Heroes of Xevida

Chapter 6

The boy laid in the darkness again, it was a calming friend whom he appreciated. This was specially true in times of turmoil such as now. Aiden wanted to leave, yet he couldn't.

The bags were packed and he was ready to go, yet the youth had to wait until he would receive news regarding his mother. This was the least he could do as her son, so he wouldn't leave until he knew she'd be fine.

Forgiving himself for leaving and afterwards receiving information about her passing was out of the question, since that was something he'd never be able to forgive.

Seconds blurred into minutes, minutes into hours and soon after the light of a new day gleamed through the cracks of his window shutter, as unwanted as the greeting of an ever so harsh winter.

Aiden got up from his bed, his hair standing off in directions that seemed physically impossible. Slowly he trotted towards the wooden door, but his hand stopped before it was placed on his door knob.

The boy turned around and dragged himself towards his vanity. With both hands resting on either side he looked at himself in the mirror, letting out a long exhale.

His eyes were lined with dark circles, his fire red hair seemed dull and looked like the nest of a bird of prey, while every glow left his skin.

He looked deep into his eyes, but saw nothing, it was as empty as he felt. Aiden brushed through his hair with his right hand, then picked up a proper brush after realizing that his fingers alone wouldn't change the chaos on his head.

After the brush got stuck on his horns at the first attempt he tried to only brush the ends for a while, until he could smooth out the rest.

Looking into the mirror again the boy deemed his appearance okay enough to leave the room, so he opened the door and threw one last rather empty glance towards the bags packed at the foot of his bed.

The stairs towards the ground floor creaked as he made his way down to the kitchen. As soon as he arrived Aiden realized he was the last one of the house who wasn't present in the kitchen before.

Waldor sat at the table with his arms crossed on it, while Aloise and Alec stared at the newcomer. "Wow, awake already? I would've gone up in a jiffy, if you didn't come down now.", Alec stated.

"Ha-ha. Very funny, as if you would've remotely entered my room or something. Ever been in there?", Aiden responded with a question of his own. Alec didn't reply, but only rolled his eyes, then focused back on his father, who let out a long, shaky breath.

The large black horns on his head cast a dark shadow on the table and his hair fell over them like a curtain of red water flowing down a massive mountain. "So, now that e'rybody's 'ere, I can tell you what I wanted to say. Klara- Yer mother's fine, at least that's what the doctor said.

But the doc couldn't tell me, when she'll wake up again.", the words he finally uttered were a bearer of bad news. The faces of the triplets visibly darkened and Aiden's eyes grew wide as saucers.

He wanted to leave soon, but who in their right mind would leave their family in such a situation? He had to stay until she wakes up at least. Waldor looked at his son with a knowing glance, weighting the next words carefully.

"Aiden, we all know ya don't wanna to stay in Berun n' that's okay. We're not tryna force you to stay with us until the day we die. There's other things out there that ya can see. Go, son. Ya don't have to wait for 'er, Klara wouldn't want that either.

But at least look back sometime and don't leave in the dead of night. 'Ere's also two rules: Send letters n' don't die.", the father said in his usual accent, the words hanging in the air like thick fog.