The Crimson Claymore

The Crimson Claymore: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Searon exhaled deeply, knowing the wizard was right. He knew he needed to talk with Starlyn and open up to her. There would be a use for her skills, and he knew it. It was hard remembering the past that haunted his dreams every night, and he tried to remember the last time he woke up without a cold sweat.

He paused for a moment before leaving the wizard behind to walk back to camp. Starlyn still sat in the same spot she had before he left, with her back to him. Her legs were crisscrossed on the dirt a few paces from the fire, her hammer in her hand. She sharpened the edges with a stone, creating scraping sounds that echoed through the camp and sent chills down Searon's spine.

"I'm sorry. I was out of line to walk away from you."

She looked deep into his eyes, her own silvery eyes swirling with understanding. He knew that she had her own feelings toward the draeyks and imagined it was just as hard for her to talk about.

He sat down next to her, holding his legs tight in his arms and inhaled deeply. A trail of ants paced the ground in front of him, and he stared at them with interest. Grabbing a small stick on his right, he poked at them, causing a disruption in their pattern. Looking back to Starlyn, he saw she was still staring at him, and yet a word had not escaped her lips. It would make things easier if he didn't have to look into her mesmerizing eyes.

"It's just hard talking about it...about my past," he sighed.

He looked up to her for only a moment before casting his eyes back to the ground and scattering ants. Words were harder to get out than he thought. He knew he had to get it out or it would eat at him from the inside. Still, there was nobody that he had told what had happened to his family. Even the wizard didn't know, yet somehow there was knowledge in his eyes that Searon dared not think about.

"Sometimes, it is better to let things out. It can become unsettling inside our minds, clouding our judgment," Starlyn said softly, still staring at Searon.

"I haven't told anybody about what happened," Searon shook his head as haunting memories dawned on him once again.

"Not even the wizard?" she asked.

"No...but I think he knows. I don't yet know how...curse wizards," Searon said.

He began to ponder if the old man could read minds with magic or see the happenings around the land with it. There was still question as to how the old man knew so much, but he didn't feel up to asking.

"If you don't wish to talk about it, I understand." Starlyn twirled a flower in her hand between her fingers. It was a beautiful blonde lily that glittered from the starlight with the same hue as her glistening hair. She held it back to where she picked it from, and it seemed to mold itself back to life. When she removed her hand from the flower, it was attached back into the ground and life flowed through it once more.

"No...you are right. I need to talk about it. The nightmares haunt me every night, and it is hard to willingly think about that night." Searon took a deep breath and looked back into her eyes. They were inviting, willing him to continue.

"What happened that night?"

"Forty months, three days, and twenty-one hours ago was when I woke up." Searon shook with shivers.

"You keep track?" Starlyn asked, bewildered.

"No...I just know...somehow...I know exactly how long it has been, and yet I never think about it."

"What happened?"

"I came home and ate dinner with my wife as I always would. After dinner, I went into my son's room and kissed him goodnight. It was like every other night. I didn't suspect...I...there was no warning," Searon brushed his hands through his thick brown hair. "That night...draeyks broke into our home and slaughtered my family. I watched them as they mercilessly murdered my family while I tried to fight back. Never had I faced a draeyk before and thought they were only a campfire story. By the time I had killed all the draeyks, my family was already dead. Since that moment, I have vowed to hunt down all the draeyks I could find and slaughter them one by one," Searon said, quickly feeling the weight lift from off of his chest. Tears filled his eyes, but he quickly dabbed them away, not wanting to shed any more tears over that night. The past would not change, but he could look forward to the future.

"I am sorry you had to endure that; it must have been terrible," Starlyn whispered.

"If I dwell on it too much, it only gets worse. I try to stay focused and keep going forward. Nothing can be done about the past, but I can do something about the future. I will keep fighting draeyks until I die," he said with anger replacing his grief.

"Something doesn't make sense," Starlyn said.

"What?"

"You had never seen draeyks before that night. They had not been a problem in nearby villages? There were no rumors of them in the area?"

"No...humans were oblivious to their existence before. We knew only of daerions...and they are long extinct now. History books told us of the Battle of Lenor Lake where we defeated the daerions. Humans only battle each other, and that was why I left the cities in place of a small village."

"For what reason were you attacked first?"

Searon looked at her, puzzled, and dropped his eyes down deep in thought. He hadn't ever thought of it before now. Still now, his family's slaughter rattled in his brain with every detail he could fathom, but his mind still wouldn't delve into the reasons it might have happened.

"I do not know...it wasn't just me...our entire village was destroyed. I think I may be the only survivor. After burying my family, I traveled back to the village to find it in ruins. There were a few draeyks still lingering there, and I slaughtered them before leaving, never to turn back."

"It seems our friends were searching for something in that village. I wonder if they ever found it," she whispered.

She had given him something new to ponder, and he lost himself in thought. There was a lot of wisdom in her words, and he realized that men were more people of action while women thought about the bigger picture. Perhaps it would be good to have her travel with them.

"We are alike, you and I; both of our families have been lost to the draeyks." Starlyn wiped a tear that threatened to fall down her face.

"It is good to have a friend," Searon nodded.

He rose to his feet at the same time as she did. She stepped closer to him, and he flinched as she gave him a hug before she disappeared into the night. The wizard stepped into the area and gave a thumbs-up before lying down in the grass to watch the stars. Searon propped himself up against a large smooth stone that rested near the fire before he closed his eyes for darkness to consume him.

Searon awoke in the middle of the night startled as Starlyn slid behind him to lie down. She put her arms around his waist, sliding under his armor to feel his fit abs. At first, it made Searon uncomfortable, and he shivered at the sudden affection. But after a moment, he grew fond of the closeness and smiled, closing his eyes once again. It had been a long time since he had known the comfort of lying down next to a woman. He wasn't ready for a relationship, or even anything close anytime soon, but it was still nice to have someone that close to him. When he closed his eyes yet again, the cruel nightmares didn't haunt him anymore that night.