Fear of Failure

Written by Hnerskers

It’s been a while since the void’s murmurs had affected Kinzin like that, at least a week.
Slowly, the voices in his head began to fade. Kinzin takes a quick inventory of his particulars then turns his attention to Raven. He can’t help but feel the judging gaze of the strangers Lady Bloodcraft had gathered as he sits inches away from his friend.
Do they think I’m a freak? Have they never seen a Void Elf before? Do they hate Void Elves? Is my Void showing? Kinzin looks down at his hands and arms to see if his brush with the darkness pushed him into his void form.
It hadn’t. “Thank the Light,” Kinzin sighs with relief as he closes his eyes.
The whispers of the darkness pierce his thoughts, “Al'ksh syq iir awan?” Is this real or an illusion? The image of his comrade crumpled at the feet of the vrykul with its fangs covered in his blood flashes through his mind, only for a moment, but the feeling of dread lingers.
The last time he felt like this was before he became a Void Elf. Being powerless and unable to protect someone he cared for was more than he could bear and lead him down a dark path with only a glimmer of hope that he would come out of it alive, much less himself.
Even though he was sure this was all an elaborate illusion, Kinzin leans a little bit closer to Raven to see if there is any evidence of bite marks on his neck from the vrykul. As he gets close enough to notice the absence of holes in his friend’s neck, Raven’s eyes pop open.
Becoming keenly aware of how close he is to Raven, he reacts without much thought, shouting “Oi there!” in Raven’s face as he shoves him to the ground.
Kinzin looks around at the group of confused strangers surrounding him, hoping they hadn’t noticed the awkward exchange. The looks on their faces confirmed that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In a vain attempt to recover, Kinzin blurts out the first remotely comical thing he can think of off the top of his void tendrilled head.
“Careful walking through that curtain, the first steps a doozy!”
Nothing…
“Hi, my name’s Kinzin Netherlight and I’m a Void Elf Paladin.”
Of course they know you’re a Void Elf Paladin, it’s not like they could mistake you for a Goblin Mage with your void scarred, long eared, glowing ass elf self.
While going through the motions of introductions with the group, his thoughts turn back to the illusion, whatever that was. With their host's hospitality waning and pleasantries exchanged, Kinzin picks his friend up off the ground and makes his way to the stables where Jika and Kiru had waited for them long enough.