Chương 49: Epilogue

When the doors finally opened, the surface had changed. The air tasted different, and the plants and animals were all dead. The surface wasn't safe to walk when the dead star was in the sky, and even during the day people came home with burns and blisters from the sun. Those who left the safety of the shelter early did so at their own risk. And yet there was a race to reclaim lost property, and to set up new property lines. To claim or reclaim territory that had been lost during the war against death itself.

Tal the Risen had waged war. He had conquered the entire surface. He had even used the heavens themselves as a terrible weapon against mankind. But Vorulsht had defeated him. At the cost of his life. When the gods departed, they predicted the end of the world. They said that fire would rain from the sky, the oceans would boil, and all would die except the monsters of the underworld, who would reclaim the surface.

They promised that when this happened, Vorulsht, who remained behind by choice, would open his arms wide and embrace all souls They took with them the children of the gods, their chosen faithful, and vanished into the distant heavens. Those who remained behind waited for the end of the world. It was only after surviving the apocalypse in the arms of Vorulsht did the people understand the implications of the gods actions.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Vorulsht had never demanded worship. He had never commanded respect. But he had always accepted all souls into his outstretched hands. And it was only after the end of the old era that it was understood why. Because the other gods believed they were monsters. The theological debate that followed on the nature of Tal, the Risen, would last centuries.

Some argued that he had been the apocalypse that the gods had predicted. That Vorulsht had sacrificed himself to defeat the usurper. Others that it was the Mad Emperor of Zozheim's fault for misinterpreting Vorulsht's call for unity in the time of crisis. More believed that he was the hidden god. The god of death. That he was one nobody worshiped and everyone feared not because of doctrine. But because of immutable truth. Vorulsht had proven that even gods die. But they also grow. Vorulsht left behind a child.

He had hidden this child from the world, hidden the child from Tal for fear of the child's safety. He had named the child Talos. Some question the fact that the pronunciation of this name was similar to the lich who drove the world to the brink of destruction, but others point out that it is spelled with a completely different set of runes. As with all faiths, the debates on such minutia are exhaustive. Of Tal himself? He is known to have survived the apocalypse, though he is greatly weakened.

He is no longer able to raise and command the undead. Nor do any of the artifacts that were previously capable of performing such deeds capable of doing so either. Death does, finally, appear to be final again. However, there is a superstition that he will appear to someone before their death. They say he comes to collect souls, chosen by criteria known only to him. Sometimes he appears weeks before harvesting a soul. Other times mere moments. Sometimes he appears as a black horse, or a hound, or a raven.

Most often, he takes the lives of the sick and the elderly. And that was how things were. Until the gods who abandoned the world came back. And found that they were not welcome.