"Do not be afraid…"
An echoing voice called— warm and soothing to one's ears. A dream? Nay—
Natalak found himself somewhere in a different realm. Sitting, he looked down and saw it was all but water, clear as glass. But through the heavens was the universe itself— endless, and what stood in front of him was a seraph.
A glowing woman dressed in black cloth, with six wings extending from her back, two of which draped over her lower body. Interestingly, the angel's eyes were hidden— not with decorative metals or cloth, but with four feathers sprouting just above her ears. Her hair also shimmered; a mix of golden opal white. Despite the beauty, Natalak noticed the angel's face showed only a blank expression.
"W-who are you, and where am I?" Natalak asked as he tried to distance himself from the angel.
Barefoot, the lady then descended from the air, her feet touching the watery ground. As soon as her skin made contact, eyes appeared all over her wings, except on the ones on her head.
"Stand and fear not, Natalak." The angel spoke, arm extending at Natalak. "For no harm is within this place."
Canny, Natalak paused briefly before taking the lady's hand. Still, what caught his attention more was the hundreds of eyes blinking at different intervals. He tried to move in a certain direction, only for the eyes to narrowly follow his movement. And for some reason, something came from his mind—
"Should I try to—"
Natalak glanced repeatedly between the angel's face and her wings, feeling a strange discomfort at her appearance. And as he tried to poke one of the angel's eyes, Natalak hesitated.
"Can you do something with those eyes? Like make some illusion so that I can't see." Natalak pointed his fingers.
Unexpectedly, the angel closed the distance with lightning speed. Frozen by her action, the lady gently placed her hand on Natalak's cheeks.
"Hold still." The angel said as her hand cradled its way into Natalak's eyes.
With a slide of her fingers. Once the angel relinquished her hand, all of her six wings disappeared— except the four small wings that covered her eyes. And when she opened their distance, silence entered.
"Um… so… Um, is there a reason why I am here?"
"It is not I who drew you into this place. But you, yourself, were the one who came to this place."
"Me?" Natalak said, fingers pointing at himself.
The angel nodded; her hands clasped in front.
"Then who are you? Are you a demon in disguise or something, something?" Natalak measured.
It took a while for the angel to reply, but before that, she gave a faint smile at the traveller. "I am the burden that you've taken, Natalak."
"A what?" Natalak gave a smile. "Can you… give me some layman's terms?"
She answered not with words but with silence, leaving Natalak to ponder for another word.
"Do you have a name? Or a nickname? Something that I can perhaps call you."
"A name… is something that I cannot utter, Natalak. It is beyond my tongue. But a name from the language of mortals can be granted."
"Okay…how about Grace then?"
The angel nods slowly.
"So, Lady Grace… is there something important that I should be informed about?"
Grace lowered her gaze and gave a faint smile, but there was trouble behind it. "I don't know… the answer is not within me. But perhaps the road of time will reveal what you seek."
"Excuse me, what?" Natalak gave a goober expression. "I think asking more questions of this lady will lead me to more confusing words," Natalak added, eyes scouring the surroundings.
As silence quickly settled again, and Natalak continued to observe the angel with a strange expression. The longer he looked at her, the more captivated he became by her gaze— yet he sensed that the angel was also reading his mind.
"Jackpot…"
"You have a peculiar fondness for desire, Natalak." The angel smiled at him.
Natalak, caught in his thoughts, blushed with embarrassment and turned away.
"I hate my mind… I blame Lady Lavrish for that." Natalak scratched his head.
"It's the internet thing." He reasons. "I'm just having a thoughtful joke." He continued, still scratching his head.
Grace tithers: "And I tell you what, Natalak, I can see lies as clearly as any angels would."
"Oh?" Natalak's eyes widen. "Is there a way to return— from this realm?"
Not a single word was uttered; then Grace unveiled her wings covered with many eyes. With a powerful flap, she forced Natalak backwards, and the water that was supposed to be on the ground now flowed behind him. Feathers scattered like blown leaves, and once Natalak grabbed one, he was awoken, and already it was past sunrise. And from the outside, barn animals howl their hunger.
"What a strange drea—" Natalak paused when he realised the feather from his dream was on his hand. "Now this is getting weirder."
Natalak pondered for a few minutes before deciding to feed the animals and then return to the road. Once he'd crossed half a mile, he soon encountered wagons and only after he'd crossed another mile did he encounter civilians on their daily chores.
"What do you need?" One of the guards spoke when he saw Natalak approach.
"I'd like to report some plunder, good sir. I've come across a farmhouse just two miles from here—"
"Farmhouse?" The guard interrupts by raising his hand, just as he scrutinises the folks coming in and out of the stronghold.
Natalak nods.
"Let's discuss this somewhere else." The guard suggests after he lets out a tense sigh.
As Natalak is guided toward a certain headquarters, there in the centre of the teleportation stronghold, Chifya and Sheila emerge via teleportation. And by the look, the two had resolved their personal conflict.
"Let's first head to the church, then we'll go to the market," Chifya suggested.
"The church can wait." Sheila shook her head. "Let's first go to the market square before any of your ingredients are all sold out. The orc priest has already informed the Church of Aziru of our coming."
Chifya agrees, and quickly the two pace out from the station. And while the two were near the market square, something caught their attention—
"That poor family, I hope they are safe. They've been the ones supplying us with our needs," said one of the three women, who may have come from the market area.
"I heard it was some wanderer who reported their disappearance." Replied the other.
