Tales of Arlo

Weary of the Night

The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on Sivero, Oda, and I as we headed south towards Lazz City. With each trot of my horse, my eyes felt heavier and heavier. Oda noticed my lifeless gaze when he turned around to check on Sivero and I. 

"Are you going to make, Arlo?" Oda asked, "It'll be nearly a day before we reach Lazz City, if not longer."

There was nothing in the world that sounded better than lying my head down on grass, even if it was just for an hour to two. Despite my exhaustion, I could feel something pulling me forward like an invisible thread endlessly weaving down the path ahead of us. 

"Not yet," I mustered, going back to mulling over the internal pulling. 

"When we get to Lazz City, I know a few local innkeepers," Oda hoped to motivate me, "They always have a spare bed or two for familiar faces like Sivero and I."

"That'll be pleasant," I replied hollowly. 

As our ride continued, I closed by eyes and led my horse blindly follow Sivero and Oda. When we'd pass a small creek, I would stutter awake as my horse hopped over. Fog was beginning to roll in, making it nearly impossible to see more than a couple feet in front of us. 

The singing birds and humming forest critters from before were momentarily replace with a deafening silence. Artemis' crossbow began to glow brightly, nearly burning my back from its intense heat. 

"Something is near," I alerted the boys as I swung my bow around. 

The once silent air began to be filled with sound of a woman singing long, high notes in a language I couldn't recognize. As I turned my crossbow around, the light continued to glare with no change in intensity as I swerve around, looking for the mysterious voice. 

"Follow the voice," I said without thinking, quickly racing off for the sound with a crack of the reigns. 

The once white fog began to turn a bluish green as the voice began louder and louder, matching a sickly sweet and sour smell that began to form. I grabbed my cape and wrapped it around the half of my face and nose. Sivero's ghostly lantern floated above his head, giving Oda and I our only visional. 

The tall spruce trees were became shadow poles, as we narrowly dodged and weaved through them. I felt someone grab me from around my waist, turning my head to see the familiar, deer-like horns of Artemis. 

"She asked for your attention... I could not refuse..." the deity ghostly whispered in my ear, "she needs you... don't fear her as a reaper... she is a mother looking for her lost children."

The song stopped when we reached a long abandoned grave. Artemis and I jumped down from the horse as I got a closer look at the grave. Deep behind the ground lied the body of a young girl named Lonera Ciela who died nearly a century ago, despite only being about a decade into her life. 

When I looked up from the grave, a tall woman dressed in layers of flowing, black fabric looked down at me from the side of her face as she stood to the side. She had sharp, black eyes that seemed to analyze every layer of my being. Her blonde, straight hair gently blew in the breeze all the way down her back. On top of her head sat a crown with a thin, black veil covering most of her face. 

"Messager, this is the mortal you've entrusted yourself with..." her gravelly voice chuffed, "How dainty..."

"My Lady, she has more to hear than can be seen by your eye," Artemis carefully retorted. 

"That would be 'My Lady Death', you peasant!" the goddess nearly yelled. 

The dark goddess crack her head towards me and bent down, looking me dead in the eyes. Although the half of her face I had seen was that of beautiful woman, the other half of her face had fleshed that was rotting off the bone. Her green tinted skin had multiple holes that ooze puss and the eye socket of a long-forgotten skull. The sickly sweet and sour smell of the fog intensified as she grew closer to my nose, making my stomach churn violently. Despite my fear, I stood firmly.