Nightmares Through Wintumber

It was always that same place, that same hut on that same mountain. Every time it would happen, again and again and again. Veedi Limstrood watched as the sword went straight into the woman's chest, causing her to fall to the ground dead.

"I used to love you Gwendoline, but why did you do this?" asked her husband.

He was the man with no name, he had never mentioned it at all, not ever. He had cornered Veedi and had been given the chance to either kill her or his wife who had betrayed him, by letting Veedi go. Veedi used them brief moments to escape, and she ran as fast as she could, leaving all the pain, torture and bloodshed behind. She still pictured the skulls of dead gnomes in her head, she felt sick, but she couldn't stop.

"Go on then! Run! Run you piece of filth! But I swear on my own life that I will find you and I will kill you and your fellow creatures!" the man hollered.

Those words echoed throughout the mountains, and were ringing in Veedi's ears for what seemed like forever; she couldn't get them out of her head. Following the path back in the direction of civilization, she came to a stop as she observed the dried blood of where Ithacer had been killed, the moment playing out over and over again in her mind. Veedi fell to her knees, weeping, she thought she was going to die, and nearly did.

"I will kill you!"

Those four words never stopped, and Veedi kept checking behind her to make sure the husband was not on his way.

Veedi's eyes opened immediately, she was sweating with fear, absolutely terrified. She had dreamt the same nightmare again, the same one she had every night of that same day all those months ago. She got to her feet and looked out of the window of her small home, the stars rested in the night sky, and the world seemed so beautiful, yet why were so many apsects of it so ugly and violent? Was it even the same world? Veedi thought she was going to wake up and find herself still with her captors.

Veedi climbed down the ladder out of her home, the cold Wintumber wind swept through the night air and it was only that which reminded Veedi she was awake and alive. After standing in it for a few minutes she returned up the ladder to try and sleep once more.

"I will kill you!"

Veedi had finally reached the lower grounds of the town of Burthorpe, but she could still only think of those four words. Burthorpe had never looked so inviting, but anything was better than being up in those mountains alone with two delusional murderers. She walked past the camp of soldiers, training to fight off enemies, and as weapons pierced at dummies she flinched and found her mouth going dry. She had looked on them with disgust while travelling north to the mountains, and now she looked on them with even more disgust. Nevermind the twisted Lathas and his Zamorakian men, it seemed that all humans were as bad as each other.

"What's happening to me?" Veedi murmured to herself.

She pictured Tarqinder, Mark, Jake and Dancus in her head, they were good humans, and they would never harm her. Then she thought of Lathas and his men, all the casualties of the Ardougne battle portraying humanity for what it really was; intent on greed and purity. No, they're not all bad! Veedi thought this over and over again, but she had definitely had an unhelpful experience in determing an answer. She looked around her; the town was founded on resources which were stripped from the world around her and had occupied itself with the idea that war and violence was a constant threat that had to be embraced, and loved. Gnomekind has its own battles though, and it also uses plenty of resources for its own benefit...

"I must get home," she murmured to herself, trying to occupy her mind with the thought of returning to the Tree Gnome Stronghold.

The rain was hammering down on Veedi as she slowly walked in the direction of White Wolf Mountain, but her vision was heavily obscured. The wind picked up and she needed to seek refuge or she would be blown over and badly injured. She came to a small wooden hut and knocked on the door of it, and within seconds she was face to face with a grumpy looking dwarf.

"Yes?" the dwarf asked angrily.

"I need to seek refuge, I can't cross White Wolf Mountain to return home as I'll die for sure. Can I come in? Just until the rain stops," Veedi asked.

"Of course, of course. Blimey! What happened to your arm dear?"

"Injury, I- I slipped. Slipped up in the Burthorpe Mountains."

Veedi tried to hide her gaping wound on her arm from where the arrow had hit, but by making contact with it she made the injury burn.

"Ouch," she exclaimed to herself.

"C'mon in, c'mon in, you're welcome here!"

The dwarf, hurried Veedi inside, trying to keep her out of the wind and rain.

