Endless Shadows

Chapter 1

The world is changing.

I can feel it in the earth, in the water, and sometimes I smell it in the air.

Wait a moment...

That isn't change I'm smelling, it's smoke.

I lift my head and sniff the air and sure enough, I can smell smoke. I toss the apple I planned on "borrowing" from this vacant fruit stand and debate on whether or not I should investigate. I came to this small village for one purpose and one purpose only: to "borrow" some apples without permission.

I was not about to get myself involved with a bunch of villagers. Surely there have been situations like this before, and they most definitely have solved those situations before without my assistance. I pocket a few more apples and begin walking in the opposite direction of where the smoke is coming from, ignoring the frantic shouts of men as they try to put out the fire.

Don't turn around, don't turn around.

Somebody starts screaming.

Still not going to turn around...

Someone's calling for help. 

I'm still not going to do it...

I hear a woman begging for someone to find her son.

I'm turning around...

And I see fire, a lot of fire.

Quickening my pace and remembering to keep in the shadows, my eyes quickly scan the burning building. It's an inn, a very big inn, and fortunately for the villagers, it's far from any other buildings so at least the fire won't spread.

How a fire started is the least of my concerns at the moment (it's an inn, people drink, get drunk, things like this happen) the woman who caused me to turn around is going about frantically trying to get someone to go inside and search for her son.

I don't have time to ponder over how her son got left alone in a burning inn (they were probably passing through this village and decided to stay at the inn and the fire must have started when the mother wasn't with her son) I pull a black scarf over my mouth and nose, wrap my cloak around my body, and race into the building.

Instantly I feel burning heat on my skin, Pallando had better be right about this cloak being resistant to fire. I reach a gloved hand up and make sure that my hair is safely tucked inside of my hood. Burning hair is not something I want while searching for a child. 

My eyes search through the fire and smoke, I can see burning tables and chairs, but there's no sign of a human boy. Groaning, I make my way towards the stairs, avoiding flames as I go. I test the first step to see if it will hold: if I wasn't an elf it would collapse instantly. Fortunately (though sometimes unfortunately) I am an elf.

I lightly bound up the stairs, ignoring the ominous groans of the burning beams above my head. Find the boy, get out, don't die.

Simple.

Once I reach the top of the stairs I'm straining to hear anything that will lead me to the child, and I'm rewarded immediately with frightened screams. Rewarded, or cursed?

I race down the burning hall as quickly as I can, following the screams. My eyes are beginning to water and my lungs are filling up with smoke, I try not to cough though, if I start coughing now I won't be able to stop.

The screams keep getting louder until finally, I find the room where they are emanating from. The door is closed and on fire (big surprise considering that I'm in a burning building) I don't hesitate to kick it down. I've always wanted to do that actually, even though my foot now hurts and my boots are singed, I'm happy that I finally got to do it.