The rain had stopped, and the two hunters came out from under the trees, continuing onward. Aliza with a small roe on her shoulder, Elexa with a grayish-brown hare in each hand. Muddy puddles were splashing under their boots.

'About time,' said Aliza with her usual cheerful manner. 'It's getting dark in a few hours.'

'I wonder what the others hunted today,' said Elexa with the same carefree approach. There was no need to hurry, they just wanted to reach the monastery when there was still some light so they wouldn't have to use the torches they packed just in case.

'And I am wondering where that poor cat went,' said Aliza. A week ago she and some other Sisters had found a cat at the gates of the monastery and took him in – and now it was gone since yesterday.

'Probably just wandering about somewhere,' smiled Elexa. 'He'll turn up.' After a pause, she looked at Aliza. 'Did you tell Akara that he's a boy?'

'You say that as if boys were not allowed inside,' laughed Aliza. Elexa started giggling too.

'I don't know. All the dogs are female,' she said, lifting the rabbits a little bit. 'So are the cows.'

'That's enough,' laughed Aliza.

They walked in silence in a while, smiling to themselves. They did their best to avoid the bigger puddles, but nevertheless their boots were caked with mud. Dark green blades of grass stroked their moving feet. In the distance crows could be heard, and a barking dog even farther – there was a farm in that direction.

'Will you watch the tests tomorrow?' asked Elexa suddenly. Two months earlier three new rogues were initiated into the order – three childhood friends who left the village they lived in. At least one of them was fleeing from a father or older brother, though the Sisters didn't ask them. They weren't in the best of shapes, but Captains Raven and Kashya did the best they could to train them. The tests tomorrow will show if that was enough.

'Why wouldn't I?' shrugged Aliza.

'Well, you know what Akara said. It may distract the girls if everybody's watching.'

'Yes,' mused Aliza. 'Kashya said it too. Just not into our faces.'

'She doesn't want to seem too restrictive,' smiled Elexa. 'Have you noticed how nice she is nowadays?'

'She was always nice.'

'Yes, but she wasn't this nice. I'll tell you why.'

Aliza knew what Elexa wanted to say, but she asked her anyway, looking at her with widened eyes. 'Why?'

'She's happy. That's why!'

Aliza chuckled and turned her head back to the road ahead. Elexa continued: 'It's nice to see everyone happy, after those times. Akara smiled too the other day. When Gwinni and Floria almost dropped that barrel.'

'I remember,' laughed Aliza. 'Seriously though, Akara doesn't seem that happy to me.'

'You're right,' frowned Elexa. 'I don't know what's the matter with her.'

'Maybe she took it harder. You know.'

The fact that only six Sisters came back from Tristram. 'I know,' said Elexa. 'But harder than Raven? Or the others?'

'We should ask her sometime,' said Aliza suddenly. Elexa's brows went up. 'What? Oh, I don't know about that…'

'Maybe she just wants to talk to somebody.'

'The other priestesses don't talk to her?'

'I don't know. It was just a thought.'

'Hey, look, ahead!'

Aliza stopped with Elexa and followed her gaze. On the muddy road ahead of them stood a creature, trembling.

It stood on two legs with its broad, tall back to the two hunters. Its towering body was coated in thick brown fur now moist from the rain. Its hands could not be seen at the moment, but they knew that they were huge, even bigger than its hard, skull-like head.

It was a gargantuan beast. A wendigo.

They could hear its loud breathing now. And it was really trembling, like…

'Is he cold?' whispered Elexa.

'What is it doing here?' asked Aliza almost at the same time. These intimidating but gentle beasts rarely crossed paths with humans.

The wendigo must have heard them, since it suddenly stood upright and stopped shaking. Then it turned around to face the two rogues. Its small eyes could not be seen from this distance, but they were both sure it was staring at them.

'He's not running,' said Elexa quietly.

'He's probably curious,' replied Aliza.

Abruptly the beast let out a wheezing cry. They never heard this sound before. And with it, the wendigo started running at them on its short legs. It was…

'It's attacking!' shouted Aliza and dropped the roe behind her. There was no time for the bow – in a flash, she unsheathed a dagger from her belt.

