"Please, you have to believe me!" Siesta cried, the remains of small tears sparking from the corners of her eyes.

The elven elder of Marisun stood stoic and looked down at Siesta as she sat collapsed on the dead ground before him. The situation was a strange one for him and his men to deal with. The soldiers he sent to give the humans their ultimatum had not returned when they had been ordered to. As he was about to send people to look for them, they found this human girl running toward them through the forest, her clothing torn, her skin scratched, and her eyes filled with a mix of fear, despair, horror, and determination.

Looking away from the girl and to one of his soldiers he finally spoke. "What do you think, soldier?"

The soldier nodded. "I believe the human speaks the truth. The rumble we felt earlier adds to her tale."

The elder sighed heavily as he used his large walking staff to brace himself as he looked back at Siesta. "So . . . . The Nightscreamer reawakens then, girl?"

"If by reawakens you mean pulled out of the ground and came crashing back down, then yes." Siesta said, her remaining tears still clinging to her eyelids. "Do you believe me or not?"

The elder nodded. "We have no way to confirm what you say, but I shall believe you until proven-,"

"Sir, look!" a soldier called, causing both Siesta and the elven elder to turn their head toward the forest Siesta had come from. For many moments the forest did not look different, until the sound of buzzing was heard, and eclipsed, by the sight of a large silver-purple cloud that flowed toward them with twisted intent.

"Silver mist!" the elven elder called out in horror as he grabbed Siesta's arm and pulled her to her feet. "We need to move, now! Everyone retreat!"

Siesta did her best to keep up with the elven elder as he, and all of the almost dozen soldiers turned and ran away from the silver mist. It was surprising how fast such an old man could run, especially considering the fact that he was passing his soldiers, all of whom were younger than he by looks. Siesta ran right behind the elder, soldiers flanking her on all sides as the mist followed behind them. She had always been proud of her own skill at traversing a forest, but these elves made her skills seem pitiful. Every rock, twig and branch she ended up almost hitting or tripping over, the elves dodged and slipped around as if it was the most natural thing in the world; it made her all the more intent on keeping pace with them.

"Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhh!"

Siesta began turning her head to look behind her to see the cause of the scream, but the elven elder slowed down and placed his hand on her head as they ran. "Do not look back, girl! If you look back then you die!"

Siesta nodded, shallowly. "That mist, it came out of the corpse. It began killing people and-,"

"I know, girl. We've stories of silver mist in our history. Though I had hoped I would never have to see it! We're almost out of the forest, once out we'll be able to destroy the mist without worry. Keep up your pace!"

Siesta nodded as she heard another scream behind her, along with the telling sound of a body falling to the ground as she ran. She could feel sweat drenching her clothing, making them heavy and uncomfortable. She could feel her lungs and legs burning in pain as she ran. And she could hear the sounds of the buzzing mist right behind her.

Glancing to her sides and then ahead of her Siesta noticed that the elves where pulling head of her, and the soldiers were pulling out their thin elven blades as they ran. Then she saw the end of the forest. Breaking free of the trees, Siesta's feet bit into the cold sand just as her legs gave out, dropping her to the sand with a heavy tumble that sent her many feet away from the forest.

As Siesta tried to pull herself she felt a hand on her shoulder, and could see a shadow cross over her. Looking up she found the elven elder kneeling over her with a wand in hand, and a small smile on his face. "You've done good girl, now rest a moment. We shall deal with the mist."

Siesta turned her head around back to the forest, and was very surprised. The mist burst forth from the forest like the torrents of a raging river breaking across rocks, and headed directly toward them. The elven soldiers, however, stood firm in a V formation with she and the elder at its tip, weapons drawn and pointing toward the mist. None of them moved, winced, or even sweat as the mist quickly closed in toward them, then at the last possible moment, they struck. All of the soldiers moved their blades simultaneously, and as the mist was about to reach them, it was suddenly covered by a pale green and blue film that moved and bubbled. The film slowly took the shape of a ball, with the mist inside of it, and began shrinking. Smaller and smaller the ball became, and the smaller it became, the denser the mists purple color became, until the ball was completely purple. Becoming barely the size of a human head the ball exploded, sending out splashes and spatters of purple bile across the cold sand, and the mist was nowhere to be seen.

Siesta stared in shock as the elven elder stood up away from her and put his wand away. "So the mist is comprised of something organic as history said, good. How many men did we lose?"

"Three, sir." A soldier replied, a hint of horror and despair in his voice.

The elder let out a heavy, despairing sigh. "I see, may their souls return to the earth in peace." The elder said solemnly as he picked his staff off the ground and thrust it into the sand, standing it upright as he extended his hand to siesta. "We must get going, girl."

