Tanisin found himself awake and lying in his bedroll, confused as he looked around trying to orientate himself and come to terms with his surroundings. Relf snored peacefully, slumbering in his own bedroll. With the warm coals of a fire at their feet it appeared as if they’d set up camp there the night before. Even the horses, his, Relf’s and the packhorse anyways, were tethered nearby munching on grass at their feet.

  He wondered where they were? Behind him was an old stone wall, pitted with age and covered in lichen. His sword leaned against the wall, sheathed and ready to don with the belt dangling to the ground. Trees surrounded the small clearing they occupied and somewhere nearby he could hear the softly running water of a stream or creek.

  He stood and stretched, relishing the peacefulness of the area. The sun was up and a light covering of dew covered the landscape with a slight chill in the air. Some small creatures rustled the underbrush. Underlying the peacefulness however was a lingering trace of the presence within his mind. He couldn’t seem to shake it off. Though it was much duller than it had when last he was aware of it. Content that there was no immediate danger in the area, Tanisin woke Relf with a booted foot.

  Relf made some noises of protest as he awakened. Then eyes open, he too looked around. “Wha… Where are we?”

  “I’m not sure.” Tanisin smiled despite the doubt. “We’re safe though, no sign of anyone or anything around that shouldn't be. Come on get up. We’ll eat and figure things out.”

  He left Relf to get some water, following the sound of the trickling stream. When he returned Relf was up and about and the bed rolls were tucked behind saddles, camp was in order and Relf had rekindled the fire.

  “Do you think Dav and Deliah are safe too?” Relf asked him, worrying for their friends overshadowed the bright morning.

  “I can’t say for certain, I hope they are. Relf…” Tanisin was unsure of how to continue. “Did you see anything when we entered the Barrier?”

  Relf screwed up his face. It made him look like an old man. He then nodded his head. “I did, did you?”

  The two traded stories of their experience within the Barrier. It was clear both had different visions yet had eerily similar experiences. They ate as they talked, feeling no real urgency in the moment. After weeks of driven determination with many challenges and a goal it was nice to relax for a bit and let the world go on without them.

  “She said she’d take me where I needed to be.” Tanisin told Relf ending his own recantation. “So I figure here we are. We just have to figure out where here is. I hope she made some arrangements for the others. Maybe we’ll run into them nearby.”

  “Maybe. I don’t believe she’d leave them in limbo. I don’t look forward to facing that Shadow Being, even you and I together. We barely held it off last time.” Relf shuddered in recollection. For all their encounters along the way he’d never felt truly in danger until he’d faced that thing.

  “No, me neither.” Tanisin rubbed his arms as if feeling a chill as well. “Still she had such confidence in me, in us. We dare not avoid it. The task has been given and it’s up to us to figure out how to accomplish it.”

  Their talk died off and they set about dismantling the rest of their camp. The morning remained pleasant weatherwise. With everything completed and ready Tanisin went to retrieve his sword belt where it leaned against the ancient piece of wall. As he approached the blade something caught his eye. Was this his sword? It was his sheath and belt, leather worn from use but in good repair. He knew it to be his because he could see the maker's mark on it, Dennel Wright was the leathersmith in Dimabri City’s market square.

  This was not his sword though. The pommel was different. His was a plain polished end of iron; this was something else. It resembled some sort of strange cross and was engraved with symbols he’d never seen before. The hilt was wrapped in a leather binding, much as his was yet this looked newer, less worn. Then there was the crossguard. Where his was plain, this one was some strange metal shining brightly. Curious, he picked up the weapon, grabbing it mid-sheath.

  He gripped the hilt in his right hand and drew the blade. It was light as air in his hand, perfectly balanced and felt like it belonged there. It was also composed of the strange gleaming metal he’d never seen before. The blade itself was inscribed down its length and while he couldn’t make out the words he knew without doubt it was Veliar script. He’d seen writing like this in his studies with Anthin.

  Relf was approaching him. Curious as to the delay. Tanisin turned towards him. “This isn't my sword Relf?” As he raised it to show Relf it gleamed in the sunlight, almost otherworldly. Relf approaching him faded in his sight, blurry until...

  He stood surrounded by an army of men and Veliar. It was unnaturally hot, as if an open oven cast heat upon his face. Smoke and the sounds of battle hung in the air all around him. Desperate faces looked to him and the small group he stood with. It was a mixed group of humans and Velair, all of them commanders wearing archaic armour and holding weapons ready. One of the Veliar looked at him and he recognised Sayoshti, clad in armour and ready for battle.

  “It is decided.” She declared to him. “You shall bear witness, should we succeed you must spread the word. Do not let Etrusia ever forget what happened here today.”

  “I won’t Graceful One. We are with you to the end.'' He and the others knelt at her feet then gathered to follow Sayoshti as she led them to the very edge of Despair’s Abyss.

  As they went orders were sent ahead gathering the remnants of both armies, humankind and Veliar with them. “It is imperative you hold them off until I’m done. Should they break through, all will be lost.” She told the group.

