Victory

"Astrid!" Zenith called in shrill horror, hands trembling in agony. Astrid's lifeless body
fell to the cold, rocky face of the ground. Her impact was but a pin drop against the pain
that fell across his body. She had been a companion, stalwart ally, and above else as much
a part of himself as his own heart had been.
But he cannot show his anguish.

"Your days are numbered, Zenith!" The young, charismatic soldier shouted. "Our day of glory
has come, and now that I brandish the legendary blade Aspidistra, there is nothing that will
stop our righteous victory!"
"Yeah!" Cried the young woman from aside him. "We have come so far, suffered so much, and
finally your tyranny will end at our hands." She pulled from behind her a longbow and pointed the lethal end of an arrow towards her target.

The majestic scope of it all was starting to unfold in Zenith's mind. His loss of power from the senate. His alienation from society. The loss of his closest and most loyal of brethren: Joseph the almighty, Vera the wise, and now even Astrid, the cunning. And here he stands, alone in all his valour, facing the tangible element of his failure. The all-too enthusiastic adventurers who have been the bane of his most recent existence before him, and here he was, not even knowing their names.
"You're blinded by your ignorance!" He cried. "Do you even know why you're here? Do you even know why you've hunted me and my comrades, or why you have spoiled all we have worked for? You don't, and on this I am certain!" He shouted as his anger and fear tainted the air.

The group of indignant warriors took up a aggressive stance. The leader of the crew stepped forward."We all have our reasons, Zenith. You have left a trail of devastation in your wake." He rebutted. The tall, slender man dressed in gold robes came forth from behind.
"My family was killed in the great fire of Lynkis village, the one you and your cronies are responsible for." He unsheathed a fine, slim blade and readied it at his side. Another woman came forth, clad in shining silver armor.
"My father was the guard on duty that night you escaped from Tlyvas Hold, he died trying to detain you and your followers. I doubt you remember; After all, whats another nameless victim in your grand plan, right?" She let out, almost in tears.

"You people really don't understand, do you?" Zenith questioned. This was the first time he had ever heard of the firestorm in Lynkis village, and neither him nor his allies killed anyone when they escaped that prison. He realised now that the senate had been framing him in their attempt to silence the evidence. "The state is outright lying to you, and you are feeding into it without recourse."

"Be still, foul-doer!" The charismatic leader commanded, pointing his fabled blade directly at Zenith. "You lie in a last, pathetic attempt to escape your fate. You will atone for what you have done, and by the hand of my blade, I will see that you do!"

With that, the adventurers charged forward to the pinnacle of their epic journey; And with that, it was clear to Zenith that the corrupt senate would continue to Sheppard the state unopposed. His final breath marked the trimming of the last thread of freedom that would be ever be salvaged, and he was well aware of that.