Bonus Chapter: Haalfrin's Reh (Heart) Name
In the vision etched in Haalfrin's soul, Frey sees a young boy fetching water from the well. Being such a young child, he huffs and puffs his way up the hill back to his house. Along the way, one of the boy's elder brothers walks past him and grabs the water bucket. "I'll take this, Haalfrin. Just get back to the house and play with your sisters."
The young Haalfrin – no more than 8 years old at the time, goes back inside and pouts for a bit. He really wanted to be helpful to his parents and elder siblings, but everybody's still treating him like he's too small and helpless to do anything. Plus, playing with his sisters SUUUCKS! They only want to play with dolls. They don't even want to play with him because he can't understand their sense of fun.
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Over the years, young Haalfrin listens in and observes as each of his elder brothers and sisters grow up.
When the eldest is nearing 15, his father sits him down and talks about training him up to inherit the family business.
When the second eldest nears 15, his father has some serious talks to her about finding a good and honest man for her to marry. He's very particular about how he has to meet every boy she's talking to. There was lots of arguing at the time, so young Haalfrin remembers it well.
When the third eldest nears 15, his father talks to him about apprenticing him to their blacksmith neighbor.
Finally, when Haalfrin nears 15… his father never talks to him. All their acquaintances already have apprentices, and there can only be one heir. Haalfrin becomes acutely aware at the time that he has no actual use around the household.
All his sisters have to worry about is which man they're going to marry, and all his brothers already have trades set up for them. So… What's he supposed to? He tries asking his father, but the only thing the man tells him is, "Well, if things don't work out with your eldest brother, I guess you could inherit."
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Young Haalfrin became acutely aware then that his brothers don't talk to him at all, and his sisters are busy talking about boys and hanging out with the other girls. His father doesn't even need him in the house.
Feeling like a spare wheel on his family's wagon, young Haalfrin starts to get more and more rebellious.
The first sign of trouble is when he starts hanging out with the wrong kind of boys his age – the kind who pickpocket those bigger than them and mug those smaller than them.
… And Haalfrin did all of this for no other reason than because it was something to do – some place he could develop skills and hang around other like-minded people. Put another way, he wanted to BECOME something.
Whenever he thought about his dangerous line of work, he always told himself, "Even if I get caught and sent to prison, it's not like it would matter anyway. I mean, my absence wouldn't hurt the family at all, since they already have everything figured out."
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About a year after Haalfrin began hanging around the local thieves, his father found out… and the argument was short and fierce. After a quick reprimanding, his father shut his mouth and beat the crap out of his son for his misdeeds.
Once Haalfrin was on the floor – utterly defeated, his father hoisted him back to his feet and told him, "If you have such an aggressive personality, I'll go through the paperwork with the baron and get you to be a guard. You can learn how to use a sword."
Happy with his father's decision, Haalfrin obediently leaves home to work in the baron's mansion as a guard.
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Young Haalfrin truly did enjoy his time spent as a guard. He felt rewarded for his efforts, and the feeling of becoming stronger and channeling his energy into something constructive felt amazing!
Even more, Haalfrin loved the sense of structure his life got when he became a guard. Finally, he had his purpose – protect the baron!
Over the next few years, Haalfrin becomes the strongest guard in his master's small, local barracks. For his efforts and skill, he's promoted be the guard's Captain.
It's not that he enjoyed giving people orders, but he began to feel more and more happy once he became the captain. This is because with the extra authority he had, he was kept a lot busier, and his position in life became a lot more clear to him.
After all, young Haalfrin was a young soul who had lost his way because he HAD no place in this world. More than eating and sleeping or having children, Haalfrin felt his purpose in life was to protect the baron and keep his men alive!
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One day, many years later, Haalfrin is escorting the baron through the woods when they're waylaid by Kareen Raiders.
Most of the raiders stand up from their cover with bows drawn and weapons at their hips, Captain Haalfrin just looks to his sides and notes that most of his men can barely stand due to the epidemic that passed through camp days earlier. The ones who did survive the sickness are very sluggish in pulling out their swords.
Captain Haalfrin quickly calculates the odds of winning, as well as the best course of action. However, he no longer has to think once the bandit chief comes out in front. "I recognize those tattoos," Haalfrin thinks. "Those are the markings of a Kareen clan."
As soon as the captain realizes who their attackers were, he holds his hand out to his men and he shouts at everyone, "Stand down! NOW!"
