A Child Lost

Ravynne trembled as she stared at the lifeless body in front of her. She'd never killed anyone before, nor did she ever plan on it. Verlian trudged over to her and placed his hand on the small of her back, "Ravynne, get ahold of yourself."

"I-I-I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!"

"I know you didn't. Go try to wash that off, I'll take care of him."

Ravynne nodded and headed over to behind one of the buildings, where she wouldn't have to see the old man's deceased body. She took a few deep breaths, and dug her hands into the snow, scrubbing the frozen crystals against the red pigment on her skin. Most of it came off, although she didn't dare try to clean her clothes. Wet clothes in freezing temperatures was not a good idea and she'd prefer not to stay in the skeletal remains of Novenwell for longer than she had to.

She stood up, still trembling. Was it because she was still panicking or because of the freezing cold? She couldn't be sure. She wandered over to a spot where Verlian would easily be able to find her while keeping he area in which she had killed the elder out of sight.

Verlian returned a few moments later, his clothes too were now covered in blood. "Have you seen anyone else?" He asked as he began rubbing her arms with both of his hands. She shook her head, "No one."

"How many were there when you were last here?"

"There was a little over 20 of us left."

Verlian appeared to be doing calculations in his head, "There's probably a handful left, if even that."

"I wonder where they are…."

"Do you care? What do you want to do now?"

"Right now....." her eyes lit up, "Come with me!"

Ravynne grabbed his hand and led him over to a plot of land with burnt remains of what was once a wooden house. "Help me move this!" she ordered as she began trying to push one of the black logs out of the way. Verlian raised his eyebrows in surprise before going to help. She'd never ordered him like that before. It piqued his interest.

The two worked on moving the rubble to clear a spot where the ground beneath was visible. Ravynne pulled out her dagger and began picking away at the frozen dirt. "What are you doing?" Verlian stood watching with his arms crossed.

"Shortly before my mother passed away, she gave me her necklace. She wore it every day and it was one of her most prized possessions. I also used to wear it daily until our village plunged past, what I think was the point of no return. We were starving, our crops weren't growing, our livestock was dying and trade stopped. I'd overheard the villagers say they were going to go house to house in order to collect all of the jewelry and valuables." Ravynne brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and huffed before continuing to dig, "I didn't want them to take my necklace, so I pulled up one of the floorboards, dug a hole in the ground, and buried it to keep it safe! Is it….aha! It's here!"

Ravynne pulled up a silver chain, dangling on the end was a magnificent silver bird. It was tarnished but it was obviously made of pure silver and Verlian could tell it must've been beautiful before it was shoved into a tiny grave below the floorboards of a house. His eyebrows narrowed as he stared at it longer. How had it not warped or melted at all after the house was on fire? Had she buried it that well? Certainly, it wouldn't have come out of that with only normal tarnish.

"Now I can wear it freely without worry that it will be taken!" She grabbed the bird portion and immediately dropped it, "Ow!"

"What? What happened?"

"It burned me!"

"What do you mean it burned you? Let me see your hand." Verlian grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand close to his face to investigate. No burn marks. Her skin wasn't even warm to the touch. He picked up the necklace himself and traded it between his hands, squeezing it and making sure he felt every inch of it. Nothing.

"Ravynne this isn't hot at all. It's cold even."

"Really? That's weird…." Ravynne reached out to grab it again, but upon touching the bird she winced in pain and quickly withdrew her hand, "Ouch!"

Verlian tilted his head as a wave of confusion washed over him. Ravynne looked just as confused, "I'm telling you it burns!"

He sighed, "I'm telling you it doesn't. Why don't I just keep it for you for now. Maybe you're stressed from…..what do you want to do now? This is your revenge story, I'll go where you go." Ravynne smiled, appreciating that he didn't mention how she had just murdered a man.

"I'd like to see Dune's shrine. I want to thank her for protecting me." Verlian nodded and held out his arm, indicating for her to lead the way. She began heading north and he followed closely behind her. "Do you plan on getting revenge on all of them, Ravynne? Everyone that is left that is."

He couldn't see her expression but he could see her shaking her head, "I thought I did, but I think what has happened in this village is revenge enough. These people have suffered for so long, and now that the village elder is....gone.....they will probably continue to suffer after we depart. Their fates are sealed, they will either stay here and slowly starve to death or move on, abandoning Novenwell all together. If the elder is any indication to how the rest of them are faring, I don't believe they would last the trip." Her voice was calm and she stated things matter-of-factly, although a tinge of pity could be noticed if one was paying close enough attention.

They continued on in silence until a brown stone shrine appeared in the middle of tall barren trees. In front of it were three women on their knees crying and begging, "Please oh holy Dune! Please bring us a savior! Please relieve our peril!" Ravynne and Verlian stopped behind the women, Ravynne stared at them, one was Etelia, the very woman that had raised her after her parents had died, the other two neighbors whose children Ravynne would play with as a child. Verlian, however, was investigating the shrine.

The brown stone was covered in moss and snow. It was clearly well built despite that chips and chunks missing from it. It was sealed by a wooden door that looked like it would fall apart at even the slightest touch. Its size was quite large, much larger than any building he had seen so far. He wondered if the legend of this 'Dune' goddess had any truth to it. Perhaps there really was a woman who happened to help another give birth and she was revered as such from that moment on.

For some reason, he felt like he was being pulled into the building and his legs began walking on their own. "Verlian! You can't go in, it's too dangerous!" Ravynne shouted as she grabbed his arm, attempting to hold him back. The women jumped in surprise, and stared at the two of them in shock and horror. Ravynne gasped at the sight of them, the village elder looked like a plump pig ready for slaughter in comparison. Their skin was transparent and she thought she could even see the blood traveling through their veins.

"Ravynne! It's Ravynne! Oh Dune, how could you forsake us! She's brought the curse right back to us!" One of them shouted.

"Why! Why! Dune why have you brought this plague upon us! Why has she returned from the dead!" cried the other.

Etelia stood there, tears running down her face, in silence. Ravynne couldn't read her, but to be fair the woman's skin was stretched so tightly against her skull that Ravynne wasn't sure it was even possible for her change her expression.

Verlian continued, dragging Ravynne – who was still holding onto his arm – along with him. "Verlian, wait!"

Then Etelia spoke, "The hero! The hero has come! Dune has sent us a hero!" she pointed at Verlian, "He has returned with the body of the cursed one, Ravynne, to slay her in this very shrine and offer her as a sacrifice! We are saved! My friends do you not see?! We are saved!!" Tears prickled against Ravynne's eyes as all three woman got back on their knees and began to thank Dune for saving them. She stared at the back of Verlian's head. It didn't seem like he even heard them.

He kicked the door down, although it didn't need such force, and entered the shrine. It smelled like mold, death and decay but it was well lit. Sunlight trickled in from various cracks in the structure and the now open doorway. Parts of the floor were slippery from moss build-up and there were pieces of stone that most likely broke off from the ceiling scattered across the floor.

Ravynne's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped in shock and Verlian snarled in disgust as they saw the skeletal remains of all the children of Novenwell laid out at the bottom of the statue of Dune.