Reborn

Inside a moderately large housing made of wood and stone, a woman's loud cries rang out. The shrieks of the woman were accompanied by a man's gruff voice, speaking encouragement.

"Come one, honey. You can do this. Just a bit more." The man said, face filled with worry as he looked at his wife.

"You can do it, dear." A middle-aged woman in a maid's outfit said.

For two more minutes, the husband and maid spoke words of encouragement and comfort. Gradually, a little bloodied baby started to make its way into the world.

"I can see him. Just a little more, and then it'll be over." The maid said.

The maid felt something was wrong, though. Usually, the baby would be crying and its voice would be mixed into the pained voice of its mother. But, this baby didn't cry. In fact, it didn't even move and kept still. The maid's heart was a flood with horror, as the possibility of a miscarriage entered her mind. Her master and mistress were very strong, and thus, the chances of pregnancy occurring was low. Her master and mistress had been trying for years, before they were finally able to have a baby. If that baby died now, after years of effort… the maid didn't know how they'd react.

While the maid had been lost in her thoughts, the husband had been constantly comforting his wife. Now, the body of the baby could be seen. Then, the legs. Finally, the baby popped out and into the maid's arms. The wife's cries gradually died down, while the husband and maid both looked at the baby. The baby was still, not moving, and it was evident in both the maid and the husband's face that they thought the worst had happened.

"D-darling, can I see our child?" The wife asked in a weak voice.

The husband's face was shadowed in despair as he turned around. "Lucelle… Our child. He's not moving."

"No… no. Let me see him, Vortick. Let me see our boy!" Lucelle cried out in a desperate tone. As Vortick gave Lucelle their child, the maid felt tears starting to appear in her eyes.

As Lucelle held her child with her left arm, she raised her right and muttered a word in a shaky voice. Then, a gentle, green light started to shine around her fingers. That green light separated from her and gathered around the baby. "Please… please… please…"

The three adults waited in silence. There had never been a case of a miscarried baby recovering by healing magic, but the three refused to let hope leave themselves. A minute passed. Then two. Then five. At the ten minute mark, Vortick turned away from the baby, sitting down on the bed and resting his head in his hands. The maid let the tears run down her face as she rushed to her mistress and held her in a tight hug.

"It's going to be alright. It's going to be fine, Lucelle. You two can always try again." The maid softly whispered to Lucelle in between sobs.

"No. My baby's fine. He's fine, Rianne. Nadios is fine. My little Naddy will be alright." Lucelle refused to believe that after all her efforts, all her years of worrying about whether or not she could do her job and give birth to Vortick's child, would just go to waste like that.

Lucelle's words just caused Rianne to sob harder. Vortick's shoulders started to shake slightly. Rianne and Vortick had abandoned all hope, but Lucelle hadn't stopped believing. The green light from her hands kept pouring into her child. Then… a baby's cry penetrated Rianne's gentle crying. Vortick's head snapped up, his eyes red and tears dripping down his face. Surprise colored his face but above all, relief. As suddenly as it had cut the air, the baby's voice died down again. But, its appearance had already reignited the hope in everyone's hearts.

The green light in Lucelle's hand brightened and enlarged, while warm air swept through the room. Lucelle's fatigue slightly recovered, and her previous pain lessened a bit. If Vortick could do anything for his baby, no matter how small, he would. Lucelle muttered a quick thanks to her husband before returning her attention to her baby. Rianne couldn't do much, as she had no healing or regenerative spells. After a minute of hope filled silence, the baby rewarded his parent's efforts with another cry. 40 seconds later, another. 20 seconds later, a third. Before long, there was no silence in the room at all. The baby's voice filled the air and, once again, tears fell down both Rianne's and Vortick's face. However, this time, they were tears of pure happiness.

"Nadios... Is alive." Lucelle whispered.

*

*

*

Gennadios felt like he was floating in space. He hadn't ever been to space, of course. He was just a criminal who achieved a bit too much and got locked in a high security prison. This feeling Gennadios was feeling was similar to how he thought space would feel. He moved his arms and legs, but found out that he had none. In fact, he couldn't smell, taste, or hear. He found out that his sight was also gone, but he could still "see" around him. It was weird.

"Oh my. It seems your spirit is quite strong." A mature female's voice resounded in Gennadios' head. She wasn't speaking out loud, exactly. It was more like a thought. Except, it was feminine and not his at all.