"This here weather's getting worse for sure! Last week it managed to topple a tree! A whole blinkin' evergreen!"

"Goodness, sounds awfully dangerous; I was coming over the Mountain some days ago-"

Veedi thought back to crossing the mountain with Ithacer; it made her feel sick with sadness and guilt.

"What's up? That isn't an injury from trippin' over is it? I'm not daft, now c'mon, what is it?"

"Me and my friend, we were attacked, up in the mountains," Veedi began, her voice shaking.

"The trolls was it? Nah, nah, they're just plain thick, they just toss rocks. Your arm, looks like it's been hit very finely, by a weapon. Humans! Of course, it would be them tall scum of the Kingdom!"

"You shouldn't say that about people-"

"Why not? They're vicious murderers who are only interested in purity, and they want to take everything from you! I should know, they're always bugging me to go down this here tunnel under the Mountain, but I don't let them, not anymore."

"It was just these two people, they were armed and attacked us."

"And why would they do a thing like that?"

"They didn't like gnomes."

"EXACTLY! They only like they're own kind, and if you ask me, humans aren't so distant from Vampyres! They don't just look the same, they act it too! Drain you of everything and turn things bad."

"That tunnel, may I use it?"

"Of course you can! Always nice to see a fellow short person, and remember; because humans stand above us they think they're above us - and never trust them, not one. Now let me take you through the tunnel, it can get a bit dark down there."

The dwarf led Veedi down the staircase, and she had never felt so unsure of anything in her whole life.

The road which led her towards the Tree Gnomes was a long one, and she passed through Seer's Village near evening. The days were long at that time of year so it was not getting dark, and this made the day especially long. Veedi came to a stop by a maple tree and sat beneath it, looking out across the water behind the Village's bank. She felt completely isolated where she was, and her thoughts and fears were catching up on her now as she sat there.

"That's my tree!" snapped an angered man with a steel axe in his hand.

"I'm sorry, I was just resting," Veedi replied.

"I don't give a damn! That's my bloody tree and I need the logs!"

Veedi quickly hurried away, flinching as she heard the axe slamming into the tree each time. She heard it topple to the ground eventually as she made her way back on to the path, and then she came to a standstill. Standing across the road was the Seer she had encountered going to the Mountains, and he looked straight at her and nodded his head at her in recognition of who she was.

"It's coming," the Seer whispered to himself.

Veedi froze, as she was able to make out what he said.

"It's coming and nothing can stop it!" he said in a rasping voice, as if in pain.

Veedi shook her head and ran away, terrified. Something was wrong and the Seer knew what; but Veedi didn't want to know.

Veedi awoke again from her nightmare, terrified once more. She drank the cup of water she had collected to drink if she woke up in the night, and she swallowed it all at once and took deep breaths.

"It's just a nightmare," she murmured to herself.

"It's coming," said the voice of a Seer who stood on the other side of the room.

"Leave me alone!" Veedi shrieked as she threw the cup at him, and it shattered upon hitting the wall as she realised nothing was there.

"It's coming!"

These words pulled her back into her dream as she found herself running once again. She came to a standstill as she reached a field north of Ardougne which was opposite the Stronghold. She fell to her knees in the grass and got her breath back, and then she realised where she was.

She thought back to the battle and then got to her feet as it was finally getting dark, and she knew she could get home by nightfall if she tried.

Paula Hidrigg opened her clothing store for the morning, she sorted out the wizarding robes by colour and neatly arranged them on their stands for anyone passing through to buy. The level of the Grand Tree that the shop was situated on was decorated accordingly for Wintumber, with a small Wintumber tree situated near the shop. She looked up at the morning sky, it was a pale grey due to the clouds, and her view was obscured briefly by a gnomeglider coming in from possibly anywhere across the three kingdoms. Paula looked down to see the pale face of Veedi staring right up at her from the ground.

"Did it happen again? Same dream?" Paula called down.

Veedi nodded, and headed towards the trunk of the Grand Tree.

"Poor girl," Paula murmured as she put a purple set of robes to the side, preparing to console Veedi yet again.

