On his way back to the training ground Sjorn was mulling over what Alvar's grandparents had told him and how he was going to breach the topic with the lad.
Lost in his thoughts the man soon arrived at the training ground and came upon the sight of his student slashing away wildly at the wooden dummy. At least he was doing something with all the emotions that must be rampaging in the lads heart right about now.
"It's alright if you want to vent but that doesn't mean you should lose your form while doing so! Do you think an enemy will care about your emotions so long as they aren't a hindrance to him ramming a sword into your guts? Come on lad, position!" Sjorn spoke as he came to a standstill next to the heavily panting Alvar who at first wasn't quite sure what his instructor meant as his head was still muddled to some degree but none the less he complied without any protest and began swinging at the dummy once again.
Meanwhile Sjorn had walked over to a nearby tree where he sat down, crossing his arms before his chest.
"You know, when I was 22 years old I went onto my first campaign outside of Hoelbrak. We were sent out to deliver a message to the Charr who have a garrison not too far from our capital, in which our scouts informed them that a raid was imminent onto their small garrison. Before we could reach there though the attack had already commenced and so our commander at the time decided promptly that we would come to the Charrs assistance. A foolish decision, now that I think back on it, as we didn't know anything after arriving at the scene." Sjorn spoke, his eyes resting on the ferociously swinging Alvar, though his gaze seemed to look far away into the past.
"We didn't know how long the attack had been going for, we didn't know the enemies numbers, nor our allies numbers. We walked into a death trap, literally." Sjorn's words seemed to have some effect on Alvar as he still swung at the dummy but regardless of that the story must have roused his curiosity, as the lad was throwing glances towards his instructor from time to time while the man continued to talk.
"At the time I was still a young lad, barely having finished my tutelage as a warrior. I was not as green as some man who holds a sword for the first time of course but no matter the training you receive, you can only barely prepare someone for their first real battle when it's about life or death…" That statement seemed to rip Alvar out of his emotional state as his mind began to work properly again.
"Why is that? I mean can't you come at a trainee with the intent to kill? What's the difference?" Alvar asked with a rugged breath, shortly stopping his practise, until he began swinging again.
"Heh, you would think so, wouldn't you? Yes, you can come at your apprentice with the intent to kill but said apprentice will always know at the back of his mind that you will not truly want to cause harm, of course there are exceptions. For example if you barely know your instructor. It is different on the battlefield because you have no security in the form of an instructor, nobody to watch your back all the time and men at your front that truly wish to ram a spear into your heart! It is difficult to explain but once you are in such a situation you will understand." Sjorn spoke with a small, sad smile.
At his words Alvar began to think about the possible differences that a true battlefield and a training ground could pose and came to the conclusion that Sjorn may be right, in some points at least. You could always argue that any place could become a battle field, provided a true enemy on it of course, but none the less his instructor's point held true.
"Once we stormed the backlines of Jormag's troops our formation quickly scattered into the uncontrolled mess that a battlefield usually is. Men dying left and right, the blood soaking the soles of your feet while the adrenaline is pumping through your veins until everything around you begins to disappear behind a slight veil of red, only killing more and more being on your mind in order to survive. That's where I witnessed friends, I had been training for years with, die one by one, fuelling my rage until only a few of us remained. We later found out that the garrison had never stood a chance at surviving as Jormag had sent his champion and some of his best troops to take care of the garrison as he wanted to stifle a possible pact between Norn and Charr in the bud at all costs, which he succeeded in." Sjorn narrated.
His instructor's words resonated curiously with Alvars vision and he couldn't help but wonder how Sjorn must have felt that day. Maybe similar to himself right now? "How did you escape? You said you were outnumbered. Did the enemy not chase you down?" Alvar asked, the dummy standing silently at his side as Alvar's attention was now fully on his instructor.
"Luck I suppose. Only a few of us managed to escape though at a steep price as we could see and hear our comrades die while we fled into the hills. Did they send troops after us? Possible. We were rushing back towards Hoelbrak as fast as we could to warn our people of a possible invasion and not too soon as we later would find out. Have you ever heard of the long night?" Sjorn asked his student back while his gaze returned back into the present, now resting on his trainee fully.
"Only in passing. So Jormag's troops really attacked Hoelbrak directly then? How did we survive?" Alvar asked while sitting himself down opposite of Sjorn, wiping his sweat covered face clean with his sleeve all the while.
"Yes, they did attack us the following night after our return. We had barely managed to rack up our defences in the short period of time given to us. That night the moon was covered by thick clouds and icy winds rained down onto our heads, which was the cover Jormag's troops used to charge at our gates. Under sounds of rolling thunder and cracking like moving glaciers his troops consisting of corrupted Norn, known to you as Sons of Jormag, and beings made out of purely corrupted ice barrelled into our defences. We held strong but a few men and constructs made of ice managed to enter our home. Before we could act in the chaos of battle these beings had begun to kill or corrupt our people. Many died that night and many went missing after Jormag had stretched out his mind and began to corrupt some of our people which caused them to either join him or go insane. You pick for yourself which option appeals to you more. That night, due to the feeling of never seeing the sunlight again, was baptised 'the long night', and rightly so." Sjorn narrated after which Alvar sat opposite his instructor in silence.
"When was this night? I've never been told before." Alvar asked after a few minutes of contemplative silence.
