“What's that noise?”

I wake up to rummaging in the night. It was coming from below. I look over the side of the rooftop ledge and out onto the road. I look at our horses. No one new had arrived. I head downstairs curiously to see what was happening. My hands press the gritty wall of the building and I turn the corner. I follow the stairwell to the ground level and walking along the outside of the building. The wet grass spritzes my boots, as I make my way to the entrance of the inn. There was a small shop inside to buy a variety of things. I smile as I see a lights and movement. I was hungry and now was a good time for a snack. I dart in through the entrance.

I stop dead in my tracks. In front of me stood a magnificent and glowing body. I couldn't believe my eyes. She looked so beautiful. No more ugliness. Love was emanating across my face. It was Nelessi!

“Come here, Lani,” smiles Nelessi with an excited gasp.

I freeze in my tracks, but the feelings of warmth and comfort were all around me. I look at the dead bodies around Nelessi. She had killed the inn keeper and his children. They were motionless, but had no wounds. Dried nuts and berries were scattered everywhere next to a knife. A rifle was leaning against the shelves near scattered bullets. There wasn't a single drop of blood. I stare at the fallen bodies. It was like the soul had been sucked out of them, leaving their carcasses on the floor. I didn't know what was going on.

“Nelessi?” I manage to say. I felt so warm and safe.

“It is truly me Lani. He is watching. We are his eyes. Come to this love, Lanella.”

I panic, but take a step closer. It felt so good. It felt like my mother long ago, but dissimilar.

“Feel my love, Lanella. Mother will make you not suffer anymore. No more suffering. Only positive feelings,” smiles Nelessi. “Come and feel loved. I'm collecting for his arrival. Neandeleria will die. No more suffering.”

I blink and try to shake the feelings from my being. A chill of fear forces my head to tighten.

“N-Nelessi? What are you doing?,” I stutter.

I watch nervously as Nelessi transforms into her normal self. I stare as she uses the energy of the souls she leeched, to redraw herself with an even more beautiful and good-looking body. She was nearly perfect. Her wings tingle with delight. Her body was glowing in white and yellow. I cover my face and try hard not to peek at her. I could stand and admire her in awe for hours. A sharp voice snaps me out of my trance. I feel a hard strike on my back and naked shoulder. It stung and caught me by surprise.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Run, Lani!”

It was Nathari. He was telling me to flee! I watch as Nathari leaps onto Nelessi, tackling her to the ground. He grabs her head and tries to drive his tusk into her face, but she pacifies him with loving feelings. I watch her reach into his chest and pull out his soul. Nathari screams as if he felt every muscle of his heart being torn and shredded. I cover my face.

“Think Lani!”

I grab my knife and hold it steady. I narrow my eyes in anger. I throw it as hard as I can at Nelessi and it stabs her right in her forehead. I watch her drop Nathari's lifeless body onto the ground and emanate more good feelings. Nelessi plucks my knife from her head with a sickening noise. She drops it and it sticks into the floorboards beneath us. She redraws her wound to make it beautiful again and smiles at me.

At that moment, my tempests enter the room with furious chills. My breath becomes visible. I watch Nelessi struggle as her wings flap and knock over several cans and packages. She groans, before easily shaking free of their control. She recovers and erases a single tear of silver liquid from her eye. It evaporates into the air. I feel one chill vanish and then another as my tempests attack her again. When the struggle is over, the last two rush out of the room. They were telling me to retreat.

I shake in disbelief. Two of my tempests had died. Lam Lathi would find their dead bodies.

I dart out the room and run straight into Atjani.

“Run, Atjani. We need to run!” I shout, as he helps me up.

Atjani's eyes widen as he dashes toward the entrance.

“What the hell is this thing?,” I hear him mutter at the creature.

I wince, as Atjani fires his rifle several times. I make a run for my horse. Bullet flashes light up my view from behind. In my panic, I forget about my friend. My eyes dart back to Atjani. He was running up to me. The feelings didn't lure him in. We reach our horses with heavy breathing. Suddenly, my feet leave the ground unwillingly. Atjani had lifted me up and thrown me onto the back of my saddle. I gasp and ignore the pain as he gives my horse a push and leaps on his own. Minutes later, we escape the small inn and gallop down the road.

“What is that thing, Atjani?,” I gasp

“I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me!,” he yells back.

I didn't know what that creature was, but it was so beautiful and felt so good. Something about it was missing though, like a body hollowed and dead on the ground. A glimpse of Atjani enters my peripheral. My heart was beating faster than my galloping horse. The air rushes my face and slightly deafens me with whistling cold. My mind rushes as I try to make sense.

“It must have something to do with The Far Away Dream!”

I felt the same loving feelings inside the picture. I look back, still keeping my death grip on the reigns. The inn was barely visible and I wasn't going back for my belongings.

“Where do we go now?,” Atjani interrupts. He looked frightened too.

“She killed them all! Nathari. Something about Neandeleria dies,” I manage to say.

My thoughts were jumbled. All I knew was that Lam Lathi was moving to attack those on the other side of the world. I wasn't sure if I could stay a messenger and let that happen. If what Nelessi said was true, I was part of the problem. The problem was much bigger than my life. I try not to cry under the stress of my unknown future. I had to go back and get my diary.

“Mmm....maybe later”

That being Atjani and I encountered, shook me to the core. I didn't want Neandeleria to die anymore, even if they were my enemy.