[Llenor’s POV]

The monster’s irises shift slightly, and it opens its mouth, but makes no other motion.

Ṵ̻̜͓͍͑́ͅǸ̴͍̘͓͍̯̭̥͔̐͑ͅ ̴̫͙̰̥̜͓̓ͪ̀̇́ͫ͒͌̕U͈̩͇͍͓̖̼̿̉ͬ̾͂ͦͪ̕͜N̷̨͉̹̐̽ͯ̈́ͭ̿̐͢ ̠̤͔͐͒̏̿̿̃̄̚̚͠Û͉̱̪̯̮̤͌̀̎̔͟N̸͙̠̮̦͙̫͔̙̟ͧ̎ͫ̂͊ͩ̂̕ ̂̋̿̿ͪ͏̞̖N̬̓͛V̧̦̣̠͋̔̉̑ͫͅŖ̞̩̙͎̠͒̓̓ ̴̠̝̞̠͒̓̓G̵̸̢̹̱̼̿̿͒̓ͤͤO̟̼̬̎ͫͦ̉͟N̛̞̪̰̬̥ͩ̍̔̔̉̎̃̚̕͟ͅ ̴̡͉͓̹̼̫̓G̐ͦ͗̈͑̓̓͋҉̴͔̘͚̫̲̩̖V͚̿̏ͦ̀ͥ̕̕ͅE̶̢̩̖̭̣̋ͣ̌̿ͣ͠ ̬̩̞̘͇̬̮̞ͨ̃̆̈̌ͭ̒͢͜U̔̔͐͏̼̼͎̞̪͎͟ ̵̨̺͈͎̙͔̅̒̈́̽ͨ̔̿ͪ̊P͔̎͒ͭ̿̔͟͝ ͍̜̙̣̮̘͈̜͋̏̏̓̃̒2̡̣̲͕̮̓ͫ̐̓͞ ̧̈̌̆ͫ̊͂ͪ̀҉̟̼̝͓͚͈̬̞Ş͎ͫͤT̸̴͍̬̤̹̞̝͖̋ͩ̓̊ͮ̈́̋ͮͥͅP̵̴̡̙͉̦̦̑̉̍̑̚S̵̶̡̜͓̻͉͎̣͗ͫ̐̓̆ͮ̄ ̵̛͖̗͓̘̜̠̫͂ͪͫͦ̊ͪ͟F̘̭̟̯̯͓̪̱̀͟R̦͍͚̿ͩͤͬ͘M͔͙͔̘̮̝̆̀̄ͯͧ͆̐̚͞ ̛̼͉͕͉̉̇̾̈́͗Ĕ̘̞̲͙͈͉ͮL̜͈̩̳̫̜ͤͧ̎̌̂̊̕L̶͇͉̎͞

It tilts its head slightly in a perfectly fluid motion no living being can imitate as we stay silent.

Tensions rise again. I can practically feel the heartbeats of Kenir and Mela. I can already tell what kind of faces they’re making, and it’s not good.

“I’ll stay and you run, Mela!” I yell out, the life of my fiancee being above all else.

Ah, I was looking forward to our marriage… The only reason we’re not already married is that the baby happened so suddenly. It’s highly frowned upon, yes, but we were happy…

“Don’t stay, Llenor!” she cries out, practically sobbing.

Then, next to me, Malos begins a spell. A magic missile.

I don’t know what to do.

Can we really fight this thing? I don’t think so, and I think Malos realized that, too.

“Run! Run, everyone!” Malos yells out to us as he shoots the spell.

His resolve is solid. Even though he has a wife and child coming soon, he’s standing his ground for us.

With tears in our eyes, the three of us run. We won’t forget this, Malos. You are our hero. I selfishly accept, as well as the other two. We don’t want to die. Malos is the only one with the resolve to put his life on the line.

The monster begins to chase after us.

I hear Malos' spell hit the monster from behind. “I’ll stay, you three run! Take care of our kids!” He yells out in a desperate, almost sobbing voice.

I secretly hope his Magica killed it, but the fighting swiftly stops. No other sounds follow.

