x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceYJmNJ0Zz
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuneV7YKNBh
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5B5W5OKhSc
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvuc0oky3H
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMxdNgjgwP
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNhwHAjc2B
“She disappeared?”301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaflQMqT8Yn
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfNzLLyFl0
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WuMpc7irt
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPB6Dj36iqn
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNErAT5KXw
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9u1a7nF8VU
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuvFpdBrBW
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWd7qdhKdj
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1p4mODPpPF
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGWhXWOyt0
brought everyone starting to follow him...301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPoZBq3lVs
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdVB0alShr
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1wRGQJWoz
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMSBVPAJxR
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKunscB0F1F
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhP1v8aaCme
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPSOcf8IoF
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1gk3dzByy
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnqXy3mGo2
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEqYoCBv31
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sqqPvHLZT
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxGe9u2ptV
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLIpTcZ9hF
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITizyIL80v
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgR2towGjW2
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraKKWiDuec
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzGLp2YqGx
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmw7OLuPUvk
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxmlRYq78P
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDZ5E3RYQv
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwgoHwvIf2
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoN4vmaQyX
of what had transpired during the night.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSz00TxBZhY
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VxtDIv6dQ
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5IKU8pXDq
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfBoo3mJHW
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsMIAm3pov
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVhpNEonIs
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1oMp7pv2E
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmspCEJd2U
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOYjFmoULw
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBygkhnA0U
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNC60fOYFiB
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1ORkpbIAL
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYJO8kXIZi
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed301Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFOoVBOiEb
and what intentions drove her.
