The Pain of Loss

Prologue

The battle of Norway, I was there that night. Loran was strolling out of the building. This was my chance, I had to take it. 200 years of waiting and this was my chance to avenge her. His armour was glimmering silver in the moonlight. People were running screaming for help. I barged through the crowd to try and get to him. He had to pay for what he did to her. He had to pay for his crimes of murder. I watched as he flipped a car, that was barrelling towards him. The people inside screamed and braced for impact. If only I could help them, but this had to be done. Then suddenly Loran was behind me, his powers had greatly improved since I last saw him. Mine were still far superior. He popped up on the other side of the square, again and again. He advanced towards the humans and I, rounding us into a tight mass. I drew my hood up and continued to push through the shouting people. These people who worshipped my kind. The heroes who bought joy and the wise gods who bought wisdom. There were also those they feared; the villains, full of trickery and deceit; and all the monsters of the deep, dwelling in the dark.

"Bow down! For you are mortals beneath me!" I whipped around to see Loran grinning down menacingly. A black staff shone out with a silver glow, the staff wasn't his, Loran's weapon of choice was always a sword. Everyone started to shrink down, but I held my ground. He didn't scare me, not anymore. Loran was too busy surveying his momentary victory to notice me, standing still as stone, mere metres away.

"Hey! Cow-face!" I yelled. An old nickname of mine. Yes, I had known Loran before. One might even say that we were friends. But that was history, there were trails of lies running between us now. Loran turned slowly to face me, his eyes burning on my face as he tried to identify me. My hood cast shadows on my face, making it hard to know who I was.

"What did you call me?" He stared me down. One thing that was different, he was a lot taller than he used to be. Cold silver eyes the bore into my skin and curly chocolate hair tickled my face.

"Cow..." I tried my best not to stammer, this man might have murdered my sister for God's sake. Fear started to seep into my veins and my legs felt like a wobbly jelly substance.

"Bow," he spat at me venom in his tone. Trying to give myself a burst of confidence, I cupped my hand to my ear and answered obnoxiously;

"Sorry, what did you say?" I snorted at my remark but my joy was short-lived as Loran came closer to my face and stared at me with anger blazing in his ice-cold eyes. Trying to puff out my chest to seem more like a threat, simply gave Loran some amusement to hold onto. My hand slowly moved into my coat to get a hold on my sword. The people around us were all breathing quickly as the silent stare between the two of us continued. They were afraid of this monster, they didn't know what could break him, shatter him, drive him to the point of madness where he would end his own life. He stood right in front of me, our faces mere inches apart. But, my features were still hidden under the hood of my coat. He lifted his hand shaking with anger to pull back my hood when I leapt out and struck him first,

"Your father mourns you..." The emotion of his face made it look like he was choking. The sight of Loran breaking for a moment gave me all the confidence I needed to strike. I leapt backwards drawing out my sword and stabbing him in the stomach. He wouldn't die, of course, he was a god; like me, but it would wound him enough to make the fight easy. All of the humans shuffled away in terror, Loran didn't seem to mind he was too fixated on disposing of me. Though unfortunately, he wouldn't have the privilege.

"W-who a-are y-you?" He spluttered gasping for breath. I pulled back my hood and a wave of heartbreak rushed through me as he studied my features but still couldn't work out who I was. "T-that doesn't m-make a d-difference!" He was starting to lose control of himself, I could see it. Thinking that I had won - a foolish mistake on my part, my guard softened. He lunged forward planting his staff on my chest. His power faltered, it didn't work on me, buried beneath all the hate he would never hurt me. For the staff gave him all the power he desired, but though he didn't know who I was on the outside, a nagging memory stopped anything happening to me. The silver glow swirled around my body, it was a warm, tingling feeling. The swirls of light merely bounced off my skin and evaporated into thin air. When the swirls began to fade I made my second attack. jumping back and slicing my sword down through the air at his face. I missed and Loran fought back. His strength was weaning and I could tell that the end was near. Blood was spilling down his front and I started to wonder if he might die here.