After a few steps, Aran slowed his pace. He really couldn’t see anything. He’d expected his vision to adjust a bit, but he was completely blind and it wasn’t getting better. Idiot! He berated himself, there were coals in the braziers, he could have probably made a torch or something. He turned around, but no light pierced the gloom. A shiver ran up his spine.

Okay, not a great sign. I can’t go back, can’t see. But how do I know I’m going forward? I didn’t see any railings before, what if I walk off the edge? And, oh fuck, what if there’s something in here, like those creepy spider dog things?

He schooled his mind, forcing himself to focus. Breathe, damnit. It doesn’t matter if something else is in here with me, I’ll kill it and get out of here. Those elves are going to pay, and I’m going to kick the shit out of anything that gets in the way. Just… shuffle. That way I’ll feel the edge before going off. Yeah, that’ll work.

He turned in the direction he thought he’d originally set off in, and started shuffling forward, taking small steps, keeping his feet glued to the hard stone. It was slow going, but it should work, though the soft scrape of his boots did echo unpleasantly, making him feel very small. He did encounter the edge of the path once, and he had to stop to rest, heart hammering so loud thought he could hear it echoing back from the cavern walls.

He resumed his trek, keeping the edge a few feet away on his left, walking with hunched shoulders and eyes squeezed shut, concentrating on keeping a straight line and listening. He’d been shuffling for what felt like hours when he slammed head first into stone. He cursed, stumbling back a pace. Well, found the other side, he thought. He rubbed his forehead, more out of habit than any pain, his skin was much tougher these days.

Aran reached out, laying a palm on the cool stone surface, running his hands up and down to confirm this was indeed a wall. He inched along the wall, moving first to the right, until his footing ended while the wall extended off into space. Not that way then. He shuffled back to the left, moving what felt like a much longer distance until finally, his hand slipped around an edge. Feeling further, his hands traced the outline of a small archway cut into the stone.

“Yes!” He whispered, the sound echoing back at him as a sibilant hiss. Very creepy, lets go. He tentatively shuffled forward, foot bumping the bottom of a stair. Fist pumping in victory, he started up the stairs.

----

He emerged in the twilight of early dawn, filtered through the grey overcast sky. He put his hands on his hips, feeling accomplished, before the memory of what had happened in the dark hole behind him soured his mood. Turning he observed the small tunnel he’d passed through, which had ended in a natural crack in the rock formation of a small hill. He glared at the hill, hiding such a dark and awful place. Looking around, there were loose rocks littering the ground. He placed them in an “X” shape before the entrance, hoping it would dissuade any would-be explorers or other’s looking for a safe place to hide.

Actually, now that he thought about that place, where had it come from? Had it been here before the obelisks, or had it somehow been transported here? He shook his head. Save the metaphysical questions of how our reality has changed for later, he decided. For now, he probably ought to find his way back to… Could he go back to Burville, having failed so utterly? Three of their people were dead, because of him. That elf had killed them specifically to torture Aran, they were just playthings to him. Recalling the elf’s smug face made Aran’s blood boil, mana trickling into his connections. His fingers clenched, knuckles turning white with strain. He lashed out, slamming his fist into the tree he’d been standing under. The drip of tears down his face surprised him.

It had been years since he last cried. His mother had called him weak for it, beating him even more, until he stopped crying entirely. He had thought himself incapable of it, after so long. He sank to his knees, shuddering as a sob escaped his throat.

“Why? Why do I keep surviving? When everyone else… Why is it only me out here! I’m so tired of this, of being alone.” He let the tears fall, making his jeans damp. “I don’t know what to do. How am I going to even find that elf, let alone wherever Night was.”

He rested a hand on a thick root of the tree, unconsciously siphoning energy. The slow, methodical energy of the tree bled into him, soothing the storm of emotions. His breathing slowed, and the tears dried on his cheeks as he looked up. The tree, a massive pine, had turned grey and lifeless, and the needles fell like snow around him as it died.

