Silas woke up surrounded by a ring of shoes and legs as several people stood around him with some concern. After politely telling them he was fine and standing up, he did a quick pat down to make sure nothing had been taken and then moved back to the kitchen.

It took a few moments for him to first get used to all the new senses and then to filter out what he wanted. Whatever he focused on grew violently loud, the smells grew too strong to handle and his vision was so sensitive that it practically gave him a headache. It was exhausting.

He needed an hour just to get to a state where he wasn’t too dizzy to move at all times. It was hard to imagine that fist sized Nightmare Seed suddenly grew as big as his head. Having said that, it amplified his abilities much more than he expected. His fear energy was probably equivalent in quality to a Ninth Gate Empyrean.

Once he was confident he could move normally, Silas pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. Ten in the morning. It would take the average person an hour to reach the meeting spot and even though Silas could get there in only a few minutes, he’d go slow and make sure he wasn’t followed.

It all felt so strange. Fast. Surreal. A week ago it was a normal day.

Tightening his belt and adjusting his holsters, he quickly found his way upstairs amidst the survivors and knocked on the door to the master bedroom. Hector answered almost immediately, wrapping his arms around the Nightweaver in one of the tightest hugs possibly ever. Silas swore he heard something pop.

Hector finally let go after a few seconds, patting Silas on the shoulders. He wasn’t quite sure why the guy was so friendly with him. He saved his life, yes, but what sort of emotional attachment could that possibly give?

“My parents say you helped everyone sleep well, yes?” Hector grinned. “First peaceful night of sleep they’ve had in days. I was worried my mother’s hair was gonna turn grey.”

“I mean, yes, in some capacity-”

“Some of the other’s downstairs remember their nightmares abruptly ending. Darkness abruptly swallowing the monster, disasters suddenly disappearing. Some even say they saw beasts of good omen dispel the night.”

“I really don’t-”

“Thank you, really.” Hector clasped both hands around one of Silas’ and glanced back at his parents. Silas could tell the couple seemed much better off than yesterday, just in the way they carried themselves. “It means a lot to me, Nightweaver. They mean a lot to me. Helping them..”

Silas watched the man trail off and looked between him and his parents. For some people, one act was all it took to earn a lifetime of gratitude. He knew he wasn’t like that. Shaking his head, Silas smiled.

“I’m Silvanus Albrecht by the way. Call me Silas.”

Hector’s eyes widened and his grin practically beamed as he hugged Silas again with a laugh, prompting Silas to wonder how a supposed mage could give such crushing hugs. After struggling out of the Chimekeeper’s grip, they two said their goodbyes and he left the safehouse as quietly as possible.

His senses fed him so much more information than before but Silas really just noticed one thing: how much more empty the world felt suddenly. Albeit quiet, he quickly got used to the vibrant and thriving life within the safehouse. Out here on the streets, a place usually so filled with life..

This city was dead. All that was left was a rotting corpse and the vile things eating away at it. Thinking of the Green Eyed Sergeant and the intelligent mutant that tried to break into the Lower City, he felt a sudden anger he wasn’t used to.

Did the Green Eyes represent their intelligence? If the Sergeant only mutated into something with such rudimentary thought, what would it take to create true intelligence? An Inspector? How many people would a basic mutant have to consume to get there?

With all the bodies missing from the streets.. was there still only one? Was it still only as strong as The Director? How long would it stay there?

Silas crouched down in the middle of the street, tracing his hands along the blood-stained grout. This entire section of the street was caked in dry blood, yet not a body in sight. No birds chirping amidst the rooftops, no critters in the trash. He could only hear two sets of breathing.

Housing in the caverns was very monotonous. Here with the lack of natural light, the buildings were all boarding houses and lodges. Families crammed into small rooms, the streets packed with workers day and night. All dead. The population density guaranteed the amount of mutants after the Darktide was immense. Lone survivors were impossible.

Which is why Silas was confident that the second set of breathing he heard, hidden on the rooftops, was a threat. Not to mention the Screechers on top. It was likely another Green-Eyed mutant. Glass’ figure flashed through his mind before he shook it off.

It was likely following him the entire time. Meaning they very well knew where Hector was. He didn’t have the days that Lady Brightshade wanted him to wait. Which means Silas needed to get rid of this tail and absolutely make it to that meeting. It was likely faster than him and likely too smart to get lost in the maze that were these streets.

Silas thought quickly as he quickly turned the Location feature on with his Lotus. His options were either lead it to the group hoping they kill it and, worst case scenario, have them believe he’s a traitor. Or he could fight it. Could he think of a way to warn them ahead of time?

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

[Do you wish to communicate with them?]

Well, yes. Silas slowly stood up in the middle of the street and continued walking forward, his mind mostly occupied with sensing fear energies and keeping track of that second set of breathing. It followed him from the rooftops, almost perfectly parallel to him.

[Do you wish to see such features from the Lotus in the future?]

