Hero's Bane

Chapter 76: Must Let It Go

"Everything." The miner sneered and hesitantly lowered his pointing finger, he was angry and upset but jabbing a finger at the guy wasn't going to do him any good; he sighed with a low huff and took a step back. "You cannot believe what I have been submitted to for the past few weeks, so much anger, torment, horror, ... pain." He said darkly. The past traumatic event was still eating away at his conscious, remembering the cries of his loved ones in suffering in the memory made his chest wrench and throb in grief.

"Whoa, calm down there friend. I'm not quite following." The bald man reached a hand up and scratched the back of his head in nervousness.

Steve shook his head back in forth in skepticism. "One, we are not friends. Two, did you not hear? I thought the place that you directed me to would line my inventory with precious ores and ingots, well I didn't come out with anything the whole tormenting time I was there! I lost everything, everything but the clothes on my back!" He reared his right arm up towards his chest, pointing his thumb back at himself to gesture his lonely form. "I didn't even get to mine and that was the whole reason why I went there for Notch's sake! You deceived me." The miner lightened his tone of voice when the man gave him a disheartened look.

"And the village you pointed out was not a welcoming one, everyone treated me as though I were a monster. ... Or at least most of them did." He corrected more calmly when he remembered Warren, Carson, Luna, and Mark. "The chief even tried to execute me, I was almost killed. Why did you lie to me?" He asked with anger and upset still in his tone, mostly angered words came from his mouth. "I can't believe that I was so easily deceived." He sneered, feeling enough rage to and desire to punch something as hard as he could just so that he would release the tension that was building up inside. He couldn't bring himself to punch the poor guy that led him on a trip to suffer; no matter how much he deserved it, but hitting a tree would be more preferable. The miner spun on his heels and moved forward in a haste towards a nearby oak tree, he rammed his knuckles against the wood and hit it hard enough to make the bark peel where his flesh met it. He pulled his hand back and shook off the pain with grimace, it hurt enough to remove some of his anger.

The traveler looked away for a short second and sighed as he rubbed the back of his head again, he was thinking that he might have said the wrong words and angered the man enough to take it out on a tree. The miner was furious and it was because of him. He deserved an apology, no not even an apology would be enough. The bearded man's frown deepened. 'If only it could be enough.' "I'm sorry about that; those folk used to be so nice, or they were when I visited them a very lo- uh a good while ago. Let's just say that. Perhaps it's been too long?" 'Far too long.'

"Well they didn't like me, not one bit." The miner said with a scornful expression.

"Okay, so they didn't. People change over... time. You mentioned that at least some of them treated you better, they liked you right?"

"Yeah, but their trust and friendship was not so easily won, some of it had been tested to the limit of it's breaking point. Others I got to know better through unfortunate situations; like sitting in a prison cell for a day or so." He hinted with agitation by his twitching eye.

"Oh, well at least everything seemed to have worked out since you're here and all." The man offered a faint grin.

"No, it didn't." Steve let his tensed-up arms drop to his sides, it was Herobrine who saved him from the execution; but the same guy was also the one who decided to torture him even when they were supposedly friends. Actually, Herobrine tormented him so much and to think that he could just push back everything the man ever did to him? Steve barred his teeth at the betrayal, nothing's hardly changed except for his growing pain and anguish. Promises were left broken, even to the long deceased sentinel. Steve faced death so many times to try and set things right with a tormented being and got almost nothing but pain, sorrow, and suffering out of it. He could never do enough, he was a failure.