It was the middle of the night. An owl on its hunt sent out a loud hoot. And Rhojeka started up from her sleep. Her heart was beating awfully fast, and she felt a bead of sweat running down her forehead. Her mind raced. The dreams that had haunted her dissipated slowly from her thoughts, but still left an echo. She carefully pulled out of her bedroll and noticed that her hands were trembling.

Those dreams... It was like everything from her past and present had come back to her just to torment her. A caleidoscope of images, some out of memories, some of her darkest fears, had rained down upon her. She still heard the echoes of her own screams, still felt the overwhelming fear and despair, the helplessness. She was reminded what kind of fool she had been, and that the things happening to her were entirely her own doing. The strongest image remaining in her head was of herself, sitting in the dark, unable to move. Tied up, imprisoned... alone.

She looked to her side, to the other side of the small campfire and was relieved that Mervella was still lying there on her back, sleeping peacefully. Or so it seemed. Mervella was used to be on guard all the time, taking the entire night watch all by herself. She was able to wake up at a moment's notice if she heard something out of the ordinary. That kind of half-sleep was unhealthy though, or at least Rhojeka thought so. Hence she was glad about every occasion where they could stay at an inn to recover, so that Mervella was finally able to get some decent sleep.

A bit further away was Kane. He was sitting in the dark, near the campfire, staring into the night. His sword was right next to him, as usual. He apparently never left it out of his sight. Rhojeka thought about this and found it quite amusing. He treated this piece of metal as if it was a part of him. It was a valuable sword, Rhojeka understood this, and it was made from materials she had never even seen before. This black blade, for example, reminded her of her own quest, but she knew it had nothing to do with it. Still, she wondered what would happen if he ever lost it. Would he also lose his masculinity? It seemed pretty likely that he believed that.

He must have noticed that she had woken up, but he didn't react to that. Rhojeka reached for her bag that was lying next to her bedroll. She had to search for it a while, but then she found it: a small candle that was already used. She pulled it out and set it on the ground, careful to keep it away from everything else. With a small stick that she pulled out of the campfire, she lit it. Then she threw the stick back into the fire.

She had gained Kane's attention after all. "Are you doing some sort of magic ritual?" he asked her curiously.

Rhojeka shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's just..." She hesitated. Neither her nor Mervella had told him yet about their actual story. But at one point he deserved to know who he was travelling with. "It's for our families and friends back home. A candle to light their way into the afterlife. And to remember them by."

Kane's face in the dark was as indecipherable as it was when he was still wearing his hood. He just sat there and seemed to stare at her for a few moments, without showing any kind of expression. She decided to leave it at that and put both her hands on the ground next to the candle. She closed her eyes, allowed her thoughts to go back to her home village of Teng, back to her mother and her friends. Back to Henrellka, the elder woman who had taught her so much even before she decided to become a bard.

"May I join you?" Kane suddenly asked.

She opened her eyes again. It was a bit of a surprise to her - until she remembered that Kane had lost his family and friends, too. She nodded silently. He stood up, walked over to her and kneeled down right opposite of her, on the other side of the candle. Then he did what she had done, placing both his hands on the ground, closing his eyes. She closed her eyes again and went back to her memories of better times, remembering the ones she loved.

Those memories of brighter times seem to drive away the dark thoughts and echoes of her dream. Seeing her home village before her inner eyes calmed her down for a bit. She saw the beauty of Teng, blossoming up like a flower in the spring sun. She heard the laughter of the children, the chatter of the grown-ups, heard the racket that her mother made with the dishes. The birds were chirping in the trees. The grass was whispering in the wind. The stream near her house was glugging gently. The world was at peace.

With those thoughts came the bitter realization: It would never be this way again. Teng was gone. All the people there were gone. Nothing was left, except for her and Mervella. Two women who had only survived all of this because they hadn't been there in the first place when the attack happened. But she felt a bit like Kane... she felt guilty. Had she been there, how many of them she could have saved? How many would still be alive? It was foolish, she knew that - even with her magical training and Mervella's fighting skills they wouldn't have made any difference. They would have been two more corpses on the ground, nothing more.

Tears came to her eyes. She didn't want them to, didn't want to show it, but she couldn't help it.

And then she suddenly felt a warm hand touching hers, holding it gently. She opened her eyes in surprise and saw Kane looking at her. Not only looking... caring about her. Trying to comfort her. You're just like Mervella, she thought bitterly. You also think that I need protection and care. You think that I'm weak.

She withdrew her hand from his.

Instantly she could see regret flicker in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I... I didn't mean to seem forward. I just thought..."

Rhojeka thought about yelling at him that she didn't need this. That he had no right to do so, that she wasn't just some damsel like from the tales she told - some pretty princess locked in a tower just to wait for her knight in shining armor to come and rescue her. She seriously considered throwing this at him. But she couldn't. Her instincts as a bard kept her from doing so, from hurting someone's feelings. Instead she smiled faintly and said: "It's alright. It's just... not the right time." Maybe Mervella was right - she was just too nice for this world.

Kane was grateful for her response. Then he nodded towards the candle. "What happened?" he asked her the question that she had expected. He had told his story - it was understandable that he wanted to know hers.

And he deserved to know. He deserved to be aware what he was about to face eventually. "I don't really know," Rhojeka admitted. "One night, when Mervella and I returned to our home from a trip to the woods, we found the village up in flames. Dead people everywhere... our friends, our families. A few of them were still standing - facing something that they couldn't even hurt, let alone defeat."

