The Mist of Halemburry...

[Ayithe Solete]

((Closed Me and Kaiserin only))

The mayor watched terrified from the small window in the watch tower with both his guards peering across beside him. The horse trotted carefully down the small hill and into the thick mist while its courageous rider sat tall in plated armour from head to toe. Bearing a large titanium shield in his left arm it was decorated in his family crest of a dragon being lanced by a horseman. In his other arm he held a lengthy long sword, a hilt made from silver with a fine blade of stainless steel sharpened to perfection. He pulled his helmet down over his face and raised his shield up to chest height as he ventured further into the mist leaving himself at partial view from his spectators. The grass was all moist but the ground remained hard with few puddles while the trees swayed ever so slightly in the light wind leaving minor creaks from the branches to fill the air with distractions.
A light roar trembled the ground like earth itself feared this creature unsettling the horse as it wavered to one side, its eyes frantically glanced left to right, left to right in hope of spotting what it was. Gently the knight patted the horse on its neck and rubbed its mane back and forth to calm it, the horse remained startled but its owners comfort was enough to keep it moving forward. He tapped his sword on his armoured leg and shouted out into the mist as he passed a small crumbled wall, which appeared very old as the rest of the building it was connected to lay in ruins on the floor giving him a very hard surface to move about on.

“Where are you, you bastard!”

Moving around the ruined building another roar emanated from the mist causing the horse to once again frantically dash to one side, the knight shouted to it as it began an attempt to run into the trees. Pulling hard on the reigns the horse took two steps and paused again as the rider regained control once more. Now realising this was something bigger than he first believed the knight tapped once more on his leg creating a large clanging sound to attract the beast, the description of an over sized white tiger had been given to him. It had always been exaggerated but never before had he seen his horse as unsettled as it was now. A slight rustling of the bushes in front of him grabbed his instant attention and holding his sword high he pulled back to arch his horse into a two footed stance as he shouted out and charged his horse forward.

“Charge!”

The horse instantly went into a full sprint as the knight brought back his sword into a full swing ready to swipe at what ever was to reveal itself to him. The closer he got the more the bushes rustled until upon engagement a large tiger looking creature dived out of the mist around the bush and on its back sat a large man armed to the teeth. His eyes opened wide as it entered his view, the tigers claws released and with its open mouth and went straight for his horse taking them instantly to ground. The horse cried out in pain as it was tore apart in front of its owner’s eyes and he desperately graded himself out from underneath the horse’s fast becoming carcass. Getting to his feet in horror he picked up his dropped sword and tried to swing for his enemy rider.
The loss of his horse was tragic but he was courageous none the less and would avenge his horse with all his might. A large arched swing clashed against the rear of the rider but his sword bounced off him as if he were rubber. No scream came from the rider and he simply hopped off to the floor anticipating the knight’s next swing knocking it clean away again. Feeling like his attempts were useless he was simply kicked backwards onto the ground. The moist ground began to become very slippy for him as he scrambled across the floor to get away, yet the stalking enemy simply walked behind him without worry that he might escape. Making one last ditch effort he threw his sword at the unknown assailant and made a quick dash back towards the hill. Panicking he ran past the building and past a few trees but appeared to get lost in the mist as he eventually couldn’t see a thing around him. Almost spinning around in circles he glanced around him now having no clue where he was. Breathing more with panic than actually being out of breath the sound of footsteps approached behind him and through the mist charge the rider upon his creature once more.
Without being able to do anything the rider leaned from its side and sliced down across the knight ripping through his steel armour with ease. Dropping to the ground in pain he clenched his chest and pulled off his helmet knowing it was over he wanted a proper view of his opponent. Looking across the figure appeared holding its sword above its head. The words “Death for Frehier!” came from its mouth before it drove its sword down through his chest. Slowly the knight keeled over to his death and the mist engulfed the area once more and it dropped silent.

The mayor sat in terror only hearing the cry from the knight as he died and the same words which he heard every time. “Death for Frehier!” Another knight had failed and the mayor sat in fear for another night unable to see what had happened because of the mist. As he sat thinking a voice shouted up to the watch tower, and the Mayor leaned out of the entrance of the watch tower to see who it was.

“Mr Gallow! It’s another one sir!”

