The last few adventurers of the expedition stood in front of Harwin with stern expressions. The latter had a bad feeling about it. Albeit, it was due to his general skeptic nature. Just in case, he placed his hand over the hilt of the stygian blade.

  Suddenly, the bunch knelt in front of him. They slightly bowed their hands as well. The young mage was flabbergasted.

  "We are forever in your debt. But, more importantly, we are guilty of abandoning our positions at the most crucial moment. We seek your forgiveness even if we are not worthy of it. You may punish us as you see fit." One of them spoke. The rest nodded at each sentence.

  Harwin remained quiet for a while. It was a situation he had not thought of being in the first place. After all, everyone he had met were too proud to admit even the slightest of their mistakes, much less, apologize for it.

  "Uh, Well, you can raise yourselves for starters. It is true that you retreated during an important moment. However, it might have worked in our favour." The young mage finally replied.

  "How so? There is no need for you to sweeten your words for us. The guilt and shame will never leave even if there are a thousand justifications." The same person stated. He was not being sarcastic, his tone made it clear of how truely frustrated he was.

  "You lot might have died there unnecessarily. The more people against that sand-worm, the more risk we bore. And, I am not providing you with excuses. If you feel terrible, then it will be best to remain steadfast in the future." Harwin argued.

  "We—" He was interrupted by the young mage immediately.

  "We still have to move forward now. S'kaal was not the end, Qareen is the one who we must take down. Before that, we must also meet up with the other groups of the expedition. I am sure that they would have defeated their intended target as well. I had over-heard Ser Kaith say that we would be returning back to the town after taking down the cruel commander. So, does anyone of you know how to return back to Belarit?" Harwin explained.

  The men looked towards each other. After a few moments, one of them stepped forward.

  "If you would honour me with the task, I will not disappoint you!"

  He was a middle-aged fellow. It was clear from his battle scars that he had spent his entire life in the shadow ruins as an adventurer. It was only more shame for such an individual to cower away. Perhaps, this was his way to redeem himself.

  "Very well. Also, no need to be so formal with me. I am just an ordinary fellow. Many of you have years of more experience than myself." Harwin replied.

  It only earned him a laugh from the audience. It was not something the young mage had anticipated, so he stood dumbfounded.

  "You are above us now, lad. You are in the leagues of Kaith and Lyam. On top of that, you saved the lives of many men here. You are the leader of this group, even if you do not have a desire for it. You are "Harwin The Valiant", the one who cared when it mattered the most." The newly appointed guide interpreted the situation for Harwin.

  Although a bit unsure about this new responsibility and title, he had anticipated that it would come to this eventually. All looked towards him for the next set of instructions.

  "I suppose there is no choice then." He mumbled to himself and then addressed the crowd: "You lot will be divided into two equal groups. The first one will prepare the carts and the carriages for traveling back. The others can stay here for now."

  There were about twenty adventures left standing. Most mages were out of magika so they were left out of the main groups. Ten men were sent to carry out the first task. Harwin then continued:

  "All remaining will first prioritize getting the injured to the carts and carriages. After that, collect anything you can find related to S'kaal whether his broken weapon or his last few bits left. It will be best to gather as much evidence as possible to confirm that we took down the cruel commander. Finally, you are free to gather the spoils of war. However, all loot will be divided equally among all."

  By spoils of war, he meant the hearts of the imourte as well as any other valuables on the battlefield. It would have been a waste to leave it all here. Besides, it would take some time to prepare to leave.

  The young mage helped in getting things prepared himself as well. He alongside with Daren and Ava fetched their cart and carefully loaded it up with their unconscious companions.

  He then returned towards the second group. The mutilated body of Kaith just laid there. He was a boisterous man. Loud and proud. This was the very reason that he did not run away even when he had the chance. Of course, his first plan was to sacrifice a great many lives, but he did not cower away when all came down to it.

  This was why Harwin took his weapon to safely deliver it to any of his companions still left alive. Soon the guide approached him once again.

  "Should we burn the bodies?" He asked.

  Harwin understood the meaning. Any corpose left in these lands would only add to the army of the necromancer.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Have them gathered in one place. It will be best if we can conserve the magika of our last few mages." The mage-sword replied.

  The guide left after nodding.

  In a matter of few hours, they were done with all the preparations. Dozens of bodies were lined up in front of the departuring group. Harwin along with few other caster gathered in front of their fallen comrades. Once again, all looked towards him — urging him to say something.

  "For us adventurers, death is our friend. It is known by all of you that when you put on your armour, ready your equipment and get on your rides only two destinies await you in these ashen lands: Glory or Sacrifice. All of us stand here because of the sacrifice of those who lay in front of us. They were not only party members of some or the other, but sworn brethrens to all of us in this expedition. May Alomos smile upon them. May their souls find peace now." Harwin said.

  He did not believe in Alomos' divinity, yet he knew that many here did. His speech certainly reminded the lot of the responsibility they carried now. Many finally got the chance to sob for their departed ones.

