Ahead of the Storm - Day 38

Alhaster, Three Months Ago

Elena ended her daily Commune spell feeling as she always did these days, after speaking with Wee Jas - worried. The Goddess had been sharing a great deal of her own concerns with Elena, and things were beginning to become clearer. Yet, the overall picture was bleak - of a world in a state of downfall, with wars and calamities everywhere on the horizon. Furthermore, it seemed as though many of these were completely unpreventable. It was all Elena could do, but to try and see how best to protect her own people, here in Alhaster. To fret too much about the suffering of the entire world would be to crumble her resolve... and she needed as much of that as possible, for the principle task Wee Jas was asking of her was one that would not come easily. In fact, Elena feared she might not be able to bring herself to do it.

She had long struggled with the limits to which she was willing to push herself. Though she believed in justice and law, she had always been willing to bend those beliefs when it came to protecting herself. And while she also believed in furthering her own aims and those of her church above anything else, she had always feared that her drive might push her over the edge into what might be deemed "evil". It was a fine line, one that had inevitably driven many of her former friends away from her. For instance, while she and Pellegri shared many of the same goals, at heart - a desire to help others and protect them - in the end their differences of opinion about how best to achieve this drew them apart...

And now, Elena feared that her future would pull her even further from her former friends. Possibly even making her hate herself... For the destiny ahead of her was now clear, through the words of Wee Jas...

In the end, she was not to prevent all calamities - but to be the cause of one. The universe itself might have to come to an end, at her own hand.

It was a painful thought, but Wee Jas assured her that it was meant to be, and in time she would learn why it was necessary.

But the guilt... it was unbearable.

And so, as she did every day after completing her Commune spell, Elena picked up the sharp dagger on her desk and ran its edge over her finger... contemplating the easy way out... to just turn that blade on herself and end her destiny right here and now. Yet, she couldn't. She knew there had to be another way out...

It was as if she knew someone would come and save her from herself - stop her before that final calamity would occur, rescuing her from her own worst nightmares. Ironically, she who had died so many times was now hoping to be killed once again... one final time...

Suddenly, a knock at the door shook Elena out of her misery, and she hastily put down the knife and cast a Cure Minor Wounds on her finger to hide the cut. Hurrying to answer it, she was taken aback at the sight of the man on the other side... Meerthan Eliothlorn. The two had spoken on occasion in the past couple of months... Meerthan had gotten her name through Manzorian, and had visited Alhaster before, seeking to use the castle's expansive libraries...

Yet what he said today was enough to thoroughly stun Elena.

Rushing through the door, Meerthan exclaimed:

"Queen Elena, we have much to speak of... Pellegri has discovered the name of our greatest enemy... and fallen unconscious..."

The words were nearly enough to make Elena pass out herself...

TO BE CONTINUED