Bardr POV
"Cheers," a group of men shouted, before taking a swig of their jug of alcohol, some already with flushed faces, eyes glazed over from the warmth of the drink.
"I'm thankful," I heard a man say, his voice carrying across the tavern. "Since the war started we've been able to live, lives like these. When our country wins we gain money and land."
The talk of war made me look down at my own pint, and take a swig. The ale was bitter on my tongue, a fitting taste for the bitter memories that flooded my mind. Bodies strewn across muddy battlefields, the screams of the dying, the hollow eyes of those who survived—like mine.
"It's great to have a war."
I nearly spat out my drink at those words. Great? There was nothing great about watching your comrades fall beside you, about the smell of blood and death that would never leave your nostrils.
"Oh you're here," the voice of a man called out to me, which made me raise my head from my dark thoughts.
Two men wearing military uniforms approached, their boots clicking against the wooden floor. Their armors polished and new, as if they had never been used, a stark contrast to my simple fisherman's clothes.
"We've been looking all over for you, Mr. Bardr," the one who looked of higher rank said, his voice laced with respect that I didn't deserve.
Everyone in the bar seemed to stop what they were doing, and looked at where I sat, three thumps echoing out as three heavy bags filled with gold were let down in front of me. The sound of metal hitting wood reverberated through the now silent tavern.
"Here, take this."
I stood up with the help of my crutch to meet the man's eyes. The wooden support creaked under my weight.
"I'm sorry but I can't accept it," I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
"Well but...," the man stammered, confusion evident in his eyes. "You're a hero who fought more than anyone else in the war."
I didn't really pay attention to them as I leisurely walked out of the bar, the crutch thumping against the floor with each step, before the soldier's voice reached my ears once more.
"You deserve this."
That made me stop dead in my tracks.
Deserve, what I deserved was something much worse than gold. What I deserved was this broken leg, these nightmares, this half-life. What I deserved was the pain that would never leave me, the faces of the men I'd killed that visited me every night when I closed my eyes.
"Then why don't I spend it on everyone's drinks," I said as I craned my neck around to look at the soldiers, forcing a smile that didn't reach my eyes. "I can do that right?"
Everyone in the bar seemed to cheer at the prospect of free drinks, their earlier silence forgotten in an instant.
"Wow, did everyone hear that!!"
"We'll drink it up!"
I began to move again, putting down 4 bronze coins on the counter so as to pay for my drink, the metal clinking softly as it hit the wooden surface.
"Cheers to New Parthevia!"
The shouts followed me as I stepped outside into the cool evening air, a welcome reprieve from the stuffy tavern.
As I walked home my mind began to wonder.
Parthevia was just a small nation until a few years ago. Now with humanity dominating most of the world, and no corrupted creatures in sight, we began to fight ourselves and Parthevia had rapidly began to expand its sphere of influence, its territory was approaching the great Reim Empire.
While I was thinking all this, I had already set sail on my small ketch ready to catch some fish and not much later than that I was pretty far off shore. The sea was calm today, the water a deep blue that reflected the sky above, it was so clear i could see deep into the water.
I raised my head and looked at the scorching sun, with a hand covering the most intense part of light, I couldn't help but think which way this country was going.
'I don't want the war anymore,' I thought before shaking my head, scattering the dark thoughts like seafoam on the shore.
"What I should do now is catch a lot of fish and see her smile," I said to myself as I crawled toward the net, the rope rough against my calloused hands. Her smile was the only light in my darkness now, that and...
But as I raised the net, I found a 3-year-old snoring to himself, his tiny chest rising and falling with each breath.
His purple hair a little short but still tied down in a bun, just like his mother had done this morning. My heart skipped a beat at the sight.
My son Sinbad.
I felt my face go pale white, the blood draining from it faster than water from a broken vessel.
"How did you—" I began, words failing me as panic set in. We were too far from shore, the coastline barely visible in the distance. If something were to happen...
It seemed that lifting the net from him made him wake up as he slowly rubbed his eyes open, revealing the pale gold of his irises.
He stood up slowly.
Yet in an instant his drowsiness seemed to leave him as he yelled, his voice full of joy, as if stowing away on a fishing boat was the most natural thing in the world.
"POPS!"
He lunged himself at my neck, and all I could yell was.
"Sinbad! Why are you here?!"
My heart was racing, fear and relief battling within me. He could have fallen overboard, could have drowned while I was distracted. The thought sent shivers down my spine despite the warm day.
Well, I was already too far in to go back as that would make the entire day unproductive. What followed was a few close calls, like when Sinbad said "ocean" and almost jumped in, his little legs already over the side before I caught him, or when Sinbad buried himself in already full nets, giggling as if it were a game while I frantically searched for him.
And yet it wasn't long before I had him in my arms and was raising him up high in the air, his laughter a joy that never seemed to end.
"You're my proud son," I said as Sinbad continued to laugh in my arms.
Until he stopped laughing.
A sudden silence fell over the sea, as if every creature beneath the waves had gone still. The air grew heavy with an unnatural tension, pressing against my skin like a physical force.
A huge storm had formed out of nowhere.
