On a bitter winter night, resting within a small hut located within the Razine
Mountain range, two men lay. One, a hulking Igashen male quite slim and clearly
starved of most food, the other a strong and rather refined Elfen man. The
first, the man upon which this story pivots, was sleeping through a dream most
horrible and cruel, the second being his only companion from the Glomdoring
forest. And so goes this tale of betrayal, the man to whom being haunted and
taunted is not uncommon.

---

A single scream shatters the structural strength of the sky above, smashing
it apart, flying down in sharp shards to pierce the man standing solemn and
sole beneath. Shard upon sharp shard skitter through his skin, shredding and
slicing through fresh flesh and spitting blood outwards, evoking a primal fear
and agony beyond all mortally sufferable. Red mixed with sky blue in a
mesmerising pattern, catching the attention of the suffering in eternal
rapture. Claws ripped silently through the painting of odd colours,
decapitating and decimating the being to which sufferings were not unknown.
Time froze in a silent, taunting tableau to lock every detail within the
memory of the haunted. Then, without warning, rushed past at great speed. Each
slash a greyish blur of pain, each strike completed with immediate accuracy,
raising the pain to a plateau until the integrity of his surroundings cast
themselves apart. For too long this agony continued, yet as suddenly as the
dream had been initiated all creatures left his mind. He stood within a black
void, life devoid from his touch and for a moment he longed the suffering once
more. Abandoned by all, even light itself, he longed for the touch of any
being.
Loneliness rang throughout his being.

---

He rose, sweat pouring in great rivers down his face. A cold sweat, sapping
life from face and bringing weakness to every fibre of muscle in his body.
Summoning strength from beyond himself, he threw his arms out to thrash
fearfully upon a being dressed in maroon and sapphire robes resting near by. A
strange shimmer wrapped momentarily about his being, dissolving into
invisibility as he woke with a groan and a grumble.
"Another restless night, 'rus?", he spoke with a rough voice, twinged partly
with sleepy yawns and fatigued tongue-tied words, "Really, boy, they can't be
quite as bad as you're making out. Anyway, there's little more I can offer you
to stem the pain and discomfort they bring." He offered an awkward smile.
"Juda! I have told you more than once that you will never comprehend these
agonies. Intricate and complex in their weaving, the pain they manifest only
comprehended in its entirety by me who feels it. I doubt even the man behind
them could know of the agony they cause..." He trailed off into a contemplative
silence, as his hands ran quivering through his unkempt, dirt-encrusted hair.
Juda sighed heavily, and turned his attention to a blackened patch of earth,
moving some dry branches and leaves to place them atop it in a pyramid shape,
before coaxing a single spark into existance to feast upon the hero's meal of
dry tinder before it. Within moments, a roaring fire soothed the aching and
sleep-deprived limbs and muscles of both men. Throwing himself down in
exhaustion, Juda rested his hands heavily against his forehead, staring upwards
at the clear sky, dawn Sun approaching slowly to cast even rays upon all in His
eternal sight.
Rising slightly, Larus wrapped his arms around his raised knees to form a
tight and secure ball, whilst he rocked back and forth slightly, eyes focused
intently upon the flickering flames.
"Why would they do this, Jay..? Surely they do not view my leaving of
Glomdoring so strongly? Why can you not convince them I meant no harm? You are
all I have, Jay.. The only one to stay with me through the months that have
passed outside of the Glomdoring. I left with no mal-intent; no will to harm
them. I wish only to be a citizen of the Basin." A whimper rang throughout his
words, a tear brushing against his eyelashes before creating a solitary stream
down his face, to pool in defiance of gravity on his chin.
"Now now, 'rus, fear not. We shall find he who does this to you. I, however,
can not stay with you for the rest of this day. There are matters I must attend
to, you understand. I will be back before nightfall." With these words, Juda
rose to his feet, placed a particularly rushed kiss upon Larus' forehead, and
began to sprint out of sight towards the purple forests of the Glomdoring,
heavy wyrden limbs creaking from a portentious wind which played through their
branches.

