As Aethon looked up he saw someone's back infront of him. There was a cape that began small from the left shoulder and covered the figures entire back. It was made of wolf's fur. It was Vaerion. A sense of relief momentarily filled Aethon. As his breathing began to relax after seeing Vaerions back, Vaerion turned around to look at Aethon. Aethon who's vision was abit blurry didn't see the blood on his face or what expression his face was wearing, but he could make out his blonde hair. Vaerion then turned around and drew out his sword. Aethon could feel the heat emitting from the long sword. He then heard Vaerion and the two men speaking to each other, but to him they were just mumbling amongst each other. Due to his injury, blood loss, use of magic and mana that were used in an unskillful way during his fight with the two men, it made him weak. He also did not conserve his energy probably throughout the fight which meant that when he used his magic, it ate away at his mana pool. After getting stabbed, he lost blood and had to freeze the wound. Due to this,his mana control wasn't good and he was slowly falling unconscious due to this. As his eyes felt heavier and heavier, he felt a sudden rush of hot air bursting from Vaerion hitting him. It was followed by Vaerion screaming in a loud voice.
Aethon fell backwards and was out cold.
A blade was parried, then again, and again. A man dressed in a long tunic that was black and had a red scarf wrapped around it who stood at 6'1, silver hair and blue eyes was crossing his black kitana that was covered in a black flame with a 6'2 man who had long black hair, a white tunic with a white scarf wrapped around him, and was fighting with two long white swords that were covered in blue flames. As the two men continously crossed blades, the long black haired one screamed out in a deep voice, :"How dare you!!! How DARE YOU!!! You demon! I welcomed you into our part of this fractured world with open arms and this is what you give me in return for my kindness!" The man in black did not respond. Instead he stared back at the long haired man with an emotionless face. The man in white jumped back and screamed at him, :" SAY SOMETHING! NOW!!!" The man in black gripped his kitana tighter, the black flames shot out two flames that spiraled into one another and created a shape that was similar to a double helix. After that the flames merged into one blob of black fire that was shooting out of the hilt of the kitana and then the shape suddenly got refined. Like a newly made long kitana made of pure black metal. The flame had disappeared. The man in black stared at the long haired man dead in the eyes and let out a grin that made the long haired man jump into the air and dive straight for him. As they started fighting and exchanging blows, the black haired man saw his reflection in the sword of the long haired mans blades and froze still, almost petrified. Has the black haired man looked up into the long haired man's eyes, the man started screaming at him, :"Either it be this lifetime or the next, I WILL KILL YOU... AETHON!!" The man in black then blinked and Aethon woke up screaming.
Aethon got up screaming! He started looking around frantically for the long haired man. He then started screaming in agony due to a sharp pain that was making his head hurt. Has the momentary pain faded away a few seconds later, Aethon opened his eyes and saw Vaerion staring at him. He then looked at Vaerion while inhaling and exhaling heavily and asked, : "I.. I passed...out?" After asking Vaerion that, Aethon looked around to see that the area around him was filled with destroyed houses, craters in the ground and a tree was on fire. He then looked at Vaerion with a stern look and asked him, :"Did you win?" Vaerion, staring Aethon dead in the eyes sighed and said, :"I would have won, but they were crafty, quick, and working well in sync." After saying this, Vaerion had a confused look on his face and Aethon noticed it. He stared at Vaerion and then asked, :"Are you ok Lord Vaerion?" Vaerion then looked at Aethon, stared at him abit and asked him a question. "Aethon, when you were fighting the two men did you see any tattoos on them. Anything. Like a clock, or sigil or hourglass?" Aethon without hesitation looked Vaerion in the eyes and said, :" They were well covered so I didn't see much, only there heads were visible. Everything else was covered." After hearing this Vaerion stared at the ground and said nothing as he got up from crouching.
