15 YEARS LATER.
The regret and guilt Tolbar felt from Marie's death haunted him to this day, her last words still echoing in his mind.
'Take care of Lena.'
Following this tragic event, the barbarian had sworn loyalty to Lena and served her... until now. The icy feeling of death intensified, promptly threatening to end his service. Yet, he fought it with all his strength, unwilling to leave the side of a certain little girl.
Plop.
Plop.
Plop.
Something wet rolled down his face to lodge in his beard. The warmth behind it pulled him out of his comatose state. Tolbar opened his eyes with the meager strengths he had left, curious about the origin.
Lena was crouched next to the giant, her father's stern look on her face, oblivious to her own tears.
"Stand-up!" Lena ordered.
Blood loss and Lena's tears clouded Tolbar's eyes. He could make out two blurred figures, one of them was familiar.
He sighed internally, 'At least I got to see her one last time.'
"Stand-up!" Lena ordered, "Stand-up, I said!"
The giant's dried mouth opened, however, only a whistle came out of it. The barbarian persisted, and finally, his rocky voice resounded once again for what may be his last words.
"My... lady."
Seized by sorrow, the small sound remained unnoticed to Lena.
"Stand-up!"
Tolbar gathered his remaining energy and slowly reached for his employer's face. Lena, still ordering his guard to "stand-up," remained unaware of the hand coming at her, until it delicately placed itself on her left cheek.
Startled, Lena almost jumped from surprise but rapidly recognized the gentle touch of the man who had carried the little girl on his shoulders fifteen years ago. It pulled her out of the mental bubble she enclosed herself in.
At this moment, grief made its way up her throat, preventing Lena from talking properly. Her mouth folded upward, creating a rictus, as if to block the incoming sobs.
Tolbar smiled at her. Remembering the barbarian standing at the gate watching the dawn with a content smile in search of hope, Lena couldn't contain herself and wept.
Near-death, the giant hallucinated. He saw a little redheaded girl crying in front of him while he gently stroked her.
"Purease, don't reave me too." Lena said, struggling.
Tolbar continued to caress the little girl's cheek.
"It's... going to be... fine."
Upon hearing his voice, Lena trembled from sorrow.
The Fallen watched the scene, feeling touched but also powerless. The nearest outpost was still a three days ride from the cave. He had the Yggdrasil potion, however; it was restricted to his personal use.
Tolbar, still trying to calm Lena, turned his gaze to the skeleton looking down in search of a solution. This awakened his warrior's instinct, breaking the hallucination and clearing his mind. The little girl morphed back into the beautiful woman he had sworn to protect. Determined, with a herculean effort, the giant stood up.
"What are you doing?" Lena asked.
Despite the blood pouring out of his injuries, Tolbar took a combat stance. The Fallen saw the fighting spirit shimmering in the guard's eyes. Dumbfounded, the skeleton stood still.
'What is this baldy doing?' he thought.
"Kindling... fight me," Tolbar said.
In the barbarians' custom, dying at the hand of an enemy was the most honorable death possible. It was considered shameful to draw his last breath in a bed or, on this occasion, lying on the grass mixed with ashes.
"Would you... do me the honor to take... my life?" Tolbar asked.
Shocked, the Fallen couldn't make heads or tails of what the giant asked. But, the dying man in front of him would kick the bucket soon. So, if this was his last wish... the Fallen respected it and drew his weapon.
"Thank... you."
Tolbar had despised the Fallen until now, but after the skeleton had saved Lena's life and his—for a short duration—his hated subsided and transformed into respect. The giant smiled at the thought. Who could have guessed that one day he would respect a kindling?
The barbarian activated rage, accelerating the blood loss, and rapidly limped towards the Fallen. Determined to fight until his last breath, Tolbar launched a straight punch, despite his injuries.
Lena watched in slow motion the giant's last moments. She knew why Tolbar had acted like that and had stayed silent out of respect. Since he couldn't be healed, it was better for him to die the way he wished.
