I never liked being alone. This however, was a new kind of alone. No one could come up with anything to say to me. Yet another night spent crying with Alfur alone by my side. Another night hoping Frida and Hilda were somewhere other than my nightmares.

Remorse Of An Adventurer

2021 Remaster

By Daring D.D. Danger

Chapter 6: The Bonds That Bind Us

*** David***

The people in town started calling me a hero not so long after that night. I had a hard time explaining what had actually happened, and that all I did was shoot the Black Hound once. No one would believe that the symbol of the town, The Great Raven, fought the Black Hound and neither were anywhere to be seen by the time a lowly Sparrow Scout returned with help. Of course Raven Leader not remembering much after fist fighting the Hound didn't help me, but I'm glad she's alive.

At least people did believe that I had used Raven Leader's rifle and that the hound had taken two of my friends with it when it disappeared. The evidence for those things was pretty obvious, whether anyone liked it or not. It was hard to deny my dislocated shoulder or Hilda and Frida's sudden absence. All that was left of them was Hilda's beret, found lying at the gates of the leveled camp.

Then, it really started to set in. All the kids and adults in town apologizing about Frida and Hilda to me. What they were apologizing about I don't know. They said their peace, and then just seemed not to know what to do with me afterward. My parents tried to address things, but didn't do much better than anyone else. Now, I'm the miracle survivor, a hero, and my two closest friends are gone forever.

There were also the awful pains in my stomach, ever since that day. The doctor told me I was fine, but the pains just keep coming back, like someone has a choke-hold on my stomach.

"Hey David!" I looked over and saw Alfur leaning out of his house. The elf had bailed from the fight with the hound around the time I picked up the gun. He ended up unscathed, and I can't really blame him for it, unless the Black Hound had signed the paperwork.

"How's Raven doing?" I asked.

"Physically, he's going to be fine, but I don't think he's doing so well over the loss of Hilda and Frida."

"I don't think any of us are." There was a moment of shared silence between us.

"Did that dream wake you up again?" Alfur asked. Tears began flowing as I thought back on the memory turned nightmare.

"I don't know if I can call it a dream Alfur. I keep seeing it whether I'm awake or not. You show up at my side, and everyone else is gone. Then we get up and head for the camp gate, and we find Hilda's beret."

"She could still be alive you know; especially if Frida is with her."

"Alfur, you don't GET IT. Hilda's beret never falls off. She never leaves it. Having it here in my hand… it makes it feel like she's never coming back." The beret absorbed my tears as I cried into the last piece of her there is.

"David, maybe it's time you and I go outside?" I glare at the elf. "I'm not saying we have to stop grieving or anything." He blurts, trying to clarify his thoughts. "Just…" I nod, and grab my orange sweater from the floor. Alfur jumps on my shoulder.

"Alright David, let's go."

"Hold on!" I turn and grab Hilda's beret, placing it gently on my head.

"You don't want to wash that or anything?" Alfur says as we go out the door.

Not long after leaving whistling filled the air, followed shortly by the Woodman coming into view. He was carrying a book and some tinder.

"I haven't seen you in a few days, Woodman."

"I was at home."

"You have a home?"

"Yes"

"Why are you constantly breaking into our homes then?"

"I don't like being in mine too long."

"You are very weird, Woodman."

"And you are very rude, David."

"Why are you in Trolberg anyway?" I asked after processing his insult.

"Let's just say I was trying to prevent something bad from happening. Again. But it's too late now, and all I have is my reading once again." I was so confused about Woodman, what did he mean by 'again'? While I was lost in thought he looked back at the space behind me and began moving on.

"When will you be home David?

I looked at him sideways, taken aback by the question "Why?"

"I need to know when I'll have to leave your house." I shot him a dirty look; he simply nodded and went on his way.

"That was… odd," I say, as much to myself as Alfur. "Where were we going?"

"The library? It could have something about Nisse spaces."

The book on Nisse seemed to know about as much about them as I did. Was Frida really the first person to actually take the time to befriend a Nisse or something? I slammed my head into the Nisse book, ready to pick up and leave my less than fruitless efforts for...

"Looking for something else?" The Librarian wheeled in on her ladder.

"Proof that my friends aren't dead I suppose."

"Hmmm. Well, I'm not sure about that but, I might have something else for you. Come with me." My head shot up at the thought. The Librarian slide down her ladder and gestured. "Come." She took me over to the secret door Hilda had told us of. I sat down in one of the dusty red chairs as the Librarian was shuffling through some books.

"How're you since Johanna died?" The Librarian asked.

"That's an odd question."

