Karstar Airmaran

The air was thick with the screams of the wounded and the crackle of the old fishing hut's wooden skeleton burning. Fire greedily licked the small windows and shutters, once painted by a caring hand. Someone must have called this place home, cherished warm memories here, now turning to ash and cinder. Just like everything Eruan ever touched. The Black Kraken spared no pity for his own wife and son. He would show none to strangers, nor did he know how. It seemed the man's heart had long since rotted in his chest.

Karstar kicked a burning piece of wood aside with his boot, casting a glance at his father, masking his disgust and contempt. Eruan, drunk on strong ale and the fury of the recent battle, was brazenly groping the trembling daughter of the village elder, whom he had dragged from her bed himself. With every movement, the chains on her neck and wrists jingled softly, and she sobbed in terror at the doom that awaited her.

The memory of Adamina's face surfaced in Karstar's mind. The first tenderness and love, which had twisted into a mask of pure horror and all-consuming pain when Eruan had dealt with her personally, mocking the unlucky lovers and taunting Karstar, wounded and chained to the mast, after each injury inflicted by his cruel hand on the defenseless girl. And then... he simply gave her body to the sea, as if she were not a person, but an insignificant inconvenience, unworthy of a rest in the earth. He called it a lesson back then. Demonstration of power. Eruan showed Karstar that he was weak. And Karstar believed it.

The girl sobbed again under Eruan's laughter.

"What a spirited one... Taming you will be a pleasure. Don't worry, little fish, I'll keep you for myself," Eruan addressed the elder's daughter in a rough, drunken voice. He yanked the chain, and a sinister grin spread across his lips, cracked from sea winds, promising nothing good. Eruan brazenly and roughly hooked his fingers under the girl's chin, forcing her to look into his warmthless eyes, then lowered his voice to a penetrating whisper. "Consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, I could have given you to my crew for their amusement. They fought well today."

No one paid them any mind. The crew members, laughing boisterously, were hauling chests of gold and furs, slaves, and even livestock onto the decks of the Hangman and The Sorrowful. This scene repeated itself from one raid to the next. Karstar had seen the other crew members act the same way many times. And usually, he paid them no mind. Karstar himself never cared about other families or other wives. If their men allowed this to happen, they were weak or already dead. But right now, it was his father groping another woman, while his wife waited for him at home. And now, looking at this blatant picture, a storm raged behind his outwardly calm features.

In recent years, Vatslava had been a shadow of her former self. She didn't laugh, didn't smile, and was almost always silent, looking at Karstar with sadness. And he felt like the worst son in the world. He was afraid to defend her... Afraid to confront his father... He thought that's how he would earn respect, and he was deeply mistaken. His father never cared. Eruan had made up his mind long ago.

Now Karstar saw it clearly. Himself, a coward. Always a coward and a weakling, trying to prove to his father and grandfather that he was worthy of their name and legacy. But did he even want such a legacy himself?

The overheard conversation from the night before the raid flashed in his memory. His father was planning to do something to his mother. Karstar could no longer remain silent. His mother was the only close person he had, and ever would have.

Karstar's hand involuntarily tightened on the hilt of his sword, which had been sheathed for some time after the battle. To the drunken laughter of the sailors and the clatter of loot being loaded onto the ships, a sharp crack and hiss of flames added as the roof of the fisherman's shack collapsed, sending a pillar of sparks into the black, starless sky. Karstar took a heavy breath and tensed, gathering the last remnants of his composure. In a low, hoarse voice, he spoke.

"Let her go."

Eruan didn't keep him waiting for an answer and smirked.

"What are you mumbling about? Have something to say? As always, whispering under your breath like a maiden about to faint."

Karstar had no patience left today and cut off Eruan's mockery, raising his voice.

"I said, let her go! Mother is waiting for you at home. Aren't the insults you've already hurled at her enough?"

His heart constricted with fear. Yes, Karstar was more afraid of his father than anything in the world. He remembered all his punishments, they were vividly etched onto his skin in the form of scars, and hammered into his memory, just like all the beatings he received as a child for the slightest misstep. And now he hadn't just misstepped. He had challenged his father, who was drunk and exhilarated from battle. This was suicide.

Eruan laughed, and in that quiet laughter, one could hear the approach of a coming storm. Eruan looked the girl over, licked his lips, slapped her backside loudly, and pushed her away.

"Hey, Broom! Drag this little fish to my cabin. Make sure she sits quietly and doesn't do anything stupid."

A one-eyed, short man with a broken nose immediately ran up, grinned widely, and, grabbing the girl by the chain, started dragging her away.

"Aye, Captain!"

Eruan straightened his shoulders and followed them with his gaze before turning to his son. The smirk vanished from Eruan's face, leaving only a cold, impenetrable expression, gradually shifting to rage.

Karstar's heart was pounding wildly, and an inner voice screamed at him to get away. He tensed but forced himself to stay put and look into the eyes of the man he hated and feared.

