Ulakwe V - Sorrow

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by Quakehoof

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Ulakwe had treated his hand, he kept the dagger in his waistband and waited at the cliff for Ane. He looked over the cloudy shores. There were no more ships. They had all made landfall. There were so many invaders upon the shore. He seethed at seeing them.

"May the beauty of this island never mask the filth of it's invaders..." Ulakwe cursed under his breath. "May their greed, their hatred, forever lurk in their hearts and may they never know peace..."

"Ulakwe?" Ane called out behind him.

Ulakwe turned around to see the doe. Her smile was gone, in it's place was concern and fear for the seer.

As far as Ulakwe was concerned, seeing her was the only ray of sunshine in this storm. This maelstrom of fear, rage, and madness. The last lingering thread of his sanity...

"What happened?" she asked as she approached.

"It was the visions... I saw everything... death... slavery... ruin.... treachery..." he pointed to the boats on the shore. "Those are no mere outsiders, they are invaders. They come to enslave and destroy us." he said.

"What?" Ane couldn't believe what she heard.

"We have to get out of here... we have to go far away... across the sea... to the lands of the smooth hooves." he said pointing with a shaking hand to the horizon.

Ane embraced Ulakwe in a hug, and for a brief moment in that warmth, he felt himself calmed... but not enough. He would never be calm until he was far away from this place...

"Come with me, Ane... we must flee. The island is lost." he said.

"But this is my home, Ulakwe... it is our home..." Ane said, pulling away sadly.

"Not for long, Ane, don't you understand? It's over... I've seen it..." he said, reaching out to her.

"Ulakwe, I can't leave... this is all I know... it's all we know." she said.

"I cannot endure the other lands without you, Ane. Please, come with me..." Ulakwe looked forelorn.

"I'm sorry, Ulakwe... come back to the village, everything will be okay." Ane said softly.

"No, it won't... don't you see there won't BE a village!" Ulakwe shook his head.

He looked back toward the pathway to the sacred forest. "Skradrassil has shown me... I need to give him my blood. He will destroy the invaders, and the traitor chief..."

"Wait... what?" Ane asked, confused.

"The blood, Ane. Skradrassil just needs but a drop of my blood... and the grass will grow lush from their rotting corpses... while we are safe across the sea!"

"Ulakwe, your visions have driven you to madness..." ane said, taking hold of his bandaged hand .

She looked long into his eyes. The comforting wisdom she had come to expect had long left. she started to gently pull away.

"Ane... don't leave me alone..." Ulakwe whispered his plea.

She gently let go of his hand.

"I'm sorry, Ulakwe... just come back to the village... dark times will pass." she said.

No words were said. There was just the crashing of the waves and the rustling of trees in the howling wind. Ulakwe stood as though he had been frozen in time, unable to muster any more words as Ane turned back to the village.

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