Epilogue: The Dream of the Captain of the Guard

ok finally finished editing this - it's less of a teen action flick kinda story now haha!

The man stood in the middle of the rain-soaked road, facing the gates of the city.

He knew the names of the statues that have stood vigil over the friends and foes who have passed through the gates. Neither the names given them by the Builders of the city, nor even names given by any earthly king, but their true names.

The man waits in the cleansing rain. He knows how to wait. A man who has stood waiting for dreams and kingdoms to fall does not become impatient easily.

The door by the side of the gate creaked open, and The Captain of the Guard now stood framed by the old door and silhouetted by the firelights of the city. He was trembling.

"What... What news, Exile?"

The man remembers the Captain. They fought side-by-side in the final moments of the war. He was once a good man, but his time had come, and news must be told and deeds performed, no matter how terrible.

"I have returned from my exile. As a wandering alchemist walks abroad seeking herbs and magicks, I have travelled far to heal the hurts of our city.

The man's eyes burned with rememberance, with revelation, and with a wisdom painfully earned.

"And I have this to report: uncertainties, unrest and strife, for I have gone by foot or horseback from the easternmost end of the Beautiful Sands, to the western tongue of the Bay of Deaths, and have found everything in order. It is all good... my captain.

The man did not expect a reply. He walked slowly to the figure sillhouetted in the door.

"I have learned a secret on my journeys, and it is a True Thing: some hurts come from within.

The man unfastened the rank insignia on the Captain's breast.

"I was ordered to take back what was stolen from the heart of the city, or to die trying. Fare thee well in Hades."

The man in the doorway did not make a sound.

The city now stands in the cleansing rain, facing the dead body.

She knows the true name of the man she exiled. Not the names given him by the kingdoms he was sent to observe, nor even the name given by the people of the Bay of Deaths. This is his true name - and a name is the person:

The people of the city once called him The Captain of the Guard.