"Who am I, you're thinking? You don't need to know." The woman said. "We'll most likely never meet again. Just stay there and enjoy your first, and most likely last, flight through space."

Gennadios was shocked, to say the least. The woman had just read his mind. She mentioned flying through space, but Gennadios could not see the stars so he had no way to confirm if what she said was true or not.

The lady must've heard Gennadios' thoughts, but she didn't reply. In fact, she didn't speak again for the rest of the time Gennadios was with her. It was to the point that Gennadios was starting to think that maybe she had left. Gennadios suddenly felt a sucking force pulling him somewhere, and since he couldn't quite resist, he just let it take him to wherever. While supposedly flying through space, Gennadios had a lot of time to think.

Think about his family, his decision in life, and how he even got to flying through space with a telepathic and mind reading lady. The last thing he remembered was slowly dying somewhere in a desert in who-knows-where, after the U.S. government asked him to partake in a mission to save mankind. Something of that sort. Although the details were slowly escaping him, he recalled something about R.E.A.P, an ore that had the power to destroy continents if some specific thing happened, and drugs that supercharged him.

The last thing he thought about before that mysterious sucking force was his family. His mom and dad, and his younger brother. Gennadios had always been the trouble child in his family. Stealing his parent's money to buy gum, cigarettes, and drugs. Disregarding his parent's requests for him to do chores, and not helping his brother when he needed it. He had been such a bad older brother, son, and person in general. Causing his dad's business to go bankrupt, committing crimes, making his brother's life hell. He was also probably the reason why his younger brother committed suicide.

Now that he thought about it, Gennadios realized that he really was quite a bitch. 'I feel bad for my parents,' Gennadios thought. Birthing him, watching him grow up, showering him with love and attention… only for him to wreck their lives, kill their other son, and be taken from them by the police.

Gennadios was shaken out of his depressing thoughts when a baby's cries entered his ears. 'How annoying,' he thought. That baby's cries stopped at almost the same time as he had this thought, and all was quiet. A bit later, the baby started crying again. Then it stopped. Then it cried. This continued for a couple of minutes, before Gennadios started to be able to see again. The first thing he saw was a roof made of wood. Then, a lady entered his vision. 'Woah. She's huge,' Gennadios thought. 'He's huge too. And that maid as well. Why is everyone so big? Did that flying lady dump me in a giant's house? '

"My Naddy… finally. Finally." The lady softly spoke, stroking Gennadios' cheek.

'Hey! Stop touching me! Ever heard about personal space, lady? Also, stop that baby's crying. It's annoying.'

As if on cue, the baby stopped crying.

'Oh. Thanks, I guess. Now, if you would just stop touching me, that'd be great.'

Gennadios raised his hand to swat the lady's hand away, but when he tried to move his hand, it wouldn't respond. Gennadios then tried sitting up, but he found he couldn't. Gennadios started panicking. He couldn't move and couldn't swipe that lady's hand away. What if they wanted to sell him on the giant black market? What would he do then? Gennadios opened his mouth to protest, but that was when the baby started crying again.

'Wait a minute…'

Gennadios opened his mouth and spoke.

The baby cried.

Gennadios closed his mouth and stopped speaking.

The baby stopped crying.

'Ah. Am I the baby?'

Gennadios just had this profound thought when suddenly, he felt two strong hands under his armpits lifting him up. Vortick smiled brightly, cheeks wet with tears, as he lifted Gennadios into the air to get a better look at him. He held Gennadios by his armpits for a while, before bringing him close and snuggling him. He said no words, but Lucelle, Rianna, and Gennadios could feel the love radiating off of him.

'Well. I mean, this isn't so bad. Reincarnation, huh. Gennadios thought. I don't know why that lady, if it was her, that reincarnated me, but I'm grateful. This life, I'll treasure my family. I'll protect and help them, until I die.'

Gennadios was able to have a better look at the room he was in now that he was off his back. It was mostly made of wood, with bright little lights on the ceiling. There was a small bookcase in the corner of the room, on which rested five books with battered spines and covers. They must've been used a lot, thought Gennadios. In the opposite corner, there was a small closet with only a couple dresses, shirts, pants, and undergarments. Gennadios also spotted smaller clothes, like those for a baby, in the closet. Next him was a bed, on which his new mother lay. Beside that bed was a crib, which Gennadios assumed was his.

