"Uh... Hello?" Marcus approached closer.
He took another step closer, and more people began staring at him as if noticing his arrival just now. "Hello," Anne and Seren echoed his greeting. The humans stayed silent, barely looking at him.
"Are you going to hurt us?"
Finally, after a long pause, the group collectively shook their heads, and Marcus spoke up, "We won't hurt you."
"Thank you." Anne whispered to Marcus; she was happy that Marcus wasn't resorting to violence.
One of the men rose to his feet and stepped forward. Marcus recoiled slightly, ready for action. "You shouldn't be here," the man declared.
"Why? We wanted to find shelter," Anne insisted with confusion in her tone.
"If you stay long enough, you will be torn to shreds."
"What?" Marcus muttered.
The man sighed. "This settlement, it's barely clinging onto life. If you stayed with us... bad things are going to happen." He turned his gaze away, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
The others in the circle nodded solemnly in agreement. Marcus stepped back again. "What is going to happen? You can tell us," he demanded.
No one answered, only silence met his inquiry as they continued watching him cautiously. After some time, an old woman stood up. She pointed a finger towards the smoke that still filled the air above their heads and coughed as it grew stronger.
"The Gods have brought this world to ruin... there is nothing left to look forward to."
"What? I don't understand."
The woman just continued to stare ahead, her gaze blank and vacant.
"Listen! I know we haven't met before, but I'm Anne!" The Elyndran woman smiled.
Everyone looked at her questioningly and after some minutes passed the woman continued.
"Anne Ru'Mari." She spoke in an odd voice.
A pale expression ran down her face. "H-How do you know my full name?" Anne blurted out before catching herself.
The elderly woman leaned closer, looking directly into the Elyndran's eyes. She tilted her head as her lips pulled into an unsettling grin. "That's a secret." She chuckled while moving closer to Anne.
"Who are you!?" Seren cried out, shocked by the response.
The old woman leaned further in, sniffing deeply the Elyndran. "What are you doing?" Anne shouted angrily at her sudden actions and tried backing away.
"Oh my... it's such an honor to meet you child, so lovely and sweet smelling."
The stranger said while gently touching the alien's cheeks, caressing its soft smooth skin with her fingertips, but also firmly pulling Anne in closer so her eyes wouldn't wander. "I can see your future." The old crone spoke.
"Oh yeah? And what do you see?"
"Something bad, a terrible event awaits for the whole world. Your future, and your friends' lives... all in grave peril."
Anne instantly froze as a shiver shot down her spine like ice.
"Nonsense!" Seren snapped while shaking off his confusion.
"What do you mean? How is that possible?" Marcus exclaimed as he began pacing around in a circle trying to process what she had said.
"She's lying; there's no way she can predict the future. Who does she think she is?"
"But what if she is right?" Anne questioned quietly.
Seren glared at him and huffed a sigh of disappointment.
"It's true..." The witch added smiling again, this time with her lips cracked open wide and revealing a sharp set of teeth.
Anne glanced over at Marcus, waiting to find his answer. He answered while glaring at the group. "We shouldn't have come here."
"Does this event have to do with all the environmental anomalies that are happening?" Anne asked hesitantly, her voice full of concern and sadness at her discovery.
"Unfortunately."
The elderly woman answered and then walked back towards the rest of her clan, still giving glances to Anne every couple steps, while murmuring incoherent phrases to herself. As the others looked at the creature in the middle of the circle of campers, they finally understood something, even when they could not explain it to anyone else: the world they knew had gone mad.
Marcus was silent as Anne sat there pondering if these words meant anything at all, whether they were right, and whether any good came from them. He started thinking about how nothing could prepare them for what was to come.
"Anne, I don't think we can trust them. Let's leave." Seren was unsure about everything he heard, confused, and scared.
"What choice do we have?
"Can I ask you all a favor?" the elderly woman interrupted suddenly.
"If you do this favor for us, we shall shelter you tonight." The witch announced.
"It depends on what you want us to do, I guess?" Marcus responded warily.
She nodded towards a makeshift bar, beckoning the newcomers over. Anne, Seren, and Marcus sat themselves at the nearest stools and listened. They heard stories and promises from the other villagers as she placed a glass of water in front of each of them and one of wine for herself.
"I always bring wine when traveling."
Marcus raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. The older woman stared into his eyes, grinning.
"Good! Now please listen closely..." the crone began, ignoring everyone's questions regarding their 'favor.'
"These events I speak of might not be so coincidental. They might indeed signify an end. An ending that could be foreseen and perhaps could be averted...if not stopped."
Marcus and his friends sat speechless listening to her, unable to tear themselves away from the conversation and realizing that somehow she seemed to know more than what she should.
They began pondering why this strange creature would give them the information that was needed or rather lead to certain questions that could possibly hold the solution to these problems that were plaguing the inhabitants of their world.
"How do you know all this information?" Seren asked with apprehension as he placed a hand on her shoulder, as he was not comfortable standing there in the dark.
The older woman scoffed softly. "Well, young man... I am merely the messenger. No one should worry too much. This fate, whatever it may be, isn't mine. I'm here only as a warning; however, I assure you that what will occur, is going to be bad and it may happen sooner than later."
"Tell me about the plan and what needs to be done. You know... this is really frightening us. I never expected anything like this in the slightest bit of imagination. What did humanity do to deserve this?" Anne inquired while the old lady lowered her head, shifting it upwards in an attempt to convey what lay beyond the veil.
The villagers listened closely, not saying much of anything since they've always relied upon her to do so.
"Well..." the old lady continued, "You see, young ones, there are many dark powers lurking beneath the surface of this planet, and there always has been."
"What are you saying...?" Anne looked quizzically while biting her lip nervously. "What kind of dark forces did we accidentally awaken?"