I’m sorry, Malos.

I’m sorry…

We keep running, leaving a trail of our tears. Though it’s faint, we can hear the monster starting to chase us again. It’s keeping up with our pace perfectly. We can’t escape.

I try to follow the way out as best I can, Mela and Kenir following closely behind.

We run up the stone and dirt staircase. Kenir slips as he runs up so I reach back, grab his hand, and pull with all of my might.

The three of us fall down outside the hole, exhausted. I can only pray to our god that the monster didn’t follow all the way.

Then, a head comes out from the hole. Then, glowing purple eyes. It slowly steps further and further into the light.

It looks down on us with its unmoving, soulless eyes.

“Monster! Monster!” Mela screams. Tears stream down her face, and I can tell she’s about to do something.

I try to yell out to her not to, but the monster speaks up.

Hello.

The three of us look at one another. We’re scared, angry, but also now confused. Kenir’s eyebrows furrow together as he looks at the monster.

“If you could speak this whole damn time-” Kenir yells out, but is cut off by the monster.

I could not.

Where are we?

It doesn’t know where we are? What does it mean? The ruins? The forest? The nearby town? The kingdom?

“Do you think we’d want to talk to a rust bucket like you after you fucking KILLED OUR FRIEND?” Kenir screams out. He quickly stands up and begins walking towards the monster. He’s losing all reason.

I would too if a man I looked up to like a father died without even getting to say goodbye, or in an instant without being able to fight back. I know how it feels, but I need to stop him. No matter what. I can’t lose him and Malos.

I do not advise approaching me.

I begin to yell out to Kenir to stop, but before I can, he reaches out to hit the monster, and before I could blink, his arm’s completely gone.

My voice disappears behind Kenir’s screaming.

Oh, god please save us.

I can’t handle this.

I can’t die!

I CAN’T DIE!

PLEASE!

Where are we?

I-If I can just answer its questions, maybe I’ll get to live?

“We’re… in the Brinar Kingdom…”

That’s all I can let out. I’m pathetic.

I’m terrified.

I see.

Oddly enough, the monster looks to the sky. I turn to Mela so we can run away, but she has other plans.

CLUNK!

Mela throws a rock at the monster. Fear bottles up inside me.

First Malos' life, now Kenir’s arm.

I can’t.

The monster’s soulless eyes look to Mela, a perfectly fluid motion. It stops suddenly as its glowing, purple eyes settle on her.

CLUNK!

She’s about to say something. Mela looks over to me, locking eye contact, tears rolling down her face. Her mouth opens, but before she can say a single word to me, the monster raises its arm and a beam of light shoots out.

Mela’s head, the eyes of the woman I love and my fiancee, disappear in an instant without a trace.

I can’t speak.

I’m stunned.

Kenir’s screaming continues, but the monster quickly ends him, too.

It’s all silence to me.

He was screaming, but I couldn’t hear it.

All I can focus on is Mela’s headless body in front of me.

An instant feels like an eternity.

I look to the monster… It seems distracted.

I can escape.

Wait… escape? What selfish thoughts am I thinking? My friends, my family… they all died.

All that comes to mind is my daughter’s smiling face just days after she was born.

“I’m sorry, Mela… I love you.” I say silently to myself, offering a small prayer before I begin running.

I run with all of my might.

And run.

And run.

And run.

I look behind me, but there is no monster, just the empty forest.

I run further until I finally reach the edge of the town, collapsing from exhaustion.

After a minute or so of collecting myself, I continue running.

I don’t stop until I reach my home.

I slam open the door, startling Mela’s friend. I don’t know her well, by she sure did… I can trust her too.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Mela?” she says in a concerned tone.

I look over to her, my daughter soundly sleeping in her arms.

I open my mouth to talk, but my throat is tight.

I reach down to the locket around my neck, the metal still cold from the cooling crystal. I open it to see the painting created through Magica of Mela and me in the Elvish village. I swallow and steady my resolve.

“Mela… Everyone…” I say, a tear rolling down my face.

“They’re gone.”