A pale sickle moon and a scattering of stars lit the sky, high above Talasin and Garnet, as they reached the edge of their camp.

The small fire had burnt down, leaving only a handful of glowing embers.

"Wren!" Talasin shouted as he burst into camp.

The light was dim and in the shadows Talasin could just make out the sight of a figure lying at the base of a dune.

He rushed over to the figure. It was Wren. He knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her neck to check for a pulse.

"Is she dead?" Garnet asked from behind.

"No." Talasin said with relief. “She’s just sleeping.”

Wren stirred and looked up at the two of them. "Please tell me you brought food," she said.

“You should be keeping watch, not sleeping,” Talasin scolded. He looked around the empty campsite. “Where's Raithen?”

"I don't know," Wren replied, "He went off somewhere a while ago."

Garnet shook her head. "We need to get out of here, we are in danger?"

"Why?" asked Wren. "What's going on?"

“There's something in the desert,” said Talasin. “It killed a man. I think there might be more coming.”

The sound of sand being kicked caught the attention of both of them.

They both turned to see Raithen running towards them, his eyes wide open.

"I heard talking out there," Raithen spoke quickly as he approached. "It didn't sound human.”

“Where?” asked Talasin, springing forward, his sword halfway out of its sheath.

“It came from over this way,” said Raithen, pointing out into the darkness.

"Did you get a look at them?" asked Talasin.

Raithen shook his head. "Just heard their voices. I think there were three of them."

Garnet turned to Talasin, worry clearly reflected in her eyes, "What do we do?"

Talasin pointed his sword at the fire, "We build up the fire and wait for them to attack."

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"What kind of creature is that?" asked Garnet.

Talasin glared at the small beast that lay dead in front of them. Its long fur covered it completely from nose to tail. It had a pair of horns sticking out from its forehead and a spiked collar that ran around its neck.

"Ratkin," he said with a grimace.

"Ratkin?" Garnet repeated dumbly.

"Demons use them as trackers," said Talasin.

Raithen peered down at the creature, "Who are they after?"

Garnet and Talasin exchanged worried glances.

"Probably making sure that nobody escapes from K'rith Vatali," Talasin said.

"This is a bad place to be right now," said Raithen. "We should keep moving."

Talasin shook his head, "We'll be sitting ducks out there. At Least here we have the fire to protect us."

"Are you crazy?" Wren snapped. "You want to stay here and wait for them to come back?"

"There's no point in running," said Talasin. "If we run away, they will follow us. We have to fight."

"What if our waiting gives them a chance to call for more reinforcements?" asked Wren.

"Then I fight," said Talasin. "What else is there to do. Here we have a chance, we have light, and we have each other's backs, but out there we are sitting ducks."

Wren stood up, "No!" She stormed past Talasin towards her backpack.

"We're leaving," she yelled at Raithen.

Raithen grabbed her arm before she could walk any further. "Where are you going?" he asked.

She pulled her arm loose and stared him down. "I'm not staying here to die. We should run while we can."

Talasin stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you are afraid, we all are."

"Don't touch me," she growled.

"If you go out there, you die," Talasin said, his voice low and menacing. "Stay and fight, and maybe we get lucky and survive the night."

Wren spun around and marched towards the edge of camp.

Talasin watched her walk away. "The Second Order has a cathedral in Kadrak," he said. "It's a day's walk from here. If we survive the night, we can make it there tomorrow."

"What's to stop the demons from following us there?" asked Wren.

"No demon or undead can enter a cathedral sanctified by Belladeon. Trust me, there is no safer place in all of Ivalice."

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Wren looked at Talasin. "I don't like this, but if you say we have a chance, then I will stay.” She lowered her gaze, “You just better hope we make it out of here alive, or I'll kill you myself.”

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They built up the fire and sat with their backs to each other, each of them holding a weapon and glaring out into the darkness looking for any sign of movement.

"We can't stay awake all night," said Talasin. "We should rotate. Two on shift, whilst the other two sleep."

Raithen raised his hand, "Wren and I can take the first shift. After your hunting trip, you two need the rest more than we do."

Garnet shook her head, "There's no way I can sleep right now," she said. "I'll take the first shift."

"So you and I then," said Raithen.

Garnet shot a quick look at Talasin.

"I think I'd better take the first shift with Garnet," said Talasin. "We need an able swordsman to be awake."

Raithen stared at Talasin for a moment, his hand an inch from the dagger on his belt.

Wren stood up and stretched, "Wake us when the moon is halfway across the sky," she said as she left to her sleeping pack.

But Raithen remained, watching them in silence.

Talasin casually tossed another log onto the fire, whilst watching the man from the corner of his eye.

Finally, Raithen snorted, and sauntered after Wren.

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Talasin sat down with his back against Garnet's and felt her warmth against his arm. She was so close that his hand brushed against hers.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but then he stopped.

"What is it?" asked Garnet as she leaned back against him.

"I was going to say that we mustn't fall asleep."

