[ WP ] After several battles with the gods , and the loss of many of his comrades , a farmer-turned-warrior finally manages to complete the ritual to free the soul of his dead wife from the abyss . She does n't like what he has become .

Just a warning: it's pretty long. 
 
 Alund stared at the tiny gem for what seemed ages. Within it swirled brilliant imperfections that never stopped changing, and it seemed that hidden amid that cloud there was a light as brilliant as the sun shining outward, creating an aura that could almost lift the stifling dark that surrounded him. At his feet lay the beast tasked with guarding the gem, slain after a long battle that claimed the life of his final companion. 
 
 For months he had searched for this long lost crystal, a fragment of a much larger meteorite that had plummeted from the heavens. The great rock had destroyed much life upon shattering against the earth, and chaos had reigned for years as people went in search of the fragments. Great power was bestowed upon any who managed to find the crystals, and with this great power nations arose and were fell. Finally, after over a decade of turbulence, the Gods intervened and sealed the remaining pieces of the meteor in hidden locations all around the world. 
 
 Now Alund held one such crystal in his hand, and he could feel the magic radiating into him. He closed his eyes, and it was like reading an instruction manual on how to use the stone. He simply understood, at his most basic of levels, how to make his wish come true. And so, with neither hesitation nor contemplation, he threw the crystal to the ground shattering it. 
 
 And then Alund was in the sunlight. His eyes were still closed, but he could feel the warmth of the sun shining upon him. Between his fingers and under his palm he could feel warm grass, and in the distance there was a sound he'd not heard since he and his companions had set out on their long and arduous journey- laughter. 
 
 In the shade of an oak tree he found his bride, as beautiful and seemingly untouched by time as she had been the day of their marriage. A dog sat beside her, licking at her hangs as she tried to pet him, sending her into fits of laughter every time. Then she looked up and saw Alund, and her laughter died in her throat. 
 
 For the first time in months Alund truly looked at himself. Where once he wore simple farmer's cloth there now was cold steel. When he walked it was the slow saunter of killer, his hand never far from a properly aligned blade. He remembered vaguely that he had once worn his hair long and free, but now his head was shaved. And all over him was blood- blood that was not his. 
 
 `` My love,'' He stammered as she gazed horrified up at him `` Is this real? Can it be true?'' 
 
 Alund fell to his knees in front of her, his eyes already full of tears. 
 
 `` I dare not touch you for fear that I dream, and the wanting for that dream to never fade.'' 
 
 The horror faded to sadness, and from sadness to pity as realized what her love had become in her absence. When she spoke it was soft, a breeze rustling leaves and creating waves in the graze. 
 
 `` This is no dream, though I realize now that I have been asleep for a long, long time. What have you done, my love, what have you done to become such a thing as this? What has our love endured for you to come to me in such a sorry state as this?'' 
 
 The words stung. Alund had pictured the reuniting of their marriage as something magical, as a rekindling of their love. He stared at his hands, bound in cloth and metal and covered in cuts and callouses. When he looked back up at her there was no more oak tree, and the dog was gone. Now they were back in that dark pit he'd found the crystal in, but they were alone. No bodies lay anywhere near. 
 
 `` I have endured hell to bring you back to earth. I banded with a company of strong, good men, and together we plunged into the den of the Gods themselves. I alone survived.'' 
 
 She inched near him, seemingly oblivious to the changes in her environment. She drew one hand down his face, gently caressing him. 
 
 `` I plunged into the abyss with only fear, only one *thought*: what would become of my beloved? And now I see my dear is gone. A hardened soldier sits in his stead, come to retrieve me for him. But that soldier has taken his place, has he not? Does the man I loved still live? How many died with him to lift my soul from the abyss of death?'' 
 
 Alund did not answer. He knew that the scales were tipped the wrong way. He knew he had to balance them. He closed his eyes, and focused on her hand on his cheek, wondering why it was cold. Trying to remember if this is what it felt like before, and wondering why he felt so hollow after accomplishing so much. 
 
 `` The power you used to bring me back... I know how grand that strength must be. I am not truly here, my love. Even if you brought me back I would be this forever, a spectre, an elfin fay forever wandering the worlds of man. And you would be my wraith. Never would we be happy. Never would the world be as it was before.'' 
 
 `` But it *could be*'' he muttered back, eyes still closed. And even as he said them he knew they rang false. 
 
 Alund opened his eyes and the world around him had become a graveyard. The stone in front of him was his wife's. All the way down the lane of headstones were names he recognized, friends that had fallen on the way to this conclusion. All dead. This is why the Gods had hidden the stones, to prevent the death and desolation that accompanied them as the greed and fear of men took hold of that power. 
 
 But Alund knew he could stand above it. Knew that, with the words of his beloved ringing in his ears, he could make a positive impact on the world. Dead was dead, but there were thousands that yet lived. Hundreds that would die that he could save. The power of the crystal resonated inside of him, and he knew that it could be done. That he could be something great. 
 
 So he left the armor where he'd been standing. Dropped the sword he had worn for so many months on his friend's grave. And started walking, hoping to answer some of the prayers that the God's so cruelly ignored. 

