There are endings, Reader, and this is one: a victory . . . and a defeat. A victory because we turned back the Scourge of Earth and its army. A defeat because no victory—no change—comes without loss. A defeat because so many thousands lay dead in the city of Deira and in the skies above it and beneath its Wall. A defeat because thousands more were taken to serve and fodder the Pale armies of the enemy. And a defeat because it cost me my secrecy. As I stood in the shadow of that cyclopean gate, I knew . . . . . . there was no going back.