The mayor looked down to see another one of the town guards holding a horse, it was the same horse that had entered the mist with the knight on its back. Seemingly unharmed at all the guard had managed to calm it down and the mayor looked on worried of what might come.

-2 days later-

“Thanks for the lift!” Ayithe shouted to the driver of the wagon. She hopped off carefully to the road as the wagon carried on through town. Wearing her usual attire Darkling skin clothes and boots the match, with her disk blades always on view hanging from her side she looked the part of a real travelling fighter having almost no other baggage. Ayithe had managed to get a ride to this town as she travelled across the country, always looking for a new challenge she had slept on the wagon over night and woken up in time to stop off at the small village of Halemburry for something to eat. The local population was about fifty people mainly farmers and mill workers with only one pub/ restaurant in the entire of the village. It was a strange place upon first inspection, the surround fields and moors were covered in mist and four watch towers covered the four points of the village, north, east, south and west. Ayithe wondered why a small farming village needed this and kept a causcious mind as she walked about. The surrounding buildings all looked like this place wasn’t earning that much money as a majority of the buildings were old and poorly made. Yet even more confusing was the materials used were expensive to buy, as if maybe this place had flourished once and not been touched since. Walking straight up the main road through the village the pub wasn’t hard to find with its large hanging sign stretching into the road.

“Hello.” A local said as he walked past Ayithe, she replied and smiled, her first impressions of this place were rather confusing but at least the locals seemed nice people. Ayithe stepped up quickly on the raised wooden floor by the pub and walked up to the door. Her stomach rumbled almost begging her to get food and she proceeded through the door looking straight for the barman. Various people sat about in the pub, yet they looked like they were all downhearted. Ayithe immediately thought they were drunk, this place had really gone down the dumps as far as she could tell yet the barman wasn’t so down hearted as she approached him.

“A fighter are we? I can tell from your gear.” He said rather quickly into assumption.

“Yes,” Ayithe replied. “I was wondering if I could have something to eat?”

The barman pointed up to a caulk board with various food menus on. They hung either side of the bar and Ayithe scanned through looking for something interesting.

“Travelled from far?” He asked her.

“O no, I just travel everywhere, I don’t have a place I stay at for long.” She replied still reading the caulk board.

“I see, but your s skilled fighter though?” He asked again, hooked on facts about her being a fighter.

Why are you so interested in me being a fighter…

“…Yeah I guess so, I just travel about looking for anything that I can use to establish myself. I do it for my father, he was a great fighter in his day, too old now I try to follow in his footsteps.”

“Nice, hey if you want I already have a beef meal ready. It’s rather common here.”

Ayithe paused for a moment then turned to face him, he had been stood staring at her as she had been reading the menu.

“Yeah I’ll give that a try.”

With that he nodded and headed into the back Ayithe turned around and leaned against the bar as she looked about the pub tables. A few people looked up at her with the corner of their eyes, while others were blatant and just stared as if she were an alien. Ayithe decided to turn back away from them, something was strange about this place and Ayithe decided that she wasn’t going to stay here that long to find out what. The barman came back through the door to the bar holding a plate and placed it in front of her, Ayithe held out a few pennies and dropped them in his hand and quickly he counted them before she moved away from the counter.

“Anything else?”

“No thanks, “Ayithe replied. “I’m just having this them moving on.”

She sat back down and proceeded to make haste on the beef steak she had received. It tasted great, Ayithe hadn’t eaten for the days ride with the wagon and this was just delicious.

at last, something great about this place.

She managed to get half way through before deciding she may need a drink too and got up to go to the bar. Taking barely one step everyone stood up as a loud amount of noise came from the outside, two horses had come charging back into the village and looking across the pub and out of the window Ayithe watched as a group of four men quickly got a hold of them. Lightly armoured they must have been guards from the watch towers surrounding the village, the horses looked freaked and took a few minutes to calm down. Ayithe walked slowly to the door of the pub forgetting about her meal back at the table, she walked outside and watched them as they checked them out. The horses weren’t scratched but trailing behind them was the front of the wagon which had been torn free as the horses escaped from what ever they were running from. A man with a more upper dressed suit on walked across with two guards either side of him, and was hailed by the two guards who had caught the horses.

“Mr Gallow, these are the horses from that wagon that just passed through, we had warned him but he ignored us sir.” The first guard exclaimed to the suited man.