"Vortick and Lucelle… I'm happy for you two. Truly." Rianne said, wiping the tears off of her face. Her speaking up brought Gennadios' attention to her. It would be an understatement to say he was surprised to see a french maid outfit on the middle-aged woman sporting bright red hair and maroon eyes. Although a portion of his shock came from her non-natural colored hair and eyes, it could be said that most of it came from the furry ears on top of her head, and the orange and white fox tail waving around behind her.

"Thanks Rianne." Lucelle said, smiling.

Still in shock from the kitsune maid next to him, Gennadios didn't notice his new father gently lowering him onto the bed, next to Lucelle, and muttering a word. A bright red light covered both Gennadios and Lucelle. The light took on the form of flames, to which Gennadios panicked slightly. He opened his mouth to scream, but like before, only cries came out.

"Hush, hush. It's alright, Nadios." Lucelle picked up Gennadios and cradled him. "Daddy's flames won't hurt you. See? Daddy won't ever hurt you. He's helping you right now, and he'll help you for the rest of your life."

Vortick chuckled. Gennadios found out they were correct, as the flames weren't hurting him. On the contrary, they were warm and he could feel fatigue he didn't know he had disappear. The slight panic turned into awe, as he figured that this world had something similar to magic. And that awe turned into determination; Determination to learn it, determination to reach the peak of it, and determination to protect his family with it. He didn't know much about it, other than that it existed, but even if it only gave him slight strength and power, he would still learn it. To protect his family this time around and not be a nuisance, he would do anything.

*

*

*

Five days passed, during which Nadios' parents doted on him and didn't leave his side. It was the midst of night, and Gennadios was in between his parents, Vortick's arm under him, a little uncomfortably, and Lucelle's arm over him. The day after his birth, while having breakfast, Nadios had felt some weird sucking feeling in his stomach region. It was weird, foreign even. It felt like a stomachache, but warm, fuzzy, and comforting. Nadios wasn't sure what it was, but he had seen his parents meditating and the air around their stomach had slight, almost imperceptible ripples in it.

So, thinking that it had to do something with magic or, at the very least, something good, he tried to produce that feeling again. During lunch, he didn't feel it again. During dinner, no changes. Then, he tried whatever he could think of. Breathing differently, hitting his stomach, twisting his fingers into some gang signs he learned during his adolescence, none of it brought back that warm, comforting sucking feeling. Tonight, it occurred again. Nadios felt that same feeling, like a sucking force, occur in his stomach. He grasped onto it, forcing it to last longer, until he could learn how to do it by himself.

Vortick mumbled in his sleep and shifted his position, causing Nadios to lose concentration.

'Father! How could you? I just had it!' Nadios thought, frustrated. While he had been distracted, the feeling had dispersed and he lost it. Nadios concentrated and tried again to bring back that feeling. Nothing happened. He tried again. This time, the feeling returned. Yes, it was barely a hundredth of the naturally occurring one, but it was something, at least. Rejoicing in his newfound discovery, Nadios didn't feel his consciousness slowly slipping away until everything went black.

For the next two or so months, Nadios kept up that strange phenomenon, something he later caught his parents calling meditation. By now, him forcefully meditating was almost as strong as the naturally occurring meditation. During his near three months of meditation, Nadios had felt his body gradually growing stronger. Before, he could barely control the movement of his hand. Now, he could control his limbs about as efficiently as he could back when he was an adult. During this period of time, Nadios learned a little about this new world he was born into.

Firstly, he and his parents lived in a city called Atalant, next to the Atalant River. From his trips to the city market with his mother and Rianne, Nadios was able to confirm that this world of magic was located in a medieval setting. There were carriages, stone buildings, knights strolling the streets, and a huge castle in the distance, which Nadios learned was Atalant Castle. The city of Atalant was the Sucratz, this world's name, equivalent of a capital. Atalant was the capital of the Tivilant kingdom.

Second, Nadios' mom and dad are both mercenaries, people who take tasks from other people. The tasks could range from subjugating monsters, yes, this world had monsters, escorting merchants, clearing dungeons, and more. His dad was a pretty famous and strong one, same with his mother. His mother is currently resting at home, as she just had a baby, but before long, she'll have to go back to work.

