It didn't make sense.

Tala ground her teeth in frustration. She was once more stood on the wall, but this time nothing was right.

They had seen him on the horizon walking calmly towards the city even as the first sun sank directly behind him. At first they had feared he may be one of the dead, so slowly did he move, but his pace and direction were too uniform and no glimmer of violet was visible through the watch binoculars.

"Must be a mad one," said Hurmstrom, shrugging to hide his discomfort and turning to look out in another direction.

The heat of the day gave way to a night chill almost immediately after the sun set, only a few minutes separating sweat-inducing warmth with shivering cold. Tala thought no more about the figure as he was swallowed by the dark until he once more became visible, hours later and revealed by the moonlight.

She said nothing, not believing her eyes, until Hurmstrom saw it too.

"What the...?" he stared. "Can you see that?"

"Yes," she answered.

They watched in silence, breath billowing clouds in front of them, as the robed figure continued his steady pace towards them.

"Definitely not dead, though," said Hurmstrom after a while.

Indeed, now they could make out his breath in the moonlight, regular exhalations even as their own sped up.

"Look behind him," said Tala.

Hurmstrom followed her gaze.

"Ah. Dead soon, then," he said. He sounded relieved.

Violet eyes blinked in the darkness behind the figure. She grabbed the binoculars from their hook and focused.

Narrow, inhuman pupils.

"Khiladri," she breathed, shocked. She had never seen one this close to the wall.

Hurmstrom shivered and his hands reached up to touch the scars on his neck.

They stared on in silence, transfixed as the robed figure continued on his way, oblivious to the imminent death behind him. He was almost to the wall when he turned and looked directly at the creature.

He knew the khiladri was there. He had known all along.

Tala had never seen a khiladri in this way, safe high above and able to observe its beautiful, sleek grey lines that shimmered in the night, yet she was hardly able to take her eyes off the man.

The khiladri stared at the man too, now only a few lengths away, then looked up. It looked up directly into Tala's eyes, and she took an involuntary step back, the parapet obscuring her view.

When she stepped forward again it was gone.

"Hello!"

The figure was looking up at her, at them both, cupping his hands to carry his voice.

Hurmstom and Tala looked at each other. She could see the terror in the other's face, though he was trying to hide it.

"Hello!"

The voice carried an accent she had not heard before, a soft, lilting sound that seemed almost like song. Worse, it sounded relaxed.

"He...hello?" called Hurmstrom, voice too weak to be heard.

Tala cast an angry glare at him.

"Ah, hello! Could you let me in?"

Whoever it was below had heard him.

There was no hiding it now; Hurmstom's face had turned a pale, pale white. She thought hers probably had, too.

"I have to get.... someone," said Hurmstrom.

Tala nodded and he ran off, barely waiting for permission, and now she stood there, grinding her teeth as the figure below... yes! He was actually sitting down! The land was filled with grakar and khol-wings and maybe a damned kei-lion and he was... setting a fire! An actual fire! Where he had found the kindling to do so in this area she had no idea. He must have carried it with him.

At some point her rage got the best of her fear.

"Who are you?" she shouted, breaking the silence. She wondered why no one else had arrived yet.

"Ah, I'm a traveller, I suppose. Yes, a traveller." His voice sounded steady, like a teacher explaining something to a particularly slow student.

"A traveller? Out here?" she struggled to keep the anger under control.

Focus on what's important.

"How are you still alive? It's not possible to walk around here at night!"

"And yet I am!" the figure called up. He sounded positively gleeful.

"Are you a demon?"

Tala swore to herself. She didn't believe in demons. All the monsters they needed were right here with them.

Something in the question seemed to have affected the traveller, however. When his voice came back it was far slower, more considered, almost sad.

"I'm... I'm sorry," he called up. "I have been away from people for a very long time. Could you let me in?"

"Not until morning, if you survive," she called back less forcefully. Something in the man's reply had drained her of her anger.

There was silence for a while, as the moon hid behind a cloud and everything fell to darkness. The man's small fire flickered against the wall and cast long shadows out into the wastes. The only sound to be heard was the crackle of wood burning.

"What should I call you?" he called up suddenly.

Tala thought for a second.

What the hell.

"Tala. My name is Tala," she answered. "And you? Who are you?"

She was worried something had happened, given the pause, but he was only restacking the fire. She could see now that he had a bundle of chopped wood strung together besides him, along with something that split the firelight into the colours of the rainbow.

The man's voice called up, clear and loud.

"Nice to meet you, Tala. My name is Rial."