“Alright,” He said sighing “Might as well take them to the stables, there’s not much else we can do.”

I arrived on that wagon…

Ayithe stood in shock unsure of if she should ask about the driver. Although it was pretty clear he was dead, but how and why was something Ayithe wasn’t sure she wanted to know as she stood thinking about what was actually going on. Slowly she entered the pub again and a few faces turned her way yet again while the rest returned back to their seats and started muttering about various occurrences. Ayithe managed to hear a few comments but none that revealed anything in particular, most of it was likely to be fairy tale, too many old men and women would gossip and spread myths but at this moment Ayithe was taking in anything she could as she sat back down at her table. A few comments claiming there was a beast, others would say a swordsman but it was all varied yet most were people were quiet about it, accept for one man who stood up shouting like a mental patient and climbed onto the table much to the disapproval of his friends.

“Those horses aren’t real! I swear to you! They are of the creature, I know I survived! I saw my horse get eaten, then my partner killed and yet I saw my horse here after I had got away. Kick them out of town, they aren’t real horses!”

The man was rather frantic and knocked a few drinks off the table as his friends rather embarrassed grabbed him and helped him down. Whispering and sitting him back down with another drink.

I’ve got to ask what’s going on…Maybe the barman knows…

[Kaiser]

Maybe it was time to invest in some kind of mode of transport, an Airship! Yeah one of those would be nice to own, maybe she could get one in the next town? Or not as she knew that getting one is next to impossible and cost much more than what she would probably ever see in her life time. Dusk sighed to herself, walking down endless roads was considered good exercise for endurance, but the fun factor crashed through the floor, so Dusk was really not enjoying this hike. She then thought of other things, just as long as it made the walk go faster. She thought of her current social status, that was currently non existent, she currently had zero friends, and her father was off doing who knows what while the only person she called call family was not as far away, but he was still a stranger. Her thoughts were suddenly shattered with the cry of a horse, of cause because she was travelling in the middle of the road she automatically leapt to the side before turning around. “Move out of the way!” said the wagon driver; he was way past his sell by date that was for sure, not to mention he was more moody than a dragon with a splinter in its tongue.

Dusk ignored these facts and saw something else with this man, A Free Ride! Dusk immediately began walking along side the wagon looking at the driver who in turn chose to ignore the young silvet. “Hey mister … could you give me a lift, I have been walking all day and I don’t know if the next town is close” “Nope” he responded rather quickly, to quickly infact for Dusk to judge fair “Aww come on … why not” she asked sweetly enough but that wasn’t her strong point, and the driver spurred on to make the horse travel faster. Dusk stopped , surprised at how rude this man was and so gritted her teeth in agitation before she yelled out “At least tell me how far it is to the next town!” but by then the driver was out of ear shot of the silvet who cursed her luck, still nothing else could go wrong this day, right?

Four hours, that’s how long it took, four hours since that man had ignored her leaving her to continue on foot for the rest of the day, the sky had made a dramatic change too, she had clearly noticed it was sunny before, but now there was nothing but a sea of endless grey clouds overhead. Not only that but as soon as she saw that next Town in sight there was something off, it had halted her almost instantly as that strange sense came over her again. Magic, this place was flowing with it, but even still to her it was so faint that it was barley noticeable, like it was trying to hide something, still with all her wisdom Dusk settled upon the idea that a group of wizards had passed through a set a charm on the town, or something like that.

Yet within the town itself everything seemed normal enough, villagers walked about there daily routines, and infact it seemed kind of friendly, as one of the towns people bid a hello to her as he walked past. It made the whole magical feeling seem like a crazy feeling so she dismissed it as that sense was on the Fritz. ‘ I better get some supplies … or I am going to be in a lot of trouble the next time I decide to take a hike ’ Dusk concluded before walking around the town.

Dusk heard a cry of a horse again, and like before she turned her attention to it, her mouth nearly dropped open as she looked towards the stables, sure there were horses, there pretty common, but either these ones were as good as multiplication as rabbits were, or some had gotten really lucky in a few bets. “Holy ----“Dusk turned to the nearest person waking within the stables “How much for a horse!” she yelped with excitement, if her hunch was correct then maybe the owner would sell one at a reduced price, its not like on will make the difference. A Weary man turned to look at her and with a long face he sighed before answering “There not for sale” “Huh” dusk was a little surprised, but more confused than anything “Why not? There are loads here” the man shrugged and looked at them “we honestly don’t know what to do, considering that there owners are dead” Dusk frowned, it was … well that just sounded strange.