  He and the others knew full well what was at stake. Despair’s minions had come at them in wave after wave for almost a year now. Pouring constantly out of the abyss with no seeming end, no respite for the weary defenders of Etrusia. Once the spell started Despair would know!. Despair’s commanders would know and they would throw everything they had at Sayoshti’s position to overwhelm it before the spell could be cast. “We will not fail you.” Was all he said in response.

  Between the two races only roughly twenty thousand troops remained. The almost century of war against Despair’s minions had taken a great toll. They were on the brink of extinction, Velair and Humans alike. They knew too that success would induce the end of the Veliar. It was a costly price to pay yet one all the Veliar had agreed was necessary. For the good of Etrusia and all that they loved.

  The army moved to the front. Sayoshti and her guard behind them facing Despair’s Abyss. A mass of milling shamblers and other dark creatures separated them from the abyss, with uncounted more inside poised to spew forth. Thals, the lieutenants of Depsair’s army. Scretch, airborne beings that flapped above on leathery wings ready to swoop down and kill. Shamblers by the thousands and creatures as yet unnamed. Despair created them with a mere thought, endless in number, there were too many to categorise. All of them twisted dark beings bred only to kill.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The army drew up facing Despair’s Abyss. Close enough that despite the mass of enemies in front of them that everyone could feel the heat emanating from it, as if volcanic it spread this heat and a stench of decay across the land. Foul thing. Sayotshi thought to herself. She knew her brother Silmion was responsible for this, though his actions had been in what he thought was the best interest for the Veliar. Unwittingly he’d opened this chasm of nothingness, allowing Despair access to Etrusia. It was due to this fact, that one of their own was responsible that the Veliar had agreed to this final solution. Even now she didn’t personally fault Silmion. He’d been misled and tricked as surely as he’d meant the best. Though the actions were his, the fault was Despair’s.

  A hush fell over the battlefield. For the first time in months complete silence reigned as the two armies faced each other in anticipation. The tenison in the air was so thick one could hardly breathe. Minutes passed that felt like hours with neither side willing to act or disturb the moment. Then with no fanfare or announcement Sayoshti began her spell. She began to chant loud and clear in the language of creation itself, shown to her after many trials and tests by the spirit of Etrusia that the Veliar worshipped.

  Tanisin bore witness. He knew deep inside he wasn't Tanisin here and now, that his presence in this body at this time was born of Sayoshti’s will. Yet he bore witness. As she began her chant she drew her sword and he recognized it. The same sword he now held in a different time and place. She held in her other hand a crystal rod inscribed in ancient languages.

  Her words broke the impasse that held the opposing armies. At her first utterance Despair’s minions surged forth enraged and hungry for blood. They too knew what was at stake and that they could overwhelm the pitiful remnants standing against them, that this was the last hope of two dying civilisations.

  Tanisin was aware of orders being shouted. A torrent of arrows sped from the ranks sweeping over Desiar’s army and dropping hundreds at a time. It meant nothing to the surging mass, a gnat bite that could not slow the tide. Yet still Human and Veliar fired volley after volley and creature after creature died in the hail of projectiles. The gap between the two armies closed and in an instant the last remnants of good in Etrusia were surrounded.

  A ring of enemies encircled them. Pushing from all sides to break through and get to Sayoshti. Tanisin–who was not Tanisin–drew his sword. If any broke through he and Sayoshti’s guard would cut them down. She MUST complete the spell. All too soon the numbers worked in the enemy’s favour. By ones and twos they broke through and while the lines of Veliar and Human defenders did not break they could not stop every creature that tried to make it.

  With the cessation of the arrows the Scretch took to the air over the battlefield. They would swoop down snagging hapless soldiers to toss them into the air or carry them high and drop them to the hard ground below. They acted like cats toying with prey. A great mass of husks pushed mindlessly against the wall of soldiers. Dying by the thousands yet more kept coming, these beings relentless and sure to overwhelm with the weight of numbers alone. Other more fearsome beasts leaped into the fray using blades, teeth and claws to kill and maim.

  Sayoshti’s words, her high chant heard even over the deafening din of battle. Men and women both Human and Veliar crying in pain, so many dying. Shouted orders and the snarls of Despair’s minions. Tanisin was fighting in earnest now desperately turning this way and that. Dispatching foes as they came within reach of his blade. He fought in a style he didn’t know. No single movement was wasted and every swing of his sword was deadly to his opponents. He fought for life, for humanity, for Etrusia and for Sayoshti!

  The very earth began to rumble and a hum filled the air, more felt than heard. Tanisin–not Tanisin– missed a step, almost losing his life to the swooping talons of a Scretch overhead. He rolled thrusting upwards as he came to his feet, impaling it. Around him lay uncountable bodies of both defenders and those dispatched by him and Sayoshti’s guard. He grew tired, the whole army was exhausted beyond capacity or endurance. They’d fought here, on Despair’s doorstep for almost a full year and had been at war for almost a century all together. Two generations of humankind had known nothing but this war, that anyone could still fight or was left to was in itself a miracle.

