text: venant."
  
  This is followed by an inhuman scream and a bright light which is piercing even with your eyes nearly closed. Between the screaming, the bright light and your weakened state it's all too much for you and start to pass out.
  
  You see a female shape with long hair standing over you, but you can't make out the face.
  
  "... Alison?" you struggle to whisper.
  "(Sigh) Blind to your true allies and lovers as always." The figure says and then lays your dagger on your body. "Here, I know how much you treasure this gift to you."
  "Oh... fuck... " you say as you pass out.
  
  You don't know how long you're out for, but when you come to you're in a spare bed in the Emperor's quarters. Your ankle and nose feel tender but they don't feel broken anymore.
  
  You look to your left and see the Emperor standing nearby with a walking stick in hand.
  
  "Ah, you're awake and looking much better too. You looked about as bad as I do when Jacob first dragged you in here." The Emperor remarks, sitting in a chair near you.
  "Jacob found me?"
  "No, actually Warrick and some of the Eyes picked you up off the road when a travelling patrol reported coming across your body and an overturned carriage crashed into a tree a few feet away. I requested that you be brought to me personally when I heard the news. You were severely injured, and I was damned if I was going to let anyone else bumble in the attempt to help you get better."
  "Alison?" you ask.
  "I'm sorry son, but she's dead. If that bolt to the eye didn't do it, her neck was broken in the crash." The Emperor remarks.
  
  You want to cry out, but you just don't have the energy right now. You still feel woozy for one thing, the other is you had little hope that she was still alive anyway. The moment you saw that bolt in her eye, the moment you felt her blood on your face, the moment you felt her body go completely limp in your arms... you knew then she was dead.
  
  "Did you need some time alone?" the Emperor asks.
  "No... I suppose I already knew." You respond. "I'm sort of overwhelmed by everything that happened. I imagine I will grieve later for her."
  "I know how much she meant to you. I know she was also a loyal soldier and officer. She will be missed not just by you, but also by the Empire as a whole. Whatever type of funeral you wish for her, you know you've got it. I mean if you want a holiday to... "
  "That... isn't necessary. I believe I will just have a simple funeral for her. She was like me, she didn't seek out a lot of attention."
  "As you wish. Remember though, whatever you need. You got it."
  "Can you manage an execution for a certain svelk bitch?"
  
  The Emperor starts one of his coughing fits before answering.
  
  "I assume you're talking about Mistress. Yes, I fear I did uncover some evidence that it was she that was behind all this chaos. How did you know about her involvement though? Is she the one that attacked your carriage?"
  
  You explain to the Emperor what happened. He seems surprised to hear that the shadow wasn't alive and was in fact undead. He concludes that Mistress must've raised Cyrus from the dead since she certainly has the skill to do it.
  
  "Necromancy eh? Raising the dead is dangerous stuff to dabble in, especially when summoning something as powerful as a revenant. (cough cough) Very difficult to command something that's dead, yet still control of most of the skills they possessed in their old life. Too willful. Still I didn't think that even she would be insane enough to try something like this. Her obsession (cough) with you must be great indeed. I'm not even sure what she hoped to accomplish, other than more chaos and strife I suppose. Hmm, well I guess that does sound like a svelk."
  "All I know is she deliberately set this up. Her standing over me as if she was my savior. I'm not fucking fooled! Next time I see her, she's dead!"
  "Well unfortunately Miss Semra D'vessa has fled the Empire and who knows where she's gone. There aren't even many svelk mercs within borders of the Empire anymore. There still might be a few in Rask, (cough cough) if you'd like I could make that law to have all svelk executed on sight. Hell, I think I'll do that anyway. Someone needs to take the blame for this and it'll certainly make the citizens happy to have mass hangings of dark elves. I know the elves will love it."
  
  While the Emperor's attempts to cheer you up with small acts of genocide are kind, you begin to feel the need to be by yourself. Your silence and your eyes looking downward are all the signs that the Emperor needs to take his leave.
  
  "Don't worry son. We'll get her." He says and then leaves you to your solitude.
  
