Nothing except clouds and clear sky can be seen when looking up while the sun is blazing. Behind the solar light, however, stars gloss the heavens with their grace. The sun must set and darkness must reign for one to behold this beautiful work of art. That is the sky of course, in a world of living, darkness brings something other than peace. When pure light vanished from this world, maintaining stability became equivalent to that of holding burning coals. Bloodshed occurs constantly on these lands, whether it is motivated by greed or the need to survive.

The sound of shovels scraping up the surface of the land continued as dusk descended. The source came from a slave labor force that was excavating to locate something that had been directed by their masters. What was unusual about this mission was that the workers weren’t given information on what to find. If they appeared to have found something of value, they were told to present it to whoever was observing them. Normally, a guard oversees their job, but the guards were neither informed of what they are looking for. They, the guards, would have to bring the found ‘object’ to a red tent, surrounded with markings on the ground. There a monk stays within, praying repeatedly to a shrine.

The expedition commander suddenly barged into the monk’s tent in fury. As soon as he entered however, he halted his movement and stared bitterly at the worshiper kneeling to an uncanny sculpture. In the Vavigen belief, which is a widely practiced religion in the Regand empire, the idol represented Tiprim, the monarch of the gods. The statue was made of stone, had a long nose, wide narrow eyes, and was twice as tall as the monk. A carving of the blazing sun was on its chest. Underneath the sun, its left hand held the moon as a disc, while its right hand held the mortal world, portrayed as a sphere with an upwards arrow drawn on it.

Small candles arranged in a chorus lit the dim space, and the silent flickering of their lights gave the impression that they were conversing with one another. The burgundy-robed monk continued calmly praying despite the commander's presence, acting as though he were no different from the statue. The commander called out, "Oh servant of Tiprim, my apologies for interrupting your prayer, but I-"

"There's no need to apologize," the monk interrupted, "I just finished my verse, so you may speak."

“I just wanted to inform you of the conditions of the workforce.” The commander replied.

There was a little period of silence while the monk remained seated in front of the idol. "I am aware of the situation. Is there anything else you would like to share?" the monk asked.

"Even though we have found nothing for the holy council, I would like to request that we end the expedition."

“Is that so… Feeling pity for the workers I assume, how unfortunate. This labor they undertake is more of an honorable process than it is a punishment.” He paused, the sound of shovels gutting through the dirt muffled through the thick fabric of the tent. The monk then slightly tilted his snout up and continued, “You know commander Barmu, I have noticed odd behavior from you recently.”

"What have you noticed oh servant of Tiprim?" Barmu asked as his ears twitched and raised his head. "Inform me, and I'll get rid of it."

The monk breathed out an air of disappointment, “Barmu, listen to what I have to say, what I see isn’t something you can just destroy as if it were a helpless infant. It is as if you have to square up against a foe who is just as strong as you. I've seen how you put yourself in danger for everyone else, which there is nothing wrong with, however it seems that your altruism is developing into a problem. you are caring for everyone to the point that you are protecting those who are equivalent to your dung, even more so than your belief in Tiprim. Although I may find it difficult to say so, it is what I have observed in you, commander." The monk's remarks made Barmu's hairs stand up a little; he recognized what he was pointing out but tried to keep his views to himself. Even though the monk wasn't able to see him, the commander had the impression that his soul laid bare before the monk.

Disturbed as he was, Barmu responded, "Are you saying it is a sin for me to care for the smallest things in rank and life while it is a great asset to me? Wouldn't it make more sense to acknowledge it or reward it, allowing it to feel at ease and follow my leadership with greater vigor and loyalty?"

The monk became enraged at hearing the commander's reply, saying, "Of course you must take care of what you own, but failing to utilize it fully for what is most crucial is nothing but waste! You wanting to pull out of this mission is as if you just dumped all of your wealth into a pit of darkness that consumes everything." A touch of hatred could be heard in the monk's discourse as his voice grew low and gritty.

