Epilogue


!WARNING! - ONLY READ THIS FILE WHEN TOLD TO DO SO DURING THE GAME




With a terrifying roar Ika, the mighty Azure Dragon, rips through the last of the Devils. The other Demons flee in terror and a ragged cheer erupts from your surviving men. You notice Dekard's headless body at your feet and wipe your blade of the black demon blood on his cape. You scan around for Mordecia but there is no sign of him. You are sure he cannot have got past you, he must be hiding somewhere in the volcanic landscape.

"I cannot see him." Remarks Penthor at your shoulder, apparently reading your mind. "But we cannot tarry here, the ritual has been interupted and the world saved for now. But the Devils will reform from the evil souls. We need not worry about Mordecia, even if he escapes he cannot begin the ritual again now he has lost his throne and lands."

"Whose are they now though?" You ponder.

"There will be a time later to worry about such matters, Shar. For now let us withdraw through the portal. We can return to the real world and leave this blood-soaked plane behind."

"Penthor, you have always been a good friend, even when I couldn't see it... I did try to kill you."

"Do not worry." Penthor laughs. "Your thoughts were probably not entirely your own. With the dark influence of the Devils Mordecia may have been able to subvert your thoughts, increasing paranoia and suspicion and placing seeds of evil ideas within your brain."

"I would like to believe that was true." You sigh sadly. Then suddenly you remember. "Gwenna!" you cry.

You and Penthor rush to where you left her, but there is no sign of your wife's body.

"Gwenna!" You cry, spinning on the spot, trying to catch any sight of her in the blasted wasteland, but you cannot see.

"If Mordecia has..." You begin, but shudder instead of finishing.

"Where could he have taken her?" Asks Penthor anxiously.

"IKA!" You scream. The Dragon lifts its head to look, and then with a great crack of her wings flies towards you, landing not far away.

"May I congratulate you. Hmmm." Ika begins.

"No time for that!" You exclaim. "Gwenna is missing, and Mordecia too."

"The girl and the demoniac. I am afraid I have seen neither since the battle. Hmmm."

"He must have taken her, but where?"

"Hmmm. There is only one way out of here you know."

You turn and look at the portal, then with no second thoughts you leap on your steed and ride full pelt towards the monolith, ignoring the shouts to wait from Penthor.

"Round up the troops!" You shout back to the Enchanter.



You plunge through the portal gate and arrive back in the Plane of Limbo. You can see only lines and lines of grey souls. You bring your horse to a halt and turn to look up above the gate you just came through.

"Gatekeeper!" You shout up. "Have two with life come through this gate recently?"

"YES - A MAN AND A WOMAN"

"Thankyou!"

You turn your steed and are about to ride on when you notice one of the souls looks familiar. You stare closer at the dulled features. You shake your head sadly then trun back towards the gatekeeper.

"Gatekeeper!" You shout. "Is this the Elf Lord Timi?"

"YES"

You sigh, he must have died during the battle with Mordecia. There is nothing you can do for him now, even though he saved your life whilst you fought Dekard. You look up at the gatekeeper again. There is one thing you think you are sure of, but would like to be confirmed.

"Gatekeeper! Will Timi go to The Retreat?"

"YES"

"Thankyou." You sigh and turn away. With a quick jab of your heels in your steed's flanks you ride off towards the next monolith.



You emerge from the second portal back into the Dwarf mines. But which way would Mordecia have gone? Well there is only one way out that you have encountered, and that is the exit by Cragmere. You cross your fingers and spur your mount north.



You burst out of the tunnel and into the daylight. The skies are overcast but at least you are outside.

"To Cragmere." You mutter to yourself, as your horse continues.



Your steed picks its way over the rubble that used to be the outside walls of Cragmere. You bring the horse to a halt next to a piece of wall still standing in the courtyard and dismount. After tying your steed's reigns around some bricks you draw your sword and look around. It is not long till you notice what looks like Mordecia's helemt lying not far from an open door. Well at least you don't have to climb this time...

