We dashed down the hill and headed towards the city. When we got back to the city, we hurried down the roads until we reached the square that had the inn. A massive crowd had gathered, and the square was filled with voices. I took the lead and pushed through the crowd, Thunder and Trianna in tow. We managed to get fairly close before the crowd was simply too dense to push through. So instead, we stopped and attempted to look over the crowd’s heads to see if we could glimpse the old man.

There he was, standing on a stool, his silent companion standing next to him. He didn’t look too old, but you could tell that he was in his later years. He wore a dark brown traveling cloak and his hair was cut short, but he sported a massive gray beard. The stool gave him enough height that he was able to rest his hands on his walking staff, and he glanced around at the crowd with sad eyes. His companion was dressed in a similar way, but he kept a hood up and his eyes down.

My little group exchanged looks before turning our attention back to Prophet, who was beginning to speak.

“People of Westfall, hear me”, he began. He didn’t shout, but he did lift his voice a little. The crowd in the front stopped talking immediately, but the crowd in the back slowly dwindled away as more attention was given to the man. “I have come to your city with a warning. Your lives are in great danger! I have seen a vision, in which I have seen great sickness, terrible wars, and destruction beyond anything you can imagine. Many of you will die in the events that are to come. The Gods have shown this to me. A plague is coming that will change this world forever. Be warned, people of Westfall, for the end could very well be at hand. Prepare yourselves!"

[he pauses]

I’ll admit that I don’t know the speech in full, partly because of how long it’s been since he gave it and party because of the reaction of the people.

What was their reaction?

Oh, they were mad. Livid, actually.

Why?

You weren’t raised in Zel’hitia, were you?

No, I was raised in Qualtar.

A thief, huh? That explains a lot. Well, you need to understand something for you to see why the citizens reacted the way they did. In Zel’hitian religion, there are only six individuals who receive direction from the Gods. They are called the Pantheon Prophets. Each Prophet can communicate with one of the six Gods, and only one. And the Zel’hitians believed this strongly. Westfall itself was only a few miles away from Upworth, where the Prophet of Death himself resided. For this man to come into the city, call himself Prophet, take upon himself the duties of the Prophet of Death, and claim that ALL of the Gods had given him a warning… well, that was beyond heretic.

I see. What happened then?

Luckily for him, not a lot. Other than a whole lot of yelling. He tried to shout over the crowd for a time, but eventually gave up. He got off his stool, grabbed his companion by the shoulder, and disappeared into the inn. Lucky for him, the city folk had enough respect for Thunder’s father to leave the inn alone, and eventually the crowd dispersed.

Thunder was spotted by his father and pulled into the inn to perform his duties. Trianna and I discussed some of the details about the event, but then eventually parted ways. She returned to her father’s house and I took my sword back to the shop to redo it. And that was it.

[he looks out at the field again, saddened]

That was how it all started. A warning that fell upon deaf ears. It is unfortunate, I think, that the people didn’t listen. That speech was the first that Prophet gave, and it turned out that he was right.