I spin around and raise my weapon, ready to defend against whatever lurks in the dark. 'Is it just me or does the night seem darker than before?' I let my eyes scan the surroundings near my campfire, relying on its light to help me find the source of the noise. My ears pick up on the quiet steps - 'human steps?' - of something coming closer. I position myself so the campfire is between me and the source of the noise, after which there is naught to do but wait.

The time passes by but a breath as... something stops at the edge of my fire's light. I can't quite make out all the details, but no matter what it is, it is human in shape, and eerily quiet. I'm not even sure if it's clothed due to how hard the fire's light cuts away around it, much less what color its skin is or any other useful details. What I can see is the fire, reflected in its eyes, staring right at me. Watching my every move.

"What do you want?" I ask it, my voice braver than I am feeling inside. Instead of responding like a civilized person would, the thing starts walking around the fire. 'Is it afraid of the light?' I circle around, mirroring it to not let it get any closer. It lets out an amused chuckle - there's a sort of weird echo to it's voice, as if multiple voices spoke at once. "Lamplight in the dark." It intones, it's voices overlapping with each other, and I feel it's words worm and burrow inside my ears. "On journey you've embarked." 'It's rhyming?' "I claim thee - my mark." My eyes narrow at the creature. 'Claimed me as it's mark?' The fire between us changes, it's flames becoming gray as bone and ash, yet it continues burning.

The creature stops pacing around the fire, clearly seeing I'm not about to let it reach me. Instead, it squats straight down. The movements are quick but I managed to pick up on few its physical traits due to one of its gaunt arms briefly going too close to my campfire. It's skin is pale, as if its never seen sunlight, with not a single hair on it. "How long will you last." Its voices start chanting again. "To your kin it's such contrast." I reach for my hip where mom's daggers rest. "Marking thee - outcast." I think better of throwing one of my only weapons at the creature and instead pluck the round pebble from my pocket.

"Go free my sigil." It intones once more and leans closer into the light. Its... face is not even there. It's like reality itself cracked, as spiderweb of tears in the world itself seep from nothingness where the thing's face should be. "As I watch and keep vigil." It tilts its head sideways, and I feel my stomach riot as the very world itself twists and bends. "Lamp - child of Rigil." My head is suddenly assaulted by pain, as the world distorts in the span of a breath. The thing's face occupies my entire sightline, yet I know it hasn't moved. I don't wait any longer and throw the stone at the creature. I hear a crack, as if I've hit glass instead, and everything goes dark. My breath is a raspy and choked gasp for air and I swing my longsword around me to make sure there's nothing there. Its light lets me see the truth.

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I'm at my campfire which has long since burnt out, surrounded by nothing but utter dark and chill air of the night. My nerves are frayed as I carefully step around the fire pit, searching for the creature - yet find nothing alive. Only a small featureless wooden doll, with a round smooth pebble embedded in its head. As I reach down to inspect it closer and get my pebble back, I see that whatever the thing was, it didn't lie about marking me. On the back of my right hand is an unfamiliar tattoo. It's a simple shape, a triangle - its 'floor' rests near my wrist and it comes to a point near my fingers. It's right side is noticeably thicker than its remaining two sides. Distracted by this discovery, I touch it with my other hand, as a familiar echoed and overlapping voice intones from deep inside my mind.

"Lamplight in the dark."

"On journey you've embarked."

"I claim thee - my mark."

"How long will you last."

"To your kin it's such contrast."

"Marking thee - outcast."

"Go free my sigil."

"As I watch and keep vigil."

"Lamp - child of Rigil."

I wince in pain, each word feeling like a nail being driven into my skull. "Great, a tattoo that torments me. Fucking brilliant!" I whine, still recovering from the sudden spike of headache. 'Of course on the very first day when I'm alone some freaky Torment decides it would be funny to go for a chat and do whatever the hell it did. Just brilliant. I'm never travelling alone again.'

I take a few moments to calm down and recover, before focusing on coming up with a plan. I don't think It's possible for me to fall asleep again tonight, but staying here and being still feels wrong. It takes me only a moment to pack up my things and get back on the road. I didn't plan to travel at night, and as such my only light is my weapon.

Only now I realize that its light shines brighter than before. It doesn't even come close to replacing the warmth and comfort of a campfire, but at least I can see a few steps ahead of me. If only it gave off warmth like a proper torch. Instead, excercise will have to be enough to keep me warm. I'm not sure it will be enough - the chills I'm feeling probably aren't completely mundane.