Dawn- An age of Darkness

Lianne smiled but something about that smile was artificial. She took the juice from my hand and drank it at one go. I almost saw her face. Damn it! If it wasn\'t for this shadow! I cursed the shadow of the hut nearby. Why did it have to get in my way?

"Thank you. But…" Lianne averted her gaze.

"What\'s wrong?"

"I think it\'s time." She looked at the distant fields and smiled.

"What are you talking about?" I was dumbfounded. But deep inside, I knew. It was time.

"You are in good company. I already paid them. I took the liberty of using one gold coin that was supposed to be my share. Be good to them and give them my regards." Lianne\'s gaze was reminiscent of something I didn\'t understand. In the end, just who was she? Who was this beautiful high elf?

"I don\'t understand." I really was dumb. I knew that she would leave and I shouldn\'t get attached. But in a world like that, can you really stop yourself from getting attached to someone who\'d done so much for you? I couldn\'t.

"It\'s a shame I never got to teach you to speak the language of the trees or even how to use a bow. Maybe if we meet again, I will teach you." She looked at me with a soft smile and apologetic eyes. "But keep practicing the sword. You\'ve got potential."

The enthusiasm from my voice disappeared. "So you\'re leaving?" Took me long enough to confront it, but I had to, eventually.

"Didn\'t I tell you? I was heading in the same direction but not the same destination. My comrades are waiting for me."

I suppose I have no right to ask any more of you.

Although it was short, I really became attached. I couldn\'t stop myself from not to. It was dependency and I was selfish. But even so I didn\'t want it to end here. I was just too selfish. But I couldn\'t make myself tell her to take me or stay with me. "I hope you achieve what you set out to do. Oh right, take half of these spoils and your knife!" So I did the next best thing; wish her good luck.

I barely kept my tears from leaking. I might have gotten a bit too soft around her.

"Keep them. The knife was my brother\'s. I was searching for a successor to hand the blade to anyway. If you show it to any elf, they\'ll surely help you. And definitely buy yourself some armor," she said as she chuckled. "Besides, I can\'t bring out that light from the blade anyway. Only a pure soul can. I surmise you\'re really kind."

She still worried for me. This world was really something. The monsters and everything are much like a curse but the people were too kind. That was also a reason why I didn\'t want to get attached to the people. But this girl, this elf, was a different matter. she was the only one who I couldn\'t afford to not get attached to. She was my savior and even her compliments warmed my heart.

Successor? So he\'s… dead? It was too late but my mouth slipped anyway. "Who are you?" That was the first and also my last question. I didn\'t know anything about her even now. But I wanted to, no, I had to.

"Just a friendly travelling elf." Her smile was radiant and that was the first time she smiled like that. I liked it. But then her face clouded with something else, something sinister. "And someone I don\'t want to be." She really was full of mysteries.

"Thank you for everything Lianne. Good luck and goodbye." What else could I have said? There was nothing more for me to say.

"Thank you as well. I hope you can accomplish what you set out to do. Farewell."

Me too. I couldn\'t do anything but just wave.

Lianne jumped ahead and left. She really was a gifted woman. I stayed there waving and watched as she disappeared by the horizon. My heart felt torn. Maybe my wounds were opening again. The stars were rather bright tonight. But I it only made me feel colder.

After sometime the chubby one with the bow came to check on me. He came alone and for the first time spoke. "So the elf left..."

He had a deep voice; deeper than all the voices I\'d heard so far.

"You were here?"

"No, I saw that from a distance," he said.

At least he wasn\'t eavesdropping. "I see." I didn\'t have much to talk about.

"Don\'t worry lad, elves are cunning. They don\'t make stupid decisions." He chuckled. Maybe he was just trying to console me. It didn\'t make me feel any better though. I sighed and hoped for Lianne\'s success.

We went back to the campsite. The skewered meat was getting cold, so I took the liberty of biting them.

All four of the guys were disappointed that she\'d left but at the same time they seemed to be understanding. Nobody asked me anything about it. The festive mood went on but everything seemed muted.

The middle-aged man got drunk real quick. He held a mug of ale in my direction. "Don\'t worry kid. Just drink and forget about it all!" He must have had the wrong idea.

"Sorry- don\'t drink." And I most certainly don\'t want to forget any of this. It would an insult to my fallen friends. It was a firm denial. Drink to forget? What a joke! In the end what you\'d get was nothing more than more pain and regret, and possibly a liver failure.

"Too bad." They all laughed.

We went to bed after all the events. They really were kind people. Well they were paid after all.

I hope she succeeds in her quest. Will I really be able to find any clues in the town? And what was that voice? Why did it sound so nostalgic? But this world seems too complicated. Some want to kill me while others are nice and caring. What is this place? I had tons of questions but no answer. I was really oblivious. Maybe I\'ll head to a library. There\'s bound to be one in the city. I soon fell asleep. But maybe, just maybe, this world wasn\'t as bad as I made it out to be. Maybe I was just unlucky.

The next morning was normal: as far as I was concerned, it wasn\'t. We set out for our journey. The villagers would move today. But before we left they made a ceremony for our good luck. Some kind of weird ritual. It finished with me drinking some white liquid: tasted like milk. The consistency was a little thick. I didn\'t see any domestic animals here. So I hoped I was wrong to assume it was milk or rather where it came from: I really hoped I was wrong with all my heart.

"Lucky weren\'t you?" The cross-dresser chimed.

"I suppose you are right. I did get to live." But most of it was thanks to Lianne and others who died for my failure.

"That\'s not what he meant." The spear fanatic looked at me with pity. "I guess it\'s better you don\'t know."

The cross-dresser burst into laughter as the three of them looked at me with pity. What are they going on about? I didn\'t know what they were talking about and I didn\'t want to.

The middle-aged man didn\'t tell me his name but the other three were Jorry (the cross-dresser), Slouder (the spear fanatic), and Bojang (the chubby one).