Rising to Fall

Epilogue

The sea rushes past, crashing waves creating white foam that washes away. A massive flat expanse of blue that glitters under the sun, high above in the cloudless sky. A shore: sandy beaches fading into rocky outcrops that rise up, standing firm as the sea rises and crashes against it only to fall back. However, near the beginning of time, the shore relented to the crashing of the waves and part of the sea floods into the land, becoming a river that runs deep and long, heading south, splitting into smaller streams until finally coming to a stop at the base of the massive Great Dividing Range located far inland. At the mouth of this river, the white sandy beaches give way to rocks that open up to the stream. Beyond the rise of the rocks, set a little back from the sea and the river mouth, sits a massive walled city once named the Capital, now known as Rigu'ra.

Rigu'ra. Situated on a large plain, the city-like army base is bordered on one side by the sea and the other side by the river with high banks. To the south, hills rise and fall, but the west is flat and full of grass, slowly becoming a small forest. Built of stone and wood, the windows of the barracks within the tall, solid stone walls of Rigu'ra catch the light of the sun high above. The wall is smooth on the outside, the polished grey stone that it was built with gleaming. Being several metres thick, the tops of the wall are patrolled by warriors, keeping those who live in the territory safe from any possible attack from the sea. Newly built watchtowers are spaced at even intervals, also manned. Many of the warriors have swords made of iron, but some also wear the golden swords of an army that is no more.

No banners fly from the large castle-like building at the centre but everyone in the surrounding lands know who occupies it. The Benjas mostly leave the people to govern themselves as they want, their very presence enough to keep crime low. On the weekends, a market is set up on the plain outside Rigu'ra, farmers coming from across the territory to sell and buy wares not too far from a long row of bright green grass that forms a mound slightly higher than the rest of the dirt around it. The people have little fear in approaching the city, although some don't dare to step foot inside the gates, not because of those who occupy it, but because of the memories of those who rules only months before.

With the waves crashing against the beach and the farmer's market in full swing, the General of the Benjas comes out of the large double doors of the castle, his hand running along the railing as he descends down the stairs. He has a smile on his face and he nods to those he passes as he walks to the wall surrounding Rigu'ra and climbs to the top, resting his arms on the battlements. Hidden underneath his shirt, the Amulet is as a familiar weight as the dagger at his side.

As he scans the surrounding area and the crowd of people below, General Mitchell grins to himself and nods slightly. "We did okay," he whispers to himself. "We did okay."

People and armies may fall,
But there will always be someone to take their place and continue the fight.
We must never lose hope,
For when hope is gone we have truly fallen.
But as long as we have faith,
We will always rise again.

The End

I... don't know what to say.

This is the longest book I have ever written.

And you have managed to read all the way to the end, good job! Yay you!

I was really excited when I first started writing this book cause it was a story inside a bigger story, and I had to keep the big story a secret until about Part 4. That was really hard. If anyone was wondering what the Key looked like before it was broken into pieces, here's a picture I made of it:

The lines are where it broke.

The first chapter of Not Gonna Die is also out if you would like to go ahead and read it.

Apart from that, I really hope that you enjoyed reading this book and I'll hopefully see you in my new one.

Bai!

~Storm