A Life in Solitude

Ashke and Dino dragged the other man back to the camp and tossed him at Verlian's feet. The man had been the one that Ravynne had stabbed with the branch. His injury had slowed him down immensely and he small trail of blood behind so he wasn't difficult to track and capture. He stared around the campsite, his boss was reduced to nothing but bloodied limbs that had been torn apart and scattered around the camp, his other comrades lay dead and the campsite was covered in blood – blood which Verlian was brushing off his coat.

The man began to cry at the sight of his friends and begged for his life, "Please, please! You've already killed my comrades! Please, spare me! I'll live in agony remembering what happened here today and I'll live with the guilt of what happened to my friends, knowing I abandoned them and that I survived! Isn't that enough of a punishment?!"

Verlian snarled again and Ashke covered Dino's eyes to shield him from what Verlian's terrifying demeanor. "Now you understand my feelings. Having seen my comrade at death's door, seeing her blood everywhere. I expect you won't blame me for what I'm going to do to you."

"Tell him." Ashke demanded as he kicked the man hard in the leg.

"R-right! I have information! W-Why do you think we t-targeted you? The King! King Vendyss! He sent us to destroy Evania and kill its leader! He said he'd give us lots of gold and that it was important that this get done for the benefit of the Kingdom! That's what he said! Honest! It wasn't us!" He nodded with so much fervor one would think his head would snap right off.

Verlian stared, "King Vendyss?" Where did he hear that name before? He thought for a moment, then it dawned on him. Ravynne had told him that King Vendyss destroyed her village because she refused to marry him. "King Vendyss!" Verlian got down on one knee and lifted the man's chin with his claw, "Did he say anything about someone named, Ravynne?"

The man shuttered as he made eye contact with Verlian and broke out into a cold sweat. Verlian's eyes were a blood red color and they were glowing, darkness surrounded him and fangs had replaced his teeth. "N-n-no. He only t-told us Ev-v-vania."

"Well, I'll be sure to send him your head….and your friend's leg over there….as a thank you gift."

A blood curdling scream echoed throughout the forest that night.

Verlian ran up to Serin's house to see Serin sitting outside, her hands and clothes stained with Ravynne's blood. Verlian's breath caught in his throat and his appearance changed back to normal. She looked up at him with tears running down her face. Ashke and Dino came up behind him and also witnessed her appearance. They all knew what happened. As Verlian dashed inside, Dino's shoulders and head dropped in sadness. Ashke threw a comforting arm around him as Serin slowly followed Verlian inside.

He stared at Ravynne's lifeless body, laying there on the bed. "No….NO!" Serin hung her head as she sniveled, "I'm sorry...she stopped breathing...she lost too much blood." Verlian sat on the bed beside Ravynne and held her in his arms, brushing her hair out of her face.

"V-Verlian I'm so sorry. I tried s-s-so hard."

"I know you did Serin…." He gulped hard and clenched his jaw tight.

"Verlian, it wasn't R-Ravynne that set your h-house on fire. It was me…." His head whipped around, his eyebrows furrowed, "Excuse me?"

"I'm really sorry! I was j-jealous and… I d-don't know! I didn't m-mean for it to become as b-bad as it did, I just wanted to b-burn the food, but then I dropped th-the pot and I got scared s-so I ran away!" Her words were flying out of her mouth a mile a minute and Verlian shut his eyes tight, trying to control his anger. He lifted Ravynne's body off the bed and carried her to the door, kicking it open with his foot. Serin began to follow. "You!" he took a deep breath, "Don't follow me." Ashke bit his lip, frowned and closed his eyes before moving his head to the side at the sight of Ravynne. He hadn't seen her yet, he didn't know her condition was that bad. Dino burst into tears, and also tried to follow, but Ashke held him back. "We need to give him time. Serin, are you alright?" Serin, like Dino, also burst into tears and shook her head.