Garnet shook her head. "I wasn't lying when I said that there was no way I could sleep."

She fell silent for a moment. "Thanks," she finally whispered. "You know, for staying with me."

Talasin nodded.

Garnet brushed a lock of hair out of her face and began polishing her sword on the hem of her cloak. “Why do you think they are after us?”

“Who says they are?”

He could feel Garnet twist around to look at him.

“Well,” she said. “First they kidnapped me in K'rith Vatali, it was obvious they weren't actually interested in me. It seemed like they were using me as bait. And now they send demon trackers after us.”

Talasin had been thinking about the exact same thing himself. The attackers in the city had repeated the words, ‘kill the witness.’

He was sure that he was missing something. Was he the witness? If he was, then what was it that he had witnessed?

“I'm sure it's just a patrol trying to intercept anybody that escaped the city. They wouldn't want word getting out about what happened.”

"I never thought demons were so cunning,” said Garnet. “I'd always heard that they were more primal, just hunting humans for food.”

"Something's changed," said Talasin.

They both fell silent for some time, tangled in their thoughts.

“Do you think anybody survived?” Garnet asked in a low voice.

Talasin shrugged. "I'm sure your family got out."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, what's the point of all of your father's money if it can't save his ass when enemies attack."

“He's not like that,” said Garnet. “He wouldn't flee. He'd want to help.”

“If there are any survivors, they will be trying to do the same thing as us.”

Garnet nodded.

A branch cracked in the fire and sent a shower of sparks across the sand.

They fell quiet again. After a time, Garnet spoke. "Why did you join the Order?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

She snorted. "Not really an answer."

"You know, you ask a lot of questions."

She smiled, "It will keep us awake."

He snorted.

"So..." she said. "Are you going to tell me or..."

Talasin poked the fire with the end of a stick, “It's a long story.”

“Long stories are my favorite,” she said.

Talasin sighed. “I haven't told anyone the whole story.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

Talasin took a sip from the water skin and handed it to Garnet. “I had a sister,” he finally said. “Her name was Calista. She was seven years old when our village was attacked.”

“Demons?” asked Garnet.

“Worse,” said Talasin. “It was our neighboring village. Some dispute over land that turned sour.”

Garnet frowned, “They killed your sister?”

Talasin shook his head, “No. But our parents were both killed. We knew no one outside our village. So we hid in the woods for a few weeks until starvation drove us to a small village near Auroch Mountain. There was a witch in that village. She took us in.”

“I thought the Order hated witches?”

“They do, but Belgemine was the best healer in the region, the Order is funded by the public, so killing their favorite healer would do them no favors.”

Talasin stretched his legs and tossed another log on the fire. “We lived with the witch for three months. One day I came across a book of hers. It was hidden behind an old closet.”

“What was it?”

“A grimoire.”

“Did you read it?”

“I did more than that. I'd pretend to go out exploring each day, but I'd take the book with me, and I'd study it for hours in the forest.”

“You wanted power to get revenge?”

Talasin shook his head, “I wanted to bring back my family.”

“Necromancy,” Garnet breathed. “But that's--”

“Forbidden,” said Talasin. “Yes. Belgemine was a wax witch, but sometimes her studies led her into the darker side of the arcane. She blended necromancy with hedge magic and created a technique of binding souls to candles. When she lit her candles, the souls of her dead sons and husband would appear.”

“Why didn't you just ask her to cast the spell? Why learn it yourself?”

Talasin shrugged. “The candle magic was great, but it wasn't the same as having them alive. I wanted to hold my mother once again. I wanted to ride on my father's shoulder.”

Garnet nodded, “What happened?”

Talasin let out a long breath and stared into the flames for a few minutes.

“One day, when the witch had left to deliver a baby in a neighboring village, my sister and I tried to raise the dead. We failed and my sister…”

Talasin shook his head. “It was my fault, I was a fool.”

“You summoned a demon instead?”

Talasin smiled weakly at the hideous memory. “It looked just like my mother, but it gripped its icy hands around Calista’s neck and choked her to death. It only stopped moving after I hacked off its head with the witch’s lumber axe.

After my sister's funeral, Belgemine sent me to the Order, she knew a man there. He took me in as his apprentice, and I have never looked back since.”

“I'm sorry,” said Garnet.

She reached out a hand and squeezed his own.

Talasin pulled his hand away, “Yeah, so am I.”

He stood up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I need to relieve myself."

Garnet waved a hand at him, "Just don't go too far from the light."

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Talasin walked to the edge of the light and found a spot beneath a sand dune. He leaned against its trunk and let out a deep breath.

He closed his eyes and he could feel his mind drifting, his thoughts turning inward and then outward. He finished peeing and as he turned away he saw a pool of blood in the sand. There was something sticking out of it. He knelt down and picked up what he thought was a stick.

Talasin wiped some of the sand off it.

It was a human finger, and he thought he knew just whose hand it belonged to.

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