  You sit in bed for a long time trying to take everything in. Alison is gone. You'll never see her smile, you'll never feel her touch, you'll never hear her voice, you'll never enjoy anything involving her ever again. You almost feel like you don't want to go on living and you never thought you'd ever feel something like that especially since survival has been beat and ingrained into your very being.
  
  That isn't the worst of it though. You didn't even get revenge on the one that killed her. In fact her assassin would've killed you as well if you hadn't been saved, but that's still not the worst of it.
  
  Semra... Mistress... svelk bitch... whatever you call her. She saved your life.
  
  As far as you're concerned that's the worst of it. However you'll get over it and grow stronger from this experience. You always do.
  
  All it takes is time.
  > Continue
  Year 35
  
  While you've never been excessively fond of these important meetings because they take you away from the battlefield, you like them even less nowadays due to having to see the Emperor in such a weakened state. You remember when he first started displaying the signs of being unwell; you dismissed it and thought that he'd eventually get better. Five years have passed since you found out and he's only gotten worse.
  
  He barely gets out of bed anymore. Most of these important meetings take place while he remains horizontal under his blankets. He's still mobile, but he tries to conserve his strength for when it's necessary.
  
  He's never even told you what it is that's causing his decline, though you've never thought to ask. (And Jacob certainly hasn't) It may just be old age finally catching up with him which means there is nothing that can be done hence why he doesn't bother bringing it up.
  
  Its funny how when you first met him that he looked so healthy. You thought he was immortal despite him telling you that he really wasn't. Now you know he wasn't just being humble.
  
  You and Jacob have been doing your best as usual in carrying out his most important orders. Though today the order is given specifically to you. You have to go meet with Marik.
  
  Marik's been running a secret experiment for the last sixteen years and says that its finally ready. The Emperor knew about it and actually told him to abandon it on more than one occasion, but Marik insisted that it would be a good idea, so the Emperor relented as long as it didn't interfere with project that would be of a more direct benefit for the Empire.
  
  When you arrive at Marik's underground lab, he takes you through a metal door that opens up to a platformed level, which overlooks a huge room. It's nearly the size of a small hamlet you think. There are several ladders that descend down to the lower level which contain translucent containers all hooked up with tubing and connected with each other and large strange machines. Even from this distance you can make out figures floating in liquid within the containers.
  
  This experiment: Breeding a new army of Eternals. The derro has been growing them in these tanks. Literally hundreds, possibly even a thousand.
  
  "So... this is what you were hiding behind this metal door when I came here over ten years ago. Knew something else was going on." You say as you stand on a balcony overlooking all the rows of tanks.
  
  Unlike you and your siblings these Eternals were practically "made." From your understanding they went from some woman's womb to the tank immediately. (You can only hazard a guess what might've become of the mothers, but nothing good no doubt) From there they've been getting "grown" into the perfect soldiers.
  
  Marik has explained to you the "science" of what he's done, but some of it is going over your head. Personally you don't even think Marik understands all of it himself, he just believes it all works. While Marik did use human babies for this second generation of Eternals most would probably tell you that there isn't anything human about them. Given what's been said about you as well you can't really disagree. You are better than the average or even above average human in every way.
  
  You watch as two of them are released from their tanks, already teenagers and able to understand everything that is told to them. They're given weapons and display great skill with them when ordered to fight each other. Probably just as good as most Empire soldiers.
  
  Still, there's something about these Eternals that doesn't sit right with you. Maybe its because Marik was involved and that his experiments can be hit or miss. Maybe its because you feel that without the experiences of training they don't truly know what its like to struggle and earn their place.
  
  Whatever the reason, you don't feel like they are Eternals. As little in common as you have with your own siblings you still feel a small bond there. You have nothing in common with these tank babies. They're something else as far as you're concerned.
  
  However, none of this matters. What does matter is if these so called new Eternals are going to actually be an asset to the Empire. From what you've seen they aren't without skill, but they're going to need to be field tested along with drilling the concepts of loyalty and duty into them.
  
