Laying on the comfortable, soft bed, his gaze lingered outside, looking through the window, towards the starry sky. It was almost a full moon – perhaps a single day shy from it. Its silver light made the night just a little brighter.

He wanted to help Alistair and Captain Rianne come up with some countermeasures against the terrorists. Instead, upon Alistair’s request, Willow had dragged him to his room, and with a good measure of worry, told him to sleep at least until dawn.

It was unlikely that there would be any trouble before the first light of dawn. No matter their fanatical beliefs, even they wouldn’t dare cross the Old Growth before sunbreak, would they? No, they would remain where they were, and head out at dawn, when the forest ceased to be so dangerous…

Even in his tired state, the flaw in his logic was immediately clear.

He sat up on the bed suddenly, turning his gaze from the starry sky to the forest stretching beyond Bareon’s walls, all the way to the mountainous horizon.

“Where are they?” He whispered to himself. Did they find a place safe from the Old Growth? Were they camping near one of those chalk-white monuments? Or were they safe at night in the ancient forest? That woman and the robed man had simply walked away, towards the monument that his blood dyed red, and that wasn’t too long before the sun would begin to set.

Both possibilities had frightening implications.

A third possibility crossed his mind, though he could hardly find a reason to believe it was true. With a scowl, he stood up and walked closer to the window, turning his gaze to the city below. He pondered a while, unable to decide whether this was his own paranoia, or a legitimate concern.

Could they already be in Bareon?

“Why not?” He muttered to himself as he lowered himself onto the bed once more. These people were human – citizens of Eldoria, quite likely. It wasn’t like they themselves, as people, had some kind of mark on them that could be used to identify them. They didn’t have any foreign or exotic characteristics, nor did they have an accent.

The only reason the city watch had suspicions in the first place was because they wore cultists robes and walked around with rings carrying the mark of the twelve-part serpent. If they wanted to remain unnoticed, they would have just walked in with ordinary clothes, and kept their rings hidden.

There was no reason for them to not be able to enter the city.

But there was a reason to think not all of them were in Bareon. The city gates only opened after dawn – once the sunlight began to illuminate the world, and there was enough light to travel without a torch. Lonan’s carriage was attacked before dawn, meaning the perpetrators were outside during the night as well.

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Another thought interrupted this line of reasoning as he couldn’t help but wonder what in the world Lonan’s carriage was doing outside before dawn.

There were small resting stations constructed along the roads between the large cities and smaller towns of Eldoria for exactly this reason. Lonan’s carriage had no business being outside, going through the forest road hours before dawn. He should have been waiting about half a day’s journey away, for the sun to dawn at the time he was attacked.

With a scowl and pursed lips, he pondered, seeking a reason as to why Lonan would have set off so long before dawn, and how he would have travelled for several hours in the dark safely.

He glanced out the window, at the starry sky. It was quite a while past midnight, and the hospital where Lonan was wouldn’t allow visitors at this time. “Tomorrow then,” he whispered to himself as he laid down, pulling the blanket to his chin. Tomorrow he would talk with Lonan and try to get to the bottom of this.

His eyelids grew heavy, and his consciousness began to drift away into darkness as he let his thoughts linger.

He found himself standing in ankle-deep water, looking into an endless abyss beneath it. Light without a source illuminated him, and his surroundings as he stood on the Eye.

Before fear and terror could even strike, his surroundings changed. Now, he was standing in front of the monument in the Old Growth. The once chalk-coloured stone was now dyed blood red. The stone tendrils that looked like they were roots were slowly spreading towards the forest, crushing the forest’s roots on its path.

His surroundings changed once more – this time he was standing outside Bareon, looking at the city from the Old Growth. He watched as roots scaled the walls, breaking the large blocks of stone they were made of, and spreading across the city.

He watched in horror as the citizens tried to escape, only to be devoured by the forest, sacrifices to feed a never-ceasing hunger. He wanted to run, to help them as roots and vines seemingly came to life, catching them, but something stopped him.

He looked down to see his body covered in black tendrils, they had wrapped around his torso, his arms, and legs, even his throat.

What he saw changed once more, and once again he found himself looking at the gigantic eye, floating far away from it, held in place by these tendrils. He could see something moving in the endless darkness beyond it. It’s sheer size made it impossible to comprehend.

He struggled to break free, to return to the waking world, but to no avail. The tendrils writhed, they climbed up his neck to his face.

“Let go of me!” He shouted, “go back to your slumber!”

He wasn’t even sure if his voice reached the eye, or if it was able to hear at all.

His heart raced as he felt the tendrils climb up his face. One of them reared back in front of his left eye.

His eyes shot wide open as he sat up on his bed, drenched in sweat, and a dull pain in his eye. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He gasped for air, then coughed as his throat felt incredibly dry and coarse.

Lights danced, illuminating his room. With a scowl, he lifted his gaze.

His heart sank immediately as he saw the flames dancing on about a dozen houses not far from the Orlein mansion. The smell of smoke filled his nostrils.

The city was on fire.