There was no iron poisoning in his leg so he stood tall, his skin was fresher, younger, lacking the multitude of scars from before. His hair was shorter too, only down to his ears. But what really struck me were his eyes. His green eyes weren’t clouded, they didn’t look as if they were gazing always at something everyone else couldn’t see. They were clear and present.

“You seek knowledge,” the younger Donnar said to him. “But it’s not knowledge you can handle.” His tone was not unkind.

The younger Lydian growled and took a step forward. “I can handle it! I can! For generations my family has had the sight! Generations we have been gifted this knowledge. You cannot deny it to me!”

The younger Donnar was unfazed. “You were not born with the sight. You can’t handle it. Leave, goblin, there are no answers for you here.”

Lydian swiped at the younger Donnar, causing a line of red to form on his cheek. “My father has it! My brother has it! And my grandfather and his! It is my right to also have it! They don’t get to be the only ones! It’s my blood right to be able to see. You cave-dwelling backless bastards should know that!”

A drop of blood ran down the younger Donnar’s cheek and onto his lips. He tasted it with his tongue, before narrowing his eyes. “It’s your right to see, is it?”

“Yes,” Lydian hissed.

“And what do you want to see? What do you deserve to know?” Though the younger Lydian didn’t seem to notice, I couldn’t help but feel a sinking in my gut at the look in the younger Donnar’s eyes.

“Everything.”

The svartelf broke out into a malicious grin. “So you shall.”

One second Lydian was standing and growling, and the next he was on the ground, shrieking. He clutched his head with his hands, fingers digging into the skin on his face. His cry echoed off the walls of the cavern, going up and up and up to the mountains above. He contorted, twisting from grotesque shape to grotesque shape, screams of agony never ceasing. Younger Donnar stood over him, smiling.

“They’re all dead. They’re all dying!” Lydian shrieked. “Little lives snuffed out by feet, and the bird is going to die in the cold. Heartbeats, there are millions of them. Everywhere. Everything. The stone will be unturned, the other skipped across a pond. Even more will stay as they are forever. Ice goes and comes, the world is burning. The serpent is free and he’s sitting on his throne, and she’s beside him, both of them, the serpent is unwinding. What have you done to me?” he gasped. “Make it stop!”

I could barely tear my eyes away from Lydian to look back at Donnar. “What did you do to him?”