x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxypAZitD1
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqANwU3JC5f
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRseGwec0P
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTEHk2L6NI
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhZknVekut
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9L0geB857N
“She disappeared?”305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOyB0U52MR
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G9EAtnPEI
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcItklNpWKz
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzhHKrLSLl
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWLDGnWKYum
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7AJFomakt
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIGga6E7Mk
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9JbpBMnL8
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaquUsvJxY5
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nPxGmKsUi
brought everyone starting to follow him...305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWt7JFPdqF
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6ayspBlo3
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBNw9wTvgt
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZ3meKorCD
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9WE06w6jz
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MRHiKymUz
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnL13dcGdiv
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBBzVU9kB1
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kYTtdZ52c
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAAS96Je2a
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TKHwoBCU5
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3d7qBrxN8k
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡneuSbJYcWA
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9iDi1SAm1
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrXsDPtgm5
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquSUdXKSA2
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhppezmbhs
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNC9cUkSuAr
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsUZIQnyPP
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTCpMSSMYN
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yW25xdAlo
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9GiIiK5gH
of what had transpired during the night.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡercVFjTC1h
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYOCcGWWwX
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvoF1Pb12g
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjrlNkbou9
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBZbzc9k36
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDU7Gy1luqA
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHRLO2raZr
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgiwX40aZU
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizxd1bjpJU
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNkMny9DKL
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4oAoAuhNp
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhe7l2BIxOX
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxczBn2QWxn
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ePIll4Zzz
and what intentions drove her.