The door leads to a hallway stretching to your left and right into the gloom, with a set of stairs directly in front. You stand perfectly still, trying to listen for any movement. After a few seconds you are sure you can hear movement from above. You take a deep breath and ascend the steps.

They lead on for a long time. Doorways go off to either side but you ignore them. In your experience up is always the way to go. After a few minutes the stairs end in a hallway. You are still once more and strain to hear the slightest noise. But this time you can hear nothing. You decide to go straight on through the door ahead of you.

You are almost sick when you pass through onto a walkway overhanging the great pit where you once fought Dekard. You are about to walk back and slam the door behind you when you hear voices from above. But you can see no way of getting up there.

You race around the walkway to the other side of the square pit and throw open a door. Despite your hopes it only leads to a hallway. In a split second you chose to go right and sprint down the corridor. Soon you come across another set of steps going up and down. You immediately choose up. This time the stairs spiral on and on, and despite your intentions of running the whole way your legs become tired. You can only gasp that at least you're not climbing the outside again.

As you reach the top you pause to catch your breath. You realise you must be on one of the highest levels by now. The hallway you are in is far more richly decorated that the sparse corridors you have been in so far, although looking closer at the decorations you wish it wasn't. The walls are covered in tapestries depicting scenes of mass killings and bloodbaths. Statuettes lining the hallway show grotesque daemonic creatures. At the end of the corridor lies a large wooden door, covered in ornate ironwork. After a brief rest it is this door you make for. The door opens into a large throne room. You almost sigh at the irony of it, you remember how King Lyo defeated the Necromancer Staldor in his throne room, and how you once tortured Gordar in his. Will you defeat Mordecia and rescue Gwenna here?

In a kind of answering reply Mordecia's head rolls to a rest in front of your feet. You look up to see a figure standing by the throne. It is Gwenna.

"My love?" You ask nervously approaching your wife.

Gwenna stares at nothing, a far away look in her eyes. You notice Mordecia's headless body lies at her feet and a bloody sword is in her hand.

"You've killed him." You say quietly as you get nearer.

Gwenna nods but does not answer.

"We can go now. It's over." You try to reassure her.

She looks up at you.

"No. It's not." She answers quietly.

You stop, puzzled.

"He came so close." She continues. "But he became over confident. But it is possible, it must be possible. Yes of course. Anything is possible."

"Gwenna? What are you talking about?"

"Think about it. Ruling the Devils could be so easy. It could be me who controls them. It could be me."

"Gwenna!" You gasp. "Why are you talking like this?"

"Shut up!" She shouts. "You are now the insignificant one here."

"But..."

"NO! You listen, Shar." She spits your name. "You're no hero. You're nothing but a common mercenary and murderer. You killed Aeron, and I loved him."

You do not speak, you are aghast.

"And now you must pay!" she screams, lunging at you with her sword. You are taken completely off guard and barely have enough time to dodge the blow. As you leap her blade strikes across your arm and you cry in pain. Quickly you retreat backwards.

Gwenna comes at you again. But this time you are more prepared and despite the pain you raise your sword arm. Her attack is full of madness and fury but not skill. You easily deflect the first blow. Still she slashes at you again and again, pushing you backwards. You are indeed an acomplished swordsman, and under normal cicumstances you would be able to silence such a frenzied attack in a single strike, but you don't. Why is Gwenna doing this? What has possessed her?

Possessed her! Of course, it must be Aeron. You had almost forgotten his soul was inside Gwenna, keeping her alive. Now it seems he is after revenge. But what can you do about it?

You try to parry her numerous blows, but she does not relent her ferocious attack. You stumble and fall backwards, dropping your sword, and Gwenna stand over you, panting heavily. Blood from her blade drips onto you.

"Gwenna?" You pant. "Aeron?"

She looks at you puzzled, then seems to shrug it off. She raises her sword and prepares to strike.

Suddenly a chill breeze blows through the room. Both you and Gwenna turn your heads, sensing a change in the atmosphere. Standing a few metres away is a shadowy form, its features are faded but it is instantly recognisable. It is Aeron.

