x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77YnQY78Ou
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksx69ETxok
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREk6a7rVCS
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cG7VyPr98
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtRtIfUWqI
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBkXcjbJtB
“She disappeared?”303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3QrTOVBsd
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVktuT5t2yn
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE84W1oI3gw
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ki4drExdG
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPF3K2ntnD
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoK5U63LkH
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnJ9XE1KRQ
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7p86mHAeAl
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOZ8RiYmjz
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXjxlHoVwA
brought everyone starting to follow him...303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcjqUpFoEf
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyRkAmAnwN
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cTXjW8nr3
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvun0YZf5Jh
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlelyGEpTWw
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBc9WyxTzz
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35Jii1qPbg
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMqhPy9o6o
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxvvJDc87t
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn92goeA5JI
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGtCVVu8Wa
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKOCfR9tTt
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzg9Gh7NWk
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EoLA93q5A
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc37Nvzrpg
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfoxlLPTdg
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5v9KvpAXi
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4HL7Yrt5v
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvT38mIafj
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCO81XhrGvj
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwIkQDlBL65
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwJcsELlV9
of what had transpired during the night.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxi7ZFFkaN
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8Momr6F1U
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoSzk80p9D
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFQBX5fcyr
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uyXkr3faa
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWcfPXPeFC
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡja47cauhUn
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmjzQEaWGr
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEWpOw7YYa
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9K8wxy0Iqb
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zN5gEQkAD
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzc59vDU50l
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHoOsNWQAR
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBLwBHSMvi
and what intentions drove her.
