[centre][h1]A Moment of Respite[/h1][/centre] [hr] The atmosphere among the commoners of Arbor seemed tenser than usual. Then again, between the wrath of the Egriothspawn, the unclear fate of the Queen of Life, the arrival of the Fairy Goddess, and the construction of the Tree of Firmaments, there was little space left to find calm. Conversations were shorter than usual; eyes shifted groundwards more often; unknown noises conjured skittishness even in braver individuals. The rumour mill ground and ground, whispers in alleyways became conversations in the open. “I hear she’s actually gotten a big following recently.” “No, she’s not dead. Get a hold of yourself.” “You know, there are people you could ask about that…” “Well, I heard that…” “... Actually, what Jason told me was…” “... No password, no entry…” The quern of conspiracy milled diligently, and one who had recently dabbled in the flour of fear was the young elf Roja. She had served as a scout in a militia band known as the Auburn Dusk, a group of locals who gathered to break the sanctity of killing to rid the island of the Egriothspawn. Their leader and her dear friend, Laethan the Sharp, had gathered them under a secret oath: "We kill the threats to the Tree of Life in the Lifemother's name, so that life may persist". Membership was highly exclusive, but in hindsight it was clear that Laethan had just picked the first ten people she could name and gone ahead with that. Roja had always been a good archer and a better spotter–even at such a young age, she had caught the attention of many for her precision and truesight. She had gotten used to praise and had taken it with condescending courtesy. During the assault of the Egriothspawn, however, she had suffered irreparable damage to her bow arm. Worse yet, her party had been attacked because she had failed in her duty: in the moment when it mattered, she had grown lax and lazy, believing that no wild beast could ever escape her sight. Yet the shadow beasts had been clever, and the whole party had stumbled into an ambush. It had been a massacre, and only Roja had escaped. Tragedies compounded further as she came home: There, constables of the Deathguard waited for her and took her in. Of course the secrets of an amateur ragtag band of commonfolk would leak. Someone had probably shouted their "secret" oath at the top of their lungs in a stupor. Memories of her comrades, some of whom she had grown to love quite dearly, flashed across her mind night and day–sometimes of the nights of drinking and collegial debauchery, other times of the cadavers the beasts had left behind. Now, whenever she could make it outside, she spent the days taking on odd jobs to earn a living–anything to just make time go by. The money left over after covering food and rent went into a small clay jar, and at the end of the month, she would head down to the tavern to spend it on a night of debauchery to drown her anxieties. Nobody knew her name, but everybody knew what she was: a killer. Rumours were quick to rope strangers into others' lives, so people stayed away. Thus, when Roja drank, she was drinking alone. She had downed a beer in solitude by the time she came to her table. It was a goblin three-quarters her size, with hair like springs of copper and a smile of white chalk. She broke Roja out of her depressive stupor and said, “Hey, are you alright?” Roja looked up out of politeness, but hesitated to respond. The goblin grinned. “It’s unhealthy to drink alone, you know.” She slammed her own cup down on the tabletop and took a seat. “What’s your name?” The elf blinked away, not daring to make eye contact. “R-Roja…” “Roja? That’s a beautiful name. I’m Jezzy. Y’know, I saw you last month and you moped in just the same way as you do now. Is everything alright?” Roja swallowed and looked into her lap. “Y-yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for checking in.” When she noticed that the goblin didn’t budge, she at last looked her in the eyes. They were a dark chestnut, filled to the brim with the sort of light that caused hope in some and cancer in others. “If, if you’ve got friends waiting for ya–...” “No, no, no one’s waiting for me, Roja.” The goblin shrugged. “In truth, I, uh… I came to see if you were here today.” Roja balked ever so slightly. “O-okay?” Jezzy nodded. “Yeah, I’m here for you.” Roja cast small glances left and right. She swallowed and looked back at the goblin. “A-are you with the Guard? Am, am I in trouble? Please, I've told you everyth--” Jezzy lifted both hands. “Oh no! No, no, no! It’s nothing like that. Gods, I’m so sorry–that did not sound like that in my head.” She clapped her hands together softly and held them under her nose. “I’m sorry, let me start over. My name is Jezzy. I’ve come to you tonight because I saw you last month–well, actually I’ve seen you lots of times–” “H-have you been spying on me?” Roja said in a cracking voice, confusion overcoming her. Jezzy tried to rein her back in. “No, no! It’s just–... Oh Gods, I’m making a mess. Okay, see, I work with people who have it really hard, alright? You caught my eye, so I decided to check up on you. Phew, I’m