The night sky was dark, and not just because of the Rift Wall being so dull in color.

Thick clouds slowly moved overhead, moving far faster than the light wind one felt here on the ground was capable of.

I forcefully kept my body from shivering. The feeling annoyed me, but I’d not allow it. It wasn’t anywhere near cold enough for such a thing. Nor had I spent long enough out of the Rift to feel this way.

Why did I feel so cold, then?

A small glance behind me told the reason. Covered by thick layers of pelts, was the reason I sat out here all alone.

Usually I’d be able to rest and restock during such a journey… but I couldn’t risk taking the rock into RiftWarren. Especially not into RiftWarren.

The only real source of light came from off in the distance. The muddle of colors was ugly, as all the lanterns and fires danced in the town. The slums of the city stood in-between me and the actual city, but they were still as colorful and lit up as the rest.

Rocky plains sat between us, and I was somewhat thankful for the clouds. At this distance no one should be able to see me out here, especially with the stone so well covered, but every little bit of help was useful.

Especially since my original plan had been to put the stone into the Rift, then go into RiftWarren, to secure another caravan bear.

If I didn’t get a response from Lena in time, then I may very well be forced to resort to such a thing.

With that thought, I returned to looking at the small feather in my hand. The white thing still wasn’t glowing, but the words on the paper it laid upon were. The magic was just being slow.

Somehow I knew it was the stone’s fault, even though it should be the opposite. If the stone’s magic actually interfered with this, it’d only empower it… or at least, that was supposed to be what happened.

“Come on already,” I complained. I was getting tired of holding the sheet of paper out like I was. The wind was light, but at any moment a good gust was going to come. Then the paper would fly from my hands, and I’d have to catch it… then repeat this process all over again.

I wasn’t in the mood to have to stand still like this all night long.

Most of the words written on the paper had already burnt out of sight. Little embers, like charred ash, flew up off the paper as each letter and word burnt away. Only a few sentences remained, and the feather that lay on top of them finally started to glow.

“About time,” I said as the little white feather began to glow even brighter. Nowhere near as bright as the moon hiding behind the clouds, or the stone behind me was beneath those pelts, but it still glowed nonetheless.

The last few words burnt off the paper, and the feather began to tremble… and not from the wind.

With a tiny motion, fluid and without reason, the feather began to float upward off the paper. Once it did, I finally lowered my hands and crumpled up the paper. Tossing it aside, since it was blank and now the magic was gone, I watched the feather float up into the air an arm’s reach from me.

“Hurry up already,” I said to it, even though I knew full well that neither the feather nor the magic imbued within it understood me. Or rather, even if it somehow did, it wouldn’t matter.

Magic always went as slow as it wanted. Others called magic calm, but I believed it to be lazy.

A light gust of wind came by, and I smelled the scent upon it. The breeze was unnatural, and went in an opposite direction as all the rest. And this breeze caught the feather, sending it up into the sky.

The glowing feather rose into the air the same way a feather would fall to the ground, twirling and tumbling.

My eyes were able to follow the feather for a good few moments, but before it climbed halfway up the sky it disappeared from my sight. As if the clouds above suddenly covered it just as they did a night’s star.

I knew better.

With a sigh I turned and glanced around. The stone was still fine, and I couldn’t see anything more than tiny little tips of cobwebs from it. Barely visible even though I was right in front of it.

No one was nearby. I was alone out here in the prairie, but I knew that was only because of how close the Rift Wall was.

If I had gone towards the river, there’d be people. Those who still fished even this late, or boats traveling up and down the river to get elsewhere.

Travelers. Muggers. Soldiers. Even a prostitute or two.

Many people traveled to and from RiftWarren, even during the nights.

Yet they never came up to the Rift Wall.

Even RiftWarren, being the closest city to the actual Rift, was still an hour or so away. And that was to the outskirts. The slums. If you wanted to get to RiftWarren proper, it’d take another hour almost now with all the people.

A part of me wished to go back when RiftWarren was still a young city. Although it had been brutal, and bloody, it still had a certain charm that no longer existed today.

I could still remember the main road, lined with stalls of stuff people had found in the Rift. Dared to find, and dared to bring back.

Things that sold for fortunes back then, which were now common place and worthless today.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Walking over to the rock, I wished I was brave enough to sit on it. There was nowhere else to sit and rest, except the rocky grass. Although not as bad as some of the deserts found here on this side of the Rift, I wasn’t in the mood to sit on the ground just yet.

Though…

Running a finger along one of the pelts covering the rock, I pulled my hand away and studied my now glistening fingertip.

The carcasses of the animals I had used weren’t nearby, but I knew they wouldn’t be found in the morning. Even if someone was brave enough to enter the Rift, there was no way the five creatures would still be piled up where I had left them.

After all, the Rift was full of scavengers. Particularly hungry ones.

Still…

Smelling the blood on my finger, I wished Lena would hurry. No creature here in the Lands of Man would be drawn by the blood on the pelts, but there were things in the Rift that would. And if hungry enough, something might even venture forth from it.

