Viggo's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Part 10-Burned

The room was dim, but Viggo could still see himself in his personal mirror. His face was a mess, a mottled mass of burns sure to scar clustered around a blinded eye. The pain was dulled for now with several different potions, and while Viggo was feeling much better after several days of recovery after the incident, he hadn't been able to bring himself to face his men yet.

Viggo wasn't a vain man, and a small part of him even saw the new scar as a something to be proud of- heck, something to brag about. People would whisper things like he survived falling into a volcano! He must be so strong!

Still, it was like an itch that try as he might, Viggo couldn't scratch. He had never been beaten so badly in his life. Sure, there were several incidents that he would rather forget, and countless times when he had set out to achieve more than he managed to. But this? For the first time in Viggo's life he had been not just defeated, but humiliated in the scale of his defeat, forced to retreat like a beaten dog with his tail between his legs.

Truthfully, Viggo had only survived because Ryker climbed down into the volcano and carried him out. Viggo hated owing anything to anyone, and being saved like a helpless little child had been the last straw.

Viggo stared at his face in the mirror, then grimaced at it, finding a spark of amusement in the strange way the burned side of his face failed to perfectly replicate the other half, likely as a result of damaged nerves. Perhaps he could use it to scare his men a bit, as childish as it was.

With this thought, Viggo smiled, then started to laugh, the first real laugh that he'd had in a long time. Still laughing, he left his rooms. After all, he was alive; and life carried the promise of another chance at defeating all who opposed him.

*Sorry it's so short! I have finals next week but after that I'll have more time to post.*