Launi sat back on her heels forcing herself to take deep breaths. She needed to calm down. She needed to clear her head and think about what to do. Her father’s request came to her as she stared in disbelief at the scene around her.
“If it comes to it go to the next village and talk to Screbra.”
Launi closed her eyes, took one more deep, cleansing breath and stood. She gave her father and the other villagers one last long look before moving in the direction of her home. Launi needed to gather a few supplies. It was dark now and it would take her the entire night to reach the next village on foot.
Reaching her home Launi pushed the door open, leaving it open so the mood light would provide some light in the otherwise pitch-black house. She didn’t have time to light a candle, so she fumbled around in the dark gathering what she would need for a two-day journey. There was no way to know if her community would be able to survive until she got back, but she had to do something and Darthax had told her to talk to Screbra. Dark thoughts swirled in her mind as she shoved a sweater, some food and a couple empty flasks of water into her bag.
Walking back outside, Launi shut the door to her house and the click of the latch seemed far too loud in the eerily silent village. She had to tear herself away from her community and walk away. She didn’t look back; she was scared that if she did she wouldn’t leave.
Her bag slung across her back, Launi decided to alternate between walking and running. Hopefully, she would arrive in the next village by the break of dawn. She took off following the path back out into the woods for the second time that evening. She wanted to cross the boundary as quickly as possible. It unnerved her to be in a silent forest.
It was a cloudless, chilly night. Moonlight drifted down through the canopy of the forest, lighting the trail just enough to see. The leaves rustled in a light breeze. That and the sound of Launi’s feet on the ground were the only sounds.
As she neared the boundary, the forest seemed to slowly come back to life. She leapt over the invisible line where life started again and continued running.
She felt her body relax slightly once on the other side of the boundary. The dark, swirling thoughts disappeared and were replaced by worry, confusion, and fear.She could breathe better even though she was running, and a tension along her spine disappeared; she hadn’t known it was there until it wasn’t.
After roughly an hour Launi slowed to walk. She ate a little of the food she had brought with her. More out of necessity than hunger. As she walked, Launi took small sips of water and tried to make sense of the last few hours. No matter how she looked at it, she had no idea what could have caused the entire village to collapse.
She had just started running again when a thought struck her. Why hadn’t she collapsed? Her father had after they’d found everyone. The first explanation that came to her was that she hadn’t been in the village long enough as she’d raced off to find the boundary. But that idea was quickly thrown out when she remembered that she’d been in the village for a quite while after finding her father. She couldn’t make sense of it.
Eventually, after a few more hours of walking and running, Launi gave up trying to understand. She would just have to wait until she could talk with Screbra. She still wasn’t sure how he would be able to help, but it was the only direction she knew to move in.
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When dawn broke, Launi was able to just make out the village in the distance. She broke into a run again. She was on the edge of the forest now. The trees were quickly thinning out and grasses of the grasslands began to mix with those of the forest.
As she approached the village, she started to see people moving around getting ready for the day. A man saw her and jogged out to meet her.
“Who are you? Are you okay?” he must have seen the desperate look on her face and the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep.
“Something has happened to my village. Everyone has collapsed. My father sent me to talk to Screbra,” Launi explained while trying to catch her breath.
The man gave her an odd look. “And who is your father?” He seemed weary of her. Launi thought that was odd. She had been to this village a number of times with her father. She thought the villagers would have recognized her, but she had grown quite a bit since she’d last been here. The man might simply not recognize her.
“Darthax the Healer.”
The man’s expression quickly changed from distrust to worry. It was never good when a healer as skilled as Darthax sent for help.
“Come this way, I’ll take you to Screbra.”
Still pins and needles!
I’m glad you like it!
Just read all three parts of this. The hooks are in 🙂 looking forward to the next bit
I’m glad you are enjoying it! 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!