Father

Dark.

So dark. And cold.

An intense shivering racked Farya's body as she looked around to see...nothing.

That was it.

Anywhere she looked, she couldn't see anything. Heck, she couldn't even see herself.

She tried to poke herself in the eye to make sure that her eyes were open.

Sure enough, they were there. As soon as she tried to place her finger in her eye, her nail touched the delicate pupil, causing a sharp yelp of pain from her.

"Ow", she cried.

A cryptic feeling overcame her as she felt that something was very wrong, in addition to her blindness. She couldn't quite place her finger on what was wrong though.

"I wonder what's wrong", she said to herself. She immediately realized the cause of her uneasiness.

She couldn't hear her voice.

She screamed at the top of her lungs, but to no avail.

No sound came out as her mouth was left hanging open.

She finally gave up as she tried to remember how she had got here.

Her head a hodgepodge of faint memories and a distinct feeling that something was missing, the last thing she remembered was being cast out of the elven village as an outcast.

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𝐑𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐞

"Ryne, how have you been?", were the first words Rybane heard when the ringing in his ears finally faded.

Coming into focus, he found himself sitting in a cushioned chair at what appeared to be a small, white circular table.

A cup of tea sat untouched at the table alongside a tray of biscuits of every kind, ranging from jam-filled scones to chocolate chips to milk cookies.

"Feeling hungry now, are we?" chimed in a slightly familiar voice, probably sensing his gaze.

Drawn to the voice, I looked up to see an elderly man sitting across from me, his features worn by the passage of time.

"Wh-where am I?", I inquired as I looked around and only saw white space as far as my sight would allow.

The only objects present in this white expanse were the table and chairs. And the only living beings present here were me and the mysterious elder.

"This place? This is just a dream. You are currently resting at an old hut in the middle of Shimaya Forest.", the man replied in an amicable voice.

"Resting? Dream? Who is this guy?, this makes no sense.", I thought. And then it came crashing to me faster than the blood coursing through my veins.

"Farya!", I screamed.

"Where is she?"

"Is she alright?"

"I'm sorry Ryne, but your wife's body was absorbed by the Blood Oak and she's no longer with us." the man said while giving me a pitiful look.

Hearing that, I felt...empty.

Empty, devoid of everything.

No sadness, no sorrow, no regret.

Just emptiness.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Did life even have any meaning without her?

In two lifetimes, I had finally found 𝘰𝘯𝘦 person who loved me, who cared for me, and it seems I didn't even deserve that.

Where did I go wrong?

What was her fault?

Did we not deserve happiness?

Just like that, our happy family had crumbled.

Feeling a tight knot growing in my chest along with the rising roar of blood in my eardrums, a faint laugh escaped my lips.

Damn it all.

Damn everything.

My life's always one big joke isn't it?

"Honestly, after I went through all that to establish a connection with you" I heard a voice sighing.

"Very well, just listen to the prophecy before you go" the elder jerked his head backward as if posessed by some other being.

"𝖂𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖘 𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖘𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖘 𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖍 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖙 𝖈𝖗𝖞 𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖎𝖓 𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖊

𝕬𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖓 𝖗𝖊𝖎𝖌𝖓𝖘 𝖚𝖕𝖔𝖓 𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖈𝖊

𝖀𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖑 𝖓𝖊𝖜𝖘 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖖𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓'𝖘 𝖈𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙

𝕺𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖓 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕯𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖔𝖓 𝖒𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝖎𝖙𝖘 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖗𝖙"

The old man's voice grew fainter and fainter as he recited the final verses, but for some reason, the words were burned onto my mind as I slowly began to lose control of my dreamscape.

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"Dad, he's awake" a shrill voice broke my dream as my clouded vision cleared to reveal an angular yet childish face on top of me.

"Farya, get off off him. You're hurting him."

"Oops, I didn't mean to", a devilish smile flashed from the little girl as she got off off me.

"Farya? Where's Farya?!", I yelled out as I pulled my torso upright against the bedframe.

"Calm down mister, I'm right here", squeaked the girl as she looked up at me soothingly.

Coming back to my senses, I realized that the man was referring to the child at my side. A cold hollowness started to fill me as I looked at her.

"Water?", she gave me a vibrant smile as she poured out a glass for me from the jug at the bedside.

"Thank you", I rasped through a parched throat as I took the glass from her little hands.

Placing the glass back on the table at my bedside, I asked "That's a beautiful name. Who named you?"

"That would be me. I named her after a loved one", a handsome elvish man a bit past his prime walked over to my bedside in a slow, graceful manner.

"My name is Fardin Fayne, and I'm the one who saved you" he announced as an eerie silence pervaded the atmosphere.