Barmu was heated, as what he heard from the monk was nothing but nonsense to him, he had seen more dread and sorrow than the monk ever had and he knows how it is to lose a life that was dear to him. He refused to let the monk persuade him and continued to be disobedient but not without wisdom, “What you claim to me is nothing in relation to what state we are in, we are on the way to deadly attrition. Already we have lost some servants and a few soldiers, and not to mention about how lucky we are throughout the weeks that we haven’t been ripped apart by the-”

“Enough!” shouted the monk anxiously. He slowly stood and carefully turned to face the complainant. A burgundy cowl that extended over his snout hid his face. Braided whiskers that resembled tusks curved out from the hood's hidden darkness. Where the eye sockets are located, barely perceptible holes were gaping, yet the monk nevertheless gave the commander a disapproving look despite not being seen. "Have you forgotten with whom you are arguing?" The monk took a brief pause and focused on the regane in front of him. His face was covered in scars, and his dead right eye had one trailing across. His fur was a dark brown color with some white and gray streaks that indicated his elderliness. He had a frigid expression on his face from witnessing all of his companions being killed by the nightmare-inducing creatures. The monk was indignant when he observed this about him, continuing cautiously, "Let me remind you, commander Barmu, that this mission came directly from the council. It is crucial that we succeed, but your disobedience only serves to slow us down. Do you not realize that I have the power to take your head for your present behavior?! What embarrassment will it cause for your brother?!"

Following the monk's remark, Barmu's ears twitched as he tried to think of a way to answer, but nothing came to him. He avoided eye contact and dipped his head a little. A terrifying roar erupted from the dark forest. Barmu quickly glanced outside the tent as dusk was approaching. The scream startled both Regane and Rogen, and they all turned to face the tent in apparent horror. Barmu felt a twinge of agony piercing his heart as he gazed at the crowd . In all the weeks they had been in this place, the hideous beasts had never gotten this close. He was more concerned about his regane warriors and the Rogen workers than he was about himself. Barmu showed some compassion for rogen, unlike the majority of regane.

The monk slowly walked up behind the commander and stated, "The faster and harder they work, the sooner they can return to their homes."

“You have no knowledge of the anoni, there is at least one near, and if we stay it is almost guaranteed it will make itself present-”

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“Enough! My decision is final, no one is leaving!”

“But lives will be lost!” Barmu opposed the monk's words.

As the monk turned away, he responded in a cold manner, “Then may Tiprim honor the fallen.”

Due to the worshiper's statements, Barmu stormed out of the tent, where he was met by the confused looks of the troops and laborers. Weary of the demands, the commander instructed them to continue working. As time passed, the sky grew darker, and the moonless night's only source of illumination was the stars.

At a certain period throughout the night, all the diggers and some of the guards were allowed to sleep while others kept watch. Just before the time for slumber, the monk came out of his tent to address the crowd. "May I have your attention please, it seems to me that based on our current speed we may be here for double or even triple the amount of time then what has been predicted." whispers appear in the crowd, "I'm aware that many of you are becoming debilitated from this, but I may provide notice that if we work harder from now on we may be able to finish within much less time, therefore I'm giving you my revelation that we shall not have any more breaks until the job is finished."

Chat arose from his speech, some in anger while others were uncertain. The commander emerged from the crowd, looking dead towards the monk, for him the worshiper of tiprim had crossed the line. He was on the verge of removing his blade from the side of his belt, but Barmu refrained in an effort to contain his waning emotions as a loud moan suddenly resounded from the neighboring woodland. Everyone except the monk turned to face the direction of the woods from where the ominous sound had come. Barmu had no other choice but to comply with the worshiper's requests, unless he wanted to lure that thing even closer. With the exception of the monk, everyone started working while making as little noise as possible.

Work continued for almost two hours into the night, and everyone was worn out—especially the rogens. One eventually lost his balance and collapsed on the crude mud. It was pouring rain, neither heavy or light, but it was enough to cause the dirt to thicken and make the ground slippery. A fresh pile of dirt would always fill the hole that had been dug after each time someone threw dirt out of it. The frail rogen struggled to lift itself, and the ground's seeping moisture grabbed hold of his limbs. In an attempt to stand back up, a companion went to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. Unfortunately, the downed rogen cried out in agony, alerting the nearby guard. "What is going on here!" The soldier yelled. His body was covered with steel armor from the shoulders to the ankles. However, he was not wearing a helmet because he had left it at his tent, opting to wear a silk hood instead. As the rogen glanced at the guard while tending to his frail friend, it began to rain harder.

The rogen attempted to stand up for his companion by saying, "My friend has become ill from this work; I don't think he will be able to continue digging." However, he was worried since he knew what severity laid ahead. The regane face was covered in shadow from the hood, it was hard to make out his expression. Lightning struck in the sky exposing his growling snout, “do you even think that there is time for stragglers when there is immediate work to do?” The servant stood with his weakened companion but the guard shoved them both back into the muddy pits. Unexpectedly the rogen charged the soldier from the muck, but just in time the soldier sidestepped him, grabbed him by his back fur, and threw him to the ground.