  "Sure, they look pretty, but can they fight?" you say after seeing the demonstration. This annoys Marik. He starts sputtering and stammering to the point where you think he's going to go into a seizure.
  "You just SAW what they're capable of! How can you even say such a thing?"
  "Yes, they were okay for children. I suppose we can find a place for them somewhere. Perhaps we can... "
  "Bah! You're just jealous!" Marik interrupts.
  "Excuse me? Jealous?" you ask.
  "Yes! They're already the perfect warriors and didn't need any training at all! They didn't need all the hand holding nonsense that you had to go through to become a killing machine. Face it, these Eternals are the future!"
  
  You stare at Marik in disbelief that he dares to say such a thing to you. To his credit, Marik doesn't back down, he stares back at you, ignoring your eyes burning through him.
  
  "You can give me that stare of death all you want Eternal." Marik remarks.
  "Alright... open up ten of the tanks. Let's put them to a real test."
  "What? So you can incinerate them with your magic?"
  "If they're truly as good as you claim then my advantages shouldn't matter, but since you seem to be unsure of your creations now. I'll make it easy for you. Open up twenty of the tanks and I won't use one damn cantrip."
  
  Marik starts making that annoying high pitched laugh you hate so much then he suddenly gets very serious.
  
  "Were you planning on fighting them right now?" Marik asks.
  "While I'm sure watching me slaughtering twenty naked teenagers would prove my point, I said I was going to make this easy. No, you go equip your twenty creations with whatever armor and weapons you wish. I'll wait."
  
  You wait as Marik orders twenty tanks opened up and has a few of his derro friends herd these children into another room presumably to get outfitted. Marik soon follows behind to oversee personally.
  
  While you wait, you reflect on the fact that they're all the same age as you were when you first got to meet the Emperor. It was one of the greatest days of your life when that happened. This happy moment passes very quickly when you have to dwell on the fact that the Emperor is now on his deathbed. You have no idea what's going to happen when the inevitable happens. Sometimes you look at the Emperor now and you wonder if that is what you have to look forward to when you get old.
  
  Is that the fate of everyone? No matter how powerful? What's the point of it all? Will the Empire even survive when the Emperor dies? He doesn't have a successor. You have often wondered if you would be it, but he's never mentioned it. Even if you were, you can't imagine ever doing the job better or even as well than he could. Leading armies is one thing, but an entire nation? You don't know if you'd have the patience for it. You're a soldier not a ruler and yet you couldn't dream of serving any other ruler except the one you think of as father.
  
  Your mood starts getting worse because you also start dwelling on less pleasant aspects of your sixteenth year before you met the Emperor. It always comes back to her. Why the hell can't you get her out of your head?
  
  Even now the woman hasn't been seen in three years and yet she still comes back to fucking torment you.
  
  Alison's dead, the Emperor's dying, these new "eternals" are obviously meant to replace you, your own future is uncertain, Semra still haunts your thoughts... 
  
  At this point you wonder if it wouldn't just be best if you let these damn tank babies kill you. It would at least be a warrior's death and you'd die when the Empire was going through a second golden age of sorts.
  
  You had some good times and saw several major threats to the Empire destroyed. Why stick around to see a man you have nothing but respect for continue to whither and die? Why see the potential slow decline of a nation you spent all your life trying to keep from the brink of chaos?
  
  Maybe it is time to step aside gracefully and be replaced... 
  > continue your duty
  Sometimes the most dangerous enemy you can have is the one in the mirror. You quickly snap out of your defeatism.
  
  All this self doubt and self-pity is for weaklings. What would the Emperor say if he knew? What would Alison say? You were trained better than that. You don't have time to worry about a potential future; you have a duty to serve the Empire. And right now part of that job is to test these tank babies.
  
  The only death you should be focusing on right now is theirs.
  
  Doesn't take long before twenty tank babies along with the other two that were involved in the first demonstration come out fully decked out in armor and weapons. Surprisingly the derro didn't deck them all out in the heaviest body encasing armor they could give them, though there are at least half of them dressed in such a manner. You can't help notice that the derro didn't limit their weapons to close combat, you see some with firearms.
  