Elexa dropped the hares too, but she went for the bow. She was a heartbeat too slow.

'No!' cried Aliza as the gargantuan reached her frightened friend and swept at her with one of its muscular hands. Elexa let out a small squeal, but she dodged, jumping back. The beast came at her again, almost hitting her the second time. It was foaming and growling.

Aliza threw the dagger, and the weapon reached the wendigo, but before that there was a sickening crack and Elexa went down on the ground, unmoving.

The beast cried out as the dagger lodged in its shoulder. It jerked around, trying to backhand Aliza, but she was a few steps too far for that. She raised another dagger. She was face to face with the monster.

She threw the knife. It tried to brush it away, but it flow right under its head. A gargling sound came from the wounded beast. Aliza screamed at it, but it didn't stop. It stepped closer, sweeping its frighteningly strong hand with unexpected speed. Aliza jumped back, another dagger in her hand. Turning around and running wasn't an option.

The monster stepped closer, trying an overhead cleave with both hands. Aliza stepped to the side and grabbed the dagger protruding from under the beast's bony head. It looked at her with white eyes, mouth foaming. She yanked on the dagger as the wendigo tried to grab her, and fell on the ground deliberately. A trail of dark red blood followed the freed blade. Aliza rolled as the dying monster tried to stomp on her, clawing at the ground.

The gargling beast managed to grab one of her legs with crushing force. Aliza cried out in pain. With two daggers in her hands she slashed at the huge hand in a shape of a cross. It was the monster's turn to cry out now, and it released her.

With a roll Aliza came up to her feet. She jumped back again as the wendigo desperately flailed its hands at her. The rogue stepped around it, trying to get closer to Elexa, seeing how she was.

The beast tried to step after her, but it was too weak and slow now. The blood gushing from its neckless torso painted its brown fur reddish black like some kind of war paint. It managed two more steps, then it went down on its knees, and then it toppled face down in the mud. Its hands grabbed handfuls of dirt and grass. It coughed and gagged, trying to breathe.

Aliza crouched before Elexa. The girl's head was bashed in, blood was trickling from the wound in her skull. 'No, no, no,' Aliza whined as she checked Elexa's pulse on her neck. She couldn't feel anything, but her own body was throbbing from fatigue, so she wasn't sure. She leaned over to feel Elexa's breathing.

A few feet away the beast finally stopped moving and died.

Akara bit into the apple. She was alone in the church, looking over the rows of seats from the door of her sleeping hall. It wasn't suppertime yet, but she allowed herself this little treat once in a while.

She had her hood down, letting her flawless white hair be seen. For her age her face wasn't that wrinkled and she even could be considered pretty. Only her eyes showed the elder's experience. Her hands, though, as she looked at one of them holding the yellow apple, well, it was an old woman's hand, no doubt about it. She didn't really care about her looks though. There was a time, but that was over decades ago.

The thousand candles of the church flickered in white and yellow, reflecting from the High Priestess' eyes. Standing there, Akara let herself smile a bit. A soft smile, like one of a mother musing over her children.

Then the door opened at the far end and the smile was gone. Akara stepped back, set the fruit down on her reading table and went to greet the visitors.

It was Blood Raven and the five rogues who returned from Tristram. They stopped at the seats waiting for Akara to reach them.

'Have you come to pray?' asked Akara before stopping in front of them. She knew the answer.

'Yes, Akara,' replied Raven with a bow of her head. She and her companions came to the church daily to pray for the souls lost at Tristram. They would do so for a year, as they told Akara once, maybe even more. The High Priestess approved and prayed with them.

All of them sat down on some benches. They didn't say a word. Raven folded her arms and turned her head down, one of her dark red tufts of hair pointing downwards with it. Her eyes were closed and she breathed evenly. Akara was sitting beside her with hands in her lap, looking up at the ceiling before her but beyond that. The other rogues were in complete silence too, unmoving. One of them swallowed and even that could be heard clearly.