Verlian laid Ravynne down on his bed and sat there for a while staring at her in silence. "You caused me so much trouble you stupid girl." He chuckled softly but it wasn't filled with happiness, instead it was filled with heartache. "When did I fall for you?" he huffed and brushed her hair out of her face again.

He thought back to how hard she worked and how, no matter how hard things got for her, she didn't give up, how she'd get so excited at even the smallest compliments. More memories flooded into his mind, like when she first came and she should've been dead with her injuries but that fire she had to survive, that fire she had to not give up, kept her going. When he told her she could be his shadow and she followed him without complaints, despite very obviously not being recovered and in a lot of pain. Why did he do that to her? Why didn't he let her rest then? Then there was the time that he kicked her out of Evania and she sat there freezing in the snow, waiting to give him an apology.

Even when he was thrown out of the Aurelian Empire, he didn't fight like she did, he just accepted what had come to him. Ravynne wasn't like that, she fought for what she wanted....maybe that's why he fell for her. She had qualities that not even he, a god, possessed. Perhaps to humans, her qualities were burdensome. He could just picture her messing something up at her hometown and trying to do better, while the other villagers called her a pest or something like that and shooed her away. He wondered if she really was bad luck and useless like the villagers in her hometown said, or if it was just that no one put their time into her.

"For not being good at anything, you sure did do a number on those bandits. You against five huh? You did a number on 'em." His eyes began to tear up and it felt like an army of bees was stinging the inside of his nose. "You did….a really great job my little shadow." His voice cracked and he cleared his throat; trying to regain control of his emotions.

Suddenly, his house felt so empty and cold. Everywhere he looked, he saw her. He saw her sitting at the table, waiting for him to get home so they could eat, he saw her staring down at him from the bed to make sure he was comfortable enough because she felt guilty about taking his bed, he saw her sitting by the fire warming her hands or cooking (if you could even call it that) and he saw her coming in and smiling at him on the rare occassions that he somehow got home before her.

All of this time that he had the house without her and yet now it felt like she'd always been there. Suddenly, he didn't remember what it was like before she came. Was this what they meant when they said he would walk the earth in solitude? Did this happen to her because of his punishment? Why did he suddenly feel so alone?

Ashke slowly opened the door and popped his head in, "Can I come in?"

Verlian nodded and motioned for him to enter as he moved from the bed to the table. Ashke closed the door behind him and sat on the seat across. He glanced over at Ravynne and adjusted himself uncomfortably. His heart was in pain and he wanted to cry. "Did you....find her that way....out there?" he questioned without making eye contact. Instead he fixed his gaze on the wall to the side of him.

"No. She came here like that." Verlian said full of anger. His appearance began to shift just like it did before. "She came here?! Like that?!" Ashke felt his nose twitch as he fought back the sadness welling up inside of him, "That must've been near impossible with those injuries..."

Verlian imagined how much pain she must've been in and how difficult it must've been for her to make the trip from the attack site to his house. His appearance worsened and Ashke could feel the darkness emanating from him, strong than ever before. "Verlian, get a hold of yourself. Do you think this is what she would want? Do you think she'd want your soul to be devoured and for you to become a demon?"

"She knew nothing of me. Is this what she would want? She didn't even know this was possible. Do not tell me what she would want!" Verlian slammed his fist down hard on the table. Ashke sucked on the inside of his cheek before standing up, "I've always been here for you Verlian. I've never lied to you, I've never betrayed you. That girl right over there," he set one hand on the table and pointed to Ravynne with the other, "she was in love with you. She didn't know you' are a god, and she didn't know you could be turned into a demon, but I can tell you with certainty, she would not want that for you. Mourn her, but do not throw yourself away. That's the least you can do to honor her." With that Ashke stormed out of the room.

Tears rolled down Verlians cheeks and he blinked the ones that were building up back into his eyes as he sat back by the bedside. He pulled the pelts up and over her. He wiped the tears from his cheeks with the back of his hand and gently patted her thigh, "Don't worry, Ravynne. I WILL get your revenge for you. I swear. King Vendyss will pay."