x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMUb9tOWnA
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyV7qPuyIu
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3EnjFkPDm
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aq82AUGQI
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnSiB5MB1c
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHk3lf7igO
“She disappeared?”259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzkggRb8MG8
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMcitCDG0s
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjm90q3bHO
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCEAFN4OpF
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SmGqyJxGA
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KnIBaaHtL
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAvlRdLxT63
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpPZdvmDZY
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcAjz1rgro
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa28VhBbp4D
brought everyone starting to follow him...259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7IE8sMxn0
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymmvkvjvb8
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8w0AiEgOAf
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AcwFmi4MD
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7SZIecpuu
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbhJg2jdKH9
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyiTjcUqcK
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pBWVx3uKZ
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxEzYwwLRu
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoREx9IKAjc
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0u3ESSwOvf
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhL3rMy5bJf
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbyxt9h9bF
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzdJSPkJRQ
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlWuhIgNJn
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTy7td9pGOo
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxVLK7W5r5
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVzFneCoM5
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLzxeK9xG4
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnMdaTmGVo
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwX0wWp7yN
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAdanS1a1X
of what had transpired during the night.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fuJeNinW7
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguLa7alWqH
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaDuUpBxcD
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPpGO9DXnn
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk02Z0ugo6l
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EsXHhGu3e
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHoG3adpyy
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaTzdmkc1B
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlQxwZXhRu
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLekO25tl0i
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl63cQkGDVz
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLpXzpjci5
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbX9kaYDWiF
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed259Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVZrzdcqeh
and what intentions drove her.