"Aeron?" Gwenna whispers. Her eyes fix upon him. She drops the sword, which clatters to the floor by your head.

"Aeron?" She whispers again.

The soul stands perfectly still.

"Aeron? Is that you?" Gwenna whispers. It seems tears are in her eyes.

You sigh. Could it be true that Gwenna really loves, or rather loved, Aeron more than you? Your stomach twists, you have been such a fool, and now you are not sure how your life will go on.

"Aeron!" Gwenna cries and runs towards him. But as she reaches him he throws out one hand and catches her neck. She struggles in Aeron's strangling grasp, reaching out with her own hands to grab Aeron.

"No!" You shout. She may not love you but you still love her. You rise to your feet.

"Stay away Shar!" Excalims Aeron.

"Help... me..." Chokes Gwenna as Aeron's grasp increases.

"No!" You shout again and charge, knocking them both over. Gwenna gasps and falls back onto the floor, Aeron's soul just floats away and returns.

"Shar." Says Aeron. "I'm afraid you don't understand what is at work here."

"He... tried to kill me Shar." Gwenna gasps from the floor.

"She is not herself." Says Aeron solemnly. "She is someone different entirely."

You look from one to another. Then slow realisation grows in your mind.

"Varnen?" You ask Gwenna.

"Yes." Aeron nods. "When you entered The Taint I was forced to leave her body, a soul from The Retreat cannot enter that cursed place... I feared she would die, but it seems someone else had her in his mind. Whilst in The Retreat we discuss, in The Taint they squabble and fight. Vernan's deep, evil passion must have won through and he won the right to take over her weakened body."

"Aeron! Forgive me." Gwenna pleads, or rather Varnen does.

"Now that Mordecia's cloud of evil that prevented us from intefering has receeded the good souls are able to enter, as I have done." Aeron continues. "I almost didn't make it here, I had to plead my case. I am still a fresh soul, and still have the shreds of my old humanity. In a few months it will have all gone, I will have forgotten everything, but for now I still wish to intervene here."

"Aeron!" Gwenna sobs.

"No, Varnen. I'm sorry." Aeron sighs.

"Please!" She sobs.

"No Varnen. Leave her body now."

"No! I wont, you must save me from the Taint, Aeron."

"Varnen, it's over."

"No! If you wont have me, no-one will have her!" Gwenna shrieks and runs to the window. In one leap she passes past the iron bars.

"NOOO!" Both you and Aeron exclaim as you run to the window.

But you are too late. Both of you can only watch as she plummets downthe side of Cragmere. Then you notice a large shape rapidly approaching.

"IKA!" You shout at the approaching Dragon.

Ika cracks her wings and swoops towards the falling Gwenna. You hold your breath and hear Aeron next to you gasp. As Gwenna plumets Ika stretches out her neck as far as it will go. With one final flap and a burst of speed the Dragon snaps out to catch your wife, but misses.

Then Ika is forced to pull away before she hits the walls of Cragmere. The Dragon flies up and to one side, leaving Gwenna to fall. You try to look away, but you are transfixed. You watch as she, now a tiny speck, hits the ground.

Finally you turn away and throw up.

"I..." Aeron begins, then stops.

You stagger out of the throne room, wiping your mouth of the vomit.

"I'm sorry." Aeron says behind you. "But I must leave now."

You don't acknowledge him, you half run, half stagger through the halls and down the winding stairs, along the corridor, down a short flight of steps, round the great pit room, into a hallway and down a final long set of steps. You hurl yourself through the final door into the courtyard, You see that your men and Dragons are now assembled. They are gathered round one particular spot.

Dizzily you make your way over, but Penthor comes up and puts his arms on your shoulders to stop you.

"Don't look." He says.

"I... wan't to." You cry.

"No. You don't." Penthor replies firmly.

You sink to your knees and weep.



--- THE END ---


Thank you for playing Shar's War. I hope you enjoyed the experience. Comments, questions and suggestions will all be greatly appreciated. Please send them to:

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I really want to know what you thought. There will almost certainly be a sequel.

Thankyou and goodnight.