text: You left the Empire behind because you no longer believed in it. Nalin has become a kind of substitute for it though and ever since Brenda died, you've tried to make it even more like the Empire. This may be the closest you're going to get back to the "good old days" and with age ever creeping up on you, you need to make the best of things and not wallow in indecision or hesitation. You're the last of the real Eternals and you're going to act as such.
  
  Nalin WILL become the new Empire.
  
  After a few months of putting out some of the backlash of how you handled the plague, you make your plans for expansion. You also fully intend overseeing it personally.
  
  The first round of conquests go well. The disorganized Eternals and their slaves don't give you too much trouble; indeed some of the population welcomes your intervention. Most of the new generations of Eternals have been so excessively cruel that their subjects are willing to accept any other tyrant as an improvement, even if it's another Eternal.
  
  Eventually you do hit a brick wall of sorts, the remaining Eternals realize they need to unite against you. The Eternal Dominion is more advanced technology wise (having stolen ideas and equipment from the Felkan Kingdom), though through your initial conquests, you've made steps to try to close the gap in the availability of gunpower-based weapons for your own soldiers.
  
  Still, even with the current stand off with the Eternal Dominion, you victories restore some of the appreciation of your citizens in Nalin who are probably just glad your violence is focused on others for a change.
  
  The balance of power has been shifted enough for the Felkan Kingdom to take greater notice of you too, especially since now your territory borders some of their own. They send one of their own to speak to you, while you're currently at a conquered ED Fort making plans for your next attack. To your surprise one of their own, is also one of your own too, or as least was at one time.
  
  "Warrick?" you ask. He's obviously older, has a missing eye and no hair, but you still recognize him despite your near disbelief.
  "Yes, it's me... see you're missing a few body parts as well." He says causing you to touch where your ear used to be. Sometimes you even forget that it's missing.
  
  "Well you know how it is... but I thought you were dead! I mean I'd heard... how is it that you're working for the Felkan Kingdom now?"
  "That's a long story, but let's just say I found my own path, like I see you found yours. Which is sort of why I'm here."
  
  Warrick mentions to you that the Felkan Kingdom has been expecting an attack from the Eternal Dominion for more than a decade, even after the disappearance of their leader Edgar. However, now that the ED seems to be no longer a potential threat they're worried about Nalin invading, perhaps even more so since you seem to be a more organized potential threat.
  
  "Well, you can tell your king or whoever, that I'm not interested in the Felkan Kingdom. The Nalin Empire isn't in a position to attack such a powerful nation at this time."
  "At this time... that implies that you might later."
  "Heh, well you might be right, just as I might believe that you're planning on attack us."
  "True, and while you probably will rightfully remain suspicious, the Felkan Kingdom has no interest in conquest. Especially not right now. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but we're still dealing with a massive gnoll invasion that hit our land years ago. Fighting another war isn't something we want right now."
  "Hmm, you're right, you shouldn't be giving vital intelligence away like that. This new information gives me an advantage. Knowing that you aren't as powerful as I once thought, I may very well attack you now."
  "Well I suppose you'll do what you have to then, but if you're still the leader I know you to be, you won't. You don't want to fight a war on two fronts either." Warrick says in an unconcerned tone.
  "Ha ha! And you would be correct! But enough about power struggles, let's talk for a moment just as Eternals."
  
  Warrick's tale of how he came to be in the service of the Felkan Kingdom is a little sketchy. He mentions that during the last days of the Empire he was still under orders to perform his usual sabotaging missions. He says that he managed to integrate himself in their favor by rescuing some of the royal family who were apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. Children actually. He says he doesn't remember all of it exactly though except there was a big explosion and the next thing he knew when he woke up is that he was missing an eye and was given a job. Already knowing how the Empire was beginning to crumble he accepted.
  
  You proceed to tell Warrick about your time since the Empire fell. He listens intently as you go on about the various thoughts you've gone through since that time. You mention Edgar to him, which interests him greatly. He says the Felkan government assumed that he was killed by one of his own men in a power struggle. He asks if you ever found his body or any evidence of his death. You tell him you never did, for all you know he still got killed by one of his own men, assuming he had managed to get back to the Eternal Dominion.
  
  You also mention Brenda. Warrick displays a bit of sadness when he hears the whole story, and you sort of relive some of that sadness as well. It hasn't been that long since she died after all.
  