“Dead?” she asked with the simple word, the man nodded before leaning on the fence between him and the silvet, who was wagging her tail with curiosity “Yeah dead, whenever someone tries to leave, something seems to hunt them down and kill them, only there horses seem to return, and something in town thinks that the horses are undead too” Dusk frowned, did that mean that they were trapped in this town, but still she had entered without any hassle at all. “What about people arriving” the man seemed gloomy “they arrive without a scratch, like yourself, but this place is becoming a little crowded, you would be lucky to get a place to sleep tonight” Dusk could not help but chuckle at that despite the tension that had been built up “I am getting used to that”, dusk then gave the horses one last glance “Not for sale eh? Very well, I will c’ya around or something” the man also bid her good buy before he returned back to managing the stables as dusk turned to leave in search of either more answers, or the shops.

“What do you mean I can’t leave!” an old man shouted attracting quite the attention between him and the town guards, and to Dusks amusement it was the same wagon driver from before “Hey, serves you right” the driver looked over and seemed to seethe with anger, it was rather amusing, as Dusk left the man to curse anything he wanted, Dusk inevitably stepped into a bar and inn, and cut her way straight towards the bar, she was intent on getting a drink and something to eat, “Yo barkeep” she called out flicking one of the scarf trails behind her. He walked over and nodded to her in acknowledgment “how about … a nice cool drink” he shrugged and looked at the stack of his drinks “Take your pick” Dusk looked around and pointed to one that had caught her eye, the barman raised a brow to Dusk thinking her mad “If you have that your going to knock yourself out” Dusk only grinned “All the more reason … hit me!” she said with fake enthusiasm, it seemed that even hearing a kooky story, she didn’t believe in it.

“So what brings you all the way out here” He asked when he set the drink down before Dusk, “Same thing as everyone else … passing through, if there’s a job available that isn’t crazy I will take it” the bartender them seemed to grow confused “You’re a fighter?” he asked unsure if she was joking, yet she nodded. That just seemed odd, she had no weapons on her, none visible anyway, so it was easy to understand why the barkeeper was confused, who would ever thing that she wielded a blade as long as five feet, just shorter than herself, and then Dusk went to drown in her drink.

[Ayithe Solete]

Ayithe stood back up while the group of men picked up the frantic man and walked him out of the pub. Ayithe watched wondering what on earth had drove him that crazy in the head. She decided to head to the barman who once again greeted her accordingly, although seeing her concerned face this time he sighed knowing full well she was going to ask the same question that many others had before her.

“Well I guess you wanna know what that was all about.”

“Yes I do, if there’s something about this place don’t you think people should be sorting it instead of acting like nothings going on?” Ayithe replied rather annoyed.

“Well take a seat, here’s a free drink.” He said beginning to pour her a mug of flavoured water. “For six weeks the mist has formed and slowly surrounded this town, since then it’s moved closer and closer, allowing people to enter yet not leave.” Pausing he handed her the mug and continued to talk. Ayithe could tell by the look in his eyes that he was worried by just talking about the situation. “I’m afraid there’s not much else I can tell you. Although there’s suppost to be a village meeting tonight at eight, if you head to the village centre for that time, maybe you will find someone out.”

Ayithe immediately turned away taking a quick sip of her drink. Feeling a bit unsettled she placed the mug back down and walked out the pub door, receiving her usual look from the remaining pub dwellers she stepped out through the door. The risen wooden floor creaked as she walked across the front of the pub and onto the main road. At the bottom of the road the two horses had were being taken presumably to the stables, glancing o her side Ayithe spotted the remaining part of the coach, it had become more like a mobile battering ram. The two smaller wheels at the front were still connected to the crossing panels of wood which had snapped off creating a large spike like a battering ram.

Alright, you now have my attention…I guess I’ve got to stat finding out how I can get out of here.