Add the smell of such blood, to the natural attraction of the stone itself…

A dangerous rift creature eating this rock was not something I wanted to happen. That large snake earlier had already been dangerous enough.

“Not like I had much choice,” I mumbled, stepping around the rock.

Rounding the rock a few times, I scanned the world around me. Making sure to pay as much attention as I could to the Rift Wall as I did everywhere else.

The feather should reach Lena soon. And if I was lucky, she’d not try to make a big deal out of it. If she knew what was good for her she’d just send me a bear, and I’d be on my way.

If she tried to come out here to talk to me face to face, first, then I was going to have to yell at her.

And I hated doing that. It wasn’t her fault she was so…

Movement caught my eye, and I watched the little rodent as it ran towards me.

For a small moment I thought it was actually going to come up to me, but it instead ran into an unseen hole a few dozen paces away from me and the rock.

Thankful for the distraction, I watched as dozens of little rodents appeared and disappeared all around me. Running from one hole to another, sometimes making a pit stop to sniff and smell one of its fellows.

Did they appear now because they had grown used to my smell and presence, or was the stone making them anxious?

For a small moment I wondered what I’d do if hundreds if not thousands of such small rodents tried to take the stone from me.

Such a thing shouldn’t have been possible to come to mind… but the Rift always made me consider such impossibilities.

It didn’t take long for me to plan on how I’d deal with it. Although annoying, I decided fire was the best method. Not fire from a spark, though. Not a fire these creatures knew.

A scream came in on the wind, and I turned towards the source. Off in the distance, near the edge of RiftWarren, were silhouettes in the darkness. A group of people running from the slums.

They weren’t running towards me, but instead towards the Rift Wall. From this distance I couldn’t make anything out, but it did seem like a group of people was running from something. They weren’t chasing, they were evading.

How someone, even during a moment of panic, sincerely believed running towards the Rift would help you escape something was beyond me.

You run from the Rift, not into it.

“Humans,” I said, and wondered how Lena dealt with that half of her. Especially since it always seemed to control her.

I saw the faint glow before I felt the wind, and reached my hand out for the incoming feather.

Glowing a slightly different color than the one I had sent, I kept a keen eye on the feather as it flew down towards me. The wind it rode on was a tad bit warmer than the any other wind I’ve felt so far tonight, and the knowledge as to the why made me upset.

“Lena,” I grumbled, as the feather slowly descended towards my outstretched palm. A few moments of warm wind later, and the feather came to a timid but safe landing on my palm.

Letting the feather glow on my palm for a moment, I then closed my fist around it. Squeezing it tightly, I felt the expansion of the feather as it grew in size.

The warm wind left, allowing the more natural chill breeze to return. As it did, the feather finished its transformation.

Opening my hand, I watched the small piece of paper unfurl and the glowing diminish. The paper grew to a large enough size I needed to grab hold of it, and I watched the words slowly start to appear upon it.

“Write a whole book, Lena?” I complained as more and more words filled the page. Their burnt appearance made it slightly hard to read them in the dark. The paper glowed, just as the feather had, but the light wasn’t the type one could use to read from. Magic light didn’t illuminate well.

I started reading just as the magic glow dissipated… fading away, as it fulfilled its purpose.

While reading, I ignored the screams of people dying off in the distance. People died as the Rift Wall shifted in colors, signifying the birth of a door.

With a burst the world became a tad bit brighter. Where once I had to strain to read, I now could clearly make out the words.

A small glance away from the letter told me where the door was. Far enough that I didn’t have to worry over groups nearing me. Neither those who’d soon be coming from RiftWarren, nor any who’d exit from the Rift, would even notice me.

The swirl of bright colors dancing along the Rift Wall all centered on the haphazard line that began to glow brighter and brighter. Like a trail left in snow from a weary traveler, the line met the ground and exploded in a jumble of different colors.

Thanks to the bright color of the door, the world around it became a tad more visible. One could make out the small shapes of people, many of them, approaching the door in haste.

At this distance, even I couldn’t make out much, but I could tell it wasn’t a coordinated effort. The people were running just a tad too fast. A bit too chaotic.

The source of the screams earlier.

They must have seen the burst of color before me. Were they fighting to be the first into the Rift? Killing to get through the door first?

Sure enough I could just barely make out conflict. People fighting. People shouting. Maybe even dying.

I shook my head as I saw the door finish opening. The bright glowing door further revealed the crowd of people before the Rift Wall.

Chaos.

People running… and not just into the Rift, but out of it as well. Either a group had returned thru the door or… those who had entered moments ago had run back out.

Yet for as much activity as there was, I could not see anything too crazy. I could not see any creatures. Just people.

People too far away to worry or bother me. People too engrossed in whatever was happening, to concern me.

Once I confirmed that it was indeed just a door, and there was nothing I needed to worry about, I went back to reading the letter.

Lena was willing to fulfill my request. But it would take time. Half a day.

An annoyance… but reasonable. Especially with my late notice, and sudden need.

Although not really interested in the rest of her letter, since it slowly grew more personal… I still went to reading it.

I’d consider it a part of the price I had to pay for her services.

Lena was expensive sometimes.