  "So, we're really the last two left then?" Warrick says.
  "Looks that way, though to be honest I thought you'd been dead for years. Glad to see you're still around."
  "Even if we may be enemies one day?"
  "We're Eternals. The originals. We'll always have a bond that nobody else will and if we should end up on opposite ends of the battlefield it still doesn't change that. Assuming that day ever comes and we're both still in fighting condition, seek me out as I shall seek you out and we'll settle things in the only way they can be."
  
  Warrick nods at your proposal and is silent for a moment as if deep in thought. He then eventually gets up and tells you he has to leave. He mentions that he'll tell his superiors that the Nalin Empire has no hostile intentions towards the Felkan Kingdom at this time.
  
  The pair of you shake hands and part company, possibly knowing if you ever do see each other again, it won't be on friendly terms. Still, there is a small bit of you that was happy to see an old comrade again.
  
  You return to the business of waging war on the pathetic remains of the Eternal Dominion.
  
  Year 65
  
  "Sir, you are incredibly lucky that the sword didn't hit any vital organs and just pierced the top layer of muscle." Lieutenant Davis says as he applies a mixture of some salve to the wound.
  "Agh! Yeah, lucky me. Just patch me up, I want to finish off these wannabes once and for all." You say wincing at the burning sensation of the ointment working to seal the wound.
  "General, victory is assured, is it really necessary for you personally be involved in the combat? Your military expertise is better served as the mind. Colonel Gemma says she's got a handle on things."
  "Yeah, well if she's got such a handle on things, why did I have to save her ass at the Battle of Julk Pass? And what's this shit about my military expertise is better served with my mind? You're lucky I don't have you executed for saying shit like that! I was killing werebeasts, orcs and other shit you ain't even heard about before you were even a twinkle in your parent's eyes! I'm still every bit of a warrior as I...  ah shit! My fucking head!" you suddenly shout and lie back down on the table.
  
  A couple of other medical types apply something cold to your head saying that you need to rest. The plate they put in your head from the bullet wound needs to be "adjusted." You grudgingly comply and close your eyes.
  
  You hate this weakness. Old age, the only enemy you can't outmaneuver, regardless of how hard you try. Death isn't something you've ever been afraid of, indeed part of you never expected to even live this long. But death by old age? Natural causes? That's something you never even seriously considered before, even if it was in the back of your mind.
  
  If you continue your insistence on believing you're still in your twenties, you're going to die on the battlefield. You know that, and you're okay with that idea, but part of you wonders if it's just foolish to throw your life away over being stubborn when you could still live and do more with you life. The Nalin Empire is thriving and you've almost conquered the Eternal Dominion which means you effectively restored most of the old Empire. A feat Edgar was probably trying to accomplish no doubt, but much like him, if you died suddenly, who knows how long it would last before it crumbled.
  
  If you want to leave any sort of real legacy, you would most likely have to step back now and begin to make preparations for a line of succession and you'd need a lot of time to do that to sort out all the details. This would mean you'd no longer be able to take such a personal approach to war again. Your days as a warrior would effectively be over and you'd be back to the drudgery of bureaucratic rulership again.
  
  You have to take a long look at yourself and decide now, if that's what your fate is going to be.
  > retire your sword
  Your head still hurts from where part of your skull was replaced with a crude metal plate and your body aches all over as it has been for years. You're nearly deaf in your one working ear. You've got scars all over your face and body. You even have a couple of missing fingertips now. Even if you did go into battle again, you probably wouldn't even make it to the city.
  
  You've finally realized that your days of battle are over, or at least over on any meaningful level. It's a sobering thought and not one you're happy with, but if you're going to truly re-establish the Empire or have a reasonable successor nation, then you're going to have to step back from the battlefield.
  
  The next day you call in your top staff and tell them that you will indeed pull yourself out of the final push on to the "Eternal City", they all of course agree with your decision and state they are glad to hear you've made it. You tell them all what you want done still as far as the attack is concerned and you also say you aren't going to be running off the battlefield just yet, as you still want to oversee things from a distance at least.
  
  There really isn't too much strategy in the scheme of things. You plan on breaching the wall with cannons and catapults and then your soldiers will kill everything hostile within. Simple enough.
  
