Whispers in the Woods

Will replies again to the man’s twisted identification, almost in jest, I know you are…but what am I?

Will shrugs his shoulders, still uncertain if he’s dealing with an illusion…or, perhaps, something else!

Emerald eyes glance over at the bronze two-handed sword.

I’m not sure yet, Anton. Have you ever had someone try giving you a messiah complex?

Anton is taken aback by Will!'s question, "Not to my recollection. But so you are aware, I do not see or hear anyone...currently trying to do that to you. What are you hearing?"

Someone telling me I’m the Lawgiver. I mean, you are. By you, I mean me. I think. Never-mind.
Turning back to his apparition, our fightery fellow adds, Thank you friend, this is very interesting. Where might I find these beast-men?

"No offense Will! but what would make them think you are the Lawgiver returned?" Anton was a bit stunned and didn't know what to think, was Will! cracking up and developing a god complex?

Miyana stirs, awakened by the events. "What's going on?" She asks sleepily.

"Who is the 'Lawgiver'?" Moryana, for all intent and purposes, has been living under a rock. She leans toward Boudica and whispers, trying not to disrupt the discussion between Anton and Will.

Tell me, unnamed friend, where might these beast-men be stirring? I’ll surely need my armor and shield’s location revealed to me soon, so that I can be properly prepared!

Overhearing this, Boudica bolts upright. "What?! You are seeing a vision of the Lawgiver, King Halav himself, one of the Three sent by the divines to save Traladara long ago, and to serve as our guides ever since? Will! Tell me! Is it because you wield his sword?". She is very excited by this strange revelation.

"Wait, what?!"

"The beastmen are stirring in the deep forest. You can not face them alone." The warrior steps through the campfire to stand next to Will - another indication (if he needed any) that he was a figment, rather than actually there "Your armor will find its way to you. Lav should be your next destination. There is a powerful relic of old hidden there, which can heal both you and your companion of your ailment."

My companion? Which one? I have several of them.

The man gives a slight nod of his head at Miyana.

"We should not get too excited, it's possible this is all a trick, some curse placed by the hags before they died" Anton said trying to keep a rational mind

Will looks back at his friends, gestures at the spirit, and says, Quiet, please. Can’t you see, I’m trying to have a conversation? Looking back at the spirit, Will adds, I appreciate this information. Or, you do. By you, I mean me. Oh, bother…this is good information.

Is there anything else, dear unnamed spirit, we should know at this time?

"You'll remember more when you sleep. When your mind is free" the figment says. Will blinks, and the figure vanishes as suddenly as it appeared. You sense he is not truly gone, however. He is still there, just beyond the edge of your sight.

"Uncle Zsa Zsa once said he could hear voices" Stefan whispers "It was during harvest, and he hasn't slept for days" he stopped short of suggesting Will should be sent off to bed, but he was definitely thinking it...

Huh.
Will turns back to his friends and says, You all may want to sit down.

Our fightery fellow leads his friends over to the campfire light, and spins his grandiose yarn.
A fellow who wouldn’t give me his name, told me I’m King Halav, having just retrieved the two-handed sword from the burial mound. I guess that sword was his. He went on to tell me, the beast-men stir deep in the forest, and with rest and time I’ll find my armor and shield, and then I’ll need to face the beast-men in order to save the day, make the world a better place, all like that.

Will’s tone of half-hearted skepticism suddenly turns a bit dire. He casts emerald-eyed gaze upon Miyana. He also said, I must journey to Lav. There, he suggested I’ll find a powerful relic, capable of healing me… and also to heal you, Miyana.

Then, he disappeared, and that was it. Will exudes pensive pregnant pause, and then adds, He did have a very chic gray beard.

Boudica continues her excitement and religious zeal. "And… you think this was real? Not some trick of the hags? Or a bad dream or something? Because, if so… this is … Well, it’s very big. But… uh….Heal you two of what?"

I don’t know if it was real or not…I think so, I was carrying on a two-way conversation with it, just as sure as you and I are.
Maybe a trick of the hags…but for what purpose? They could’ve made life hard for us in a number of other, more direct ways.
Healed of…well…everything I eat tastes like ashes, and I simply have to force-feed myself, to keep from starving.

"Ridiculous," Miyana says, now more fully awake. "I feel fine."