The once bustling town, Gairo, was eerily quiet when Eldwyn arrived. The rustling trees in the distance, the gust of wind carring the chirps of the unique birds, and the rhythmic clicking of his boots with each step he took—those were the only audible sounds at the time.
"Is anybody here!" he called out, his voice resolute with a solemn look on his face. The fatigue of the journey from his homeland finally caught up to him.
"I need to find water," he muttered as he scanned the town. While he wandered through the empty streets, searching for water, he thought to himself: This doesn't feel right.
From the moment he arrived not even the shadow of a person had appeared. All he saw were the beautiful flowering trees planted at the entrance of a garden he passed by, which he admired. Finally he found a well in the middle of the town. He pulled out his bottle from his patch and bent over to fetch some.
The reflection of his face—striking blue eyes and brown hair—reminded him of the reason why he came here; to find a cure for his sister. Just as he was about to drink, a sudden gust of wind knocked his bottle to the ground. His body stiffened, he felt nauseous over the stench of a rotten corpse carried by the wind. Out of curiosity he walked towards the direction where the wind blew from.
The scent led him to a worn out pub. The interior of the pub was covered with webs and layers of dust. As he walked through the door he heard the faint voice of a child.
"Is anyone there?"
But there was no response. He climbed up the stairs on his right—with caution.
Eldwyn broke down at the sight of a little girl—mild green eyes and dark hair—in her tattered white cloth tending to the corpse of a woman who could only be her mother.
"H-Hey what are you doing there little lady..." he asked, gently.
The little girl looked up, unfazed, "Oh hey there. Mummy there's a... erhm, slender looking man here do you know him?" she inquired from the lifeless figure.
After a brief pause the little girl turned to Eldwyn with a warm smile.
"Mommy says she doesn't know you. But don't worry about that, okay?"
"Err... Okay." Liam gulped. So, what's your name then?"
"My name is Delza."
"Wow such a nice name" Eldwyn cheered as Delza smiled back. " I'm Eldwyn. So what happened here, when I walked into the town I didn't see anybody you're the first person I've met."
Delza turned to face Liam as she said
"A month ago, some people dressed in black cloaks walked through the town. They did that for two days, afterwards they begun taking whoever they wanted with them. I don't know why though. All that matters to me is mummy."
"I see and what happened to your mummy?" Eldwyn asked.
"Right now she's sick so I'm looking after her, when she becomes energetic again we can do all sorts of fun things again. When those people came here, one of them tried to rip mummy's cloths off but because we're poor, she resisted. She slipped and bumped her head. All she needs is some rest and she'll be right back on her feet. Mhm~"
"That's too bad. I wish I could meet her."
"Mummy did you hear that? He says he wants to meet you so you need to get better soon, okay?"
Liam felt nothing but pity for Delza as he contemplated on whether to tell her the truth or not. He was staring at the endless emptiness of the town through the window opposite where he sat; when suddenly, he caught a glance of a shadowy figure in the distance. When he focused his gaze a bit more on the figure it turned out to be a young man waving his hands towards him.
"I'll be right back" he told Delza before leaving to meet the stranger.
"Hey there..." the young man called out "are you a resident or you're new here" he asked.
"I'm new here" Eldwyn replied.
"Thought so. I take it you didn't know what happened before you came here right?"
" Yes, that's precisely it. But the little girl I spoke to, Delza, said some people came here and started taking people away."
"Well that's true." The man nodded "The moment you entered this town, I saw you, but I didn't call out because I thought you might be in cahoots with those people, but after I saw you speaking to the little girl... I figured you weren't."
"No I'm not." Eldwyn clarified as they both shook their hands and laughed.
"But what's wrong with her though, doesn't she realize her mother is dead?"
After Eldwyn asked the young man that question, he explained that she tries to escape the reality of her mother's death so she deludes herself with the fact that she's only ill and has to rest. He added that the reason why they also allow it is because there is the possibility that they can't take care of her and as such if they were to cure her of her delusion it'll only make things worse and that she would just be lonelier than she is now.
After the young man with dark skin and brown eyes explained things to Eldwyn, he told him his name—Sulivan—and showed him the route to where most of those who were residents now lived.
After their conversation, Eldwyn walked back to Delza with a glimpse of determination in his eyes. The moment he walked into the room where Delza was located he clenched his fists. *She needs to know.*
"Hey Delza..."