Soulseeker

Lithoniel 4.2

Lithoniel's return was like a soothing balm on an open wound for the survivors. The proceeded way faster than before, even more quickly than when the Nightstalker was in command. Of course the fact she'd faced another impossible challenge and came back alive had a big part in raising their morale.

Unfortunately for Lithoniel, her actions did nothing but increase her reputation, widening the gap between her and the others and turning their faith into something close to fanaticism. But the survivors' attitude it wasn't the only thing that changed.

It was Garluin who surprised her most. During all the travel he'd kept staring at her, his gaze clinical like he was trying to dissect her, maybe to discover the reason why his plan had failed. He worried her, but not as much as Liara. The small elf was quickwitted and smart but kept behaving in the same way as before like a newborn of a small animal. Whatever happened to her down there, she wasn't getting any better. They were close to their destination, less than two leagues away from their home when Kolvar approached her.

"How is your arm?" He asked.

"A bit stiff but otherwise fine" She replied.

"You don't have to act with me. You know that, right?" His tone was hushed and soft. "All the people here know how tough and brave you are."

Lithoniel averted her gaze. She couldn't bear to look at his eyes, filled with worry for her well being mixed with longing.

"I know" She whispered back.

She felt dirty. She was lying to him. To all of them. Her arm wasn't just getting better, but completely healed, the wound on her leg no more than a scar. But the guilt she was feeling was a small price to pay compared to the alternatives. She didn't want to add any more arrows to the quiver of her detractors. They had more than enough as it was.

She was too tall for an elf, her lineaments too soft and her bust too big. Her hair was close to the silver of the fabled high elves of old, only not close enough. Even her ears, elongated but rounder than the usual elf, were a matter of discussion among her peers. And then there were her grey-purple eyes. They were called unusual by her few friends, unnatural by the majority of the tribe and eerie by her foes. A constant reminder of her position inside the tribe. No matter how many years passed or what Kolvar and Rolim said to convince her: she was a stranger, barely a step above an intruder.

"Cover your face" Kolvar reminded, pointing somewhere.

Lithoniel followed his finger and looked at the skies. Ashes and dust kept falling there at regular intervals, painting gray the black soil. It was another unfortunate consequence of living in a land filled with active volcanoes. Harmless most of time, the dust storms were a natural occurrence in the Embersea just like the gray smoke rising from the mountains and the somber clouds originated by it. When Lithoniel brushed her feet against the soil something like a black powder rose, indiscernible from ashes except for the difference of color.

They'd had almost reached their destination when she saw something. Footprints. It wasn't so strange since they were so close to the village. What was strange, however, was from where they came.

South-west from the village. Lithoniel bit her lips. There were just the mountains of the West Ridge in that direction, and since their tribesmen never went that way, there could be just one conclusion: they had to belong to someone from outside the tribe, other elves judging from the shape and size of the footprints.

"Rolim." She said, calling him from the back of their group.

She wanted another opinion, and Rolim was a better tracker than her, maybe the best in the entire tribe. Rolim frowned when he saw her expression and scowled when he crouched down to examine the footprints.