Ayithe wasn’t going to sit around until it was too late, dying didn’t really interest her and first thing first she had to figure out somewhat for herself what was going on. Deciding to head after the horses she made her way down the path, it seemed that the village had quickly become derelict than a graveyard. Everyone just disappeared after each attack as if being out in the open meant they would be next. Ayithe came to the turning where they left the main road. She stopped and looked down the remainder of the road, the mist was slowly closing in on the surrounding houses of the village it only looked a matter of time before they would be engulfed. Ayithe thought about it for a moment until moving on down the side path still looking down the road a small the sound of a child crying quickly filled her ears. She turned just in time to catch a little boy who came running into her at full speed. Almost kneeing him in the head he was only small and she knelt down to his level as she grabbed her leg in tears.

“Jack! Jack where are you?” A voice shouted. It appeared to be coming from the house behind her. It was a bit of a wreak with various pots and pans just left outside on the porch way. A rather young lady came out, she wasn’t very clean and her old tatty clothes showed her lack of income. She waded through the trash outside her house and straight up to Ayithe.

“Jack, will you stop running off like that…” She began to pick up the child and Ayithe stood back up as she stopped little jack from crying. “Sorry about that miss, I guess you’re a sign our messenger made it through the mist? It’s been weeks you know, waiting for someone to come take down the creature that’s been stopping us from continuing our lives.”

Ayithe almost took a step back, clearly the high hopes here were for some sort of savour and although she would do what she could she didn’t see herself as a savour. The lady looked at Ayithe’s expression and then looked rather embarrassed.

“Your not are you…?”

“I’m sorry,” Ayithe replied. “I was just passing through, I’ve been forced to stay here too.”

“Well I’m sorry to have bothered you miss, and excuse me for being rude. My names Andrea, yours?”

“Ayithe, my name’s Ayithe. It’s not a bother, I’m sure I’ll do what I can to help here, but I was never sent.”

“Well I hope you can, because I’m not moving. If its my destiny to die in this house ten I’ll die here. This is my home, this is my son and I can’t make a living else where. Hopefully you can do something miss because some of us can’t do any better. I’ll see you around then maybe, but I have things to do so and I’m sure you have also.”

“Yeah, be seeing you.” Ayithe hadn’t realised a messenger had been sent, he obviously hadn’t got through because she hadn’t seen anyone pass by on her ride into town and there was only one road passing through.

“To think,” Andrea shouted. “Just when we had a chance to be rich…shows how evil this world really is.”

The shut door right after her sentence and Ayithe didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant. A little confused but more clear on the situation at hand Ayithe walked on, the horses were well out of sight by now and Ayithe felt the faint drops of rain on her arms, looking into the sky the black clouds had quickly shadowed the town and the down pour was going to start. Ayithe sighed, although she loved her attire keeping her dry wasn’t one of its benefits of wearing it.

Those clouds are pretty dark…its gonna down pour I know it…

Ayithe quickly rushed down the path hoping to spot the stables somewhere along the road hoping she could avoid the downfall of rain which was beginning to fall on her.

[Kaiser]

“Eh… aren’t you done?” The bartender asked looking at dusk, she seemed unfazed by the drink, typical silvet, she was going to have to consume a lot more than a normal person to get drunk, still she has lasted pretty good against the guy who saw her drinking and decided to challenge her, he was currently out cold against the bar. “Yeah … I suppose I am … Gonna waist too much money if I keep drinking like this” The barkeep shrugged then looked at the man passed out “He said he was paying right?” Dusk nodded remembering the fools words “oh yeah, still, I don’t want to make the guy bankrupted” the barkeeper laughed merely before giving the man a poke, he barely responded to the prodding.

“Still … what is there to do around here … what kind of shop is there?” Dusk asked leaning forwards, although the bar was not deafening she was indeed curious about what there was in this small village. “All the real shops of interest have all run out of stock, what with the crisis this towns in and all” Ehh, more of this crack pot story, Dusk frowned, that was not good news, “…Is there any way to get some supplies?” She asked but the barkeeper frowned “I suppose I could sell you some of my stock, but it ain’t cheap” Another prospect Dusk did not like, “How much?” “Well, it looks like were in for the long run, so I would say about, 300 gold pieces should cover it, but then again, I should be smart and not sell any of my stock” 300 gold pieces eh? Damn, she did not have enough, not that kind of money and she would never pay 300 gold pieces for a basic pack of supplies, which was just outrageous. “Hope you don’t mind … but I would rather slit my throat than pay that” Dusk sighed to herself watching as a stranger hollered over the barkeeper in order to buy a drink.

