-Aftermath of the Raid of Arandor-
“What of the Luminary Warden?”
“His injuries were severe, even he himself would have been pressed to heal such…His body is stable, but it's like his mind is gone, he sleeps, like as if he had…Entered a cycle, but..”
“Keep an eye on him, if there is chance he will return we need to be ready for such,”
“What if he does not?”
“Then we will let him sleep, as his life was a long one..”
Cin’aed gasped awake, his entire body drenched in sweat, his head pounding, the last thing he could remember was the old Legionaire swinging an axe in his direction…
The Luminary Warden pressed himself to stand, this room he was in was circular, a bed, a desk, and a window but its outside was dark, not just normal darkness, something stirred within it, something that wanted the elf, but this glowing room seemed to keep it at bay.
The room itself was well enough to his liking, his memory seemed to be in a fog, how did he end up here? Where was here? The axe?
Minutes turned to hours, hours to days, days to weeks, weeks to months, months to years it felt like, time did not seem to work in this place, Cin’aed would wake, ponder how he was here, walk the room what felt like several million times and he would become weak and sleep, there was no food, water, he didn't feel the need for them either.
On one of these “days” he awoke to see an elf he had always kept in his heart sitting at the edge of his bed, her hand resting on his leg, near his knee, “I am dead then, this is what the afterlife is…”
Her soft smile brightened the room like pure moonlight, her being shone, “You are not dead my love, just...Hurt, very badly, it will take time, this room will keep your mind, but…if you wish to join me in the beyond there is that too..”
Cin’aed thought for a long moment, he had lived long enough, there were others to keep health, to keep the elven people safe and alive- then the image of the darkened axe caught his mind once more, the rampage of a mad man, torn into Arandor.
“I cannot, at least not yet, Arandor still calls to me, its Luminary Warden, and I have so much unfinished, so much I must atone for..”
Her smile faltered just a moment, but that reassuring hand on his leg squeezed just enough, his mind again swirled, and again he slept.