3 - Cloaked Strangers

“Good morning,” Margarette greeted Finrod who had just come out of the guest room. “Want some coffee?”

“And what kind of human thing is that?” He said with disgust.

“It’s a drink which is usually drunk by usual people on a usual day such as this. Here.” She handed him her personally brewed coffee. “And what happened to your face? You have dark circles below your eyes all of a sudden.”

“You don’t have business with my face.” Finrod had spent the whole night tossing left and right on the bed. For several hours he stared at the window, waiting for something peculiar to happen. He fervently wanted to get the damn piece quickly before someone else did. On top of that, he badly wanted to get back to Lenriad.

Only the Fates knew how much suffering he had to go through just to locate Margarette’s quarters. He had gone through different routes leading to different countries and yet the witch was just so elusive. Fortunately, he finally found her.

“Ahem.” The surly witch openly stared at him.

“Well,” He sniffed the thing before drinking it all in one gulp.

“Finrod! You had to nurse it a little bit before drinking it slowly, not consume it in one swig!”

“What difference does it matter? It all just goes down inside me.”

“Ugh, what do I expect from a man.” She shook her head, frustrated.

“Tweet tweet. Tweet tweet. Nromais.” A little high-pitched voice said.

“Where’s that voice coming from?” He quickly ducked with his hand poised over the handle of his sword.

“Seriously,” Margarette chuckled.

“What?”

“No need for your brutal approaches. It’s just the radar I’ve set up to track the Nromai’s fragment.” Realizing what she just said, Margarette rushed for the radar as Finrod followed behind her.

“What did it say?”

“The location of the Nromais is at 12 o’clock. Hurry!”

At that same time, Ellaine sat on the sofa across the TV. She had a teen magazine on her lap and the box she received on her birthday on the side table.

She was currently having one of the best weekends ever. First, there were no classes. Second, she had the house to herself because Aunt Caroline spent the day with her best friend.

Now she had the best leisure time with all the entertainment she needed.

And only three, desperate, loud taps against the door would ruin her perfect little day.

“Coming.” She rushed to the door and opened it, “How may I help you?”

Ellaine could barely distinguish the gender of her visitor. That’s because of the black cloak he wore. It was not until she heard his voice that she realized he was a male.

Ellaine found it hard to make out the words he said in that deep, rasping voice, “..is..N..mais..Nromais..”

“Sorry, what are you talking about?”

“Give me the Nromais.”

“Sir, I am sorry but I think you got the wrong address.”

The man grabbed her shoulders and shook her to death, “Give me the Nromais!”

“I don’t have it!” 

She was instantly thrown by the stranger. He casted a sweeping look around the house.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She called, “You’re trespassing! Get out now or I’ll be forced to call the Police!”

But the stranger didn’t heed her threat. He ransacked their house, throwing everything at reach.

Ellaine wasn’t the least scared. Or to be more exact, the situation didn’t let her be.

She ran after the man and attacked him. She climbed up his back, hit him, and pulled his hood. Again she was thrown on the floor with a loud thud.

Ellaine waited for the man to turn around. It’s high time to finally discover the trespasser’s identity.

But when he did turn around, she let out a deafening scream.

His face was pale and distorted as if it was heated to melt. His eyes were blazing red and his mouth revealed yellowish teeth. There’s a hole on his forehead that exposed his skull.

“Help! Help!” She yelled before the monster charged towards her to cover her mouth. Was this just another of her dreams?

“No young lady, this is real. Give me the Nromais and you shall have your neck saved.”

The oppressor’s weight was on her and made it difficult for her to move yet escape. Brawling was not a brilliant idea at the moment because it would be against all odds. She was obviously at a disadvantage at any point.

However, something caught the attention of the hideous creature. It stood back and looked at the table. When Ellaine followed the direction of his look she saw her box. It was silently glowing!

The man took it and dashed out the door. Ellaine quickly chased him and jumped on his back. She won’t let him get away with her box.

“Give that back! That’s mine!” She said.

He swayed and yanked her but she held on tightly. In the process, her necklace flew out of the box without the monster noticing.

“In the name of Queen Aera, release the human!” The bigheaded, arrogant man was back in that stiff clothing.

Beside him, Margarette wave at her. “Hi Ellaine! It’s nice to see you again!”

She didn’t know what to say at that. She just loosened her hold and allowed herself be thrown once more.

“Finrod took out his sword and pointed it towards his opponent. “Surrender and you shall be saved. Resist and you shall perish.”

“I’d rather die than take orders from a pathetic elf like you!”

They both lunged at each other but Finrod was faster. He swung his sword across the monster’s chest but the other brought his arms up to repel it.

Finrod swayed back and observed his adversary. There was no cut nor scratch on him and he looked fine.

“He’s a Noimstre!” Margarette yelled. “His skin is solid. There’s no way you can just slice him with that puny sword!”

“Puny? What do you call puny!” He shouted without breaking contact with his foe. He casted blows and assault, trying to hit upon the Noimstre’s weak point.

But the sound of Ellaine’s shriek distracted him. The monster took advantage of his sudden delay and shoved him away.

Finrod looked up and saw her hanging on a branch. He was about to leave her and go after his rival but she stopped him.

“Hey! How can you just leave me here?” Ellaine really hated the guy. He didn’t even thought about getting her down from the tree.

But Margarette laid a hand on his shoulder and told him, “Be quick! The monster is now probably heading for the tunnel. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”

Ellaine watched his back as he disappeared from her sight. “Seriously,”

Margarette chuckled at the ridiculous Ellaine hanging on the tree. “How on Earth did you get there?”

“I was just looking for a safe place to watch them brawl.” No way was Ellaine going to tell about her necklace which was thrown on this branch. She found it so personal to be shared.

“Oh,” Margarette stared at her closely. The girl was hiding something from her. She could tell that without entering the latter’s mind. But, she let it go. She swore she would not use that ability ever. “Do you want me to teleport you down or I’ll just send for dwarves to help you?”

Ellaine gaped at her. How could she answer to that crazy woman’s question?

The other laughed, “Just kidding. I will just pull you down with my ordinary, human hands.

“Where did that monster came from and why did he stole my box?” Ellaine asked when she was could feel the ground against her feet again.

“Uh, I still have to find out the answer to your first question but I think you can’t get your box back again. Sorry!” Margarette hollered as she ran after Finrod’s direction.