[Solo] The Nosdyn Chronology Chapter 10.

When he came to once more, he saw her by his side. The entire time...hours...days...weeks...centuries maybe. "The locket does look good on you my wife." He said to her as his eyes focused.

"I've never take it off since the night that you gave me it." She said in response. She looked away for a moment. "Can you tell me of her...your mother?" She bit her lower lip softly, unsure if that was an okay thing to ask of him in his current state.

"I'll try. I never knew her directly but father would tell me and my siblings stories...stories of her. She wasn't actually a demon herself." Nosdyn said calmly. "Have you ever opened it and looked at her? It is an old picture of her and somewhat faded but she was actually an elf. My father was in love with an elf...now that I think on it..." He sighed a small piece of the puzzle fell on his lap but he'd changed so much by that point it no longer mattered. "I think I was forced to kill my family because my parents gave birth to half breeds." Nosdyn sighed, he was a warrior though and through but he would always be haunted by his past.

She placed her hand on the side of his face. That gesture reminded him of past loves, but it was still a welcome gesture.

"Father told me, she was always a nurturing woman...very different from the women of my people. She was a lot like you are now. She used to sing." Nosdyn said. "Father told me she died during childbirth of me and my siblings. Maybe, our biological configuration was too much for her body." He sat up at that point. "I learned to love because of mother's teachings to my clan." He looked at her, studying her.

"She gave you the strength to resist N'Jal in the end." Xelldra said, that was the truth.

"It lead me to you." Nosdyn said in response. He took her hand in his hand, for an undead her hand was warm at that point. The effects of the genetic marker in his seed. "Do you still love me, an old demon? After all this time?" He asked of her.

She nodded. "You made me what me and my sisters are today. We owe you so much, Nosdyn."

"You owe me nothing. You already gave me what I need...my purpose." He kissed his woman deeply.

It felt strange for Nosdyn being in Ettermire after all that time.

No longer a follower of N'Jal...simply just a demon of his people, an elder of his people by that time. He had his own tribe, his own group of followers by that point.

Memories of Ettermire when he was there for the first time haunted him in ever street corner, every block, every establishment reminded him of his past.

"Father was right..." Nosdyn said out loud. Llukai, Tharak and a few others were always around him.

"What is it?" Tharak asked of his father.

"We are at odds with life itself...maybe for all of eternity." Nosdyn rubbed his chin. "I'm sorry you were born into this my boy." He placed his large hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It's okay maybe someday we'll be accepted too." He said to his father.

Llukai looked at the two of them. "I was thinking...she did give us a reason, a purpose."

Tharak looked over at Llukai. "There was a price to pay for it...we all paid a heavy price."

Nosdyn looked up at the afternoon sky and over to his two companions. "Some wars never end, some scars never heal" Nosdyn began. He looked off to his left and could almost see his ghosts of the past haunting him. "Remember my father's teachings. Ours is a tribe that fights." He looked at the two men. "Students state the precepts of House Krotar." Nosdyn commanded.

They did so, reciting each of the combat principles of his father's teachings and his father's father...a long generation of proud Krotar demons.

Once it was done, the lessons for the day, Llukai walked over towards his instructor and best friend. "It was good..." He began. "It felt good to save you for a change." Their own circle completed at that point.

"Your own father would have been proud." Nosdyn said calmly. "I can see how far you've come." There were more lessons, more teachings to instruct the boy on. "Let me ask you something do you still think yourself a mere stupid boy from Ettermire?" Nosdyn asked quietly, folding his arms across his chest.

"No..." Llukai suddenly said. "I am a warrior of Krotar House." He responded with a serious expression on his face.

Nosdyn hugged his long time friend and student. "Your father would be proud of you boy." Nosdyn told his student.

Many years later...

Nosdyn slept that night. He found himself in the dreaming state once more...but this time...it was a grayed out area of Ettermire herself. He was not prepared for what he would see that night. He was standing there skyclad, he slept skyclad, his wife Xelldra was in his arms in the waking mortal world. He looked around he did not feel the void like he had that one time. He felt something else...a ghost he had not felt in many years...

"Illsandra..." Nosdyn had not forgotten his first love's name. He saw her standing there looking at him with all of her angelic beauty. The mother who could not give him his child...there was no fear or regret or anxiety in Nosdyn. Only a humble awe at the beauty of the woman.

"You've grown." She said calmly. "You found what Ettermire could not give you."

"I found a purpose and a home." Nosdyn said to her.

"You sided with N'Jal." She beamed with an almost pride at saying that. "You did what the bastard priesthood who follow Lloth could not."

"We were able to defeat her, sever the chain that bound us to her." He looked at Illsandra, long had he wanted to hear her voice once more.

"The Thayne are never permanently killed. The one named Joshua Cronen is deluding himself to think he killed Draconus." She looked away for a moment. "They sleep when injured, recovering their state in the slumbering, the dreaming."

Nosdyn kept his ground. "I have missed you. There are many stories to tell you. Our son is a fine young man now."

She smiled upon hearing that. "Our son you say...you know that I could not give you that son."

