In Remembrance

[KeidenSilex]

In Remembrance

230th day of Lakeshine, 424 ACE

Kei was quiet as he sat against the balcony railing of his home in Aerilon Village, his wolf he had called his companion for some time now sat beside him. There was a lot on the young man’s mind, after the news only a day or so ago.

Kingdom of Aerilon’s leader had decided to step down, wanting to return to the simple life of a citizen, leaving Kei himself in charge of the whole nation. He hadn’t been sure how to take the news, but whether he felt ready or not, he had accepted the role. Now, he was the leader of Kingdom of Aerilon.

He sighed softly as his semi-blind gaze lifted up to the stars above. Admittedly, he was okay with this. He had been setting up plans for the future, that might not have involved Aerilon, but it seemed fate had other ideas for him. Guess the plans he’d had could be severely moved up now.

“Right mess we’ve ended up in, eh Jubilee?” Kei said, looking down at the wolf next to him. The light grey and white canine lifted her head to him and her tail started wagging. Kei chuckled and turned his head to look over the village before him.

Well, this was his mess to deal with now. And he had some changes in mind already.

It had... always felt a bit odd for the nation to be called Kingdom of Aerilon, yet then have a village named after it. Thing is, did he change the name of the nation, or the village? Looking at the village before him, he just didn’t have the heart to change it’s name. The name just felt like it fit.

So, name of the nation it was. But what to call it? No doubt he could come up with any name he wanted, but in a way, he already had a name in mind.

“Mm, what do you think, Jubilee? Should we change the name of the nation or not?” Kei asked, looking back at his wolf with a raised eyebrow. Jubilee tilted her head and gave a confused whine. Kei smiled and lightly shook his head, not really sure why he was asking her, but he had no one else to voice his questions to.

Looking back up at the stars, a slightly forlorn look crossed his scarred face.

“What would you think, old friend? Bet naming it after you would get a giggle out of ye, wouldn’t it, Zalkeor?” He asked to the sky, then he flinched heavily and hissed with pain.

A sharp pain stabbed through his left eye, causing him to clasp a hand over the eye patch covering it. He’d been having problems ever since that damned fall in Kimara Cave. Things hadn’t been too bad before that. An occasional flashback, maybe a nightmare here or there, and sometimes some phantom pain in his chest or his face. But then Kimara Cave happened. The fall seemed to have triggered something in his mind; now the nightmares were more frequent with the phantom pains following right after for a short time, and often when he thought of his old world pain shot through his left eye which would shift into a nasty migraine shortly after.

It hadn’t made things easy ever since the fall, but it was slowly becoming a part of his life now in this world.

Slowly, the sharp pain subsided as a migraine began to build, a huff leaving the young man. Then he felt a nudge in his side, and looking down with a squint, he saw Jubilee nudging him worriedly. A pained yet amused huff left him and he gently pet the top of her head.

“I’m alright Jubilee. I’m alright. Let’s get in and get some rest. We got quite the day ahead for us.” Kei said softly, reassuring the concerned wolf as he slowly moved to stand. Jubilee barked and trotted inside the house. Kei carefully followed her, doing his best not to make himself dizzy from the migraine in the process. He paused in the doorway though, turning to look back out at the village.

He could only hope the previous leader wouldn’t mind the changes he was going to make for the nation. He had been rather kind and nice to him since he first joined the nation, and now he had put such trust in him to lead it after stepping down. A part of him did hope he didn’t disappoint him.

After a moment, he sighed and turned to head inside. “Guess we’ll see what this simple miner can do.”