Book 2 Season's Change Spring's Revenge

Part 49 By The Sea

It was unseasonably cold. Darkness fell like a heavy wet blanket of death all around him. The only thing he could see was the mist of his own breath upon the frigid air. Night was threatening to descend upon him like a thief stealing all his warmth and light. He was alone and cold in a dark and lonely desolate north exiled by the ones he loved; feared and hated for the evil that he had done. The sea had yet to begin to freeze as it would, yet the air was so bitter and cold that he could taste it on his tongue, feel it on his skin and in his bones. He walked with his head hung low his long hair cut for his shame his face unprotected and clean-shaven. He would keep them that way for the rest of his days. His eyes were dark with loneliness for not even Katana wanted him near. He gave the blades he had been awarded by the Elf priestess Aliekki and the armor her clan had crafted for him to her. His Goddess had forsaken him, cursed him to roam the frigid north a broken and forgotten man.

His tears froze before they could fall. He wrapped the fur-lined cloak he had crafted tight around him and trudged his way back toward the empty cave he now called home. He was barely able to pick up his feet. His arms hung loosely from his shoulders. They were just another weight he had to carry that his body hardly could. He was close to his end. He would die there in the desolate north alone, ashamed and afraid, a broken man. He walked slowly with his back hunched and his feet shuffling over the uneven ground because he lacked the strength and will to carry himself any other way. Gone was his grace and speed, light and love. All that he cared for; all that he loved and needed in his young life was gone; stripped from him for his misdeeds. They feared him, shunned him, hated him, turned from him, and turned him out to face the cold and brutal wasteland that the extreme north could be.

He didn't hunt. There was nothing to hunt so he didn't eat. He could hardly bring himself to drink the water that was available to him. His body weakened. He became frail and sluggish. His heart broke before his body. His will died the day his family sent him away as punishment for his crimes.

Avriel woke with tears in his eyes. He was alone except for Fet who lay curled against him. Avriel could see the sun through the shuttered window of the room. It was midday again. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, but his dreams tortured him even more than his waking hours. His stomach growled.

Fet opened his eyes and looked up at his friend. He felt the sadness still burning in him and he didn't like it. His friend twitched in his sleep unable to rest properly. Ever since that big man fell and stopped living his friend was ill. He did not sleep; he would not eat or drink anything. He did not train or move or talk. He just looked around sad and scared. When he did move it wasn't much at all. Fet worried every day for his human friend. He became so concerned that he refused to leave him and stayed right by his side. He tried to offer him comfort to keep him warm and to quiet his tears. He had seen him lonely and afraid. He felt his pain and shared it but he had never seen him like this. He didn't understand the emotions he felt coming off him. He understood anger and hate, grief and pain but he could not understand this one. His friend felt dark distance; cold. He did not like it. Why? Why did his human feel that way? The girl did not. She felt for their human but she was not dark and cold like his human was. He watched tears fall from his human's eyes the day the big man fell; big sad heavy tears but the words he had said were too garbled for Fet to understand them. Slowly his human was getting better. He only cried at night now.

There was a light set of footsteps in the hall outside then a light tapping on their door. He hedged ready to protect his human. His human got up and carefully opened the door. "What are you doing here Tripp? Is everyone alright?"

"Yes. I brought you some bread and cheese and an apple. You should eat."

"Tripp."

"No, Avi. You need to eat. Come sit down. Eat!" The little boy was completely in command. Avriel was content to let him have it. He felt worthless and useless and less than worthy of the food and care the little boy was giving him.