sorry, I did not make a good impression there, forgive me.” Roja lowered her guard sheepishly. “... I… Caught your eye?” Jezzy nodded. “Yes. These past few months since the attacks, with the Goddess missing and… It affects people. People begin to ask the hard questions: Is Arbor still safe? What can I do about these feelings? Who do I go to? Who can I talk to about this?” She opened her palms towards Roja. “Do these questions feel familiar?” Roja’s eyes crept back down into her lap. “... Yes…” Jezzy nodded again. “I completely understand. Well, I have a proposition.” While she stuck a hand into the breast of her robe, Roja took a slow sip of her beverage. The goblin then placed a small wooden coin on the table and gently pushed it over to the other side. Roja picked it up and examined it curiously. “What is this?” “This,” Jezzy began, “is a coupon. I run a house of healing down not too far away from here. I specialise in people whose wounds are not of the body, but of the soul. If you ever feel like you need someone to listen, or if you need to listen to your own heart, don’t be afraid to come by.” She pointed at the coin. “That will get you one free treatment.” Roja’s eyes shifted from the coin to Jezzy and back. A flash cast her out of the moment and into a dark tunnel–a canal underground. A sharp pain shot up her phantom arm and she heard the trickle of blood, of drool, and then a growl. “-ja…? Roja?” Roja snapped back to reality. Jezzy offered her a worried frown and reached out to pat her hand. Roja nodded, feeling a sudden cold sweat on her brow. “I’ll, I’ll think about it.” Jezzy offered her a sad smile. “Alright. Think about it.” Then she stood up. “The backside of the coin has a map. It’s by the clothier’s workshop. The sigil on the door is the same as on the coin.” Roja flipped the coin again–what looked to be an oddly shaped cup adorned its face. Jezzy walked around the side of the table and once again took her hand. “Be well. Until we meet again, alright?” Roja nodded slowly. “Y-yeah. Until then.” She watched as the goblin exited the tavern, and then began to realise that she hadn’t felt this lonely since before the incident. The creeping sensation filled her like a plague. The joy of being seen, being spoken to, to speak to another person–not just for a job or something, but… Someone who cared. She felt thawed, nimble, like grass at the onset of spring. Yet the emotion was fleeting, like a snowstorm in April. She could not bear this existence for much longer. She needed to improve, to talk to someone, to… To be whole again. In a swift swig she emptied her cup, paid her tab and left. The next day, she would visit the goblin. [hr] Could this be it? Roja stood outside a small stump, flanked on both sides by somewhat shabby-looking home-trees, with the clothier’s workshop behind her. She took a moment to look around. The map seemed to indicate that it would be here, but… Where was the symbol? Then it caught her eye. The odd cup was engraved into the bottom right corner of the stump, but it seemed… Hidden, somehow. Why wouldn’t it have been carved any bigger, or carved it somewhere else? A skepticism overtook her and she began to feel her feet turn. Why did she trust this goblin, whom she had known for less than fifteen minutes? What, what had made her come here in the first place? More and more instincts began to vote in favour of flight, but the heart stood steadfast. She had seen her when no one else had. That was reason enough to go inside. She was already at rock bottom, after all; how much worse could it get? She squeezed into the alley between the trees and eventually found an opening in the back of the stump, covered over by a curtain of threaded beads and stones. As it rustled, it heralded her entrance, and a familiar voice rang out from the room next door. “Just a moment!” Roja took the time to take in the sights. Weak lights powered by rune magic dotted the walls. Small chairs fashioned from wood stumps sat neatly around a table, and shelves of fur and wood behind a counter were filled to the brim with all sorts of reagents. Ashen remains of magical circles, slates of wood carved with runes and colourful stones littered the counter and made the whole room look lived in. The air caressed gently at the nose with scents of ointment and incense. A minute later, Jezzy came out, pushing aside the bead curtain of the second doorway. “Welcome to Jezzy’s house of healing! What can I–oh! Oh, Roja, you came!” Roja felt herself bubble with joy. “Y-you remember me?” Jezzy offered a dumbfounded grin. “W-well, yes! We just met yesterday, did we not?” The elf felt herself rush with blushing heat. “Y-yeah, of course! Sorry, it’s just…” Emotion filled her chest. “It’s, it’s been a while since anybody talked to me.” Small tears filled her ducts and trailed down her cheeks. Jezzy pouted and came jogging over, taking her hand in her own. “Oh, dearest Roja, don’t cry. You’re safe now. You’re in a safe space. Come, comecomecome. Let’s get you something warm to drink.” The goblin guided her into the next door room, which was smaller than the shop, but much cozier. As she brushed