Evander entered Fortune's Woods in search of his brother. Well, what was left of him, if there was anything left of him that is. He held onto hope that there was the smallest bit of O'Leander left to appeal to. If Varamont had been lying to O'Leander about Evander abandoning him, perhaps he could be swayed or at the very least make him see the truth.
There was a collection of large boulders amidst the trees that the Drayton boys once frequented during the two years they had spent together. There they would pretend to be adventures alongside their father on one of his assignments as the King's Hunter. Although very young at the time, it had not held them back from expressing their imaginations. It was a much simpler time then. There had not been any wars during that time or even before then.
Monmarolin had been a very peaceful place but all of that had been ripped away from Evander when his brother disappeared one night. He was determined to bring O'Leander back from the grips of corruption, he had to.
O'Leander sat upon the tallest stone in the collection, tossing a smaller stone into the air and catching it again as Evander broke from the tree line. "What a place this used to be for us eh, Evan? I cannot say that I recall most of the memories made here but I can feel it was an important place for you."
At first Evander was taken aback at O'Leander using his nickname but quickly discarded the emotion. After all, O'Leander was the one who was the first to use it since he could not say his full name as a child.
Evander took a seat on one of the boulders on the ground and met O'Leander's eyes, "We spent many long days out here, I remember. The memories here are some of my most cherished." He looked out longingly over the landscape that surrounded them, his heart in a confused rhythm of excitement and pure loss. The two men's gaze met again and Evander attempted to appeal to the O'Leander trapped within, "I am sorry."
The younger brother was not expecting an apology and it was present on his face. He sighed deeply and looked to his lap, he had one foot on the stone with an arm resting on it and the other leg hung over the edge. He rolled the small stone over in his left hand as he watched it, "I know you would have me return home to you and Alrid, but it is far too late for me, brother. I can never be a part of your life like that again." He looked up to Evander now, "As much as I would like to be rid of this creature I am, I cannot."
Evander could see that O'Leander was indeed still inside, yet it seemed he had far greater control over the abyss than Sir David had. He could use it at will and it was not in complete control over him. He still retained some, or at the very least enough, to be in a small way human. He would use this to get to his brother.
"Why can you not? You seem to have control over the abyss," Evander questioned carefully.
"Sadly, big brother, it's not quite that simple. One does not control the abyss. One does only as the abyss wills. It has a mind of its own. It is sentient in its own way and I cannot be in your life because the abyss wills me to take it." O'Leander searched Evander's mind, "I know there is a question you hold onto. Allow me to answer it and put your mind to rest, though you may not like the answer.
"The brother you knew as a child is still here. I am still in here. O'Leander Drayton is still alive but I do not have complete control over what I want or need. The abyss ultimately makes the decisions in the end. My soul is allowed to exist in parallel with the abyss and that is the extent of the brother you knew."
Evander released the air in his shoulders, he hadn't realized he had been holding his breath as his brother was answering his question. He was mostly relieved just for the sole fact that O'Leander had not been killed entirely. "I may not entirely enjoy the reality of it but I am relieved that you are not dead, brother." He drew in breath, "And if I may say from how you are now with me it seems that you wish not to kill me."
O'Leander's eyes glazed over with anger as they had before when Evander had not used Varamont's Lordship, "Do not take my kindness for weakness. I still wait for the day when we will clash and I stand over your lifeless corpse."
Evander then understood the internal fight within O'Leander. He was easily enraged because of the abyss taking control when mocked or threatened. It seemed that even it was as boastful and conceited as Varamont was.
"If you wish it so," Evander stood from the boulder and brought his scythe in front of him. He kept his sword in its place in case he needed a surprise later that O'Leander wasn't expecting. "Why not try your hand, now?"
O'Leander remained still and unfazed by Evander's offer. "Well, seeing as you are so eager to die, I shall oblige. Why don't we test your skills. And to truly test your skill, I shall not use any of my abilities gifted to me." He then lifted his right arm and it morphed into a sickly-looking abyssal sword. "Save this one, of course," from his elbow down was a long curved blade of dark black and purple in place of his arm. It possessed tendrils and spikes at the elbow that wrapped up and around to his shoulder.
The large boulders that sat between the two rival brothers had a thick layer of snow built upon them. Wind blew between the dense trees that surrounded the clearing, sending a chill through Evander's cloak. The adrenaline that filled his blood kept him warm enough as he steeled himself, ready for the first attack. He held his scythe at the ready, his grip on the shaft was strong and scared at the same time. He still had no idea the level of skill that O'Leander possessed.
Snow fell between them onto the already saturated ground, it had not been disturbed which suggested that O'Leander had appeared upon the boulder instead of him crossing the clearing to it. For a brief time, the two men sized each other up, it would be a true test of skill. Evander had the advantage of over twenty years of hand-to-hand combat while O'Leander had none or at least that is what Evander had hoped.
Suddenly, O'Leander leapt off from the boulder and fell down to Evander's level. The Hunter was ready and his scythe came up quickly to block the over-head blow but the momentum from O'Leander sent him backward into the snow.
O'Leander leaned forward with all of his weight and human strength without using his abyssal abilities, a burning rage had ignited in his blackened heart. He would kill Evander right here and now and it would be all too easy.
O'Leander lost mental focus on the fight as his rage consumed him in his bloodlust for Evander. The Hunter took this opportunity to kick O'Leander hard in the back and send him rolling forward over him.
O'Leander spun around to face Evander charging at him with his shoulder. They slammed into a nearby tree and the Hunter's scythe came swinging over O'Leander's head. He ducked just in time to avoid its razor edge and it missed the tree by mere inches as Evander was excellent with his aim.
Evander continued his momentum and brought his leg around to meet with O'Leander's jaw. The powerful kick sent him spinning into the snow and he landed on his back. Evander brought his scythe down onto O'Leander who rolled out of the way and grabbed a handful of snow and threw it into Evander's face.
Temporarily blinded, he did not see O'Leander get to his feet and kick him square in the chest. Evander was sent back into the boulder he had sat on earlier as O'Leander charged him with his sword raised, ready to bring it down and remove Evander's head from his body.
The Hunter placed his hands on the boulder and lifted his legs just as O'Leander came within reach. With a heaving shove with both legs, he stopped the rage-filled O'Leander and sent him stumbling back. It gave Evander enough room to return with a sweeping of his scythe. O'Leander deflected it as the scythe continued its path. The abyssal sword was brought back the other way and it sliced Evander across the chest from shoulder to shoulder.
He let out a brief cry of pain but the adrenaline kept him going. As O'Leander's sword continued its motion out to his side, Evander removed his sword from within the scythe and sliced O'Leander's sword arm clean off. It fell to the snow with the weight of a thousand pounds.
O'Leander looked to his severed arm and then to his brother who now held only the bastard sword as the half scythe lay in the snow. "You little cheat." The rage in his eyes seemed to be almost ready to boil over. "This will cost you, dearly. Mark my words, this is not over. You haven't seen the last of me." Again, he imploded on himself with the same dark black smoke as before.
Evander had been crouching slightly with the point of his sword on the ground. He fell to his knees then looked at the wound on his chest. There was nothing. The chainmail had protected him as the attack had been a slash and the metal was quite resilient to those movements. He had felt the force behind the blow but luckily it had not done any damage to him other than the metal now being scratched up.
In the quiet clearing of Fortune's Wood, Evander was alone. He could no longer hold the facade of confidence. In the quiet of Fortune's Woods, Evander wept at losing his brother all over again.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBVeo6FWKg