Every day was the same, Veedi would go to Paula and tell her about the nightmare, but it seemed to be getting worse. Paula was concerned, as Veedi was beginning to think the dreams were a warning of some sort, and Paula was beginning to doubt her sanity.

"It's getting worse," Veedi said.

"Why? What happened this time?" Paula asked.

"The dream is becoming more vivid, more detailed, more complex, and I think it's trying to tell me something, because I keep hearing warnings in my head."

"What warnings?"

"I'm going to kill you."

"You've had that message in your head for months now, you've always had it."

"Yes, but there's another one now."

"What is it then?"

"It's coming."

"What's coming?"

"I think I know, but I don't think I should say it; at least, not here," Veedi murmured as she glimpsed gnomic customers who had just entered milling about in the corner trying on hats.

"Fine, tell me about it at noon, meet me by the gnomeball pitch and we'll discuss, no one will be about there," Paula answered quietly.

The gnomeball pitch was empty and a ball lay in the middle of the pitch, slowly moving in the breeze. Veedi leaned on the fencing as she waited for Paula to arrive, and looked up at the sky; it signalled rain. The rain was less frequent now, and the weather had become calmer in recent months, unlike Veedi.

"So, what is it then? What does 'it's coming' mean?" Paula asked as she walked up to Veedi.

"You'll probably call me mad, but I think that there's a war coming," Veedi replied.

"Another one? Between who? Who's going to fight?"

"We are; we're going to fight the humans."

"Well now I know you're talking absolute rubbish, because we deal with humans on a daily basis, and you always used to talk of your human friends-"

"Yes, yes, I know that, this is exactly what I've been thinking for the past several months."

"Is this why you've been acting so strange around humans? You practically ran out the store-"

"That was the first human I'd seen in the Stronghold since the kidnapping."

There was a brief silence, and the breeze grew stronger, blowing the gnomeball in the direction of Paula.

"I used to play gnomeball with Ithacer, at least once a week you know," Paula said.

"He told me," Veedi replied.

"You're not the only one who misses him Veedi, and everyone is mourning what happened, and what you found."

"All those gnomes were murdered by cold-blooded humans, I mean, for all we know you're selling clothes to them!"

"Goodness Veedi! Think about what you're saying, you fought alongside humans, they saved your life!"

"I know, I know, it's not all humans, just some. Look how few in number the Tree Gnomes are now though, we're very few compared to them and it would only take a few to wipe all of us out, look at the Khazard situation for instance!"

"Khazard's men are insane though, people like him don't walk the streets."

"No, but I've seen them running cities, claiming money from the poor including us!"

"You've just had a bad experience, and you won't fully get over it, not ever, and so of course you've got trust issues with humans-"

"Forget it."

Veedi made her way back in the direction of the Grand Tree, while Paula sighed and kicked the gnomeball away in frustration.

"Why in Kandarin did I encourage you to even go on that ridiculous trip Ithacer?" Paula asked herself angrily.

Veedi sat by herself at a table in a Grand Tree Restaurant, having lost hers in the economy crisis. She had ordered another cocktail which she immediately drank, making her feel more and more tired.

"Veedi? What are you doing?" asked a small male gnome with a backpack full of gnomic cuisine.

Ronthin had known Veedi well for a while, and had been friends with her for some time. She said that he acted as an older brother to her, and now he was going to act like it again.

"Forgetting," Veedi replied in a quiet voice as she put down her glass.

"You'll kill yourself if you keep drinking!" Ronthin exclaimed.

"I don't care, we'll all be dead sooner or later."

Veedi fell off her seat and lay motionless on the floor.

"You idiot! What on Gielinor were you thinking giving her so much to drink?!" Ronthin asked a young waitor who looked on in horror from across the bar.

"I didn't know! I'm new here, it was a mistake!" he replied worriedly.

"I don't care for your ridiculous excuses, somebody, get help!"

A worried crowd on the other side of the room all hurried to seek help for Veedi who lay silently, not breathing.

"It's coming!"

