I am sorry to say, dear readers, that this story is at its end. It has been a very long run – it is, after all, my oldest story – and As The Years Passhas been through so many changes. I have grown older with this story, and grown wiser, and it holds a very special place in my heart; but it is over. I have outgrown the plot I have been trying to follow here. It is a struggle to try and complete, and that's not what writing should be about. I shall not lie. I am ill, I have been for a long while, and this is the reason for my silence. It is a mental illness that eats away at my concentration, takes up every spare inch of my brain, and I am not able to commit to writing like I once could. I deeply regret that. This story is still partially alive in my brain, but it is too scattered to form into words.

So instead, I shall lay As The Years Passto rest, as I should perhaps have done a while ago. I will no longer update this story , and I shall let it die in peace. But then again, I make no immovable statements. I have not abandoned writing completely, so perhaps one day this story may start forward again; however, for the foreseeable future, I have moved on.

I do not leave you empty-handed, though. I have a prologue for a story, born tentatively from the dying embers of As The Years Pass, that I shall perhaps expand on in the future. It is called Rise, Harbinger, and you may find it in my Profile, if you so wish to read it.

I apologise profusely for my tardiness, and now my abandonment, concerning this story. You have all been very patient, and have encouraged me at times when I had thought of turning back before. I thank you. And if there is anyone out there who has been with this story from the very beginning, thank you. I truly, honestly thank you.

It has been five years, two weeks, and two days. There have been two stories. Over a hundred pages. Fifty chapters. Then again, fourteen. There have been over 150,000 words, and again, only 80K. There have been 377 reviews. 161 alerts. 180 favourites.

There has only been one title.

It hasn't been the most popular story, but As The Years Pass has been loved by a lot more people than I could have hoped for.

Thank you.