Chapter 24

Swaths of multicoloured mists passed him by as Alvar drifted through the emptiness of his mind like a corpse on water until it sank. For Alvar the mists he was currently in had shortly pulled at him, dragging him further into them, the crushing pain over seeing his uncle die right in front of him giving the mists a point to stick their claws into.

While he was losing himself in the endless ocean of everchanging clouds a soft voice, soothing and calming called him back and on instinct alone he took the offered hand and was pulled back, the pain in his heart lightening the further he ascended while the grip of the mists on his pain loosened with every passing moment until without any notice from the soothing voice he was leaving the mists behind him and only calming darkness took him.

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With a muddled mind Alvar opened his eyes to the dawning light of the day, his gaze though never strayed further then the ceiling of his room as the memories of that fateful night came back to him which caused Alvar to swallow down a new bout of sadness that threatened to overwhelm him.

Taking a steadying breath Alvar tried to focus on other things, though the scene he had witnessed never leaving the back of his mind completely, where it remained and sometimes poked a needle into his façade of acting normally and composed.

Standing up Alvar walked over to the nearby basin and splashed some water onto his face to clean it of the remaining tear tracks that had dried up on his cheeks, refreshing him in the process.

After drying of his face with a piece of fabric Alvar went into the kitchen and made himself some breakfast, his every action done in complete silence and with practised ease of having done it since he could remember.

Leaving his empty bowl behind Alvar left towards the training field to burry his mind in something, anything really, so that he would not be haunted by all the lifeless bodies he had seen last night, nor the face of his uncle as he was frozen to death by that cunt of a son of Jormag.

His arrival at the training grounds was taken notice of by Sjorn, though his instructor must've picked up on his empty eyes and blank face, which caused said man to order Alvar to occupy himself with dummy training, after which the man disappeared from Alvars vision.

Not wasting any time Alvar unsheathed his sword and began to swing at the wooden dummy before him. At first his swings were slow and without much power but the longer Alvar swung at the dummy the more the wooden puppet took on the appearance of the man that had frozen his uncle to death, causing at first a spike of pain in his chest which soon turned into fury until only the loud crashing of metal onto wood was heard echoing over the training grounds.

Anger. Blazing hot, like an uncontrolled flame or a flood that had broken a dam, was causing Alvar to swing with abandon until any form was forgotten and he simply tried his hardest to destroy the puppet before him, wishing nothing more then the puppet to be the man that had taken his uncle away from him!

After a while all the anger Alvar had felt though had drained away and only sorrow and pain remained. An empty hole that swallowed any positive thoughts that dared to come to life in his mind in order to take Alvar away from all the pain.

With a thud Alvar dropped his sword, falling onto his knees besides it, and finally for the first time since the night he had seen his uncle murdered broke down in tears, at least happy that nobody was witness to his suffering.

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"What happened to Alvar? He was completely besides him when he arrived at the training grounds 20 minutes ago!" Sjorn asked after he had entered the home of Alvars family who went about their morning ritual with practised ease. Though Sjorn could see the rings under the old couples eyes, telling him that something rather big must have happened to the family.

"Do you remember the group of hunters that went out a week or so ago?" Alvars grandfather asked Sjorn while handing the instructor a mug of hot tea which the man took without comment though at the man's question he nodded, signalling that he had heard of them.

"Our son, Alvars uncle, was one of the hunters. Two days ago, they were attacked by the sons in the middle of the night while outside in the far north. None survived." Alvars grandfather said after which he turned around, presenting his back to Sjorn who had his eyes widen at the news, before he walked back to his chair were in he sat down, his eyes wandering back to the flames of the bonfire.

"I-I am sorry for your loss…How do you know about this though if there were no survivors?" Sjorn asked with a blank face the man had developed after his time as a soldier and the many men and women he had seen die over the years, possibly as a way to deal with such news in his own way.

"Our daughter, Alvars mother, when she was alive was a Havroune that awakened her ability to traverse the mists rather early in her life, on accident. Alvar seemingly inherited her gift. Through it he witnessed the whole fight and subsequently saw everything." Alvars grandmother replied this time instead of her husband who was still gazing into the flickering fire with a forlorn expression while his wife was standing in the kitchen where she prepared some kind of food, possible lunch or dinner.

"He saw everything? I see. Thank you for telling me this. I'll see what I can do about it. Maybe some of my experiences in dealing with such matters will help the lad…" Sjorn spoke in thought.

"How is Alvar's training coming along by the way? We never really got to ask you." Alvars grandmother asked Sjorn who brought his wandering mind back towards the old woman that had asked him a second ago.

"Alvar is…something else. He is gifted in combat and has yet to fail at a task I give him. He picks up what I try to teach him with a motivation I have rarely seen in a student so young. When it comes to tactics of warfare he could certainly improve but as he is still rather young I don't think that is much of a surprise. Most students in their younger days have a hard time to concentrate on these things. He will learn with time, don't worry. Truly, you can be proud of him. You raised a good lad." Sjorn spoke in a clear voice after sorting his thoughts into the right order for a little bit.

His words seemed to brighten the faces of the old couple for a little bit as they indeed felt pride at the boy they had tried to raise to the best of their abilities after their daughter had left them so early in her life.

"Thank you, instructor. We are happy to hear that he is doing so well. Should there ever be anything in Alvar's education we could help with, please do not hesitate to come to us. We would be happy to." Alvars grandmother spoke with a smile while her husband nodded in consent to which Sjorn smiled back in reply after which he bowed lightly and left. He had a student to train after all and he would be damned if he couldn't pass down some wisdom to the lad when he himself had been in a similar position before!