She rolled over in bed, removing the cover wrapped around her head, and opened her eyes. Beside her was a man on a stool clad in a fine black suit with a white mask covering half his face. With the candle on her mantle, she could only make out the slightest details of his face, but the scent was unmistakable; like rotten vegetation.

"How'd you know?" His voice was gravelly, harsh to the ears.

She leaned up and rubbed her eyes. "Your kind attacks people in their sleep." She yawned. "Take their memories, but the candle prevented you from entering, so you had to go the old-fashioned way."

"You knew I would come?"

"Not just you, any of your kind. I hate the idea of something looking into my mind. I've been doing this for years."

"You're paranoid."

"A little. Living next to the forest edge changes how you sleep. Not that you'd understand something like that."

"Insensitive worm." He growled. You're his daughter alright. You're not the slightest bit afraid. There's no mistaking that look of yours. But the eyes give it all away". He smiled, exposing his brown teeth.

"Didn't have to look into my mind to figure that out." She sighed. "So what do you want from me, Mr. Beckman? Father D already in his coffin?"

"I followed a scent in the woods. It led me here."

"Oh yeah? She slid out of bed, grabbing the candle.," Did you find it"?.

"I'm looking at it."

"Huh." She set the candle on the kitchen counter behind him, but he didn't move, continuing to look at the wall. "I smell weird then?"

"Like rain in a drought."He grumbled.

"So I'm sticking out."

"Immensely." The voice came back to her. Could that have been it? She wasn't sure, but something surely caused it if it came from the nose of Erebus' spawn.

"I don't want to be involved with the church."

"Then you're in luck. My allegiance is to the King, not the church."

"Aren't they the same?"

"Not to me." For a moment she thought about it, quickly deciding there was no point in keeping it away from him.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"I've been hearing a voice ever since the storm."

"What does it say?" At that point, she could recite it effortlessly, but this was the first time she'd said it out loud. Something about it sent a chill shooting across her body like electricity. Unlike Jim, whose interest seemed to peak.

"You're a specimen, Ms. Elizabeth." Ms. Elizabeth? Since when did I become Ms.?

"What do you mean?"

"What you're hearing is his voice. The god you so despise is calling to you. He wishes you to have relations with the Visitor. You are to be his guide on traversing the island. That is your purpose."

"If you think I despised it before, imagine what I think now after what it did."

"You believe Ichemound had something to do with it?" She shot him a quizzical look.

"It doesn't?"

"Not to my knowledge, no. There has never been a case of death during the time of a visitor's arrival after I cannot say, but before is undocumented. " She didn't have to question him. From her research of Erebus's spawn, they morphed in a way that lies and deceit were ideas impossible for them to understand. Perfect messengers to be sent on long journeys, but it was strange to see one given the name of herald. They were lesser beings. At least that's what they knew about them. It seemed unlikely that they'd be entrusted with the role.

"So when the Visitor arrives, I'll have to be his chaperone?"

"You put it lightly. This responsibility rivals the safety of the king. Your job would be to escort him to Ichemound." Her heart skipped a beat, and her eyes widened.

The sound of sniffing like a dog attempting to find a scent came from Jim. "This smell." He continued, "You're frightened."

"No!" she fired back. " I'm not afraid." He snickered briefly.

"I don't understand the makings of you humans. It is so complex compared to my meandering existence. Makes it all the more intriguing to see such a foil in your mind because of such a small detail. Still a child."

"I have my reasons. It's just…" she held her knee and squeezed.

"I did not intend to upset you, Miss. Elizabeth, I truly did not intend for this."

"I know…" She sniffled.

"You might abstain yourself from the church, Ms. Elizabeth, but your desire rivals the creed. And it's because of that Ichemound has chosen you. You've had it since you were a child."

"How do you know that?".

"From each Visitor, an escort is chosen. You're far from the first or last."

"So… was I just born this way?"

"Perhaps. That's for you to decide." Elizabeth tip-toed to an unlit candle beside her as the candle's light weakened.

" What do you get out of this?"

" Nothing. I am simply relaying information given to me. My job is to inform you, nothing more."

"And after this?"

"I will continue to watch you, just as I have been. Where there is darkness in the corners of your home, I remain." His tone dulled. "I will always remain…" The light was touching the middle of his shoes.

She reached into the cabinet beneath the candle, pulling out a red wooden stick. "When will it end?" it drew back further, now only at the tip.

"When the Visitor is born." At the same instant, she tapped the wick of the candle with the wooden stick and flame enveloped the room. Jim Beckman had changed positions, standing only an inch away from her face.

She could see black lines, like veins, from where she stood, extruding from within the mask. Tendrils, moving from within a sickness, the decay of a reanimated corpse. But she studied these beings, knew them inside out. Jim Beckman was different and went against everything she knew about them. Something wasn't right. She thought about it more intently.

Erebus's children spawned from the Forgotten Land, a small island north of Toblitche. From the coast, it's said there was no ground but a dark area in the middle of the ocean formed when the three-month winter set upon the Island of Toblitche, a period where the sun disappears and the moon becomes the dominant force of life. Beings that could only survive under prolonged exposure to moonlight thrived while others would dwindle over time, only to return when the sun arose from its slumber. Erebus, the God of the Forbidden Land, washed ashore Toblitche, releasing with him a wave of death and rot across the Island, moving across the land as a sickness. The grey plague would have wiped out the entire population if not for the king's deal.

On the eighth day, Solomon traveled northward, setting his sights on Erebus. Advised against it, the city feared for his life, but the righteous man took it upon himself despite the risks he might withstand. And after a month had passed surviving the grey plague, the sickness had ceased and saved the Island. Peace with the Forbidden Land was born and in return, Erebus's spawn could serve under Solomon while a new material had been given to the people. Gray wood had been born, revolutionizing the state of the Island. Mortality rates had seen a major drop as people began surviving the long winter and an era of protection on the Island granted.

But that wasn't what she was looking for. She thought harder, thinking bad even further, to the finest detail she could find. Erebus' spawn was supposed to be the most loyal soldier. Being without purpose is void of personality.

She backed up, holding the candle, and murmured, "What are you?" Afraid to say more, she looked toward the semi-open door. Seeing where her attention strayed, he turned his head and backed away into the darkness. The door closed in a visceral crash! Not knowing if he had left or was still lurking inside, Elizabeth was too afraid to move and remained still for the rest of the night—until the sun arose, and she collapsed.