Samuel gently dragged out the bodies wrapped in the flags and put them down on the floor, the moment he was done he took several steps back and simply stared at the bodies. Tere'he was quick to get up and walk over to the smaller one as memories came haunting.
She unveiled the head and silently wept over her 'daughter' while Bregane slowly walked forward and stood next to Samuel gritting his teeth all he needed to see was a red scale as he unveiled some of the other one.
It was as if he had to confirm it, without a word he angrily stormed out of the room and didn't come back. Sonya slowly walked forward and held both her hands on top of her mouth. She looked horrified before bursting into tears herself.
The hours went by and a small team of mages eventually excused their presence and took the bodies. Tere'he had long since collapsed out of exhaustion and sorrow, Sonya did nothing except for sit on a chair in silence for hours.
A soldier came by and Samuel stepped out to listen to whatever he had to say, apparantely Bregane had assaulted the commander of the flagship and had been restrained and sent back to the college where he was in prison.
A few hours later Samuel made sure to get both the women back to the college by using the teleportation circle in the local mage magistrate. The entire fleet had made its way back by then and many were celebrating a victory, while many others mourned their fallen friends and allies.
Those that had been sent on the west side were sour and angry, they had taken the largest hit and lost the most. Samuel could sympathize with them, but he had to take care of his own.
Getting back to the mage college took all of Tere's strength and she collapsed in the chamber of dimensions where Samuel handed her off into the care of the college. Which left only Sonya and Samuel standing in silence.
He sighed and grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. She looked at him with a sad expression, like a lost child that didn't know where to go. Thankfully for Samuel when he arrived at their house, there was a purple devilkin waiting in front of it.
Samuel knew he recognized her from somewhere and was putting his finger on it when the woman rushed forward and Sonya met her halfway, Lady Krissa Excavar, Sonya's mother.
Krissa gave Samuel a nod before leaving with her daughter. Which left Samuel all by himself, almost by himself. As he stepped into the house Night jumped forward out of his shadow and jumped up a table and just sat there in silence.
"You know, I was always a really bad friend! I hardly noticed when my friends were in trouble or how my actions affected them!" Samuel said out loud, and the tiny shadow dragon nodded along, "Yes but you learned." She silently spoke as he sat down on a couch.
His eyes grew misty and tired, he covered his face with his hands and felt a few tears falling but he stayed strong enough to not completely break down, even when all the memories of the shenanigans they had shared together came flying.
He switched between the pain of reality and the happiness of memories as he laughed when he remembered all the good and fun times they had shared. Night only crept up and lay down next to him, shifting her weight against him.
He eventually tired himself out enough to fall asleep. He dreamt of a blue and white wolf on a grassy meadow, the wolf was growling and baring it's teeth at him, blaming him in an echo of his own voice.
He tried to reply but the wolf just kept hammering, how he squandered the gift and if he learned to properly use every side of himself he could have saved Erica in time, but now he had to live down with the consequences.
Samuel woke up feeling sweaty and realized it was still early morning, he had slept for no longer than a few hours. Night looked at him the minute he woke up, "I think I just got chewed out by a part of myself I didn't know existed!" Samuel told her and shared the dream via mindlink.
She tilted her head in confusion, "I wouldn't know! Sorry!" She seemed dejected, sad and tired so Samuel scooped her up into a big ol hug. "Thank you for being here with me!"
Night was about to reply when she felt a few drops of water hitting her so she said nothing and instead only did her best to embrace him back, her desire to hug him instead of having those scaly arms grew so intense.
That for a few moments Samuel looked up in confusion at the shadow elf suddenly embracing him, many draconic features were still there, but only after a few seconds the elf had gone back into a small shadow dragon that was asleep.
"I think I just figured out what you used to look like!" Samuel whispered and lay to memory the grayskinned beauty with dark green hair and draconic scales covering a lot of her body. Almost like a black scaled hide armor.
Samuel continued to pat the sleeping dragon that was suddenly exhausted before making something to eat. He was starving, everywhere he looked he would remember Erica and it made him sigh.
"She is truly gone huh..." Samuel sighed and made his food and had to force some of it down even though he was hungry. He had to continue walking forward, he wished that he would have tried to get to know her better, he would want to know what some of her biggest wishes were.
He would try his best to fulfill them for her, maybe Sonya or Tere'he knew - but he had no intention to ask them about it for quite some time. He didn't want to go through any of Erica's belongings either.
He had a little bit of self respect to uphold at least. In the middle of his thoughts he was interrupted by a knock on the door, he opened the door and was surprised to find a Praetorian that was holding his helmet underneath his arm.
"I am sorry to disturb you, but I have a high confidential letter for you. Please read it!" The half elven soldier spoke. Samuel did as instructed and broke the seal of the letter and quickly opened it.
The contents of the letter made Samuel grit his teeth. "So I am meant to go to a state court regarding the latest mission, where both the High Command and High Masters will be judges?" Samuel questioned loudly and the Praetorian shrugged.
"Not for me to say yes or no, but a calling is a calling no matter what. You have been called as a witness and need to find yourself there at the appropriate time." The soldier equipped his feathered helmet and gave a quick nod before taking his leave.
Samuel slammed the door shut, "So they have called me as a witness to the success of the mission because of how well I performed, hoping to shut me up with promises of promotion and riches probably. They want me to go against my own mentor, I will fucking show those bastards!"
Samuel finally found somewhere to direct his sorrow and anger, he would tell the state what really happened at the west side, screw all promises of gold and rank... Samuel wanted none of that.
Samuel got himself cleaned up properly and washed his hair out of blood fully before cutting it down a little bit, he wanted to look presentable for the court, so he took his best official Gillfall cape and wore the attire so it matched with the college clothing.
He took a good look at himself in the mirror, he looked tired but presentable enough for where he was headed, Night came strutting into his room looking a bit more chipper than usual. "Something good happened?" Samuel spoke while looking himself in the mirror and removing a few loose pieces of hair.
"I remembered my name! My name is Alyssa Nightfall!" She was full of pride when she spoke her name. "Thats nice! Thats a beautiful name, but did you remember anything else?" Samuel spoke with the first genuine smile he could muster without any underlying sorrow.
"Sorry but no!" She spoke, "But I wouldn't mind it if you kept calling me Night!"
"Really now?" Samuel said in surprise, "Allll right then Nighty, I will be going to a big court where a big trial is held soon. So you should hide yourself in the deepest shadow you can! Alright?" He smirked as he turned around and knelt down to her.
Night nodded and gave him a head bump before turning into a part of his shadow. Samuel nodded proudly as he took one last look at himself in the mirror, then he quickly took his leave to attend a courtroom.
A regular trip down to the house of dimensions that led him down to the city, the location he was given was the official state courthouse and when he arrived he certainly hadn't anticipated the size of the building.
It was a huge building, almost as large as the main college building with its many classrooms and training halls. He entered inside where there was a que, a clerk approached him quickl and asked what errand he was there to attend.
Samuel shrugged and showed the seal of the letter which made the clerk quickly give an excuse and fetch some guards that showed him the rest of the way. They walked on for quite a bit before stopping in front of a big door that was guarded by several soldiers.
Samuel showed one his letter and they read it and nodded. They opened the door for him and told him where he should take a seat, so Samuel walked in and saw a huge courtroom. It could probably fit a hundred spectators.
There were many seats for judges and jury and defendants and victims and witnesses. So Samuel simply did as instructed and took a seat, there were several other people in the room already - but they all ignored new people arriving which Samuel soon realized there were plenty of people arriving.
Until the big shots finally arrived.