  After a while of grief. Harwin alongside the other mages began the cremation. It took a great deal of time considering they had to remain mindful of their magika capacity as well. Soon enough, the bodies had become one with the ashen soil. It was a symbolic gesture considering that these lands were life for the adventurers.

  They began to travel after the ceremony without looking back. The shadow ruins had consumed a lot today, but it had no favorites either as S'kaal and his force had turned to waste all the same.

  The journey back was a difficult. They had to remain vigilant of their surroundings. The reason was simple: the strongest party of their conglomerate — Mortis — was left but a shell of its former self. However, Harwin assigned a scouting party ahead to make sure that they would not run in any unprecedented danger.

  As if a gift from the shadow ruins, they encountered not a single monster on the road. Not even an imourte. They reached the town of Belarit in the morrow, safely.

  They were the last ones to arrive. All the remaining hunting groups had already set up their tents and were resting up now. Of course, they had also lost quite a significant portion of their parties. Overall, out of the original thousand, only three or four hundred remained at best. Even among these, few were left maimed and few were still unconscious.

  An old and shrewd looking fellow welcomed Harwin's group. He was the representative of the saint of Belarit. His eyes were searching for Kaith, only to be informed of the man's demise. He remained indifferent, though.

  "A self centered man, as expected from someone in his position." Harwin thought.

  As soon as the old fellow was informed of the new elected leader, he grabbed the young mage away from the rest.

  "What of the cruel commander!? You have not escaped defeated, surely?" He inquired anxiously.

  Harwin signalled Daren to grab the bits of S'kaal they had brought along. The representative inspected them with shaky hands, unable to hold back his excitement.

  "Wonderful, wonderful! You have done an excellent job, lad! However, the danger still remains. Rest up for now, we will meet in the evening again." He said while not even facing the mage-sword.

  "For now, send some refreshments, food and healers our way. That is the least the town could do for the people risking their lives for them." Harwin replied while basically snatching the remains away.

  The old man was furious, but he did not say anything. This was neither the time nor was he in the position to do so. He nodded and passed a customarily smile before leaving.

  Harwin then helped the rest to set up their pavilions. As they walked through the rest of the groups, they got nods of approvals. After all, their party had been given the most perilous task of them all.

  As instructed, a great feast was prepared for these returned heroes. It was mainly organized by the townsfolk who were more than happy to serve their saviours. Children gathered around these adventurers to hear their epic story.

  Harwin, on the other hand, was invited by the leaders of the rest of the groups. It was not a simple invitation, but a strategic meeting. Lyam was still knocked out, otherwise, he would have been asked to join in as well.

  Few men were a bit disgruntled by the death of Kaith and the promotion of the young mage. However, after hearing his exploits, they quickly came to respect the lad.

  The common agenda of the meeting was their next move. One of the more experienced individuals, ser Ricard, spoke out first:

  "We have done enough already. The town has guards as well, they should rely on them now."

  "That is not what was agreed in the first place." Another argued. He was from Belarit.

  "Of course you would say that! If the town is taken down then you go down with it. Besides, where is the proof of your success. Every single one of us brought something to show for it, yet you come empty handed. What am I to make of it?" The vetern replied.

  "There is nothing to prove—" the Belarit group leader was interrupted.

  "No need to fight amongst ourselves. Both of you have valid points. However, if we go back now, we will be throwing away the noble sacrifice of our men." The oldest of them, ser Quirth, tried to calm down the situation.

  "Do not tell me about sacrifice, old man! I lost my brother in this bloody foreign war!" Ricard lashed out.

  "Sers, I am in no position to speak, but I think we are directing away from the main issue. The masters of Belarit will soon call upon us. If we are not on one page, then they will tear us apart one by one." Harwin reasoned.

  This statment earned a silence. Few raised brows, but none found his words to be far from the truth.

  "What do you propose then?" The old man asked, calmly.

  "We are in no condition to take down a titan even if he is the weakest of them all. The ten commanders are dead, yes, but so is more than half of our force. If the town wishes to employ our services any further, then they must corporate with us, whether in man power or in any other way we require. Even the holy cities will be willing to lend a hand once they hear of our recent victories." The young mage stated.

  Most these party leaders were brute men. They had only learned to slay beasts whether alone or in groups. Politics, negotiation and strategic plans (other than hunting ones) were lost on them. On the other hand, Harwin had learned from the best while being amongst the wood-elves. Naturally, all agreed to his ideas.

  However, in the evening, they were rejected outright. Even the wisdom of Harwin fell pale against the shrewd minds of Belarit. They were not allowed to leave, either. If any of them dared then they would be banned from their respective guilds and reduced to the status of outlaws.

  The young mage had underestimated the influence of the saints. It ultimately came down to acceptance of the conditions of the town with minimum of their own terms being considered.

  They were allowed to rest for a few days, but had to leave for the final hunt immediately after that. It was a death trap, to be precise. Belarit was buying time for preparation and these already ravaged adventurers provided the perfect opportunity for their schemes.

  There was, however, one final twist in this quest. A person who had yet to reveal himself.....