Rorri

　　Rorri stumbled backwards. His head swam with the horrors he just witnessed, the cruelty the world inflicted upon his child. The Forest released Pak from its grasp and he fell, but Rorri caught him before he hit the ground. He held him, sobbing into his shoulder, whispering his apologies over and over. After a minute, Pak pulled away, dazed, and Rorri let him go. Rorri turned to Kano with a tearful smile, then pulled him into a tight hug.

　　"Thank you so m-much for taking such good care of him," Rorri said.

　　"Um& I mean, yeah, for sure?" Kano awkwardly patted Rorri`s back, eyes wide, glossy, and brimming with confusion.

　　"The letter!" Rorri broke away. "The letter - your mother`s letter - you still have it, right? Please let me see it. I can r-read it, I`m sure of it. Please&"

　　Pak blinked, his response delayed. He looked to Kano, who had been keeping the letter in his guitar case for him. Kano nodded, dug the letter out and brought it to Rorri, who took it gingerly, as if it might crumble, careful not to stain it with his tears.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

　　Pak was right - the letter was enchanted, written in magic ink, and though Rorri couldn`t see the paper, he saw the flawless, shimmering script clearly, exactly like how he remembered her handwriting. It took a great deal of time to read. He kept pausing to wipe his eyes, and he had to remember written Surface Elvish, though the magic seemed to aid him, as if she were teaching him all over again.

　　Pak

　　I don`t understand any of this. I can`t scrub his imprint from my memories. It`s like he was there the whole time, watching me grow up. My body feels light, like I might float away - like he took something with him when he left my head, some heavy burden that wasn`t his to take. But he took it anyway.

　　I watch as he reads, rocking himself back and forth, weeping. He turns the paper over three or four times, flipping pages in an invisible book. It must be blood magic. My mother wrote the letter for him, so only he could read it. I can only see that it`s enchanted because half of my blood comes from him.

　　"What does it say?" I ask as he finally puts the paper down. He buries his face in his hands, sniffs hard, wipes his nose, and then looks at me with his puffy, black-starburst eyes, sparkling and distant.

　　"It`s, um&" He gives a strange, half-choked laugh. "It`s a lot to explain, but I can r-read it to you. Just& give me a minute. I would kill for a cigarette."

　　"Can I have one?" Kano chirps. The stranger - my father - plucks three from his reed canister, offering one to me. I take it and smell it. It`s not quite a cigarette, but it`s close enough. I have no reason to trust him, even after all of that, but... for some reason, I still do.