Ellae

As summer changed to autumn and then to winter, the girl met a turmoil that no one could have predicted her to face. It is something she will remember the rest of her days, the pain and regret will be her close companions as long as she breaths. It was a hard lesson for the girl, harder than losing her lover. The girl learnt that she can also lose her friends, no matter how close they were to her. And the man who taught that lesson was called Vandalan.

Once there was a girl, who greatly grieved for the love she had lost. She cried all day and night. She was like a ghost – the life continued around her, people laughed, but she was not part of it. She didn’t see her friends even if they stood right next to her and talked to her, tried to make her feel better. It was a difficult time to dear Miss Celnessyn, Skarly and Miss Ellae. And for a long time she was certain she would be like that for the rest of her life. But just like everyone else who had lost their loved ones, life continued for her as well.

The room in which Rickstan had lived was now a hindrance, he had been in it too long, ill or not, he couldn't withstand it any longer, her had to be out. Gradually day by day, he took little ventures out the room and into the corridors, sometimes to the main room. Many scolded him and told him to return to bed. He looked too ill, took weak.Stuborn as he is, he didn't care, he just had to leave the four walls. 

To say Rickstan was surprised would have been a great understatement, the last thing he expected this evening was to come face to face with his "Father". Today he had passed an usual day, sharing a drink or two with a friend, sorting a stupid fight, teased by Ellae. The last thing he expected as he stood in the back rooms to the Inn was to see the face of the man he had for so long despised and hated. 

The hovel of a home, hung with birds, rabbits and herbs from its cracked plaster ceiling. Baskets, boxes and bottles, the contents were familiar to her, their uses being to season, to heal, to harm. The fire never seemed to die down in the hearth, its bright flames causing the shadows of dead fowl, small skulls and trinkets to cast long shadows upon the wall. A garden spider, no bigger than the thumb became a shadow to haunt the dreams, but it bought her peace. Home.

The girl returned to Bree-town, as she intended. It was a difficult task for her. Every single step she took closer to the town felt heavier for her to take. Her feet started to feel weary and all she wished was to turn around and walk to an opposite direction, trying to find the mountain she was curious about. She was certain she wouldn’t make it, but perhaps the lack of sleep and eat had done its deeds.

The girl had paused her writing and turned her head to admire the view. From where she was sitting she could see all around Bree. She was particularly interested in the mountain she saw in the distance. She wondered if she would be able to climb on top of it, then she would surely see all the way to the end of the world.

I have always been of the mind that a contract is just a contract. However, yesterday I was speaking to Ellae in the Prancing Pony, lovely lass, we were speaking about our latest contract and it seemed as if she did not understand what I do.. or did not want to understand. I consider her a friend, but maybe she does not really understand what I am and how can you not know a friend of yours. She did not understand that I might actually have to draw a little blood to pull off my work from time to time. When I said they were 'marked', she did not understand what that meant.