The Haunting Past

As I looked at Auriel who's eyes were still tearing up, I gave her a side hug and while she was a little hesitant at first, she ended up laying her head on my shoulder. I wiped her tears away as she started to tell me about her sorrowful past and the people in it.

"There we were, just entering the land of the Malum," she starts, "The trees were blackened and the ground was red, stained with the blood of those who came before us."

I nod as I listened.

"While we walked up the first path we had found that was supposed to make it into the kingdom, our leader decided that we should split into groups so we could cover more land and I was ready for whatever or at least that's what I thought," she said.

As she told her story I started to get a picture in my head of what she meant, the landscape alone sounds pretty terrible in and of itself, but for it to be filled with monsters is a whole new demon.

"I was put into a group that had a Giant, an Orc, a Dwarf, and finally a person from the Merfolk race. We were called team Orchid, each team was assigned code names so we could know who was with who," Auriel finished.

I looked at her and tilted my head.

"I thought every race just did their own thing, I didn't think you'd all work together," I said.

Auriel looked down with a slight smile as she played with her fingers.

"Normally that'd be true but the guild was a place for everyone, so all races were welcomed and could joined if wanted," Auriel said and I nodded my head.

"What were their names?" I asked Auriel.

She sighs but answers anyway, "Jinn, she was the Giant, then it was Ogbal, he was the Orc, after that it was Aora and Delkin, the Merwoman and the Dwarf," Auriel finished.

I nod and say thanks to her, she didn't have to tell me but she did so I appreciated it. Afterwards she continued on with the story.

"Well anyway, after getting put into teams we had to part ways with the others and that's exactly what we did as we went east."

As we were in the hug I felt her start to tremble a little bit, I could tell that talking about the past wasn't something she enjoyed so it was probably best to leave it alone.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to Auriel, I understand what you're feeling. I know how difficult it can be, so if you don't want to tell me anymore you don't have too," I said while gently tightening my grip on her for comfort.

Auriel looked at me and slowly stopped shaking or at least started to calm down to a degree where she was still. Auriel looks at me but shakes her head.

"No, I'm fine, I promise. It's probably better for me to get this off my chest now rather than later so our training can go more smoothly."

I give her a pat on the shoulder and she continues.

"After about an hour of going in our direction we were confronted by the Malum, the beasts were big and monstrous. They had skin as dark as coal and their eyes were a green color as red marks were on their bodies."

Auriel pauses for a moment before continuing.

"We started to fight them and we plowed through," Auriel said this with a sad tone.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you sound sad?" I asked before following it up with something else, "I'd think you'd be relieved to do that," I said.

"Well as we got closer to the kingdom, the hordes of monsters started to get stronger and the numbers never died down. It was almost like they were testing to see how long we'd last before giving in," Auriel said while I stood still, thinking.

"The closer we got the tougher those ugly monsters got, but what we mostly didn't account for is the terrain," Auriel started, "The terrain was so hard to get through, it never stayed the same in one area as if it was changing just to fuck with us."

I saw that Auriel watch her hands as they gripped onto the wood of the tree but automatically calmed down right after. She had a mournful look that was prominent on her face as she looked down.

"The worst part was that when we got to our destination, we found out we made it their last," She said quietly.

"How?" I asked.

She looks at me fully now, directly staring into my eyes with her own ones that looked a bit Dull unlike earlier.

"We saw everyone else," she pauses, "At least what was left of them, their bodies were scattered across the ground being eaten by those fucking monsters and at then end of the day we were finally too tired to go on. We all died that day," she finished.

I looked at her.

"But you're still here," I said and she shook her head.

"No, the same woman who walked in that kingdom never came back out and all that's left of her is me." Auriel looked down and started to sob, for some reason I couldn't help but feel for her so I pulled her into a hug and she cried into my shoulder.

She sounded like she was letting years of frustration out as she cried, all of her pent up emotions from that day, the day she probably hasn't left for years. I sat down and cried into my shoulder as I kept comforting her, I know all too well what it's like to lose friends and even to die, it's a feeling that's indescribable. But holding the weight of all of that on her shoulders for a hundred plus years is beyond me, that's not something someone should have to do alone but she has been.

I don't think she knows it but she's stronger than she realises, way stronger in my opinion. To have to deal with a heavy burden like that is something else but now she won't have to do it alone.