With the artifact secured, it was finally time to leave the ruined Fortress behind, so I began to scale the massive inner wall.
There was no need to climb the precarious watchtower this time; since I was simply looking for a quick exit, the crumbled masonry and scattered boulders formed a wonderfully chaotic staircase. I used the debris to vault upward quickly until I reached the crest of the ancient perimeter wall.
Standing high above the grounds, I cast one final, brief look back down into the shadowy courtyard of the Fortress.
Apollina.
She had lived right here for couple years.
Truthfully, I did not know exactly what her life had been like in those early days. The details of Apollina's era were actually quite blurry and romanticized in the royal archives. Very little truth was recorded about the woman herself, which was exactly why I had been so surprised by how cheerful and outgoing her spirit had been when I first encountered her within the Flame.
