He smiles, cutting the wind with the knife, listening to the whistling of the world. Then, his legs part, calculations churning within the mind. One of the advantages of the caster's ntation. He spins, slashing eight tis on the wall. Like parchnt, the knife goes through stone. Shard. He pants, sweat trickling down from his brow and neck, steaming off the ground.
He drinks the air, chest heaving, throat burning for the wanted oxygen. An orgasmic sensation, and he asks, "What's the point of hiding like an animal?"
Davos spews from the corner, torch in hand, the fla casting red on his features. "You must have seen the light."
"Yes, that must have been it." rrin spins the knife, tapping it on his shoulders. Ti to be an Ashman. "Do you know why I brought you here?"
"I ca by my decis—"
"No." rrin corrects. "I brought you here. That is the truth of it."
He frowns.
"One more ti, I will ask." rrin points the knife at him. "Who are you?" Let him see the threat.
Davos clenches the grasped axe. "I don't know—"
And rrin is before him, piercing forward with the knife. For a mont, Davos is stunned, and then he is gone. Kneeling, Davos tosses the fire, hacks up with the axe. Predictably, and rrin jumps, nimble as the Ashn were known for.
He lands feet-first, still spinning the knife, says, "I will keep coming at you until you proclaim your words."
"Mist you." The fear in his eyes is gone. Davos. Replaced by that of a combatant. Wide. How long before he realizes he fights against a being that commands the wind?
They clash, tal ringing out.
rrin kicks back, wishing for a chain, but there was none. This was reality. Here, he was no god. Hence, he fought as a man, blade in hand, sweat trickling off his warming flesh. Today, he will teach this man. Break him like an egg. That was the only way.
A mont, and rrin is beside him, dropping the knife. Davos is stunned, his eyes following the falling blade. A mistake. Before it hits the ground, rrin grabs it, slashing at the warrior's heel. Davos winces, obviously accustod to certain pain.
No matter. The Ashman is upon him, landing a punch into his jaw, head snapping to the side. A groan escapes him, a re genesis of the pain that was to co. Davos roars, swinging the unbalanced axe, obvious in the way it staggered, and crooked him.
He was not used to the weapon. rrin, however, was. A click sounds as the knife slices through the poll, a kick sending Davos tumbling over the earth. He is quick to stand, breaking off the shoulder of the axe, holding the tal rest as so tal rod.
The air around him suddenly changed. "You."
rrin manages a breath before Davos is before him, spearing, iron tearing through the air. Fast. Instincts control the defense. He dodges, the ferric nearly blistering his cheeks. Davos is swift. Good to know. But the man doesn't stop. Constant. His strikes breaking into the raised bastion. rrin loses his feet, rolling over the ground, the booms of tal echoing as Davos strikes the earth.
Davos kicks up, slamming his feet into rrin. Painful, tossing him into the wall. Ah, this surely ans sothing. Yet, this was not the ti for a procession. He jumps to his feet, takes a stance, and falls into the familiar trance—silence screaming, mind narrowing into a singular objective.
The dance has begun.
And now Davos knows fear. rrin is the wind, the storm churning with precious fury. Infinity folded into monts; that is what the man would think. The strikes co endlessly, pushing the arrogant master. He screams, but he cannot stop it. Nothing can. He spins, cutting the legs of the combatant. He falls, manages to rise. Too late, the knife pierces into his shoulders, blood sluicing. He groans. rrin takes a fist to the face, forgets the pain, and focuses. No distraction. Only the target.
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Ah, only sparks fly in the darkness, stray touches flicking their shadows in short bursts like frozen monts. This was the natural state of the Ashman—the veilCounsel of shadows and night. Today, two learn of that.
Davos tries to counter, rrin rounds him. He does not see the attack, only screaming at the sure pain. Now he is desperate.
"Confess!"
rrin grabs his head, pounding his knees into his skull. Blood spurting from his nostrils. Not enough. A slap follows. Now he treats him like a child. That wounds his pride. Good. That is the thing he must shatter.
Davos changes tactic, tries to at least. rrin counters, tearing through the deprecated clothes, a clap resounding into his chest. Red is imprinted on Davos' front.
