x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI0vM9Naju
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoHEOQrBu6
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKXBxL0FhV
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2TuVXFNG2
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsMI2srSST
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUQx6pLv32
“She disappeared?”407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwGlH8pYqZ
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvcOogt1JC
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rFk2Y1l2y
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrByb2nnW7
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlEPc8ws6x
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTrESCVNt2
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg61nDxQrI3
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLsdQys8Z2
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GljJ2uW82
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvG7Tkpo9q
brought everyone starting to follow him...407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12wTGVXqEh
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ772jdmbxK9
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCU4QYSYLs
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKRDrDoGjo
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuNKq6okby
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbQe3WOh29
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3maiXHtry2
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7R7F0Q2Ljf
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJKKm5fzf4
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgJB2CrQfW
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKx1ea9dc0g
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CE7Cys4XN
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXe80Oomf9
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7D02RHecN5
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gwW5R7LKN
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAytlfdfaIp
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsXnuFJUld
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QF7CpqM7X
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSDeNA5cHo
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgOXIceVjo
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQJmzDhIAd
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngG2jZjz9K
of what had transpired during the night.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVANzKGq7R
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUEkJfKNG5
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJxuwBmFal
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbI9lswssO
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZwZFJP5TQ
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIDkQmP6Hz
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa866wvrPUz
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6Iudt4jAH
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLIRNJChZA
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtop3WhSLN
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3OYnuvSeo
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS1qnpnA8B
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8qMle4fNn
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed407Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElN526gRZv
and what intentions drove her.
