x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxtiOFbw2Z
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CJvzXecKd
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhooB9aYhgR
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVX1snat4z
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYn5od2nWe
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPx0iDia117
“She disappeared?”377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXibqPqhh8o
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpM79ryj5p
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPzZLKCBpG
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGCbVMvueF
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvJ1sgfIMe
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoGQqXadts
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwazu8CajT
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMifXMbp4c
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqWJH43eKy
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡico90W4x6m
brought everyone starting to follow him...377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJ1OfFCztq
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5okhExIISm
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CfBLxr2vB
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2W0QE0fFks
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCtDajuO0Z
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMTdquQ1DJ
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpy8O1qnFZ
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMKiRolABl
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5dhWpW6gJ
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtIySeknSW
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbqytLDYPm
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDNTMKC1aQ
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8O2d7ChNW
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6acsgZp0J5
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyHZpaQMzzZ
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Wg4dHWWpU
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHHyf1fWhe
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjTXKDkkIt
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQ5y33eDod
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk90zAo2kIM
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeGy5K2xZS
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMd1iIIhuGD
of what had transpired during the night.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFVMkNcwxG
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Hwa59cwB6
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1rPIwlJdU
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPGouaCz2m
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpYhDvwmjm
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWceYqASssJ
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6t0ISQkVB3
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQjhZWOxpm
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsFYDVFk48
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡES3oci9CJV
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKdhrIAj1U
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76jcRJGIjg
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pBjH2z4bm
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed377Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgXqa9cPq3
and what intentions drove her.
