Under the scorching sun Einar walked the desolate land slowly, it had been a day since he was left to wander and make his way to Blackvale all by himself. At night, he was attacked by a swarm of Ashworms, native Wyrmbreak Wastes insects which can sense heat signatures.
His sword was chipped more than it was before, his eyes were dull and his lips dry. He ran out of water and was now thirsty and hungry as he walked with no end to the hellish land.
He raised the empty water pouch but no water came out. In a fit of rage he threw it away, it bounced on the dried ground and hit a rock formation. The ground shook as something shot out from behind the jagged rock formation.
Dust swirled up and a large shadow stood in front of him. As the dust settled he saw a large Bonewyrm, they were bones of long dead dragons which got the shape of a smaller dragon due to residual vessence.
It screeched and ran towards him. Einar's eyes widened and parried its mouth with his sword, a huge chunk of it broke and fell down. While he was bad at imbuing vessence, he was fairly good in emitting.
He curled his fingers, leaving his index finger pointed towards the Bonewyrm. A small beam of light manifested on his fingertip and went through its head. Einar didn't stop. He kept shooting light beams at it and disrupted its movements.
The disruption gave enough time for Einar to re-imbue his sword. He stopped firing and grabbed the sword with both hands and swung it twice, the vessence imbued blade cut through the bones like it was butter.
The Bonewyrm collapsed as its bones crumbled into ash, light had always been a powerful element even in the hands of the 'talentless' Einar. Once again he fell on his knees, imbuing took a toll on him, his condition was now even worse.
Lacking water and food now he was exhausted by fighting a Bonewyrm. He quietly lay on the hot ground and looked at the blue sky, with the occasional dust and ash swirled around.
"I'm coming soon, Mom.
Just a little longer. The others left me...but you will be still there....
won't you?" Einar lamented.
His father threw him out without even listening to what he had to say, his stepmother and older brothers were indifferent and the only sibling who cared for him was the youngest of the bunch, Inara.
There was no strength to move in his body, they had taken away everything from him. He was left for dead, and he knew it. He felt his eyes get heavier with each second. And then they closed, his world was filled with darkness.
*****
Einar woke up due to the loud buzzing of the flies gathered on his unconscious body. With a single hand movement, all of them flew away. He grabbed his head, an unbearable headache rose in his head. It was awful, it made him want to run into a wall head first.
With some struggle he got up and continued his march towards Blackvale. The sun was almost about to set, he dragged his feet across the wastes. His pace, just like a turtle. But he didn't give up, despite being exhausted, thirsty and hungry he kept walking.
He kept walking even if it meant that there is a possibility that Blackvale was an abandoned place with no other humans alive.
Night came, and so did the numerous other creatures. Einar had fought with more creatures by now. A swarm of Ashworms, two Bonewyrms, one Ironclad spider native to the Wyrmbreak Wastes. He was nearing his limit, he'd soon fall down and die a dog's death.
In the distance he saw something, it felt as if it was fire. Were there more survivors in the Wastes? That was what came to his mind.
For a split second there was some hope. But as he got closer, he noticed a burning village and a man in the middle of it all laughing and watching as the fire consumed everything.
Einar took out his sword and pointed it towards the man. A thick vessence got imbued on the blade and his other hand.
"Why are you here?
Just WHY?
You're the reason I got abandoned. Are you here to MOCK?
Go ahead, have fun trampling over other peoples issues." Einar fumed.
The man just stood there, looking at him with his cocky face. It pissed Einar more and more every passing second. He swung the sword horizontally, a huge horizontal crescent cut the man and the surrounding buildings in half.
Einar huffed as he saw the man and the burning village dissolve into nothing.
"I've really gone mad, haven't I.
That I'm now seeing illusions.
HAHAHA!" Einar chuckled.
His mind was a mess from all the heat, hunger and thirst. Yet, he didn't give up. If fate willed it that he would die here, he would never give up. He continued his journey. Time passed and he saw an abandoned broken tower in the distance.
He looked at the map and saw the tower on it, he was right in the middle of the Wyrmbreak Wastes. The tower was an old outpost, now it was a relic of old times. Inside it, he found shelter from the acidic drizzle outside.
There were decayed bones inside, rusted swords and armor lay everywhere. Einar sat against a wall and looked at the bones. 'What if I also end up like these people...looking at their bones it seems they were also left for dead.' Einar guessed.
Soon exhaustion took over him and he fell asleep. The night was short due to it being Summer. The rays of light streamed through the cracks in the structure, Einar groaned as he opened his eyes. Taking a few minutes to straighten himself up he left the tower.
Not before he carved an "E" on the wall, indicating he had been there. The blazing sun was merciless on him. The temperature increased, and he started to sweat. Annoyed, he took off the leather tunic he wore, the undershirt was made up of a lighter material.
He forgot how many steps he had taken, but his feet never stopped, but his eyes-they were tricking him again. This time with his younger sister when she was no more than ten, running around circling him.
Ignoring her, he kept walking but soon he stopped. In front of him stood his oldest brother in a gold and blue armor.
"I always knew you were traitorous, Einar. I just kept quiet because an ant like you could never amount to anything other than trash." Arik mocked.
Einar threw everything down and charged him. He swung his sword but Arik parried it. Another chunk of it fell down. He did not stop, he cut towards his arm but Arik beat his sword. Einar continued, each strike of his was parried and he was pushed back.
"You could never put a scratch on me as a kid, what makes you think you can do that now?" Arik asked.
"SHUT UP!
Why did you not believe me brother...I even said I had no interest in the throne.
SO TELL ME WHY! WHY DID YOU ALWAYS LOOKED DOWN ON ME AND BELITTLED ME." Einar bawled.
He grabbed the sword with both his hands, vessence covered it again and he cut away the illusion. He stood there silently as Arik disappeared into nothing. And so he continued his march. But what awaited him not to far away was way worse than Arik.
He saw a younger version of his father, standing in the distance. His sword thrust into the ground and his eyes closed. He was confused, why was he seeing his family, why was he made to cut them down.
He didn't know, but one thing was sure. He had to cut down the very father due to whom he was born. Einar took a step forward but Elsinar opened his eyes. A monstrous pressure erupted from him, overpowering Einar and pushing him down.
Then four blades made up of light formed on his sides. And with a single gesture of his finger they shot towards Einar. He tried to dodge but it was futile, they cut his whole body but he did not give up. He kept walking towards his father, even under the pressure.
Not a single word came out of his fathers mouth. It was as if Einar was that much insignificant that his father would not waste a breath to talk to him. This angered him more. He gritted his teeth and slashed vertically, the vessence aura was thick this time as it cut through the four light blades and cut his father in half.
He had done it, he felt calm and serene now. He had cut down his bonds with his former family just like how they abandoned him.
This gave him satisfaction and a small smile crept up to his mouth. He was out of breath but still tried taking another step forward, but he fell down face first. As he fell down the breeze cleared a path for him to see.
In the distance he saw, a black broken castle in middle with a small city on the sides-broken and lacking life. His journey was over, he had arrived at Blackvale.