x
After all, you Red were the main reason she got to join us in the first place all those351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvDMc8c9Pn
years ago. Do you remember? Anyway, one day she just decided to leave without a351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEr0OhF0If
word to anyone and we have never heard from her since.”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkGoqPzMZX
The clouds and everything below them are yet again flashed with white, as another351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNTmDNT6pNj
thunderous scream echoes way up above their heads. Red lowered his brow and would351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7NAicHqjU
take a deep breath before he would dare raise it back up again... slightly...351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwZq6kGMu8
“She disappeared?”351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsprVisjCZ
“It is not your fault Red,” replied Harigar Rhim.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Ez04jyr5l
“Yes, she has always made her own choices,” added Deena.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFjR3eIQjH
“It was just like that huh?” Red insisted while staring back at them.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpwGkWJeTG
“She was gone?” he asked again, this time facing Deena, and although he may have351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0N9iMDruD
been staring at one or the other, the truth in its rawest form, was that his questions351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyP7sxxPFTF
confronted everyone here “What really happened. Can any of you at least tell me351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegLjdEGf7J
that much? Marce?” It was obvious that the captain did not want to continue with351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGtkMnCs65
this subject and so he immediately decided to bring this to an abrupt conclusion, as351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Vx1UVtfLO
his final words on the matter began around the same time as his newfound footsteps351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclFHY8nI2m
brought everyone starting to follow him...351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmdMbRamhy
“One morning we all woke up to her disappearance. She was just gone. We had351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz0UdlYBlr
decided to spend the night in an inn amidst the frozen lands, way up to the far north351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsRJp9it5P
as we were, of course, yet on another mission. We were forced to seek refuge from a351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyVP8qkqHn
sudden storm, and what a storm it was; the flying snow raging, the howling winds alone351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmazRPVcGie
seemed like they could cut any part of you left uncovered if you dared to promenade351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYxeF1WvGX
outside, you remember the aggressiveness of the north don’t you Red?351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYxX5L6VCw
Anyway, conditions were met that forced us to a stop and so we did. I won’t vouch351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRnz4Fsuoe
for anyone else, but I am certain that few, if any of us, had any sleep that night.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtpCBrnAJYf
Not in that cold, not with those raging and screaming winds outside every window.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ873DNFyws
The storm came to pass, and a warm morning took its place, but besides the relief of351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8W5k2XhXwJ
a sunnier vista, that rising sun also brought us breakfast and its carrier, the innkeeper351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAP2oeLu8X
who approached us with dire news. Such a sweet old lady she was. She approached us351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkrwJw4cnV
with the news that the woman in our party, the tall and pierced one - I’ll never forget351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36RLUmKCDT
the way she described her - had left during the night and had instructed her not to say351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3mPt3G6h1
a word to any of us. We were to be left unaware of her departure till it was too late to351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRozN6uHKB
try and stop her...”
“That tall woman in yer party captain, the one with her skin pierced all351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBbccfRDbU
over and a big spear behind her back, she just wandered into the night. Why,351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUbDvS6S3t
she disappeared as if absorbed by the storm. Off she went into those raging351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQS7ICHQ2g
white blizzards, the likes which I’ve never seen in all my years living here.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCTsYRRyY0
She left behind only the coin to pay your bill and the instructions for my silence. Not to say351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhXZJHp6sZ
a word I was, not until morning came.”
“The innkeeper did as she was told Red, and so only by morning time, did we learn351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzI3hUbUe1F
of what had transpired during the night.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mOWfqAPT3
We were all so very exhausted from the hardships we had faced up to that point, that351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZGfANytFd
none of us were in any condition to notice someone as skilled as Elistia taking leave.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOsnJuRZXN
We were too tired to notice most of the things we usually do, too tired to keep our351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwx01mNR8l
eyes open whilst at the same time too tired to sleep as well. It was a strange night for351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJiD6sw0IK
all of us. We were left behind, speechless around that small table, while Deena went351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8iNrd5IC9
out after any signs, but no tracker would have been able to find a clue. Not after that351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8nFuce6P5
storm. Elistia was one of us after all, and one of the Wurad, so no one would ever be351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZwAGSlr1R
able to pick up her trail; not unless she wanted them to.351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHcy59xamQn
So, what else was there for us to do, rather than mourn?351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74KyEPQrUZ
We had our time of silence for the loss of one of our own, one that left us by her own351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwnUvUggD4
accord, and then shortly after we got back to our duties. I guess we all deep down felt351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrEVLxOoV0
or at least hoped that being one of the Wurad, she had just gone back to her tribe but351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnp1PwGdRlf
in all honesty, to this day, none of us can claim to know for sure where she was headed351Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLv3QNeXwQ
and what intentions drove her.
