Part 1 Chapter 4: The Creatures in the Night

The day dragged on endlessly. Both of them refused to speak to each other, so they walked in silence. Ciaran stared forward, while Hesperia glanced all around her, though pointedly not at Ciaran.

As the sun began to set, Ciaran stopped at a small clearing, finally speaking. "Lets make camp for the night." His voice harsh and unyielding.

Hesperia raised her eyebrow at him. "Why must we? Surely we can keep walking through the night."

"Because I said so." With that, he begins gathering wood for a fire.

Hesperia lets out a sigh and sits down. She'd been feeling off all day. Between her nightmare and being sick earlier, she felt ready to collapse. Though she'd never mention it to that rude old mule she calls a travelling companion. Now that she had a moment to sit and think about it, why had he helped her anyway? Why had he bothered approaching a lone nude woman in the woods? Pondering this, she looks over to the man in question, where he's started to build the fire. She's been trying to play nice, but his sour attitude is making it harder and harder to keep up the pretense. Though, if she were being honest, she had better things to think about than him of all people. As her mind drifted to the shadows, Ciaran interrupts her train of thought.

"Oy, lass. Anybody home in that head of yours," he asks.

Looking up at him, she answers, "What is it?"

"If you had been listening," he starts. "I was saying I'm going to go find something for you to eat. I won't have you wasting all my good meat by getting sick."

Looking back towards the trees, she responds. "Do as you will."

"Well look who's grown an attitude overnight. Fine, I'll be back."

As he walks into the forest, Hesperia drifts back to her thoughts.

As Ciaran walked into the forest, he made sure he was well out of sight before he stopped. Leaning up against a tree, he takes a deep breath. Being around that strange woman was leaving him with more questions than answers. What in the hells was she? He doubted she knew this, but he had seen everything the other night.

By some pure case of chance, he had been passing by that clearing, trying to get to town, when the moon suddenly went dark. He heard noise coming from between the trees, so he went to investigate. What he saw that night will haunt him for the rest of his life. When he saw her walk off into the woods after the darkness cleared, there wasn't a scratch on her. The clearing she was in seemed like nothing happened. Like the robed figures had never been there...

Why was he helping her? Well that's simple. He saw her be born from nothing but moonlight and shadows. As a worshiper of the ancient gods, he had to know what she was, and if she's too dangerous to be in this world. If she was then he'd be obligated to do something about it. Escorting her to the village is just a pretense to keep an eye on her.

Shaking his head, he pulls away from the tree and begins foraging for something to feed this damn woman. If dried meat upset her stomach, maybe some fruit, or tubers? Who knows what a creature like that can eat?

Hesperia stared deeply into the shadows, willing something to happen. Before, she had heard whispers from the dark, sweet nothings tempting her to action. But now all she heard was silence. Something lurks in that deep darkness, it just has to. Why wasn't it showing itself?

Sighing, she closed her eyes, and focused. She could feel the darkness swirling around her, and even within her. But then something strange happened. She could feel the moon rising, feel it's light shining upon her. Then, like someone called to them, she heard the whispers. Most too quiet to hear, but others could be made out. They seemed to talk to each other, whispering about this and that. Some talk of hunting grounds, this sends a shiver up Hesperia's spine. Others whisper of something she doesn't understand.

'Young princess...' They whisper. 'The child shouldn't be... Bring to the dark... Light in the darkness...'

Hesperia opens her eyes, and looks up to the moon. Its light barely penetrating the clouds that linger overhead. She looks back to the trees. As she stares at the darkness, she swears is moving. What lurks there, she wonders? What creatures whisper to her in the night? The urge to seek them out came to her, but just as she was building the courage to go explore, a rustling came from the woods, and Ciaran stepped through the trees.

He was carrying a bundle to his chest, and Hesperia eyed it curiously.

Sitting down by the fire, Ciaran laid the bundle on the ground, revealing a mix of small berries, mushrooms, and what looked like very oddly shaped nuts. "I didn't know what you could stomach and what you couldn't, so I grabbed a bit of what I could find." He reached down and picked up a mushroom. "I'll roast these over the fire so it doesn't make you sick."

Nodding her head, Hesperia reached out and picked up one of the berries. She inspected it for a moment, rolling it between her fingers.

"It's just a common blueberry. I caught them just before they ripened, so might be a bit tart, but it's still food." He picked up one himself and popped it into his mouth.

Hesperia watched him for a few moments, making sure he didn't fall I'll, and when she was sure it was safe, she ate the one she'd been playing with. Ciaran was right, they were tart, but they were sweet enough that she could eat them. After waiting to see if she was going to be sick again, Hesperia reached for a few more and began eating them. "They're not so bad," she said. "Thank you."

"Well well well. Look who's learning." Ciaran said, with a slight smirk on his face. As he stabbed a few of the mushrooms onto a sharpened stick, he asked, "so what did you do while I was gone?"

"Nothing, really," Hesperia answered. "I was just lost in thought."

"Oh, anything in particular?" He asked casually, trying to seem uninterested.

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she replies, "I was just thinking of we'd be safe out in the open like this. There are a lot of things that lurk around at night"

Ciaran fell silent, and looked at her for a moment. He thought carefully of his next words, so as not to give anything away. If he wasn't careful, he feared he'd be the next to be taken by her shadows. Finally, he answered, trying to sound nonchalant. "Don't worry, girly, nothing's gonna eat you in the night. Not while I'm around at least. I know these woods like the back of my hand, so I can say we're in a safe spot."

Hesperia nodded, but was unconvinced. She could feel the eyes of whatever was out there. She doubted that they'd be safe if they stayed in the woods much longer. Or at least, she doubted Ciaran would be safe. If she was around, nothing but trouble would come. She felt it in her chest, like a sinking stone in a river, that something wanted her, and Ciaran would get hurt if he were around when it came.