Shattered Memories, and Debris from Locrian's Past.
-
"She came t'me again t'night. In th'boarshead. I doan know she do it, 'ow she snuck up, bu' she shadowed me int' me own room. We 'ardly e'en talked this time. we sat across from each udder, cos' she be fraid t'sit wit me by th'lake anymore. It mus' be that Zanetar feller 'gain… I canna keep meself from beggin' warnin's ta 'er. She tells me she curious bout lotta thin's. Bout 'is glorious revolution, 'er some rot. But it doan take me much curiousity t'find out th'man ain' gotta decent bone in 'is whole body. I thought bout givin' 'er anodder lecture, but, fer some reason she stopped me. ... dead in me tracks she did. She touched me. Retched out 'an touched me face wit'er hand. She mus' unnerstand how I feels, why I feel like I got 'elp 'er. Hellsakes, 'ese days, e'en I canna sort through a lotta me head.
...Oi seem t'keep 'avin' 'ese horrid dreams 'ough. It be th'same, most e'ery night. Runnin' ... Runnin' wit a golden 'aired lass what seem so familiar. She trips, 'an I turns round t'see five louts wit halfblades, axes, 'an spears runnin' affer us. ... and I shocks meself awake.
There be good news though, Oi talked wit miss Perennia 'gain t'day. 'an she may jist be offerin' me a job. A roit noice one, lookin' affer her on th'roads... She want me make sure none a them damn dirty spearchuckers, 'er them cutpurses gits hold a her on 'er way t'peltarch, norwick, 'er b'tween. G'amme wunna these fancy rings, said th'elves designed 'im t'steady they 'ands, 'an used some bitta they herbs, fer helpin' heal folks... I reckon that be best news I's 'eard all day... I canna stop patchin' me poor friends up, Paul, Miss Tiili, e'en miss Ariel, when we go out lookin' fer them gobbers.
Rando threatened t'wallop me on th'head again. I 'ink this time 'ee may actually do it. ... Best keep 'way from 'im, fer now. Ech... Sure 'ope 'at redhead comes round th'lake 'gain. ... I do miss 'er.
-
I kin still see it in th'horrid colors o' what it was. Some nights I still feel th'stings o me failures stabbin' me in th'back.
In th'clearing west o Jiyyd, th'battle rages. Th'white dragon raining ice atop our 'eads as th'frozen giants try to stomp us int' th'snow. Hackin' an dodgin' while th'glimpses o me mates between th'tree trunk legs o our enemies do th'same. Me youngbloods, Miss Nicahh, Lyte, Grag, Theaon, countless udders sufferin' in th'cold. Th'giants begin to fail, 'an fall back, an it were then I smelled it.
The burnin' wreckage o me norwick. I raced. Raced like I were dying. Raced 'cause I were past carin' about me own life. Boss Lucid had put on th'fast feets 'an 'an gotten there much 'head o me. 'an I saw 'im surrounded by bugbears. He were going to die. I ran in, throwin' darts, 'an e'ery vile word I knew at th'siegers o norwick. Stayin' blows, 'an takin' em regular as th'broken, bleeding, burned townsfolk raced away from th'horrors behind 'em. Lucid runs to th'hills as I pull back, a half dozen bugbears at me aft.
'An then they corner 'im.
Again I'm thrown int' th'jaws o death, as th'pile o bugbears descend, 'an Lucid manages 'is escape.
I'm limpin'. Shield arm kin' 'ardly raise t'stop th'last blow as I turn t'flee. I'm fer sure they've got me, 'an me mates ain't gettin' me back from em. Head down 'an runnin' I think bout me youngbloods, th'ones I ain't taught well 'nough yet. I think 'bout miss Nicahh. I think bout miss Li, how ere'll be na one lef' t'believe in 'er. Puma, Wort, e'eryone. There's a sharp pain in me back. I turn t'make a las' stan' 'an three bugbears launch o'er me flanks an' at me feet, Courtesy o Grag. two redcloaks pull me behin' th'new lines as 'ey're formed, 'an we're forced uphill by sheer brute numbers o them stinkin' things.
Ey batter us alla way back to sam's hill. from up 'ere I see it all now. Th'fires, th'smoke rollin' jiyyd way through th'cemetary, th'upper forest. I kin see th'bugbears dancin' in th'blood soaked streets of me town, as th'very foundations burn. Singin' 'an dancin' on me kin's graves. I remember th'feelin' o' … "How're we gonna get it back?" as a'sat wit me 'elmet on. There, really weren't anyone what were consolable.
I r'member lookin' about frantically fer th'blind priestess, Rith among th'living. Notta trace, notta idear, not e'en an excuse t'believe she were alive. me shrine be no more, surely. Unfergivable.
This war 'as a'ready cost me who I am. They'll nay 'ave me 'eart.
