Barbaric Spouse, Descry the Night's Lure-Chapter 256: Scene CCLVI

Another night at the foot of the river was spent, and then another more... and many others... Until a day when the sun’s hue appeared to glow with an orange shade similar to that warm in the north, to which the beast halted its steps to sit next to a weary man that ultimately simply followed its tail, showing their destination by lighting the Archduke’s curiosity... A destination that appeared different given the sights the warlock had announced once the earth conveyed its wishes to his cursed eye.

The end of the river, far ahead could be seen as if a lake resting in the pit of broken ground. One looking as if burned charcoal in its whiteness, infected by the red water that on its edges glowed softly once coming closer.

As he paced slowly, surveilling the place he had reached, Aslak cautiously looked at the bloody waters that were too calm just as its river’s flow. Observing it along the beast which soon separated to show the thin path at one side of its uneven roundness. Made of the same kind of ground they stood on, narrow as it led to the red lake’s centre.

Instincts were all he could follow at this point. Therefore, unlike the time he hesitated to follow the Jazhara, Aslak’s feet moved onesidedly in the narrow ground above the red water, cautiously being followed by the beast who also watched the water surrounding them; gulping down the shivers at the scene below his feet as he reached the centre, for the waters appeared to fall inside the lake as if cascades resided within.

“... Is this it?” — Crouching curious, his hand dipped itself into the water once more, lifting it, yet this time seeing how it now had a pure clarity in its shade unlike at first. Noticing how also from the sides of the narrow path they had walked little lines of green wishing to grow peeked out growing stronger from the dark of the dirt and the closer to the centre he was into the bloody waters, lifting his head to meet the eye of the beast accompanying him that solely looked at him peacefully... knowledgable of what the man ignored.

The soft yellow of a sunrise behind the feline made its fur’s obscurity stronger and a wave in the sky could be noticed as the last drop of the water he had taken in his hand came back to the pit it belonged. Announcing to the man, such was the end of his journey, for the earth’s core had been finally reached.

The cascades below commenced to tremble, and so... the earth now was to manifest itself to the savage.

— Sortnafeigr’s seed you are, hence this place you are to recognize. Your eyes may tell the one I am... The Myrkzver I summoned, your blood has its essence... A young, wild... and passionate seed. —

“...”

— You are who I... have destined my child to be with... Aslak Myrkzver... May you have come here to calm the earth’s wrath? Or may you have come to sentence every living being in these grounds I allow to roam? —

“... None of those do I care to accomplish.”

— ... If so, tell your purpose... I shall decide whether your desire is destruction or stillness... —

At the sound resonating from below his feet, echoing in the air, Aslak solely could think about the woman he had crossed the nooks for, and his heart that had been conflicted and confused for so long at the uncertainty of his journey felt the stuffiness of her absence find light relief as the opportunity he sought appeared before himself.

“Your rage... it menaces my people... yet what I came for is to ask of your core... to allow my fated lung’s womb to blossom fruitful again.” — Staring at his wavering reflex in the red of the water Aslak commenced to declare, hoping to look in the eye the untangible being demanding his answers. — “I doubted the earth every day. Killing their parents to gain domain was what I didn’t want to force on my offspring because of your cursed traditions... I despise the power you appeared to showcase upon us savages rooted to your core...”

Recalling his return after a famed ritual every villager was sent to, the Framikanna, Aslak’s head thought about the crying mother he little knew of as his father killed her after the son had refused to slaughter the woman because of said traditions. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

<< If you won’t do it, I will. >>

The echo of his father’s disturbing growl resounded and her mother’s last words again were recalled by the man who understood their meaning too late in his life.

<< I love you, my son... >>

The rage at the shocking pierce of her chest that the father ignited ultimately placed the man against the previous Archduke when too young to comprehend this world’s cruelty. A woman he knew was his barer yet little did he see as she was submissive to a spouse, had been killed while smiling fondly at her son with helpless tears... and the child he was fought the father as tradition mandated... having no chance to win against the force of the grown savage... for such was the tradition... To fight and reckon their offspring’s potential to rule and honour the Leader’s power, solely permitting his rise as the new leader if approved by the current head...

<< Khkh, good. Once ya grow you’ll bring pride to our blood! I allow my death by your axe, haha- GH! You’re... now tha Archduke, Aslak... >>

The mock of the man to his every movement during their unfair fight appeared sarcastic given the end he allowed for himself... and a sixteen-year-old Aslak would remember the sight of a dead Father... falling far from the Mother... disgusted by his blood and the future of it.

Nonetheless... the one he came to love wished for the offspring that would one day have to kill him and herself... and the man wanted such death today... solely if with such the woman’s joy could be returned...