Dark and strong, it rolled across the horizon like an army marching towards us, clouds black as death itself gathering above. The sun that had been warming my face just moments ago was swallowed by the darkness, plunging the world into a premature twilight.
BOOM
Thunder boomed above us, a sound so loud it seemed to shake the entire sea in it's wake. The waves, which had been gentle laps against the hull, now rose like mountains, threatening to sink our ship and sway us away in their currents. They crashed against our small vessel, sending sprays of saltwater into the air that felt like needles against my skin.
I could only grit my teeth and try to steer the boat as well as I could, my knuckles white from gripping the tiller. The wood was slick with seawater, making it difficult to maintain my hold. Each wave that hit us sent shockwaves of pain through my damaged leg, a cruel reminder of my limitations.
"Hold on tight, Sin!" I shouted over the howling wind that tore at our clothes and hair, whipping them into a frenzy. I wasn't sure if he could hear me over the chaos, but his grip around my neck tightened, his small body pressed against mine.
If I had all my strength this would have been much easier, but even though I was an Ascended being, a cripple had its disadvantages. My leg throbbed with each movement, the old wound awakened by the strain. I cursed my weakness, cursed the war that had taken so much from me, cursed myself for putting my son in danger.
The sail flapped violently, threatening to tear from its bindings as the wind changed direction without warning. I tried to adjust, but the wind was too unpredictable, the waves too strong.
A massive wave crashed over the bow, washing across the deck and nearly sweeping me off my feet. Cold seawater soaked us to the bone, the salt stinging my eyes and making it hard to see. I clung to the mast with one arm, my other wrapped tightly around Sinbad, who I couldn't really see.
BOOM
Another thunder resounded above us as the flash of lightning seemed to almost blind me, illuminating the world in stark white for a heartbeat before plunging us back into darkness. In that brief moment of light, I saw the true extent of the storm, waves higher than houses, clouds that seemed to touch the sea itself, and no end in sight. We were trapped in the Storm God's fury.
Then I felt it, something or rather someone was hanging on my neck, a small chubby hand stretched forward from my peripheral vision. Despite the cold water, Sinbad's hand was warm against my skin.
"Pops, not this way," I heard Sinbad whisper in my ear, eerily calm through the storm.
"Go that way," he added, pointing to another direction from the one I had been trying to sail. His finger aimed towards what looked like the heart of the storm, where the clouds were darkest and most forbidding.
I looked at his small round face and yet his eyes were assured. There was no fear in those eyes, only certainty.
"Got it," I said, changing the way the tiller was facing and begun to sail towards the direction he indicated, though every instinct screamed at me to do the opposite. The wood creaked ominously under my grasp, as if the boat itself was protesting our course.
As soon as we changed direction, the wind seemed to shift with us, pushing into the sails with sudden force that sent us surging forward. The waves that had been crashing over us now seemed to lift us, carrying us towards our destination with uncanny precision. It was as if the sea itself had recognized Sinbad's command and obeyed.
Lightning cracked across the sky, splitting the darkness with brilliant white fingers that reached towards the sea. In their light, I could see a narrow channel opening up before us, a path through the storm where the waves were less fierce, the wind less biting. A path that should not have existed, that defied all logic and experience.
"Keep going, Pops!" Sinbad urged, his voice rising above the storm's fury. "We're almost there!"
I navigated through the channel, adjusting the sail to catch what little favorable wind there was. Each time the boat threatened to veer off course, Sinbad would point, his tiny finger indicating corrections almost before I realized they were needed.
A massive wave rose before us, a wall of water that seemed certain to crush our small vessel. I braced for impact, pulling Sinbad close to my chest to shield him, but at the last moment, the wave parted, forming a tunnel of swirling water through which we sailed. Droplets rained down on us from above, catching the light of another lightning strike and turning into countless tiny diamonds for a fleeting second.
The wind howled in protest, as if angry that we were escaping its clutches. It tore at the sail, ripping one corner free with a sound like fabric tearing. I struggled to maintain our course, the boat listing dangerously to one side as the sail flapped uselessly..
"Don't worry about the sail pops," Sinbad said, which was oddly reassuring.
And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the storm began to recede. The clouds thinned, allowing glimpses of blue sky to peek through. The waves calmed, their fury spent, now merely rocking our boat with gentle motions. The howling wind died down to a whisper.
It wasn't long before we were out completely, sailing under a clear sky, the only reminder of our tussle with the storm were our drenched bodies.
"We did it pops," Sinbad said excitedly as he still hung around my neck, unbothered by our near brush with death. His eyes sparkled with joy, as if the entire ordeal had been nothing more than an exciting adventure.
I, however, could only look at my son, outstanded.
"Sin," I began to say, grasping his tiny hand which had pointed out the way of the storm. The same hand that had possibly saved our lives. It was so small in mine, so innocent and yet... Before I could think, the words were spilling out of my mouth, words that felt prophetic, destined. "You might have some special power. The power to choose the right destiny. You'll guide the people and this country which is going in the wrong direction."
I raised him high above me, his small body silhouetted against the now-blue sky, as I finished by saying, my voice filled with a certainty I had not felt since before the war.
"You'll be the man who changes this world."
A/N: Second chap of today, that's all you guys are getting for now lol