Deorla

Deorla sat alone in the quiet of the Bree homestead, the letter from Naridalis trembling in her hands. The familiar script, once a source of comfort, now bore words that cut deeper than any blade.

Trust, once solid among the Company of the East Road, now wavered like smoke. Naridalis’s words painted a picture of disillusionment, of friendships strained to the edge. Promises had been broken. The past Deorla had fought to bury clawed its way into the present, and now it stood like a specter between her and those she'd once called kin.

Author’s Note: This piece was shaped with a little help from AI. It provided assistance on things like the structuring, some names, shortening some verbose language/ideas as I'd written, and gave me the odd turn of phrase here and there.

Author’s Note: This piece was shaped with a little help from AI. It provided assistance on things like the structuring, some names, shortening some verbose language/ideas as I'd written, and gave me the odd turn of phrase here and there.

The first thing I heard was the crashing of waves along the shoreline. The sound was hypnotizing but arrhythmic, no true pattern to be discerned as the ocean crests and falls. It soothes a longing in my soul. I heard the cries of seagulls as they flew overhead, sharp and piercing, but familiar. 

The formation held in the depths. Goblins threw themselves at the Company’s rescue party. The commander had impaled and cut down many of the vanguard goblin warriors, and his fellows had done much the same. Between the dwarven screaming of Kildwin and the exasperated war cries of Furley, the commander struggled to keep order with the rest of his troops. The less experienced warriors stood shoulder to shoulder with the trained veterans and had taken quickly to Kildwin’s formation training.

"Touch me Commander and I'll send you to the other side to check if she's there yourself," Furley had growled out, without even turning away. "YES OR NO, DID YOU SEE HER DIE? Answer me!!" He'd shouted.