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month record rogue 3 4 3
Valarqvin finds the reckless explorers from outside.
The cave is so dark that even a Cyclops can barely see. The outlanders who know nothing of Sami's hidden dangers wave their torchlights in panic, trying to cut open the darkness that would not be lit.
The outlanders and Valarqvin were hardly more than strangers, and one did not need the gift of foresight to see their end. Valarqvin could see it the first time she saw them two weeks ago. Yet she chose to follow them and attempt to render help, not long after the outlanders set out.
The wind and snow covered all tracks. Valarqvin was too young then; she had hardly ever left her cave, nor seen many tracks left behind by demons. She found the place after many days in harsh weather, after she had reached the point of exhaustion.
When Valarqvin found them, she knew she was too late.
On their faces—now disconnected from their distorted, twitching bodies—she sees fear overtaking all reason. A pair of eyes turns towards her in the undispellable darkness, thirsting for salvation.
Help, please, help.
Amidst the silent call for help, Valarqvin raises her staff with trembling hands. Necrosis Arts fall upon the body of the explorer that was about to be turned.
She wanted to save them, but she could not offer the hope of life, only inevitable death.
The dissonance of life comes to an end. The young Cyclops turns around, shuts her eyes, and stands silently in the shadows. She steadies her thoughts and clears her thinking, so that the unfathomable foe cannot find weakness in her reason. Her own silhouette gazes at her with a mournful expression in the darkness when she closes her eyes.
The shadow mutters, 'Why do you go forth? Fate has always been unmoved by your efforts.'
Valarqvin remains silent in its gaze, but eventually answers, firmly, 'Because I saw you.'
Yes, she wanted to save those people, but that was only her wish, not her reason for going forth.
She chose to follow the trail of the outlanders because she saw a vision of this instant, the vision of her failed rescue. She set out to realize the fate that had been determined.
The shadow sighs. 'You have seen it. The future holds nothing but tragedy.'
Valarqvin can feel her uncontrollable trembling diminish along with the demon's hold over her mind. She knows she can escape now.
'Yes, you are the tragedy that I foresaw,' she says to herself. 'But you are not the end.'
She opens her eyes, and walks towards the cave's exit.
In her hand she holds a journal left behind by an explorer. It was not the first outlander relic that she has collected, nor would it be the last.
'You are merely the present.'
