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The memorial shrine was a simple affair. It was located at the back of the first floor of the tower that the allied Nachtur forces had been using as a base since the initial assault. A long wooden table was covered with knick knacks, flowers, letters, and other remembrances of those who had fallen in battle while freeing Nachtur from the scourge of demons that had occupied it for so long.
Kallista stepped into the quiet room. She wore a long, simple black dress and her hair was tied back with black ribbon. It had grown significantly in the last year, and she still refused to cut it.
The shrine itself had also grown significantly since she had first come here several months ago. It was a chilling reminder that the battle for Nachtur had not yet been truly won. Almost every day there were casualties among the clearing teams that patrolled the retaken areas of the city and pushed a little bit at a time into the still infested sections.
Kallista placed a thin, grey candle in a holder on top of the shrine before striking a tinder twig on a nearby brick and letting the swirling red flame catch hold of the candle’s wick.
She reached down and touched one of the objects that littered the table. It was a smooth dragonscale resting on top of the torn out page of a pulp novel. The page was an illustration, showing a grinning Shadar-kai monk kicking a skeleton into shards of bone.
Kallista stared at the drawing. It wasn’t quite right. They had gotten her nose wrong, and the tattoos were a mess. But still, it had been the only picture of Tzesira that anyone could find, and it was close enough to bring tears to Kallista’s bright yellow eyes.
Brenn had told Kallista not to leave the dragonscale. He said it was too valuable, and that someone might take it. She left it anyway. It was the only thing she could find of Tzesira’s that had really meant anything to her. She had never been one for possessions. And besides, Kallista had faith; faith in people, faith in Avandra. She had known that the dragon scale would still be there when she came back.
Kallista thought back to the day that the two of them had wrested the scale from the body of the dead dragon along with some shards of bone and teeth and other various mementos. Her armor had taken all night to clean and Kallista had been so exasperated with the Shadar Kai.
A sad smile spread across kallista’s face despite her tears. For a long while she stood there, thinking, remembering, touching the smooth, shimmering scale.
“Heya T…” she said quietly.
“I ummm… I don’t know if you can hear me. I kind of hope you can’t, because I guess that would mean you’re with the Raven Queen now. And that’s what you always wanted, right?”
Kallista had to pause for a moment to catch her breath and keep herself from breaking down in tears.
“I miss you…” she whispered, “You should be here… I should have...”
She cleared her throat and looked down at the floor. She actively resisted the thoughts that were trying to flood her mind. Tzesira wouldn’t have wanted that.
She felt a wave of dizziness and looked around, pulling up a nearby chair and sitting down, her eyes still focused on the picture of her friend.
“I’m sorry…” she said, “I’m still not used to being on my feet so much. It took me four months to be able to walk again after the battle. I just stopped using a cane a month ago. You would’ve thought it was hilarious. It was… tough. Especially without you there to egg me on. I did my best, though. The clerics say that with some effort I should be back to a hundred percent soon.
“Brenn helped. He was there with me the whole time. We… we got engaged. I thought you’d want to know that. We haven’t set a date yet. He’s been kept busy lately, between politics and this place and dealing with his ships. Oh… yeah. I almost forgot. He said he’s gonna get me a job on one of his ships. Head of Security. Well… he calls it head of sexcurity. He’s definitely a keeper.
“I’ve been working with the church of Avandra, too. Since I’ve been back on my feet I’ve been collecting funds to build a temple here. I know you never really worshipped her but.. I owe her a lot. I think it’s the least I can do.
“The rest of the team are doing good. Well… the ones I get to see regularly, anyways. Roscoe and Warryn both took off on their own for a while. They both have things they need to work out for themselves. I miss them, but… I know what that’s like. Dhenni says he’s thinking about opening up a school of some kind. We’ll see how that goes. He seems kind of… distant. Aleyn and Vedran are doing well. Vedran’s been busy as hell, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of them quite so happy. I think a lot of that is Ardith and the kids. I’ve gotten to be pretty good friends with Ardith, actually. I think you would like her. She’s pretty tough when she needs to be.
“Oh, but the real news is Del. She’s pregnant. About four months along. I can’t wait. I think her and Thru will be awesome parents.”
Kallista sighed. She wasn’t really sure what else to say.
“I wish you could answer me. I wish I could see you again. Talk to you again. You always knew what to say. You were always so certain of things. I have so much to be thankful for lately. Brenn… my freedom from the cult… my life. I just wish… I wish it could have happened another way. I wish you were here to see it. At least… at least I know you’re at peace now. You deserve that much.”
After a few more moments the tiefling rose shakily to her feet.
Slowly she brought her fingers up to her lips and kissed them before placing them one last time on the dragon scale.
“I love you.”
She blinked back tears again and wiped her face before turning and leaving the room. As she entered the hallway she saw Agyness descending the stairs from the upper levels with a few of her lieutenants.
“No, don’t worry about the South Quarter right now. Concentrate all the squads we can spare on Talon Bridge. If we can finally clear that choke point then we should be able to secure that whole sector in a week.”
Kallista smiled at the Vryloka who paused and smiled back.
“Alright, get it done. I’ll catch up with you at the ceremony.” She watched her soldiers head out the main door to relay the orders and she turned to her friend, her eyes flickering to the doorway of the shrine behind her.
“Kallista, is everything ok?”
Kallista nodded, her tears now dried.
“Yeah. I was just… Tzesira was never really big on ceremonies and remembrances. I thought I’d stop by here before tonight. I wanted to talk to her alone.”
Agy nodded solemnly and put one hand on the tiefling’s shoulder.
“I understand. Are you and Brenn still coming to the Nachtur Day Ceremony?”
“Of course. I mean, that’s part of why we came out. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
Agy smiled and squeezed Kallista’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Ok. I’ll see you there then.”