‘ Maybe there is something going on in town … then again do you want to poke your nose into something like this? ’ were her thoughts as she stared at her reflection in her drink, the slight movements of the bar made it ripple, distorting the image carefully, Dusk found it amusing that while she did this, she could question her own way of thinking, to decide on a course of action. ‘Who are you’ her mind asked, ‘are you The Loner who will not get herself involved with the situation of others?’ she asked one way, although it was only her to judge, she thought her own mind’s voice to be mocking. ‘…or, do you go around asking what’s wrong and try to solve this towns problems, including the kitten in the tree’ She smiled at the concept of herself helping a kitten stuck in a tree, the silly thought did not linger as her answer came ‘Face it Seri your already involved with this town problems, all you have to do is decide how you want to approach this ’ Although her reasoning was sound and she had agreed to it she just had one question for her subconscious … Seri? An interesting Nickname taken for her full name Kaiserin, it was so stupid, why the hell had she referred to herself as Seri? Still it was batter than Kai. She could never live having the same name as her father, it caused too much trouble.

“hey barkeep” she hollered, patiently waiting for him to finish a conversation with another customer, eventually he came over, and Dusk pushed her drink aside, a gesture to show she was serious and he seemed to pick up on it “Tell me … who knows what’s going on around here the best?” The barkeeper leaned against the bar and seemed to think for a moment, “I guess … anyone who lives here, then again, if I recall there is going to be another town meeting at eight” Dusk frowned an leaned back letting her tail flow in front of her to counter the weight “Town meetings are boring” she complained but did not help notice the barkeeper’s eyes on her tail, this would be the first time someone really noticed it in a while “Not human, I know, I am a Silvet … well ok I am part human” She said leaning forwards noticing how distracted her had become. “err, yeah whatever … sorry no offence miss, I don’t usually see a tail on someone who isn’t … well you get my drift” Dusk smiled and took no offence “Drift taken, the names Dusk by the way” the barkeeper laughed out then “My, such a popular nick name you have … well ok Dusk, if you really want to know what’s going on then go talk to old Maya, she lives close to the east entrance, pretty much on her own” he stopped for a moment as Dusk inclined “old Maya?” and he nodded in response “Ay, she is not as young as she used to be, but she does keep her eye out, but no one ever wants to talk to her, she can be a little strange”

“Right, I will find out what I can” the barkeeper shook his head “Ehh, wait a second … Your still young right … don’t get involved, let someone else handle this mess” Dusk could not help but grin as she got out of her chair, and looking back over he shoulder, she just had the urge to say a classic one liner “Ah, but I am someone else” Dusk mustered up all her will power to keep her face straight, she even had to bite her own tongue as she left the bar. Stepping into the street, her ears greeted the curing of the man once again, but she ignored him mostly as she pointed north, recalling in her mind which way the compass would point, it was tricky, and she had to look at her surroundings, the position of the sun … no good that was hidden by the dark clouds, Rain eh? So she turned to the next big clue, a tree, no good this was mostly a dusty old town. So last but not least she did the next best thing to mystic arts and skills … “Excuse me … which way is it to Old Maya’s?” she asked a nearby town guard, he was a little surprised, but he pointed her in the right direction.

As Dusk made her way to the East side of town she could not help but notice several travelling warriors such as herself stuck in this situation, mostly were Mercenaries, an interesting life they must lead, Dusk however had done a few jobs, that was how she got the 100 gold pieces before arriving in Althanas, they were small jobs, and the mercenary within her just didn’t call out. Self reflection rules for passing the time away, she looked up and could see the old house that had been pointed as her destination, ‘Old Maya’s’ still this prospect seemed like a lost course to begin with, Dusk was not even sure she wanted to truly get involved, she could see her future, and it involved swinging that sword of hers, but what opponent, well she could not begin to guess.

Her feet trotted heavily on the dusty road as specs of rain casually dotted the ground, she walked up to the wooden house and hesitated before knocking. Was this truly worth it, a meaningless prize such as helping out townspeople, Her eyes then turned to the exit of town, wondering if this was just a joke, and if it wasn’t she would take her chances. Bah, Dusk was starting to hate these kind of decisions, too bad it wasn’t like fighting, all you had to do there was concentrate in your own safety, and at the end of it you either take there life or they will take yours, thinking seemed so simple, but she was distracting herself from the point, the door, all she had to do was knock and talk. “… What the hell” and she knocked on the door three times.