"By the Gods, it's hard to move out these days. More and more people are missing; I hope the adventurers can resolve their situation." Spoke the third.
Upon hearing their conversation, Sheila and Chifya looked at each other, and without even speaking a word, the two understood each other's thoughts.
Elsewhere…
"Shit… I should have just kept my mouth shut."
Stripped of all his belongings, Natalak sat in an isolated room. In front of him were two people, an officer and a priest of Adra.
"The investigators return, and they've confirmed that what you've said is indeed true." The officer said just as the priest walked towards the middle. "But the investigator said they didn't find evidence of struggles inside the house."
"Well… I ah… I'm the reason for that." Natalak replied, hinting at a look of embarrassment. "I ah… I had taken residence in that farmhouse last night… I approached the farmhouse hoping the owner would give me some shade from the night rain. But when I tried to call, that's when I found out the state of the house. Also, I left four silver Shar from the food and spices that I used to fill my hunger, and fed the farm animals before coming here."
The officer looked at the priest, and what he got was a nod.
"I see…" The officer sighed, and whilst he pondered what to do with Natalak, a knock came from the door.
"Captain, someone wishes to see the witness." Voiced the guard. "They are one of the adventurers' guild."
"Let them in." The captain replied, and once the door was open, Natalak's eyes widened, unblinking.
"Sheila?"
An hour later…
"How did you two know where I was heading?" Natalak asked while lacing up his boots, with his other belongings stacked on the table side.
"Riya told us, the sulfur thing that you keep searching for at the market?" Sheila answered.
"Oh." Natalak paused his actions.
"And Natalak…" Sheila said with a softening tone. "Do you have some time with us? There's a blight that we need to purify, and we need every bit of help that we can muster."
"I'll-I—" Natalak paused with his head lowered, his gaze drifting towards the floor, towards the walls, anything but the sight of the two.
On the other hand, little did the two know, Chifya was intently observing Natalak and his belongings. And before silence could prevail, Chifya snatched Natalak's bag.
"Hey, what the—"
"Let's go, Sheila, before the market runs out of ingredients." Chifya bluntly said, securing Natalak's bag at her waist.
For some reason, Natalak quickly got up from his seat and followed Chifya. In the end, Sheila got what she wanted, and Chifya's fear subsided. As soon as all of the ingredients had been bought and the purification was refilled, they returned to Glemor's Forest while Natalak stayed on their tails.
Once the party assembled, Natalak couldn't help but feel embarrassed as he remembered the letter he slid under Sheila's door. But for them, the group was relieved to see Natalak rejoin their party.
Night fell, and the only people who were still awake were none other than Chifya and Natalak—one room for one party, with faint snores ringing in the ears. Chifya was busy concocting. By her side was Natalak, who was lost, mesmerised as he watched the half-elf extracting the essence of strange glowing insects. Dipping odd monsters' remains into a blue liquid, giving a hissing sound as the liquid disintegrated the remains. A strange apparatus that Natalak wasn't familiar with. Even then, Chifya was more focused on keeping Natalak's hand from poking her alchemy.
"Can you stop doing that!" Chifya hissed, giving Natalak a furious look.
"I can't help it…" Replied Natalak. "It's just so captivating to look at."
"If you do that again, I'll wrap your hands with torn vines."
Intimidated by her warning, Natalak stayed silent. And just as he returned to his designated bed, Chifya suspended him for a minute—
"Can I ask you something, Natalak?" Chifya implored as she waited for the apparatus to finish the task.
"I'm all ears."
"Do you know anything about the Mark of Hackrash?"
"MarkofHackrash?" Natalak's eyes widen. "I'm sorry, but it's my first time hearing that word."
"Are you sure? You're not lying, are you?"
"Why would I lie? I'm more baffled why you, the one with much knowledge, are asking someone like me, who's a country bump."
"It's just that I've encountered some Hackrash markings during my time investigating at the blighted area." Lied Chifya. "I was hoping that someone like you who has a powerful might know something about those markings." She adds, crossing her arms.
"You mean the bag?"
Chifya nods before returning her gaze to the alchemy table.
"Let's discuss this for another time." Natalak groans. "I'm tired for today. And can I have some of your sleeping potion?"
Chifya rolled her eyes and gave Natalak the tiny vial. "Take this, but you need fifteen drops more to have its effect. It's less pungent than the ones you took… It's getting hard to obtain ingredients nowadays, so don't waste any of it."
As midnight soon followed, Chifya, who was still awake, silently walked towards Natalak. She shook the man, testing the effects of the potion, but once Natalak still slept like a grave, Chifya sighed with relief. Before she could continue her next step, she watched over the others, and once she sensed they were in deep sleep, she pulled Natalak's right arm.
Without a word, she began unwrapping the cloth around her hand. Layer after layer of the clothes fell away, and a peculiar marking was revealed upon her skin— the mark of Hackrash. Clasping Natalak's hand, an invisible mark of Hackrash emerged, glowing in a vivid emerald. And as the two sigils resonated, both marks spread all over their body.
"Please revert back," Chifya whispered, voice begging for the mark on Natalak to disappear. But after two hours, the marking didn't fade, leaving the half-elf lost in despair.
Slowly, Chifya slid down on the floor beside Natalak's bed. Her shoulders slumped, and all the strength she had clung to seemed to abandon her. Both body and spirit were consumed by hopelessness
"So, this will be my fate," Chifya muttered, but something came from her mind as she shifted her gaze to the alchemy lab. "Should I?"