Thufrat woke up with a start the next day, covered in sweat and hyperventilating. Forcing himself to stop hyperventilating, Thufrat soon calmed down. He had a nightmare. This nightmare was recurring, but it had been ages since the last time Thufrat had it, and he had already tried to put it behind him. In this dream, he saw the woman he loved lying covered in blood in his embrace. Every time the woman died, the dream started over, and it kept going until he woke up.
Every time her lovely smile emerged in his mind, his heart started to ache. Even though she had passed away fairly recently, Thufrat felt like a decade had already passed. Even though normally people would be mad when their loved ones were killed, Thufrat was mostly just sad. He didn't care for revenge, all he cared for was her, and now that she was gone, he didn't care for much. A band of orcs had taken her life from him, yet his hate for orcs was barely above that of other monsters.
He had tried his hardest to protect her, yet she was taken from him anyway. At the time, Thufrat had felt that the world was unfair and that God hated him. But nowadays, Thufrat knew that they were just unlucky. Trying to see everything from a depressing point of view and thinking that the world was against him was a thing of the past, and he had changed a lot compared to back then.
Since he didn't want to waste any more time, Thufrat quickly left a couple of coins and a note on the table in the kitchen. He then swiftly left the village behind and disappeared into the forest once more. When the mother and her son woke up the next day, they only found a note on the table, where it said: Thank you! After reading the note, the sight of two shiny gold coins quickly filled their vision. Both mother and son could barely manage to hold tears back. In a rural place like this, two gold coins was a very large sum of money.
This family had originally had a man taking care of them, the woman's deceased husband, and the boy's father. When he was still alive, he was one of the strongest people in the entire village, and the family could live a peaceful and healthy life. But after passing away during an attack on the village, the man left his family behind to fend for themselves. As time passed, people started taking advantage of them, and they quickly lost their place in the village. With the support of some of the man's friends as well as the woman working as much as she could, the family somehow persevered.
The boy flashed a radiant smile at his mom and clenched his fists hard. [I will never let you suffer again mom! And if I ever get the chance, I'll make sure to repay you old dwarf!]
...
Zooming through the forest, Thufrat had completely calmed down. After leaving the village, he had found a nearby lake to wash himself in, and then he had proceeded to ride on this road for about 2 more hours. It was still early morning, and the few rays of sunlight that broke through the crowns of the trees were gentle and warm, keeping Thufrat'smood from deteriorating due to the cold. Thufrat had always been a fan of warmth, and he could never understand people who preferred cold over warmth.
With nothing else to do on the horse, Thufrat could only observe the surroundings as he rode. The dense and vibrant green foliage, as well as the exotic plants and flowers that could be found here and there, was very pleasing to the eye, yet Thufrat still felt the desolation of loneliness as he rode all by himself. Before long, another two hours had passed.
Without any warning, Thufrat's horse suddenly came to a stop, and he was nearly flung off its back in the process. As he was about to curse, the sound of footsteps appeared not far away to his right. Vigilant, Thufrat was about to disembark from his horse when a muffled boom suddenly broke the silence. A dark silhouette came flying out of the forest and flew straight into a tree on the other side of the road.
The tree's bark cracked upon impact, but the tree itself still stood tall. The silhouette tried to quickly scramble to its feet but instead vomited blood all over the ground. Thufrat was taken aback by the scene, but before he could say anything, 5 new figures emerged silently out of nowhere. These 5 figures were all clad in green clothing and had distinct pointy ears. They were elves!
The five elves were all males, and they wore quite frankly disgusting facial expressions. All five of them looked like they were about to break into laughter any second now, and they looked at the blood on the ground with a sneer. Most disturbing was the elf that stood in the middle, his expression was very perverted, and he couldn't help but lick his lips as he made his entrance. As for their weapons, they all had either bows or daggers or both.
After they all noticed Thufrat sitting atop his horse watching them, the tallest elf said something to one of the elves that carried a bow in his hands. After saying his piece, the elf, which was the one who had the perverted expression approached Thufrat. The elf with the bow blended in behind him naturally, but Thufrat didn't take any notice.
"Traveler, what brings you to these parts?" The elf asked.
Thufrat frowned, something was up. "I'm just passing by!"
The elf sneered, "That's your bad luck then!"
"Twang!"
The sound of a bowstring being released came abruptly as Thufrat was about to question what the elf meant. The elf that had blended in behind the tall elf suddenly showed himself, with the string of his bow vibrating intensely. Thufrat could only see a green streak soaring through the air before reality dawned upon him, they were trying to kill him!