"I've been interested in you, and Hilda, since you got that streak of blue hair that night in the cemetery." She paused to look at me. "Did you ever think you'd be safer without her?"

"I'd NEVER wish I hadn't met Hilda!" A deafening quiet followed, and though we were all alone, it felt like everyone's eyes were on me. And I guess technically, they were. "I… I know she's dangerous, but everything that's happened isn't her fault."

"I felt bad for her too when Johanna passed. She's a very special girl."

"Yeah I know. She's been life changing. She helped with my nightmare spirits, getting over a few fears..."

"Do you love her?" She asked turning her head.

"Wh-What? Why do people always ask that!"

"David, love doesn't have to be romantic. All sorts of different relationships can be called love. It can be platonic, or between two girls, even between an Elf and a Thunderbird."

"Hey!" Alfur butts in.

"Don't tell me they haven't noticed by now, elf." Said the Librarian.

"Wait, are you dating, Raven?" I asked.

"I don't know David." He slumps back at that. "We don't know yet and that's why we haven't said anything to you."

"See David, love is a lot more than some canned story about a boy and a girl. When you grow up maybe you'll meet a nice boy, or maybe you won't like romance at all and focus on loving your friends."

"I guess I do love her then." I smiled a little as the words came out, like I figured out where the last piece of a puzzle goes.

"See. That wasn't so hard." She had finally selected a book and what appeared to be a notebook from the shelf. "So I could not find any stories about someone physically interrupting a witch raising the dead… and living." My heart skipped a beat; my scalp suddenly itchy as I thought back to that night.

"My guess is this." She continued, flipping through the pages. "You crossed into the middle of Hilda trading her life-force with her mother and now you have a streak of hair that matches Hilda's. I think you absorbed a little of her magic instead of it killing you."

"That's terrifying. Am I a witch now?" I ask.

"Technically a boy is a wizard but, you can be a witch if you want, anyone can be. Although if I had to guess you don't have much innate magic, only a percentage compared to your friend."

"Would it be enough to find my friends?"

"David, if only it were so easy. You should already know this, but there's always a sacrifice or catch with witchcraft, not to mention years of required practice. By now Hilda could have possession of your soul, you could've died raising ghosts, or Hilda could've died trying to bring her mom back. She hasn't even been here that long." The Librarian was trying to be comforting, I think.

"Please?" I begged. "I need to find her."

"You kids... I'll send you home with some things you can try to do. But only very simple magic, okay?"

"Thank you!" I smiled the biggest smile I had in a few days. The Librarian took us up to her copier with some books. As she copied she explained the books were not allowed out of the library, especially after the stunt Hilda pulled. As we prepared to leave Alfur spoke up once more.

"How did you know about me and Raven? Was it magic?" Alfur had a notepad ready, presumably to write down the magic spell.

"Maybe the magic of cinema." She laughs. "You two are at a lot of the same movies as me. Guess you never noticed over all the hand holding." She was laughing harder now. Alfur blushed."It's really cute because neither of you have hands!" She was clearly getting some joy out of picking on Alfur. He now had his arms crossed and was pouting.

"Okay David let's-" Before he could finish, Alfur was tumbling to the floor as I bent over, the pain returning to my stomach again.

"David?" exclaimed the Librarian as she grabbed me. The pain began to ease and she released her grip on me.

"I'm alright." I said, but I realized she wasn't looking at me; she was looking at her hand. "What, was there a bug on me?"

She turns her hand, releasing a tuft of blue hair towards the floor. She rubbed my head again, sending more blue hair to the floor.

"David. Was Hilda injured the last time you saw her?" She had a deathly serious expression.

"She… She was bitten by the hound." I looked to the library floor, now covered in my hair.

"Where was she bitten David?"

"Kind of… in her middle I guess?" She shot up and sprinted down the hall, holding my hand in a vice grip as she went.

"I'm a fool David! A damned fool! You didn't absorb her magic, you absorbed some of her life energy!"

"What's that mean!"

"You have a little of her inside of you! A link to Hilda herself!"

"Is that way my tummy hurts? Because Hilda's does? Does that mean Hilda is alive!" I grabbed the Librarians cloak and ecstasy propelled me forward.

"Quite possibly David, but you are likely only feeling a little of what she does. And I'm worried that your blue hair is falling out."

"What's that mean?" I return to a calmer demeanor, but inside I was anything but. A thousand possibilities all raced through my mind about what happened. What had I done to her? The Librarian put a hand on my shoulder as Alfur climbed back up to greet it.

"I think it means she doesn't have long."

To be continued in part 7: The Nightmare Spirit

Hilda: Remorse of an Adventurer, written by D.D. Danger, inspired by ghost-buddie