[Ayithe Solete]

The soft soiled roads weren’t constructed with any rocks or side pits to help against the rain and they quickly turned into the gooey dirty muddy road. Ayithe darted down the road side and surely enough could see the stables, the owner seemed to be out of sight but Ayithe continued to pursue him into the stables. The large over hanging patio was roofed in plated platinum, it seemed so expensive for just stables but covered in moss and grime it appeared badly maintained or considerably old. Ayithe quickly hopped onto the patio and walked along it until she came to the arched gateway. Made bolted together with large pieces of timber which had lost its colour, merely a shadow of its former self. A sign swung gently in the wind above it, “Halemburry Stables” was written across it. Barely visible after being worn down by the weather, Ayithe entered through the gates with a slight creak from the hinges and a screech as the door scratched the stone pathway into the stables. The inner courtyard was all cobbled and the horse stables lay in rows along the out side of the building. Ayithe looked around unable to see anyone as the puddles began to grow in the cobbled yard.

“Hello?” A voice shouted across the yard.

Ayithe turned to the calling voice to see the man who had escorted the horses to the stables. He was rather tall with a dust covered white shirt and black pants, he approached her jogging across the yard carrying a rake still with bits of straw stuck in it.

“Hi,” Ayithe replied with a smile. “I was wondering if you could help me at all.”

“Well I’d be happy to miss. I can see you’re not from around here.” His voice was very deep, and Ayithe immediately spotted the lisp with the s in his words..

“Yeah, it’s been really confusing since I’ve arrived. I’ve heard a few things, seen their results and no one so far seems to be able to tell me what’s exactly going on in this town.”

“Well,” He replied suspiciously, “Why do you wanna know so much?”

“I’m a travelling fighter, I don’t plan on being stuck here. So I was hoping if I can find out what’s going on in this place, I can help.”

“Its hard on everyone here you know, everyone knows the gist, there’s something out there in the mist and it killing anyone who tries to leave. Your not the first one you know, there’s no point in trying to be a hero…” He said rolling his eyes.

“I’m not trying to be” Ayithe said a little shocked by his comment. His tone had changed as if he believed there wasn’t a point anymore. “You may not care for leaving this place Mr?”
“Gerdland, Jack Gerdland.”

“Well Jack, You may not care, but I don’t like being controlled in my life and if I want to leave I shall leave. So if you have anything to tell me let me know now, or I’m leaving…”

“Whoa, hold your horses miss. Forgive me for not sounding amused by your entrance but I’ve seen some pretty tough looking warriors come here and I’ve not seen a man return yet.”

“Let me inform you of one thing then Mr Gerdland. I am not a warrior, especially not a man and believe me when I find out what’s going on, that is with or without your negativity I will sort this problem and I shall not be returning either.”

With that Ayithe turned away and headed straight for the gate with long firm strides. The horse keeper she now knew as Jack paused to watch her exit to the gate, his eyes perversely staring at her behind as the droplets of ran began to run down her face.

“Look!” He shouted, “If it helps, every horse that’s gone out there has returned untouched. Maybe it’s a clue, if you really want to find out anything the Mayor and his group are hosting a town meeting before the end of the day. Go to that you’ll have some answers.”

Ayithe stopped as he spoke, listening carefully she hadn’t found anything out of major importance but it was confusing to why every horse had returned and the old man claiming they were from the devil confused her. Ayithe stepped back out under the patio and watched as the rain lightly poured on the surrounding buildings. The put was big enough to be spotted from where she was stood and she glanced about the buildings until spotting a sundial. The solid granite built sundial was useless to tell the time while the clouds covered the sky and Ayithe merely watched the rain run off it into a large puddle by its platform. Staring into the puddle in thought the murky water slowly began to clear up, Ayithe watched confused as a figure slowly began o appear in the water. Her entire attention was drawn towards the image as it slowly cleared up until a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

Ayithe shrugged off the hand and spun around. It was Jack, he backed off holding his hands in the air as she had placed her hand quickly onto her Disk Blade.

“Whoa, chill…you were in a trance there…” He exclaimed.