aside the curtain, Roja was greeted by warm, dim lanterns. A small fountain inscribed with runes of perpetual motion enchanted the room with the gentle whistle of a stream. The scent of incense was stronger here, but never nauseating; it struck a perfect balance of smells, lifting every breath into a state of calm. The goblin sat her down on a comfortable pillow next to a low table and shuffled over to a small shelf. She picked up a pot of bronze and filled it with water from a small basin, and with a pat of the rune on the side of the pot, the contents began to slowly heat up. While she dabbled with cups and tea leaves, Roja leaned back on the pillow. “So… You’re a… rune scribe?” “Only a novice,” Jezzy chuckled. “I quit my classes early to settle down with the man of my life.” She poured the now-hot water of the leaves in each cup and set them on a small tray. “Or, well, so I thought he was. It was a short affair between the two of us. I was a ‘settle down and start a family’ type, and he was more of a ‘move to the Tricity and fight for the legendary Jaxx’ sort of type.” She snickered and set the tray down on the table. “It all seems so much easier when you’re young.” She placed a cup in front of Roja and she took it in her one hand. It smelled of mint and flowers. As she brought her lips to the rim, her mouth was filled with a scorching heat that immediately made her pull the cup away. Jezzy reached out a hand instinctively, but slowly retracted it with a warm smile. “Careful, it’s still quite hot.” Roja nodded and wiped a small spill that had landed on her shirt. As the two drained their cups sip by sip, Jezzy probed Roja about her story and her memories. As time went on, Roja felt the words form more easily and before her cup was half-empty, she was already on the brink of tears, her mouth running non-stop about her hubris, her mistake and all the nights of lying awake in horror, tortured at the whim of the what-ifs. Jezzy listened with patience taking in her words with calm wisdom, probing the points where she seemed to hold back and respecting her borders when Roja felt uncomfortable. When both had had their fill of tea, Jezzy brought her palms together. “So… Here we are.” Roja wiped away a tear and offered a small smile. “Yeah… Here we are.” Jezzy smiled back and leaned forward. “So what do you intend to do about your situation?” Roja breathed in slowly and looked out the bead curtain. “I’ll be honest, Jezzy–before yesterday, I didn’t care much for whether I lived or died. If I had fallen out of a hole in Arbor and crashed into the ground below, I probably would have fallen in silence. But after meeting you… I don’t know–I feel this fire in me that I haven’t felt for months. I, I think I want to go on, but I don’t know how…” She paused and Jezzy nodded for her to continue at her own pace. “I… I keep asking myself: Am I worthy? What right do I have to live when I took that right away from all of my friends, my siblings-in-arms? How, how canI face them in the Afterworld if I just keep on living as though nothing happened?” Jezzy nodded slowly. “It’s always easy to let the mind sink to those kinds of thoughts, y’know: Am I worthy… I think it’s also important to think about why we ask ourselves those kinds of questions. Like, why do we put ourselves through that, do you feel me?” Roja nodded. “There really is no easy answer to that question, but I think it’s very important to remember that your life is yours to live. If you spend your time thinking about what others would think, you won’t leave any space left for what you yourself think. There are many others and only one of you.” She chuckled softly, but Roja seemed reluctant to join in. Jezzy’s laughter quieted and then she sighed. “Well… I do have a little something we can try to see if you feel any better.” She stood up from her pillow and went to the back of the room, where she lifted a small thatch lid and climbed down into the floor. Roja blinked, but waited patiently for her return, the only sound accompanying her being the running fountain. There was a slight knock from below, or perhaps a chop, and then nothing. A minute later, Jezzy ascended with a small clay bowl, stained along its walls by soot and oil. In the centre laid a small heap of spongey mushroom bits, some of stem and some of cap. She took a pestle from the shelf where she had brewed tea and ground up the mushroom coarsely. She then added some bits of scented wood to the bowl and patted the rune on the side. As she brought the bowl over to the table, its contents began to smoke. “Lean over,” she said softly. Roja was reluctant at first, but eventually slowly leaned forward. Jezzy nodded smilingly and whispered, “Breathe…” Roja took a series of deep breaths, the smoke filling her throat and lungs. Yet she felt neither pain nor the need to cough; the smoke descended into her chest like a lukewarm oil, settling gently around her heart. Then, slowly, she felt her heartbeat slowing and growing louder. All other noise drowned in a sea of cotton, and the only sound was the gentle pumping in her chest. [i]Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum…[/i] Her