Valin Cataegis lies propped up a fountain in the main square of Abresi. There's a javelin in his side and a oozing wound through his right lung. The headsman stands to his right, the hooded girl in front of him.
He thinks about how he even got into this situation. He went down without much of a real fight, without honor or glory. A death not worth the singing, in his least favorite city. He never got to become a commanding officer. He never got to raise a family. He never even met his woman again after she abandoned him all those years ago.
The headsman stirs to his right, and Valin looks up through weary eyes at the hooded figure as she lets her hood fall. Allison, his love. Cheering on his death.