Thalorian POV
The moment Vicky disappeared into the distance, the strength finally left Varinder’s body.
His legs gave way.
I barely managed to catch him before he hit the ground.
“Varinder!”
A weak laugh escaped his lips.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth.
“You know, Thalorian…”
“I always thought I would die fighting.”
His eyes drifted toward the horizon.
“Not from poison.”
“Not at my own son’s birthday.”
The words pierced my heart.
I could not even look him in the eyes.
Because I knew.
No matter what excuses I made…
No matter how many hostages had been threatened…
I was the one who had delivered the poison.
I was the one who had betrayed him.
The silence between us felt suffocating.
Then Varinder slowly looked toward the central hall.
“Take me to Devika first.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Let me say goodbye to my wife.”
I nodded.
Unable to speak.
Unable to stop the tears.
Supporting his weight, I slowly helped him walk toward the hall.
Outside, panic was spreading.
People were collapsing.
Children were crying.
Warriors were shouting orders.
The celebration that had begun with laughter had become a nightmare.
Yet Varinder never looked away from the hall.
From the woman waiting inside.
When we finally entered, Devika was already lying on the ground.
The poison had reached her as well.
She was conscious.
Barely.
The moment she saw Varinder, tears filled her eyes.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Words seemed meaningless.
How could a few sentences ever be enough?
Varinder slowly knelt beside her.
His trembling hand touched her cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
Devika immediately shook her head.
Tears rolled down her face.
“No.”
“Don’t apologize.”
Her weak hand gently covered his.
“For twenty years…”
“You gave everything to Vera.”
“You gave everything to me.”
“You gave everything to our children.”
“There is nothing left for you to apologize for.”
Varinder lowered his head.
“I wanted more time.”
A faint smile appeared on Devika’s face.
“So did I.”
Silence returned.
Neither wanted to say goodbye.
Because saying goodbye would make it real.
Eventually, Devika reached up and wiped away the tears on his face.
The same way she had done countless times before.
“Listen to me carefully.”
Varinder slowly looked up.
For the first time since the poison began taking effect, fear appeared in his eyes.
Not fear of death.
Fear of losing her.
Devika smiled softly.
“For twenty years…”
“You carried Vera on your shoulders.”
“You carried our family.”
“You carried everyone else’s burdens.”
Her fingers tightened around his hand.
“So stop worrying.”
The tears she had been holding back finally fell.
“Just this once…”
“Let someone else carry yours.”
Varinder’s body trembled.
Devika’s voice became softer.
“You don’t have to fight fate anymore.”
“You don’t have to struggle anymore.”
“You’ve done enough.”
Her smile was gentle.
Painfully gentle.
“I’m proud of you.”
The words shattered whatever strength Varinder still possessed.
Because after all the battles…
After all the sacrifices…
After all the years…
Those were the words he wanted to hear most.
Devika slowly closed her eyes.
Then whispered one final sentence.
“When you see the ancestors…”
“Tell them your wife was right.”
For the first time, a genuine laugh escaped Varinder’s lips.
A laugh mixed with tears.
A laugh filled with heartbreak.
A laugh that sounded very much like goodbye.
Slowly, Varinder rose to his feet.
His body looked as though it could collapse at any moment.
Yet somehow, he remained standing.
He turned toward me.
“Come on.”
His voice carried a trace of the old determination.
“We still have one last fight.”
Outside, chaos had engulfed Vera.
Masked figures attacked from every direction.
Homes burned.
Warriors fought desperately in the streets.
The bandits had revealed themselves.
The destruction of Vera had begun.
The settlement we had spent twenty years building was being torn apart in a single night.
Every house.
Every road.
Every memory.
Everything was being swallowed by flames.
I felt my heart breaking.
Yet beside me, Varinder simply tightened his grip on his weapon.
His eyes were calm.
Peaceful.
As if he had already accepted everything.
The two of us slowly walked through the burning settlement.
Toward the center of the battlefield.
Toward Raka.
Toward the man responsible for all of this.
The bandit leader stood waiting among the flames.
Bodies surrounded him.
Fire danced behind him.
A cruel smile covered his face.
“So the great Varinder finally arrives.”
Varinder laughed weakly.
“Sorry.”
“Took me a little longer than expected.”
Even now.
Even while dying.
He could still joke.
Raka’s smile vanished.
“You’re still smiling?”
Varinder shrugged.
“What can I say?”
“My wife always said I looked ugly when I frowned.”
For a moment, even I couldn’t help but laugh through my tears.
Then the battle began.
Steel collided.
Shockwaves erupted.
The earth cracked beneath their feet.
Again and again, they exchanged blows.
Again and again, Varinder pushed forward despite the poison destroying his body.
Blood covered him.
His movements slowed.
His breathing grew weaker.
Yet he never retreated.
Not once.
Because Varinder had never fought to survive.
He had always fought to protect.
And tonight was no different.
Behind him stood the graves of his dreams.
Ahead of him stood the man who had destroyed them.
So he fought.
With everything he had left.
As the flames consumed Vera…
As homes collapsed…
As the sky filled with smoke…
The founder of Vera fought his final battle.
And I could do nothing except watch.
Years later, people would remember the fall of Vera.
They would remember the night its founder died.
They would remember the man who challenged fate for twenty years.
The man who built a home from nothing.
The man who smiled even while facing death.
But few would remember the broken man who survived.
The man who watched his closest friend die.
The man who carried the guilt of betrayal every single day afterward.
On that night, something inside me died alongside Varinder.
And in the years that followed, I slowly walked down a path from which there was no return.
A path filled with death.
A path paved with bones.
The world would one day know me as the Skeleton Mage.
A being feared by countless people.
A master of death.
A walker of forbidden paths.
But on this night…
I was merely a broken man mourning my closest friend.
And that…
Is a story for another time.