Exill spent the rest of his watch standing alert, the goosebumps and unease never subsiding. He felt something was watching from the shadows, stealthily circling the treeline. And yet, everyone, even the brel slept on in peace until the trickling hourglass indicated it was Tsarra’s turn to stand watch.

Unfortunately, he could not trust the timid Maiden to stand guard, not with the threat of danger so immediate yet deafening in its silence. Flipping the hourglass over, he continued to stay vigilant. Despite this, Tsarra woke up and stumbled over, the fire reflecting off her tangled hair and tired jade eyes.

“How long have you been on watch, is it not my turn yet?”

“Yes, you can go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s your turn.”

The shy Maiden hesitated, reading the stiffness in his shoulder and the sense of unease permeating from him. She nervously looked around at the uninviting darkness.

“Um… I need to pee.”

Exill froze, unsure on how to proceed. He asked her tersely, “Can’t you wait?”

“Um… no, and you’re starting to scare me.”

“Then relieve yourself next to the brel.” He whispered, eyes scanning the surroundings. For a brief moment he thought he saw movement.

“Really?”

Exill was on edge, and about to make a cutting remark about how she had relieved herself in a cage back at Diallo’s warehouse – when he held himself back before the hurtful words could leave his mouth. Instead, he gripped her hand whilst speaking softly, “Follow me.”

He reluctantly led the embarrassed dwarf away, but still within the periphery of the campfire. Their shadows writhed absurdly against the treeline, concealing the horrors lying patiently in wait. When they crossed the boundary of the blessed earth, Tsarra clung to him tightly and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in alarm. A sickly palpitating beat could be felt just behind the trees. Gripping the spear tightly he motioned Tsarra behind him.

“Go now, quickly.” He hissed.

Cold sweat trickled down his back, and he nearly turned around in surprise when the sound of trickling water sprouted behind him. It eventually subsided and he felt her grip his tunic again. They slowly retreated back to the warm safety of the campfire, then lead the mortified woman to her bedroll.

Back on hallowed ground, and illuminated by light, Exill felt relieved. ‘Maybe this is all in my head, and I’m jumping at shadows.’ He thought lightly while patting her dishevelled head as she crouched to lay down.

“I’ll wake you up when it’s your turn on watch, tinkle princess. Now go to sleep” He whispered a light-hearted joke to diffuse some of the tension.

Tsarra turned her back to him on the mat, the tips of her ears scarlet red. The danger in the periphery momentarily forgotten, Exill berated himself for teasing the cute girl, then softly tread back to the curled figure of the Navigator. He pried the brass housing of the accumulator from the dozing man’s hand and channelled mana into it. Under his nervous gaze, the secondary dial spun around wildly before steadily tracking an unseen object beyond the treeline.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Oh hell no…” The sense of impending horror returned in full force.

Tamping down the rising panic in his heart, Exill considered waking up Koopra, then promptly dismissed the idea. Surrounded by deep darkness, there was nowhere they could flee to. It was just like the time he was surrounded by wolves while fleeing to Ark.

‘Calm down… there must be a reason the Aberration hasn’t attacked us yet…’ Exill racked his brains for something, anything he could do, and came to an epiphany. ‘The Priest!’

Exill hurried to where Father Jonas slept, an arms breadth away from the greasy Mattan. He gently shook the Priest, holding a finger to his lips when the tired man startled awake.

“Exill? Is it my watch already?”

“I’m sorry but we’re in a predicament… there is an Aberration circling us right now.”

Exill described the pillar of light he had witnessed earlier, followed by the palpitating beat he heard outside the sanctified ground. Finally, he channelled mana into the accumulator, his hand shaking as the dial tracked movement beyond the treeline.

“This is highly irregular. It shouldn’t be able to approach so close to the road unless…” The Priest’s whisper faded to silence; his bushy eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He fumbled in his robe and drew out the glowing vial of infused blessed water.

“You did well to come to me, only I can drive this abomination away. Thanks to your mana infusion, our chance of success is greatly increased. I must ask you to cover me while I perform the second rites.”

Exill helped the middle-aged man to his feet, causing the Priest’s knees to creak in pain. He then followed him to the edges of the blessed ground where their shadows thrashed wildly on the ground as if driven to madness by the flickering campfire. Father Jonas unstopped the glowing vial with trembling hands and let it slowly drip onto the ground, walking forward while reciting the World’s Prayer in a steady voice.

Sensing movement beyond the treeline, Exill cast [Haste] to drag the Priest back when a lumpy tentacle whipped out to where the old man had stood a second earlier. It slammed down on the ground with a muffled ‘whump’, its sticky greyish flesh deflating and writhing off into the darkness.

Realising the Witchdoctor was about to raise the call for alarm, the Priest gripped his arm, urging in a hushed whisper.

“Do not wake them up, you will only put them in danger… I believe the abomination may be attracted to sound.”

The two stood frozen for seconds until Father Jonas continued on with his blessing rites in a muted tone. Exill caught glimpses of a cancerous grey mass of tentacles following them as they completed the circuit. The Priest looked drained when he wiped sweat from his furrowed brows, backing away towards the campfire.

“You should get some rest now, the blessed water of a Bishop should keep even a low-tier abomination at bay… and if it doesn’t…” Father Jonas slicked back his damp hair and fumbled with the empty vial, “Well, we never stood a chance, and we will be accepted into the World’s embrace.”

Following his own advice, the old man stumbled to his mattress and attempted to fall into fitful slumber, a nightmare filled with slippery, grasping appendages. Exill stood there for several minutes then reluctantly returned the brass accumulator to the sleeping Navigator’s hand. By now, weariness was beginning to set in, and he woke Envy up.

“It’s the Dwarf’s turn, then me… you fool.” The irritated Vampire swatted his hand away.

“I know, but I sense danger and I trust you to stand watch over me.”

With reproachful eyes, she stood up and followed him to the campfire. He told her what he witnessed with the priest, and she steadily grew more alert, buckling the sword to her hips and keeping the shield within reach.

“How long did you stand watch?”

“Three hours.” He replied, feeling incredibly fatigued. Envy gave him a considerate look, pushing him softly towards the bedroll.

“Go to bed. I’ll handle it from here.”

Exill stumbled to bed and immediately fell asleep the moment he lay down.

***

He was startled awake three hours later when Envy snuggled into his side, whispering reassuring words as she adjusted his arm pillow to her liking.

“Nothing happened… Father Jonas is on watch now and he is confident the Aberration has moved on.”

Exill breathed a sigh of relief while feeling her comforting warmth. He sleepily kissed the back of her head in gratitude, thankful for the unknown weight that had been lifted from his chest. Meanwhile, Envy lay wide awake, questioning the soft sensation behind her head, as well as the arm loosely draped over her hips.

She wasn’t happy with this overt familiarity, but forgave him just this once.