What Lingers In Darkness

JP with Winteroak and Cindy

The crone scoffed at her words. "That will serve you well if you wake from this dream. Excuses and avoiding responsibility." Another wave of her hand of very the flames. An image of Alexis in a cave holding her head slowly slipping into madness. Gonyaul in chains broken and bloody. The Arbiter running away from those hunting her.

"All this came to pass because you lived. Because your sacrifice was stopped." She paused looking at the young woman.

"Do you have what it takes to make the hard choices I wonder?"

The next images were similar, mostly, to what the young witch had seen in her visions. It was still heartbreaking but there was likely little she could do about what was to be.

At the last question, Islana didn't hesitate as she knew the answer.

"The choices I might have to make, might not be the easiest. They might not be what seems prudent, in the moment, but my focus, my intent will always be what's best for the Ozanine and for Arcadia." Islana paused before adding. "I am dedicated to seeing Arcadia survive as the great land it is. There are likely going to be sacrifices needed to achieve that."

Islana knew that things in her old life would likely be the first casualties for she would become an enemy of Ostiarium and the Helians.

The flames flickered out and the forest awas plunged into darkness. The old woman was now nothing more than a shadow in front of Islana.

"He has not forgotten you Islana Annora." She whispered from the dark as the trashing sounds around them grew louder and louder. "He will come for you one day. As long as one of us is alive, as long as one of us carries the creed in its heart you will never be safe." She said as her voice seemed to fade away.

Something came crashing out of the forest undergrowth. A large dark shape, larger than the Sk'elep or the Skara. Grunting and snorting, with matted fur and bristles, with red eyes and tusks the size of large knives. It came out of the bush and rushed her..

Islana stood as the creature rushed towards her, the words from the woman hitting her.

It wasn't real, just a dream. The idea was in her mind but the redhead still poised herself to fight it. With her body standing and arms up.

She would not run, not from what was, in reality only her fears.