Honestly, surprised no such thing is possible in the first place. He turned the corner onto Wellington St, making it a straight shot for the meeting place. Silas sincerely hoped they believed him. He simply wasn’t confident in fighting such a creature evenly. This one didn’t seem as barbaric as the Mutated Sergeant.

[.. I see. I shall take note]

Say, do we all have the same Lotus?

[In a sense, yes. But I oversee only you]

Strange. That also meant the Lotus couldn’t vouch for him. In that case, he’d likely have to face the court of public opinion. Hopefully his plan worked anyways. Was it really a plan? Fuck it, he doesn’t have a better idea. Plan it is.

Being rather early, Silas decided to kill off the last half an hour roaming around the meeting location rather than leading this thing right to it. He went in circles, even going so far as to act like he simply couldn’t find where he was going. These Wayfinders were all strong enough to fight it, yes, but he also had to make sure it didn’t run. The Location feature simply placed a giant floating blue arrow on the floor in front of him in a Wayfinder’s direction, but he didn’t follow it.

[Wayfinder approaching rapidly. Be advised]

Roughly fifteen minutes before the meeting was supposed to start, he finally got a notification. Merely moments after the first one, he got the second.

[Wayfinder in immediate vicinity]

A small amount of fear energy suddenly entered his perception from behind him and Silas resisted the urge to look down the street at the source. He knew the other party also got the notification, hinging on the fact that the group likely didn’t keep the feature on constantly. They knew he was here.

The second set of breathing continued to follow him the entire time. Silas kept his pace slow, making sure that the other Wayfinder could catch up to him easily. He had exactly one shot at this. Fear energy started accumulating like a pond beneath the Nightmare Seed in his mind.

He heard the soft sound of a bow being drawn behind him and a rise in fear energy. Silas didn’t move, focusing on his surroundings. The breath was still there. That’s good. He barely reacted when a tingle appeared on the back of his neck. They were aiming at him.

“Who are you?”

“Wayfinder.”

“There are no unaffiliated Wayfinders in the Market District.”

“I came from the Villas a day ago.”

“Why?”

“Chased by a mutant with green eyes.”

Silas’ perception suddenly honed in on the breathing from above. His gaze snapped upwards at the rooftops, piercing through the fog as his eyes filled with blood energy. The accumulating fear energy suddenly emptied by two thirds as Silas roared out, making sure the thing up above could hear him. “Step into view!”

His eyes practically shined with blue and purple like lanterns in the fog. A figure stepped onto the ledge of the rooftop, its limpid green eyes polluted with the slightest hint of terror. Torn black and blue clothes hung loosely over its grey frame, a golden insignia flickering on its chest in the lamp light.

Abruptly, Silas turned and stared at the Wayfinder behind him. The pool of fear energy in his mind churned as he spoke another command, instantly emptying out and causing the Seed’s veins to dry up slightly.

“All your strength, shoot it’s head!”

Bow already drawn, the Wayfinder smoothly turned in place and lifted the bow up at the still green-eyed mutant. Fear ran rampant in the man’s eyes yet he was compelled to do as Silas said. Wind gathered around his hands and a green light formed around the nocked arrow before the man let the arrow fly.

With speed no slower than a bullet, the arrow soared through the air in a streak of green and grey light, effortlessly piercing through the creature’s head and sending chunks of skull and flesh flying onto the tiles around it. The street suddenly returned to silence as the corpse fell to its knees and then dived over the ledge.

Like lightning, Silas was struck by a splitting headache and quickly sat himself down, the mutant’s body slamming into the street a few feet away from him and hardly damaged from the fall, its black blood covering the dried red.

A strange mix of pain and numbness spread down his spine and then rushing throughout his limbs like wildfire. Silas closed his eyes in his best attempt to ignore his vision blurring and quite simply did his best to endure the sudden nausea. He had overdrafted his fear energy.

The Archer drew another arrow and levelled it at the back of Silas’ head. All the Nightweaver could do was sway back and forth as he tried to regain his sense of balance. The tail was dead, he can prove he was never trying to be sneaky, and he can prove he wasn’t leading it here on purpose.

After several minutes passed by and Silas barely pulled himself together, he slowly opened his eyes and checked his pocket watch. 12 o’clock. He was right on time. A small grin spread across his face as figure after figure appeared on the street through the rooftops and alleyways.

Counting the Archer, plus the recently dead Wayfinders as well as Hector, Silas expected to see eleven people show up. Instead he only saw ten, wearing various forms of arms and armour as they stepped into the street light and into full view. Silas laughed lightly and fell onto his back.

One man stepped forward and stood only a few feet away from Silas, looking down at him with a dull look. Short black hair in a crew cut, a scar across his forehead. His brown eyes stared at him coldly. His skin was incredibly pale and almost entirely covered by the thick metal plate mail he wore.

Staring straight above at the jagged false sky above, Silas finally relaxed his body. He only saw ten, but he senses eleven. Up on the rooftops across from where the mutant had been, he perceived an eleventh sense of fear. Tilting his head slightly at the source, Silas’ grin never faltered.

“Lady Brightshade, I do believe I made it on time, yes?”