9 Arash - Shame

Arash couldn't believe his ears. "Is it a trick of the wind? No, it can't be." He shook his head in dismay. The cry had a character to it, the way it pierced through his heart made him shudder. He could feel the desperation in the voice.

Arash wrestled with his conscience, but the wailing wind and the droning mana deposits pinned him down. Fear had made him a coward. The droning mana deposits a constant reminder of the pain. Once was enough for him. Arash didn't want to go through that again.

But once he had heard the cry it couldn't be unheard. Arash could still hear the miserable shriek echoing in the dark corners of his mind. He tried to suppress it, tried to take his mind off it, but one way or another he found himself thinking about the man out in the unknown, helpless and injured.

"There are no wooden mast, nothing to shield against the wind. I would be seeking death. I could use the rope…" Arash reached for the rope, gauged its length. "It's too short." He gritted his teeth. "It's the right decision. Going out in the open is suicide and this rope is too short. I wouldn't be able to make it."

He sighed with each passing moment. Hating himself for lack of courage, even though reason assured him of his decision. Feeling weak and helpless unnerved him. He couldn't help but think of Firuz forever stuck inside the house.

Time slipped by as the winds slowed on their urgings and his makeshift tent limply fell on his head. Suddenly the mana deposits around him sang in a rising crescendo. Fear streaked his face as he braced for the sharp pain. Moments went by but the pain didn't come. Surprised, he slightly raised his cloak allowing the pastel glow of the stones to color the ground beneath him.

"It has stopped." His lips formed a thin line, cries of the man still prickling his conscience. "He would be dead by now. It's too late" His head dropped low in shame as he scrambled to his feet. Arash stared at the mana deposit beside him. It shone with bright blue light, humming with low droning sound.

As expected it was the light that brought him pain. Arash didn't feel any joy at thought of passing the ordeal. The cries of the man still weighed heavily on him. Anger flared up inside him, fueled by shame and helplessness. His right hand reached for the pickax while the left dug into his pocket, coming out with a small glowing stone. He hesitated, staring at the gloves on his hand; They reminded him of what the mana stone was really for. But the pastel glow of the mana deposits reminded of his shame. At that moment he didn't feel the glow of the stones to be beautiful. Instead, it filled him raging fury.

Arash slammed the stone on the iron head. It melted inside the runes as they ignited with a deep blue luster. He tightly gripped the wooden handle, veins popping on his arms. He

He struck at the mine with all his might. Mid-swing he heard the cry once again. The intent behind his blow vanished but the momentum carried it forward. The black iron head bit into the mana deposit with a satisfying crunch, bringing a sizeable chunk of the stone with it. A deep groove now appeared on the spotless deposit. Arash stared at the groove, slack-jawed, still processing what had just happened.

"He…p!" The cry once again echoed in the distant.

"He is still alive!" Arash face flushed with excitement, but the mana stones at his feet made it hard to leave. He had never been able to mine so much and the chances of lady luck shining on him again were close to nothing. "It will soon be the hour of shadows. This place will be riddled with miners." He reluctantly stared at the stones.

Guilt still burnt raw in his heart, gnawing at him. But if he left, there was a slim chance he would see the mana stones again. "I hope you are still alive." He groaned in frustration as he dropped his cloak on the mana stones and dashed towards the cry.

"Hey!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as his eyes searched for a body, blindly dashing towards the cry of help. Something flickered to his left, he stopped, squinting to get a proper look and there it was a silent beacon of blue light flickering in the darkness. Arash ran towards the light and soon a figure appeared in the distance. A man leaned against a mud wall. Arash frowned. "How did a wall appear in the middle of nowhere?" He noticed the blue light flickering on the mud wall. "Runes?"

"Hey! I have come to help you." Arash called out to the man as he got closer. But the man turned deathly pale as he heard Arash's call. He frantically gestured to keep quiet. His beady little eyes skittish around the edges. Arash frowned at the odd behavior but decided not to make a sound.

"Help!" Suddenly the voice echoed out in the distant.

"There is another one?" Arash turned towards the opposite direction.

"Stop!" the man hissed under his breath. Arash could barely hear him.

"What?" Arash closed in and saw the reality of the man before him. An old decrepit thing garbed in black clothing with half of his left leg bitten off. Somehow there was no blood. The flesh seemed to have folded upon the wound.

"keep quiet" The old man frantically gestured.

"What is going on?" Arash whispered to the old man.

"Don't you understand." The old man hissed under his breath as he nervously stared at the horizon. "You will kill us both"

"What?" Arash whispered as tension rose in his chest.

The old man didn't deign to reply. He kept peering at the distant horizon. Arash fumed at the behavior of the old man but the old man's behavior had rubbed off him. He could feel something was wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"We can't wait here. The hour of shadows wouldn't last forever and I don't want to be here when the winds come." Arash hissed at the man, his face tinged with urgency.

"Blast your winds and blast the hours of the shadow. I would not leave this place as that thing prowls in the darkness"

Arash face flushed red with anger, ready to pummel the old man. "I came all the way here to save this bastard?" He thought. The ungrateful behavior of the man further stoked his anger. Arash was just about to leave that the wall behind the man crumbled. It dissolved into fine dust, floating away in the light breeze. The old man blanched at the sight.

"No! No! No!" he hissed under his breath as he tried to hold it back together. But all he managed to do was grab a handful of dust. His head dropped in disappointment as weariness crept over his face.

"I am going to go. You can you come if you want to" Arash offered.

The old man wearily looked up, his lips curled in derision. Just as he was about to open his mouth, words froze on his lips as the color of his face turned deathly white. "It's here…"

Arash frowned as he looked back. He gasped for air as his eyes bulged out in horror…