The World Lurks

The two finished their stroll around the village and sat down on a bench near the center. Morden talked to the leader about his friends and family and the good times they shared. He clearly lost track of time, but it was such a load off of his shoulders that he didn't care that the sun was already setting. "Thank you, Dashra. I haven't talked about this with anyone yet. I'm lucky you and your villagers were nearby when you were. I don't know where my thoughts could have carried me if I was to be alone that whole time."

"It is no burden to us, believe me. A grieving man is a dangerous one and last I checked the last thing anybody wants is a human with dangerous thoughts roaming around looking for something to let his anger out on." Dashra put his hand on Morden's shoulder and came to a halt. "I know humans. Your lives are short and you don't get to grow in wisdom or knowledge as some longer lived races. It is a blessing and a curse. You live by emotions and that makes your lives full of wonder and surprise. Every day to us elves blends into one eventually." He paused for a moment to gather his words. "I understand that revenge is to be taken for an act as heinous as this and I do not plan to stop you. All I want to say is do not approach this with your heart and approach it with your head. If you are actually hunting for what we think killed your people, it is an opponent that you cannot let get the best of your emotions. One moment of anger or distraction and all will be for naught."

"I know. I'll be looking for clues at the colony soon. I need to cross reference what you know with some kind of documentation. Do you have a library here?"

"Sorry, Morden, but we are a village that passes on our knowledge through oral tradition. We have many poems and songs that we know, but none to help you here. If you want to find more information on ogres, there is the city of Gorod about four days journey to the East. It's in the opposite direction of the colony so and closer, so you can always return to us later. We will welcome you with open arms and hearts."

'Visiting this city will be a good idea. I'll want to get some information on what could have possibly killed everyone, but first I need some clues. no point in searching for ogres if I find evidence of something else in the area.' He nodded and stood up. "I will go visit the grave sight before I go to Gorod. I plan to visit my family and look for some clues or anything suspicious, then use that to cross reference possible culprits."

"Very well. Sleep here tonight and we will have a wagon prepared first thing in the morning. I will have Cauwen and Grenda accompany you. We won't touch the sight until you are done investigating. Then we will clean it up and set up a monument." The two men walked to Dashra's home. When back in the comfort of the room, Morden stood in the middle clenching his fist. The more he thought about revenge the more he wanted to kill the thing that took everything from him. His anger was so intense he felt like he could destroy a mountain! Uncaring for the changes around him, Morden's surroundings started to faintly shimmer. The voices started to become darker and lower. The candle flame next to his bed began to bend away from him and it's fire started to dim slightly. 'I will kill whatever did this, and when I am done, I will destroy everything it ever loved!'

At those words, the candle flame flickered out instantly. Only when Morden noticed the sudden change in illumination did he snap out of his rage. He cleared his thoughts and with it, the voices calmed down as well. Morden scared himself for a moment. He had never been so full of anger before and for a moment was worried that he couldn't control his thoughts whenever he faced the perpetrator, IF he faced the perpetrator. But those thoughts were for another time. Morden walked over to the window to close it and realized it wasn't even open. 'How did the candle blow out without a breeze?' He thought on what happened for a moment. 'Did I do that?' The sudden realization that maybe he was the cause surprised him, but he could still be wrong. Maybe it was a spirit of some sort. He looked out his window into the evening. The sun had just set but he could still see faint traces of sunlight in the distance through the trees. He also noticed a girl standing outside next to a house looking at him. 'Human?' He looked closer and recognized the hair. 'Karaia?!' The voices started to sound excited and familiar at that thought.

Morden sprinted down the stairs as fast as he could nearly crashing into several pieces of furniture along the way. He ran right past Cauwen and Grenda who were talking in the kitchen. They were both startled by the sight and quickly chased after him, but they were too slow to keep up with a human and were left several yards behind almost instantly. Running right through the door, Morden headed straight to where he saw Karaia standing. He reached the spot, but nobody was there. He ran behind the house quickly but still didn't find her. "Karaia?! Where are you?!" He looked frantically when he heard a voice to his left, "Quite down or you'll cause a scene you idiot!" Morden looked over and saw her standing there in her hunter's attire, the same one from the last time he saw her.

