Look for the sweet summer days

The day that the dreaded countdown had been leading to had finally arrived. The warm sunny days of summer had faded into cloudy and dreary weeks, a prequel to winter that Boreas was now on the eve of. The air had changed, the smell crisp and colder, and mornings had the all too familiar chill to frost on it. As the autumn drew to a close, so too did Artorias' time in the Armada. He had learned much from Sirius, seen the Warlord in action in daily routines and in times or crisis. He'd faced someone he thought an enemy and found reconciliation. He had seen a darker side of the world and bought a slave to free her from the torment she'd endured. He'd gotten closer to Briar and met her family. Now he could return home to resume his role as Baron, well equipped in practical knowledge, a little more worldly, and far more mature than when he'd arrived on these grass plains that would always feel like home to him.

Artorias had finished packing up the last of his belongings, donned his armor, slung Embershard across his back, and stepped out into the cool morning. He took one last lingering look back into the barracks that had been his home for the last season and smiled. Briar and Lia were already waiting for him outside, and he met both ladies with a warm smile and a touch of sadness in his amber eyes. He didn't want to leave either of them; Briar, his love, and Lia, the wolf he had saved. Knowing it would be the better part of a year before he saw them again made their farewell all the more sore. He would just have to hold out for them, ensure the Hallows was perfect for them when they arrived. Tears would be shed now for an eternity of smiles soon enough. That was what would keep him going through the cold of winter.

He didn't ask if they were ready to see him off; he knew that if given the choice, Briar and Lia would have followed him to the Hallows right there and then. It was very tempting to lead them off too. But he knew Briar's place was with her family, especially right now when they were facing down the barrel of a difficult season. This winter would be a challenge for the Armada and the Fatalis family. They would always have an ally in the pack to the south though, and with the blue-furred boy who would gaze north every day to come, ready to come if they called. When they arrived at the western border of Armada lands, Artorias paused, standing between two worlds as he gazed out to the road back home, then back into the rolling sea of hills and grass of the Armada—and into the cool turquoise and warm orange-brown eyes of his girls.

"Well, I guess this is it..." said Artorias, not exactly sure how to begin a goodbye as emotionally impactful as this one no doubt would be. He turned to face Briar and Lia, giving them all of him in these final minutes. He gave a weak chuckle and a bashful smile, letting them both have whatever goodbyes they wanted with him. He had things on his heart he wanted to say to them both, but as his mothers had taught him, ladies first.

"Artorias Sirius Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"