The Elderkin Prophet

Unravel

Uul froze in his footing, it choked him to breathe. Another broken had emerged; it crept up behind Ophinia, waiting to strike.

Ophinia turned around swiftly only to be engulfed under the overwhelming shadow of a twisted creature. The Broken already had sanctioned a deadly lunge towards her. As it howled,  multiple birds flew off in the distance. It was dominating and ghastly looking, its disfigured face was unrecognizable, its molded arms looked as if they'd been mutated into long gnarly black claws. Its wilted body towered over her, staring down at its prey with hollow, beady eyes, hungering for the kill. The creature seemed to have lost all sense and feeling; the Nightwells energy tainted it beyond repair. There was no going back for whoever this person might've been before turning into a Broken one.

 The creature swung its wide arms and a spray of blood colored the air!

An ear piercing sound was followed by a sharp scream. Ophinia stood herself up only to see the creature holding Kin’uel up in the air, staring straight into his weakened eyes. He saved her; he pushed her away just before the creatures lunge and stabbed it with his blade. The creature roared and tossed him aside with incredible strength and ease. The scout collided with a large rock nearby.

Ophinia was horrified from this. It angered her, it made her scream, and she hated it. She held up her arms and as they twisted and shook with vigor, her lips parted. A fiery heat glowed from her bright yellow eyes.

“Kwoh-Sawah-Khila-Kha-Sabhu!”

Her bandaged hands resonated with green, its brightness blinded both Uul and the Broken. There appeared to be two more Broken crawling and closing in from behind. Her eyes began to tear, and as they rolled down her cheeks, her eyes began to illuminate as well. Violent energy surged through her entire body. She emanated power, commanding it. In this form, she warned Uul.

“Hide.” Her voice cut through the wind.

Ophinia held up her palm, clasping it immediatly. The world froze for a moment before a sphere of searing wildfire scorched everything around her.

Uul watched from a distance in shock, unable to react. Blinded from the light, the last thing he recalled was Ophinia being engulfed in a burning green ball of fire that exploded outwards! It moved in his direction, and fast. He saw the rock where the scout lay. Without thinking twice, he jumped and rolled, grabbed the scout and tucked himself behind the rock. He covered himself and the scout with his large shield as they were engulfed in an inferno, so hot that the murky swamp water began to bubble up and steam.

Everything was burnt, silence stalked the air as it slowly shifted back and forth, dazed by the events. The rustling of forest leaves returned shortly after. Uul pushed off the shield and as it struck the ground, Charred to a crisp. He stood up, his eyes searched for Ophinia. There was smoke everywhere with tufts of fire still burning about the tiny bits of grass and other plant life that survived the initial blast. He began walking in her direction though he couldn’t see much as he struggled to keep the smoke particles from entering his eyes. Slowly, the smoke began to fade and the dust settled. He could see her silhouette as he walked closer, his heart began to pound and legs trembled. He saw Ophinia lying on the ground with a very small circle around her still caught on fire. He crossed over it and held her in his arms. She looked drained and barely conscious. Her weakened bright eyes had specks of solid black in them, her skin and temples seemed to have dulled revealing strange purple veins underneath. Her beak seemed to have darkened slightly but she was still alive.

Uul looked down at Ophinia and held her close. Slowly he rested her back onto the ground and got up. He began walking towards injured scout, slowly. He looked badly injured and burnt at some places. He began to observe his surroundings once more as he made his way over to Kin'uel. A grim radius around Ophinia was charred and burnt till black. The few trees that had caught fire had now turned into ashen remains but the wetness of the forest and rain stopped the fire from spreading. There was a dense fog slowly approaching them and as he walked, he still felt the heat from the explosion under his footsteps conducted through his heavy boots. He only thought of one thing... How'd Ophinia have so much power? He never imagined her to even remotely be capable of something like that, he was blown away by her power and a small fear seeded itself into his mind.

Uul picked up his shield and rested himself besides Kin’uel.

Kin’uel looked up at Uul slowly. He felt numb and couldn’t move much, frequently coughing.

Uul shifted through his own backpack and removed a pouch of water and helped Kin’uel drink.

“Tha..Thank you.” Kin’uel whimpered. He was in a lot of pain.

“I... I thank you for what you did. You saved her while risking yourself.” Uul spoke softly.

“Y…You saved mine earlier.” He 

Kin’uel began coughing more and more as he spoke.

“Can you walk, or move?” Uul asked.

“No… I’m afraid I can’t feel anything, I feel numb. I can’t move a muscle. Everything hurts… I don’t think I will survive. I’m… I’m scared.”

Uul observed in silence as he looked down at the young scout.

Kin’uel groaned and tried speaking again.

“H…Hey, Can you unhook my satchel?”

Uul quickly unbuckled the scout’s satchel and hoisted it in front of him.

“Loo…look inside.”

Uul rummaged through the satchel and pulled out an old, worn out piece of paper. He began unfurling it and it rolled out to resemble some kind of map. It had unfamiliar inscriptions scratched all over it.

“What's this?” Uul asked with concern.

“I’m sorry about… I’m sorry about lying to you earlier. My unit was sent to find and recover this. It's the only thing we found sealed inside the spring you se…see next to you. There were rumours that this place held a relic that would help find the Nightwell. This is all found. There were numerous traps inside and as soo… as soon as we touched the scroll. We suddenly heard multiple footsteps sprawling and shifting in the darkness; loud howls of many Broken shifters came from deeper within the hollow. They began to swarm us. Four of us sacrificed their lives inside so that the rest could escape in time. I watched as those monsters tore through my friends.”

Uul’s eyes widen.

“What do you wish of me to do?” He asked.

“We had two sentries who made camp not far from here. Can yo…Can you hand this to them. They'll know what to do.”

Uul looked down in dismay.

“I’m afraid they're dead. We found the camp abandoned and a massacred body in the forest. She looked like a scout.”

Kin’uel’s began to loose hope. He looked up at Uul once more.

“I see... Then I am the last of my unit.” He took a deep and long breath. “Take the scroll back to Froli, go to the Onxy Quarter and hand this over to lord Mulnac. This map might be the only closest thing we've ever come across to finding the Nightwell.”

Uul nodded. He rolled and placed the scroll back carefully into the satchel and hooked it onto his belt, concealing it under his fur cloak.

Kin’uel made one last request.

“Hey…. In… Inside that satchel I have a small book. When you get back to Froli could you please hand it to my family? I ran away from them to join the Legion. I don’t want my mother to have nothing to remember me by. This book has a record of everything I did since I left home. Thank… Thank you for everything Uul.”

Kin’uel was too weak to talk anymore; he had lost a lot of energy from coughing, his injuries were beginning to catch up with his vitality.

“Rest easy, for you were very brave. I will carry your message and your burden. I will make sure that you did not die in vain. Rest now, for Pagull calls to you.”

Uul rose slowly. He looked down at the resting scout. He closed his eyes and began to hymn a prayer for Kin’uel. Uul unlaced his own gloves, exposing his wrinkled old hands. He pulled out a tiny blue flower from his left pouch and gently tucked it under Kin'uel's shirt. Silence followed...

Uul began making his way towards Ophinia. He looked very tired and weary, upon reaching her, he stuck his shield firmly into the ground besides her. She seemed to be unconscious.

The old warrior, strong as an ox, lifted up the young Gull onto his shoulder with one arm and spear gripped tightly in the other. He walked back into the forest, disappearing into the thick fog within seconds. The clanging of his metal boots faded into the distance leaving behind only a trail.