ArmouredSkelly

Having been interrupted from her stroll, Ash Paleheart stares at a poster while repeatedly flipping a coin. "Hmm, there's always a choice to make," she says as she catches the coin in her hand before peeking at it. "I think it's obvious, you'll do great friend," the elf smiles as she continues on her stroll and coin flipping.

Scribbled all around Ash’s room with ink, on every surface in immediate sight, All hail the one who seeks only justice, All hail the one who seeks to destroy darkness itself, All hail the one who radiates cleansing light, All hail the Pale Lord and his pure light. As the elf herself stares blankly into the mirror, the inky passage barely obscures her blank and malnourished face, with only an eerie smile creeping across her expression. It had only been a few months but she’d finally figured it all out, with the help of the Pale Lord, whispering into her mind. Her friend had obviously been tainted by the void, that’s why he was acting so hostile and inhospitable to her, as to go as far as to question her beliefs. But after a week of fasting, the voice in her mind echoed that she was ready to ‘save’ her friend. All hail the who see only justice, hail one who destroy darkness , the one radiates light, All hail Pale Lord pure . ‘What happened?’ was the first question which popped out of Ash’s mind as the elf’s head hit the floor, then subsequently drowned out by her left shoulder’s agonising wails into her mind before blacking out again, her consciousness being dragged to and from the abyss of unconsciousness similar to the sensation of waterboarding. A faint memory of a room as her left arm felt loose. Another of her left arm falling off surrounded by silver spires. The inability to focus as she is bombarded with guilt and shame over her failure of completing the Pale Lord’s desire to cleanse the void. A l ail h w o ee nl ust ce, hai ne wo story ark ess, he on radio ight, Pale Lord a delusion. At last, her mind finally gets a hold over her sanity, beginning to push back the weakening plague inflicted on the elf. “Huh? Ea attacked vy?” Ash would say with a confused and raised brow to her friend, who only confirms the fact that she attempted to kill him. “I- don’t remember much of anything,” “It’s been all a blur,” she answers to the ones who questioned her odd behaviour over the past two years. As she sits in her room yet again, this time in front of a fractured mirror, her now lively and green gemstone-like irises staring back at her through the cracks. “I wish what I said was true,” she says to herself as tears begin to swell up in her eyes, holding her face with her right remaining hand, crying herself to sleep.

All it takes is one push to cause a chain reaction… It’s been a week of sleepless nights for Ash Paleheart… The same dream… Darkness and mist… A single pale light… Seemingly so far… Ash sits in front of her bedroom mirror in Haense, staring back at her with a tired and worn complexion is her reflection. Her eyes occasionally trick her, seeing things that aren’t there, like the disappointed face of her late father, Alexander Paleheart, just at the edge of her field of view. Or just the set of pale steel armour her father once wore, stalking her from the corner of her eye. The same dream again… Darkness and mist… A single pale light… Closer each time… “It’s been weeks since I even had any good sleep,” Ash huffs as she finishes the remaining vodka in the bottle, then scratches her right arm near the elbow with one of many patches of dry skin. The same dream again… Darkness and mist are clearing… A beacon of pale light… I can see it now… Ash Paleheart laughs to herself as she stands before her fathers old set of armour, a smile on her face, her eyes devoid of liveliness. “What is vy wish oh Pale Lord…” Her voice is hollow and monotone as she falls silent, listening to the quietness of the inactive forge around her. Her smile would widen along with her eyes, “I see, I see it now. I will spread the good word of the Pale Lord then.” she nods to the unmoving set of armour before turning to leave, all while with a large smile on her face, nearly reaching ear to ear. ‘But not before a celebratory drink and nap at the tavern...’ she thinks as she subconsciously scratches one of the many patches of scab on her body. To be continued…