Not all the suriving orcs chose to return to Chaingad Forest, with the surviving mountian orcs choosing to return to their home and start rebuilding. Ailsa and Ashton decided to go with them after discussing it with the rest of us, and we were all agreeable with the idea. "The Moaning Wild can go back to nature," Ailsa said. "I don't have many happy memories here, to be honest, and seeing the old home hasn't done much wonders for my recovery. We can let nature reclaim the spot."
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After two days in which we recovered and made our final plans, Ailsa, Ashton and the surviving mountain orcs departed, while Khithran and Ushat made their their depature for Chaingad Forest with the forest orcs who'd survived what was being called the Great Cleansing. It was as fitting a name as any, so it stuck.
Peyton, Lanlanor and Paradox were the only ones left after the rest of our friends departed, and I felt a sting of loss as I prepared to bid farewell to these friends as well. "Where to now?" I asked.
Lanlanor shrugged. "I'm going home," he said. "Mother will be pleased to have me at her side again, and I'll admit, I'm itching to put down some roots. I've enjoyed righting wrongs the length and breadth of the land, and now that the biggest wrong of all has been righted by the purported wrong-doer, I figure my job is done."
I nodded, smiling at his arch description of my now-demolished weapon. "That's fair enough."
"Don't ask me what the hell I'm going to do," Paradox said with a chuckle. He was the one member of the party who'd never really disclosed much of his past, but I'd never held that against him, since he'd been of the same reticent manner ever since joining Ashton's party. "Might wander around, see if anyone's hirin'. I can still hunt bounties, now that you've removed yourself from the equation, friend. I'm sure there's still goin' to be wronged nobles and other such folk who'll need a sharp pair of eyes to track down lesser wrong-doers."
"I'm going on to Avalon," Peyton said. "I've enjoyed travelling around with you humans, and you're not as bad as the stories made you out to be." He shook his mane. "But to be fair, I need to be among my own kind, and King Calimero is likely to welcome me with open, well, hooves, despite the differences in species and opinions."
I nodded. "You'll always be a treasured friend," I said, reaching out to gently stroke his coat. "The same goes for all of you. I hate to say goodbye, but I know I can call on you any time I wish."
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"I don't know," I admitted. "I'm not keen on revisiting the castle now that it's been destroyed. Let it settle for a few centuries. I'm sure some of Temara's fireflies can be convinced to cleanse the site and guard it against future incursions until all the old magic has dissipated."
"Consider it done," Temara promised. Now it was her turn to pause. "I don't think I'm going to make any overtures to the old hive any time soon. Mother never liked me for reasons other than my lack of magic, and pixies are a stubborn lot. Mother's hive is the last, so they'll breed themselves into almost total extinction." She shrugged. "I can't say it doesn't hurt, but to be fair, the hive has grown too toxic and entrenched in their ways. Our child will be different, and they can start a new race, one free from hidebound prejudices and traditions."
"I like that idea," I agreed.
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The following day, we all parted ways, and once Temara and I were on our own, we broached the question of just where we were going to live. I didn't want to go back to my village, and Temara was just as keen to stay as far away from her old hive as possible. In the end, we agreed to make our home at the place where we'd consummated our love for the first time, and with that settled, we began the trek. It would be a bit of a walk, since I'd lost Aster, but we didn't mind. It gave us time to think about the journey we'd shared, and all the adventures we'd had along the way. We also talked about our child, and wondered just how he or she would turn out, being half-pixie and half-human.
But the future was as yet unwritten, and we'd been through too much to let thoughts of what was to come intrude too much. So we agreed to take each day as it came. Our party was now broken, but we still had the friendships that had been forged along the way, and so long as we could all remain in touch, we'd never be far apart from each other.
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END
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