Cadwyn was sure the world was a cold and cruel place. How could his love be taken away from him like this? She was only, only.
Cadwyn couldn't bear to think anymore; he just couldn't. The pain was so unbearable. Life was dull. Life had no merit. Cadwyn was sure he did what he thought was right his whole life. Cadwyn worked diligently on his fields. He cared for his animals. He made no issues with anybody.
He treated everybody justly, and when the love of his life blazed into his life, he loved her with all his heart, and no stone was unturned when he bore his soul to her. Cadwyn never was more gentle to anything in his life. Cadwyn remembered a time when he hiked up to the hill next to the village to pluck some flowers so he could arrange a necklace for her. God, she was so beautiful...
Cadwyn now sat in a dark and damp inn. Everybody was glum. Everybody lost somebody to that, that... beast. Anytime they hunted it, they fell. How could one lion be so tricky?
Cadwyn looked to the table to his right. Fat old Roger was there drinking himself silly. Gone was the jovial man of his past. Now there was only a sad, sad broken man.
Cadwyn was there when Roger lost his only son and living family member to the beast. Roger was a merchant man. He was beggared now.
Spent his last coin drinking himself to an early grave. Cadwyn looked around and found a story like that for every man he saw. How could this be? His anger rising. He tried to cool it with her memory. His sweet Evelyn.
Evelyn always treated him with respect. Kindness, and most of all, she didn't care about his looks. Cadwyn was laughed at a lot for his rather large nose.
Evelyn always used to snuggle hers with it while others would mock him until he roused to put them down with his own talking. Safe to say, he always kept to himself. Evelyn changed that. She always did.
He, he found her. A mangled... body twisted with blood. God, the blood was everywhere. His house was always on the outskirts due to him not wanting to be in the village that much. He never knew his choices would result... Cadwyn blamed himself heavily.
Cadwyn didn't, seven hells, Cadwyn couldn't see a future. He would offer himself to this beast tonight and in turn be killed, but not before killing the hellish beast. His mind set on this path until he heard commotion outside the inn. The inn was emptying, and people raced out. He was baffled.
Cadwyn wasted no time, drinking to the last drop, setting the cup down, and now heading out. And there it was, no, there he was. A tall man. No, a mountain of a man. He was being surrounded by the villagers, all of them apprehensive to go any further.
He was dressed head to toe in pelts, but it was weird, his chest was bare? Cadwyn looked on at the impressive figure of a man. He swore he saw certain eyes feasting from the village wenches who stood to the side, already alert to the commotion.
Cadwyn saw the man reaching for his back... "No, it couldn't be," Cadwyn thought, as the unknown man plopped down, like a farmer would his produce, with ease, a massive lion, not as big as the man, but massive nevertheless.
Cadwyn dropped to his knees out of sheer shock. There it was. The killer of his Evelyn. All around him, he saw his fellow villagers fall to their knees. Some fainted, some shrieked, all were mystified. Not even Lord Serret could manage to kill the beast, and yet this man, no, this Lion-Slayer, saved him. Truly.
Tears were forming. The darkness was slipping from his mind. The pain was easing. How? Cadwyn swore to this vengeance he had. And now, instead of feeling a pit, he felt lighter. Not raving happy, or even happy. Yet he was lighter.
The Lion-Slayer truly brought him back from the edge. Cadwyn had a thought formulating in his head. A stupid, very stupid thought, but he was going to do it all the same, before his thought could spring into action.
Fat Roger squeezed through the crowd and asked the question on everybody's tongues. "Who... are ya, milord?" Fat Roger wheezed out, his misty eyes betraying his relief and gratitude toward the man.
"Alex, what about ya? And I ain't a lord," the Lion-Slayer said with a grin.
"Alex who?" Fat Roger, visibly drunk, shouted.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?" the Lion-Slayer inquired.
"Depends, yes, if the man who killed the blasted 'maneater' is asking, and we want to make seven hells for sure that we get his titles right, lest he doesn't realise the depth of our gratitude," Fat Roger spoke with all the strength he could muster.
"I like ya, man, you got a damn backbone," the Lion-Slayer laughed.
"Alex Armstrong, and no, my arm is not strong... well, maybe it is, but that's besides the point," the Lion-Slayer spoke awkwardly and fast.
Cadwyn knew it was time for his deeply stupid thought, so he got up and mustered the courage to do what he knew would end in his death. "Milord, can I skin the lion first..." Cadwyn knew the moment he said that, he would expect chiding. Lords would never be ordered by smallfolk, lest they be killed on the spot. It was the nature of things, which is why Cadwyn expected this, but yet a small tinge of his heart hoped for more. All eyes in the village turned to him. They all expected the worst.
Cadwyn kept his gaze firm on the Lion-Slayer. The Lion-Slayer was still for a moment until he grabbed a knife from his side and threw it at Cadwyn.
"Ballsy guy, I like it, you're with me, brother. Plus, I like your nose. You can have the knife. It's quite precious to me. God, I sound like Gollum, but I really love the knife, so please don't lose it," the Lion-Slayer asked politely.
Cadwyn couldn't speak. His mind was in utter shock. He was so sure of his death, and yet this Lord Armstrong didn't berate or kill him. Yet his words were kind. Very kind, and he thought kindness was lost to him.
Cadwyn, holding the knife, was about to move when the Lion-Slayer cleared his throat and was looking like he was about to speak.
"Villagers of Silverhill, I will become your neighbour for a while. I only ask that you knock on my door when coming to house. Please do not enter uninvited. I hate the balls off that. Don't do it. Also, don't throw eggs at my house, children, or I will beat up your parents. And also, no asking me for brute strength contests. I will throw poo at you and run away, and trust me, you can't catch me. Anyway, I'm waffling. Hello, neighbours. Guy with my knife, follow me. I wanna skin this ASAP." The Lion-Slayer's voice swept over everybody who was waiting on his every word. Their saviour.
The villagers all erupted. Everybody went into a hug with each other. No, it was unheard of for everybody to go from such darkness to light.
Cadwyn followed the towering lord along. Cadwyn never knew how much his life would change by doing the very thing he was doing right now.