He constantly told himself that he had no right to act how he has. He had no right to ever do what he did.
But it came to him so easily, his sins. Oh how it haunted him, how easily it came to him. He never had to think twice, he never felt remorse until long after.
During those years, he was misguided. He was angry, alone, and bored. It was his father’s fault, he always told himself. He beat his eldest child senseless day after day, then took him to their sparring ring to beat him more.
Broken arms, black eyes, stab wounds across his shoulders and thighs that to this day, have yet to fully heal. He needed his actions, what he did, to be his father’s fault. He couldn’t help how he was raised. Nobody ever can, right?
He killed, maimed, tortured, and slaughtered anyone he was paid to slaughter. There was so much thrill, so much money.
It started off so simple. A job to kill corrupt guards. But the money, the fame, the corruption, it all set in.
It’s -his- fault.
It had always been his fault. He was why Kaerlic ran from home, left for the nearest port town. He was the reason his mother could rarely speak. He was the reason so many bad things happened to their family. He was the sole reason.
----
It’s taken years. Years of inward thought, pain, trauma, and loss, to realize his fault.
Only after the death of his closest friend, did he learn his job’s losses. Nobody lives happy as an assassin, as a criminal.
Only after months in a trench, rifle in hand, bullets flying over his head in a distant time and world, did he learn there were worse fates than what he saw. What he lived. It didn’t discredit his woes, but it helped him accept them.
Watching them from afar, for months, years almost. Living in isolation and humidity fueled nightmares. Only through those experiences, could he have seen and learned how those who have not seen his horrors and acted on his crimes, lived. There was a normal life for every man and woman. There was always a better choice than what he’s chosen.
But through it all, he struggled to forgive himself.
Yet in the damp, dark cave where he rested among his despair and guilt, did a light shine through. It was small at first, nothing more than a flickering yellow flame, threatening to go out at any moment.
He acted slowly, cautiously. His last chance to try at something better. Through his actions, he reached for the tiny dancing flame, and cupped hands around it. He blew so softly, with so much care, to feed the flame.
And it grew.
It grew and with it his heart opened up for the first time in a long time. He felt a warmth that learned of his past crimes, of his sins, and it never held it against him.
It forgave him in ways he would never forgive himself.
And it helped him realize, his actions, were his alone.
He made the choice to kill, to harm, to ruin lives, for his own benefit. He made the choice to climb down the very staircase that left him in his dark cave.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, as the flames grew wider. Yellow flames turned red, and with them came love. Forgiveness, acceptance, and love.
His soul grew with the flames, renewed with every passing moment.
It never guided him out of his cavern. But it stood beside him as he slid foot after foot through the dark, sticky tar that tried to tie him down.
A man of conflict will always find peace not in being given the answer, but being accompanied as they find the answer themselves.