Aethon then stood uplooking around and stared at the areas that were destroyed due to the fight, more specifically, the craters. As he stared at them, only one word popped in his head, :" Intense. " Vaerion then turned around and looked at Aethon and asked him, :"How's your side feeling." After hearing that, Aethon had remembered that he was stabbed in his side. When he looked at it all he saw was a mark, a scar had formed. The injury was healed. He looked up at Vaerion who pulled out a pouch from inside his coat. Aethon stared intensely at the pouch and realized what it was. It was a pouch with a green clover on it, inside was a vital tablet that was created by people who use healing magic. {This specific tablet took around 2 days to make and could heal any injury has it used a person mana to heal the inside of the body, it's also the reason why Aethon head was paining. Unfortunately it can't heal the outside skin, hence the mark} . He then let out a sigh that was followed by a chuckle. He looked up at the sky and then down and said to Vaerion in a low voice, :"I'm sorry for not been able to do more." After hearing this, Vaerion stared at him intensely and then walked up to him slowly and placed his right hand on his lowered head. Vaerion could see how defeated and scared he was. Why? Because he too was once like Aethon. Weak.
" You fought against two strong opponents and lost. That's ok. You're alive... And that matters more then you know. You think that weakness is something shameful, but let me tell you something that I have learnt about this world, it's ok to be weak. Weakness is not a curse and neither is it a scar on your worth. It's a start. Everyone in this world wants to be strong, but strength doesn't come from pretending you're fearless. No. It comes from fights like these, when your hands can't stop trembling, when fear claws at your gut, and you still choose to stand. You fought today. Not just with your hands, but with your heart. You didn't run. That was your first real battle... And in this battle, your life was on the line. Never downplay that. Never, because if you do you are insulting your own effort. Aethon... I have seen grown warriors fall apart when death grinned at them. Even though they were strong, they still feared death. You, who is inexperienced in actual combat, stood your ground, even if it wasn't perfect, and even if it was messy. Even if you thought that you were a burden.
There was once a man I knew who used to train me when I was a kid. And one day when I felt like I wasn't making any progress he told me, REMAIN THE SAME, AND YOU WILL NOT ROT. GROW, AND YOU WILL SUFFER BUT TO SURVIVE.
Do you understand. In order to survive, you must grow. And in order to grow you must face challenges that make you suffer and push you to your limit.
The strongest people aren't born strong, they are those who choose to refuse to remain the same. There's no doubt that pain will come. Doubt will come and you will feel like giving up. And the world will try telling you that you're nothing more then a failure who will never change,but every time you get up, you spit in that lie's face."
Vaerion removed his hand from Aethon's head. Has Vaerion removed his hand from Aethons head, Aethon in turn began to slowly raise his head and Vaerion continued to speak.
" Aethon... The greatest thing that can ever befall a person is not defeat, but self sabotage. That voice inside you, the one whispering that you're not enough? That you don't deserve to fight besides the strong because your weak? That's not true. That's a wound speaking.
Dont allow it to make your choices. Don't allow it to win.
Right now, you're here. You chose to fight and that means that there's a fire in you worth nurturing.
You are not broken. You're learning the difference between someone who's only combat experience is through training compared to someone who's had countless fights with the prize been them walking away with their life.
You're growing slowly, and I'll be here with you until you see that for yourself."
After saying this, Vaerion had a smile, unlike Aethon who had tears in his eyes. He covered his face with his right arm but Vaerion gently placed his right hand on his arm and put it down to his side. All he saw was Aethon crying. Vaerion let out a chuckle and said in a low and soft voice to Aethon,:"Theres no shame in crying, it just goes to show that what I said meant something to you. It means that you accept that you are weak and there's nothing wrong with that. All you have to do now is grow."
Aethon then wiped his eyes with his sleeve and slowly began to stop crying. He then took a deep breath in and looked at Vaerion and asked him, :" What do we do now.". Vaerion with a grin on his face said, :" Now? ... Now we head for the capital."