Lords and Lies

The crystal blade

Another day, Damien woke up to another day. The morning light brought him no joy or warmth. He sat on the cold straw mattress contemplating whether he should even get up. After all, was it even worth it to try? It wouldn't change anything. The feeling of hopelessness settled on his mind like a thick fog. Damien eventually dragged himself out of bed and pulled on his guard armor. He kicked aside some of the glass on the floor in front of the mirror. He found a way to alleviate his anger on something that wasn't a person, but that wasn't good news for his mirror. So it was much more broken than It should be. The glass had been there for months now but he never did clean it up. The poor looking glass had been through a lot. There were fist size holes where the glass had fallen away. He looked at his broken reflection in the looking glass. He didn't wear full plate mail and he hadn't for some time. Instead, he wore guard armor which was half as heavy. He had slept in his chest plate. He reached for his earrings. First the golden hoops and then the abalone studs right above them. At first he questioned the tradition, but he's grown used to the earrings and now felt incomplete without the jewelry. The guards for his shoulders, elbows, knees, and metal boots lay haphazardly across his floor. He slowly piece together his armor reattaching the guards to the chainmail shirt. The chest plate was covered by a white surcoat. He hadn't bothered brushing short brown hair or bathing for a few days. He tried to rub the sleep out of his emerald green eyes but it didn't help much.

A knock on the door startled him out of his depressing thoughts. "Come in," Damien gave his permission, grabbing his helmet from beside his bed. A young brown-haired girl walked in carrying a plate with bread rolls, and meat that he couldn't Identify. He breathed deeply drawing in the scent of thyme and oregano, he forced a fake smile and took it with thanks and sat on his bed. Hannah looked down at him with a sad look in her eyes. "Are you feeling alright, You don't look well?" Hannah questioned. "I'm fine," Damien assured her "The sound of your voice tells me otherwise," Hannah remarked. The concern in her voice reminded him of why he hadn't left yet. It felt good to know the few people in the dying Village still cared. Hannah was Damien's best friend. She was kind and cared for him even when he forgot to care for himself.

She sat next to him as he ate. Despite her more upbeat attitude, she was starting to feel hopeless."The situation worsens with each passing day. I heard the Monterys are planning on leaving" she rested her head on Damian's shoulder "You can't blame them they have to do what's best for their family they have children to think about." Damian sighed "I know but I'll miss them, they aren't leaving for a few months but still, they were two of your strongest guards weren't they" Hannah already knew the answer to that?

"I didn't expect it to hurt this much to watch our home crumble around us," Damien told her, looking Hannah in the eyes. She reached up tracing her thumb along the wedge-shaped scar on his lower jaw. Many people had told him the scar looked like some kind of claw mark as if some great beast left a gash on Damien's jaw during a great battle. That wasn't true of course the story was far less spectacular but far more sad. Hannah was the only one who knew where the scar truly came from. She was the only one who knew much of anything about Damien and even though she knew the truth of who he was, she treated him like everyone else. Even though he was different he was determined to keep the village of Venna alive, even if it was just for her. Though of course, he had reasons of his own.

Damien shoved his helmet over his messy brown hair and walked out to face the day. He and Hannah went their separate ways as he walked his patrol route as he did every day. He looked at the crumbling buildings and the depressing barren fields, and every step seemed to weigh heavier and heavier. The Village was falling and it was going to bring him down with it, he just couldn't support the weight of their survival. He was only one man after all and even he was showing his cracks, despite his desperation to hide them. Eventually he stopped in front of a large home. The sight of it lit a burning fire of guilt in his heart. The Lord's he served under since coming to Venna four years before. This very building was where he failed all of them, one after another.