She was still struggling. Trying to get away from the grip, clawing the hands on her throat… But it was no use. He was not letting go, only tightening his hold. Watching the horror on her face. How it slowly died away together with her breath. How the body beneath him stopped moving.
Even after that he kept holding her down. Kept staring into those beautiful green eyes that watched back at him, now empty of life.
“… I am sorry my beloved.” Brennen murmured softly as he moved his hands from the woman’s neck. “You gave me no other option. But I told you… I told that I’d rather see you die than let you leave me. If only you have listened…”
There was no answer. Only that empty stare.
He moved around in the room, gathering the few belonging he owned. There were no signs of regret on the man’s face, just a hint of sorrow. Then he turned back towards the bed and the dead woman. Pulling out a dagger he used it to cut off a lock of curly brown hair.
“I will always carry a piece of you with me.” He whispered and leaned to place one last kiss on the now cold lips. “I will always love you Marelle…”
Right before leaving the room the man holds out his hand. Small flames dance a moment on his palm, until he casts it towards the bed. Sheets caught on fire, spreading quickly. Cowering the woman with orange haze.
Brennen pulls a hood on his head, not looking back. He needs to be out of this place before the sun rises.
(Brennen was kind of a party animal in his youth, spending more time drinking and womanizing around the taverns of Palanthas, rather than studying. Then this happened when he was around his twenties... No cool bro
The guilt stayed with him about some 15 years, until he renewed himself by taking the Test.)
((Yes, Brennen is only 35 years old! Not an old man as many seem to mistake him to be.. But thats the point. Keep calling him old. That what he looks and acts like.))