What Came After...

Roz threw her pack down, relieved to be back at camp, and away from the unsettling darkness of the nether.  She was troubled by her interaction with the King of the Nether.  There was a darkness that seemed to have followed her back.  Her crew quickly took off back to their tents, all of them exhausted from the journey.

Roz quickly spotted Mar and their teammate who had run off in fear. They were sitting by the campfire in the middle of the camp, talking.  Roz contemplated going over to them, but honestly…she was still upset by the turn of events.  Roz decided it was best to go back to her tent and get some sleep.  She was exhausted, and needed to think.

Roz made her way back to her tent, setting her stuff down in her area.  Her crew was already fast asleep.  Roz took off her gear, which was always a relieving feeling, and crawled into bed.  She laid there in the darkness of the tent, her head spinning.  She couldn’t get the King’s words out of her head.  Soon all will bow to me.  A war was coming, whether she liked it or not.  She closed her eyes hoping it would help her fall asleep faster, but it only made her racing thoughts stronger.  

She decided to get up, maybe she just needed some air.  Deep down she knew it wouldn’t make a difference, but it was better than just laying there being tortured by her thoughts. She quietly left the tent, doing her best not to wake anyone.  The camp was dark and quiet now, save for a few lights leaking out of some of the tents.  She could hear the crickets chirp and the breeze brush through the trees.  She tried to focus on those as she circled the camp, stopping at the entrance and gazing out into the wilderness.  One day soon, there would be an army of darkness on their doorstep.  What had she done?  

“What’re you still doing up?” She heard Mar’s voice from behind her.

“Can’t sleep.” She said looking out at the dark landscape.

“I’m glad everyone made it back okay. Though…I was never really worried with you in charge.” Mar said with a soft smile.

“Mar…you need to know something.” Roz said. “I was gonna wait till morning, but…” She said, her voice hushed and shaky. Mar leaned in.

“This dark Equos…he calls himself The King of Nether…He said ‘All will bow’” Roz paused.  “Mar… I believe he is out for us all.” She finished.

“Did he say anything else? Where is he from? What does he want?” Mar pressed.

“Nothing, that’s all I could get out of him before he threatened my life…”Roz said.  “But he is something dark Mar, something old and evil” Roz said, her voice shaking. Mar gave a troubled sigh.

“Thank you for telling me.  You should get to bed, it’s been a long day.” Mar said kindly. Roz gave a nod and headed back to her tent.

Roz jumped awake, she must’ve had a nightmare. A bright morning light filtered into the tent. She must’ve been so tired she didn’t remember going back to bed.  She got up, there was no use laying there as it'd only give her more time to think.  She left her tent, avoiding a lot of the people who were already awake. She found a spot to sit on the edge of camp, overlooking everyone’s daily activities, carefree and happy.  Would they still be so carefree if they knew? The morning sun shining brightly on her face. She couldn’t get her interaction with the nether out of her head, and couldn’t forget the dealing of dread that she had.  She watched as people went about their daily activities, talking to friends, gathering supplies and doing chores.  How should she tell them? Should she tell them at all? She never got the answers she was looking for, and they were no closer to knowing where he came from, but one thing she was sure of…he was a dark and primal force, and he was definitely no friend.

“How are you holding up?” Mar said, snapping Rozelyn out of her trance.

“Oh, Hey Mar.” Roz said, a saddened tone in her voice.

“Can I sit?” Mar asked, though, it was really more of a formality as he sat down before Roz had the chance to answer. “What’s on your mind?” Mar asked.

“The nether…I feel like I failed the mission…” Roz said.  “I got no answers, and I maybe started a war…” She said.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up.” Mar said. “I should’ve been there.”

Mar looked off into the distance, a look of regret in his eyes, but something told Roz it was deeper than what happened in the nether.  She wasn’t one to dig, but it was apparent that Mar had some old wounds, and hopefully this whole thing wasn’t too much for him.  Mar took a deep breath, and turned back to Rozalyn.

“I shouldn’t have left the group, this was my mission after all.” He stated.  “It was irresponsible of me to push that responsibility onto you.” 

“So what happens next?” Roz asked.  Mar was quiet for a second, she guessed he didn’t know either.  Maybe it was wishful thinking on both their parts, but it seems nobody was prepared for what the dark Equos had said. Truth be told, she was hoping to make an ally that day.

“We prepare.” Mar said after a minute.

“We recruit everyone we can, we train, we prepare for the worst.” He followed with an intensity in his voice.

“We might not like it, but he did give us an answer.” Mar said. “War is coming Roz, and I’m not about to be on the losing side.” Mar finished.

“What should we tell them?” Roz asked, gesturing at the camp full of people.

“That war is coming.” Mar said somberly as he stood up and turned to the center of the camp.