  "Well here they are. The future of the Empire. I imagine you'll want to... " Marik says and then he realizes what you're doing... 
  "Lying bastard! Get out of the way NOW!" he shouts and runs back into the room they just came out of and slams the door. The tank babies don't entirely understand, but they soon do when you cast a bolt of chain lightning at the lot of them. The lightning arc easily fries the tank babies in the metal armor, even the ones dressed less conductive material are standing so close they suffer the shock as well. Combine this with the gunpowder weapons and you even get a couple of small explosions which take out a few of them.
  
  After you're done with the spell a couple of them are crawling away desperately trying to find cover or escape. Bodies lie on the floor still sizzling and charred from your attack. You walk over to the carnage and put your sword through the chest of one still struggling to breathe. You stomp on the neck of another who is cursing you. Another one actually begs you for mercy; you show none when you hack the top of his head off.
  
  As you continue to check the twenty two bodies for signs of life, Marik finally emerges from behind the door along with some of the other derro.
  
  "Thought the derro didn't fear death." You remark.
  "We don't, but we're not supposed to be the fucking targets today! You lied Eternal! You told me you weren't going to use magic!"
  'Actually I think my exact words were I wasn't going to use a single cantrip, and I didn't use a cantrip."
  "Bah! Trickery!"
  "I prefer to think of it as outmaneuvering your opponents assumptions. This was not a battle of honor. I have nothing to prove to these children and even less to you. I went into battle against superior numbers, I'd be a damned fool to not use all of the tools of killing that I have at my disposal. Whenever you go into a combat situation, you ALWAYS use whatever means to destroy your enemy. Fair play, rules and honor have nothing to do with any of it."
  "Hm, well you don't need to tell me about it." Marik responds.
  "I wasn't telling you, I was teaching this important lesson to this young girl here, trying to play dead." You say suddenly grabbing the collar of one of the female tank babies. You lift her up by the collar and can smell the singed flesh and leather wafting from her body. She can barely keep her eyes open, but she's definitely still alive. She's the only one that is.
  
  "Now heed this lesson tank baby. You are NOT an Eternal. Nor are any of your siblings. You will NEVER be Eternals as long as I live. You only exist to serve the Empire and if you die in the process you will be grateful to do so. Remember this." You say as you grab her face to look into her eyes. You see the fear. She understands. Good.
  
  You let the tank baby go and she falls back to the floor while you address Marik.
  
  "I believe I'm going to have trainer come in to teach these children properly. I'd do it myself, but I don't have the time. Perhaps another Eternal like Brenda or Warrick can do it. Oh and make that one on the floor a squad or platoon leader of some sort. She obviously was strong enough to survive. She at least shows potential. Finally give them a different name as well. I don't care what, but I meant what I said, they are not Eternals."
  "And you think you can presume to give me orders surfacer?" Marik says.
  "I don't presume nothing, I'm doing it right now! I was given orders by the Emperor himself to handle this the way I saw fit! And I'm telling you WHAT I want done! You don't like it? Well, I can always go report to the Emperor about your unwillingness to follow the chain of command, unless you'd actually like to go see him yourself that is. Tell me when was the last time you actually took time out of your schedule to do that? While you sit around down here playing with your toys and walking experiments, I'm actually out there making a damn difference and serving the Emperor with ever fiber of my being!"
  "Now listen here you fucking sun lover, I knew the man BEFORE he was the Emperor! We fought side by side together during the Troll Wars! I saved his life and he saved mine! You have no damn idea the bond WE share. You can't tell me shit about how I should or shouldn't act and you damn sure can't tell me that I'm not helping the Empire! I'M HIS FUCKING FRIEND!"
  "Friend? So what have you done for him lately?"
  "Done? DONE? I just made a legion of soldiers for him, you little kobold shit!"
  
  You look over the tank baby bodies lying dead all over the place. You look at the female one unconscious on the floor and shake your head.
  
  "Yeah, as I said, what have you done for him lately? Maybe he's your friend, but he's my father. I'm not debating this anymore Marik." You say and take your leave.
  
