[Soundtrack]
Pain.
That is the best word able to describe the feelings Randall felt within him, after what had happened the past few days.
Left alone on the beach near his lair, he thought about everything he had done in his past. Why? He didn't know. He started to change when she brought him back from where he was supposed to stay and suffer, the Wall of the Faithless. It was on this very beach that he was brought back to life, and the first thing he saw when his eyes opened was her own beautiful eyes, looking towards him as though seeing something other than what he really is. He didn't deserve such attention from her, the beast didn't deserve people caring for him. But still, he couldn't get those words out of his head, while looking out over the sea and listening to the waves crash softly against the shore.
Lay your hurting heart my love,
bleeding in my faithless palm
I absorb your sorrow, smell it seeping softly
in the hollow center of my chest.
Your painful thoughts in my embrace,
trickling through the cracks of my soul.
But I shall keep them within, locked away securely
behind a forced facade of perfect joy.
Until you are born and born again.
Mortal, guilty, but to me
forever friend.
(c) Simini
Those were the first words he had heard her speak, since he had thought she was gone. While he sat and thought about those words, he heard a sound from his left. Looking over towards where the sound had come from, he saw her making her way towards him with a friend at her side, Volomirror. When she was around, that pain he felt wasn't the same. It was different, something he never felt before. Worst of all, he didn't know how to make it stop, or how to ease it. Oh he had tried. He did what she said to do, try about the good things. He tried the girls, the wine, the battle... but nothing worked. That pain was still there. Sometimes, he would wake up at night in his lair, suddenly beginning to break all the furniture he had brought there, thinking he was still in that nightmare. Volomirror wasn't there to say hello, -his words-. He was there to ask Randall if he had told the fists that Volomirror was the head of the Obsidian Souls. Randall didn't, and he didn't know anyone would think he had done so. Right, he was the beast. What else to expect from a man like him, but to betray his friends? Still, Volomirror seemed to trust the beast's words.
After some time, she said something to him. Something that he hadn't thought of, but that would maybe ease what he felt: to go away. He didn't want to leave her, but maybe she would be happier knowing that she had helped him, but not having to remain at his side. He knew that someday, he would deceive her. That he would make her cry, that he would make her upset, because he is exactly that: a monster. Even if he would have liked to redeem for the things he had done in the past, or the thoughts he had, those were inside him, and he had no hope of a better future because that pain still stung within him.
So he left his lair and the beach, and her, after she had said her proper farewell. He walked on the coast for days, and didn't look back. However, as the distance between them grew, the pain he felt worsened. He told her that he was going to write her a letter, but he didn't know if it was a good idea. Maybe trying to forget her was the best idea... but he couldn't.
Walking through mountains, marshs, and plains for days to days, his nightmares became worse. The farther he walked, the more violent they were. He avoided most towns, hunting to feed himself. He didn't want to see anyone, so he also avoided the roads. He reached the shining plains, and there, not far from the Deepwing mountains, he found an abandoned farm. He thought of staying there for a while, maybe until his death, unless troubles came that far to find him again. He made a bed with some hay he took outside, made sure that there was no one around, and slept there that night. No sound, he could hear no sound, exept those grasshoppers. No waves from the sea, no talks, no music. But still, those greyish eyes, that's all he saw when he closed his own.
[Nightmare Soundtrack]
When he opened them back, he was floating in grey mist, hearing whispers.
Randall: Where am I?! Who's there?! Answer me, damnit! Stop... stop those whispers... or it'll get... bloody...
The whispers turned into laughs, and soon, he could see iron bars appearing around him. He was in a cage. He tried to break them apart, but couldn't even move them an inch. Then, he saw a human shape coming out of the mist. With time, he recognized her: it was Saloria, the one eyed girl who had once burned him to ashes, protecting her friend. She kept laughing, pointing at him, laughing and laughing... then, some other shapes appeared. The holy ones, along with the elves of Doron Amar. Telissa, Jonas, Siomir, and his bodyguards. All pointing at him in that cage, laughing, with yellow eyes. Even Trent and Cirkus were there, shaking heads with a smile on, looking at him. Myhun, with scissors in hand, cutting something invisible.
Then, she spoke, with a low tone.
Saloria: You got all what you deserve... beast...
Beast... beast... beast... beast... beast...
The others followed, chanting that word together, while many girls behind them were dancing teasingly, and laughing.
Randall then felt anger, and wanted them all to break into pieces. His wish was then granted. A dark form came out of the mist, cutting legs, heads, and arms off of those in front of him. The blood spilled from their wounds and some splashed onto his face and hands. As he looked down at his own hands, covered in blood, the dark form came near him. It looked at him with white eyes surrounded by black smoke. The form was morphing, and soon, a red headband formed around its forehead. But it kept those eyes and that smoke, even if the shape was now more human. It then spoke:
Black Form: I... am... you... eh... heh... hehehe...
Randall: Ye ain't me...! Can't trust ye... argh...!
Just then, a white sparkling ball came out of his chest. It began floating around the black form, which seems to scare it, and soon began attacking it with rays of light. The form soon disappeared as it laughed. Randall looked at the light, speechless. What he saw then, revealed to him something. The light morphed into a face, with greyish eyes. It was her... it was Leonia.
Randall: What is... what is the meanin' of all this, girl...?
She answered with a smile, but didn't say a word while remaining locked on him. Then, the black form returned from behind her, with its blade drawn, ready to strike her. A wide, menacing smile on its face, as it raised the blade to strike her down.
Randall: LEO...!
He woke up, sweating and breathing quickly. He rose, throwing his bed, and breaking everything around him yet again, angry as ever. Those nightmares... it was then he saw two glowy eyes looking at him through the window. He took his sword and bolted outside. He followed the creature, and then saw it jump into a hole, not that far from the farm. He didn't even think about the consequences, and continued to follow the creature down the whole. He didn't know where the hole was leading him, and didn't care. But would it be his end...?