Most of the newer guards look at Haalfrin with baffled expressions, and even the nobles in the carriage seem upset at Haalfrin's order.
However, Haalfrin, as well as every other guard who's been in the business long enough, knows a little bit how the Kareen operate.
After the Kareen spring an ambush, the chief will always take off his long sleeves, revealing the tattoos as well as their identities. After all, everyone knows what the Kareen do. When they set their sights on robbing you, then you have no chance of resisting. They're very powerful warriors, after all, and they're inhumanly cruel to those who resist them.
However, they do have codes against kidnapping and harming those who surrender.
Even though it may be redundant, Haalfrin points out to his lord, "We're surrounded by Kareen, sir."
Baron Benedict immediately goes pale with fright, and he tells Haalfrin to fight them off. "You've fought them off before!"
"Yes. You took us on your trip because we're the best you have," Haalfrin answers with as much patience as he can muster. "However, we're tired, hungry, and sick; we're not at our best anymore. Just give up the gold in your trunk and the rings off your fingers, or some of us will get tortured to death."
"But-"
"The Kareen aren't afraid to kill nobles too. They're nomadic, after all," Haalfrin reasons, "They can just kill you, then move to another country; they do it all the time."
The Kareen chief smiles, and booms out with his timber voice, "Looks like we have someone reasonable here! Just put your swords down, and nobody has to get hurt!"
The guards are visibly torn between listening to Haalfrin or their master.
Haalfrin looks at the noble and says, "Our job is to protect you, and right now, the best way to do that is to surrender." He then turns to his men and says, "None of you are in any position to be fighting. I don't want you all to die out here; you all owe me a drink after all! So... just put down your swords."
Haalfrin then unstraps his weapon and drops it on the ground.
The guards look between the noble & Haalfrin, and they all put their swords down as well. "Even the fearless Haalfrin doesn't want to fight these guys, after all. He knows what he's doing!" All the other guards think this.
Baron Benedict sees this and he starts screaming at his guards, "Pick up your weapons NOW! I'll… have you all imprisoned afterwards! You're complicit in this theft! You could all be hanged for this!"
Some of the Kareen raiders turns to some of his friends. They whisper to each other and giggle over… something together, then one of them takes off one of his boots, takes off his smelly, holey sock, then runs up and stuffs it in Baron Benedict's mouth while his two friends hold the screaming man down.
"Oi!" the raider spits as he slugs the baron in the stomach – knocking the wind out of him. "You shut up! I'd have put a knife in your gut if your captain hadn't had a straight head on his shoulders."
Some of the raiders saw the baron's humiliation, and they burst one laughing. "Yeah! Put a sock in it!" "Hahaha!"
Captain Haalfrin was standing beside the baron's carriage, and the lord's daughter peeks her head out and yells out, "No! Father!"
Haalfrin looks to the side and pushes her head back in the carriage and shuts the curtain. "Stay inside!" he hisses at her harshly.
The Kareen do have a rule disallowing kidnapping or soiling women… but people break rules all the time. It would be too dangerous for the little girl to show her face here.
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Fortunately, the Kareen are true to their word - they even act all friendly – making distasteful jokes with the disarmed guards and leaving a few snacks behind for the hungry trip to Greenstone.
As the Kareen leave, one of the older ones turns and bows to the significantly less rich party. "You have a good day, now, you hear!" he cheerfully bids farewell, "It's hot weather, and I don't want any of you passing out."
If he hadn't just robbed them, one would have thought there was genuine concern in that voice.
Another of the Kareen passes Haalfrin by and pats him on the back, points at the baron, and says, "Hope you don't have too hard of a time with Mr. Sourpuss over there."
Seeing Haalfrin's unamused look, the raider just laugh harder, then pulls out a fat gold coin. He presses it firmly in Haalfrin's hand and says, "Drinks on me, man!"
The raider then picks up his sacks of "donations" and joins the rest of his jovial comrades.
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Sure enough, after the Kareen leave, Baron Benedict is so livid that he turns to Haalfrin and points at the other men, "Arrest him!"
Most of the men look around, as if they're unsure of what to do. A lot of them joined up because they knew Haalfrin well. The ones who didn't know him before all respect him a lot more by now than the baron.
However, after the gears turn in their head, they all realize what they have to do. They walk up to Haalfrin, who only holds up his hands – showing he's not going to resist. One of them looks down apologetically and says, "Sorry Captain."
