Distant Illusions XII

After another day of cooking, packing, and other chores completed, you are completely spent and decide to head to bed. Buddy’s stoic silence has continued along with mysterious glances toward the dancing lights in the north and the constant checking of the map quiver slung over his shoulder.

As you settle in your tent for some well-deserved rest, you can hear the fire crackle outside. It pops and purrs gently. You listen to its comforting melody and it cradles you into unconsciousness…

“Cursed to land. If water once was your home and your hope, where then is your sanctuary? Stories tell us that the stars once told their own tale and guided us to places we needed to be. Now, you are lost. Revenge.”

Your eyes pop open and you are shocked to see a chair by your bed. The mysterious figure now sits before you, turned ever so slightly away. They’re closer than before, certainly closer than you’d like, close enough that you can make out that the figure is entirely shrouded in a blue cloak lined with gold thread. Slowly, the figure's head turns in your direction. You can’t help but try to peer into the inky black beneath the hood. The gleam of a jade-green eye pierces you. You freeze as black tendrils pour out of the hood, sprawling outward. The jade eye brightens somehow and you are pulled helplessly closer and closer…