After curfew was in effect, the guards disappeared from the square. While this meant no one would stop them if they decided to throw more vegetables or worse, rocks and stones, no one ventured out of their homes. Even drunkards knew not to challenge the darkening of the sky and the approaching night.

Before it became too dark to see, a mist bubbled up from inside the well, curling and lazy, pouring out onto the ground, a haunted vision that would put the Festival of Maul to shame. The man, Suvau, was almost entirely obscured. Whatever befell him, it wouldn’t be able to be seen.

Aalis watched from the tavern window, the owners in bed and the place, deserted. She didn’t have a lamp or lantern. She just sat in the dark with a shawl around her shoulders, trembling but whether it was fear or cold, she couldn’t tell.

“Can’t sleep?” Judd asked, coming up from behind her. Aalis shook her head. “You can’t stay awake all night. It’s been hours.” She refused to answer. “Aalis, whatever else happens, you did everything you could.”

“I wish I understood…” She whispered. “I wish I knew what it was I saw…”

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“What?” Judd urged gently. “Aalis, what did you see?”

Aalis ached with loneliness, her heart desperate to know what it was like to be vulnerable yet safe. “I…I saw…” Her words stalled when a low growl rumbled softly through the mist. “Oh Terra…” She whimpered.

“It’s here.” Judd swallowed. “Aalis…Aalis, come here.” He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to face his chest, the growling deepening until the ground began to resonate. “Don’t listen. Don’t hear this…”

“I…I cannot do this. Judd…”

“Hands over your ears,” he ordered, “and don’t look.”

She shook uncontrollably, her fingers clawed around her ears, pressing so hard they hurt. She had to concentrate on Judd’s heartbeat, the only thing she could hear but even that was becoming faster and faster, Judd’s tension unable to be hidden. She jumped with violence, Judd’s arms clasping around her when a wolf’s howl echoed so loudly it was as though it was screaming into her ears. Aalis wept and he clutched her to his chest, his arms wrapping around her body so that his hands were over her ears.

“What happened?” Verne’s voice asked from the stairs. “Did it work?”

“I don’t know.” Judd swallowed. “I…I don’t know.”

Verne leaned so close to the window his breath fogged it up. He rubbed at it furiously, peering through the glass.

“Well?” Judd hissed.

“I can’t…I can’t see…wait…the fog is lifting. It’s fading from the square…dawn is coming. The sky is lightening…I don’t believe it!”

“What?” Judd demanded.

Verne turned to him, eyes wide in shock. “He’s still alive.”