smoldering ashes of rage and despair
14
JUN/20
The sun was long set and the moon reigned supreme in the night sky, when it was finally Mar’iya’s time to take his turn at watch. He observed Ayassa as she worked her way back to a spot by the water’s edge and promptly fell asleep. The mighty dragonborn had borne the brunt of the previous day’s battle, and it was unsurprising that she fell asleep so quickly. And fortuitous. He would not want her to stand in his way with what came next.
The rage that burned inside of him had not subsided in the hours since Jorkhal’s death; if anything, the passing time had only stoked the flames until they burned white hot. That dwarf had recognized him. ‘He knew who I was…who I am. My name. My fate. And now I might never know.’ That realization played over and over in his mind, repeating to the point where it bordered on madness. The dwarfling had stolen that knowledge from him; he had shrugged away the protestation to stay his hand with a look of smug self-satisfaction and killed him anyway. Mar’iya watched helplessly as Jorkhal’s lifeblood spilled out into the sand, carrying with it any hope for recollection.
He had almost killed him in that moment, even wounded as he was. Psionic energy crackled at his fingertips as he stood to face the man who had stolen all hope from him. Only the watching eyes of Rain’s brethren had stayed his hands in that moment – he would not throw his life away so callously. But now those watching eyes were closed, sleeping soundly under the icy gaze of the uncaring moon above. And, now it was time.
He picked up the rock he had found earlier in the day – it was of good weight and size, and not too unwieldy, and began to work his way silently through the camp. He was quiet – not as stealthy as Selise or Joe; those two were whispers in the dark – but he knew how to move without attracting attention. This too was another clue to his past, one puzzle piece among many…though it was not lost on him that he would not need to still try and assemble this puzzle at all, had he been allowed to interrogate the defiler Jorkhal in the first place; and that realization only further stoked his resolve.
He made his way across the camp to where the dwarfling lay, sleeping contentedly underneath a withered palm tree. Mar’iya knew that if he did this, there would be no turning back. Bash his head in with the rock as he slept, and hopefully not waking the others in the process – that was the plan. If they did awaken, well…perhaps he could plead for his life, but taking their divine water finder from them would most certainly mandate retribution. If they didn’t wake up, with any luck he could drag the body to the water’s edge and use the weight of the rock to help sink him to the bottom. The fight with Jorkhal and Baldwin had awakened another innate ability inside of him as well: the power to lift and hold and move a person with his mind. That ability would certainly work equally well to position a corpse in place as well he knew, and he smiled at the thought.
He raised the rock over his head, towering above the sleeping man, and he was about to bring it down with all the force he could muster when he stopped himself. He looked around and saw the reason for his hesitation: reflecting in the moonlight he saw two crystal blue eyes staring directly at him from underneath a rock outcropping. He recognized Oni in an instant and met his gaze with an expression of shocked guilt. The young warrior did not make a move to stop him or dissuade him in any way – nor did he move a muscle in protest. ‘Would he allow me to crush their holy man’s skull?’ Mar’iya wondered in amazement, but he slowly lowered the rock to his side. Perhaps he would sanction it, thinking it fair judgement for what the cleric had stolen from him – Oni did seem to have a strong moral code. But, Mar’iya suspected his life would be forfeit immediately after he struck the man down.
He felt the burning anger inside of him subside as he slowly made his way back to the tall boulder, to continue his watch and wait out the night. His anger might have died down, but it would not go out completely. No, he would not allow it to fully burn out, he needed it. Anger is a gift; it gives life meaning in the absence of everything else, and that seemed as good a reason to continue on as any. But, there was one other small fact that brought him a fair measure of satisfaction: when he realized that Jorkhal and Baldwin had recognized him, Mar’iya had read their aura and saw that they were afraid of him; and that thought warmed him almost as much as his anger did. Almost.
Character Note:
I could not think of a way for Mar’iya to forgive Rain for what he had done, in killing Jorkhal before he could interrogate him – so I came up with this as a way to work out his rage and frustration, and hopefully quell any murderous impulses ;)