Avaryn took a breath as he bowed down before his dying father. Seeing his father like this, a man who was once so alive, so powerful and so great, broke his heart. But he knew he could not change fate.
His father was destined to die tonight.
“Come closer, my son.” He said. His loud and booming voice was now small and raspy.
Avaryn stood up and walked over to his father’s bedside. The already large bed looked larger now that Avaryn’s father had grown thin and frail. And Avaryn hated the feeling he had in the room. He wanted to leave, but at the same time he didn’t want to leave his father behind in his dying moments. “Father… I have let you down.”
“You have not.” His father said to him with his lip twitching and dry from the lack of water in his body.
“I will make them pay.” Avaryn said. “I swear on your soul, father.”
His father smiled as he looked at his son with his dark, red coloured eyes. “I know you will.”
Avaryn looked down at his father’s hand and took it in his.
“Though he is dead, Lyryn has won the battle… and now that he has won, we are the enemies.”
“What must I do?”
“Kill them all.” They dying man said. “Every man and woman that I named days earlier. Kill them all.”
Avaryn swallowed down his sorrow and nodded his head. “If you will it, father, I will do it.”
“But there will be a price for doing this, my son.”
“And what is that?”
“Are you willing to sacrifice absolutely everything for my cause?”
Avaryn tightened his grip on his father’s hand. “Of course.” He wanted nothing more then to avenge his father. To kill the traitors who made him suffer.
“Then you must devote your life to bringing down the traitors. If we are to be victorious, you must destroy them.”
He took a deep breath. “I will do that, father. I promise you I will.”
The once great man looked at his son. “You must let the hatred overcome you, Avaryn.” His father said. “It’s the only way.”
Avaryn nodded. “I know. And if it means the downfall of those who hurt you, then I will do anything.”
His father smiled at him. “The world must fear you, my son.”
“They will.”
“Forgive me for the burden I have put on your shoulders.” He pulled his sons hand to his lips and kissed it. “Live long.” He said, before Avaryn felt his father’s last breath.
Avaryn pulled his hand away slowly, letting the grief overcome him. “I will avenge you.” He whispered.
Soon after that, the most horrid night in the history of Raffyre began.
From village to village, Avaryn went, killing hundreds and hundreds of men and women with single blows.
That was the wrath of Avaryn.
They once feared his father, and his father before him, and now they would fear him.
He recited the names of the men and women that his father had spoken to him, the names he memorized in an instant. And as he killed, he checked them off the list in his mind
The night was the longest that any citizen of Raffyre had faced. But it went too quickly for Avaryn, as he crossed the country with speed that was inhumane, destroying hundreds of lives and throwing thousands more into despair.
Finally, he came to Amberdyse.
This village, unlike the rest, was precious to him. It was his second home. And that was why he left it for last.
The villagers had already gotten word of Avaryn’s massacre and came to face him, prepared.
But they of all people should have known that they were no match for him, no matter what weapon they attacked him with.
He went on to slaughter the last three hundred names on his list, and he killed them as easily as he did the others.
And when he slit the last man’s throat, a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.
He expected it to be over, but then he heard a man running towards him, and from the sound of his voice and footsteps, he knew exactly who it was.
Avaryn turned around as he pulled his sword out of its sheathe. He pointed it at the man who was like a father to him.
A man who took care of him and loved him like his own son.
Lord Kyrus stopped in his tracks, just far enough to avoid running his throat straight through the sword.
“Avaryn.” He said, his black eyes filled with sadness. “I prayed that this wasn’t true.”
Avaryn didn’t say anything.
“How could you do this?” He asked. “These people were your friends.”
“They were traitors.”
“You have been blinded by evil, son.” He said. “You must stop this, you are only a boy.”
“No. That’s not true.” Avaryn said. “And I am not a boy, I’ve lived for sixteen years. And do you really think a boy could have done this?”
Lord Kyrus looked into Avaryn’s blood red irises, which were filled with dread, misery and evil. “Then will you kill me too?” He asked. “I’m not a fool, I know I cannot kill you.”
Avaryn looked at his Lord. “You are not a traitor.”
Lord Kyrus narrowed his eyes.
And Avaryn lowered his sword. “Forgive me.” He said before he stabbed his sword deep into his Lord’s leg.
