The Village Elder stepped forwards anxiously and spoke, an audible tremor in her voice, “Wh-what are your demands?!”
At first there was no response, but after several long moments of agonising silence one of shrouded figures slowly shuffled towards her and leaned in towards her ear and whispered in an ancient cryptic tongue only understood by those who have comprehension willed upon them. She nodded and signalled to three women behind her. They nervously walked forward, separating from the mass of entranced people, slowly swaying side to side. Each woman bore a gift to the hooded woman, trying to resist the urge to vomit and the repulsive odour as they approached. The first gave the hooded woman a handful of yellow teeth which she received and poured into a pouch stained with a single drop of brown blood. The second handed over a black crystal with an aura of cold mist which she slid into a rotting wound of hers for safe-keeping. The final woman approached, crying hysterically, bearing a new born child in her arms. She tore the baby from her and squandered it underneath her cloak before turning so her back faced the grieving mother and walked back towards the horizon, leaving her two companions behind.