They sat there for five minutes or more. Akara slowly bowed her head then, and another five minutes passed. After that, the priestess carefully stood and walked out as quietly as possible, leaving the warriors alone with the memories she did not witness.

Stepping out the large door of the church she was greeted with a dim sky, the Sun about to start going down. A light breeze was stroking the patches of grass in the cloisters.

Akara pulled her hood on and started walking along the columns of the monastery, lost in her thoughts. The cloisters were empty, everyone in the barracks probably, preparing for supper.

When she passed the fountain she saw two hunters returning with four small, brown rabbits. The girls greeted her, Akara smiled back, then they were gone, bringing the meat to the kitchen.

Akara sat down on a stone bench near the fountain, her thoughts getting heavier. She could hear the noises coming from the barracks mixing with the trickling of water. Laughter, chairs being pulled (she lost count long ago of how many times she had to tell the Sisters not to pull but lift those chairs so they don't scratch the floor…), talking, yelling for friends. Happy sounds.

'Akara?'

Akara looked up with a question in her eyes. It took a second to see that it was Charsi, standing next to the fountain, her head turned to one side, looking at her.

'Yes, Charsi' said Akara as a greeting.

'Is everything fine, Akara?' asked the blacksmith, stepping closer.

'Well, yes, child, why wouldn't it be?' smiled Akara.

'I don't see much joy in your eyes,' frowned Charsi. 'Something is eating you. I don't mean to pry, but… We're here for you as much as you are here for us. You know?'

Akara let out a smile, and this time it was completely honest. She sighed and looked in the blond woman's eyes.

'Thank you, Charsi. You were always a kind Sister.'

Charsi smiled too and sat down next to her. She leant forward so she could see Akara's face.

'So. What's wrong? Do you feel something?'

Akara looked at the ground before her feet. The smile was gone, her expression was almost wary.

'I don't know, to be honest,' she said. 'I… feel something. But I can't put my finger on it.'

'And it makes you nervous,' said Charsi. Akara nodded.

'Yes,' she replied. 'All we can do is be vigilant.'

'Do you think…' started Charsi, but she stopped. One rogue, a gate guard was hurrying to them with long steps.

'Kylie?' asked Charsi as she came closer.

'Akara!' the rogue stopped before them breathing heavily. 'Please, come to the gates, we need your help!'

'What is it?' asked Akara with rounded eyes, standing up. Charsi was already on her feet.

'There are villagers at the gates, wanting us to let them in. They need shelter. They say they've been driven out from their village.'

'And why didn't you let them in yet? We are open for ones in need.'

'Kashya is already at the gates,' said Kylie, slowing down, regaining her posture. 'She wanted your opinion.'

'But, why?' asked Charsi folding her hands.

'We don't have enough room for them,' the guard said. 'There's fifty-four of them. We counted them twice.'

Akara almost stepped back. She looked back towards the church, then back at the two waiting for her to react. She nodded.

'Let us go.'

Kashya ran her hand through her red hair, looking at the villagers with a frown. The people were standing in front of the open gates in a rough file, waiting for the guards to let them in. Five rogues formed a line in front of them, bows on their backs and daggers on their belts. They weren't aiming to be intimidating though. Younger girls in the crowd looked at them with awe, and so did the boys but in a different way. Kashya almost sighed.

Kylie came back, and Akara was following her, accompanied by Charsi. Kashya lifted her head and stepped closer to them to meet them, showing her back to the people outside.

'I'm here, Kashya,' said Akara. 'I heard.'

'Yes,' said Kashya, looking back at the crowd for a second. 'Refugees, or at least they say they are. Fifty-four people. Thirty women, six children, eighteen men.'

Akara leaned to the side a little to see them, but Kashya stepped aside too. The High Priestess picked out the children with her eyes, four boys and three girls, all younger than ten years old, all with their mothers and fathers. These people were farmers, most of them dirty, tired, desperate.

'What happened to them?' asked Charsi quietly with a frown that could contain fear.

Before Kashya could reply, Akara said 'Let us ask them,' and stepped forward, standing between two of the guarding rogues.