  You watch from outside your tent when the attack commences, hours pass and everything is going as planned and then your head begins to hurt once again. Cursing, you go back inside to lie down for a while. After a few minutes you begin to feel better, but now you're tired. If your hearing was better you probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep, but as it is, the faint sounds of the cannons and battle aren't enough to keep you awake. You figure a small nap won't hurt, so you allow yourself to drift off.
  
  You begin to have a dream where you are back in Mistress' classroom. Everything is the same except you're the only one there and you're five years old again. Mistress then walks into the room with a sneer on her face.
  
  "You disappoint me, but then I should've expected such weakness from one that begs for his life when faced with the possibility of death!" Mistress says to you.
  "I... " is all you get out before she kicks you in the chest and steps on you. You look up and see her cruelly smiling at you.
  "Silence! Did you learn nothing from me? You lack discipline! You always did! You're weak and soft! That's why your Empire fell! You think you can restore it? It's gone! Just like most of your fellow Eternals and you'll be next, if you don't beg. Now do it! Beg!"
  "No... I... " you gasp.
  "What?! You dare disobey me?" Mistress shouts and ceases stepping on you for a moment to pick you up and slap you across the face. You slap her back and she throws you into a bunch of chairs.
  "Impudent whelp! You will learn to obey!" she yells and moves towards you.
  
  You scramble back and stand up. She approaches closer and you pick up a chair and attempt to hit her with it, but she grabs it and yanks it from your hands.
  
  "Nice try Eternal, but it's too late for fighting back."
  
  You try to get out of the way, but you feel hard wooden chair smashing into your body which is already bruised and sore from being thrown. You collapse on the floor and feel something wet dripping from your head. It's blood.
  
  You are picked up and turned around by Mistress; she spits in your face and lifts you in the air. You can barely focus on her face as you're feeling very dizzy.
  
  "Is this the best you can do? You couldn't even land one hit on me and you're trying to restore the Empire? You need to just let it die. Its time came and went just like yours did. Yet instead of letting go and dying with dignity you're choosing to live as a parody of yourself ruling a parody of the Empire. Pathetic!" Mistress says and throws you, though you don't hit a wall like you expect to, you just continue to fly backwards in the air and then someone catches you.
  
  "Oof! What the hell son, I'm not carrying you, you fight your own battles!" you hear Captain Gruz say and then he drops you to the floor. When you stand back up you're a little bigger. You're twelve and in Gruz's training room.
  
  "Now listen, I know we had our differences, but don't you listen to that svelk bitch, she's just projecting her own failures onto you. I say go for it. I mean I think you know you can achieve anything you set your mind to. So what if you're an old broken down warhorse now? You can still restore the Empire. The hard part is over! It's just the boring part that you have to take care of, and if you start on it now, you might even take care of all of it before you die! But remember you have to work with others, for it to succeed! Now go on, and for the Emperor's sake, let go of the fucking past, it doesn't need to be perfect! Nothing ever is!"
  
  At this point Captain Gruz points to a door and you comply and grab the handle and pull the door towards you... 
  
  "Sir! Sir! It's just me!" Colonel Gemma shouts. You open your eyes and see her blurry image and your hand strongly grabbing her wrist. She probably was trying to wake you up and you instinctively reacted. Seeing that you're not in danger you let her go.
  
  "What the hell's going on?" you say sitting up and rubbing your head.
  "I just wanted to inform you that we won. The city is uh... ours."
  "Hmm, what's that hesitation in your voice?"
  "No hesitation, just well... "
  "Colonel, my head still hurts so I'm in no mood for your sputtering, now out with it!"
  "The city is ours and the enemy has been defeated, but I'm afraid that the city has been totally destroyed."
  "Destroyed? What the fuck happened?"
  'There were some complications... sir... I... "
  
  You don't let her finish; you get off you bed, push her aside and are blinded by the light when you open the tent. When you fell asleep it was mid-day, now the sun is coming up! Were you asleep the whole damn day?
  
  You look in the distance and see the Eternal City with heavy smoke rising from it. In fact there is a weird purple cloud hovering over part of it as well. You can't even see any of the large towers anymore and it looks like the palace was trashed as well, if the destroyed domes and spires are any indication. So much for making this the new capital or even stepping foot into a place that you never even got to visit when you were serving the Empire.
  
