Lost (Eothan)

‘Lost’

The sun had recently risen above the city of Stormwind, flooding the streets with it’s light to wash away the crime and drunken chanting of the night before. Eothan slowly blinked as the light crept across his bed. He grimaced as he sat up straight and peered down at himself, he was fully clothed. It was becoming a regular occurrence for him over the past month. He had been finding himself with very little to occupy his mind and would immediately begin training his body and the shadow just for something to do.

It had been taking it’s toll on his body in ever increasing amounts as he continued to push limits further and further with every session. He lifted a hand to face and rubbed his cheek, letting out a loud yawn shortly afterwards. As he turned and rested his booted feet on the wooden floorboards, he grimaced again. He chuckled as he stood up straight; the thought of how much he had changed recently always seemed to amuse him. He had never been a weakling, despite not paying too much attention to his physique and yet he found himself waking up every morning with almost every muscle in his body yelling out at him.

It wasn’t simply his physical training that was causing such muscle strain, however. He had known from the start that increasing the power and impact of his shadow magic would not be easy for his body, especially when he was using it to improve his fighting ability as well. As he turned and walked out of his bedroom he thought of the training the evening before. He had been forcing his shadow energy into his arms and legs to increase his agility and strength, testing the results with copious amounts of sprinting and punching through wooden boards he had set up. While he had been pleased with the results, it had led to him collapsing before he had managed to walk back to his home.

He turned and dipped his hands into a basin full of water and began splashing his face. He let out a small cough and dipped down, his face almost falling into the basin. He carefully rested his hands on the table beneath the basin and pushed himself away from it, his eyes narrowing at the feeling of his arms shaking. With that came the realisation that perhaps he had pushed himself even further than usual, yet again. He had accepted that his body wouldn’t be in the best condition during all this training and with no training partner; he only had himself to test his abilities on.

‘I never lose’ he muttered quietly as he pushed himself up quickly and straightened his back. He let out a deep breath and pulled a small tie from his pocket, before gathering his hair and tying it back. He yanked off his clothes and walked back into his bedroom, taking a moment to freshen up with a new outfit.

--

‘You broke your bond with me and stole my power, why not do it with the rest of the demons you’re bound to?’

Eothan shook his head and recalled a night of training a few weeks ago, a night that he was certain he wouldn’t forget for a very long time.

--

‘Just a little further, I must keep going’ muttered Eothan as he rested down on one knee and breathed deeply. His hair was a mess and his face covered with a mix of sweat and dirt. He had been training for six hours straight, both his physical ability and the shadow. He peered around his small training area at the destruction he had caused over those hours. Several wooden boards had been splintered and snapped and simply littered the ground. Many scorch marks could be seen on the trees directly in front of him. He peered down at his hands as his vision began to blur, he had been brought to one knee while trying to conjure the shadow by force, despite knowing that he was close to fainting.

He coughed and closed his eyes as he rested his palms flat on the ground.

‘He who tears the power of my kind away for himself is one who will fall’

Eothan opened his eyes and instantly widened them as a shadowy figure in the shape of a void walker stood before him. Eothan slowly rose to his feet again and stood up straight, clenching his fists as if it were instinct now. He cleared his throat quietly before speaking.

‘One who strives for the power to defend those he cares for, is never a man in the wrong’ he replied, smirking tiredly at the figure. He narrowed his eyes as the figure began to laugh loudly.

‘To protect those you care for? You ripped out my power and stole it for yourself to protect her? You would break yourself in two for a woman that will do little beyond scold you for it? How blind you’ve become, Dawn’

‘I’ve changed; my heart is open for her and the child yet to come. I have to be able to keep them safe, or I am not a man’ said Eothan as he lifted his fists. The figure began laughing loudly once again, merely shrugging off Eothan’s apparent fighting stance.

‘You’ve not changed, you just happened to realise you have a heart you damned fool. You’ve done well to keep me silent since you tore out my essence and this may be my only chance to speak to you in such a way. I’ve seen inside your heart, your heart isn’t simply open, you’re in love with Valerias Caan. Even then, you’re a liar if you think that love is the only reason you’re damaging yourself in such a way’

Eothan lowered his fists and closed his eyes, ‘I’m not a liar… and to say I love Valerias Caan is laughable’ he muttered quietly. ‘More lies, you made a mistake in draining my power, I can see through your words. You love Valerias Caan and while you may want to protect her and your unborn child, you seek to harm Ledgic Caan, no?”

Eothan opened his eyes and yelled as he hurled two bolts of shadow at the figure, he watched with satisfaction as the figure screamed and crumbled from his view. It wasn’t long before Eothan fell to one knee again and clutched his arms around his chest.

‘These are my last words, Dawn, and you’re going to listen. You –are- in love with Valerias Caan and you –do- want to harm Ledgic Caan. But beware, for I wonder if you could ever strengthen yourself enough to so much as scratch him’

Eothan listened to the words echo in his head before they faded into silence.

--

Eothan sighed and walked out of his bedroom again, tucking his shirt into his trousers as he descended the staircase to the lower level of his house. He peered around the room and walked to the large table, picking up a bottle of brandy and pulling the stopper from it. He closed his eyes and lifted the bottle to his lips, taking several gulps of the alcohol without pausing. He let out a sigh of relief as he slammed the bottle against the table and walked towards his front door. He picked up a small bag from beside it and slung it over his shoulder. The words of that void walker had not left him, but he had not heard from it since. Whether those words were correct or not mattered little to him, the desire to fight and protect was all he had right now.

He opened his front door and stepped out into the sun. Shadow flame covered his hand as he turned and locked the door.

He turned once again and began walking down the alleyway that led to the rest of the city, he could tell that his muscles were not pleased with the idea of further training as each step caused him pain but he wasn’t listening to them either.

He pulled a cigarette from his shirt as he stopped at the edge of the canal and lit it with a brief flicker of shadow flame. He peered up at the sky as he exhaled smoke and smirked a little. He was beginning to appreciate things such as a new day, he had always had some liking for tomorrow, but for much different reasons.

He turned his head at the sound of a female voice and flicked ash on the ground.

‘Gregory?’ said a short blonde woman. Eothan’s eyes travelled up and down her form, stopping briefly at the large bust of the woman before meeting her eyes.

‘Sorry’ he muttered before turning and walking away from her, keeping close to the edge of the canal. His mind wandered to why he’d been so quick to apologise to her, it certainly wasn’t for what he may have done to her in the past, maybe he just didn’t have it in him to act this morning.

He shrugged it off and exhaled smoke as he continued to make his way to another six hours of destroying his body in the name of a cause he had started to lose faith he would ever be victorious in.

This is a hard one to comment on, because all the adjectives I'm conjuring up are a little cliche. But argh it's interesting, it really is, for what it reveals about Eothan's character, and because of what the voidwalker says to him, and the extent to which one isn't sure how much is truth that Eothan isn't willing to admit and how much is the demon messing with him. Either way, it says a good deal about the extent of the struggle he's going through regarding Vale and his own goals in life. Suffice to say I really enjoyed reading it. Glad to see you writing again <3