Shatter Me - A KotLC Story

Found

Gren wandered the woods. He did that a lot in his spare time. Anything to keep him from sitting still, thinking about all the horrible things he'd done. It was getting harder and harder to distract himself and his grip on his sanity was slipping more and more.

In the moment, when he was hurting someone, his insanity showed. The cracks that had been forming for years now were put on display. It was terrifying. And not just for his victims.
He may have enjoyed putting people in their place, but he didn't want to completely lose his mind. Although, at this point it seemed inevitable. All the same, he tried to fight, for his own good. That's all he cared about anymore - himself.

He'd given up hope a long time ago that he would ever find his father. Now, his focus was survival, in a world that hated him.

Suddenly, five dark figures dropped out of the trees. They wore black cloaks with white eyes on the shoulders.

One of them stepped forward. "Gren."

Gren raised his semitransparent arms defensively. "What do you want? Who are you?"

The first figure tossed back his hood. It was Fintan. "We're the family you've been looking for."
————
Gren worked tirelessly among the Neverseen, constantly trying to make his father proud.

One day, Fintan approached him. "Where did you come from?"

Gren was taken aback by the question. Didn't he know? "My mother abandoned me in the Neutral Territories. I was found and raised by an ogress named Tamir."

Fintan nodded. "And what of this ogress?"

Gren stared at the floor. "I killed her by accident when I was fleeing Ravagog."

Fintan placed a cold hand on Gren's shoulder. "My condolences." He pulled back his hand. "Did you know who your mother was?"

Gren shook his head. "No, but Tamir told me that she was an elf named Allison Moone."

Fintan's eyes widened ever so slightly. He stared at Gren. "It can't be." He murmured to himself.

"Did you know her?" Gren sounded a bit excited.

Fintan stared at the wall over Gren's shoulder. "Yes. A long time ago. We were... rather close. Too close by the Council's standards."

"Did you love her?" Gren asked.

Fintan sighed. "Love is a strong word, in any context. There was a... mutual fondness. It never went very far." He sighed and met Gren's gaze. "I only spent a few nights with her, but apparently it was too many."

Gren narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Fintan pinched the bridge of his nose. "The councilors are not allowed to have children and Allison wasn't married." He looked Gren in the eye. "You were never supposed to exist."
————
After that day, Gren became very devoted to the Neverseen to the point of branding the symbol into his bare shoulder. It was excruciating and he could hardly use his arm for the next week, but the end result was exactly what he wanted. A permanent mark of loyalty.

The red, scarred skin struck fear in those that he interrogated. He was the Neverseen's torturer and he loved every second of it.