At first Alvar thought his instructor was not going to answer as the man seemed to debate whether or not to tell his trainee but in the end he seemingly decided that Alvar would find out sooner or later anyway so there was no harm in telling the lad.
"today is the third day in the beginning of May. 12 years and two days ago the long night took place. On your birthday, Alvar." Sjorn said in a solemn tone which in turn caused Alvar's eyes to widen in surprise.
It seems his birthday was cursed somehow. His mother first and now his uncle. Alvar couldn't help himself but wonder, was that a coincidence or was there more to it? He truly hoped there wasn't…
Didn't come out as good as I had wished but I still hope you enjoyed the chapter :-)
"After the long night we tried to fortify our defences as strongly as possible. I guess many just needed something to get their minds off the horrors they had witnessed the night before, many having lost family and friends in the darkness." Sjorn said with a solemn voice while looking into Alvar's eyes.
Looking into his instructor's eyes Alvar realised that the man was still dealing with the pain of that night, even after all these years…
"How do you cope with it? You know, the pain and all that." Alvar asked, uncomfortable to say the least, the pain rearing its ugly mug in the back of his head once again.
"Hmm, I guess I just learned to live with it. Some people believe that time heals all wounds, as you may have heard, but I have come to learn over the years that the pain never really goes away. You just get used to it. Maybe somewhere out there is someone that is able to let go of his pain but us normal folks have no choice but to live with it." Sjorn replied with a sigh as the reality of life seems to have been a hard lesson for Sjorn to learn, one he still didn't like all that much from what Alvar could gather.
Standing up from his place on the ground Sjorn stretched himself a little after which he walked over to Alvar's sword and picked it up from the ground, swinging it from left to right a little bit.
"Go home to your family or spend some time with your friends, lad. We may all have to deal with the pain ourselves but the company of those you hold dear to your heart can help you get out of that dark pit you find yourself in right about now. We'll continue training tomorrow, but for today get yourself some rest." Sjorn said, the sword he had been swinging all the while having come to a halt before himself, after which he held the sword out for Alvar to grab.
Alvar grabbed it and while watching his instructor leave the training grounds got up himself, his eyes resting on the calm blue sky for a few moments until he also left the training grounds to follow his instructor's advice.
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"You look like shit, you know." His friend Veli said while the lad came strolling onto the clearing at the side of the small lake where they liked to spend their time at so much.
With a sideway glance Alvar shortly took in his friend after which he turned back to the small lake, all the while picking up stones that he continued to try to skip over the surface of the lake.
"No shit, professor." Alvar replied, though he didn't get a response from Veli as the boy simply let himself fall down next to Alvar, sticking a blade of grass between his lips all the while.
A weird silence descended on the two, only occasionally interrupted by the stones thrown by Alvar that either skipped over the water or with an oomph sound shattered the lakes surface into thousands of droplets.
"It's not the training, I can tell as much. What happened?" Veli asked after a few minutes of being silent and simply observing Alvar go about his menial task to annoy the small lake and its inhabitants.
Following Veli's question another short silence fell upon the two, Alvar never stopping to throw his stones, though Veli could see that some stones were thrown with a little bit more aggression than was necessary. Thus, he surmised, something was really bothering Alvar. Not to mention the rings under his friend's eyes.
"Two days ago, the night I turned 12, I had a weird dream. At first I saw nothing but darkness. That darkness though soon turned into multicoloured clouds or something. I still remember drifting through those for what felt like an eternity, but it was not an uncomfortable feeling.
That all changed though when the clouds pulled back and I found myself amidst a group of men that were camping out in the wilderness. Amongst that group I saw my uncle Olaf. They began to talk with each other around a bonfire in some cave. I only remember pieces of the conversation, though whatever they were talking about seemed to spook them no small bit. Then all went to shit!" Alvar spoke, the last bit grunted through his clenched teeth while he threw a stone in his hand furiously into the water, causing the surface to explode into all directions.
Veli sat at his side, listening attentively to Alvar's story, flinching only slightly when Alvar abruptly threw the stone into the water with such aggression. His eyes never left his friend though, who after taking a small calming breath continued his narration.
"At first drums and horns were sounding in the distance, causing furious whispers to erupt amongst the hunters. They began to arm themselves only to freeze in their preparations as a seductive voice began to whisper into their ears. At first I was confused why they would be so terrified by a whisper but now I know that it was that fucking dragon Jormag that had spoken to them!" Alvar said while his knuckles clenched strongly around another stone that he possibly planned to throw into the lake next.
At his friend's words Veli's eyes widened in shock at what he was hearing. Even to him, someone who hadn't seen the dream, or whatever Alvar had seen that night, that story sounded way too detailed for a simple dream.
"Whatever that frozen worm had whispered into their ears must have been effective as the men seemed to find it incredibly hard to resist his words. My uncle though snapped out of the trance and with a furious voice rebuffed the dragon. Not long afterwards the battle began. Jormag's lackeys stormed into the cave and began to kill left and right. The hunters fought with a will and power I had never seen before but in the end they were outnumbered. I had to watch as one of those cunts grabbed my uncle and froze him to death and I could only stand there and watch him die!" Alvar spoke, his voice growing louder until he was nearly roaring at the end and with a mighty throw threw the last rock in his hands into the lake, followed by another big splash.
His outburst though seemed to have sapped all energy out of Alvar. With a thump he fell back against the tree where the two of them continued to sit in silence.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter :-)
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