We broke into the night air, and I paused to breathe deeply. It might seem odd, and the look Pierre gave me confirmed that, but my first taste of the night needed to be savoured. Being unconscious didn't count in my book. Now was the time to enjoy it, as I honestly couldn't remember a single night, nor the moon, nor the glittering stars above. When others spoke of these things, I knew what they meant, but for the life of me I couldn’t picture anything. Yeah, I needed this.

‘It is a beautiful night,’ Pierre commented. ‘The stars are clear, even if the light of the fires obscures the view.’

The absence of light was oddly beautiful. In the day, Oro City sat as a labyrinth of wooden houses, expanding outwards from the cobbled main way which the town's numerous businesses enveloped. By night, Oro City glowed, with torches and lanterns lining every structure to create a radiant wall of light that banished shadows. The Church, a dim and weathered structure by day, now stood resplendent like polished alabaster, with a crucifix crowning the rising light like its ascent to heaven was no longer metaphorical.

Amid the sea of light surrounding the buildings, bonfires were strategically placed. These were the cooking pits I had seen by day, which now roared as bonfires across the town. On the boundary between Oro City and the wilds beyond, these bonfires lay not twenty paces apart as they merged to hold back the surrounding darkness. Beyond that fiery boundary, an oppressive cloak of darkness hung thick, heavy, and inscrutable.

‘Can we walk to the perimeter?’

‘Yes, but we must stay well back. The guards will ward us away, otherwise.’

Most of the townsfolk appeared to have taken refuge within their houses, apart from the odd man or woman who manned the fires, circulating to add wood as they burned low. In the distance, however, I could see people with an entirely different mission – they walked darkness’s edge, staring beyond the veil. Pierre led us in that direction.

‘There was one thing I wanted to ask you, Pierre,’ I put to him, as we walked.

‘Yes?’

‘Is there any way to limit the information the system gives you? I’m only asking because you shared a short version of your character information… sometimes I get a lot of irrelevant information that I’m worried will distract me at the wrong time.’

‘The system is intuitive. It does the things you want to it do. In your mind, tell it what you need, or out loud if you must. I have been told that appears more crazy.’

In my mind I told the system: ‘limit character information displayed.’

‘It talked to me?’

‘Of course. The system confirms what you want. It is very customisable if you can figure out what to customise.’

I wasn’t sure why that surprised me, but it did… It spoke to me. Did that mean that it watched me, waiting to respond to my desire? How disturbing.

Anway: ‘only announce new quests.’

‘Fantastic Pierre, thanks for the tip.’

We made our way along the perimeter to where the light and dark met in a wall. To be honest, there wasn’t much to see. Light on one side. Expanding darkness on the other. Smoke lingered in the air, largely due to the number of fires, but thankfully they also provided a lovely amount of warmth to warm your hands against the cold bite of night.

‘Get too close and you’ll roast. I’ve seen it before.’ Two guards strolled through the amber light towards us. The one who had spoken was tall, the other short, but both appeared seasoned in their dark blue coats. A sword on one hip, and a revolver on the other completed the look.

‘Evening gentleman,’ Pierre greeted.

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‘A good evening too. I’m Samuel, this is Nate. What brings you two out here?’ Samuel spoke, while the other guard’s eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond.

‘My friend wanted to see the night in Oro City for himself,’ Pierre replied, sighing.

I picked up the conversation. ‘It’s a bit of a spectacle, so I wanted to see how the town is defended.’ Which was true. I didn’t need to add that I wanted to see the night, the demons, and what caused this town to be lit up to such extremes.

‘Not much to see, really. It’s light here, and dark there. Don’t go into the dark unless you’re tired of this life.’

‘What if the demons come over?’ I asked.

‘Shoot ‘em,’ Nate said with a shrug.

‘We do at that, but it’s more waves than constant,’ Samuel interjected with a stern look at his co-guard. ‘The light keeps them away. And while we might see the demons, it could be just that for the night. I don’t want anyone to start thinking we’re relentlessly under attack. Mostly we practice the fine art of standing, walking, and waiting.’

Pierre smiled. ‘Wearing a path, yes? I hope you are paid by the step.’

Samuel laughed. ‘Captain sees us paid well enough. But we’d be rich if that were the case.’