Lucelle and Vortick didn't work alone, however. Once, a month after his birth, Gennadios heard his dad conversing with some people at the door while he was being cuddled by his mom. Shortly after, the door to the room burst open and a young woman in her mid twenties shot into the room. She had short blue hair, not even reaching her shoulders, a petite figure, and pretty features.

"Is that him? Is that Nadios?" The woman asked, approaching Lucelle and Nadios. Her eyes locked onto Nadios' in an almost predatory way.

"No shit. Do you see any other babies in this room?" A huge, bulky man entered next. His long black hair fell down to the small of his back. Almost a complete contrast to his figure, his blue eyes were gentle and he walked with soft footsteps. He also spoke in a hushed, calming voice.

"Now now, Varock. Don't go swearing in front of the child, will you? I doubt Vortick and Lucelle want their child to grow up with you as a role model." Following Varock, a tall woman with glasses entered. She towered above even Varock, who must've been a good 6 feet 7. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, with blue eyes that sparkled and shone whenever the light caught them. The thing that caught Nadios' eye though were the massive mountains on her chest. They were so big, it was even to the point Nadios started worrying for her back.

Varock scoffed. "As if he could understand me, Celia. He's just a baby, remember?"

'No no, I can definitely understand you. You are a bad influence, Mr. Varock,' Nadios thought.

"Hey, Varock, Celia, Ayla. Have you come to see Nadios?" Lucelle greeted her friends with a smile.

"C-can I hold him?" Ayla, the blue haired woman, asked in a shaky tone with outstretched arms. "I can, right?"

'No. Don't touch me. Leave now, and let me go back to feeding. Mother cut breakfast early because she heard you at the door. Don't you know, disrupting someone while they're eating is very rude?'

"Yes. Of course."

'Mother!'

Lucelle handed Nadios over to Ayla, who held him gingerly. Almost instantaneously, however, he burst out crying.

"Ah! Why is he crying? Did I do this?" Ayla started panicking. "Uh, hush hush, calm down, stop crying."

Seeing Nadios still crying, Ayla gave up and just returned him to his mother. Immediately, he stopped crying.

"Hahaha! You are clearly not too inexperienced in matters regarding babies. This is when your age truly shows, Ayla." Varock said. "Would you let me hold him, Lucelle? With this brat bragging about her skill everytime we take a mission, I've long since felt the need to show her why I am, and will always be, her senior. Both in fighting prowess, and at home needs."

'Stop! Stand back, you giant! I won't let you touch me. This time, mother will surely protect me, right? She understands that fragile, innocent young babies should not be handed off to giants, right?'

"Yes. Of course."

'Nooooooo! Mother, how could you?'

Varock, unlike Ayla, swept Nadios into his arms in a swift motion. He then rocked Nadios back and forth. "How is this, Nadios? My arms are much better than Ayla's, right? Bahahaha! Of course they are!"

Varock was in high spirits after Nadios didn't immediately burst into tears. However, his happiness was short-lived as not even five seconds after he started rocking Nadios back and forth, the baby in question's mouth flung open and high-pitched cries left. Shadows invaded Varock's face as he handed Nadios back to Lucelle. Again, Nadios stopped immediately.

"Serves you right, you brute." Ayla laughed. "A baby could never rest easy in your arms."

"Shut it, kid!" Varock growled but with his voice, it sounded more like a purr. "I lasted longer than you!"

Ayla looked like she was about to retort when Celia suddenly spoke up. "Can I try holding him?"

Varock snorted. "Good luck, woman. I'll give you a quarter of my portion of today's reward if you can last longer than me."

'No!! Don't you people understand that the only one I want touching me is my mother? Why do you try so hard? Stop it!'

"Yes. Of course."

'Ahhh! Motherrrrr! You can't keep saying yes to these people! No no, put me down, put me down, put me down-. Oh. Oh my. It is quite comfortable here. Mmm. I might stay here for a bit. It's not as good as my mother's arms, but hey, sometimes, you get tired of your favorite pair of shoes.'

