Chapter 10: A Fated Reunion
Tiafell and his friends stood before the ruins of an abandoned town that was thriving not very long ago. Many of the buildings were partially collapsed and others were demolished completely, with very few still intact. It was eerily quiet.
"This is.. was Gatharham.." Cirris sighed.
"I don't recognize it anymore" Mirya wiped tears from her eyes. Her brother put his arm around her.
"I'm not trying to sound morbid, but where are all the bodies?"
"I heard the Gashuan Military arrived and burned all the bodies they found. They came to look for survivors but found no one alive" Nadia informed them. The thought nauseated Cirris and Mirya. "But yet, I smell fresh blood in the air. Someone died here recently, a group of people!"
"Let's hurry to Samora's shop and see what we can find there, it may be more dangerous here than we realized" Tiafell suggested. They made their way through the ruins, taking in the sights of the devastated town. It was clearly a busy town before, but now all that was left were lifeless ruins and a deafening silence. Other than occasional animals, there were no signs of life anywhere. Various items lay scattered around the streets such as clothes, shoes, rotting food, purses, toys, and other things that people would have carried with them while out in public. There were also weapons lying around, swords, bows, arrows, staves, to name a few. Further into town, they discovered human corpses strown about the street. Mirya gasped at the sight, many of them were mangled or ripped apart.
"Who were these people? I don't recognize any of them!" Cirris asked.
"They look like thieves; they must have moved in after the military left. An abandoned town like this one is the perfect place for them to set up a hideout in" Nadia stated.
Tiafell, though sickened by the sight and the smell, examined one of the bodies. "These men were killed this morning. I also detect traces of potent demonic energy!"
"Is it still here??" Mirya was nervous.
"No, I only sense animals around us."
"Hopefully whatever killed them was just passing through and is long gone. Come on, let's do what we came here to do and get the hell out of here in case it decides to come back!" Nadia said.
After further navigating the streets of the ruined town, they reached Samora's shop. The structure was still standing but had suffered the same fate as most of the others. Every window was broken, the shop's sign was lying on the ground, holes had been blown out of some of the walls.
"We were in the Town Square when they came for us." Cirris said.
"If we had been home, the shop probably wouldn't be standing at all" Mirya added.
"I just need something that has your mom's energy on it, some of her clothes would be the best source. If I have that, I can get an idea of where she could have gone, I'm hoping her trail leads out of here" Nadia told them as they went inside. Bottles laid shattered, the counter was in shambles, and glass from the shattered windows lined the floor. They headed upstairs, finding evidence that the living quarters had been raided. Almost all their belongings were gone or destroyed, much to the distress of Cirris and Mirya.
Tiafell broke the somber silence, feeling the weight of the twins' sorrow. "Do you think that some of Samora's clothes would have been left behind?"
"Let's go and see" Nadia said as she opened a door.
They went into Samora's bedroom, which had been similarly devastated. Upon opening her closet, they discovered most of her clothes were gone, save for a few articles. Cirris and Mirya's expressions saddened even further.
"Hey, I know this is hard, but I can work with this. We'll find her!" Nadia confided to them, hoping to lift their spirits a bit. She then took a blouse and held it in her hands, closing her eyes to focus. "I've got it! I have a lock on her energy! Follow me, I'll take you as far as the trail will go!"
"Thank you so much, Nadi" Mirya smiled a bit.
Together, they left the shop with Nadia leading the way. After walking for several minutes, they entered the Town Square, the most damaged part of the town. The sun had begun to set, limiting their light.
"Her energy is all over the place" Nadia looked around as she followed the trail.
"This is where the attack started, and where we were captured. I remember we were taken down there" Cirris pointed down a street.
"Nadi? Can you tell if the trail ends here...? Mirya nervously asked.
"Just a second.." Nadia closed her eyes and focused. After reopening them, she walked to the center of the square and looked up. "From this spot, her energy goes up into the air. But how?"
"Mom flies on a broom!" Cirris perked up.
"Then that means she left!! She's alive!!" Mirya began sobbing.
"She must not have been able to see which way they took you, so it would make sense that she would take to the air to look for you." Nadia continued.
