Rein was standing in the ruins of the very last dragon's lair. The echoes of the battle had still not faded from the air. His body was battered and bruised but it was strangely light in spirits. Where all that about rage was gone now it was leaving him with deep, aching sadness.
He had done what he intended; he had killed the dragons. But in killing them, he lost something much dearer: himself.
As Rein walked from the lair, the weight of his actions settled in. The world was now quiet-no longer under the tyranny of the dragons-but it felt empty with the silence. He had become the very thing he had fought against-a vengeance-driven person willing to sacrifice everything for a cause that eventually did not give him true peace.
He would hear the words of the dragon ring in his mind, reminding him that this was the path he had chosen for himself and the cost of the victory he had gained: there was no glory in vengeance, not peace in destruction.
But perhaps, in time, Rein would learn rebuilding, not just the world around him but also himself.