vision blurred, the dim light brightening and splitting into a multitude of colours, some of which she had never even seen before. Her nose smelled a million scents, traveling all throughout her lifetime from the scent of blood at her birth to when she first set foot in the house of healing. Before long, the light gave way to darkness, but not in a frightening sense–this was a darkness which shrouded her in warm blankets and sprinkled the sky with a whole beach of stars. She saw animals dancing in the stars–no, [i]they were the stars[/i]! Great cats, magnificent birds, a regal stag–the sky filled with life and possibilities. Then, for a brief moment, she saw the faces of her friends. They were there, as clear as Jezzy had been mere moments ago. She reached out, and they reached out to take her hand. They touched, and she felt it. She felt it! They were really there, right in front of her. Roja wanted to scream. She wanted to squeal. She was already crying. Then her closest friend Laethan opened her mouth and whispered, “We forgive you.” Roja’s eyes flowed over. She collapsed to her knees and whispered back: “I’m sorry.” “We forgive you…” “I’m sorry…” [sub]”We forgive you…”[/sub] “I’m so sorry…” The whisper faded out of earshot and the vision of the night sky dissipated. Slowly, but surely, Roja realised that she was back in the house of healing, her eyes bloodshot and her cheeks sticky from dried tears. In the other corner of the room, Jezzy was humming to herself while she cleaned out the bowl with a stiff brush. “They forgive me,” she said with a slack jaw. “Of course they did,” chuckled Jezzy. “They know you’re not to blame.” Roja leaned forward onto her knees and wiped her face. Jezzy came over with a cup of something herbal smelling. “Here,” she said, “this’ll ease the nausea.” “Nausea?” “Yup. The first time is tough on everybody. You may feel fine for a bit, but come dinnertime, you’ll be spitting out your lunch before you can even begin to think of carrots.” Roja blinked. “I-I didn’t eat lunch.” “Oh. Well, better drink it to be safe anyway.” Roja forced it down as told–it was like taking a swig of a spice rack. If the smoke wouldn’t make her vomit, this certainly would. She pushed herself to a wobbly pair of feet and followed Jezzy out into the shop. She took her spot behind the counter and Roja in front of it. Jezzy grinned and held out her hand. Roja looked into it. “The coupon, please,” smiled the goblin. Roja was dumbstruck for a blink, then immediately fished out the little wooden doubloon and placed it in the goblin’s palm. She nodded her thanks and placed it in a small jar. A wooden clacker suggested there were many more inside. Roja suddenly felt a pang of anxiety. “I-I can come back here, right?” “Oh, of course you can, dearest!” said the goblin. “Come back at any time! I’m usually always here.” Roja nodded erratically. “So, to-today was free, right?” “Today was free,” confirmed the goblin. The anxiety gnawed at her still. “But, but next time won’t be, r-right?” Jezzy offered her a soft smile. “Why don’t we save that talk for next time then, hmm?” Roja froze briefly, then nodded. She then turned around and headed for the curtain. Just as she was about to exit, she heard, “Oh, and Roja!” She spun around and saw Jezzy’s chalk-white smile. “Remember: It’s your life.” Roja nodded slowly, then smiled back and left. [hr] [i]... Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…[/i] Underneath the thatch lid in the back of the house of healing, there was a gentle pulse. [i]... Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…[/i] Not gentle in the sense that it was calm, but rather that it was weak. [i]... Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…[/i] The cellar was dark–not pitch black–but dark. The only lights were a few rune lanterns and what seemed to be a little piece of a starry sky, though torn and ripped like a mistreated painting. [i]... Ba-dump… Ba-dump… Ba-dump…[/i] The beads of the doorway upstairs rustled to a gentle halt, and the starry sky quivered with fickle light. A brief anomaly of magic brought on by the scent of smoking mushroom converted the thumping into a miniscule strip of decipherable information, audible to no one but gods and exceptional individuals: [i]... Heeelp… ussss…[/i] [hider=SummaREE!] Meet the elf Roja. After failing to spot an ambush of shadow beasts outside of Arbor, she and her friends in the mercenary company she worked for are turned to mincemeat. She gets away with only a permanently ruined arm, but is depressed and down in the dumps. One day when she’s in a tavern, she’s approached by the goblin Jezzy who invites her to her house of healing for some therapy. Roja thinks well why not and goes the next morning. The house of healing is a lovely place and Jezzy treats her very nicely. When the therapy comes to a slight stalemate, she offers Roja some healing smoke which makes her have a vision of her comrades forgiving her. This refills her resolve and she turns in her coupon. Next time, she’ll have to pay for therapy. At the very end, it's revealed that something is trapped in the cellar. [/hider]