Caleb was running.

Darkness and trees surrounded him, only slivers of moonlight peeking through the canopy above. Enough to illuminate the steam of his breath against the cold air, but barely anything else.

His breaths were slow, heavy. With each he struggled against the mass in his lungs, the effort growing harder and harder, as his heartbeats reverberated through his chest.

His feet pounded against the dirt in beneath of him as he struggled, unable to push faster than a slow jog.

A mixture of sounds echoed through the dark wood behind him. The grunts of orcs, the howl of wolves, the gnashing teeth of zombies, and of many, many more foes. And they were steadily getting closer.

The monsters were coming.

And he knew, that despite his stat points, his skill, and even the fear that forced him to press onwards with each dying breath, they’d catch him eventually.

The thought pushed him harder as he stumbled over burnt and mangled corpses, his feet slipping on the blood of the less fortunate, the ones the trial had already taken all left behind to rot in an unfamiliar world.

The monsters had killed so many.

And they were going to kill him to. Him and everyone else he cared about.

Ryan, Sierra, Kana and all the others in the trial.

They'd find them, then, with outstretched fingers from gnarled claws, or bladed hands they’d tear them limb from limb until only blood and memories were left.

It didn’t matter how far he ran, he knew.

They’d get him eventually.

Caleb’s eyes flew open.

He froze, confused as the panic within him started to fade, his eyes adjusting to the soft candlelight in the darkness of the infirmary. He wiped sweat from his face, breathing a sigh of relief as the night air began to cool him.

After a moment he made to sit up, only to get instantly pulled back to the bed, practically locked in a tangled mess of sweat-stained sheets.

With a heavy sigh, he slowly started to untangle himself. As he threw off the last of the sheets, he looked to his side and found Kana; still seated in the bedside chair, snoring peacefully as her head lay against a pillow she’d propped up against the side of the headboard.

Was she that worried? he thought.

He chuckled to himself then sighed, the notion bringing a mixture of emotions. He shifted as he swung his legs off the bed, the frame creaking loudly. Kana sat up quickly, dazed and looked over to him.

“You, ok?” he asked. She nodded.

“You could’ve used a bed you know?” he said. She chuckled slightly.

[One of the nurses must’ve done this. I only remember sitting next to you. I must’ve fallen asleep at some point] she said.

“Well, you didn’t have to stay with me the entire time” he said. “Thanks though. I appreciate it”

[It’s fine]

He stood up and stretched out yawning as Kana stood too. She watched him nervously, mana flowing into her hands as she stepped over to him.

“I’m fine, you don’t’ have to heal me” he said.

[Are you sure?] she said, still clearly worried.

“Yeah” he chuckled.

[Ok. Just let me know if you change your mind]

Caleb chuckled slightly to himself, then gently yawned again before giving Kana a warm smile.

“You’d make a good doctor”

[Thanks] she said, returning his smile.

“Now come on, let’s go find a proper room. These beds are awful”

Kana nodded and made for the door. Caleb followed and stepped out of the room behind her before they slowly made their way across the church hall towards the other rooms. Caleb slowed as they walked through, looking over all the ornaments and decoration once again.

He scanned the room, his eyes falling on the various trinkets placed ceremonially throughout. All symbolic ornaments seemed to be made of a dark chrome, but the majority were made of a wood dyed orange. It clashed weirdly with the red banners and carpets.

Though he supposed it wasn’t likely religious tradition here was founded solely on aesthetic appeal any more than it was back on earth.

He looked up higher to the window, line with the black chrome which reflected the clear stars beyond them. For a moment his breath caught in his throat as he stared up at the marvel of stars. Like glowing glitter painted across black. He’d never seen them so clearly.

[Caleb?] Kana said.

“Oh… sorry” he said, jogging to catch up to her. But as they started up the steps to the rooms, Caleb paused.

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[What’s wrong?] Kana asked.

“Could we go outside for a sec? Maybe look at the stars?”

[I’m not sure if we should]

“Ok, ok. You go to bed, I’ll take a quick peek” he said. He quickly started down the steps, but found footsteps echoed behind him. He glanced back to see Kana following him down the steps.

[I can’t leave you alone. You just left the infirmary] she said. He grinned and together they quietly made their way out of the church hospital and onto the stone steps at it’s front.

They both instantly froze, staring up at the brilliant night sky. The stars dotted the sky all around them, staining corners of the night with beautifully complex patterns that the two couldn’t tear their eyes away from.

Together they stared at the sky, a cool summer night’s breeze washing over them. For a moment all their troubles were forgotten. No monsters. No fighting. No blood. Only the stars.

[It’s beautiful] Kana whispered. Caleb nodded silent for a moment as he stepped further down the steps, looking around.

“You think we could see home from here?”

[Maybe] Kana said then let out a small laugh.

“What?”

[I forget sometimes that we’re not on Earth. This is an alien planet, maybe a hundred million miles away from home, but the people here look just like us. The aliens are just us]

Caleb nodded, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach. The beauty of the moment had been suddenly ripped away from him by her words; replaced by the small dread he’d forgotten about. The nature of the trial. Such conveniences, such familiarity went against everything he understood about the world.

The fact that they could be entire galaxies away and yet the people looked exactly the same, some of the animals, even. And not just once, but twice. It was almost impossible. Near zero. It felt like it could all be manufactured.

Maybe it was.

He looked to the sky again, the stars twinkling back at him and he was reminded of the space in between, of the arbiters. His eyes narrowed as his hands began to tremble slightly.

What are you really?

[Caleb?]

“Hm?”