"What was it?" Kane frowned.

Rhojeka shrugged. She tried to fight her tears back as she recalled those images, trying to remember the details while keeping the pain in check that came with them. "They were... dark. They didn't even seem to have a full body. More like a spiritual existance, manifested in our world to bring chaos and destruction. They didn't make a sound, except for this loud screeching that all of them emitted at some point. And when our people tried to strike them down with weapons, their blows would just go right through them as if they were hitting empty air."

She saw that Kane had something on his mind when he heard this. "This attacked happened at night?" he inquired. "In the dark?"

"Yes," Rhojeka confirmed. "Mervella and I decided to run as fast as possible. We saw that there was nothing we could do... although I really wanted to. But there was nothing that would affect these creatures. Neither weapons nor magic."

Kane's face was a mask of dark loathing and simmering anger. "Varjons." That's all he said.

Only Rhojeka didn't understand. "I'm sorry?"

"That's the name the Lhewai gave them," he explained. "Varjons. Shadow warriors. They can only exist in the dark, they cannot be touched by steel or wood or stone. And they roam the lands to destroy every living being that they come across. Only that we never found out where they come from and why they are doing this. But it is said that they corrupt the souls of the ones they slay, and so their victims become Varjons themselves, adding more soldiers to their army."

"So you know about them!" Rhojeka exclaimed, almost too loudly. Mervella grunted in her sleep, but didn't otherwise react to it. Rhojeka lowered her voice again, trying not to wake her friend: "Do you know how to stop them?"

"There are few methods. My blade, for example, is made from dark steel - it can touch spiritual creatures as well as mortal ones. I've also heard that there are substances that can be put onto weapons to make them affect the Varjons, but there are hardly any alchemists who have the knowledge and skill to craft such a substance. Besides that, we would need some rare ingredients for it."

"I guess it is not possible to find more weapons made of dark steel, now, is there?" Rhojeka knew that it was foolish to ask that. She knew the lore. Dark metal was even rarer than the ingredients they would probably need for this substance. It practically did not exist in their kingdom. Kane confirmed that with a nod.

"Even the Lhewai only have a certain number of these blades, and they only give them to those who earned them. The substance however is called Peruthian Weapon Oil - and it might be our best chance against them."

The way he told her this sounded like there was more to his story than just the idea of getting it. "You know something," Rhojeka concluded by examining his face. "You know how to get this, how to make it."

Kane leaned a bit back, seemingly shocked by her accusation, but she could see right through it and knew from the first moment on that it was an act. "Well... I might know someone who could help us. At least he can get us one of those ingredients we need. And it is not very far from here. If we are going to Ezdarail, it will be two days off from our direct route. Three, tops."

"Sounds good," Rhojeka answered and squinched her eyes. "What's the catch?"

There had to be one. And she was right. "The catch... We need to go through the Star Forest to get there. It's in the mountains, and if we go round the forest, we might lose an entire week."

"The Star Forest?" Rhojeka had never heard of it. But she wasn't as familiar with this part of the country as Kane was since he was the one who grew up here. The name however didn't sound too bad. "What's the trouble in there? Bandits?"

"No, not really," Kane answered. "There used to be, but most of them decided to leave the forest after the tree spirit killed a lot of them."

A tree spirit... Now that was something Rhojeka had heard about, and it did sound a lot worse now. Travellers who walked through unfamiliar woods without the proper care would be wise to be on their guard. Those creatures were thankfully not common at all, but it is said that they protected the forest they inhabited from any trespassers, and that they were very powerful. Rhojeka wasn't sure what they did or what they really were - the ones that had survived an attack had been too horrified to talk about it.

"You still think we should do this?" she then asked Kane. "You think this is worth it?"

"Yes." Kane nodded. "And for more than one reason. The man we seek is a good friend of mine. He can not only help us with the ingredient, he has also great knowledge of many other things. He may even have answers to questions that we not know of yet."

Rhojeka thought about his words. Kane knew by now what they were looking for, but dragging someone else into this was the last thing she wanted. "And you trust him?"

Kane raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call him a friend if I didn't."

So much for that... "Well, we have to discuss this with Mervella. She will also have a say in this."

"No, you don't." A half asleep mumble came from the warrior on the other side of the campfire, but she was loud enough to be heard. "I heard your entire conversation, and we're going. Because the way Kane describes, and that the Star Forest is the shortest route... that can only mean we're headed for the Varlor Mountains. It's not a bad idea to seek out help there."

"I think you of all people were against involving anyone else," Rhojeka uttered surprised. "What changed your mind?"

Mervella finally arose. Her eyes were still half-closed, she wasn't fully awake. Yet awake enough to keep up with their plan. "Kane knows the things that destroyed Teng, and he knows a way to defeat them. I don't know about you, Rhojeka, but I would love a way to pay them back for what they did to our people. And you know that we will run into them again sooner or later."

Saddened Rhojeka shook her head. This just couldn't be the answer. She could understand Mervella, and her heart was torn apart from the death of their families as well. But seeking revenge - this couldn't be right! Not against those things, those Varjons. What good would this bring? But apart from that... this friend of Kane's apparently had great knowledge, and Rhojeka seeked out knowledge wherever she could find it. This might not be a bad idea after all.

"It is settled then," she said. As Kane and Mervella agreed with a nod, she finally blew out the candle and went back to sleep.