"How are you alive? I thought you were dead, buried your body!" A tear streamed down his cheek as he walked towards Karaia. Suddenly, Cauwen and Grenda both ran around the corner with swords in hand. "What's the matter, Morden?! What did you see?"

"It's Karaia! She's alive! I thought I buried her but she's right here!"

"Who's here?" said Grenda. Morden looked back to where Karaia was standing, but she wasn't there anymore. "Karaia was right here I just saw her! She just talked to me!" He pointed to where she was not a moment ago and froze. The only thing that stood where he pointed was a distorted image of Karaia fading away as if a thousand ripples of water were dissipating her. Morden's face turned pale as he watched her disappear right in front of his eyes. A wide smile broke across her face right before he couldn't recognize her anymore. "I told you to shut up you idiot."

Morden staggered back. "Did you just see her disappear?! She was right there!" He remained pointing at the spot where Karaia was. Cauwen and Grenda both sheathed their swords. Grenda said, "I'm sorry Morden, but nobody is or was there. I think you are seeing things. I don't blame you though, if I went through something like th-" A quick jab to the ribs from Cauwen and all Grenda could do was cough.

"I'm sorry for my husband. Despite being almost 200 years old, sometimes the things that leave his mouth still shock me." Morden stared wide eyed at the open area as he sat down with his back against the building. 'Am I losing my mind? No no no, please. I'm already dealing with enough shit, last thing I need is to become a raving lunatic!' The voices began to grow louder and louder, almost as if mocking him. Still as incoherent as ever, they screamed unintelligibly at him to a point that his head started to throb.

Cauwen sat down next to him and held her knees to her chest. Her soft voice broke through the noise in his head. "Who's Karaia?" For that short moment, the voices went completely silent. Another tear rolled down Morden's cheek as he tried to think of how to answer that simple yet incredibly difficult question.

"She was my sister. Broffe was my brother. We lived together for most of our lives."

"Wow, I thought humans were almost sterile. To think that you had that much family, I'm sorry."

Morden let out a painful chuckle. "Not by blood. We called each other family because we can't really have a blood family like the other races. Me and Broffe had the same dad but different moms, and Karaia wasn't even related to us by blood."

"That makes sense. I didn't know that everyone was so tightly knit together. I guess it's different when you're so few in numbers and are always together." Morden stood up and pulled himself together. He wiped his face of the tears and said, "Let's go inside. I've already made a mess and worried you guys sick. I'm talking to ghosts and shouting at the air. I'll be out of your hair soon though, don't worry about it."

"Take your time," said Grenda. "We are a village of friends to the humans. If you ever need to visit the gravesite or simply are traveling by, please stop by. We are more than willing to host you." Morden nodded to him and helped Cauwen up. Together they all walked in the home and all started to clean the mess that was made. After they were finished, Morden walked upstairs to his room, closed the door, and walked to his bed. From behind him, he heard Karaia's voice, but deep and distorted, "I told you to not cause a scene."

Not even flinching, Morden walked in front of the bed. "I can't understand these voices in my head, and yet here you are. Who- no, what are you and why are you bothering me?" The room remained silent. "I don't know what you are, but I don't want to see you anymore. You're doing nothing but destroying my memories and twisting my mind."

"I can't just leave. I'm a part of you now." A shadow in the corner of the room started to shift into a vaguely humanoid shape. Fear gripped Morden as he heard those words. "Leave me be. I don't have time for the dead."

The ghostly figure dissipated the same way that he saw Karaia disappear, as if a thousand small waves were tearing it apart. Morden could hear the voices with their deep tones talking to him. He didn't know how, but he knew they were talking directly to him and not at him this time. The sounds sent a cold sensation down his whole body. Ignoring them the best he could, Morden laid in bed and covered himself in his blanket. The warmth soothing his aching head and calming his spirit. 'I didn't realize how tired I was. I haven't slept in almost two days.'

Morden laid there with a blank mind. Too tired to even think, he closed his eyes and embraced the darkness as it swallowed his world.