'I am Akara, High Priestess of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye.'

The people slowly stopped talking among themselves and listened to her. Soon all gazes were fixed on the purple cloaked woman.

'Do you have a leader or a representative?'

A man in a brown leather vest stepped forward. He was in his forties, had bushy salt-and-pepper hair and a face not unlike a dog's.

'I'm Harrol. Son of the chief of our village.'

'Greetings,' said Akara. Kashya folded her hands, Charsi glanced at her with a questioning gaze. She looked away.

'What happened to you?' asked Akara.

'Creatures, High Priestess!' the man said. Many of his people started nodding and whispering among each other. 'Our village is not safe. Many people disappeared at nights.' He looked at his folk. 'These people were afraid. We tried going to other villages that had walls. No one let us in!'

'Slow down, Harrol,' said Akara, lifting a hand. 'What kind of creatures are you talking about?'

'Monsters!' replied the man and several of the villagers repeated the word.

Akara didn't look back at Kashya and Charsi, but they did look at each other. Kashya's emotions were shrouded behind a hard face. Charsi's eyes were wide. She shuffled closer to Kashya, their elbows touched. 'Monsters?'

Kashya didn't reply. Akara continued:

'What kind of… monsters?'

'Hellish creatures, High Priestess!' the man said, but he didn't describe anything. Akara knitted her brows for a second but nobody really recognized it.

'Did you see these monsters?' she asked.

'Well, it was dark, they only come at night,' Harrol said, scratching the back of his head. 'But some of us saw them. Shadows of them. Right, Reela?'

A middle-aged brunette woman with large eyes suddenly became aware that she was addressed and lifted her head.

'Uh… yes, yes! I saw them run down the road. They made a noise, like… I don't know. I never heard anything like it before.'

Now Kashya sighed. The villagers started talking all at once, each of them describing their own sightings of monsters. Their leader looked at Akara with an honest, pleading face.

'Please. These people have nowhere else to go.'

Akara was buried in her thoughts for a moment. But not for very long.

'Very well,' she said finally, and the cacophony was gone again. 'You may stay inside our monastery until these things get sorted out.'

The people burst out in thanks and praises. Kashya stepped behind Akara.

'There is no room for these villagers, Akara. Where will they stay?'

'We will let them sleep in one of our sleeping halls,' replied the priestess turning to Kashya. 'I'm sorry, but you will have to sleep a little closer to each other.

This wasn't a problem. But Kashya still wasn't convinced.

'What if others come? They can't drive us out of our monastery!'

'First of all, Kasyha, we will cross that bridge when we get there,' said Akara with a hint of rigor in her voice. 'And they won't drive us out, these are scared people. If any more come, they will be welcome to set camp in the cloisters. Now, I must talk with master Harrol. Do not worry, child.'

With that she turned around and started talking to the man. Kashya stood there with visible anger on her face now.

'What's the matter?' asked Charsi. Kashya didn't reply, so she stepped in front of her and looked into her eyes. 'Kashya?'

Kashya looked at her as if she disturbed her at the worst time.

'Monsters!' she said. 'These people are afraid of stray dogs and wolves and bandits.'

'But…' started Charsi.

'Leaving their village was the stupidest thing they could do. The roads are far more dangerous. They should have stayed home and locked the doors if they were so very afraid at night.'

'But,' Charsi finally interjected, 'they are afraid. It doesn't matter what are they afraid of, or if it's real or not. They came here for help.'

'I know, I know,' said Kashya with an angry whisk of her hand. 'But coming here? From who knows how far? They should have sent a few people to inform us, and we would have looked into it. That's all.'

'You're so upset,' said Charsi, worried. 'I think you should get some rest.'

'Are you mocking me?'

'Not at all. I'm worried about you. You know. As a friend?'

Kashya sighed, looked at Charsi, and her expression softened.

'I understand,' she said. 'I'm sorry. It's just…'

She didn't finish her thought. Charsi nodded with a warm smile and almost hugged Kashya but she decided against it. Instead, she said: 'Come on. We should ask Akara if any help is needed.'

