[Closed] The price of Regret.

(Moderator note: continued from here: Old and New and is part of an ongoing series. Closed to Ariel and takes place shortly after the events of the linked thread.)

Regret.

Regret was it's own demon and sometimes lingered in dark places of the mind. For one of the champions of Althanas, the regret was the loss of his great love. Hylda Terentius, the only woman he had ever loved. Elthas, after his companions and he defeated the renegade Theo Terrentius wandered. His friend, John Winshire of the Winshire estate recently passed of old age. However, good folks were left in charged of The Great Tree. Elthas found himself visiting The Great Tree here and there, but that night...he was simply wandering Concordia Forest. Deep in thought...memories passing through him. The wraith was long since dead...his living form killed by a man named Yosef Terrentius. That was many lifetimes ago...for time flowed different for the immortal folks.

Elthas had been through the shitter...he was currently dealing with the isolation of being dead.

Recent events had been a whirlwind of chaos driving the wraith to near madness on more than one occasion.

But only one memory kept him from completely falling to the darkside....Hylda Terrentius.

Her image haunted his mind even then, hundreds of years after her death...every woman he saw looked like Hylda. He knew he was slowly loosing his grip on what reality and sanity he had left. The only thing he knew...was he had a code of honour. He honoured the old ways. Elthas stood there staring at the crystal clear pond before him. He could see the bottom of the pond, it wasn't that deep. The small waves rippled around, denoting a safe drinking source...not that it really mattered to Elthas at that point in his life. Elthas thought of his friends and companions long gone. He buried his friend, John Winshire after honouring the old ways. Elthas had made many new allies whilst in service of John Winshire though he could never fully let them in his existence. The dead envied the living.

Elthas had helped restore The Great Tree of his people...

It would be a key item that would protect Althanas from the forces of darkness.

Elthas suddenly found himself singing as he stood before the pond.

He hadn't done that in a long time and was actually quite a fair singer. The Old forest is haunted. Some would say. Especially with those like me...who are lost and without a purpose. Elthas sang in the tongue of his people, The Forest Elves of Concordia. The people he belonged to no longer existed. They were from a previous age of Althanas...a much more primitive time. The modern Forest Elves no longer honoured the old ways. They were different to Elthas...a people also without purpose. Elthas sang in a deep voice, not caring who listened. The song was sorrowful and mournful, a song of remembrance and lost love. A song that reflected a broken heart. Elthas thought about Hylda and Seth Terentius. Seth was another ally from the old time period...the brother of Theo Terrentius. Elthas thought about the recent events with Theo a lot since they had occurred. His eyes were narrowed...he sang with the image of Hylda in his mind. The forest seemed to grow quiet in mourning as he sang. Elthas did not care who would listen, he merely sang...trying to get his emotions out in the air.

The last few months of his life...had proven to be quite eventful.

He was just glad that he had a moment or two to think...and plan his next move.

^(Enter here)

Taking a hold of the twin daggers, I shoved them into the sheaths that were sitting horizontally on the belt I wore. Closing the claps around the hilt to prevent them from falling out if I had to start running or something. More so, I didn't want the people who I may have been hunting to have a chance to grab them from me. Standing at a rather short stature made it a little difficult to take people on whom were built more sturdy, or had a clear advantage over me. The forest was quite the place to be. Even more so when you were covering up your last victim. A man who was preying on a lady who had been traveling to one of the many harbors. At least, I could only assume since she was carrying mostly valuables. What is it with women being looked down upon by people who couldn't keep it in their pants?

To be fair, I did look for these kinds of situations. I hated people who took advantage of others for sexual desires of the flesh. So I hunted them, and taught them a lesson before having my fun. As I was beginning to walk away, I could hear something, peculiar. It sounded sweet, yet rich. I took a moment to look around. No birds I could see of, and no other people around in the immediate area. I slung my bow to be in front of me. An arrow knocked on the string, and ready to be pulled at a moment's notice. The bow was held low, and I crouched to try and stay quiet. There was no need for me to alarm whomever was making these sounds. As I began to hear it gradually become louder, I could hear singing.