"Don't call him captain anymore!" the baron growled out. After Haalfrin was forced to his knees, the baron looked down at him and ordered the men, "Kill him now."
The guards all share some startled looks in their eyes, but before they could make up their minds, Haalfrin just looks up at the baron and says, "Remember, I can take on half these men in a fight. You've seen me do it. If you get robbed again, they'll have nothing left to take but you and your daughter. You'll need me."
Lord Benedict looked down in thought, then gave a new order to his men…
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The next moment, Frey sees in the vision that Haalfrin is tied to a tree with his back facing outward. All his armor is off, and one of his men is whipping his bare back. Haalfrin doesn't cry out at all; he just sits there and takes it.
After his beating is over with, Haalfrin is given his sword and armor back, then he's told to march along with the rest of the men. Of course, his captain's helm was taken away and given to another guard.
During the rest of the march, all his colleagues chat with each other as usual, but all of them make a point to ignore Haalfrin. Perhaps they're still feeling guilty about beating him over the back, or perhaps they didn't want to be seen acting friendly with a man in a lot of trouble with the nobility?
Who knows. Either way, the rest of Haalfrin's journey is spent in miserable silence.
Haalfrin looks at the new Captain Dan. Everybody knows that Dan isn't nearly as strict as Haalfrin was, so shortly after he was promoted, most of the guards were taking off their helmets, knowing Captain Dan wouldn't say anything to them about "always being prepared for an ambush" the way Haalfrin always did.
Soon enough, Haalfrin is the only one with his new leather helm still on.
As he's walking with his sore feet, he wonders something. "Why am I still keeping my helmet on? Nobody's going to care if I'm especially diligent or anything. Why do I have to do a perfect job for an ungrateful employer?"
After being punished for doing his duty, Haalfrin has lost all motivation to do his job properly. The only reason he keeps his helm on now is because he feels embarrassed about taking it off in front of the very people he used to scold for doing so.
Along the way, Haalfrin would sometimes look out into the forest. "Maybe I should just ditch these people and go back home? No. I can at least hold out until we reach the next town. And no, I don't care about how everyone's going to complain about me leaving in the middle of a job."
Indeed, Greenstone is merely another stop on their journey. If Haalfrin wants to leave, nobody here can stop him.
He shakes his head. "No. There's nothing waiting for me back at home. Mind as well just stick it out here; it's not like it'll matter if they execute me anyway."
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When they get to the next town, the baron goes to his cousin's house and stays there. He only brings 2 guards with him, so the rest are free to do what they want until it's time to leave again.
Haalfrin and the other off duty guards go to the nearest tavern to drink away what little pocket change they have. They're paid terribly, after all, and most of them didn't manage to hide their coins well enough from the Kareen.
Haalfrin starts pouring all his remaining money on booze and he starts drinking away – clearly not in a good mood.
The tired ex-captain looks over at another table on the other end of the tavern, and he sees all his colleagues move away from his side of the tavern and not meeting his eyes. Sensing he isn't welcome over there, Haalfrin just takes his drink from the counter gruffly and goes to another corner by himself.
The only person who dropped by was Tassel – one of the guards Haalfrin is most familiar with, as they both used to be fellow thieves when they were younger.
Tassel is holding a pint of mead in one hand, and he looks down at Haalfrin in concern – more specifically, he looks at the 3 empty mead jugs beside him.
"Oi," Tassel asks out of concern, "Watch it. You shouldn't be blowing all your savings on alcohol. I know you're upset, but please don't do anything rash!"
Haalfrin just shrugs him off and says, "I'm not like you guys. I don't have a family to go back to, or a trade I'd be good at. This sword here is all I'm good for. People like me don't get old. What's the point in saving retirement money?"
(Besides, what's more horrifying than being old and useless?)
Of course, the charity gold piece the raider gave back to Haalfrin was confiscated by Lord Benedict, so it's not like he could pay for enough drinks to get himself drunk like he wanted - when with the coins hidden in his socks.
Tassel then looks back at the other guards, then back at Haalfrin. The boy gets a torn look on his face, then does a polite bow to Haalfrin. "Well, good luck." He then goes to the other end of the tavern and sits down with the other guards, leaving Haalfrin all alone.
Haalfrin noticed the way Tassel looked both ways before coming to talk to him, so he knows now that the boy was ashamed of talking to their ex-captain. He also walked away so fast because he didn't want to look like he was on good terms with him.
