"Gwyn? Sounds like a name from a video game about fire." Cordwyn says in a snarky tone. "You better watch your mouth, without him, and his family, you wouldn't be alive to say that immature remark! Also, only me and his wife know that his real name was Gavyn." Corhyn scolds. "Yes madam, I apologize. I am afraid, though, that I must take my leave. The sun has risen, and so has the time for me to go home. Thank you for the shelter and the place to rest, I am very appreciative." Cordwyn stands up, and as he walks to the door, his vision immediately turns blurred, and an ear-bleeding sound starts striking his head with force. He falls to the ground, stunned by the unimaginable pain, his mind deafened, only the sound of this searing, high-pitched filled his mind. Corhyn looks at him when he falls to the ground, she rushes over to him, "Hey! What happened, you ok!?" He can not hear a thing, he feels as if he is being split apart into two people, as he tries to cover his ears, he looks up and partially opens his eyes and sees what is happening. The world, trying to force themselves apart. One as normal as he saw it, The other as dark and gruesome as a massacre from an undead army. Cordwyn's actions are not his own, his thoughts are not only his, his pain, and hate, and- and- "Snap out of it!" A stinging, and brisk slap runs across his face, everything back to normal, though he was still reeling from the sound, everything felt real again, he felt whole. "Jesus… What happened?" Corhyn whispered under her breath, not to him, but to any other thing that could've known. "Lay down, kid, rest for a moment." She said as she dragged him to a couch, and laid him on it. His brand-marking-tattoo-whatever you wanted to call it burned so, so much, it was unbearable. Painful. Scary. "I must- I must go, I need to get home…" Cordwyn shakily stood up, and stumbled his way to the door. "Kid, you are not even going to the farms' fence, sit down and re-" "No! I will not sit and do nothing! I have my mother to get home to. Thank you, now leave me alone." He slammed the door as he left, the wind was cold, and felt like it was withering him away, like sand or dust in the wind. He marched through the wind, and the wind turned to snow, and further down the trail, the snow turned to rain, and further down the trail, his pain turned into nothingness, and further, into numbness, and further, he was gone. Mind destroyed by the still-ringing sound from weeks ago, and the torturous weather that has made his mind decay. Memories were gone, blown away by the ruthless hail. His humanity; nonexistent. He is a husk of a man. An empty shell, that won't have another being in it. A memory. A memory long past its existence; a memory to be forgotten, and even to be shunned by the people who knew. Long after his march started, the sound did not leave his ears. He was laying outside a mine, on his back. His mother came to her job into the mineshaft, and she saw his body on the ground. She wept many tears, but not tears of happiness, nor of relief. But of disgust and of grief. When she saw him, he was on the ground, skin decayed, and dead. bones showing through what's left of the paper-thin skin. She wept and wept for her child, not knowing how much he thought of her before he died. "Where are you going, Cord?", she asks. Her voice is soft and smooth, able to lull a child to sleep. What? What happened, where am I- He was back where he was before he left. Everything else felt like a light headache or a dream. "I- Sorry mother, give me a minute, I am feeling light-headed-" Cordwyn almost fell, but grabbed a chair to keep himself up. His head pounded with pain, He checked his arm, and the brand was still there. This had to be her, It had to be! "Are you alright, sweetie?" His mothers hand held his. "Y-Yeah, just light-headed is all…" He fell to his knees, his head pounding, "Let me help you home sweetie, you are unwell, let us retire from this somber gathering." She helps him back up to the carriage, every second feels longer, everything is the same, he notices every little movement, any change going noticed. Whenever the carriage started moving to his home, he stopped the carriage driver, "Don't go to my home, go to Mariveld, I shall pay you double for this change." He took his hand off the driver's shoulder. "Yes, sir." He turned the carriage around and started heading towards the gates. "Cord, what are you doing?" his mother asked, "I am… Taking you on a vacation! for all of the things going on, I thought you needed it!" He lied to his mother, not a good thing, but she would not understand if he told her. As the carriage slowly made its way to the city, the hum of the engines lulled Cordwyn to a restless sleep. "Well, my friend, you took longer than the others to die, now did you?" Cordwyn's eyes shot open to see the same pink haired lady he saw before. The one that gave him the brand. "Why curse me with this?! Why put me through this?!" Cordwyn yelled. "Because you needed it." The woman's smile faded, her voice stern and sounding like a reprimand almost. "You are being formed to be the person the world needs. It is a gift, not a curse." Her voice echoed in this now empty carriage. "But what about me? What about the person I wanted to be? The pain I went through, the still ringing noise, it hurt! It hurt so, so terribly…" Cordwyn's pain was his own, to be only his. His voice was shaky, on the verge of cracking. "It doesn't matter who you want to be, but who you
need to be. For the world, you need to be better. Not for yourself, but for the innocents that will die if you do not chang-"
"So you made me not innocent? Why not someone who wanted to be the hero of this story? You chose an already hurt man to hurt more! You're using a broken blade to destroy itself so you can reforge it! It burns so, so much I can barely think, the noise from last time still ringing in my ears, my hatred from before still burning in my heart, because of you! You caused all of this, you will pay for it!" He lunged at the woman, landing a hit on her face. She did not move. She turns to face him slowly. "You ungrateful little child…" She swipes her hand across his face, a brisk slap onto the side of his head. A red handmark leaving its mark on his cheek. "You will bear this 'curse' until your job is finished. If you have questions, ask whenever you want. But next time, learn your manners, Boy." And with a snap, she was gone, and Cordwyn woke up from his sleep. The handmark still prevalent on his face. He looked over at his mother, she was sound asleep. Anger burned within him, but was soon let go by his tiredness. He looked out the window hoping to see the city, but saw a sticky note reading, Find the sun monument, you will find your first step there. Signed, E.A.B. He was tired, not ready for another mission. "Lady and lord, we are at Mariveld." The carriage driver said. "Tell my mother I will be at the local tavern. Also tell her I got her signed in at a spa that she can go into at any time. Have a good day, sir." Before the driver could say anything, Cordwyn left the carriage and made his way to the local tavern. After a few hours and a few light drinks, he heard some racket behind him. He turned around and saw some people trying to extort some money from, as it looks, a bounty hunter. The hunter wore standard armor, with a few holsters at his side. Cordwyn stood up and walked over to them, "You guys have a problem with him?" He said to the two scoundrels. "Who does this dude think he is? The hero? Just get outta here, don't make us hurt y-" Hate bubbled up, and in that split second, his sword flowed cleanly through the two peoples chest. The brand burned again, like it did before, but then the pain went away. This action wasn't his own, but no one in the tavern batted an eye, like it happened everyday there. "Thanks man, what's your name?" The man asked. Cordwyn, not trusting anyone, did not know if he should say his real name or not. "My name is… Finley, yeah, I am called Finley." A smile crossed his face