What was coming? This is something Veedi had wondered for some time, and at first she had thought it was the attack on the land by the sea creatures several months ago, but Veedi had an inside feeling that this was not the case. There was one moment in which Veedi felt defined her new philosophy of the species, and that moment was not long after the sea life attacked, when the kingdom was finally resuming its normal ways.

"You can stay in here with me, it's fine, and the Grand Tree Council are going to supply you with money to live for the time being, especially since they encouraged you to go on that damned trip," Paula stated as she hung up some bright yellow robes.

"Thank you, but I can't blame the Grand Tree Council, they didn't know what was coming now did they?" Veedi asked.

"I suppose not, Veedi, but as long as you don't blame yourself."

"I don't, and I will not. I just want to move on and return to my normal life."

"Today might be a bit weird, because you have to consider this is your first day back in your regular life, like going out and about, making decisions for yourself, you know."

"I hardly expect to settle back in straight away, I know there will be some difficulties."

At that moment, Veedi glimpsed to the side, merely looking around, but that moment came at the worst time possible.

"Why's there a person up here?" Veedi asked in a concerned voice.

"What do you mean? The gnome chefs over there use the humans to deliver their food for them," Paula replied.

A man with short brown hair was walking along the platforms of the Grand Tree, crossing from the restaurant to the bank and then back again. He then turned to come towards Paula's store, and slowly made his way towards Veedi and Paula.

"Hello there, can I purchase some wizarding robes? It's my borther's birthday coming up and he's into all that runecrafting and spell-casting business," the man said.

Veedi quickly marched out the store, desperate to get away as quick as she could from the man.

"Oh, is something wrong with your friend?" the man asked.

"I'm sorry, I just need to have a quick talk with her, she's got some problems. I'll be back in three minutes maximum, I promise," Paula replied hurrying after Veedi.

"Nevermind, I really have to go anyway, I'm on a tight shift with the short bearded guy in the bar over there, I've got ten chocolate bombs to deliver, and half of them are in Misthalin!" the man called after her as he made his way out.

Paula reached Veedi who was sitting near the bank, shaking with fear.

"What's wrong?" Paula asked.

"I can't go near him, I can't go near humans!" Veedi exclaimed.

"You're still not over what happened, I understand-"

"No, no, it's more than that, I feel I'm in danger whenever they're about. I think I've lost my trust in them; all of them!"

It's said your life flashes before your eyes upon dying, but today this wasn't the case. Veedi always remembered these things, and today wasn't the day when she would die.

Veedi awoke in her bed surrounded by people including Paula and Ronthin. Another gnome who was a physician had a small greenish-coloured potion in his hand which he handed to Veedi who got herself upright and surveyed the room.

"Veedi, you collapsed," Paula said to her.

"Drink the potion," said the gnome physician who gave it to her, "it'll help you."

"I feel awful," Veedi said in a rasping voice.

"You suffered from drink poisoning, turns out that the bar staff don't know how much drink they're allowed to sell, or how to mix it properly. You had so many drinks that it began to poison you," Ronthin said.

"What's this then?" Veedi asked, in reference to the potion.

"Anti-poison, my dear, I've been giving it to you for the past two days when you've been out, it's not the most pleasent tasting of things but it will help clear your throat as well," the physician stated.

Veedi drank the potion as quickly as she could and grimaced as she tasted the vile liquid, but it helped sooth her throat.

"Thank you," Veedi said, her voice slightly clearer.

"I shall leave you with your friends now," the physician said as he exited her home.

"I've been out for two days?" Veedi asked.

"Yes, but you're set to recover fully in the next few days," Ronthin answered. "Sorry, I need to get going now, I told the Grand Tree Council I'd inform them of your recovery. I'll be back later."

Ronthin left, leaving Paula and Veedi alone.

"I'm sorry I've doubted you, but I think that you're wrong, there's no threat from the humans," Paula said, "if anything, the only thing you have to worry about is the standards of cocktails sold."

"Maybe you're right, maybe there is no threat; but I think I'll always be uncomfortable around humans in general, and I still think we ought to be a little less trustworthy of them all, because there's still some threat out there, however big, and we're not prepared to stop them if they attack."