That... actually hurt.
Shortly afterwards, Haalfrin notices some newcomers enter all merry like. The Kareen chief yells at the barkeeper, "Boss! I got good news! We just got a big job with big pay. You can finally get rid of that fine mead you've been saving for your son's wedding!"
"NO! That's not for you!" the tavernkeeper yells back as he is washing some used mugs in an old bucket.
"Come on!" one of the other raiders yells back, "You know you made a little extra for us! We're your best customers!"
Some of the off duty guards across the room tense their muscles, and a wary atmosphere lights up in that side of the room. Some of them even put their hands on their swords.
When they were in the woods before, the guards were outnumbered and out of any condition to fight. Now, there's only a few Kareen raiders in the tavern. They can take them in a fight!
Just before they draw their swords and leap for an attack, some of them look over at Haalfrin out of habit.
Haalfrin just shakes his head and says loud enough for them to hear, "Forget it. It's our day off. Just let them be. It's not like our master will be grateful if we beat up a few bandits in a bar."
Haalfrin then buries his face back in his mead, trying his best to ignore their "acquaintances".
As the Kareen get to drinking their "piss water" (as they like to call it), the guards notice the raiders guzzling down alcohol like they have endless money...
Oh wait, they just robbed years' worth of their salary in one afternoon.
Realizing where the Kareen's drink money came from makes them even more sullen.
Long after the Kareen get uncontrollably drunk, their chief plops himself on a chair in front of Haalfrin and mumbles out, "I remember you... You were that pansy guard we... BLEH."
Haalfrin looks down at the pile of vomit that landed right next to his shoe. He slowly inches his foot away out if disdain, then continues with his drink – savoring every taste slowly.
Still, Haalfrin's mind is working a little slower by now, so it takes him a second to realize he was just called a pansy.
Not liking to be insulted and having nothing to lose at this point, he just prods the chief with his finger, "Nah. We were too tired to walk. I'd definitely beat you in a fair fight."
"Fight me now, then," the Kareen chief slurred with his drink half spilling on the floor.
"You're drunk now. It wouldn't be a fair fight," Haalfrin says as he nudges the smelly barbarian further away from him.
"Oh, that's easily fixed!" the chief yells as he stands up abruptly. He then stumbles onto a table and roars out, "I'm going to pay… for EVERYONE in the tavern here! Drinks on me BOYS!" The chief then notices a lone female tavern in another corner. "…and girl!"
Haalfrin just rolls his eyes and decides to go with it. Today was rough, and he just wants to get plastered. If a bandit wants to donate some funds back to him, he won't refuse.
The chief watches intently and makes sure Haalfrin guzzles down the same amount of drinks as he did.
Soon enough, Haalfrin, as well as all the guards and the Kareen raiders, get roaring drunk. The chief takes off his shirt and starts shouting at Haalfrin, "See this? My muscles are so big that my wife calls the BEAR! This pansy little white boy could never beat me!"
Too drunk to really make sense of what he's doing, Haalfrin stands up in retaliation and rips his shirt off as well. He points to 4 long jagged scars next to his heart and yells, "See this!? I've seen blood, little brat! This scar proves it! They call you the bear! This scar came from the time I fought a bear off with my bare hands! I mean, my human hands!"
It was a premature black bear, but Haalfrin never tells anybody that part.
The Kareen chief, not wanting to be outdone, curls his arm and flexes it. The muscles on the arm seem to completely change shape as it becomes something akin to a hard rock.
Haalfrin gets closer and starts bouncing his pecks up and down – one at a time – and jeering in the Kareen's face, "I got no fat, old man! Your muscles are like ugly rocks, but mine are pieces of art! They have SHAPE!!!"
After a few more rounds of flyting, the two of them piss each other off so much that they throw hands at each other.
Once the first punch IS thrown, there really IS no turning back.
Seeing their two leaders finally duke it out, all the other piss drunk raiders and guards bolt up from their chairs and charge at each other.
Some are too drunk and immediately trip, while others pick up chairs and start smashing it over the other party.
Watching from the side, the barkeeper is horrified as chairs are broken and tables split in half, what with bodies being picked up and rag-dolled everywhere like toys being thrown about by children.
While Haalfrin and the chief are fighting, Haalfrin picks up a broom and starts jabbing at the chief's nuts like an expert fencer.
