So there was an afterlife. Who knew? A heavy weight seemed to hold his eyelids closed. He fought against it. If this was heaven, he wanted a look. At last he managed to crack his eyes open. He promptly closed them again. He thought he might have been rewarded for his self-sacrifice but if the less than angelic face he saw was any indication he’d been sent to somewhere far less like paradise. “I wondered if you were going to stay asleep forever,” a gruff voice said. Nieko moaned. He knew that voice. “Leave him alone,” another voice murmured. He knew that voice too. Eora. Had his efforts been futile after all? But why would she be in hell? She hadn’t done anything wrong. He felt a warm hand wrap around his cold one. “You leave Nieko alone,” she repeated. “He’s a hero. He can take all the time he wants to recover.” Hero? Recover? Nieko thought for a moment. If Eora thought he needed to recover then he couldn’t be dead. His eyes snapped open. Eora stood by his side.
