x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vrlxQeDA3
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OsGyKD28G
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRjSyWXBbX
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XqnoY9LMa
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ5zyhKGYG
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYPco73GPe
“She disappeared?”327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnsu7C8cxE
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB30zv76Zq5
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92LAczOXRE
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrJkHL88cl
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zkU9Rgls2
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjI01LEghj5
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSEw2MPlK9
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrLihUHhvi
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlIlejWeYK
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yu0j01y3q
brought everyone starting to follow him...327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYX3OEKXTr1
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLjSjVTWOU
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsQuJKTDZf
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ld6rNJCPe
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXgD1DtfR4
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUzv3RokWm
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TuK9PlNyl
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KjqWLDvC1
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmIEMrCzl3
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgyKuZXUdK
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyeMXfxdas
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPpv28gLe9
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyNOLpdvYpX
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmD17ifsU7
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOV0K484iAg
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsY0h8ZLBrj
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDz1QcuhWo
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3b3xZhl9UQ
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwimsFagDcK
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlNSj9E8ct
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBC2Z74USV
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR4UWluhTT
of what had transpired during the night.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWpE9H5rCN
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbh1oPzt89h
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPCsR2CoAO
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fmLjQaKeS
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZpkb8nFSc
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12gZThQGCx
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDM6pCSvUzk
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncdBP4eewN
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nxeDv4VxE
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Hc2qkrsPq
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eauDBPQDG
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlb2pMCuCO
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3jzOhNiiW
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed327Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgv87RZ8vNb
and what intentions drove her.
