2934 First Step (Part 2)
"I said that you are right. Back then your power was the only source of self-confidence I had. I would have never accepted to break our bond because I was too scared that, without you, I'd be back to be worth nothing.
"You also did the right thing by dropping me in a hotel room while unconscious. When I woke up, I wanted to bond back with you and beat you up in equal measure. I needed the distance to take a good look at myself with nothing and no one affecting my judgment.
"Otherwise I would still be trying to pin my mistakes on you with the excuse that I don't know where I end and you start." Acala lowered his eyes in shame, thinking back to his victims.
Admitting to have been a petty, egotistical man who had killed the Rezars who had taken him as one of their own just to coddle his own overinflated, wounded pride was hard. Yet the realization that he might never find a way to make amends was much worse.
He had thought countless times about turning himself in. As a convicted traitor of the Kingdom, he would have been subjected to a painful death worthy of his crimes but that would have solved nothing.
His victims would remain dead and no one but Nalrond, would be better for it. Maybe.
Acala had also considered surrendering to the Rezar, but again, his death would have gifted Nalrond a short satisfaction if none at all. He considered Dawn just as responsible as Acala and the Rezar wouldn't find peace with an incomplete revenge.
"Also, even though the wait has been painful for me, it has allowed me to make sure that I was making my decision for me, not for you. Seeing you or even hearing from you before I completed my recovery would have shattered me."
He took a deep breath, pinching his nose while the memories of the lives he had saved during Battle for the White Griffon steeled his resolve. None of them knew his name nor did Acala give them the time to even say thank you.
There was no redemption in it, but there was change. The old Acala would have bragged about it with Dawn, deducting the people he had helped from those he had murdered, like it was just math.
It was his first step in what he believed to be the right direction.
"With or without you, I've decided to- What are you doing?" Acala wanted to look Dawn in the eyes to show her his determination, but she was too busy staring down at her meal.
Another of the reasons for her hood was that by wearing it, no one had noticed the undead shapeshifting into the Bright Day. Her hair was now raven black and her eyes golden.
Her mouth, instead, was filled with mutton and onion rings.
"Eating." She replied with a voice muffled by the mouthful and the cutest smile Acala had ever seen. "These things give you a terrible breath and make your farts stink like an ogre's butt but they taste amazing.
"No one prepares them better than the cooks of the Barrel Dragon. It's one of my favorite restaurants and the reason I set up our reunion here. I wanted to share it with you."
As if on cue, the waiter brought a second serving of onion rings, putting it in front of Acala along with a frothing mug of his favorite ale.
"Since when do you eat?" Acala was flabbergasted.
During the time they had been bonded together, Dawn had always been a cold and aloof mage dedicated to her research to the point of obsession. She had always taken care to give Acala good meals, but only because she needed his body to develop properly to withstand the breakthrough of his mana core.
She had always considered food solely from a nutritional standpoint.
Taste was irrelevant to her and Acala had never seen her eat. Even her smiles were something rare that she brought out only for him and only after their bond had turned into a relationship.
"For a while now." Dawn munched and swallowed in a haste, realizing how silly she sounded with a full mouth. "After the war, I took a short trip with some… acquaintances and I got used to eat again."
What Acala was noticing, was the lingering echo of Nyka and what her bonding with the Horseman had taught Dawn. The Vampire had never been alive so the taste of food, any food, was an amazing novelty.
Dawn would eat for Nyka, associating with the various dishes the joy that the young Vampire felt while savoring them through the Horseman's mouth. The two women had been a bad match up, but Nyka's bubbly personality had been a breath of fresh air.
Dawn was a recluse, used to bond with brilliant but power-
hungry individuals that would help her further her agenda. The bond was just a means to an end and magical knowledge was the only thing she would carry from a host to the next.
With Nyka, instead, Dawn had remembered how to appreciate Mogar's beauty and take her time to stop and appreciate the small things, like a good meal. She had no need to eat, she did it because she liked it.
Just like she smiled more because she was happy to be reunited with Acala. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, yet she was bottling them inside, afraid to drown him in chatter.
Acala was taken aback, looking at the Horseman as if he saw her for the first time. His eyes moved from her to the plate of onion rings and then to the beer, pondering what to do.
His hesitation turned her expectant look into the sad expression of a puppy denied attention so he took a bite to indulge her. The onion ring did taste amazing and so did the beer.
"Do you like it?" She asked with trepidation.
"Very. It's delicious, thank you." His words sounded sincere but his expression was clearly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, I've been interrupting you non-stop with my nonsense. What were you saying?"
Acala's face steeled again, turning her stomach into a knot.
"That I've decided my path and that I'm going to follow it, with or without you." He replied while pushing away the plate and the mug, making Dawn feel like he was doing the same to her.
"I know that you are too old for something like guilt and regret, but I'm human. I can't just pretend that nothing happened and wait for the passing of centuries to blur my memory.
"I've been a horrible person long before meeting you. Our bond simply enabled me to do what I've always wanted to do. What had stopped me until that moment wasn't morals or conscience, only the fear of the consequences.
"I don't blame you for what you've done to me or the people we've killed, only myself. I'm the one who accepted bonding with you even though I knew the price it entailed. As a Ranger, I was well aware of how a cursed object operates, I simply didn't care."
