The Lost Runner

Chapter 5: I meet a new friend

'No, I haven't been here long. And I feel as if you haven't either. I've figured out this is a maze of some sort, and legends speak of a riddle to answer the maze. A riddle made by 'the great creator', who chose to imprison us here, and set us to solve it without help.' He replied.

'Oh, yeah, I woke up earlier, maybe 2, 3 hours ago?' I responded, kinda lost for words.

'Me too...' He sounded rather on edge, his voice so fragile it could break like glass.

'I don't remember a thing about my past, apart from my name, how to survive and that I'm an elf, how about you? Do you recall your past?' I said, after a long silence. 

He didn't respond. I began to become curious about him. Especially his clothes, they were a black shirt tucked into faded black jeans, the colour worn at the knees and a frayed cuff. But then again, I am wearing a pirate shirt with culottes so I didn't say anything. 

Right now, my head was full of questions, I was an emotional wreck and I felt so down and ... this list of my problems could go on for a while. My face, probably had blood, tears, grime and sweat smeared across it. I haven't seen myself in a mirror since I lost my memory. 

'Hey, um, Fi, mind if I call you that? Would you like a cloth to clean off a bit with, your face is a mess.' Arocraes asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

'Huh? Oh yeah, you can call me Fi, we're friends. Yes, could I have that cloth please, I reckon my face looks the most horrible it ever has.' I responded, almost pleading for a cloth. 

I was so thankful I had met Arocraes. He has helped me and relieved so much stress just by being here. He had an air of happiness and relaxed attitude about him, this is what made me feel so comfortable about him at first, his aura. 

He poured a bit of water from a small bag on his belt onto a hankie and passed it to me. I accepted and thanked him many times. If an elf is anything, its pretty. Elves are inhumanly pretty. Which, funnily enough, is because we aren't human. I wiped my face off with the cloth and tried to remove as much dirt as possible. I got most of it and Arocraes' hankie was blackened by the time I was finished with it. I apologised over and over, asking if I had to get him a new one after we get out. 

But I doubted that.

The images of the dead, seared into my mind flashed before my eyes, making me want to cry all over again. Seeing something so traumatic really changed me. I don't think I'll ever be the same after that. I doubted that I could could get him a new one because some of the skeletons who looked freshly dead, I reckon I could become one sooner or later.

Arocraes could probably see that something was troubling me, because he ruffled my short grey pixie cut hair and whispered 'what's troubling you, don't deny it, I can see it in your eyes, they look almost ... haunted' 

This made me weep. To know he was looking out for me like a brother. I felt so happy that I had discovered someone to help me, and guide me. He seemed to know more about the labyrinth than me, which is a good thing, because I was totally lost. 

I completely opened up to him and told him of my horrors. He looked at me, but not of disgust, of care and concern. He just wanted to help me. That really helped me to gain trust and respect for him.