Once the first shot connects, the chief cries out in outrage, "Aren't you a man!? Have you no sympathy!?"
Haalfrin just gives a smug look and huffs, "A win is a win. Haha."
The chief shakes with rage, and with his renewed strength quickly brings Haalfrin to his knees.
Seeing he's about to lose, Haalfrin holds up both his hands and stutters out, "I surrenders!"
Feeling he finally found victory, the chief smiles and steps back.
However, the moment the Kareen chief lets down his guard, Haalfrin jumps on his back, kicks him behind the knees, then pins him down.
"Oi!" the chief roars in anger, "That's cheating!"
Haalfrin continues hammering away at the chief's spine as he yells, "You're the bandit here! You're the one who's supposed to be cheating!"
Pretty soon, neither the chief nor Haalfrin can tell friend from foe, so they proceed to beat everyone up in the tavern – regardless of their affiliation, or even if they had joined the fight in the first place.
(The lone woman in the tavern has run away long ago by now.)
The Kareen chief would yank the smaller peasants off the ground and chuck them across the room, and Haalfrin would expertly jab at their vitals or kick them at the kind of angles that break bones.
Between the two of them, they easily clean out the entire tavern. After that, they try beating each other… again.
This time, however, one couldn't beat the other. Eventually, they both pass out completely, and their limp bodies are dragged to a corner by some of the more sober raiders.
A few minutes later, the chief wakes up first as he deliriously calls out to the barkeeper, "Heeeeeeey…" He points down at the sleeping Haalfrin, who was leaning on his shoulders. "My new friend 'ere needs more mead. He's thiiiirrrsty!"
It was in this moment that some of the local guards show up to quell the chaos. The chief shakes Haalfrin awake and yells out, "Buddy! You got some friends 'ere!"
The chief and Haalfrin stagger to their feet together, and Haalfrin sees the local peacekeepers with their weapons drawn. Haalfrin outstretches his finger and says, "Don't point that sword at this nice man!" He touches the tip of the sword and moves it to the side.
Haalfrin then looks to his side and sees that the chief has already started beating up the guards, and Haalfrin yells out, "Don't hurt my drinking money! Nooooo!"
Between the two of them, they proceed to beat the local guards up silly. Soon enough, all the visiting patrolmen are knocked unconscious and dumped on the pile of other incapacitated Kareen and travel guards.
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Early the next morning, one of the Kareen men drop by the tavern and takes in the sight of utter devastation. He looks down at the pile of injured men – now sleeping peacefully, and he sighs in annoyance.
A few minutes later, some of his fellow Kareen show up, and they sort through the debris and start pulling out their men. "I wish these guys wouldn't get so plastered all the time. The chief especially is so heavy… I just don't like dragging him back to the ship."
A few of the others come up behind and grab ahold of the chief and say, "Here, we'll help you take him."
As the Kareen chief is being dragged out the door, he wakes up abruptly, but doesn't say anything.
"Come on, chief. Get up!" one of the men growls. The 3 sober men help their boss get back onto his feet, and they moved to help him get back.
On the way out, the chief bends down and grabs ahold of Haalfrin. "Come 'ere, buddy! I'll help you get back home!"
The chief then picks up Haalfrin like a doll, then slings him over his shoulder on the way out.
"…Chief…," one of the raiders tries prodding the burly, dark skinned man, "That man isn't one of ours. We should leave him here."
"Bah!" the chief side smacks his companion so hard that he's knocked onto the ground, "I'm jussss takin' meeeee fffriend home! Don't be mean!"
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The next morning, Haalfrin wakes up with a terrible headache. He thinks the strange churning feeling in his stomach must be a new hangover symptom, but he changes his mind once he sits up and looks to the side… only to see wide open waters in all directions.
He tries stumbling onto his feet as he yells, "Ah! Where am I!"
His vision comes into focus more, and he sees Kareen raiders all around him. Now that their sailboat is all set in the right direction, most of them are lounging around deck in clear view.
One of the men who chose not to drink that night puffs out some smoke from his pipe and apprises Haalfrin of what happened.
Feeling exhausted and lost, Haalfrin plops back onto the ground and he mutters aloud, "Well, what happens to me now?"
The old raider looks at Haalfrin with respect, and he's doesn't answer immediately. Instead, he just gives an informal solute and says, "I've never seen anyone kick the piss out of Chief before! I'm sure he'd be happy if you joined us."
