KittytKeMeLt
New member
with this character? I called his name. 'Rilthoras?'
He turned to look at me, and it alarmed me to see how he had changed - not just because there were a few bleeding cuts across his nose and over his arms, but because of something much deeper, something that went beyond physical pain.
'I cannot do this any longer,' he whispered.
'This isn't your fault. You tried to -'
'Tried to!' He raised his voice and drowned out mine. 'I tried to save them! I tried to help them! But I still failed, and people are now dead because of my actions! Tell me, Deliah, how is that fair?'
'You saved dozens of lives.'
'Yet I still lost a few. Besides,' he added in a quiet voice, 'I did not save the lives of the citizens of Jamar or Denzen...they died, did they not? Because I made the wrong choice.'
'What are you trying to say?'
'I am saying that war has become a game of which I am too old to play,' he replied sharply. 'Zethan's taunting will be the end of Arakah and our people, unless wiser men are in power. I am not the man that we need at the moment.'
'Rilthoras, think about this,' I pleaded softly. 'You had incredible pressure placed on your shoulders. Varlin himself probably would have made the same choice -'
'Do not compare me to Varlin!' I could almost hear fear in his tone. 'Do not insult him by comparing him to me!'
I closed my mouth, daring not to say another word. Rilthoras acknowledged this silence with a slight lowering of his head.
'I am going home.' His voice was barely above a mutter.
'No.'
'I am homesick,' he said thinly, suddenly speaking even more quietly. 'I miss my wife. I miss my son. If Arakah is to be saved, then my share of the glory will be at the hands of a different man bearing my title. If Arakah cannot be saved, if the cities are to burn in flame and the people to be destroyed...then I want to be home with my family. I want to see them at least one last time before the end.'
- I don't want him to seem too much like a coward, even if he is turning his back on his people. I'll post a little more of his part in a moment (give me 5-10 minutes, I need to write the thing first), but how does he sound so far?
He turned to look at me, and it alarmed me to see how he had changed - not just because there were a few bleeding cuts across his nose and over his arms, but because of something much deeper, something that went beyond physical pain.
'I cannot do this any longer,' he whispered.
'This isn't your fault. You tried to -'
'Tried to!' He raised his voice and drowned out mine. 'I tried to save them! I tried to help them! But I still failed, and people are now dead because of my actions! Tell me, Deliah, how is that fair?'
'You saved dozens of lives.'
'Yet I still lost a few. Besides,' he added in a quiet voice, 'I did not save the lives of the citizens of Jamar or Denzen...they died, did they not? Because I made the wrong choice.'
'What are you trying to say?'
'I am saying that war has become a game of which I am too old to play,' he replied sharply. 'Zethan's taunting will be the end of Arakah and our people, unless wiser men are in power. I am not the man that we need at the moment.'
'Rilthoras, think about this,' I pleaded softly. 'You had incredible pressure placed on your shoulders. Varlin himself probably would have made the same choice -'
'Do not compare me to Varlin!' I could almost hear fear in his tone. 'Do not insult him by comparing him to me!'
I closed my mouth, daring not to say another word. Rilthoras acknowledged this silence with a slight lowering of his head.
'I am going home.' His voice was barely above a mutter.
'No.'
'I am homesick,' he said thinly, suddenly speaking even more quietly. 'I miss my wife. I miss my son. If Arakah is to be saved, then my share of the glory will be at the hands of a different man bearing my title. If Arakah cannot be saved, if the cities are to burn in flame and the people to be destroyed...then I want to be home with my family. I want to see them at least one last time before the end.'
- I don't want him to seem too much like a coward, even if he is turning his back on his people. I'll post a little more of his part in a moment (give me 5-10 minutes, I need to write the thing first), but how does he sound so far?