“Sorry,” Ayithe said removing her hand from her weapon. “I was lost in thought…”

“Well I only wanted to let you know that if there’s anyone who knows anything, it’s the Town elders. They run the town with the Mayor, its Old Maya, Old Birk and Sir Hannen. They are making speeches in a little while down town, but if you’re quick enough you’ll catch one of them before hand. Old Maya’s is not far down the road, it’s the big house on the right, you can’t miss it.”

Ayithe smiled back, “Thanks” feeling he was more appreciative of her now she shook his hand and proceeded to pass through the light rain heading up the road. It was a little more of an uphill walk this time after heading down from the pub and Ayithe took her time avoiding slipping on the stones on the way up. The trickles of rain water ran down the hill as she wandered upwards towards the old Lady’s house. Keeping an eye out for the house she passed a small broken coupe, badly damaged with no roof it looked as though it had been raided with the chickens stolen. Ayithe sighed as even this town could be full of thieves while it was in distress.

[Kaiser]

“And how may I help you young miss”

Dusk wickedly shook her own hair, shaking most of the water out but also leaving her hair seemingly spikier than it usually appeared. The old Lady had pretty much invited her in as soon as the door was open, a gesture Dusk was thankful for, under the current condition of this small village, she also guessed that fear was also making these people kinder, or rather, more timid.

“Old Maya?” Dusk asked first, figuring there would be little point to talking to someone who was not who she wanted to talk to. Old Maya simply answered by nodding her head, as she returned to what activity she was doing before being interrupted by a surprise guest.

“That’s me, I am not quite as young as I used to be … but who might you be, are you another traveller who has gotten stuck in the village?” Now it was Dusks turn to nod, she nodded at her situation at least while at the same time examined what the old Woman was doing, tending to plants, Dusk smiled at the ‘cute’ little hobby.

“Ay, I got trapped here, the names Kaiserin, but I am also called Dusk to a few people. Anyway, I heard you know more about what’s going on than most of the people around here” Old Maya stopped what she was doing and looked back with weary old eyes, she seemed almost sad, no like she had seen this several times already. “Your just like the ones before you, so young, until an army gets here I am afraid we are all stuck here”

Not an answer Kaiserin was hoping for, a lot shorter than she expected too, her surprise was reflected in her face, including her tail which seemed still and dead at the moment. “Yeah, but, What is going on, exactly, people enter this so Called Mist, they get killed and only there horse comes back” Kaiserin had spread her arms explaining what she had heard, and judging from the soft smile on old Maya’s lips, she had a feeling that she had just answered herself.

“Yes … that is pretty much the situation at the moment” old Maya confirmed for the silvet, who had sighed at that little moment of stupidity. Kaiserin playfully brushed her hand through her hair again, a sure sign that she was thinking things through carefully “Look, not that I recommend, but if you truly wish to do something then come to the town meeting later today, maybe you will learn something or other, or maybe you could find others to assist you if you want to take action.”

‘ I have to wait now, that’s just peachy ’ Kaiserin thought for a moment. But she also knew that thinking that would not change a thing, nor would it speed time up “Would you like to help me tend to my plants?” Old Maya asked it was enough to make Kaiserin smile; it really had been some time since people had been this nice. “Thanks … but I am going to go around town and get some more points of views, then I have to decide if I want to do anything … err … thank you for having me as your guest” Kaiserin felt silly, she had not been in her house for longer than 15 minuets, and already she was getting ready to leave.

“Its ok” the old lady said, then she kindly saw Kaiserin off, she had even offered the silvet a small snack to eat and again she kindly declined. Kaiserin stepped back outside into the rain, rain, why did it have to start raining; so far this entire country wanted her wet in the rain. After sighing to no one Kaiserin started to walk forwards, she levelled her head and looked ahead to see a girl walking up to Old Maya’s. She was human, Brown hair, Green eyes. Clothed to attack every guys attention within a five mile radius too, but more than that, Kaiserin spotted her weapons, she was a fighter, and she too was caught up in this situation.

“Old Maya is a kind person, but she won’t speak about what is going on, if you want to find out there is supposed to be a meeting later on” She shared her information with the human girl as simple as that, there was no point for her to waist her time, none at all, she was like herself, in need of all the information she could get.

“… By any chance do you know what’s going on here?”

[Letho]

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