53rd of Winter 511AV
He had been thinking for a long time about what he was going to do about Lynnea. Part of him knew it was time to make a decision. He remembered in his head and heart what Lynnea had promised him she would do for him.
When we get out of here, I swear to take you there. To take you to Mura. You'll love it there. That I swear to you. He could still remember the ferocity in that promise.
Even though the winter nipped at him in that moment behind those iron bars, he had hope. Her words had brought him hope that there was something else out there for him. That there was a place that he could be free and heal. And that place was Mura. Little did he know in that moment how true her words were. He had no idea that he would set foot in Mura a years later to discover she was more than right. Mura was where he needed to be; where he would heal…where he would find everything including himself. He had churned over everything Mura meant to him in his head.
It was where he healed and came to terms with his past. He learned inner peace and tranquility. Long hours fishing in wonderful serenity for his many dinners that he ate. On that fine sand beach was where he cooked the meals that brought him strength. Ildin pushed every limit he knew, that built up his body and his mind. His body had changed drastically because he got fresh wonderful bounty from the sea joined with Ildins relentless training rituals. His mind and emotions were stretched by Lym’s training. She had him care for the young and the old just the same. He had helped ease a small girls man o war wounds and an old woman’s joint pain as she aged into her late hundreds.
In a very large way Mura was responsible wholly for who he was now. If he hadn’t landed foot in Mura he likely would be a very different person now. He would be a more violent person, a much more vengeful person unable to heal others because he would be obsessed with his own vengeance. His hands would be tainted crimson forever; never able to get the blood off of them. Never able to remove the hate and spite from his eyes.
But that wasn’t who he was, no. His hands were gentle and calming…healing above all. His eyes alight with understanding and compassion but above all purpose. His purpose was to heal and to learn the art he had grown to love. He had learned how to ease pain even mental distress. He owed all this to Mura. And in a way he owed this to Lynnea as well.
He woke in the morning knowing what he was to do. Not one more thought in his head about what he was to do about this. A man of action he would set things to motion. Kavala, she was the first part of this plan. The issue with all this was he didn’t know where to find her this early in the morning. The sun was hardly even hinting at coming up yet. So he would wait for her. He knew she would likely bring her child down to the fire first thing, especially since this winter was bitterly cold.
From outside he brought a few logs and placed them on the warm embers. He then placed thinner sticks and kindling down to start a flame that would set alight the rest of the logs. Gently and efficiently he laid out the logs and set them alight. This fireplace was impressive and cast out a good amount of heat into the rest of the room. He put his long white cloak on a wooden peg and sat in a chair waiting for her to arrive. She would be here, he knew it.
His posture said everything. Called to action, he had conviction of action. Driven by his own internal drive he was going to do this. Calling up whatever bravery he had he breathed evenly and looked into the flames flickering over the wood. It calmed him to see something so methodical. There was something primal about it that just made him lose everything else around him. He wasn’t obsessed with fire, no, but something about it helped him focus internally on the action at hand. For a moment he lost the world and was sitting there, just him…nothing else…no one else.