As much as I may have not wanted to admit it, the singing reminded me of my father. The little I knew of him was of how he would sing me to sleep when he was with myself and my mother. His voice was deep and rich. Smooth and calm. It was like the breeze that pushed my hair across my face. I looked down at my hands, wondering what language this man was signing in. I could only assume it was a man as the voice was rather darker than what would be expected for a woman. Would this be another victim? I wanted to find this man, but what I would do with him? I had no clue. Kill him for making remember of my past that I am trying to move on, and forget about, or let him live for the pure voice that he had.

I did neither. Walking closer and closer, I could see the pond before the man who stood before it, but I kept myself silent as I crouched behind some thistles, and a tree. My back up against the tree, I just listened. Feeling the tone, I almost wanted to sing with him. I had to control myself. No! Shaking my head, I pulled the bow a little higher as I revealed myself. Walking through the brambles a little. I came to stand behind the much taller man, but he looked. Different. Felt different.

Something was off, and I wanted to find out more. I had no possible idea on what to do as of this moment.

His voice was deep and had the traditional baritones of an Elven bard.

At one point in his life, he'd studied the bard arts and worked on his singing capacity.

That was then...currently he was singing to relieve stress and remind himself a life that was no more...he clung desperately to some semblance of purpose.

As Elthas sang...something happened.

A scent filled his nostrils...touched upon his sensory sphere like a seductive touch. There but not there at the same time. Elthas sang a few more lines of the song, his words quieting down to but a whisper until he finally stopped. At that point, there was a mournful wind that carried a hint of sadness on it. Elthas knew he was not alone, he could smell a distinctly feminine smell. Blood was there too, just a hint of it. Or maybe it had been many moons since he was last at the town where The Great Tree sat. Elthas's cloak danced about his person of it's own will. He stood there, tall and gracefully, his hood placed atop his head. A few moments passed before Elthas acknowledged the female traveler. Elthas, turned his attention towards her, his gaze hidden by the shadow that covered his face. For a moment, a flash of Hylda's face filled his mind when he looked at the woman's face. Elthas sighed. A couple of moments passed as he observed the stranger, she had a bow and several other visible weapons. But there was something else...hidden in her eyes. Something darker...something that interested Elthas deeply.

Elthas spoke. "You are far from Radasanth my lady." Elthas's voice was confident and heavily accented with the baritones of the Elves. "What brings you here?" Elthas asked. The pond reflected the shadowy form of the wraith. Even the water seemed to reject Elthas and his reflection was gnarled and hideous looking somehow. Elthas spoke again. "I was just singing something my people used to sing..." Elthas said. "Was thinking about the past." The wraith spoke surprisingly calmly. He did not attack, or attempt to harm the woman. Instead, he merely longed for company...companionship. The last person he'd called friend was the Human Mage named John Winshire. He passed away a few months prior. The man's death weighed heavily on Elthas's heart. Elthas did something at that point. He lowered his hood so the woman could see the spectral state he was currently in.

His handsome face stared at her from beyond the abyss.

His blue eyes glowed with a certain sadness, and at that point his face appeared very calm and relaxed.

He had platinum coloured hair that was quite long and shiny even in death.

His body was in a state of constant flux, being a spectral form.

He wore a fedora hat that was tailored in the fashion style of old Radasanth...hundreds of years prior.

Elthas's true age was lost with the sands of time.

His intense blue eyes observed the woman carefully...Elthas was not sure if she was a threat or not just yet.

"I do not mean you any danger." Elthas said carefully. "If you could please lower your weapon...I'd appreciate that." Elthas said. He kept his eyes locked on the beautiful woman, his mind focused on her. He thought of Hylda Terrentius oft those nights. He wondered how life would have been had he saved her. It's too late now....she died a long time ago. Elthas thought to himself. The Wraith kept noticing the dangerous something that was in the woman's gaze. He wasn't sure what it was...only that it was there. Dangerous. And hungry. And yet...there was something else there too. Elthas would wait and see what the night's events would bring him. The events of the past few months were still on his mind. He thought carefully of the battle against Theo Terrentius. Those events still disturbed him deeply...but he had survived. That's what counted the most. Those events had placed him in the current situation for better or worse...