Falyar, Shenian, Hewin, and Gravlan were sitting at a heavy table inside the Fat Hare Inn. Its wood was scarred by numerous scribbles made by drunkards over decades. These messages were still perfectly visible since they were colored by stains from wine and preserved by drops of candle wax. If you sat down here, it's too late, I pissed myself on this bench, said one; Room IV, I'll be waiting, another one. Hewin found himself consumed by the memory of the table. It suddenly dawned on him that all these patrons and their world is gone, that they are dead, or worse, as Gravlan said earlier, undead. He noticed Shenian tracing the scribbles with her paw. Hewin smiled faintly. Shenian looked at him and said: "If we survive this, this needs to go to a museum!" Hewin nodded, happy that Shenian was captivated too.

Falyar unfolded a crude map of Varnutum on the table and sighed: "I guess the main question is...do we fight, or do we run?"

"Fight!" Hewin said quickly.

Gravlan looked at him dumbfounded: "Of course we run boy."

"Why?" Falyar asked with a thoughtful gaze.

"Why?" the soldier smiled awkwardly: "Well, for one thing, the cloud fiends cannot be killed. Believe me, we tried. I myself ran my sword through one of those bastards, nothing happened and I consider myself lucky to tell the tale. There is no way of winning a fight against them."

Shenian cleared her throat and when nobody flinched or seemed surprised, Gravlan shook his head: "What? What is going on with you?"

Falyar filled Gravlan's mug with red wine and spoke: "To decide this, all truths need to be spoken out. But please, Gravlan, brace yourself, for these are not ordinary truths and some of them might shock you."

Gravlan swallowed dryly, then took a big sip of wine and slowly nodded.

"Hewin, it all starts with you. Tell our guest. But do try to be quick about it, we don't have much time," Falyar prompted him.

"Alright," Hewin took a deep breath: "It has something to do with stars. I slaved in the Adronatium mine, and one night, the star exploded. After the explosion, I saw a dark figure float in the sky. It somehow changed me. The night of the explosion, I saw my best friend Enyar warning me, telling me something. But then, it turned out, he never really existed. Nobody knows him, I am still figuring that out. Soon after the mine had been destroyed, a friend of mine turned into a puppet, or as you say, undead. He...he...killed my family, while Enyar led me into the woods where I found the Voidsword." Hewin showed the sword to Gravlan: "It says Chase the darkness. Kill the darkness. Resist the darkness on the hilt and it helps me to channel the power that somehow latched to me in the mine. I will show you," Hewin cut his paw with the black sword and a shadow rose from it. Hewin poured the shadow inside his mug and let it expand. The mug cracked and broke, revealing a solid black rose standing inside it.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Gravlan stood from the chair, eyes frantic. But Falyar handed him the whole bottle of wine and nudged him to drink. Gravlan took a gulp and sat down.

Hewin continued: "Enyar told me recently, that my true name is Shadow Shaper. As I said, I am still figuring that out, but that is what he told me, inside my head, and it helps me with my powers. Have you seen that pitch-black horse wandering through the village?"

Gravlan nodded.

"Well, he is made completely from shadow. His name is Ash," Hewin added.

Falyar then took his boot down and showed Gravlan his black foot: "Same thing."

"But back to the stars," Hewin spoke: "The Voidsword, it kills the puppeteers, they are not immortal. And I think Lynxbright, Falyar's sword, is capable of that too, there is starlight in it, and it dispatches puppets nicely."

Shenian was tapping the wood nervously: "Do you think, Hew? There is no guarantee that Lynxbright can do that."

"It is something the patient stone told me that makes me think so," Hewin replied and Shenian gasped: "The patient stone? What are you on about? Hew!"

"While I was traveling to Dan Kat, a horde of puppets destroyed a white stone. Only a small piece remained," Hewin took the patient stone out of his pocket and it just hovered in the air. "It spoke to me there. It told me that I am star-touched and that I lack patience. It also told me that still, it chooses me over HIM and its last words were Only when I drop, only then the time for patience is over."

Falyar, Shenian, and Gravlan sat there very quietly, and Hewin tried to explain some more.

"I think the patient stone was a fallen star too, and since Lynxbright has starlight, it should be able to participate in this war as well. The stone mentioned HIM, and the puppeteer in Dan Kat also mentioned a HIM. I think, I think that might be the dark figure from that night, the master of puppets, the lord of puppeteers. And last thing, when we killed a puppeteer, you know, one of those with a cloud, all his puppets died," Hewin exhaled and thought this is a good place to end the explaining. No need to tell Gravlan that I lost against Ver Shaet and that I have a void locked in my guts now, no need for that at all.

But Shenian poked his ribs: "Hewin! Stop keeping secrets! HIM? Patient stone?"

Hewin started to apologize: "I am sorry....," but Shenian jumped in with a spark in her eyes: "Do you think that if we kill HIM, they will all die?"

"I would love to try," Hewin agreed.

Falyar looked at Gravlan. The ruffled soldier was looking into the distance, completely overwhelmed by all the truths and speculations.

Finally, Falyar spoke: "So, Gravlan, knowing all this. Do we run or do we fight?"