He shook his head. "The intent was there, the gods saw fit to rob me and you. His mother was never fit enough to be his mother. You would have been better suited." Nosdyn told her the truth in his way of speaking. He walked over towards her and ran his hand through her long and lush hair. "I freed many of her followers with me, when the bond was severed." Nosdyn explained.

"You have a suitable companion now." Illsandra said.

He nodded. "Yes...flesh of my flesh." Nosdyn recited the teachings of N'Jal. "Together we were able to banish N'Jal however temporary."

"You are bound and cursed by her title." Illsandra said. "Long have I begged for you, to see you once more. Do you still bare sorrow and anguish over what happened?"

Nosdyn shook his head. "No...not anymore. But it took N'Jal's power to help me move past my own sorrow and despair. I have missed you so much...but be at peace Illsandra. I have grown, I am not alone anymore."

"You have a purpose now..." She said to him., she was already fading into the aether.

He kissed her deeply at that point, tasting her one final time...

He was haunted by ghosts....but felt more at peace than he had in a very long time.

He awoke that day normally, like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulder and he kissed his wife's forehead.

He stepped outside of the chamber at the building they were staying at, during Llukai Lancaster's time in the Ettermire military...the boy made contacts and allies. They'd been able to rebuild the one of the old abandoned ghetto style houses of Etteremire into their personal base. They would be left alone.

Illsandra...Xyllea...ghosts of the past. The undead priestess who he'd met in Corone he also remembered.

Llukai was standing there with his woman looking at Nosdyn. Somehow, Llukai knew when Nosdyn would stir and awaken...

The two old friends nodded at one another. "Walk with me." Nosdyn said. He'd put on clothing before he left the chamber that he shared with Xelldra.

Llukai did so. "My father...I think about him a lot lately now."

"You look like him now, boy." Nosdyn said to Lancaster's son. "You have that same ferocity and intellect he had."

"When you first came to Ettermire...you took in me and my friends. Nobody else gave a shit about us." Lancaster's son frowned a moment.

Nosdyn walked over to the boy and placed his large hand on his shoulder. "Don't cling to the past as I once did...learn form it. Learn from past mistakes and past failures. It took me a contract with N'Jal to learn to be at peace with myself." Nosdyn said to Lancaster's son.

Llukai nodded. "Thank you instructor." The boy said carefully. "What's the plan for today?"

"No plan." Nosdyn suddenly said. "We go where ever the ebb of changes takes us. " He said to Llukai. He felt different those days...he no longer saw a group of N'Jal's followers even in himself...he saw a group of freed rebels, outcasts and exiles.

He walked over towards the chamber that his son, Tharak had set up his lab with his companion, Lilly. They were always there working on various projects with the students who were freed from N'Jal. He looked at his son. Tharak turned away from the lessons he was teaching his students and saw his father. The two nodded with profound respect to one another...

Later today we will talk... Nosdyn said the eyes said all. He smiled at his son and nodded once more, before he walked off with Llukai Lancaster.

Ettermire felt different...when he first arrived there the city itself was always at war against itself and against the exiled demon but that time there was a difference. He felt the vibration in the air, it was a city at peace with itself. Demon at peace with his own war.

Nosdyn found himself at the park where him and Xyllea used to train Llukai and his friends. Nosdyn looked at the park, where it all began.

Llukai understood what had guided the two of them there. "Instructor...we are here once more."

Nosdyn looked at his greatest student and nodded to him. "We are going to teach them more. There is a job that needs doing. A fuck left to give to these kids who don't have anything."

"The children of Ettermire." Llukai saw that Nosdyn was already taking off his vest and placing it in his pack.

Nosdyn looked at the orphaned sons and daughters of Ettermire. There was a circle there, a promise that needed to be fulfilled. Xyllea...Illsandra...I have not forgotten my promise to you both. They will be trained.

Nosdyn walked over to the kids. "You are not lost." Nosdyn suddenly said to them.

Llukai stood there, watching Nosdyn and his way of speaking..his mannerisms. Father...you two have made a man out of me. I am not a stupid boy from the slums anymore...

A century later...

Nosdyn awoke.

He was deep underground in a cave. Fitting. This is a cave for or a tomb...can't really tell the difference. He'd been cut off from N'Jal's forces long since prior when he first entered the coma like state. He had a splitting head ache. Thankfully, he was built to survive extreme traumas and extreme situations. It was his one blessing as a blue skinned orc. He looked around the cavern and noticed that his weapons were placed ahead of him.

He retrieved them a moment later. There was a presence he felt ahead, he narrowed his eyes. He noticed the robed Human woman

She turned towards him slowly. "You're finally awake." She said calmly. "I had to bring you to safety N'Jal's servants prowl this area."

Nosdyn blinked he couldn't understand the language that the woman spoke, it was not common tongue.

"Forgive me, you must have been asleep a very long time." She said in the perfect common tongue.

At that point, Nosdyn could understand her. "Where are we?"

"We're in a cave in the wilds of Alerar. By my reckoning you've been asleep a very long time. At least one hundred years." She said to Nosdyn. "N'Jal put you under a curse."