[We should probably head back inside] Kana said. He nodded but paused, looking to floor then further down the main road as another gust of wind drew up dust. He waved it away from his face then poked at his side, the familiar slightly dull throbbing still there. Even if the runes helped. he was still running out of time.

“Kana?” he called out. “Could we maybe, walk around for a bit?”

From the doorway, Kana turned to face him. She watched him for a few seconds, then frowned. She was still getting used to her skill, but the anxiety in his demeanour and the swirl of negative emotions that plagued his mind were clear to her powers.

It'd been disturbing at first, seeing people's negative emotions as something her power could 'correct', but it was proving to be helpful. Especially in Caleb's case.

Mentally, he was far more fragile than she'd realised. His mood swings weren't like anyone else's except maybe Eriana's, but at least she was somewhat happy most of the time. Caleb rarely was. It was almost as though a constant cloud loomed over him.

But her powers had helped fix that, even if it'd only been for today. She hadn't healed him without his permission, but whenever he got sad again she'd tried to nudge him in the right direction. Tried to at least make it easier for him to stay normal. It wasn't easy, but doing small stuff like this, just looking up at the stars even when they should be sleeping, helped.

And he’d been fine, happy for a moment, before he’d gone off the deep end just like that. The cloud had returned in an instant.

Had it been something she’d said? Or was it whatever was happening to his lungs? She didn’t know, but she knew better than to pry. She didn’t want him to pull away from her, that would only make it more difficult to help him in the future. So, she forced smile.

[Yeah, that’s ok]

-

“You think she’s ok?”

“Fuck if I know. Maybe she’s just looking at the stars”

“Should we go talk to her?”

“You could”

“What? Why just me?”

“I mean you're both girls and-”

“That’s not a good reason. Why can’t you do it?”

“She’s just… batshit crazy? I don’t know. She was way too eager to fight and… she just gives me the creeps”

“That’s… a good point actually”

“Eh, I’m probably just being paranoid. You’ll probably be fine”

“Fuck off, we’re doing this together”

“Do we have to? I mean she might not even know we’re here. We could just leave. I mean it is kind of cold out, and I think I can even hear my bed calling back to me”

“Quit complaining you idiot. Come on, let’s just do this”

“Really? I don’t know… what if she came out here to just be left alone?”

“That’s not… ok, that’s a good point too”

Ryan and Sierra went silent, staring out at the field in front of them and the river beyond. Eriana set in the tall grass, barely visible in the starlight. She’d slunk out of their room in the middle of the night and woken the others. Layla had opted to stay asleep whilst they’d followed her out into one of the fields, on the opposite side of town from the massacre.

She’d been sitting in the grass for at least ten minutes now, silent as she held her sword staring off into the distance.

I hope she’s not having a mental breakdown. She probably is actually. Dammit, I can't deal with this. What do I even say? Everything's going to be ok? It's just not. God, this situation is so fucked. Sierra thought, before glancing to the sky. At least the stars are nice.

[Guys?] a familiar voice said from behind them. Ryan and Sierra turned to see Caleb and Kana making their way over through a gap between some of the houses.

“You feeling better?” Ryan asked.

“I was fine in the first place. Just tired” Caleb said.

“Good. But what’re you two doing out here?” Sierra asked.

[We could ask you the same] Kana said. [It's not good not to sleep]

“We’re out here because of Eriana. She just got up and came out here” she responded.

“Uh… ok. Should we go talk to her?” Caleb asked.

[I think that'd be good] Kana said.

“You sure?” Ryan asked.

[Yes] Kana repeated.

“Alright then” Ryan said. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

“What?” Caleb responded.

“For who goes to talk to her?”

“Why?” Caleb replied.

“Ryan’s being a baby because she creeps him out” Sierra said, rolling her eyes.

[I’ll talk to her]

“No, we should do it together” Sierra said.

“But what happens if she wants to be left alone?” Ryan asked.

“We’ll leave her alone” Sierra said. “Now come on”

Sierra started forwards and the others followed behind. They came to a stop a few feet away, glancing to each other before finally Sierra spoke.

“Eriana?”

Eriana glanced back at them, then looked ahead, still silent.

“I don’t think she wants to talk” Ryan muttered. Sierra glared at him, then looked back to Eriana.

“Eriana can we talk?”

[About what?] she mumbled, her voice missing all its usual maniacal enthusiasm.

[Are you okay?] Kana asked.

[No] she muttered. Her words were met with an awkward silence.

“Look, I know you probably want to be left alone but maybe you could come back to the church” Ryan said. “It might not be safe out here”

[And do what? Talk about my feelings?] Eriana said, the venom practically dripping from her voice. [I’d rather die]

[You don’t have to talk to us if you don’t want to] Kana said.

[Then fuck off] the girl practically spat. Kana nodded, then gestured for the others to go.

“Wait, we’re just leaving?” Sierra whispered.

[It’s better than trying to force her to come with us] Kana said. [She’s upset and it’s probably safe out here. We can let her deal with it, then talk later without making things worse]

Ryan let out a breath of relief, and together the group started towards the town.

[Wait] Eriana called out.

They all glanced back and watched as the girl stood up, sword in hand.

[Do you guys… hate still being so weak too?]

The four looked to each other confused, then back to Eriana.

Caleb understood the sentiment of the question, but it was strange to be asked about it outright. Well, maybe not that strange given the circumstances.

[Yes] Kana said suddenly. [It’s frustrating]

Eriana nodded, seemingly satisfied and wiped at her eyes.

[I’ll come back to bed. It’s a little cold out here anyway]