Chapter - 13

That night after seeing the Vuldrag my father and I sat at the dining table. I looked at my father, the same man who was my role model for all my life, sat looking at the table: his eyes were sunk in, his face pale. I opened my mouth to try and speak but I felt something inside my chest tighten. I thought back to all the times I had asked my father about my mother, every time I asked him about her his voice would fall silent, his face would lose its color and his voice would be filled with sorrow. So I sat there staring at my father, the pain in my chest growing tighter and tighter, I tried once more to open my mouth and try to say something, anything, to my father but no words would come out, every time I opened my mouth the pain would grow stronger, the memories of every time I had asked my father about my mother came rushing back, and I felt the wave of sadness and sorrow rush over me like a tidal wave.

After a long while, I stood up and forced the words out "I miss her father. So much." my father rose and stared into my eyes, I have never seen that look before, his eyes were filled with not just sadness and longing. They were filled with the purest form of sorrow, it looked as if all the joy and hope had been drained from my father's soul. I hated seeing him like this. He walked over to me slowly, he moved carelessly and slow, he put his hand behind my neck and said "Me too boy. Me too." I could no longer hold back the tears that had been building up. I tried to say something but as I opened my mouth the only words that came out were "It hurts father. It hurts so much." "I know son, I know" he replied the tears streamed from my eyes silently after that, there was nothing I could now say or do to comfort my father nor was there anything he could do for me. We stood there for a while allowing our tears to stream down our face, and they kept flowing from our eyes just as a river runs true.

The rest of the morning went by in a blur, I continued with my usual duties, but I still had a strange feeling in my chest, I felt a void of emptiness form in my chest and it wouldn't go away. I was sitting on the docks staring out at the wide sea, often I had done this, I would sit there and just listen to the sound of waves crashing onto the shore and try my best to spot islands on the horizon. Doing this would calm me and allow me to gather my thoughts, but today after seeing the Vuldrag, the only thing I felt while staring out at that cold dead sea was nothing. Every second I sat there staring out at the massive void of greywater, the feeling of nothingness grew larger and larger. I feared it might consume me if I sat there for much longer, but I was unable to move. So I sat there, thinking back as far as I could back to the days I was a baby in my mother's arms. I could almost feel her warm, soft, hands on my cheek. Her loving embrace as she held me in her arms. A single tear fell from my right eye as all those feelings came rushing back and as soon as they had come back they had just... disappeared. I closed my eyes and felt the warmth come back to me for a moment. I could feel that same loving embrace wash over me, I opened my eyes slowly and saw Asta's face, she wrapped her arms around my chest and was holding me tightly. I sat there for a moment allowing her to hold me in that warm embrace.

I stood up and turned to face Asta, my eyes were filled with great sadness and sorrow, my face had lost its color. I stared into Asta's grey eyes, every time I had stared into them they filled me with such happiness and joy, but this time I felt nothing. Asta placed her hand on my cheek and said "Hunter, my love. I am here for you, I cannot do anything about what happened to your mother. But I will always be here for you. I love you, Hunter." Her hand was warm, it sent a shock through my body, and as she spoke I could feel that emptiness slowly fade away, with every word she said it filled me with feeling once more, it brought me back to my senses. Tears began to fall from Asta's eyes. I pulled her body close to mine, I held her head on my chest. I brought my head close to her shoulder and whispered "You are the only reason I have left to live Asta. You are the only thing that is keeping me from losing myself. I love you, Asta." After a long moment of holding each other, neither one of us wanting to let go, I relaxed and she stepped back, I placed my hand on her cheek and brought her face closer to mine. I pressed my lips against hers, the feeling of her warm soft lips pressing against mine took my breath away.

I pulled away and looked at her, a smile crept across my face "What's that smile for?" Asta asked while beginning to blush. "I'm just thinking of the future," I said while staring into her eyes. She punched me in the arm and said: "And what are you thinking of right now?" She asked me, "You may find out one day." I replied, she punched me in the arm and chuckled. We then proceeded to walk back to the village together.

As we got to the edge of the docks we saw something in the distance. Smoke was rising up from the far side of the village. Asta and I looked at each other before racing off in the direction of the smoke. Just as the source of the smoke came into view I looked at Asta and said: "Run now!" Asta looked at the source of the smoke and stood there frozen with fear.