"That's possible, it was pretty chaotic here" Cirris answered.
"I'm so happy for you both!" Tiafell told them, relieved to finally hear something good after spending time in such a depressing place.
"Yeah. It seems like she flew all over the place and then went toward the mountain. I can't follow it beyond that." Nadia crossed her arms.
"I know, but this means more to me and Cirris than you will ever know. Now we must find her somehow!" Mirya smiled but Tiafell caught her attention. When she turned to look at him, he appeared to be very frightened. "Tee-Tee?"
Tiafell was trembling. His eyes were as wide as possible and his mouth was hanging open, his jaw quivering. Small whimpers escaped from his throat.
"Tiafell? What's wrong, man?" Cirris asked.
"He senses it too.." Nadia was showing signs of anxiety herself. "It's a demon, and it reeks of the blood of the thieves who died here! Holy shit, I have never sensed this much malice emanating from a single being before!"
"It can't be.." Tiafell whimpered, "It was just a dream!! The night before I left Elfandall, a black demon with long white hair appeared in one of my dreams. It wasn't real, but I still felt its presence like it was truly there, just as clearly as I feel it now! Does this mean that creature really exists??" he squatted down, holding his head in his hands.
"Hey, calm down! We'll kick this thing's ass just like we did Bovindor's!" Cirris declared, but Nadia didn't seem to be convinced.
"No, we need to hide right now, if it isn't already too late!!" she commanded.
They quickly retreated into one of the few buildings left standing in the square, hiding behind a wall next to a window. Cirris held Mirya in his arms as she held her hands over her mouth, she was becoming scared herself. Tiafell, who was still visibly shaken, was between them and Nadia, who was the closest to the window. She peeked around the edge and quickly pulled her head back. She mouthed "I saw it" to the others.
"Hopefully it hasn't noticed us and will leave" Cirris whispered.
Nadia looked again and didn't see it a second time, she turned back to the others. "I don't see it now. I think it's-" she whispered but stopped herself.
A shadow slowly hovered by the window. Though they couldn't see it clearly due to their position, they could tell that the creature was on the other side of the wall. It took everything in Tiafell's power to not panic. Nadia had broken out into a cold sweat, and the mage twins were perfectly still, too frightened to move. They heard a loud screeching sound on the other side of the wall, like nails scratching across a smooth surface, followed by a deep low chuckle. The creature's shadow then disappeared from view, seemingly floating away from them. Nadia slowly peeked out of the window again.
"Well?" Cirris whispered.
Nadia stopped looking and leaned back against the wall, whispering back to him. "I couldn't see it, but I still feel its presence. We're not out of-"
She was interrupted by a black fist that smashed through the window, shattering the glass and startling everyone. It was attached to a very long arm that whipped around with the flexibility of a rope, grabbed Tiafell by his left arm, and pulled him outside. As he was pulled through the air, his quiver and bow flew from his right shoulder, his arrows scattering all around. It happened so fast that before he knew what had happened, he was being held in the air by his arms and was looking into the yellow eyes of the figure he saw in his dream. He was just as he appeared before, a black ghostly demon that was only a torso with a head and long arms with broad shoulders. He had long white hair and lacked most facial features, having only eyes. Though he lacked a waist and legs, he was more than six feet tall from the top of his head to the bottom of his torso. He was hovering a foot off the ground as he held Tiafell. The elf began to panic, kicking his dangling feet.
"We meet again at last, Tiafell" the figure said. Despite lacking a mouth, his face shifted as though he was grinning.
"The.. the.. the dream! You came to me in a dream two weeks ago, didn't you??" the frightened elf stammered.
"A dream? I did no such thing. Perhaps what you experienced was a premonition of our reunion. No, you and I met long before that, when you were a baby in fact."
"When I was a baby? You knew me then??"
"Oh yes, little elf. I also knew your parents quite-" the figure grunted when he was struck from behind by something, causing him to drop Tiafell, who quickly moved away on his back, using his arms and feet to move himself. The figure turned to look behind him, narrowing his eyes.
"Leave him alone, you freak!!" Cirris demanded, having thrown one of his energy balls at the demon.