Siesta nodded and took the elder hand, allowing him to use his height to pull her to her now numb feet. "How did you-? Nothing the others tried-,"

"Our oldest texts told of a way to destroy silver mist, by crushing it in a ball of pure nature magic. It was difficult but it worked, now let us go!"

Siesta nodded as she followed the elder and his soldiers as they began running across the open desert, the sun now setting beyond them mountains. The air was quickly becoming cold, a thing that Siesta liked, for her entire body now burned from a combination of exhaustion and adrenaline, and she was sure that is she stopped moving she would be unable to start again; and she had promised Montmorency she would warn the crown!

". . . Your eyes. "The elven elder suddenly said as they ran across the desert night.

"My, what?" Siesta replied in confusion, exhaustion hampering her speech slightly.

The elder took out a leather water bag and handed it to Siesta, knowing she needed it. "Your eyes were full of horror and despair, but also filled with determination, it's what told me you spoke truth."

" . . . . Oh, I see." Siesta said after taking a few small sips of water from the pouch, and a big gulp after her words left her lips.

"But the despair and horror that filled them was just as telling. All you told us was that your expedition had been destroyed by the Nightscreamer rising from the ground. What exactly happened, girl?"

Siesta was quite for many moments s she took many gulps of water from the pouch before handing it back to the elder. "I was with my friend this morning. Her mother, the expeditions head, had gone missing so we were looking around the camp for her. We found her body, along with another teacher's and two elven bodies on the deck of our sky ship."

". . . . . How did they die?"

"Your soldiers had their faces clawed into; the teachers . . . had their body burned apart into sections."

The elder was silent.

"We tried to figure out what had done it when the Nightscreamer's corpse shook the camp. We watched from the deck of the ship as it pulled out of the ground and fell to its side with a crash." Siesta explained as she used her hands and tore off a lower section of her dress as she ran, allowing her legs a greater freedom of movement. "We left the ship and headed down to the dig site, and as we got there we witnessed the heads of two students explode."

"By the-?"

"The creature responsible had fallen out of the corpse and climbed up the excavation pit. It was as big as a troll and sickly purple. Its arms seemed to fire off purple fire that pierced people, and by the time my friend had killed it by cutting it in half with water, it had killed four people."

" . . . . I'm sorry."

Siesta was quiet for a moment before grabbing the apron tied to her waist and ripping it off, throwing it to the winds as she spoke up again. "It took about a minute to figure out what had happened from asking students, and then the mist appeared. A hole opened up in the side of the corpse and the mist poured out. By the time Montmorency gave the order to attack it, the camp was already in chaos. She protected me and told me to go warn the crown by any means necessary. I tried to argue with her, but she pushed me between two trees, right before the mist got to her. I watched that mist tear open her body and reduce her to, to-," Siesta trailed off.

"It's alright, I get the idea, and I'm sorry I've made you recall such horror, but I needed to hear a firsthand account. I'll make sure you make it back to warn your country!"

Siesta looked at the elder with a look of shock painting her face. "What? But I thought you'd-,"

"Just warn our own people? Yes, that was my original intent. But from what you've told me and what I've seen, I worry we will not be able to face this threat alone. And you have managed to impress me!"

"I . . . . . what?"

"You've impressed me, girl. You have stayed mostly calm throughout this entire ordeal, managed to keep pace with our elite military forces, and have kept your sanity thus far. Considering what you went through I'm sure most humans would be on the verge of losing their mind at this point."

"Maybe I already have." Siesta admitted "I watched my best friend die right before my eyes. I watched dozens of people torn to shreds, and yet I can only manage a few tears because I couldn't help in any way!"

"You don't have magic then. If you did, do you think it would have made a difference?" the elder asked, his gaze seemingly locked ahead of them.

Siesta shook her head. "No. I know even if I did have magic I couldn't have helped, and that makes me just mad with myself! My friend is dead, but I can seem to cry for her at all!"

The elder was silent for many moments before moving a slight bit closer to Siesta and letting out a quick sigh. "Our soldiers have a saying that has served us well over the years of our history. 'Save your tears for the day when the pain is far behind'."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

The elder smiled slightly. "It means that when the worst things become real, those who stand and those who die, are decided by themselves. Those who waste away while mourning never can continue on, while those that hold the memories of the loved ones close to their hearts can continue on, using their memories as strength. For humans it seems to be rare, but I think you are the latter."

"I -, I think I understand what you mean. I-,"

"We're here!" The elder suddenly said, cutting off her comment and forcing her to look ahead. Ahead of them was a large town that looked to be made of white and yellow stone, a single tower peeking up from its edge.

A soldier ran up to the elder's side. "Sir, what are your orders?"

The elder nodded. "Gather the entire town. Inform them of the situation and have the entire town pack up; woman and children get priority. Also, the sky ship is to lift off and defend our retreat."

