Vuroth's Tear: Even the Gods Cry

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A drop of water hit Aven on the forehead, waking him with a jolt from his much-needed sleep. He opened his eyes and sat up, wiping the water as it slid between his eyes and down the side of his nose. The lantern on the table was lit, a low flame flickered within its glass prison, low enough that most of the room was still blanketed in darkness. He looked out the window and saw nothing but inky blackness of night, the sound of rain hammered at the roof and soft drips from the rain leaking and falling to the wood floor below.

Aven stood and stretched his arms out with a long yawn. He reached for his sword on the bed, "What are you doing in my room, Mage?" he spoke with a hint of anger in his voice.

Verik chuckled from his seat in the dark corner of the room before standing and stepping towards the lantern. He raised the wick to fill the room with light, "How did you know I was in here?" A curious grin was stretched across his pale face.

Aven was unamused, "The lantern was a big hint."

"Yes, but a lit lantern is hardly an indication of my presence. Analda could have lit it and left it for you to see when you woke, or it could have been your friend," Verik's voice had a cool essence to it, a cold detachment from emotion.

"Donovan knows better than to come in my room without good reason," Aven paused to ponder Analda coming in, "Analda wouldn't just come in either."

"So how did you know I was still here?"

Aven took a step towards Verik, "I just felt like I wasn't alone! Why does it matter?"

"Ah, so you felt me in the room with you," The Frost Mage's smile grew wider.

Aven tied his long mane of black hair back with a thin thong of leather, "What do you want Verik?"

"I just wanted to talk." He smiled at Aven, the same look of recognition in his eyes, "What do you remember from your childhood? Do you remember anything about your father?"

"My father, that's the topic of choice?" The dim flame of the lantern flickered in his eyes while he stood unmoving for a moment, "No, I don't remember a damned thing about him. How can you remember someone who was never around?"

Verik paced the floor before returning and sitting back in the chair. He ran his thumb over his pale, smooth cheek, "Aven, he had his reasons for not being around, your father was a good man."

"A good man? How was he a good man?" He turned away from the Frost Mage, "Abandoning your family, not being around to protect them, that pretty much defines a terrible man. My mother died, I almost died because he wasn't there." Aven turned back to Verik, unconsciously rubbing the scar on his left arm with his right thumb.

Verik stared at him, his solid, pale blue eyes made Aven feel a shiver down his spine. The leather of Verik's clothes creaked as he shifted in his chair, "That isn't fair. You really don't know what your father did, what he sacrificed, for you."

"What? What did he do for me, what could he have sacrificed?" Aven shouted, storming towards Verik and punching the wall just above the Mages frost covered hair. He stared down into those chilling blue eyes, his fury bubbled to the surface and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard before stepping back.

Verik gazed at him with a strange look in his eyes, not one of fear or even anger, it appeared to Aven that he was being admired, "He gave up his chance to be there to raise you so that he might make this world a better place for you to grow up in. He lost his life doing just that."