"Mist you!" Davos wails, a slap sealing his lips.
A mory of a woman crushed by stone returns.
"Confess!" rrin grabs him by the ear, driving his head into the wall. A bang, a gasp. Davos is turned, eting eye to eye. rrin leaves him. Davos smiles, thinks it's over.
Not.
rrin pounds his feet into the man. A bang. A ring. A scream. Over and over. He repeats, "Confess!"
"Noooo," Davos whispers. "Please no."
"Confess." rrin slashes his thigh. "Confess! Confess the mistakes of your past. Confess your sins. Give it to . Let bear it for you. Be free of it. Confess!"
Davos is a thing of bloodied carving, his face hidden in coats of blood, sweat, and saliva. "I… I."
"Confess!" rrin presses the knife over his throat. "Confess or et damnation with your sins!"
"YOU CANNOT ABSOLVE IT FROM !!!"
rrin slaps him. "Let be your pit. Dump it."
"I… I… I," Davos stutters.
"Speak!"
"I killed my SISTERS!" He screams, shoulders trembling like a child caught in trap. The world chills now, rage fading, tension pressed into a nulling singularity.
rrin is silenced. He did what? There is rage in the thought.
But… now was not the ti for his stillness. "Speak."
Tears stream down the warrior, now broken to half a shell of a man. "I didn't an to. I never wanted to do it. But they died. My actions. I'm a Blademaster; I should have protected them. But I couldn't. They were bombed by the WhiteTrumpet. I could have gone with them."
"But you couldn't. You were a coward." rrin sighs. "And they died because of it."
"Don't you think I know that?" Davos whimpers. "I watched them. I was made to pay for my cris against a lord. I couldn't. I feared death, so I arranged for us to escape. But they didn't make it. They were gunned down like animals, not even by a brightCrown, but so criminal lord. Not that it makes it any better… I just. I'm sorry."
Now he is a man, pained… a human. These were his faults, despite the needed details; the fact remained. However… what difference was it to him? Leim had died to his pride, arrogance, and cowardice.
I don't deserve the pity… but he…
"Listen to , Davos." He says, "I forgive you. I accept your sin. They are not yours. Now they are mine. Do not bla yourself for the things you have done; bla . Bla God."
Davos is stunned, but quiet.
"But you still keep your secrets. You kept your truths. I know you wish to keep your silence. To hide it from . To keep it true to yourself… However." rrin leaned closer. "Learn this now. Learn this quick… You cannot, Davos. Farewell to that belief, farewell to that desire. Farewell to the fear, hate, and remorse."
And Davos stares wide-eyed…
I own him now.
rrin stands, overlooking the startled man—his eyes two orbs of blazing radiance. "They must never learn of this." He says, and Davos nods. He thinks of death as the consequence of disobedience. "You are mine now. I accept your sins. I accept your entirety. Now face your tribulations. Those ones." He points to the wall corner. "Those lives. You are their warden. None shall die before you do. Hear my words. Their life sustains yours. Else… You shall learn God does not forgive twice."
And he turns, leaving the wounded man to drown in the fear and words left for him. He would contemplate, wonder…and eventually, like they all did, bury himself in delusion and myths. God has taken my sins, what mistsense.
Cannot turn back now, can I? rrin wipes the blood over his stained clothes, tears dripping down.
For them. All of this is for them! I should never forget that.
Keep your secrets, Davos. I will learn them later. I will learn everything later. Knowledge begets power. Power begets freedom. Freedom begets bliss.
rrin feels the coming triumph; is assured of it. They gather. Like bugs to fla, addicts of a certain sensational desire. Dressed for what is to co, cheering themselves as though they await so prize. Maybe they did. Swarming, slinked in newly fashioned clothes. A patchwork of fragnts. In the shifting darkness, temporarily banished by the curling lights, they share words.
He hears most of them, the praises of it all. They call him things—savior. The belief lords over them.
Today we return ho.
Sadly, the mines are what ho has beco to these people, such is the effect of the undermines. The horrors seen here must be escaped, destroyed by any ans. If he could, he would, but the power yet eludes him. So rrin strolls towards the ovate gate; a dark barrier between now and the future.
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