---

As Father Sun sat as His peak of the day, rays danced between the perpetually
changing movement of the diminishing flames which entranced Larus so. Lifted by
an unseen force, the branch danced tauntingly around the Elfen male, whose eyes
flew open as they sensed the malicious presence. Blood retreated from his
extremities, face, arms and legs running pale in fear. He traced the branch
with wild, frenzied eyes.
"Why do you taunt me so?!", he bellowed, "Leave me be, ghost! I have done no
wrong to your forest!" His mere defences shattered as terror overruled his
partially reinforced demeanor. It drew lines across his face, scrunching it up
as he cried great bawls in fear and depressed submission of the superior force.
A harsh, gutteral voice penetrated his mind, "Dear dear, Larus. You are
indeed a pitiful excuse for one once of the merciless forest. I will not leave
you until you are true to your merciless nature, boy."
Larus felt the sensation of millions of minute fingers tugging endlessly at
his eyelids again, but he resisted with every strand of his being, physically
holding his eyes open.
"Dear boy, you cannot resist me forever, so just let yourself run free with
my devilish dreams and enjoy your transformation."
He relaxed somewhat, his inner consciousness falling into a submissive state
against its better judgement. His eyes locked shut, and cast upon his sight a
pitch darknes once more. Not a second passed until he had descended totally
into a deep sleep.

---

A clear, aquamarine sky through which sweltering heat bounced across
innumerable dunes made residence above the Skarch desert, sand lifted up by
cutting winds to lacerate the skin of a man standing alone beneath Father Sun.
Scorching desert sands wrapped around his bare feet, blisters boiling from his
bubbling flesh and rippling pain across his nerves. Sandojin and cobras rose
from an unholy shroud of blood-red to chase bubbles of fast-rotting flesh
which rose to the firmaments as they broke away from his body. Staring down at
his feet, he saw only blood-red flesh turning fetid, stench assaulting his nose
tirelessly, and rotten before his eyes.
Decay and purple rot flew up his body in veiny tracts, spreading from his
feet to his thin starved legs. Showing no mercy, they continued the horribly
agonising raid upon his body, violating his personal sanctum, leaving him safe
nowhere; not even in himself. Pulsing purple rushed across his thighs, across
his groin, his chest, and back down his arms. Unable to open his mouth now;
unable to release a cry for help he watched on in unimaginable terror as he
felt a wiry tendril rub beneath the skin of his neck. Soon, a purple veil
covered his sight and all that was shown to him was shown in a wyrden shade.
The last memorable thought to chance his brain was that of abandonment, of
loneliness in its purest form. Nowhere for him to be safe, nowhere for him to
take safety within. No Juda to save him, and no safety in his own body.
Loneliness rang throughout his being.

---

He awoke, keeping his eyes tight shut as he attempted to reform his jumbled
mind. However, even this attempt was soon abandoned when he was vigorously
shaken by a pair of large hands. The dirty crumpled face of Juda started down
at him, a grim smirk upon his face.
"Dear dear, 'rus. Did we fall back to sleep?" he spoke with a taunting tone,
before violently smashing the back of his palm across Larus' face. "Shouldn't
do that, dear. They'll get you." He cackled maniacally as Larus started up at
him with a deep frown wrinkling his face.
"Oh dear, 'rus. Did you really forget so quickly the nature of our Great
Forest? The Merciless Forest, they call it. Gods above, you are a fool."
Raising his hands to the sky, Juda chanted in a deep arcane voice. Wyrden
trees sprouted from the dry soil, a twisted vitality weaving through them and
causing Larus to shrink deep within himself in bitter submission. Turning to
face him, Juda plucked a single flittering mote from a dreamcatcher a cast it
upon him.
"Sleep," commanded a harsh voice.

---

The Ravenwood stands in all its glory, surrounded by a multitude of busy men
and women running like vermin around it. Standing still within the activity is
Larus, his cold expressionless gaze casting itself upon the passers by, each
involved in activities beyond his knowledge. Even within such a busy, active
crowd, loneliness floats as if an ill-struck disharmonious chord throughout
him. Seperated even within the rushing scene, slowly people notice his cold
presence. Murmurs pass quickly between the crowd, and glances in his direction
show disgust and betrayal. People slowly file out in all directions, words
occasionally floating upon the rotten breeze which whisper of his betrayal and
abandoment of the Merciless Forest.
He stood frozen within the rustling trees of the forest, despair amok in his
mind. Cast out by his own, rejected and despised. Soon even the animals caught
word of his treacherous actions, and they skittered between the purple leaves
to seek abode somewhere else. Light filtered out of view, and left him only in
the presence of darkness, though even that soon left his world and left him in
a void of nothingness.

---

Loneliness rang throughout his being, but this time the nightmare did not
abate. He did not wake up to a face above him. Abandoned, he sat beside the
cold black stain which once roared with the life of a bright fire.

Loneliness rang throughout his being.