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Jul 30th, 2016
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  1. Fresh kindling hit the embers, the flames spread through them and slowly revived the fire. Orange light rose up and danced across the surrounding graves. The tongues of blaze reached up, clinging to the blackened sword that was at the center. More kindling joined the blaze, and soon, warmth was displacing the night miasma. The cooked bone of a horned hare snapped, and the man sucked on the marrow as he stared at the sword.
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  3. Above him, the stars stared down from behind the curtains of miasma, leaving the rest of the forest in a gloom. The river he had been following for the last day had a dull glow to it that seemed to wrap around the cemetery. The spirits wouldn't approach him, the fire kept them away. Fire did nothing for curious creatures, and worse than nothing to malevolent ones.
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  5. Pausing with a mouthful of hare, he shifted a hand down to the grip of his light arbalest and listened. The popping twigs in the fire were like a roar in the silence of the night. Even insects had been driven from the woods. He strained his ears, trying to pick out the noise of footsteps gently padding against moss and stone.
  6.  
  7. A pebble fell, tumbling from a tombstone and hitting the ground with a soft rustle.
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  9. The man leapt up, his cloak billowing the fire into a great blaze as he spun, bringing the arbalest to bear. A young girl cried out, and his gaze snapped down as she fell. Her eyes grew wide, and he could see her pupils fighting to discern his shadow from the firelight. Not quite a woman, but her hair was almost long enough to hide the points of her ears.
  10.  
  11. He lifted the arbalest and waited for her to speak.
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  13. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, but I'm the one in charge of this resting place," she said, slowly getting back to her feet, eyes locked on the man. She dusted the leaves and dirt from her skirt and pulled her hair back behind her ears. “My name is Kathryn Jirell,” she said, folding her hands together behind her back. She was dressed like a normal elven girl; thin leather boots up to her knees with soft pants tucked into them, a skirt for fashion, and a sindon coat that she had open in the sleeves.
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  15. The man shook his head and stepped back, gesturing to the opposite side of the fire. “Stewart. Stop looking like a deer. Do you eat meat?” the man said as he sat back down, using a tombstone as a rest. He reached down to his kill and pulled off another leg, tossing it to the elf before she could answer.
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  17. The girl squeaked as she caught the piece of roast meat, almost dropping it when she saw what he was sitting against. “Did you get permission for the Governor to hunt this?” she asked, her eyes fixing on the carcass. The scent was wafting up to her nose, and Stewart could see it twitching as her stomach began making decisions for her brain.
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  19. He smiled and shook his head. “Governor Swordheart didn’t have much to say at all about Riversbrook here. It was almost like he had forgotten it existed. Just like Hemorrhagic Fever did,” he said, bowing his head to bite into his own meat again. His eyes didn’t leave her though. He watched, fixed on her expression as she picked her way over to an exposed root to sit on. She took a bite of the meat, and so did he.
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  21. Kathryn sat with her legs tucked beneath herself. “Ever since the plague came, no one has been coming to the village. The adults were all talking about how the tithe wasn’t collected last week.”
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  23. Stewart nodded. “Aye, I’m friends with the tax man. He said the road had been ruined, that he couldn’t make his way to you,” he said, keeping his glare on her. She was looking back at him, fingers working anxiously across the meat. She was frowning. “I was at the Wagon Wheel Inn just a few days ago. Half the land’s been torn apart by the fever. Spreads like wild through elves. Creates a lot of unrest when the oni and such are unaffected.”
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  25. “Are you a human?” she asked, suddenly leaning forward.
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  27. Stewart blinked, and his hand moved to the sword next to him. He stared back at her, and slowly took his helm off. He had long brown hair down to his shoulders, and a beard to match. It was messy with sweat and dirt. "My people used to live near these parts," he answered, turning his head slightly so she could see his ear and jaw line. He chuckled as her face lit up like a child at a fireworks display.
  28.  
  29. [more to come]
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