Haalfrin's heart swells with pride hearing this, but he quickly squelches that egotistical though. Then, he frowns after thinking about it some more. He doesn't like the idea of robbing people and torturing civilians.
Realizing that saying no might be dangerous right now, he only frowns and says, "I'll think about it. Besides… will you throw my body overboard if I refuse?"
The Chief must have heard this conversation, so he comes over and answers, "Nah! When I drink with someone, that means they're my friend… and I don't kill friends casually!"
"Aw, thanks…" Haalfrin mutters sarcastically.
The chief wipes his nose out of embarrassment, then adds, "At most, I'll leave you on an island or something. This is a busy section of the sea anyway, so you'll get a ride back to the mainland if you light a big enough fire. Until then, just don't make any trouble, and we'll be good. Yeah?"
Haalfrin nodded. "Oh!" the chief added again, "If you do decide to join, you'll get one share of the loot. No skimpy wages. See? I'm much more generous than the nobles. That makes me a good guy!"
One of the men rolls up his sleeve to reveal a row of jeweled bracelets. "It's honest work, it is!" This made a few of the raiders laugh aloud.
One of the other men pocks Haalfrin's toned muscles. "You're pretty strong. We really could use you."
Finally, Haalfrin cracks a smile. "Fine. Being a raider doesn't sound so bad."
Despite being robbed by these people, Haalfrin had a good first impression of them.
Besides… being told that he's needed here really sealed the deal for him.
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Many, many exciting years pass by which were spent robbing and murdering.
Haalfrin did feel bad the first few times he stuck his sword through a guard's chest or beheaded a struggling civilian, but seeing the gleeful and victorious looks on his companions' faces always eased his mind.
Doing anything felt worth it so long as he can make somebody happy… for to Haalfrin, he saw another's happiness as proof that his life has meaning, and that he's doing what he's supposed to be doing.
However, as the years go by, the raider's bones start to grow stiff, and his skin, wrinkled. Soon enough, he's bound to his bed back in the clan's hideout, and he's no longer allowed to go on exciting raids anymore.
For the next 5 years, he trains up the younger sons in the clan to fight, but even that doesn't last long.
At long last comes the twilight years of the old raider's mortal life. As he lay in bed day after day with nothing to do, all other desires but one wilt away – the wish to die.
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Frey's vision shifts again, and she sees Haalfrin's younger body stuck on the end of a spear. The barbaric looking man holding the spear looks at Haalfrin and says to him without pity in his voice, "It was a good fight. You'd put any other 1st circle mage to shame. My fallen friends won't feel embarrassed on the other side to have fallen to a warrior – no, to a man like you. Tell me your name, so I can bury you properly."
A few tears run down Haalfrin's cheeks, and he mutters aloud, "I spent many decades not even respecting myself… and here I am, being paid respects by my enemy… Ha… Haha. Well, my name was Haalfrin."
It's in this moment that all of Haalfrin's life feels like it was worth it – even those torturous years spent as an old man in bed.
First, he felt he had to have his father's approval. When that didn't work, he had to have his friends approval. When that didn't work, he had to have his guard subordinate's approval. When THAT didn't work, he had to get his fellow Raiders' approval.
All his life, Haalfrin had felt insecure about his place in the world.
However, in the moment his barbaric opponent holds him over the maw of death, his existence and worth was affirmed.
In that moment, Haalfrin felt… liberated.
"You are a great warrior. You are worthy of respect. You don't have to prove yourself anymore," his soul seems to say. "See? You'll one day be the greatest general of the Death Realm. You'll belong to Freyya and be her sword and shield. You'll fight to save all creation from Drakavar. You have people you can't disappoint."
In the end, Haalfrin's greatest wish all along was to be shackled by another's expectations – to feel needed by someone.
…And the face he thinks of as the one he should help the most is Frey herself.
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When Frey exits the vision, she's standing in the forest with some tears running down her cheeks.
"Are you OK?" Haalfrin asks.
"Yeah… I'm fine." Frey wipes her eyes, stands up on her tippy toes, and pats Haalfrin on the chest. "Haalfrin… You never talk about your feelings, do you?"
She shakes her head and doesn't bother waiting for an answer. After UNDERSTANDING his entire Reh (Heart), she knows full well why he doesn't vocalize his feelings; he doesn't like to burden other people with his personal baggage.
"Ok," Frey slaps herself on the cheeks. "Let's get on with this. I'll give you my Reh Name now."