial's time without speaking of the people determined to end his hellish approach to unity, or to forget the good that came from his rampage across the world.

New bonds were forged and tested, old ones strengthened and far stretched, and some old prejudices were forgotten.

At the time, I felt Kryrial was nigh unstoppable. I had never been so terrified of any one being. He had a look in his eyes that left a deep uncertainty in me. He was determined, to a deadly degree. Mordai's demise left me shaken. I lost my nerve. And for all the blustering I did, (much like a child stung by a bee) I wanted nothing to do with him.

It is only by the example of those around me, whose strength I still remember and strive to emulate, that I was able to face him in the end. I won't proclaim I faced him or my fear gracefully, or most intelligently, but it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

Halemeda once told me that people forget for convenience. That a merchant will happily forget other dealings, when offered a better deal. that a baker will happily forget to take care of other orders first, if you flash him enough coin and a smile. And she believes that to be true universally, and as a fact.

But even now, Kryrial is remembered.

The crimson plated armor of Hearth-Homes army is remembered, and not heroically. So are the other people and places lost. And that leads me to believe that in the end, it was a lesson well learned. The people may yet forget, but it is not as if it is something they want to remember. A stain on the history of the kingdom, for all its days. Maybe in a thousand years, someone will find a mention of Kryrial's plans, and his executions, and I do not doubt that it will leave them with the same shiver of fear felt around the world at the mention of his name, in those times.

So, if you are reading this, in another time or another world, I urge you not forget the power of greed, or the lengths that determination can take you.

--Katerin Moonshadow, 898 P.C