A Song for Winter: Scars

    William’s father had once told him that every scar tells a story and each of those stories is a lesson on how to be better. He also said to make sure all your scars are on the front because only cowards get scars on their backs. Throughout his journeys, through the portal network, William had had many battles and earned himself many scars to show for it. Some of them were superficial and didn’t mean anything while others ran so deep that they still hurt to this day. Either one still had a story to them that would entertain any who asked about them after a few drinks.

 

    There was the long jagged scar on William’s side from when he fought the Nightcrawler on Castimeria. The demonic creature had managed to sink a claw deep into William’s side which cause a massive loss of blood. William was in too much of a rage state to care and still managed to kill the creature. Luckily William made it to Eventide on time where a doctor used lasers to cauterize the wound saving him. A scar between William’s came from a seax that was slid between his ribs by a Bloodfang general. That one ached a bit occasionally but not as much as the other injury that seax inflicted. William’s right eye was destroyed by that same weapon moments later. It had left him half-blind with scars on the top and bottom of the eye socket.

 

    Several dots of scarring dotted William’s left wrist from when the coyote lich known simply as The Necromancer bit him. The wounds got infected by the disgusting necromantic energy that radiated from the undead coyote. Several rounds of healing spells and being soaked in healing potions eventually fixed the infection. Scars from when The Matriarch burned the same wrist wrapped around the flesh with the bite wounds. Several triangular burn scars form a small path down William’s chest from when The Matriarch’s iron hand burned through his armor. Twin vertical scars on William’s stomach on either side of his navel ran to the back. Brianna, William’s half-sister, had impaled him through the chest with her sabers before she tried to beat him to death. That beating had broken William’s jaw in several spots. Occasionally it clicked painfully if he opened his mouth too wide or was having trouble with a chewy piece of meat.

 

    Amongst the physical scars were also the mental scars that hurt more than any physical scar. William had to watch his parents sacrifice themselves to save him and live with the knowledge that he couldn’t save Julia, his first wife. This is a scar that still causes William to wake up at night in a cold sweat. A scar that makes him relive that pain in the form of nightmares and cruel visions. However, this is a scar that drives William to become the best warrior he can be. Scars would never stop William, rather drive him onwards to protect his family.