x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIsOguMHNx
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvtovNsnOf
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT99qlYv7Se
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUXvHJAZ7F
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOADQDqfIF
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcOuJh0CiY
“She disappeared?”275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloA2PtaxqI
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DBDjd1skS
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YktRTuEQi
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBYAAjiCf2
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37IgKnRjNK
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4Z80OKxsL
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14YFTmLQ0l
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WhpJtnefX
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEicKrx8q6
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoENF5zVYOD
brought everyone starting to follow him...275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZUBweUgRJ
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7Us50lAG0
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmeVPUR51Lb
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYfAswfoA6
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtmB9i5LP0
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlJhhuRNIL
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmiUBaVxbM
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtuYVEqXdH
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuxxp72hBz
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIZ9Q2zGxx
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJpqEYy3VO
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkBxbXyUaM
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyvhtzSQiW
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQo9GjJEPa
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMiPd8XiZm
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykSVn5BE2r
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJ2dDqlpPT
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd04dz5WdLA
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6WKlcbeld
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaMonVjzQd
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVTdOPeeNL
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbgGfXia0R
of what had transpired during the night.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaOJ5gJNAi
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zucPsh2NB
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DgKY85Iio
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJuEPF7L6l
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIgFKZhzJQ
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4Be36HKUj
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CLE8hybLN
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGwTC4UmS7
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwOBfC7Ksn
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXwUF0ObRA
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXsJyUyAcF
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡal5sPPWtOQ
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7iz5OhKxn
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94U95isG0v
and what intentions drove her.