The Fallen saw the blow coming, stepped back to avoid it, and prepared to strike.
"I'm sorry."
BAM!
***
A mourning silence filled the cave, as shadows danced on the rock walls at the tune of the campfire's flames, poorly lighting the surroundings. Two figures covered by blankets sat around the fire, searching for warmth and hope in those desperate times.
"Why did you cremate him?" The Fallen asked.
Lena's eyes reflecting the fire turned towards him.
"The necromancer can rise the dead. Therefore, it is the custom to incinerate the remains of a human."
An awkward silence emerged again after the brief exchange. The two of them watched the fire, their sorrowful thoughts nursed by cracklings of burnt woods. At one point, Lena talked.
"You know, after my mother's death, Tolbar swore allegiance to me and stood by my side until now."
'Her mother died?' The Fallen thought.
"He was there when my father, filled with grief, forced me to learn pyromancy from those who orchestrated my mother's murder. Do you know what my father said to me? 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'."
Lena's grasp on the blanket tightened at those thoughts.
"How could a little girl understand any of this? It disgusted me to learn from those bastards. I felt guilty. It was as if I was cooperating with my mother's murderers. But my father turned a blind eye to my feelings and forced those lessons upon me. Telling me it was for my own good. Bastards, all of them!"
She gripped the grey piece of cloth covering her so hard that her palms turned white.
"But only Tolbar stood by my side," she said while smiling, "Following the murder, in addition to my pyromancy lessons, Tolbar trained me in the art of combat. He was a harsh teacher, I tell you."
"Oh, I believe you." The Fallen answered.
Having experienced the man's boorish and brutal personality on the journey, the Fallen knew too well she told the truth.
"Tolbar was there when I finished my pyromancy training at 13 years old and enrolled in the army to avoid my father," she said, "Ironically, I quickly climbed to the rank of general because of my father's influence."
The skeleton kept listening to her and Tolbar's story for hours. The wood had turned to cinders. At that point, only the rare burning charcoals left provided a source of light.
If there was any major point to her tale, the Fallen understood it was the importance she accorded to Tolbar. His death affected Lena too deeply. Touched, the Fallen wanted to do something for the redheaded general, but the only idea he had was too risky. He was unwilling to sacrifice himself for peoples he barely knew.
"Finally," Lena said, teardrops falling from her puffed eyes, "Tolbar agreed to accompany me during this suicidal quest to find an altar... and look where it got him."
'Please don't say it.' The Fallen thought.
"I killed him," she said, covering her face with her hands.
The Fallen's guilt crept up his chest, burning his insides, propagating like a wildfire. Uncontrollable, the uncomfortable feeling sent his thoughts on a road he wanted to avoid.
"I killed the man who was my bodyguard."
'Stop.'
"My mentor."
'Please.'
"My father..."
'Fuck.'
Her last words flooded the Fallen's mind, removing his parasitical selfishness from his brain. The reason being Lena thought of Tolbar as a father, even more than her own.
Sigh.
The Fallen gave up on resisting his guilt derived from pity and compassion as he stood up.
"Where are you going?" Lena said, uncovering her face.
The skeleton took out his weapon from the baggy bag, held it in front of him, and brought it down himself.
BAM!
A loud cracking sound briefly filled the cave's silence.
'FUCK! My head is harder than I thought.'
The Bone crusher couldn't break his skull in one go.
"Stop! Are you mad?!" Lena asked.
"Kakakaka!"
The skeleton laughed, clueless at what to answer but also to prepare himself for more pain.
BAM!
"Stop it!"
'Damn it! Just break already!'
The second hit neither worked. He was too close to his weapon for the Bone crusher to be effective. It could crush stones, but even the mightiest of weapons at close range would lose a lot of power—magical weapons not included.
After the self-inflicted hit, The Fallen's head cracked in multiple places, one more and it would break into pieces. He charged his strike, ready for his last moment in this timeline.
Lena was now standing, hoping to stop his next suicidal move.
"What are you doing!?" she asked.
"I'm saving your father."
BAM!
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