The morning mist drifts over the mountain peaks, like every day since my birth, there is peace in the village. my name is Miri, named after the lord that once ruled these lands, murdered by the so-called 'heroes from another world'. I am a farmer, I have lived in this peacful mountain village, away from the turmoils of the lower world, for nineteen years, and today is to be my twentieth, the village planned to have a surprise party in the afternoon, but we are a small village, and it is hard to keep secrets.

It is around mid-day, I have been tilling the soil and planting my favourite fruit since morning, my body is drenched in a cold sweat, but I feel refreshed. It should only be a few more minutes until my close friend and human teacher comes to collect me for the celebration, no doubt stalling to make up some story to make me come, humans in the west, dragons from the earth, maybe even monsters of candy, I liked that one. I can see his tall dark figure coming from the distance, charging like a minatour without a weapon, he trained me in the basics of fighting and survival, in case other humans found this place.

"Heeeey!" people could mistake him for a woman with a voice that high pitched, he stands before me, seven feet of dark bulging muscles, dark green hair and eyes and odd runic tatooes that glow in crimson swirling across his body, he switched out his usual murder-bear onsie with a suit of purple glowing moss, he never had good taste in fashion.

"Come with me, the village planned a surprise party for you... Shhhh!, dont tell anyone, it's a surprise" And he's kinda dumb, his name is Bear-san, he wont tell us his real one, but we just started calling him that, he works as a healer and couples counceler, and is so far the only human to ever descover this village, the elder hopes he is the last. he leads me by the hand to where he thinks is the village centre, were actually going towards the temple of Sharam, dark god of chaos and cupcakes, but I suppose it never hurts to pray on a day of ceremony.

The shrine is a singular statue, worn of its features and complexities from the centuries it was neglected, it depicts a woman with good body proportions, ever-burning coal eyes, long silken hair that sinks to her waist and a plain dress, sitting on a large stone. there is a copper-like tablet embedded into her seat, missing letters, scratches and rust covers its rectangular proporsions, but the words can still be made out.

'Chaos dies when the blind seek justice, to seek justice you must first seek truth'

'Chaos is not truth, but a pathway to it, Chaos is choice, reason and madness'

'Those who seek Chaos will never find it, but those who seek Order will find only Chaos'

- Mad King Rahh III, Scriptures of icing and sprinkles

The village allows the worship of any god, but only I worship Shara, only I care for her, the majority of the village worships Seramaph, medicine god of purity and order, bear-san worships Deramor, hunting god of bears, mead and saplings, he says he has even recieved a blessing from him. I always carry a cupcake, just in case I end up here, each god can be worshipped in many different ways, Shara can be offered cupcakes as worship, they are always gone when I return, so I hope she enjoys them.

I grab bear-sans hand and pull him towards the town centre, he follows like a confused puppy, it is a wonder he isnt dead, he can't make food, can't farm and can't hunt, the only thing he is good at is fighting and counsilling others.

I can see the town gates, or rather fence, it is just a crudely put together row of sticks bound with string, only put there to keep out small animals. it's quiet, which is offputting, considering I was there for the last ceremony and everyone had trouble not giggle or chuckling like children, even the elder, which was hard to forget... so many wrinkles... We reched the centre, but there is no one here, the crystal lights, cakes and multi-coloured fabric strips are set up, but the centre is empty, there is even pices of the cake missing.

"I smell humans" Bear-san spoke in a deep gravelly voice, blinding light shining as a massive two-handed axe covered in omminous purple runes materialised in his hand, bloodstained roots shoot out of the ground squirming around his feet and wrapping around his body, leaving him as a mummy with thick rooty bandages.

"The princess is not going to believe this, the Root Demon Barry is actually human! And alive at that" the muffled impish voice echoes around me as a swirling plume of black smoke appears in the very centre of the village. Bear-san shifts into a more battle ready stance as his roots tighten around his body.

"Show yourself Shina! I have little patience for games. where are the people of this village? What did you do to them?" Bear-san's voice reverberated through my body, making my bones creak and strain under the sheer force that his words expelled, the swirling plume tearing apart instantaniously, to reveal an odd looking elf with porcelin skin covered in cracks, ball like joints, similar to a puppet or doll, dead unblinking eyes with glowing blood-red pupils to match and thin black wires connecting to nearly every joint and muscle in his body.

"Oh come on, call me marion, like the good old days. As for the monsters that previously inhabited these lands, well, they followed some friendly knights home, where they will be made into my string soldiers, just like the good old days" his face cracks into an evil grin as he cackles out a giggling, high-pitched laughter, head moving exstatically, contrary to the body which is unmoving and still. "And is that another little puppet I see behind you, hmmm?

"Don't you dare touch her, she has no value to you" Bear--san sidestepped, obstructing my view of the elf and started murrmuring some incoherent language.

"But it has value to you, and i have already touched every part of it, would you like to see?" his smile only grew larger and sharper, his laughter louder and more menacing. Bear-san's roots dissapeared almost as quickly as they had formed and the axe fell with a heavy thud to the ground, he looks back at me and starts running, giving me an unobstructed view of the elf, he holds something small and red in his hand, it makes my chest feel hollow looking at it, but my vision is getting blurry and it's hard to see exactly what it is.

The misty sky is beutiful, my skin so warm, but my body freezing, bear-san is crying, why? darkness kreeps into the corner of my vision, the elf is beside me, but I can't hear him, I can't hear anything, but I see what he's holding, oh, it's a heart, my heart, never in my wildest dreams did I think an elf would steal my heart.

The world is going dim, my senses so dull, this is the time of death, so my last words must be said.

"Let ye, false hero, with no faith or justice, be plagued by madness, with no truth or direction"

I am dead, I feel no cofmort or love, I see only an ever-growing darkness that stretches infinetly, I must move on, into the darkness, with no direction or purpose, now I must go on.