Vengeance Eternal

Glowing bright, brighter than the sun or moon at night, it called me. From the time of my youth, when my father put a wooden sword in my hand and told me how to kill a man, it was there. The elders say it is a vile monster, trying to lure away those of us strong enough to fight. The mothers and wives say it is a harlot’s trick to take away sons and husbands. The children call it ghosts here to eat us. No one can agree on what it is, only that we should avoid it. But I could not, not fully. I never strayed from my village, never wondered into the woods after this green light, but I never looked away from it either.

“Its good you don’t fear it son.” My father told me once as he described the best way to carve a spear from flint should I need it. “Fear will keep you alive, but fearing something far away will make you lose focus. Keep your mind here, there will come soon enough.”

“Why do we fear it, if we don’t know what it is?” I asked him. He smiled at me.

“Smart, like your mother.” He laughed. “We don’t know its not devils, or harlot’s, or even just strange gems. Because we don’t know, we cannot risk finding out if it does not come closer. You’ll find that’s with most things, gods be praised if we never have to worry more than on which canyon the Boka will attack from.”

My father and I didn’t talk about the green light after that. He made it clear I he didn’t know what it was, and that I should focus on now. So, I grew up not asking, only looking, making sure I didn’t fall behind in my training. But it was on one fateful day I did question. Not more than fourteen, someone ran for us from the forest. The light was not there this day, for whatever reason I cannot say. Men charged at us from the forest, all of them dressed differently, a mirid if weapons among them. Our village was not vast, only sitting comfortable near plentiful lands, and so a tempting target for many. This band did not seem too different to most. We all jumped up, grabbing swords, and entering the fray. I had seen men killed before, but never by my own hand. Whoever these were they did not see young ones like myself as a threat. I leapt at the back of one, stabbing into their body and pulling them to the ground. All around me was a flurry of shouts and clangs. They had no form in attack, darting around to any building and person. My father and the other adults made easy work of them individually but could not predict how they would fight. I made my way around the madness, stabbing and dodging when I could. One grabbed me by the back of the neck and hoisted me high. I turned as best I could, his face was gnarled and dirty, teeth rotted. I swung my blade in an arc, his head flying from his body let loose a strange thrill in me as I hit the floor. At once I was up again, rushing to the next fight.

I was a fool that day, killing as I had been. Because they didn’t fight as a one and I had slain my fair share I felt invincible. My father would have beaten me for these thoughts had he known. I decided to charge the largest invader I could find, for they clearly lead by size and strength. He spun on me instantly, a wooden club in hand larger than I was. I knew my bones were broken, but it wasn’t until I slammed into the ground after colliding with a tree that I felt the pain. I struggled to get up, but my body wouldn’t listen. I could hear myself scream as my bones cracked more, all sense of invincibility gone. I could even feel the blood rush to my eyes, turning everything red. That didn’t stop me seeing the giant of a man approach. His rotted teeth pulled back into a wide smile, be it the ease he could kill me, or the fact he wanted to harm a youth I could not tell. Around me his warriors were facing down my own village mates, to many for any to help me and not die in turn. This was my end; the pain didn’t stop me knowing that. I managed to look up when he reached me, I wanted to look defiant but could only manage to whimper. But something saved my fool self, my father intervened. Just as the club rose high my father jumped before the giant. He slashed across the front, sending the giant back a few steps. He should have stabbed, like he taught me, but in protecting me he grew sloppy. He slashed again, but the giant lifted his club as a shield. The sword stuck in the wood, and I knew it was the end. My father tried to pull it free, but the giant let the club fall. The sudden action took my father off balance and the giant reached forward. He lifted my father into the air with one motion and threw him like a sack into a nearby rock. I could hear the crunch, or my mind made me think so, and my father went still. At once I remembered every lesson on how a rock is a weapon, and how a throw can be lethal. This giant was a massively strong man, and I knew what that impact would do. Suddenly, all the pain was gone from me, instead I was enraged. The pain of the bones mattered little, the blood in my eyes made no difference, I stood. The giant turned back to me, but instead of a smile he looked horrified, as if he knew what he had done. He then looked toward the forest, and now, glowing more brightly than ever before, the green light shined. He looked back to me, and he screamed, for my body was wreathed in light. His warriors ran, but I leapt upon him and sank my blade deep. He tried to pull me off, but his strength was nothing now. I pulled my sword free and stabbed again, and again. I don’t know when I stopped, only that he was dead and everything was quiet. I rushed to my father then, shaking him till his eyes opened.

“Da, why?”

“You got arrogant.” He weakly said. “Had to cover your mistake.” He said, he was fading now.

“You should have stabbed.” I told him. The ghost of a smile on his face told me he appreciated it.

“I should have stabbed, but had to show you the wrong thing.” He coughed out, this time blood flowing free. I panicked now, but he grabbed me with what strength he had left. “This was going to happen, the light scared them, but without it this would have happened. Its not your fault. Please, don’t forget who you are.”

Those were my fathers last words to me. I knew he wanted to say more, I could see that last spark in his eyes, but his body couldn’t last any more. Those sparks were enough, for me at least. That was more than ten years ago, and it was on that day I learned what the green light was. It was vengeance.

My people had protected our home, and we slew countless invaders for it. Some of them would escape to the forest, festering in it. The light, I called to them, let them come as one group of many lands, to attack us. Their defeat, their lost bothers and sisters, they wanted revenge on us for surviving, for winning. This light kept them alive for that, and when it saw I wanted vengeance as well it passed into me.

I have carried this, I could not tell anyone in the village what had happened, they would call me mad. I could only defend them as my father had. And now I stand at the edge of the graveyard, just before the forest path.

“Paroy, do you still feel you must do this?” an elder asked me. The last of them for now, in his robes and walking stick. He tried to look after me, mostly failing. I owed him much for that.

“Elder Maxod, that light brought them. Its been taunting us, always just outside. Our first enemies may be the cause, may be the first to see it, I don’t know.” I tell him. He does not believe me, but he keeps my secrets none the less. “How many would want revenge on us? All of them, as one, and if we live, we’d do the same.”

“The world is not a cycle like that, even if what you say is true. I’ve seen many rise up from great wounds in moment of rage.” Maxod explained. The old ma always did try to keep my safe and sane, failing the former but never realizing I was already the latter.

“Better we knew what it is anyway then.” I finally stated, for there was no argument to that he could give. “If I’m wrong, I’ll be back before long, if not then who knows.”

“Do not be too tenacious for danger.”

“You keep safe to old man; I expect you here when I return.”

“All the stress you give me, I’ll be dead in a week.” He joked at me.

“You’re healthier than the children, running around the lake in the morning mist every day.” I say back, laughing with him. We embrace for a moment before he waves me off. I can feel him watching me as I go into the trees, I don’t bother looking back. My village would not burn, for I will always protect it. Instead, I look to the forest, the light flickering strongly. It calls me, as it always has. I don’t know how far it is, how long it will take, but I will find it and what it really means. “And I’ll make sure to stab.”