Vuroth's Tear: Even the Gods Cry

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kudro's head throbbed as he stared, exhausted, at his brother. Even in sleep, he writhed in pain and had an expression of agony on his sweat soaked face. He had been watching his brother, Rosen, for three days, barely sleeping while his brother convulsed and cried out in pain while Donovan's poison coursed through his veins.

Kudro lifted his arm and examined the cut from Aven's sword. He didn't know if it was luck or Aven's skill with his blade that the wound was so shallow, barely more than a scratch. He refused to give Aven any credit and decided it was simple luck.

As soon as Rosen was better, Kudro thought, they would hunt those two men and make their deaths as slow, as painful as possible. He smiled at the thought, inflicting such agony upon them for the pain that Rosen was forced to endure. He lifted the blanket, careful not to wake his brother, and looked at the small puncture wounds in his brother's torso. They were just as superficial as his own, but like the bite of a viper, they were merely an entry point for Donovan's venom to make it into Rosen's blood.

Rosen pulled the blanket from his brother's hand and pulled them off himself, so he could sit up, "I'm okay, Kudro. I think the pain is finally starting to fade." He rested a hand on his brother's shoulder to reassure him.

Kudro helped Rosen to his feet, his legs were weak, shaking under his weight and almost giving out completely. Rosen pushed his palms to his forehead and let out a long sigh.

"How long was I out?" He asked Kudro.

"You were in and out over the past few days. The first night was the hardest, you begged me to kill you." Rosen didn't remember a single time that he had ever seen his brother cry, he was almost sure Kudro had never cried before, but in that moment, he watched his brother wipe a tear, trying to hide it by faking an itch on his nose.

Rosen took a step forward and had to catch himself on the wall, he was dizzy and let himself fall back onto the bed, "My mouth is dry, I need a drink."

"I'll get you some water, just relax for a moment and I'll be right back," Kudro hurried out of the room, eager to come to his brother's aid.

Alone, Rosen let go. The pain was still there, dizzying agony still pumped through his veins. He hid it from his brother for just this opportunity, the moment that he might finally do what his brother didn't have the heart to do. He forced himself back onto his feet, squinting to focus his blurred vision on the dagger that laid on a pile of papers on the table in the center of the room. Rosen staggered to the rusty blade, hurrying before his brother returned to stop him. He grabbed the knife and pushed the blade against his throat.

"Rosen, stop, please!" Kudro stood in the doorway, staring at his younger brother who stood, about to end his own life. This time, there was no attempt to hide the tears as he dropped the mug of water and cautiously took a step towards his suicidal brother.

Rosen whimpered, "I can't take it anymore, I've never felt pain like this before," His hand shook, he was fighting just to hold himself upright.

"Rosen, please, put the knife down," Kudro took another step and saw a drop of blood slip down his brother's throat, "we can get through this."

It felt like an eternity before he made it to Rosen and Kudro thanked the goddess that his brother couldn't bring himself to run the blade across his own throat. He didn't know what stopped Rosen from doing it, but to Kudro, all that mattered was that he didn't.

Rosen just stared at him while Kudro pulled the knife from his hand and set it back on the table. Rosen's lip quivered, tears flowed from bloodshot eyes, "Why won't it stop? Why won't the pain just stop?" He broke down completely and Kudro caught him as his legs finally gave out.

He helped Rosen back to the bed and laid him down, "It will pass, brother. I won't leave your side until it does." Exhaustion took hold and Rosen passed out, whimpering from the pain while he slept. Kudro sat silently, staring at the wall while he thought about the pain he would cause to the man who hurt his brother.