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Bal Vyr decided that he wanted to study Lash’s journal for the remainder of the day. Abu went with the Drow while Cloudbreaker and I went to the armorsmith. The Goliath needed a set of armor and would have to be fitted considering he was not the average human size.
The armorsmith was daunted by the task, but he agreed to service the Goliath nonetheless. Part of the measuring included Cloudbreaker going into a rage. He had warned the armorsmith about that and though the smith had put away all valuables, the Goliath still punched some holes in the walls and ceiling. I wasn’t sure if I was more nervous by the idea of leaving the room or staying in the presence of his anger.
Once the fitting was finished, Cloudbreaker made it clear with the armorsmith that he’d pay for the damages and thus another debt was made.
We retired back to the Larland’s Chalice Inn and made some small talk with Dale. It was clear he wasn’t happy with us still, but he was cordial. I figure it’ll take a week or so before he warms back up to us.
As Cloudbreaker and I ate dinner, I could see that his face was too stern. It was no surprise considering all that went down today. We didn’t obtain our reward, were accused of not killing all of the vampires, setting one of Dale’s rooms on fire, the incident with the gravekeeper, and creating a greater debt for damaged property... What was there not to be frustrated about?
I recalled how passionate Cloudbreaker was when he spoke about his tribe the other night. I felt if I asked him about the Goliaths, that it would lift his spirits. And considering I was to follow him wherever he was to go, I figured I’d best learn more about what tribe life was like in case we ran into his people once more. I guess in essence, and it’s probably weird of me, I’m wanting to become a Goliath. I’ll need to be tough, strong, and quick in my own way, and if I can do that, then just maybe I can keep up with him and his people.
“Cloudbreaker,” I began, “What was tribe life like? What did you do for fun?”
The Goliath gave me a confused look. When I continued to look at him expectantly, his eyes became thoughtful. A soft smile played at the corner of his mouth as he pondered.
“It was... home,” Cloudbreaker finally said with longing. I waited patiently for him to continue, “Life was hard, but simple. My people are so different than humans. You see, your tribe is your family. You trust each and every member with your life. There is none of this... selfishness that seems so rife in humanity.” I nodded in agreement. People were selfish, even myself. We ate a few more bites in silence. I had thought Cloudbreaker wasn’t going to say any more when he continued.
“As for fun” he began with a fond smile, “we’d dance, sing, tell stories, play games. Oh how I miss a good game. We’d wrestling or play goatball. Ah, goatball! That was my favorite!”
“Goatball? Never heard of it,” I piped in. Cloudbreaker looked at me in disbelief.
“Really!? It’s a wonderful game! See you throw a ball around made of goatskin. The lumpier, the better. The object of the game is you have to throw it past the other team,” Cloudbreaker explained.
“That doesn’t sound too difficult,” I responded. Cloudbreaker laughed.
“Maybe if there wasn’t a river involved. You see you play it across a river with rocks and trees trunks. Typically you hop around on the various debris in the water to get a better shot at throwing the ball past the other team.”
“Ah, so the perfect game for me,” I smiled all cocky like while helping myself to a drink of ale. The Goliath looked me over and nodded his head.
“Yes, I suppose it is. Hopefully one day we can play it,” Cloudbreaker said, “Another game- well sport, I enjoy is climbing. I’ve always loved to climb.”
“Me too!” I blurted a little too enthusiastically, “I mean, I’ve become fond of heights and have had a few adventures involving climbing up cave walls. It’s exhilarating to reach the top,” I explained. Cloudbreaker nodded in agreement. An idea then came to mind, “I know! Maybe when we find some normalcy in this life we can go scale a mountain together. Or maybe we can go climb the bluffs when we get some down time in this town,” I said with excitement.
The Goliath gawked at me. “Yes Blackwing! That sounds amazing!” He placed his hands on his head and leaned back as he beamed. Yet just as quick as the smile came, it faltered.
“What’s wrong?” I prodded.
“I was thinking of my brother. He loved to climb too...” A long sigh escaped Cloudbreaker’s lips, “It’s hard to believe it's been five years since I last saw any of them. I've spent so much time amongst humans I can barely remember what life with the Vath'ul-Mak'ai was truly like anymore. Remembering just feels like a dream...I wish I could return every day,” he said, longing in his voice once more. I too missed home. I even longed to go back, but my hate toward Heironious and His corruption with the mark prevented me from yearning for too long.
Interestingly enough, I had an epiphany about the mark. Once Cloudbreaker and I had retired for the night, I went about journaling while he got comfortable on the floor. As I wrote about the two new qualities of the mark, I realized I had seen the mark turn someone into something else! I’ve witnessed what happens when the new form is killed and reverts back to the original body.
It was Meryth! It explains how it was she was alive when I most certainly had killed her; how terribly dark she had become with her desire for power and this notion of uniting the God heads into one being. That explains why she turned back to her 12 year old self when I killed her again.
As that realization set in, before I could stop myself, I exclaimed under my breathe, “I’ll be damned!”
“Hmm? What are you fussing about?” Cloudbreaker asked as he shifted under his blanket to look at me.
“Oh, um... sorry,” I began, feeling a bit embarrassed for disturbing him, yet I had to explain. It was too good to not tell him, especially since it had to do with the mark, “It’s just earlier, when you mentioned Bal Vyr turning into some monster, you said after destroying him, he reverted back to his Drow form, right?”
