“You were afraid you would hurt her?” - Death asked.
“I was. The only thing I know is causing pain. My hands have hurt so many people, but so does my love. I knew what leaving did to her. But it was the lesser of both evils. I feared I would become a monster if I stayed longer with her. This way, at least, I didn’t see her when she was in pain. I wouldn’t be able to take it seeing her suffer. Now I see I don’t have to cut someone open with a sword to destroy them. My death here will do the same to her. But she won’t die. She will wither slowly and fade away.” - he said.
“You were called to fight before, but you’re here of your own volition.” - she said.
“No one knows what it’s like to live with that demon in my chest. It grows, it becomes restless, and it hungers. Sometimes I need to destroy something beautiful, and I know that it will eat my heart if I don’t do it. I will rot on the inside until I turn into my father. I felt it. I heard it. When we argued and she yelled at me, I heard the tempting voice in my head. I hear it when my friends’ jokes go too far, or a merchant is too greedy at the market. When it gets too loud, I know I have to leave, so I don’t hurt the people I love…” - he said.
“You’re not a monster, Roric. By all means, you should have been one. But after everything this life has put you through, you still loved. You continue to love. In your dying moments, you love. You’ve broken the cycle of your family. Your father had the same choice, but he decided to be malevolent. His father before him too. You chose another path, and even though you’re dying today, you’ve touched the lives of many. We don’t get to choose the demons we’re born with, only how to live with them. You made your choice. You are a good man, Roric. For this, your life is worth countless others.” - she told him.
Tears rolled down his eyes, and the last of his life was leaving his body with them. He cried until he had no voice until he had felt all the pain he had repressed for the past twenty years. It washed over him. Being hated as a child just for the fact that he existed. Losing everyone he loved, growing up all alone. Realizing what he is, holding a bloody rock in his hand. But in the end, it was done. The blood and tears streaming from his body took the pain away. In the end, he was empty, with nothing more to suffer for, nothing more to rage on. A soul clean of scars and taint. The way he had come into this world.
Mora looked at him, waiting for Roric to get ready to feel his final touches of emotion here on this world so she could take him away.
“Can I just ask for one more thing?” - Roric said.
“I said no more bargains.” - she cut him off.
“It’s not a bargain. It’s a favor. I couldn’t get the flowers in our garden to grow. I think the cold killed them. Could you make them blossom?” - Roric asked the white-dressed lady.
“It’s winter now. Nothing grows.” - she answered.
“Please, I made her a promise.” - Roric pleaded.
Mora looked at the red-haired soldier holding on to his final breath to hear her decision. A dozen flowers weren’t that much of an effort after all. It was her sister’s duty to breathe life into the world, but even gods like to annoy their siblings every now and then.
“I’ll see what I can do.” - Mora said and heard the air leave his body for the final time.