Celia cradled Nadios against her breasts, gently rocking him back and forth. Varock waited for him to cry, like Nadios did with him and Ayla, but nothing happened. Varock very nearly couldn't believe his eyes. What did Celia have that he didn't? He made sure to hold Nadios as still as possible, even if he did move a bit fast. He held Nadios against his chest the same way Celia is holding him against hers. A thought suddenly invaded him mind. Varock's gaze flickered back and forth between his flat, muscle-filled chest and Celia's large, soft hills. Varock couldn't help but curse Nadios inside. Losing a quarter of today's pay, just because he didn't have breasts? Where's the fairness in that?

Ayla burst into laughter. "Looks like you lost to Celia, old man!"

Varock's face turned bright red. Part embarrassment, part anger.

'Sorry, Mister Varock. They're just too big and soft. '

Amidst Ayla, Lucelle, and Celia's laughter and Varock's slightly mad voice, Nadios drifted off into sleep.

The third thing Nadios learned was that this world had quite a fantasy like component to it. There were giant lizard-like things pulling chariots, people with beast parts such as cat people, dog people, and wolf people. He also saw people doing cool magic tricks on the streets, except with actual magic. Stuff like water shows where they manipulated water to make cool shapes, fire shows where the fire bended and twisted to enrapture the audience, and more.

Currently, Nadios was in his crib meditating. He was on his back, eyes closed and concentrating hard.

Lucelle walked in and, seeing Nadios "sleeping" in his crib, gave him a quick peck on his forehead before whispering. "Goodbye, little Naddy. Mother's going to go to work, now. Be a good boy, alright?"

This, naturally, broke Nadios out of concentration but he wasn't mad. On the contrary, he was quite ecstatic. After he heard the door close, Nadios shot up and crawled out of his crib. Half a month ago, he had finally regained enough control of his limbs to crawl. Nadios had been waiting, however, for a chance when both Lucelle and Vortick were out of the house before making his move and starting Operation: Knowledge.

If his parents found out that he could crawl at the young age of two months, he had no idea how they'd react. Most likely they'd praise him, but they might send him to a scientist facility or something for research purposes. Since he didn't know, he would rather play it safe. Nadios sneakily crept across the hard wooden floor littered with the toys his parents had gotten him.

Although there was no one in the house, except for Rianne, Nadios still crept towards the bookcase slowly, as if one slight noise could cause him to be discovered. After a tense two minutes, at least for Nadios, he finally made it to the bookcase. Reaching up as far as he can, Nadios grabbed onto the spine of a random book and tugged it down.

Perhaps due to his meditation sessions, Nadios was larger than a child his age should be. A three month old baby would be around 60 centimeters tall, but Nadios was already 70 centimeters. Since there was no title on the cover, Nadios plopped his soft baby bottom on the floor and opened the worn book. The first thing he read was 'Cooking Basics'. Immediately, Nadios closed the book.

'Nope. I'm looking for magic related stuff, not food.'

Getting back up and putting that book back while simultaneously taking another one, Nadios froze for a second when he heard footsteps outside the bedroom. Fortunately, Rianne was just passing by and didn't actually enter the room. Sighing in relief and wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead, Nadios pulled another book off the shelf and opened it. This time, it was what he was looking for. On the very first page, emboldened in big letters, were the words 'Magic'. Plain, simple, but effective in capturing Nadios' attention. Turning the page to the first chapter, 'The Mana Core', Nadios began to read.

The mana core is the center of all magic used by humans, demons, and beastkin. It is the hub of all mana, and if one's mana core were to be destroyed, one could not again use magic. The mana core usually forms during the ninth or tenth year of a child's life. This time varies depending on person to person. Geniuses of geniuses could form their mana core as early as five years, while those with nearly nonexistent talent might have to wait 12 years before their mana core forms.

After the formation of the mana core, children are recommended to get fully used to the feeling of absorbing mana from their surroundings via meditation and manipulating it outside their core before attempting any core temperings. Core tempering is a way to increase the hardness of one's core, allowing it to compress mana harder, which in turn lets the core hold more mana.

At formation, the core will be a dark brown color. After enough temperings, the core will change colors. It will turn into a red after the brown, then a yellow, then a blue, then a silver color, until finally stopping at a transparent white. While progressing through the stages of core tempering, each color has shades that show how far one has progressed in that stage. The deepest, darkest shade of that color means that the core has just broken into that stage, while the lightest shade of that color means that it's about to enter the next stage.

The rest of the chapter talked about some scientific things about the core, but Nadios could not be bothered to read through all of that. Nadios flipped to the next chapter, 'Mana Vessels and Mana Veins', and read.