Nosdyn listened to the situation at hand. A century has passed, all my friends. Gone. He sighed.

"Nod if you understand what I am telling you." She commanded.

Nosdyn nodded.

He was alone once more.

"I had friends, allies. What happened to them?" Nosdyn asked he frowned at that point. He knew he would not like the answers.

She looked at him. "Your old life has been severed. I am here to offer you a choice, Seed of N'Jal."

"Go on." Nosdyn said in an unusually calm sort of way.

"Your kind is normally just killed. But you have been severed from N'Jal's command by some unknown means." She explained. "I am here to offer you a deal I nursed you this entire time, all century of it." The woman said calmly. "The least you could do is hear me out."

Nosdyn nodded. "You have my attention."

"See Nosdyn, it's like this." She started to lay down the deal.

A short while later, Nosdyn listened to the woman's offer.

In the past...he was usually the one making such offers but his mind noticed how interesting this situation was.

She gave him a choice he would help her cause or die like a dog. Nosdyn thought about what was stated...he wasn't sure why at that point. But he ended up accepting her offer. "I will help you." Nosdyn said with confidence.

"That is one less detail to worry about then." The woman said calmly. "I've prepared this small cave for you. As for your attire I took the liberty to give you new attire, your N'Jal marks have been destroyed. What I could have anyway...remember what I said normally you and your ilk are just killed." She explained.

"But you're afraid of me." Nosdyn said grimly.

"Yes. I am curious of your skill level and there is what I said earlier. You are somehow able to sever N'Jal's influence. I need to know how you do this thing with such ease." She said calmly.

"I can show you." Nosdyn said calmly.

A short time later...

"Interesting..." She began. "You are able to do it with something in your blood." She licked her lips at that point.

Nosdyn noticed that but said nothing. "Correct. So what happens now?" He asked.

"Most don't get a second chance Nosdyn. You start over, lead a clean life. Use this camp as your base. I am assigned to you and I will stay with you until the remainder of your days."

She had no idea of the nature of Nosdyn's power set.

He rejected her offer to throw herself physically at him.

Many woman had harmed him from Alerar at that point so his heart was cold.

"Why do you reject me? Am I not to your liking?" She asks.

"It's not that...I'm no longer interested in procreation not with you...not with anyone." He'd given himself fully to N'Jal and he had no more desire to procreate. The N'jal rites had tainted him completely.

She nods gently. "Okay." She took out her sword at that point. "Then you are of no use to me."

Nosdyn blinked for a moment. "Do you jest? You offer me redemption of some sort and then tell me no when I don't take you to my bed? Do you believe me daft?" He asks.

"No I don't think your daft, but I know how dangerous you are and I cannot have you moving about without a handler." She explains.

He shook his head in the negative. "I don't think so. You sit there, threaten me, and then expect everything to be okay? Your dealings with my people are very limited indeed, woman." He hisses.

She steps forward to attempt to attack him.

He skillfully disarms her with the teachings of N'Jal and captures her....

He tortures her for hours on end before she dies. Her screams were the stuff of legends, and he'd been trained by N'Jal herself, he'd had plenty of practice.

Age did not rust his technique.

When it was over he burns her body...

He was a grim demon by that point in his life, a century later.

He didn't need bullshit love, he didn't need relationships.

N'Jal had purged that desire from him long since.

N'Jal I miss you... He thinks where could she have been banished to. He makes it a point to go rescue his master, but there was other matters. That group that sent the woman to him...they were a guild of some sort.

He had to find out more in this new age of Althanas' history.

He considers his next move after he eats a full meal that day. He was alone, but he was not helpless.

Only the strong survive.

His Father had taught him that, N'Jal had given him the power to take without remoarse.

He steps out of the cave that day and looks around for a moment. It was an afternoon and the sunlight hurts his eyes a little, instinct or perhaps something more. He could sever his tie to N'Jal at will but he chooses not to.

The humans were all the same...

He raises his hood at that point.

Armed with his endurance, two maces, and his wits, he ventures into the wilds of Alerar.

His destiny had always been before him, but the women he'd encountered had made him weak....no more. Never again. He thinks.

From then on, Nosdyn was going to be the Demon his Father, Tharak had trained him to be.

He was Nosdyn Son of Tharak.

His eyes narrow he takes a look at the cave and burn his camp. There would be no evidence of it. He does that and then leaves....he'd spent too much time in cave networks. It was time to show the world...fear.

He holds the man against the wall grasping his throat.

"Are you going to tell me now?" He asks calmly.

The man was panicked by the Demon grabbing him, his Dark Elf face twisted in fear. "I don't know who sent those people to you..."

"Was only one woman so you do know." Nosdyn said as the man had made a tactical error.

He grabs one of his maces and begins to bludgeon the man.

Hours later he gets the information he needs...he pinpointed the Priesthood, a specific group.

After letting the man live...he didn't care about witnesses this time in his life...he proceeds to the temple where those of the priesthood lay in wait. He would have his revenge.