Page 14 of Kiss of the Dark Elf's Blade

And my foot crushes something.

The sound is very loud, and it feels like glass underfoot.

Looking beneath me, I see the remnants of the crystallized tagetes I avoided earlier.

I pause, hoping that maybe they didn’t hear the cracking of their prized crystalline flowers.

Briefly, I entertain that hope.

Until it’s denied to me, and their buzzing, rocklike and unified, grows louder behind me.

I sprint.

When I was told to go down into the ravine to find fylvek grass, I was not informed that these large insectoid beings would be down here. I don’t dare turn around to look at them, lest I be petrified like the plants in their meadow.

Their buzzing gets louder, and I’m faced with an inevitability – soon, they will catch up to me, tearing into me, or converting me, or whatever these creatures I’ve only heard stories aboutdoto their prey.

I can see the rope ladder ahead, but I know that I’m not going to reach it. They can fly. I can hear their laden wings beating into the wind, their very existence a slight against nature.

Resigning myself to my fate, I grab onto the rope ladder. I don’t have the motivation to climb. I know that there’s no point.

Then I hear several crashes behind me, accompanied by a sudden ringing noise and a blinding light. I am stricken momentarily deaf and blind.

It’s silent.

I wait for the insectoid, rocklike buzzing to continue, but it does not.

I can see my breath and realize that I’m very cold.

Turning around, I see the corpses of the creatures, covered in ice crystals, with one arrow planted into the soil among them. The grass is suddenly brittle as I move forward, picking up the arrow and inspecting it.

It just seems like an ordinary arrow. It is light in my hand, and the tip is cracked slightly. I roll it around on my palm, finding nothing at all unusual.

Coming to my senses, I have a profound realization.

Somebody saved me,I think.

I look at the rope ladder and pull on it. It’s partially frozen now, and it might not hold my weight, but I would bet that it’s still sturdy enough to climb.

But something calls me back to the ravine grove. I feel incredibly stupid as I march shakily forward, taking care to not slip on the ground, which is covered in ice.

“What are you doing?” I ask myself aloud. “Climb the ladder and get out of here, or you’re probably going to die.”

I should not spit on my good fortune. I should be thankful that I’m allowed to live today and head back to Lowtown.

As I’m about to round the corner, I sigh, hoping that the fylvek grass hasn’t also been frozen.

But I don’t dare check. Not yet. My curiosity is leading me onward.

Somehow, I hope that I’ll be able to learn the identity of my savior.

What if it’s the same man?

The thought is preposterous to me, and I scoff at it.

On the other hand, somebody must have been following me in some form.

Rounding the corner, I see the destroyed remains of the meadow. The hive is covered in ice and broken in, the crystals all violently shattered.