Mana vessels are small organs inside someone at birth, but only after the core forms will they become used. Mana vessels store and house mana to be used. There are seven mana vessels in the human body. One in each arm and leg, two in the body, and one in the head. While mana vessels are in the human body from birth, not using them for roughly nine years causes them to go into a sort of hibernation.

To break this spell, mana is required to charge the vessels. After a certain amount of mana has been transferred to the vessels, the vessels will awaken and magic will be able to be used. The vessels can be tempered, just like the core, to hold more mana and better mana. Like the core, the mana vessels change from brown, to red, to yellow, then blue, then silver, until the white stage.

Mana veins are what carry the mana from the core to the mana vessels. Like the vessels, after so many years in an unused state, they will naturally be asleep. Unlike the vessels, however, they don't require a massive influx of mana. They require constant, gentle kneading. At birth, a baby's mana veins are clean and clear of all impurities such as blood and fat. But after a couple years of no mana flow, the mana veins will get clogged up.

To clean the mana veins should be an aspiring magician's first priority. Before learning powerful spells, before tempering their mana core, before anything. It doesn't have to be a 100% cleansing, just 20-30% will do. A clean mana vein will have unmatched mana intake, mana flow, and mana purity.

Nadios was going to continue reading but he felt something inside him change. After his meditation had reached a level on par with the naturally occurring one, he challenged himself to learn how to meditate while moving and doing other things. This way, when he went on grocery trips with his mom or when he played with his parents and Rianne, he could continue meditating. It took a long time, a month to be exact, but he finally achieved it.

At this point, the feeling of meditation had dulled to become background noise. Right now, however, that sucking suddenly grew over ten times stronger. That peaceful, warming feeling suddenly turned into a tear wrenching pain that started from his stomach but quickly spread to the rest of his body. Then, a loud boom sounded as the toys around him were pushed back by a strong air pressure. The bookcase fell with a loud crash, and a crack appeared in the bedframe.

"Waaa!" Nadios cried. He had never felt this kind of pain before. Even when he was tortured back in his delinquent days, he never felt the agony he was feeling now.

Hearing the explosion, Rianne immediately stopped cleaning what will be Nadios' bedroom in the future and rushed over to the master bedroom.

"Nadios!" Rianne screamed, dashing through the door and picking up Nadios in a cradle. She gave a brisk examination of his outer body and, not finding anything wrong, used her mana to probe into his body. There, she felt something that greatly shocked her. She couldn't send her mana into Nadios at all! When she tried, all the mana she sent just rebounded off, back to her. She didn't know why she couldn't send mana into Nadios, but fortunately, Nadios gradually stopped crying.

All she could do was just hug him tightly while examining the messy master bedroom. When Nadios' cries died down and disappeared, it was replaced with a light snoring. Rianne gently put him down into his crib and, after a final check on him, turned her attention to the torn room she was in.

The bookcase was thrown in the opposite corner of where it was before, the bedsheets were flung against the bookcase, books and toys littered the floor, more than before, and clothes were randomly scattered across the floor. Looking at all of it together, Rianne might've thought that a fight happened in here, if she didn't know better. Rianne then started to brainstorm reasons for why something like this happened.

The first reason for this mess was Nadios, but Rianne immediately dismissed that idea considering that he was just a baby. Maybe special, due to the rejection of her mana earlier, but he shouldn't have the power to cause a mess like this at only three months old. Who knows, maybe this ability of Nadios' to reject her raw mana has something to do with an obscure bloodline of Master Vortick and Mistress Lucelle.

Rianne went around the room checking every corner, wall, and nook, to see if there was an opening or hole that might've let a small mana beast in. After carefully confirming her findings, she started to clean up the room. The entire time, she had Nadios in her sights, watching him sharply. Although she wasn't as strong as her masters, she was still decently strong.

Her core was a dark yellow and she had awakened all of her vessels, further tempering them to the light red stage. Finishing with her clean up, she sat down onto the bed with a plop. She had resolved to stay there until Vortick and Lucelle came home. Leaving Nadios alone was out of the question, and she would rather not carry him around, lest she woke him up. Yes, this was the best option, she thought. She sat there, not moving a muscle as the sun slowly crept downwards and the sky darkened.