  "Why the hell didn't someone wake me?!" you shout. Several officers nearby are silent. Gemma once again attempts to explain that someone did, but you were in a deep sleep and thought you'd only be angry if you thought they couldn't handle things.
  
  You look at her and the rest of your staff. Here they are scared of your next reaction and there are several of them and one of you. Some are in very fit condition and all of them are armed with firearms as well as close combat weapons. If they were all of the mind to overthrow you by putting several bullets in your body they could easily do it, and quite frankly you wouldn't even blame them either.
  
  Yet somehow their mixture of fear and respect for you prevents them from doing so. This is what you have to work with and this is as good as it gets. It could be a lot worse.
  
  "(Sigh) Alright. You all did well and I'm proud of all of you. There's going to be some changes in command structure, but we can get to that later. I want a carriage sent here to take me back to the capital, but before that I guess a small victory celebration is in order."
  "General, you don't want the Eternal City?" someone asks.
  "Well it would've been nice, but no. In fact just leave it; I don't even want it rebuilt. It's a relic of a past that's long dead. The Nalin Empire doesn't need it."
  
  You go back in your tent to lay down while hearing the faint sounds of cheering of your staff and surviving soldiers outside.
  
  You drift off again and hope you have better dreams this time around.
  > Continue
  Year 75
  
  Another day of aches and pains, getting old sucks.
  
  After a couple of years of finally putting down the rest of the new Eternal hold outs, you've been spending most of your time restructuring the Nalin Empire's command structure, economy, security and all the rest that goes with it. You haven't done a bad job considering you were bred for war, not administration, then again you've been doing it in limited capacity for years, you just decided to totally focus on it for once and the results are excellent.
  
  While you still have the reputation for ruthlessness, you've managed to temper that a bit in last few years even with all the changes you've made. Most rulers would probably have to worry about coups or assassination attempts, but those haven't been a problem due to the high amount of respect you've earned from the military. General Cynthia Gemma is officially your second in command, so if anything happens to you, she takes over. Though sometimes you wonder if you'll outlive her given your knack of surviving. Warrick who was the only other Eternal left besides you died last year. Before he did, he sent a letter informing you that his final hours were upon him.
  
  He didn't exactly say what was wrong, just that he felt the combination of his age and old wounds catching up to him. It wasn't a long letter, just mostly him saying how he was glad he never had to fight you as he still respected you as a leader. The respect was mutual. Indeed it was one of the factors to as why you never attacked the Felkan Kingdom. You mourned his passing as you morn the passing of all your fellow Eternals. Most of them deserved better ends. All of them actually.
  
  And now here you are the last of not just your old comrades, but of your kind. The last words that Gruz once told you, have at last come true... you outlived everyone.
  
  Whether you were tougher, smarter, or luckier than the rest you don't know. Maybe it was something by design when the Empire altered you. Maybe it was just common sense and the simple will to live.
  
  Though lately you've been wondering about "living." You don't have too many thrills left anymore and the constant pain you're in, doesn't make things any easier. You didn't quite understand all of Brenda's choice to end her life at the time, but as you've reflected on it again and again over the years you get it now and you're starting to wonder if it's time to join your fellows.
  
  Besides all you victories in battle, you've practically rebuilt the Empire. At least you have as best you could've done, all things considered and that's no easy achievement. You have done enough for anyone to feel proud of doing and if you died now, there would be no shame.
  
  Still, part of you wonders if you've lived this long what else could you accomplish if you went on a little longer? Granted you could mess up your already strong reputation, but you could also go on to other great things.
  > end your life
  If you were younger perhaps you'd go on to try to conquer the world, but that's a task for other more energetic leaders than yourself. You've had your battles and won your victories, now it's time for your hard earned rest.
  
  However you fully intend on going out the same way you lived and you call Gemma and all your closest staff to assemble in the throne room. You dress in your old Empire gear and ignore the constant pain as you slowly walk to meet them there. When you arrive, they're all at attention and respectful as usual. You look them all over and sit down on your throne to rest before you go through with what you have planned.
  
  "My loyal staff and soldiers, the time has come for me to realize that I may no longer be in fit condition to properly lead you all anymore. I believe I have done a good job all these years, but a good leader also knows when his or her time is possibly at an end."
  
  Your staff and some of the guards look a little surprised by your remark. They would probably verbally disagree with you, but they've grown accustomed to know when to speak and now is not the time.
  