Lord Kyrus let out a gasp as he fell down onto the floor, grabbing his leg in pain.
Avaryn stepped back.
“Where will you go now?” Lord Kyrus asked, looking up at Avaryn with pain filled eyes.
“There is one last thing I must do, and you will never see me again.”
Lord Kyrus glared at the boy. “Don’t.”
Avaryn took another step back.
“I will not allow you to see her, Avaryn!” He yelled.
But as he closed his mouth, his disturbed son-in-law vanished into thin air.
Meenu slept as soundly as usual in her comfortable bed, with her sweet pup Knight close by her side.
Climbing into her room through her open window, Avaryn watched for just a moment.
And then a shout that came from far off in her village startled her awake.
She sat herself up quickly, waking her pup up too. And though her pup barked at Avaryn, she was not surprised to see him.
She smiled at him, still slightly drunk with sleep. “What are you doing here?” She asked as she stretched.
Avaryn smiled as he walked over to her bed. “There is something I must tell you, Meenu.”
Meenu rubbed her eyes. “And what’s that?”
He sat down on her bed, in front of her. “I have to go somewhere, for a long time.”
Meenu was wide-awake now, staring at him with her black eyes, and she frowned. “Again?”
His expression softened, the evil and despair in his eyes fading. “Meenu, I will be gone… but I won’t truly be gone.”
Her frown deepened as she ran her fingers through her pups fur, helping him relax and return to sleep. “You say that all the time but it never changes anything. I miss you no matter what.”
Avaryn chuckled and placed his forehead against hers, something he did all the time with her. “You must remember something, Meenu…”
“What?” Meenu asked, hoping that her whiny tone would make him stay.
“I will protect you forever.” He said. “I promise. And you must burn that into your heart. Never forget it.”
The twelve year old girl pulled away and looked at the man she was to one day marry. “I know that.” She said, her cheeks reddening slightly. “Mama said that that is the duty of a husband.”
Avaryn smiled. He wanted to kiss her lips but he held himself back. He didn’t want to do something like that to her when she didn’t really understand the meaning of it. So instead, he ran is fingers through the thick brown curls that she got from her mother.
And with his other hand, he grabbed something that was sticking out of his belt.
Meenu gasped as he pulled out a beautiful rose that was as red as blood. As red as his eyes.
He handed it to her with a kind smile. “Keep this safe for me?”
“It’s beautiful!” She said, taking it from him.
“It will never die.” He said.
She looked at him. “That’s impossible.”
“It’s a special rose.” Avaryn said. “So long as I love you, it will never whither.”
Meenu’s blushed, which made Avaryn smile.
“You are special to me, and that will never change.”
She looked down at the rose and back at him. “Why do you speak like you are leaving forever?”
“I will be gone… but I won’t truly be gone.” He said again.
Meenu frowned, but held the rose close to her heart. “You promise to return, right?”
Avaryn gave her a comforting smile as he pulled something else out of his pouch. “Try this.” He said. “It is nectar from a special tree up north. The sweetest nectar you will ever taste. And my last gift to you before I leave.”
Meenu, who was suddenly excited by the thought of something sweet, took the small glass bottle from him.
She didn’t doubt what he said to her at all. When he told her it was the sweetest nectar she would ever taste, she believed it
But as she tasted the sweet nectar with her tongue, she instantly felt her eyes close.
She fell forward into Avaryn’s arms and little did she know that she would never remember a word they had spoken.
She wouldn’t even remember him.
Avaryn tucked her back into the bed, his heart heavy with sadness.
He hadn’t realized how much he had lost that night until he kissed Meenu’s forehead and whispered his goodbyes.
First his father, then the people he considered his family and now his love.
He stepped back and watched her for a moment, watched as she slept in peace and watched as her mind worked to erase all the memories she had made with him clean from her mind.
This was for the best. He told himself.
Because now he was a criminal.
A murderer.
A godless killer.
A demon.
And after he left her that night… that was all he heard people call him.
He became the vilest, most feared being that existed in the shadows. He became the most wanted criminal in countries all over the land.
That was what he became.
That was all he knew himself to be.
And that was how Avaryn of Lumynos lost his humanity.
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Yay! A new story!! HEHE!!
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