"Waiting? No, your mother is a pathetic whore. Rest assured, she's already warming someone's cock. Let her have her fun, for the last time. My mistake was taking her to my bed once. Her mistake was giving birth to a bastard and daring to say he's mine."

Eruan shot out a hand and gripped Karstar's cheek tightly before he could pull away, pulling his face close. His father's black eyes studied the face of the one he was supposed to call his son. But he never saw a son, only perpetual humiliation and insult.

"There's not a drop of Airmaran blood in you. And it seems you haven't learned the lesson — not to challenge my actions and decisions. Is it really that hard to remember? And I have to call you my heir? A disgrace to the entire bloodline."

Karstar clenched his teeth and looked at his father with restrained fury.

"I have to teach you everything several times...", Eruan muttered wearily before pulling back, only to strike.

Karstar had been expecting this blow. So he managed to throw up his arm and block it.

"Oh, I remember your lessons. Every single one. You can insult me, but you will not touch mother again."

Eruan didn't appreciate Karstar's defiance. Hardened in battle, Eruan was noticeably stronger and more experienced, it cost him no effort to break the boy's grip and strike him in the side.

Grunting from the blow, Karstar didn't hesitate. For the first time, he struck Eruan back, hitting his jaw, and recoiled slightly, bewildered. Eruan slowly ran his hand over the bruised spot and cracked a displaced joint.

"I should have gotten rid of you back when the old seeress was whispering her prophecies. And this is your gratitude for my mercy towards you? Ungrateful creature. Just like your mother. Well, I thought you might still be of some use. But since you don't understand in a good way..."

Eruan didn't finish and rushed at Karstar with raging force. The clashing bodies sent sand flying around them. Swords rang out and met in battle, flashing in the firelight. Karstar still hoped this skirmish would end like all the others. But Eruan already had a plan. Taking advantage of Karstar's defensive posture, Eruan feinted, and, pleased that his opponent had taken the bait, drew a dagger. Timing it for when Karstar leaned in to parry the feint, he slashed the boy across the face.

Karstar staggered back, not fully comprehending his actions, and the sword fell from his trembling hands, which pressed against his face before his mind could process what had happened. An agonized groan escaped his clenched teeth.

But Eruan didn't waste time. Smirking with satisfaction, he grabbed his son by the collar of his cloak.

"You not only poorly remembered my lessons, but you've completely forgotten how to hold your ground in a fight. A complete disappointment. But I intend to correct my mistake right now."

Clicking his tongue, he gave his son a dismissive glance.

"A wound like that needs cauterizing."

Karstar could see nothing in front of him as blood filled his eyes, and he struggled futilely to break Eruan's grip. But his father only pushed him forward harder, tightening his grip on his neck, and pressed him forcefully against the burning remnants of the shack.

There was no gradual build-up of pain. There was only one continuous, unbearable agony, igniting in an instant. Without understanding what he was doing, Karstar gripped the burning logs in front of him with his hands, scorching his hands while his father pressed the already aching flesh to the greedy flame. His whole body was seized with tremors, and a guttural, tortured scream tore from his lips. There wasn't a single coherent thought in his head, only pain. So much pain. As the skin on his face melted and split, and tears rolled down his intact cheek. The remnants of his consciousness blurred, and Eruan finally shoved Karstar away, letting him collapse onto the sand.

Without another word, Eruan walked past, toward his ship. The crew members who had witnessed the scene dared not ask anything.

A calm voice, coming from somewhere in the impenetrable depths, pulled Karstar from the restless waters of consciousness back to a reality smelling of charred flesh and the freshness of morning. Waves, one after another, washed onto the shore, tinged with the blood spilled the night before. The voice came again... Like a lighthouse in the midst of a storm, calling him to safety. Karstar stirred with difficulty, and pain echoed in every cell of his body. A painful moan escaped his chapped lips. Part of his face, like his hands, burned with unbearable pain.

"Why does it hurt so much..."

His tormented mind supplied the reason. Karstar tried to open his eyes. The world was a blurry, indistinct blot.

"It happens", he tried to calm the fear coiled in his gut.

On the left side—there was nothing. Darkness. And pain. His thoughts filled with cold horror as he remembered fragments of the previous day, piecing them together... Before his surviving eye was a vague grayness... The sky? And a silhouette, leaning over him. The voice...

"Am I dead? Then why does it hurt so excruciatingly?"

Karstar let out a pained whimper, putting it all together. He had lost, in his only attempt to protect his mother. His father had left him to rot in a foreign land. There was no one left to protect the woman trapped in the monster's clutches... Now it wasn't just his body that hurt, but his heart too...

Karstar tried to focus on the unfamiliar silhouette... He had always been alone... Alone he remained... Only one soul had ever cared for him... And if this was Death, he hoped she had managed to escape the monster too... Through lips stuck together with blood, he finally rasped out a whisper...

"Mother..."

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