  "I'm not just getting old, I'm a shell of my former self, I have been for quite some time. However there was still work that needed to be done, so I persevered through the pain and the stress to achieve my goal. And that has been accomplished, the Nalin Empire is now a worthy successor to the old Empire."
  
  You take a long pause and stand up again. The ache of this action alone makes you glad you won't have to go through it anymore soon. You slowly step towards your staff and address them.
  
  "I may no longer be fit to lead... but then again maybe I am. There is still battle lust that rages in these old bones. I will not just step down and live out some sort of feeble existence where I am only trotted out during celebrations or when advice is needed. I won't be some ancient relic to be handled with sympathy or awe. No, if my reign is truly meant to end today then it shall be by combat. General Gemma draw your weapon." You say and draw your sword.
  "Sir, I... "
  "I SAID DRAW YOUR WEAPON OR I'LL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!" you demand.
  
  General Gemma draws her weapon and steps forward. You stand back and position yourself into your fighting stance.
  
  "Alright now the rest of you listen, if the good general here kills me, you follow her. If not, then you still follow me. It's pretty easy. And as for you, defend yourself!" you shout and attack.
  
  Your swords clash and the battle commences. At first Cynthia seems to only be on the defense, as if she's unwilling to harm you, let alone kill you. You can see it in her eyes that this isn't a battle she wants to fight, not so much due to fear, but due to respect. Part of you understands her reluctance and you appreciate it, so you figure you need to push her a bit.
  
  "What's the matter? Can't beat an old man? Then again you're no spring chicken yourself, perhaps I should've chosen a younger successor."
  
  It's not the cruelest thing you've ever said, but it does the job. Cynthia begins to go on the offensive.
  
  Pain wracks your body with every sword swing, but even with your battered body and slower reflexes you're still proving to be a match for Cynthia. She's not an unskilled warrior, she wouldn't be in her position if she was, but even with a few more taunts you're getting the impression she's still holding back... either that or you're still that good.
  
  Perhaps it's a combination of both, because Cynthia leaves herself wide open for a killing blow that you could easily take advantage of. You don't think she even did it intentionally; she's just so upset at having to fight you that her head is not completely in the fight. Of course that's never really ever been a problem for you even during the worst of conditions, and there were some bad ones.
  
  You realize that you'll probably win this fight and you weren't really expecting to. You nearly laugh at the absurdity that you may very well have to kill half your staff before one of them is able to take your position through combat, and that'll only be because you'd be so tired by that point. If you were even ten years younger you could probably kill them all.
  
  But that isn't your goal today. You goal was to go out in one last battle and if that means you're going to have to "help" events along then so be it. You don't take advantage of the opening, but you do leave one for Cynthia. One that she can't ignore, though there is a split second of hesitation... 
  
  Then you feel the sharp blade rip past your flesh and into your upper chest. A couple of ribs break from the force and your heart is sliced open as it passes by it and out the other side of your back.
  
  You stop to look down and see the blade slowly being withdrawn from your body and covered in your blood. It won't be long now and you feel death already beginning to take you. You see Cynthia convey a troubled expression on her face and look away as your body falls to the floor. Everyone else looks on in stunned silence.
  
  Coughing up blood and bleeding out all over the floor, the last thing you hear even with your near deafness is a quiet "I'm sorry." and feel the touch of a hand.
  
  Then you feel nothing else ever again.
  
  Your funeral is a large event, with lots of military honors and grand speeches about your accomplishments. You are placed in a fancy tomb with an impressive statue nearby. It's a fitting funeral.
  
  The memory of you exists for quite some time, but as time does with all things, eventually it wears away. Successor after successor become less capable of holding together what you have built. Nothing lasts forever.
  
  Civil wars, invasions, in fighting and countless other factors play apart in the eventual complete dissolution of the Nalin Empire as an entity three hundred years later and a new dark age begins once again.
  
  Still, every once in awhile various savage tribes stumble upon your weathered broken statues when scavenging through the various ruins that dot the landscape. They don't know your name, they don't know what you did, they know nothing of what you accomplished or where you came from. Yet the dominating stance and the determined look on the face still convey the idea that a great warrior once called these lands his own.
  
  It is hardly surprising that eventually one of these savages found inspiration in these statues to forge her own empire.
  
  Such is the cycle of things.