The most horrible thing has happened! Last Laugh has broken into hundreds of pieces.
It was during the fight with the goblins. Rhavin and I were hacking through them up in front. I was swinging with all my might, but they kept coming on and trying to swarm over us. All these dirty, greasy goblin hands grabbing at us. We were killing them fast, and dead goblins were piling around our feet, but they kept coming, crawling over their dead and wounded. I like a good fight as much as anyone, but fighting hordes of goblins in a dark tunnel, covered in goblin goo was not my idea of a good fight. I was afraid we would drown in goblins, but I just clenched my teeth and hunkered down to the job of goblin-killing.
All of a sudden, I heard a cry from behind, where Kariya had been casting these big bolts of lightning (which, by the way, made as little impact on the goblin charge as Rhavin and I-- in other words, lots of Goblins were dead, but more kept coming). Kariya was in trouble!
If I've learned anything on my adventures, it's that wizards and priests and stuff are really useful. I couldn't begin to list the times that they were able to just blow up things that were in our way or trying to kill us or something. Not to mention that we'd all be really dead if it weren't for Nikita and Jven. But the most important thing is: wizards and priests and stuff can't do much if something kills them. And something was trying to kill Kariya right now! A giant stone Drugdear had somehow made its way to the back of the party and was attacking Kariya-- she could barely defend herself, and she needed help quick. I ran back there, trying to shake off the goblins hanging on to me. I was so scared for her, I didn't even feel them biting and clawing me as I went (afterward, I learned that nothing hurts worse than a goblin bite-- those dirty little teeth!).
Now that big Drugdear had someone its own size to pick on. It was the biggest we'd seen yet-- its head brushed the ceiling. It had a big hammer that it was using to try to smash me into a pulp-- better me than Kariya!
I figured, the bigger it was, the easier it would be to hit and struck a mighty blow. It felt like hitting a big rock, and made my arms numb so I almost dropped Last Laugh. But it seemed to hurt the Drugdear, and I guess it was pretty scared that it had to fight someone who could give as good as they got.
It looked weak, and I swung again. And Last Laugh broke into a hundred pieces. Nothing had prepared me for this. Thank Azkal that I had felled the Drugdear, because the shock made me so weak I crashed to my knees (which, on a stone floor, hurts! But I didn't feel it then). I could just sit there, looking at Last Laugh's hilt, which was all that was left of her. The sword I had had ever since I was a student at the Academy, that I had carried from town to town, that had been my only weapon for years-- lay in pieces on the ground at my feet.
I didn't know what to do. I'd had Last Laugh for as long as I called myself a warrior. How could I help save the world without her? For a moment, I couldn't think how to fight without a sword. Then, I grabbed the hammer from the body in front of me. I wasn't sad anymore, I was ANGRY! It would feel good to kill goblins, or Drugdear. I would've killed that stone drugdear again, if he hadn't already been dead.
I killed as many goblins as I could until Rhavin said we had to leave while we still could. I suppose he was right, but I didn't much care about anything then. Everyone was really nice to me, but I knew they couldn't understand what Last Laugh had meant to me. Nikita had had the most experience losing things, and I guess she must have understood the most, from when she lost her holy symbol. I think that must have been a bit like what she felt-- a priest without a holy symbol and me without my sword.
Rhavin said that he had lost his weapon before, but that Estereal had provided him with another one, and that he believed Azkal would provide me with another one too. I didn't tell him that I didn't want another sword, I wanted Last Laugh back, because I knew he was trying to make me feel better. Someone gathered up all of Last Laugh and put her in Kariya's box. That made me fell a bit better, because maybe, after we saved the world, I could get someone to put her back together again, like Jean's sword.
We went back to the pile of rubble, where Canliss had said he had seen a sword earlier. There was a sword under there, a bastard sword. It was much smaller than Last Laugh. Everyone said I should have it, and Rhavin sort of nodded and said that this would be the first of many weapons that Azkal would give me. I was so sad, I felt like I was going to cry, but I practiced with it anyway. I needed to have some kind of sword if I was going to help save the world.
That night, I wasn't really hungry so I just sort of went to bed. I don't remember whose watch it was, but a giant scorpion tried to carry Nikita off. Rhavin, as usual, came to her rescue, but he was too busy trying to pry her loose to hurt it much. It was up to me and my new sword Every time I used it, I'd get frustrated about how different it was from Last Laugh. I kept trying to hit the thing and would miss and Nikita and now Rhavin were in its claws and its big stinger was going at them... It was like a nightmare. But finally, I hacked it to death, angry at myself because I was so bad with this new sword. I missed Last Laugh even more.
I suppose I shouldn't be such a wet blanket. Rhavin is a paladin, so if he says this is all part of Azkal's plan, then I should just have faith. This new sword isn't all that bad; Canliss says it's magical, and that it can drip acid on my enemies (or me, if I'm not careful). I bet it has a name, because all magical swords have names. I should ask Nikita what it is.
It's hard to keep my spirits up. Losing Last Laugh is like losing a friend. A big, strong friend, who may not talk much but is great to have by your side in a fight. I never thought saving the world would be this hard

love,

Ester