End of Aeryck, The

The End
 * -''by Aeryck

((One of two possibilities I shall write out for Aeryck.))

His red hair had long since silvered, though green eyes glimmered bright from the craggy, worn face. She, still fair and bright as the day they had met, some 60 years previous, smiled as she helped him walk haltingly out to the old tree outside of town.

He'd seen so much in his life, the defeat of Arthas and the Scourge, the crushing of the new Qiraji threats, a still tentative, but more lasting peace over the land. Peace in his heart too.

It was time and they both knew it. Tears glimmering in her eyes, she helped him settle down by the trunk, then sat herself beside him.

"A beautiful day, love."

"That it is, dearest." She choked up momentarily, then goes on in a whisper. "Can't you stay a bit longer? I love you so much...."

"We both knew this day would come, even all that time ago. And now, I am old, tired, in pain, and there is no cure for it." His chest twinges and he catches his breath. "Let me go, dear. I'll see you again."

She, weeping, smiles and caresses the lines on his cheeks, leaning over to hug him tight. "I know. It's just hard, dear..." she breaks down for a moment, and he reaches up a quivering hand to stroke her hair, her cheek, her lips. "I love you, Aeryck. Rest."

"I love you, too." His chest twinges again, harder this time, as she kisses him for the last time. He inhales deeply of her, and memories of races through the wilds, battles beyond count, and lastly a night in Teldrassil, all flicker up and he smiles in wonder. He exhales and falls limp in her arms.