She turned and headed outside as Kallista watched her leave.
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated softly.
What surprised her was that she believed it.
Kallista stepped into the quiet room. She wore a long, simple black dress and her hair was tied back with black ribbon. It had grown significantly in the last year, and she still refused to cut it.
The shrine itself had also grown significantly since she had first come here several months ago. It was a chilling reminder that the battle for Nachtur had not yet been truly won. Almost every day there were casualties among the clearing teams that patrolled the retaken areas of the city and pushed a little bit at a time into the still infested sections.
Kallista placed a thin, grey candle in a holder on top of the shrine before striking a tinder twig on a nearby brick and letting the swirling red flame catch hold of the candle’s wick.
She reached down and touched one of the objects that littered the table. It was a smooth dragonscale resting on top of the torn out page of a pulp novel. The page was an illustration, showing a grinning Shadar-kai monk kicking a skeleton into shards of bone.
Kallista stared at the drawing. It wasn’t quite right. They had gotten her nose wrong, and the tattoos were a mess. But still, it had been the only picture of Tzesira that anyone could find, and it was close enough to bring tears to Kallista’s bright yellow eyes.
Brenn had told Kallista not to leave the dragonscale. He said it was too valuable, and that someone might take it. She left it anyway. It was the only thing she could find of Tzesira’s that had really meant anything to her. She had never been one for possessions. And besides, Kallista had faith; faith in people, faith in Avandra. She had known that the dragon scale would still be there when she came back.
Kallista thought back to the day that the two of them had wrested the scale from the body of the dead dragon along with some shards of bone and teeth and other various mementos. Her armor had taken all night to clean and Kallista had been so exasperated with the Shadar Kai.
A sad smile spread across kallista’s face despite her tears. For a long while she stood there, thinking, remembering, touching the smooth, shimmering scale.
“Heya T…” she said quietly.
“I ummm… I don’t know if you can hear me. I kind of hope you can’t, because I guess that would mean you’re with the Raven Queen now. And that’s what you always wanted, right?”
Kallista had to pause for a moment to catch her breath and keep herself from breaking down in tears.
“I miss you…” she whispered, “You should be here… I should have...”
She cleared her throat and looked down at the floor. She actively resisted the thoughts that were trying to flood her mind. Tzesira wouldn’t have wanted that.
She felt a wave of dizziness and looked around, pulling up a nearby chair and sitting down, her eyes still focused on the picture of her friend.
“I’m sorry…” she said, “I’m still not used to being on my feet so much. It took me four months to be able to walk again after the battle. I just stopped using a cane a month ago. You would’ve thought it was hilarious. It was… tough. Especially without you there to egg me on. I did my best, though. The clerics say that with some effort I should be back to a hundred percent soon.
“Brenn helped. He was there with me the whole time. We… we got engaged. I thought you’d want to know that. We haven’t set a date yet. He’s been kept busy lately, between politics and this place and dealing with his ships. Oh… yeah. I almost forgot. He said he’s gonna get me a job on one of his ships. Head of Security. Well… he calls it head of sexcurity. He’s definitely a keeper.
“I’ve been working with the church of Avandra, too. Since I’ve been back on my feet I’ve been collecting funds to build a temple here. I know you never really worshipped her but.. I owe her a lot. I think it’s the least I can do.
“The rest of the team are doing good. Well… the ones I get to see regularly, anyways. Roscoe and Warryn both took off on their own for a while. They both have things they need to work out for themselves. I miss them, but… I know what that’s like. Dhenni says he’s thinking about opening up a school of some kind. We’ll see how that goes. He seems kind of… distant. Aleyn and Vedran are doing well. Vedran’s been busy as hell, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of them quite so happy. I think a lot of that is Ardith and the kids. I’ve gotten to be pretty good friends with Ardith, actually. I think you would like her. She’s pretty tough when she needs to be.
“Oh, but the real news is Del. She’s pregnant. About four months along. I can’t wait. I think her and Thru will be awesome parents.”
Kallista sighed. She wasn’t really sure what else to say.
“I wish you could answer me. I wish I could see you again. Talk to you again. You always knew what to say. You were always so certain of things. I have so much to be thankful for lately. Brenn… my freedom from the cult… my life. I just wish… I wish it could have happened another way. I wish you were here to see it. At least… at least I know you’re at peace now. You deserve that much.”
After a few more moments the tiefling rose shakily to her feet.
Slowly she brought her fingers up to her lips and kissed them before placing them one last time on the dragon scale.
“I love you.”
She blinked back tears again and wiped her face before turning and leaving the room. As she entered the hallway she saw Agyness descending the stairs from the upper levels with a few of her lieutenants.
“No, don’t worry about the South Quarter right now. Concentrate all the squads we can spare on Talon Bridge. If we can finally clear that choke point then we should be able to secure that whole sector in a week.”
Kallista smiled at the Vryloka who paused and smiled back.
“Alright, get it done. I’ll catch up with you at the ceremony.” She watched her soldiers head out the main door to relay the orders and she turned to her friend, her eyes flickering to the doorway of the shrine behind her.
“Kallista, is everything ok?”
Kallista nodded, her tears now dried.
“Yeah. I was just… Tzesira was never really big on ceremonies and remembrances. I thought I’d stop by here before tonight. I wanted to talk to her alone.”
Agy nodded solemnly and put one hand on the tiefling’s shoulder.
“I understand. Are you and Brenn still coming to the Nachtur Day Ceremony?”
“Of course. I mean, that’s part of why we came out. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
Agy smiled and squeezed Kallista’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Ok. I’ll see you there then.”
She turned and headed outside as Kallista watched her leave.
“I’ll be fine,” she repeated softly.
What surprised her was that she believed it.
