[Novnarwen]

Tarkan

“Pelin! We must go! Here! We must run through this tunnel! Hurry!” Eyes wide, the Priest called in bewilderment. He looked at Pelin, anxious to run. How happy he was to see Pelin alive! When he had heard the sound of orcs roaming above, he had almost been certain that something had happened to Pelin. He had hoped that Pelin had managed to flee before the orcs had been able to harm him though. The sight of him now, him, standing at the bottom of the stairs in the dim light, made his heart jump. For a moment, the priest had thought he would leave the ruins of the Temple alone, perhaps never to see his friend again. For the first time, he was overjoyed by being wrong.

“The others, Zamara, the Royal children and their servants, have gone.” Breathing heavily, he pointed. Hurrying, he headed for the tunnel door. Not even he, who had spent many hours, even whole nights, had known about the secret tunnel. He had no idea where it led, but he knew one thing; this tunnel would be the only way out. With orcs swarming above, he had no chance of escaping if going up through the hatch again. A moment, the priest only listened to the sounds coming from the ground floor of the Temple. At last he concluded that there were only minutes before they would find the hatch and enter. If he had any hopes of not being discovered, he would have to leave now.

“Pelin! Come! Hurry! We don’t have much time!” Looking over his shoulder, he watched Pelin standing motionless in the middle of the room. His face was blank, and Pelin’s eyes gave him nothing but empty stares. What was wrong with him? Was he wounded? Horrified, he cast a glance before him; the tunnel stretched forwards; running through it was his only chance.. Seeing his friend, however, in such a state, he knew that evil had touched him. There was something wrong. Running over, he took Pelin by the hand. Instead of the willingness he had expected, there was resistance. With a melancholic smile, Pelin grasped him around his wrist, forced him to let go and pushed him over. Falling to the ground, the priest stared at his comrade in amazement.

“W-w-what is g-g-oing on...?” He stopped. Watching Pelin, he knew that evil had indeed touched him, but not in the way he had first thought. “No! No! Noooo! But... why?!? WHY?!?”

***

Pelin

The screams of the priest made him halfway smile. The pathetic creature lying on the ground in front of him had once been his tutor. He had never imagined seeing the Priest in such a state; his desperate presence seemed to grow lost with the truth that Pelin had been wearing a mask, that he was a man in disguise.

Pelin listened to the Priest cry. “What have you done?” Curses and foul words followed, ringing violently in his ears. Unaffected, Pelin started wandering about. He was in reality unsure of how to handle this. How was he to approach the doomed man? For all he knew, the priest had a knife or another dangerous object inside of his robes, and could within seconds take his life. He frowned, thinking. The power of the Lord Ashnaz had not left him. The Priest would get his punishment; telling the truth would be the mild part. With this his self esteem rose, and he felt the sensation of being in power. He was in control, he was the one who had surprised, not the other way around; surely, he would manage to take advantage of this.

“Why?” Pelin repeated. The priest sat up, staring fiercely at him. Pelin ignored him. It was his hour; the priest could try escaping, but deep inside, Pelin knew that he would stay put at least until the whole truth was revealed to him. By nature, Tarkan was a curious person; he would want to know how and why Pelin had deceived him.

“Why?!?!” Pelin said at last, his calm voice erupting. After the minutes of silence, he had dared break it. Taking a step closer, he cast the figure on the floor a disgusted look. “Constantly, you have been on my mind for the last couple of months,” he started. “You are correct. We have little time, or rather,you have little time. I won’t throw your precious time away, so I’ll be short.”