The Age of Solace: The Silver Wolf

Chapter 58: Bedridden

Faradeigh awoke to the familiar sight of the infirmary's ceiling. He grunted as he rose up, noticing he was without his attire, and instead wearing a pair of loose pants that covered his lower body, and naught but bandages over his upper body. He wondered how long he had been unconscious for that time, and was regretting that it was becoming a recurring occurrence for him. Though, he was grateful that his sleep had gone undisturbed.

"Do not worry." The soothing voice of Phara came. "It is still the same day as to when you arrived here. Unfortunately, it will be a great deal longer before you can leave."

"Well happy birthday to me then..." Faradeigh muttered sarcastically as he leaned back in his bed.

To Faradeigh, the statement was funny. Nobles had such an odd notion of the anniversary of their birth, seeing fit to celebrate with gifts and merry, and making a generally large deal out of the occasion. But Faradeigh? It was simply a day, one that was nearing its end in this case. All it did for him was mark that he had survived another year. It was funny to him that such occurrences would strike him on a day others found to be so important. However, Faradeigh had not realized that he was not alone when he muttered that under his breath.

"It's your birthday!!!?" The familiar voice of Princess Stella shouted. "And you spent most of it either down in a cave bleeding, or asleep?"

'Yep, eighteen years...' Faradeigh thought in disbelief.

"I didn't realize anyone else was here, I'm sorry." Faradeigh sighed. "And really, it's no big deal, I've had worse birthdays..."

Though he had been in worse physical condition on his birthday in the past, such as the day Thayo had found him outside Brim's walls, he doubted his own words as he spoke them. He did not need a mirror to see that the gray in his hair was indeed real, the imprint went so much deeper than that. He killed a dragon. He did not even know they existed his previous birthday, yet now he had not only managed to befriend one, but had helped raise another, and finally kill a third. His relations with the living and dead were certainly interesting, he had to admit. But the thought of what he did affected him so.

He did not understand it. Socrariel was infected by Abyssal Madness, the part of the mind that remained asking to be killed. Not only that, but the great white drake had tried to kill them all. It should have been no different than when he killed rogue demons. He had Meyna as a teacher, after all, yet their deaths never bothered him so... Or maybe they had... He remembered then all of the times that he lashed out with such anger, killing them in harsh enough ways that he would later regret it. He hated that they ruined the image of the one that saved not just his life, but his existence. As such, demons had always been a bit of a problem for him.

But even still... no kill, aside from his first, had bothered him to the extent that Socrariel's had. At this point, he felt nothing for the deaths of his own kind, so long as the people deserved what came to them, and spirits were dead and a threat to everyone. But as he thought of it, even his first kill had not struck so deep into his soul...

'So why this connection with Socrariel?' Faradeigh asked himself.

"That just makes your case sound worse, I hope you realize!" Stella accused.

"Look, unlike you nobles, I grew up on the streets." Faradeigh reminded. "Priorities are completely different, and that's just the harsh truth of the matter."

"At least tell me how old you are." Stella requested in an almost appalled manner.

"Eighteen now."