  Still they couldn’t go on, though they had to. More and more Tanisin and Sayoshti’s guardsmen were pressed as the lines surrounding them shifted or faltered. Soon the whole of the defence would break. They had no counter for such insurmountable odds, such numbers arrayed against them. Always Despair had more.

  Even within they were faltering. He saw Sayoshti’s Captain Trelmenth go down smothered under a large pack of shamblers. Some sort of wolfish creature leaped into the pile to finish him off. Everywhere Tanisin saw men and Velair down, the group defending Sayoshti herself now numbered only ten or so as they formed a tight ring around her. Tanisin heard cries to retreat, to flee from all sides. The army was breaking. He felt the enemy’s exhilaration at the pending disaster. These dark things relished bloodshed and fed on fear. Their appetite would not be sated.

  After what seemed an age Sayoshti delivered the last phrase in a thunderous voice. It flooded over the battlefield and caused all there to stop. For a brief second again nothing moved. There was a sense of the air thickening before it rushed upwards, as if gravity itself had stopped working. First pressing down upon all then lightening and causing a floating feeling in the pits of the stomach. A low rumble began, the ground continued to shake more violently than ever and now Sayoshti raised her sword into the air and swept it downwards. Mirroring the motion with the crystal rod she struck the earth with the power of all hope inside of her. Fully willing to give herself for Etrusia.

  The upward suck of air continued and Tanisin found it difficult to breathe. He couldn’t see as the dust swirled around and the air pressure changed again. With her strike at the ground the effect reversed. A great wave of air and debris hurtled back down to the battlefield. All present had to shield their eyes from the blast as it encompassed every living thing. It flattened everything standing. Knocking down friend and foe alike, the force of it was immense. Tannisin wasn’t certain his body could handle it any longer.

  Then stillness. The battleground became eerily quiet. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on his back looking up into the sky. A swirl of dust and wind still hung above as if a tempest brewed. He was caked in dirt and grime as well as blood, coating him in a sticky mess of dirt and gore. He blinked the grit from his eyes and got to his feet on legs that shook.

  He looked around to find others in the same state, regaining their feet and wiping dirt from their eyes. Worried the event had given the enemy an advantage he gripped his sword tighter. Thankfully he’d managed to hold onto it in the gale. Frantic he searched for a foe to engage, there were none. No creatures of Despair remained on the killing ground, not even the bodies of those killed. It was as if every foe they were facing had disappeared all at once.

  A muted excitement began to flow among the survivors, their numbers pitifully small even compared to the limited number that had begun the engagement. Many began pointing and exclaiming at something. Tanisin took a look and saw it. Where Despair's Abyss had been was now encompassed completely by a shimmering blue dome, translucent and glorious. Of the enemy there was no sign. Not a body living or dead, not a single piece of equipment.

  “She did it. VICTORY, VICTORY!” The call came from others and was carried among the ranks. Soon the whole field was cheering, it had worked! Tanisin found himself caught up in the celebration as companions clapped him on the back and added their own voices to the cheer.

  Still unsure what this meant or if it was a true victory, Tanisin hesitated. He searched, looking for Sayoshti, or her body among the ruins. A glint of metal caught his eye. Half obscured under dirt and debris where she’d been standing before. He knelt, swiping away the dirt and found Sayoshti’s sword. The only thing to show she’d ever been there. Reverently he took up the blade, cleaning it off as best he could.

  Something overcame him then. Some compulsion. He carried Sayoshti’s blade held before him across the battlefield as he solemnly walked towards the shimmering light. Others saw him and turned to follow as if compelled themselves and the procession grew as they approached the dome. He came directly up to the Barrier then knelt on one knee and held the sword across both hands presenting it, his hands sliding within.

  A rush of warmth spread from the point of contact, seeping into him. Very clearly he heard Sayoshti say. “You have borne witness, now spread the word.” When he removed his hands from the warm embrace of the Barrier the sword was gone.

  Tanisin dropped to his knees, back in the glade and still holding the unknown sword aloft. Relf stood at his shoulder with one hand on Tanisin’s back in support. Tanisin looked up at him. “Did you see..?”

  Relf nodded. “I don’t know what I saw. I mean I know what it was. I just don’t know what it means.”

  “I was there, but not there. I think… I think I was inside the head of the First Witness, Mander.” It was a humbling thought. To have seen first hand Sayoshti’s Sacrifice and now here he stood holding Sayoshti’s blade. He could well imagine the power of that blade. It was Velair made and according to Manders earliest writings was legendary in its ability to kill the creatures that Despair belched from the Abyss.

  Relf looked into Tanisin’s eyes and as serious as could be he stated. “It was meant for you, you were meant for this. Let us find that Shadow Being and put an end to it.”