By the outskirts of the Druid Mother Tree, close to midnight, a black rabbit was speeding away in the covers of the low grasses of the forest, as if trying to put as much distance between it and the tree as much as possible. Its feet were silent with the speed, and the only thing that could be heard, besides the insects of the night, was its constant brushes against the blades.
A snap of twig startled it, and it stopped. Crouched low, eyes scanning the darkness. Saw nothing, and was about to continue running, but collided into human legs.
"It is too dangerous for you to be going this deep into the forest at night, little Karla" Iver Eikensang said, in his usual detached yet soothing voice.
The rabbit seemed to slump, frustration and resignation flickering in its form. Slowly it morphed into a human form, sitting on her heels, completely naked.
She rose before Eikensang, neither her nor Eikensang was conscious of her nudity that shows perfect youthfulness.
"How did you know to find me?"
"Getting involved with the human sovereign, more than is necessary can only spell doom" he said, ignoring her question. "Too many innocent lives would be condemned"
"I don't really care, Iver" she replied.
"That is what scares me" he said, leading her back to the village. "Now is a really bad time to not care, Karla"
"So everybody keep saying but nobody wants to tell us why" she retorted, her voice edged with frustration.
He glanced at her, then away.
"Nobody has told you why because we don't understand it yet" Iver said.
Karla gave him a disbelieving look and he added, "fully"
She sighed, her voice softening. "I just want a life, Iver"
It came out sad, whether she meant it so or not was unclear.
Iver looked at her, feeling the need to comfort her.
"Life is over-rated." he said to her. "It teaches you to want things you can never keep"
She stopped. "But you always say, 'its absence carves a hollow even time can't fill' "
"That is before I understood fully what is to come."he said, his hand lightly pressing her back to keep her moving. "You will find no meaning out there--just distractions dressed as purpose."
She didn't say anything back. There was no need. All these said only made her more curious, and it all evolves around her sister's new husband.
They walked the rest of the way in near silence. It was beginning to snow when all of a sudden her eyes lit up.
"Look! Look! " she cried, tugging Iver's arm.
Iver Eikensang looked up to see a big fireball falling from the heavens in the distance. His face lack the enthusiasm of the young Karla. Though passive looking, it was the face of a man who got the final confirmation of a near doom. The last one was about a century ago, and this was the one they've been expecting but hoping to never see.
A distant boom shook the earth.
"Let's go see!" Karla urged, her voice alight with excitement.
Eikensang dragged her back and held her firmly in case she shifted. "It is too dangerous that far into the forest"
He drowned out her pleas and dissatisfactions as he dragged her back to the village. For the final sign to have fallen it means the ground has been prepared for it, and none of the human leaders noticed it?
There was never really any doubt but seeing the confirmation troubled him more than he thought it would. What has been centuries in the waiting is now in its last months. Everything that has been happening has been moving them towards it. The inevitable. The end. The fall.
┌─────── ♕ ───────┐
It started snowing hard that I had to find shelter. We found a cave and made camp. I wasn't even certain where I was going I was just flying and the snow made even that harder.
It's been hours and Ophelia is still recovering. Even she doesn't understand what happened. My frustrations wouldn't let me concentrate on my Grimoire. I expected someone to find out soon enough but come on this was too soon.
"Fuck"
I was damn careless, I would like to believe, but even I can't point out how I was careless. What would I have done different that would recognize the desperation of the situation? Would the women I've set in motion stay? Of course not. Why would they? I'm left with just the slaves and that I don't have much of.
"I killed the shadow people" Ophelia slurred out of nowhere.
"What?" I asked, more confused of her meaning than words.
"Back then," She continued, her voice hollow. "I killed the shadow people"
I was more confused now that I got more of her words. I thought she said he escaped?
"When?" I asked. I needed to be sure we were talking about the same thing.
"Yesterday," she replied.
I was taken aback. Pissed. "And you didn't inform me of this why?"
She looked at me and said nothing.
I stared at her. It was getting on my nerves more than it's rationally possible.
I looked away, with an audible exhale.
Or maybe it's because I just wasted another time of [Copy]. Or the fact that I hate this familiar vulnerable feeling?
What were they even hoping for? Another war? I would easily escape from that without a war. No doubt it will cost me greatly but not to the point of war, I would think. Or maybe I wasn't expected to walk out of that?
A deep guttural snarl snapped me out of it. I turned to the mouth of the cave to see an immense, sinister-looking, moon-eyed creature in rude clothes. A goblin. It was really short, as reported, and green skinned. It gripped the edge of the cave mouth, peering in like it wanted to check if someone was indeed inside.
It glanced at Ophelia, then back at me, still snarling.
3 more came into view, all holding crude blades. I was expecting the leap that they were well known for, but they just turned and left.
I was too bothered to even care. I turned the page on my Grimoire and halfway through the frustration just seems to mount. It was a warp-point spell. It is described as returning you to the circle drawn from anywhere within a sunset. Any other time I would have been overjoyed, but now all I could think of was that I would have used it a few days ago.
With a growl, I flipped the page and scratched at the terrible itch burning on my left arm.
┌─────── ♕ ───────┐
Better part of the river was frozen and walkable but Nadia and the knights chose to remain on the bank. Moments stretched into eternity before the water mage emerged from a previously made jagged crack in the ice, far out in the river's heart, dragging a lifeless body toward them.
Gasping for breath, he flung the corpse at Nadia's feet. He was a young awakened, but not a worthwhile face. Speckled with moles, some of them large, his expression dull and sullen. Nadia tossed him the silver coin as promised and he just took it and left. She crouched low to check the body. She didn't need to take off the sack over his head to know he is a dark elf. There's a glimpse of his skin beneath his cloak. This is the third dark elf they've been on so far, and the first they've confirmed dead.
"What did I tell you?" rasped the slaver looming over her shoulder.
A stoop-shouldered old man with a hooked nose and watery eyes. His breath reeked of sour wine and moldy bread. It had taken a silver coin to get this information out of him. Dark elves are hard to capture, and even harder to sell. She hadn't believed him when he said he had one and he refused to tell her how he managed it. He said he didn't mind selling low, it was a dark elf after all, but when they came in, it seemed they came specifically for the dark elf, so he decided to sell at the normal rate of an elf, but they forced him to give it up cheaply and so he had a young child follow them.
"...some pieces of shit those were" he added.
Nadia was quiet for a long time. She was thinking how to inform the king without it sounding like an excuse. Someone is hunting down the dark elves and they seem resourceful and always a step ahead.
"I had another" the man said and Nadia looked up. "A little one with this one. She escaped though. Hurt her leg badly. Feisty little thing"
Nadia was now standing, looking at the man.
"Your boys look capable" he went on, a sly edge to his voice. "You help find her and I will sell her to you for half the price"
He gave her a smile. Nadia kept her face still, though her stomach churned at his smile.
"Agreed" she said simply, then turned to one of the knights as the slaver shuffled back to his horse, and said in a low voice, "send an update to the king"
Not informing the king seems worse and careless, and she can't afford either of that. Besides, there are not many dark elves left, and someone hunting them down leaves a bad taste in her mouth and she must find a way to let the king see it that way. Someone is killing the dark elves and they are not doing it the proper way.