Moonspear There will be no more stories after this one.

He breathed in deep, exhaled in a shaky sigh. Part of him wished for it to be over soon and another fought to hold on, to prolong the suffering so he could deliver a more meaningful farewell. Dacio looked up at the two she-wolves, his most beloved sister and his young charge - they'd seen enough death of those who mattered in their lifetimes. It wasn't fair that they had to experience it all again.

A whine rasped through gritted teeth and as Praimfaya managed to speak the words of their kin - your fight is over.

He didn't fear it, but it didn't mean he wanted to go. It wasn't how Dacio had envisioned his own demise, having been born and raised to die with honour on the battlefield. As a boy he fancied that war would've robbed him of life long before age ever did, so to die of a rotted wound was a whole new insult. He'd spent days damning the bitch who'd inflicted him but as those final ones swept by in his decline, the fallen Gona grew too tired to care. His focus instead turned to the here and now, to the wolves who held his heart.

He thought fondly of @Hydra and @Dirge, who'd welcomed Dacio and his kin into their home with arms wide open. He considered the sharp @Lyra who tried her best by him, and hoped she would not blame herself for the grim outcome. His mind turned to @Osiris, the boy he'd saved in the glen who thrived and improved as time went on. He recalled the Drageda wolves of his past: his mentor Blixen, his dear father, his beautiful mother, the cousins he'd grown up alongside, Tirgatao, Artaax, Furi, Helix, everyone who'd been dear to him - even Heda, who he hoped would have him to join her geda on the other side.

He wondered what became of the natrona: Sequoia, Dalia and her litter, the brother Sirio he'd never known, Kiwi, Aure, Eastwood. So many who'd wronged and disappointed him, and in the grand scheme of things it all didn't seem to matter now. Dacio would not carry those resentments into the afterlife, he hoped, so that he might begin anew.

He thought of @Solaris, who he was certain he could've loved; @Huā who likely carried his young, someone he doubted he'd ever have seen again; @Raleska... fearful, innocent Raleska, daughter of his greatest enemy, and the likely mother of cubs he wouldn't have hesitated to claim. They would serve as his legacy, and as his tired eyes found the tearful gaze of his sister, he hoped she might find them.

"You were meant to be my grounding to this world," he crooned to his companions, the love he felt for them clear in the thickness of his voice, "and even death cannot keep us apart. Remember me. Never forget what you'll always mean to me." That was how he'd survived, after all: by reminding himself that there was always a reason to carry on, as long as he was loved.

His heart skipped an uncomfortable beat and, as Opalia buried her gilded muzzle among the platinum of his furs, Dacio squeezed his eyes shut. Her touch pained him, sent flames licking through every pore, but he wouldn't deny her closeness. He needed it too, regardless of the ache deep in his bones. "I love you both," the broken warrior managed, and slackened as exhaustion crept up on him once more, "don't lose each other."

There was glory to be found in Hydra's war, he felt, more than enough for each of them. More than he ever deserved.