  Marik begins yelling at you in his deep guttural derro language. A slew of curses and other insults fly out of his mouth. While you're semi-familiar with the derro language you can't make out all of them. They're probably pretty vicious though.
  
  Either way you're hardly concerned, Marik will follow orders because he respects the chain of command and as he said he is the Emperor's friend. The other reason is because he probably won't even be angry in another ten minutes. He'll probably be cackling about some joke he made up in his head.
  
  You've had a lot to ponder this day. You were once concerned about the future of the Empire and your own, but you see now that both will continue on even after the Emperor dies. You still have that zest of life within you and you are not ready or willing to just stand aside yet.
  
  You've come to the decision that when the Emperor dies you will be the one to take his place. While he's never said it, he doesn't have to, it's just a situation that's understood between a father and son. Still, you think you need to discuss this matter at some point with your father so that he knows that his legacy will live on after him and you will continue to make him proud.
  
  In the meantime you make your way back to the capital and the palace to report to him. What comes next is a bit of a shock.
  
  "F... father?" you ask.
  "Yes, its me son. I believe that's the first time you've called me that." The Emperor says standing before you.
  
  He looks exactly like he did when you first met him; in fact he even looks a little younger. A fit fortyish man dressed in fine clothing. You just continue to stare in disbelief.
  
  "Ah, yes this. I suppose this would be a bit puzzling. As you well know I haven't been feeling one hundred percent for oh... about five years now. Had to conserve my strength and power quite a bit to reinvigorate myself. This state I'm in right now isn't going to last very long, but it'll be enough for where I'm going."
  "What? Where are you going?"
  "Home. And you'll be coming with me."
  "I will?"
  "Of course! This will be a momentous occasion when I return home and your presence will be necessary just as it has been here in the Empire!"
  "Forgive me father, but I'm a little lost right now. What is going to happen to the Empire and where is home?"
  "Nothing will happen to the Empire son, it can survive a couple days or so without us around I should think. We'll let Jacob worry about it! Hah! As for my home? Well it's very very far away. It's an island to be exact. You can't get there by any ship though... at least not any more. But you don't need to worry about that, I know how to get us there. All you need to do is take a day to relax and prepare yourself for the journey."
  
  This is all so overwhelming you don't even know where to start or what to say so you just ask the first question that comes to mind and something you thought was inevitable.
  
  "Father, are you going home to die?"
  "Die?" the Emperor says and then walks over to you.
  
  "No son, I'm going home to be reborn!" he says and then laughs slapping you on the shoulder. "I'm sorry son if I worried you, what with me coughing all the damn time and dragging my ass around like a dead man. (Sigh) We probably should've taken this trip sooner, but we still had to finish off those damn gnomes now didn't we? Plus I wasn't sure if it was going to be necessary yet and then you got married, then Semra's bullshit, it just seemed like stuff kept cropping up. Well now is the perfect time for us to take this trip. I bet you're glad though now that you know I won't be dying anytime soon."
  "Yeah... " you answer
  
  The Emperor goes on to say that your report on Marik's experiment can wait since this trip is much more important. He then tells you that should go rest up and to meet him here tomorrow. You agree and take your leave.
  
  As you make your way to your private quarters in the palace, you don't know what to think now. You were so certain that the Emperor was dying. After years of denying it you at last came to accept it. You were ready to take his place.
  
  Part of you feels relieved that the Emperor is going to live. Part of you feels confused about this whole situation. And then there's that part of you that feels cheated. That part of you that wishes the Emperor was still lying on his deathbed.
  
  You think back to what you said to Marik, YOU'VE been the one out there doing things for the Empire. YOU'VE been the one destroying its enemies and keeping it stable. What the hell has the Emperor been doing? Giving orders from his easy chair? Ranting about gnomes? Lying in his bed hacking up a lung? You should be running the Empire not him.
  
  "I can't believe I'm thinking this. What is wrong with me? This man is my father!" You whisper to yourself. You didn't want to "step aside" for those tank babies becaus