Rogura's Foreword

Foreword:

A brief period of total honesty before we get into the full of it. You are about to read tales about the expedition. The trials we took on to recover the prince. The great feats we accomplished. And in the glory of our survival, we may look like heroes. I may look like a hero.

I am no hero. I have fought with them, and I have sat by their side as they died in front of me,  but I am not one of them. If I was a hero, I would be dead. I would have died when my girlfriend was taken from me and the only chance to save her was to enter a mysterious portal half-drunk and kill an ageless spirit on my own. I would have died when our cruel caravan leader dragged an innocent woman off to be tormented for defending herself. A hero would have dove into that portal and slapped the caravan leader for daring to do such a thing. A hero would have died, heroically. I am no hero.

There are heroes among us who survived, but most of us were simply mortals. Desperate mortals, trapped in a prison of gods with no chance of escape. We squabbled with each other, made huge mistakes and only escaped failure by inches, every time. If it were not for the assistance of others and my own stubborn selfishness, I would have died eight times over. But perhaps we are better off for our ineptitude and selfishness. The most powerful among us when the trip started all died in that wretched place. Eager to seize and wield power, making them easy targets. We who survived had time to learn, time to form friendships, time to know when to stand strong and slay the demons or run for cover. Do not adore us for being heroes. Adore us for being survivors, a trait that shall serve mortalkind well in the coming centuries.

Finally, this book is dedicated to my loving wife, Maggie; to those friends who survived with me; those who sacrificed their lives so that we may survive; and to Oricalla, who was no true friend, but stood with me against certain death nonetheless, and whose soul suffers for it. If I cannot save you, then I pray you find peace in what lies beyond.