253: Afterword
Hello. I am Svampe Uddin. I appreciate you are probably confused as to why I am addressing you at current. Well, I have been elected on behalf of Dwynfel’s children to give the afterword. I was chosen because Lex is not the best at communicating his emotions and because Tad, well, he isn’t the most articulate of individuals.
Dwynfel took the time recently to impart some of the wisdom that he feels that he has acquired over the years to us. Specifically, his realisation that he is no hero. That he is a “supporting player,” as he put it. Tad, Lex, and I. We had a discussion about this so-called wisdom. Well, we three children of his, would like to point out that that is a load of absolute bollocks.
Not all that stuff he was saying is bollocks. That stuff about nudity… it was a bit of a ramble, but he is basically encouraging people to think about their own issues instead of trying to force those issues onto other people. Which is, you know, a very sensible suggestion that more people should really follow.
As for what he said about dealing with your trauma, I also agree with that. In fact, I intend to go and see Flora soon. I want to find out about this transformation that I went through and confront what I did to my home. I won’t be telling Dwynfel until afterwards though. He’ll only worry. I’m going to go when Damecus takes Marcus to meet the rest of his clan. I can claim to be accompanying them. Not that he has need to worry. I seem to be immortal. But you know what he’s like, he’ll worry anyway.
But, all the stuff about not being a hero. That is most definitely bollocks. Nobody is a supporting player. Everybody is the protagonist of their own story. Yeah, Dwynfel’s actions may not have been those of the conventional hero stereotype. But everybody defines what a hero is differently. And to find the true answer as to whether or not you are a hero, the answer is not found internally, it is found in how others view you.
Even Tad, as oblivious as he is to most things, is well aware of how Dwynfel overthinks and self-deprecates. Although admittedly, Tad would never use the term self-deprecate. We all know what Dwynfel is like is what I am saying to you. He brings himself down whilst raising others onto pedestals.
From our point of view, Dwynfel is most definitely a hero. Dwynfel went down into those weird tunnels to save me when he didn’t even know me. If he hadn’t brought that mask back to me, then I would still be trapped in the ruins of my father’s kingdom. I am well aware that the former he did under instruction of my father and the latter he did at the request of Flora. But after that, he didn’t need to bring my cocoon back to his farm. He didn’t need to take me in. I am aware that I wasn’t exactly a small child when I emerged from that cocoon. He did not need to look after me, to parent me.
Dwynfel saw me through the darkest part of my life. He stuck by me. He helped me see the light in things and find my purpose in this world. He was under absolutely no obligation to do that. And it was difficult. I am not stupid. I know full well that he had no idea what he was doing. He just wanted to help me. Not because he thought he could get something out of it. But because he genuinely cared.
I know that I refer to Dwynfel as Dwynfel, rather than Dad or Father as the other two do. That is because of the age at which I became part of this family. I had twelve years with my father before his untimely demise. And whilst he did make some questionable decisions, he wasn’t a bad man. He will always be my father. So, I find it hard to refer to anybody else in that role. That being said, Dwynfel’s actions over the last six years have most definitely been that of a parent. I may not refer to him with the title of Father. But that is most definitely what he has been, and indeed, still is to me.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
With Alexi, again, his initial encounter with Lex was due to somebody else’s request. But upon completion of this request, he didn’t just dump Lex at the nearest orphanage. He saw what the boy had been through. He saw that he needed a family, that he needed help. He instantly wanted to heal all Lex’s scars and give him a better life.
As Lex has grown, he has made what may seem like small steps with regards his progress, but that is because he acted like a responsible adult from the start. There was little space to progress in most areas. But in other areas he is still behind. When he has made progress in these areas, I can see in Dwynfel’s face how proud he is of every single tiny step forward that that boy has made.
As for Tadwick, well, Tad owes Dwynfel a lot. Dwynfel rescued him from that goblin nest. Tad was very young at the time, so doesn’t remember it very clearly. But when he was remembering bits and bobs, he felt safe enough with Dwynfel to bring the problem to Dwynfel, to talk to him about what he was experiencing. And Dwynfel did his best to help Tad through that. To help him understand what happened. To help him deal with what he was feeling and move forward.
Even when Tad was taken by that crocodile. Dwynfel showed up to attempt to rescue him. Dwynfel plays that incident down. Puts all of the praise on Charlie and Tad. But from what the boys have told me, what transpired in that cave would not have worked if Dwynfel was not present. It was his daggers that were used to kill the thing. He also worked as a distraction. They worked as a team. And that is what Dwynfel often fails to realise.
He sees the person who deals the final blow as the hero. The person who heroically dies holding back the forces of evil. But these people would be in no position to do these things without their teams propping them up. Making sure they are in the position to deal the final blow. This is why people adventure in parties. Because teamwork in necessary to accomplish what would be impossible individually. In these situations, every person that contributes is a hero in their own way.
Dwynfel is not the only person who has helped us. We feel the same way about Kiyui, Indira, Nomius, Olly, and Dolly. They have all gone above and beyond for a bunch of boys that they didn’t even remotely have any real connection to. But it is Dwynfel who is playing his role down and insisting that he is no hero. And we beg to differ.
Dwynfel sees the big moments as heroic. And sure, his actions haven’t been big in the extravagant attention-grabbing sense. But his actions have still been big. To Tad, Lex, and I, his actions have been beyond big. In fact, to quote Tad they’ve been “abso-fucking-lutely massive.”
We most definitely take him for granted at times. But when we look back, in all seriousness, it is clear to all three of us that his actions have been beyond heroic. Even now, we see it in the way he helps with Henry. He doesn’t do what he does because he seeks glory or recognition. He does what he does because he is simply a genuinely good person. He sees somebody who is struggling and wants to help them. He spends his life with his brain whirling as he overanalyses the best way to help.
To the three of us, being a hero isn’t about some big glorious act. It is about being the one who is there. It is about being the one that shows up and tries, even when they don’t know if they will succeed. And Dwynfel has done that for us sevenfold. If I went to him with a serious problem right now, I know he would drop everything that he was doing to help me with it.
When I emerged from that cocoon, he quit adventuring for four years. He quit for four years to focus on us children. The way that he talks, you would think he had spent our entire lives leaving us with his mother so he could go adventuring. He has hardly ever been away from us for the past six years. He briefly attempted to re-join the adventuring community two years ago. But that only lasted a few months.
No matter what, he has always been there for us. And I have every confidence that he will continue to be here for us. He is our dad and he always will be. Even if I don’t refer to him as such. Our view of him may be biased because we are his children. But as I said earlier, whether somebody is a hero or not depends on how they are viewed by those around them. Tad, Lex, and I, we will always view him for what he is to us. And that is the greatest hero that we have ever known. We owe him more than anyone and we love him more than anything.