‘I follow in his footsteps – age before beauty,’ Nate said, eyes still watching the darkness.

Samuel chuckled. 'I've told you that's a bad choice in this life, Nathaniel. And if I lead you wrong, it'll be a bad choice in the next as well…' The sense of camaraderie amongst the guards was obvious.

Nate had stopped listening. ‘There’s – ’

The guard's words were cut short by a bloodcurdling scream, followed by a desperate plea: 'Help me! Please!’

A woman screamed again, somewhere out in the vast expanse of darkness. I scanned, trying to shelter my eyes against the light. Nothing… Nothing… No, there! On the fringe of the darkness, barely visible from the flickering light of the fires, I could see the white dress of a woman.

‘There,’ I pointed. ‘She’s there.’

My instincts urged me to intervene, to rush to her aid. There appeared to be no immediate danger, only her, stranded at the edge of the encroaching abyss, her screams for help cutting through the night.

I stepped – but before I could move further forwards, Pierre's grip fell heavily onto my arm, his six strength restraining me.

What the fuck, we needed to get out there!

‘No, Jacob,’ he yelled harshly. ‘There is no helping her.’

‘What do you mean?’

He let go of my wrist and pulled my gun from my duster. ‘This is the answer.’

‘Damn right!’ And I grabbed the gun from his hand and leapt forward as the woman’s cries of help pierced the night once more.

Launching myself into action, I sprinted towards her, heart pounding in my chest as adrenaline coursed wildly. My mind wasn’t forming much of a plan – run out, get her, and drag her back into the light before the demons came. I hurtled past the final fire and into the wall of darkness. Youthful or not, it was hard to tell, as shadows had swallowed the woman, obscuring any features except for a swirl of hair. But bathed in white, her dress led me like a beacon at night, calling a moth home to the flame.

Behind me, a gunshot rang out, followed by a curse.

Then I was hammered into the ground from behind, and pinned within the last vestiges of light by Pierre’s strong grip. ‘No, Jacob. She is gone – lost. A soul in the shadows is a soul condemned.’

‘No, we can save – ’

And that was when I saw it, or perhaps, that was the moment it revealed itself to me as the light rapidly dimmed. A creature emerged from the edge of darkness; its hunched form and bizarre features making it look like a grotesque hybrid of human and animal. Thick spines protruded from its back, and a long, ribbed nose led to sharp, jutting fangs. Its overbite was pronounced, and its huge, all-black eyes shone with an unnatural gleam.

There was a fucking demon, right next to the woman.

In that heart-stopping instant, the world contracted to just me, Pierre's hand, and the abyssal gaze of the demon. Time warped. This wasn’t some sick joke. This wasn’t some town where everybody’s sanity had left them. No, this town had genuine demons and one was standing not ten feet in front of me.

Behind me, guards yelled, their voices a cacophony of warnings and commands, that culminated in the thunderclap of guns firing. A hail of bullets thundered into the creature as black blood spattered into the air and down onto the sand. Yet, despite the injuries, the creature showed no signs of pain, nor fear of death. Instead, its inky eyes remained fixed on mine.

The demon gargled something low and guttural, an incomprehensible sound from the void itself.

Pierre's weight vanished, replaced by a firm hand on my shoulder, pulling me upright and backwards. ‘Jacob! We must –’

Once more, the creature rasped, its words were icy shards flung against me to the desperate symphony of gunshots… Its eerie blood rained onto the sand, an unnatural black that hissed away in the light. And then, as if the devil himself compelled it forward the demon inched relentlessly into the light, each lumbering step sending a tremor of fear through me.

Forward it came again, showing no signs of stopping as its blood boiled, and yet more bullets careened into it with little effect.

‘Jacob! We must go’ Pierre yelled, frantically.

But before I could respond, could act in any further way, a grotesque limb uncoiled from around the creature's neck shot out like a snake striking to wrap around my head and upper body. With a brutal yank of its vice-like grip, the demon tore me from Pierre’s embrace, plunging me into the darkness beyond.

What the fuck… No.

The dark. I was in the dark, not the light any longer. I wanted to scream, but the limb smothered up over my mouth as I was dragged away, as I was… condemned.

No, no, no! My mind screamed.

More demons swarmed around that as they carried me away from Oro City.