It had been nearly a year since the defeat of Jacyn Ravenlock, who had committed several acts of atrocity in the name of unadulterated revenge.

Acts that had affected not only the family he had worked so hard to enact that revenge upon, but an entire city and its defenders as well. Several lives had been lost, and more damage than many had ever known, not only on a physical level, but mentally as well.

And it would have been so much worse than anyone would have ever imagined, had it not been for the many who had taken a stand against Jacyn and his dark forces. Some of those took that stand in plain sight for everyone to speak of, while others were not so fortunate and had to take that stand in places that were not so pleasant and more so, situations that were even less.

Working together"be it planned or no, each of these 'stands" resulted in the utter defeat of Jacyn and his forces.

However, there was another stand that many were not aware of.

A stand that resulted in the literal crippling of Jacyn's "Ebon' forces, allowing those who stood against those forces, to finally have an even playing field and more so, overwhelm those dark forces that sought to destroy all that had opposed them.

It had begun with a man"a simple smith, as he would tell you.

A man who had delved into the very depths of Jacyn's depravations and through that, was able to save not only himself, not only the many"but his own daughter as well. A daughter who had unwittingly, created the very weapon that had given Jacyn the edge over all that had stood against him.

The Ebonsteele.

It is because of this simple smith and the daughter he saved, that the Ebonsteele had been shattered, and through that—- all of Jacyn's forces as well.

Very few had ever known of this man's role within the chaos that was Jacyn's fall, and he never sought thanks, or praise for those efforts.

Efforts that Brian Ravenlock had never forgotten, nor would the Ravenlock Patriarch ever forget the incredible efforts of the'simple smith.

The man known as Kruger.

So there Brian was, searching for the man who had been so instrumental, in regards saving so many.

Because he wanted to let the man know"

Just how much it had all meant to him, and his family.

"Those posters are a bit out of date, still they carry a damned good likeness. I admit, I have a few tucked away myself. They even had one framed in the watch station lobby for some reason, twisted sense of humor, that lot."

Brian took that hand in a firm shake, as he smiled to Kruger. It was a genuine smile indeed, made more so apparent as Brian's other hand also grasped that of the smith, in gratitude. Releasing the man's hand, Brian took a quick glance about the shop a moment. It was impressive, to say the very least. Everything Ahnika had said it was and so much more, as Brian note the welling of power in this place. It was"tangible and somewhat familiar.

The greeting snapped Brian back from his thoughts, as he nodded to Kruger once more. "Please Kruger, call me Brian if that's alright. There's no "Mister" anything about me, an the such." Brian in turn sized the smith up, taking into regard what Ahnika had told him and what else he had gathered from Kruger's affiliation with the group known as the "Guardians", who also took one of those stands against Raven's forces, even if it was not widely known.

"Armor?" Brian said with a soft voice.

"Kruger, you're right. I am here because of armor. More specifically, I am here because of what you've done with a particular type of armor."

Brian's eyes looked directly to Kruger's own, "Ebonsteele."

"Kruger, Ahnika told me everything" And it is an amazing set of events, that you and she found yourselves within. How you managed to do what you did, I will never know"I can't even fathom it, and I say that because at one time long ago, I was also a bearer of the steele as well. Like Raven, and Ahnika and many others. But like very few, specifically Ahnika and another called Garet, we did not have to 'die" to gain, what the ebon offered. And while my own "gifts" were a sick and twisted legacy, based on such suffering, Ahnika and Garet's were something else entirely. Still, we all were prisoners of those gifts—- that was, until you freed us, Kruger."

Brian turned moment, taking in the sight of the forge"

"I saw some of what happened there, you know. I saw Mistianne, and what Ahnika had to endure to free her mother. I saw what you did for her, your own daughter, no less. I felt your remorse, and your sheer will"and I was brought to my knees, Kruger. Such revelations, that would have shifted a lesser man, and you kept that line, Kruger. You held that line in check, and took it as your own and in doing so, you gave life to death."

Brian regarded Kruger once more, "You save us all, Kruger."

