The Broken Sword - Epilogue

Epilogue

"Kalista, when are you going to give up on these silly rocks?" Darakor asked his grandmother as she sat bed staring at a small chunk of the Xellium ore she held in her hand.

"These silly rocks possess more elemental magic than anything I've ever seen," she informed him, sending a dangerous glare his way. "If you had half the sense of a proper wizard you would know to be interested as well!"

Darakor shrugged; he was an arch-mage with plenty of power already. Her jibes did not bother him, he had also come to understand the power of steel. "My studies turned me to other areas. I see it as something we can outfit your doguren with, other than that it is of little use to me. To seize the world and rule it as is our right, we need to reunite the chattel of the world and crush Kelnozz and the fools that follow him."

"Soon enough," she said, discounting his thoughts on what was truly necessary for power.

Darakor shook his head but held his tongue. She had brought him back and, though he often disagreed with her, he could not deny that her power eclipsed his. He thought back on his last fight, alongside his father, and forced it from his mind. The right way lay before him again, elves could have the glory and power they deserved, it just needed to be taken!

"Now what?" Bobo asked, coming upon Kelnozz as the Elven King stood upon the edge of the cliff where Bobo had been burned.

"She's restored the boundary, I figure the least I can do is give her some more souls to judge," Kelnozz said.

"She knew what had to be done," Bobo said softly, uncertain of how his father would react. He felt strange with Alesha not present. It was rare that he and Kelnozz spent time together alone; his father was a busy man.

"Aye, she probably did," he agreed noncommittally.

"While you sought out Garrick she told me many things," Bobo plunged on, wondering if his father needed to hear it or if he just needed to talk about it.

"She told me what it was she suspected she must do. She also told me that if she failed, it would be up to me to do it instead because I had inherited her gift...or curse, as she called it."

"A curse indeed, from the very beginning," Kelnozz spat out darkly.

"Was it?" Bobo asked. "It came from Bavorish, but is she, now, evil and beyond redemption because she has taken his place?"

Kelnozz considered the words of his son. Finally he admitted, "she once told me that she realized her powers were not evil, they were merely a tool. Not so different from the firepowder used by our soldiers. On her world it had been used to create great weapons capable of destroying thousands at a time, she feared it would be the same here. We came to agree that the difference was not in the weapon or the power, but by the person using it."

Bobo nodded, agreeing with him. "So what now?"

Kelnozz sighed and looked at his son. "I'm not sure," he said, showing a candor that surprised the half-elven prince.

"Innowendyn and Thoragloorin need to be cared for, and I believe each must be ruled separately. Do we set up yourself at one and me at the other, or do you and I take one and let the other be ruled by their own appointment?"

Bobo had little feedback on the heavy items his father discussed. He had not considered the fate of the Elven nation, now nations, as a whole. He had too many things he wanted to do with his life, and he had always assumed that, with his father living for a very long time, he would have the time to do those things. Now he began to wonder.

"There is one other matter too," Kelnozz said, his mien turning dark as he thought of Kalista and Darakor. "I've a family reunion to attend."

The End