Everyone in the vicinity turned their attention to the struggle as the servant dropped to his knees and began to spew blood in response to the soldier's powerful strike. He looked up just to see a flying fist hurtling towards him, knocking him on his back. “It is forbidden for a mere peasant to go against his masters,” the guard exclaimed at the terrified crowd, "a deed that the holy council detests greatly!"

The rogen recovered his footing, and stared bitterly at the guard with his blood soaked snout as he pounced once more. The guard grabbed him by the neck in mid air and held him high with just one arm. A rogen’s strength is no match to a regane’s, even though they may seem alike they are different in numerous ways, most notably in height with rogens being half the size of a regane on average. The regane unsheathed his blade, “this trouble maker has pulled his whiskers from their roots, and sentenced his own death.” The guard then executed him on the spot, thrusting his blade into his gut and slicing his belly open. The rogen’s organs hung while blood dripped down onto the ground tainting the water underneath red.

When Barmu arrived at the scene after hearing the ruckus, he discovered the worker's dead body lying in the mud. Shooting a horrified glance at the body, Barmu turned to face the guard. However, the guard was not one of his own, but it was one of the monk's troops.

“Why did you kill him?” he demanded.

“What, this pes-?”

“Why did you kill!”

“He revolted and attacked so I defended myself,” the guard explained, trying to justify his actions.

"You came at us first," The rogen interrupted who had collapsed before, now sitting on the ground.

“Quiet you filth!” Retorted the soldier.

“No, I believe that this rogen might be telling the truth," Barmu said. "As an order, I require you to tell me what really happened."

The guard hesitated, but before he could speak, a loud cry came from a group of trees nearby. All of them slowly turned their heads in the direction of the awful sound as their hairs stood like thorns. A deep growl came from the trees, followed by crackling that grew louder with each passing second. A figure emerged, it was difficult to discern the qualities of this creature because there was no moon to provide illumination. Its enormous ghostly eyes let out a small, dismal shine from the torches confronting it while it breathed heavily.

With realization, a voice from the crowd screamed in horror "Anoni!" The beast roared as it charged towards them. It leapt on the rogen lying in the mud and grabbed him with its fangs, each the same length as its own face. The rogen's pained cry was cut short as the beast cut open his neck with its claws big enough to slice one in two. Everyone fled, except for Barmu, who was standing with his right hand on the handle of his blade gazing down at the beast. The monster released its prey and turned to face him, its large eyes barely visible to the regane, nearly perfectly round with slit pupils and an iris of color that Barmu could not discern due to the darkness. The anoni shrieked once again and leaped at him, but the warrior jumped over the beast at the same time. He drew his sword and nimbly sliced across its back. The creature collapsed and moaned in agony.

"Grab the pikes!" Commanded Barmu To his soldiers. The anoni began to stand up as twelve of his soldiers surrounded it with their pikes pointed in its direction, but before it could do anything, Barmu gave the command. “Now!”

With their steel pikes built for killing anonis, the pikemen thrusted at the beast, tearing through its tough pelt. The beast gave forth its final breath before collapsing in misery and curling into a ball. Both reganes and rogens held their breath in silence as a result of the horrific incident. Everyone in the vicinity turned to face Barmu; for most of them, with the exception of Bamu and his twelve warriors, this was their first encounter with an anoni, as well as seeing one killed.

"Nobody touch it," Barmu commanded, "Some of these creatures carry poison in their blood, being in contact will cause your skin to shrivel and corrode metal.” Following his statement, Barmu glanced at his blade only to see it partially intact. He threw it to the ground and turned to face the anoni's dead corpse before turning to see the obscure rogen.

He felt something was lacking as he examined the corpse, but it finally came to him as if he had been struck by an arrow. He peered around the crowd to check whether the monk was there, but he wasn't.

Barmu turned to his colleagues and demanded for the monk to be brought to him, but before he could react, a loud thump was heard. A tremor shook the earth, followed by another thud, which caused another tremor. Everyone fell to the ground in confusion, but Barmu knew exactly where it was coming from. It came from within the campground, not the woods. One final thud was heard, causing another, greater tremor to sweep throughout the earth. Following that, a large howl emerged from the woods in response to the ground trembling, along with other sounds of unknown creatures making their presence known from the trees. A figure arose from the dark wood, taller than a tree, and exhaled huge breaths from its seemingly large gaping mouth. It made an ear-popping scream that caused some ears to bleed, and it was enough to make even Barmu back up in fear. With that, a massive swarm of monsters erupted from the cruel forest's womb. It appeared to be the end for them, and at that moment Barmu knew the truth behind all of this.