The soldier looked shocked at this, a thing Siesta noticed instantly. "But sir, if the Nightscreamer flies again, one scout class sky ship is not going to stop it and-,"

"It's not meant to stop it. It will be meant to give everyone else the time they need to escape and regroup at the capitol. "

" . . . . . . . . ?"

". . . It will be a volunteer mission. Find people to do it, soldier."

"Yes, sir. "The soldier replied as he relayed orders to the other soldier, and they all shot ahead toward the city, using their magic to boost their speed.

Looking around, Siesta quickly noticed that all of the soldiers had run on ahead, leaving her and the elder alone as they ran toward the village. "I guess my speed isn't as good as I was starting to think." Siesta joked humorlessly.

The elder let out a quick laugh. "Or you are like me and just becoming tired. My old bones cannot handle much more of this honestly, and I'm sure you have not run for this length of time before. Once we get into the village I must deal with some minor business, then we shall mount up on horse and head toward the capitol, and then to Halkeginia."

Siesta tried to reply to the elder, but her words would not leave her lips. Trying to look at him and nod didn't seem to work either. Her body had felt like it was burning before, but now she could not feel a thing, and she felt so tired. Her vision darkening she fell to the cold sand, and blacked out immediately.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sounds of hooves, wagon wheels, children crying, mothers sobbing, and the sound of cannon fire roused Siesta from her slumber. Slowly opening her eyes and glancing around Siesta found herself lying in the back of a very large wagon, the elven elder sitting beside her, his legs dangling out the back of the wagon.

"Ah, you awaken, good. Eat this." the elder quickly said as he handed Siesta a large piece of strangely shaped bread.

Taking the bread Siesta slowly sat up and leaned herself against the wagons rim. "W-what happened?" Siesta mumbled as she heartily bit into the bread and almost fainted from the taste.

"You blacked out from exhaustion a mere twenty meters from the town gates. Slightly rude. If you lasted a little longer I could have laid you down somewhere, but that's in the past."

"H-how long, was I out?"

"Only for the night. It is just after breakfast, though most people have skipped it as we are on the move."

"Oh, I guess-,"

BOOOM!

"W-what was that? Cannon fire?" Siesta sked, having been both interrupted and started by the sudden sound.

The elder nodded, "It's the sound of my men giving their lives to let us escape."

Siesta slowly pushed herself to the wagons end where the elder sat and peered out from beneath the cover, and nearly died from the shock. Off in the distance, under the bright light of the early morning sun Siesta could see the village they had been at, and above it the sky was eclipsed. Directly over the village was a bright white sky ship easily the size of a mid-sized trading sky ship, and it was firing off enough cannons to wipe Tarbes off the map. To its side was its target, the Nightscreamer. Floating there, it was easily three times the size of the largest Halkeginian sky ship, with massive spires and spikes sticking out of its front and sides. The Nightscreamer fired off volleys of black energy downwards towards the village, igniting it in frightful purple and black flames as the sky ship tried to bring it down. Finally, as if irritated by a fly, the Nightscreamer turned toward the elven sky ship. A spire pointing out of its front began glowing viciously purple, and then let out a quick thin black beam that struck the sky ship. The ship lit up like a barrel of gunpowder, its side ripping into pieces, its masts breaking into the winds, and its hull falling to pieces and joining the burning village below it. In seconds in no longer existed, having been consumed by the flaming town.

Siesta watched in horror as the Nightscreamer descended above the village and just sat there, as if admiring its horrible work.

"Either it is not interested in us, or it actually took damage from our sky ship's attacks." The elven elder murmured. "Regardless of which it is, it seems we have a direct route to the capitol. I suggest you eat your fill and get some more sleep, girl. You look like you need it." The elven elder said passing a second bun to Siesta just as she finished her first.

Siesta took the bun and bit into it happily, but her happiness was quickly overcome by her rage. "I'll kill it!"

"Pardon?"

"I'll kill that thing!" Siesta roared. "I'll kill the Nightscreamer! I'll drop it from the sky, break its back and tear out its organs! I'll kill it!"

The elder looked at her and allowed a small smirk to cross is face. "If I'm not wrong, you were merely a servant of the nobles in Halkeginia. While you may have surprisingly impressive stamina, you're hardly a warrior, girl."

"I don't care!" Siesta screamed, a rage she had never before felt now filling her heart. "That thing is a monster! I swear I'll kill it. I won' let Montmorency's sacrifice just to let me live be pointless! I won't let your soldier's sacrifices be pointless! I'll avenge every person that thing has killed and show it the meaning of revenge! I. WILL. KILL. IT!"


Authors note : the end is nigh! only two more chapters remain, and the fate of halkeginia sits in the balance. look forward to it!