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"We'll see. You can make string from a lot of stuff y'know." Myrr said while returning to her meal.

Kaiser came back with two trays, looking at both as though they were conspiring against him. "What'd I miss?"

"Ah, nothing new." Kaiser said while resuming his lunch quietly.

There was a general commotion as a portal opened in the center of the compound. Kaiser and Myrr looked outside confused.

"An unscheduled portal?" Kaiser asked, confused.

"Dunno." Myrr said while checking for her weapon's hilt.

"C'mon. Let's go see what it is."

"More importantly, far harder to track." Auren said quietly.

Everyone was stunned into Silence by their leader stepping through, with the Queen in tow.

Auren held up a hand before the questions started. "I have returned but I'm all there is." he said quietly.

The Moonlight guild stared at him in shock.

Taking a moment to compose himself. "I fought with the finest men and women we had to offer. For three, three long years we fought. No rest, always sacrificing ourselves, dying far from home with no hope to return.

"We spilt our blood and tears for what? Simple gold? Well, yes, in the end that's what we're asked to do. However, what we fought, bled and died for was more then that, it was to allow another people to survive just one more day, to make it to the next safe area, to live. We were selling them life. Every man and woman who died on that campaign did it for a better cause then we can ever claim. They died doing the right thing." he finished. Shuddering lightly, he took a deep breath.

He went into his tale of the bravery and sacrifice of his own people at how they fought a nigh unstoppable horde of demons.

At the end of it, he was crying silently, weeping for all the violence he had saw, for all the friends he had lost in their heroic sacrifices.

The crowd was left stunned.

Auren smiled sadly, a soft smile that showed all the hurt he had carried with him.

"And to think, only I survived, only to bring home... this." Shuddering again and wiping his face, he steeled himself. "As such, I am stepping down from Command. The Trainers are going to form a council that will determine the fate of the guild." he announced.

"To you, I'm just a former comrade. Someone you can talk to and trust but do no more."

***

Kaiser glared at Hali. "Hush!" he snarled quietly. "I just found out that half of my friends whom I haven't seen in three years and will never see again died on a battlefield far from home, and we can't even bring back their bodies to give a proper burial."

Myrr was wide eyed, and stared at her left hand where a gold band decorated her ring finger.

Myrr slipped away from the crowd. She needed to be alone, and talk to Hali. She wasn't exactly close with anyone else, Kaiser was a good friend and all but he too wanted to be left alone.

In fact, most people scattered, wanting to be left alone or in the close company of friends.

Hunting down Hali, she sighed. "Hali, wanna take a walk with me?"

***

Auren discussed the change of leadership before turning back to Oriana. "Let's go home, I've done what I needed to do here."

Auren sighed. "I'm... Not sure. Most of the faces in the crowd I don't even recognize... We may have been under the same banner but..." the man shook his head. "And its going to be teleportation, sorry. It's... easier that way."

Auren didn't meet her eyes what so ever.


***

Myrr sat down at the edge of the pond and contemplated the reflective surface. "I was going to be so happy when the General came back but..." She stared at the ripples formed by her own tears dripping into the pools.