It had been two long days since the Battle of Vergen. Smoke still clung to the mountains, mingling with the scent of blood and burnt steel. Saskia stood atop the broken ramparts, her armor dented, her blade nicked, but her back unbent. Below her, dwarves hauled the wounded from the fields while elven scouts buried their dead. The banners of the Free Pontar fluttered weakly in the wind — tattered, but not fallen.

She exhaled slowly. It had been been victory, but at what cost? Blood spilled for only a wish to be free and equal. While the cost of freedom hung over her, she would fight for it again and then again. But now that price had been paid. They were free, now elves, dwarves and human had a place where they could co-exist.