“Yes,” Cloudbreaker exhaled, clearly tired.
“And with Lash having turned into some demon, I was contemplating that it was a new development with the mark- I mean, I thought I had never seen it before!” the excitement in me was on the verge of bursting. I sat up and faced toward the Goliath. He propped his head up on one hand as I went on.
“My sister was a victim of the mark you see. When she died... she wasn’t Exalted like I was. Then some time back, what I assume to have been only a couple months ago, I saw her; but it wasn’t her. She had grown up and the way she talked to me... she was obsessed with power and had this crazy idea about uniting all of the deities together as one supreme being.
“Yet despite her hunger for power, she let me kill her. When she died, my sister turned back into her 12 year old self, looking exactly how I’ve always remembered her; being innocent.”
Right in the midst of saying that, some thoughts came into my mind of, so who was Malfeiya? Why was she Exalted? Why didn’t Heironious explain any of that to me?
“What happened to Bal Vyr gives me hope that my sister was just a victim of the mark’s curse when she first died,” I spoke aloud. I then pursed my lips together as my voice became bitter, and more to myself than to Cloudbreaker, added, “But it doesn’t explain why Heironious never told me any of that.”
I brushed away my traitorous tears. I could feel my anger bubbling under my skin. How dearly I wanted to trust Him again, yet how stuck I was still trying to figure out the mark. When I looked back at Cloudbreaker, I felt stupid for having bothered him. I hadn’t learned anything pivotal to our situation.
With an exasperated sigh, I buried my face in my hands, “I’m sorry Cloudbreaker. I guess I’m still trying to sort this mark thing out. I feel like I’m so close to understanding it, yet still getting nowhere! I didn't mean to keep you awake...”
“You’re fine Blackwing,” Cloudbreaker responded, “I’m just contemplating what you have said.” I removed the hands from my face and watched him as he thought a moment longer. “Bal Vyr certainly did not let us kill him when he took the form of flame and shadow... I doubt he could have been reasoned with. Plus what Bal Vyr and Lash transformed into were monstrosities... That doesn't sound like what happened to your sister."
I furrowed my brows as Cloudbreaker said that. It was like a knife in the back.
"Blackwing, I don't know what all happened to you before we met, but it does not seem to me that the mark we bear has any link to Heironeous or to Erythnul,” Cloudbreaker continued on despite my look of hurt, “The other night when you went into a fit and I took you to the Temple of Pelor, the priest said that the mark we bear is very old and has not been seen in a long time. I suspect what we bear is at the hand of something long thought dead, like an old God or demon. Something that pre-dates the God Wars certainly."
My eyes burned. It was frustrating to listen to Cloudbreaker trying to alter what I knew to be right. He was naive like everyone I’ve met since my return to the mortal realm, and it made me so mad. But at the same time, how I wanted it to be different. How I didn’t want this to be the same dreaded mark from my past. But I felt so close to understanding what happened to my sister and though I wanted to believe Cloudbreaker, I couldn’t.
“No,” I clipped out, “That has to be what happened to her. This has to be the same mark! Erythnul has been the culprit from the beginning! The mark took my sister’s Exaltation from her and turned her into a monster!” I began to shout. I took a deep breath and wrapped my arms around me, “When I saw her all those months ago, it wasn’t my sister I talked with. I don’t understand why she allowed me to kill her again, but she did...”
I wiped at my eyes, angry that I was crying in front of Cloudbreaker. Another point quickly came to mind about the mark to which I added, “And it’s not the first time the mark has been dormant. My town was among the first raided after a millenium of peace from it.”
Cloudbreaker sat in silence. It was remarkable how calm he was considering how angry I had become. It was as though we balanced each other. Both of us were quick to anger, but typically one of us managed to remain level headed when the other wasn't.
"I don't know then. Part of me suspects that this is a different mark than what you know... yet you're the one who seems to know the most about it," Cloudbreaker finally said. I nodded in agreement, but said no more.
“Blackwing...” the Goliath continued more cautiously, “since you are the only one with a history with this mark, have you thought about what this could mean?” I furrowed my brows wondering what he was getting at. I shook my head slowly as he continued, “This mark has followed you. So me, and all other marked beings, are marked because of you. You brought the curse to Athvala.”
My eyes grew wide at the accusation Cloudbreaker made. Guilt didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. It explained why the mark was in this world. It must have followed me. Yet why was I bearing the mark too?
“Hey,” I heard the Goliath say as he tapped my shoulder. My eyes met his and was surprised to see a soft smile on his lips, “Good thing I don’t believe this to be the same mark.”
A laugh escaped me in disbelief. Still I forced a smile. “Yeah... good thing,” I responded. I then said goodnight to Cloudbreaker and went back to journaling.
With this realization, it's been distracting to recount the day. How much I wanted to write the epiphany out. However given the time before writing, I've contemplated some thoughts about who I saw all those months ago in a lone tree. I know I saw the demon form of Meryth. Now what I need to figure out is why didn’t Heironious explain that aspect of the mark to me? And Meryth said she was Malfeiya. If that’s so, why was she going around doing so much good? Why did Heironious finally decide to Exalt her despite the mark she bore?
On top of all of that, now I have to wonder if Cloudbreaker is right. He may not believe the mark to be the same, but what if I am the one responsible for bring the mark here?
...My head hurts. I’m done writing for the night.
...My head hurts. I’m done writing for the night.
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