"You not only saved us, you freed us. In doing so, you shifted the complete balance of that campaign, allowing Raven's forces to be routed on all fronts. What you did saved so many lives, and while Ahnika knew you would not want recognition for what you did, I had to come here and tell you—- how much your actions meant to not only myself, but my family and the city as a whole. I wanted to thank you in person, Kruger and I apologize this wasn't sooner. Ahnika thought enough time had passed, that was I able to do so without causing you any problems."

"She's a special girl, that daughter of yours," Brian said with a smile, as he continued.

"The property is something else I wanted to discuss with you, if that's alright. Especially now that we have regained that they had seized. The area where the ebon forge is /was?"

Brian easily saw the tension in Kruger, when he had spoken of what had transpired within the Ebon Forge, all that time ago. The furrowed brows also lent credence to the fact that Brian had touched a nerve, even if he had not meant to. Watching the smith turn from him and move further into the forge, Brian sincerely hoped he had not offended the man who had done so much for everyone else at such peril to himself, and much more.

The truth was, Brian could relate to the man in many ways.

The praise that assaulted the senses" The stiffening of muscles, upon hearing such things. Things that one would feel, were hardly ever deserved in the first place.

Kruger turned, and spoke once more and Brian listened quite intently upon what the man had to say, taking in each word over and again. When Kruger had finished, and invited him in further, Brian had nodded and followed suit.

It was then that he felt a much better understanding of the man called Kruger.

"Kruger, what you did was hardly mere luck and I believe you know that. Despite your reactions to what I have said so far. You know damned well, no one else could have done what you did in there. Not Ahnika, not Raven, sure as hell not myself. I mean that, Kruger. No other person would have ever been able to have done that on their best of days."

Brian paused for a moment, and then continued.

"Worthy' Hell, are any of us really worthy' I know for sure I am not worthy of the wife I have—- the family that still somehow supports me after all this time. A city that has taken me and my own back time and again, regardless of the chaos that seemed to center around myself over the last two years or so. Honestly, Kruger—- men like us, aren't worthy at all" In our own eyes at least, and yet'someone or something deems that we are somehow worthy of those things we are blessed with. Despite our constant objections to such things. In short, it doesn't really matter what the hell we think at the end of the day, cause someone else will come along and say differently."

Brian moved closer, and took a lean on a nearby table.

"Your heart isn't as black as you would think, then again we are our own worst enemies when it comes to judging ourselves are we not' So you are not so different from Jacyn, eh' That makes two of us, and I can find another dozen or so "heroes" in this very city who are in fact not only much like Jacyn, some are worse than he could ever be. Jacyn was my brother and I loved him dearly' He—- He took that relic, that gauntlet and things changed"terribly. He turned into something I couldn't recognize, and he"he killed his own wife, and in turn I had stop him and did so, by taking his hand and that relic?"

"But I couldn't finish the job, Kruger" I faltered, and left him alive, when I should have killed him. Then I lied to his daughter"my own niece. We took her in as one of our own, and I lied to her day in and out. I told her how great he was, and how he loved her mother so much. How he regretted so much of what he had done, and I lied in regards to how things had ended. I lied to my wife, I lied to my family too. Jacyn, was my secret. A secret that I knew somehow, or somewhere was still out there."

"A secret that bit me square in my @ss" And did so because I failed to do what needed to be done, and then covered it up for years, until he made himself known in the worst of ways, and cost so many people so very much."

Brian sighed a bit, and nodded to the man once more.

"Kruger we can go back and forth about being unworthy, and black hearts and what we wouldn't do for our loved ones. It still won't change, who or what we truly are inside and out."

Brian pulled a parchment from his pocket, it was folded, and rather worn. Unfolding it he held it towards Kruger, "This is the deed to that lot the Ebon Forge sits under. You are the master of that forge Kruger, and that land is yours by right. I believe that the fires of life, can be wrought form that dark place and I know of no other person more worthy, or capable to at least attempt such an endeavor. More so, I know of no one else I want to personally help more so, in that same endeavor. You don't have to if you don't want to, but the forge belongs to you no matter what. You are its master.?