He looked back down at his upturned palm, his grief turning to focused anger. "That's right. I'm going to turn over every stone, look in every crack, until I find you. And I'm going to drain the life out of every one of you." Aran closed his fist, joints creaking. "You want to kill my friends? I'm going to end your whole world, you fucking elf.”

He stood, feeling in control again. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself. He had no idea where he was, or how to get back to town. If they’d even let him back in. He pushed the thought from his mind, he wouldn’t know until he returned. Standing, he turned.

He stood at the edge of a small clearing at the mouth of the tunnel, densely packed forest in every direction. The trees and ground were clear of snow, though his breath still fogged the air. The cold had no hold on him, but he still zipped up his jacked out of habit. He walked the perimeter of the clearing, looking for any sign of recent passage. Aran figured he’d been brought here, and he could retrace his steps, but he was no outdoorsman, and the whole area looked untouched to his untrained eyes. He sighed in frustration. He had no idea where he was, and no idea what direction Burville was in.

He sat down, contemplative. If he had only been able to remember the direction the elf had brought him, he could start that way, with a rough heading from the position of the sun. They had been going roughly north when they’d encountered the elf, but from there… He sighed again. That was his only clue at this point, so might as well try heading south. Eventually he’d run into a road or a town, and hopefully be able to orient himself from there. Looking up at the sun still rising, he put it on his left, and started walking.

-----------

Mayor Ellis drummed his fingers on his wide teak desk. He knew it was a sign of impatience, but allowed himself the indulgence, if only to put others off. The others in the room stood straighter, visibly uncomfortable. Well, nearly all of them. One younger man reclined in one of the antique wooden chairs near the wall, eyes glassy and clearly bored.

“Well, ah, we still haven’t found any trace of the 3rd squad sir, but we’ve seen increased sightings as you know, and the number of attacks daily has swelled. 5th squad took a casualty last night, and two other members were wounded severely. Both are now hospitalized, in stable condition…” the gangly man paused. “Sir, I think the search for 3rd squad should be halted, at least for now. The town needs-”

“What?!” The tall woman to the right of the desk stepped forward, fists bunched. “What do you mean, halted? What if it was your ass out there in the cold, Michaels? Wouldn’t you want us searching for you?”

“I don’t mean permanently, I just think that we need to make sure the town is safe first, and…”

“Stop.” The word was said quietly, but immediately both parties silenced. The Mayor continued, “It’s been three days. It’s extremely unlikely any of the 3rd are still alive. You know this as well as I do, Elaine. We don’t have the numbers to keep searching while the attacks are coming so frequently. And we still don’t have any evidence as to why they’ve increased.”

“Don’t we?” All eyes in the room turned to the handsome young man, as his eyes focused on the rest of them. “We suddenly find the first survivor in weeks, the team training him goes missing on his first watch, and immediately afterwards more monsters start attacking our teams?”

The others shifted in place, glancing at one another. The gangly man spoke up, “But why would he betray us? And how would a human make the monsters attack us?”

“How exactly do we know he was human? I heard the reports, just like you. Gray skin, strange markings across his body, and those eyes. How do we know it wasn’t some new creature, sent to weaken us? 3rd squad was the most veteran, correct?”

Several pairs of brows furrowed. “And even they disappeared without a trace. It lines up.”

“So, what? Now we’ve got some evil gray man running around? Ridiculous. Next we’ll be suspicious of everyone in town.”

“Maybe we should be.” This sobered the room quickly, as the young man continued. “This newcomer said he’d been changed by the radiation of the bomb dropped on Welksfield, right?” Mayor Ellis nodded. “Then why didn’t he have a trace of radiation on him? When he arrived, we confiscated all of his belongings, and I ran tests on them. There wasn’t even a hint of radioactivity. I even tried cranking up the voltage on the geiger counter, not a peep. Even our clothes would give off a greater reading, just from being in sunlight. Whatever that person, that gray thing, was, it sure as hell wasn’t around any radiation. And it wasn’t human.”