章 26: Chapter 26

"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.