'It is definitely needed,' said Kashya and followed the blacksmith.

Akara needed the help indeed. She instructed the two of them to inform the Sisters at the barracks to prepare one of the sleeping halls. They ran off.

Akara told the villagers to wait, then asked them to make a line and talk to her one at a time. She tried to get some information out of them. Nobody saw anything that could be described.

Then came the fifth villager, a skinny young woman with bony shoulders. She looked at the man who talked to Akara before her – probably her brother, Akara thought – then stepped before the High Priestess.

'What is your name, child?' asked Akara with honest warmth.

'Ferna,' the woman replied, her light brown eyes darting from left to right.

'Come, sit down, Ferna,' Akara motioned to a bench nearby with a small tree behind it. The woman nodded and followed her. After they sat, Akara looked in her eyes, feeling the distress coming from within Ferna.

'What did you see?' she asked, and when the woman didn't reply, she added: 'We need to know what we are up against, so we can send our rogues accordingly.'

'The others didn't believe me until it was too late. Helga… one of the villagers… our neighbor… she vanished a week ago, when she went out to the well for… and her son was with her, and he is gone too… They, they took them!'

'Did you see who took them?'

'I… I didn't see when they took them. But, I did see something. A day before that.'

She stopped and glanced at her brother who was with the group of people who already spoke to Akara, standing around the monastery wall, debating something. Some of the men from the line joined them too. Harrol was trying to comfort a family of three who were on the verge of crying.

'Go on, please,' asked Akara softly. Ferna jerked her head back and nodded.

'I saw shadows. Si… silowettes. Or what they are called.'

'Silhouettes,' nodded Akara.

'Yes. So, I was too far away, and it was too dark… to see them. But, I saw their shadows.'

Akara waited patiently.

'There were four of them,' said Ferna finally. 'Little. Like, like this.'

She showed a height with her left hand, about as tall as a larger dog.

'But, they were like… like children. Small, but…'

'Standing on two legs, hands, head on top?' asked Akara. The woman nodded fiercely.

'Yes! Yes! They were like that. Like gnomes. Or something like that. But.'

Akara lifted her eyebrows.

'They were… talking. But, not as we do. Some other… language. Their voice, I couldn't hear clearly, but, it was strange. I… I can't tell you, but it was strange. I was scared, and…'

'Do not worry. You are safe here,' said Akara, but her head was almost spinning. She repressed a sigh and smiled at the woman instead. 'Thank you for telling me what you saw. You can rejoin your folks now.'

Ferna left for her brother. Akara stood up and looked around. Some of the villagers looked at her. She walked over to Harrol, still with the family. He turned around to face her with inquiring eyes.

'I have to speak to my Sisters for a moment,' said Akara. 'I'd like you to wait here until someone comes back to lead you to the sleeping hall.'

'When will that be?' asked Harrol politely. 'These… We are tired. It was a long way.'

'I ask you to have patience. It won't be long before you can eat something and lie down.'

'Thank you. Thank you.'

Akara started back to the church to find Blood Raven. She caught herself having a frown on her face and forced it away.

The rogues were packing their things and bringing them to the other halls. All of them were talking it out among themselves: who will sleep next to whom, where will they keep their belongings, who the villagers are, the fact that many of them are men… Kashya, standing at one of the doors shook her head ever so slightly. No matter how much training and exercise, these girls remained girls at their hearts.

Well, Kashya had that side too, of course. You did not have to be young to preserve your womanhood.

She wanted to smile to herself, but the situation was troubling. The way Akara handled this suggested that she may suspect something. Kashya couldn't be sure though. Such were the ways of Akara.

Chatting and debating rogues with bags in their hands walked past her as she was standing with crossed arms. Some of them greeted her and she always nodded back. She scanned the room for faces, thinking about the hunters.

All of them reported back. Except Aliza and Elexa.

As if on cue Diane appeared next to her.

'Kashya?'

Kashya was startled.

'Yes?'

'Have you seen Aliza and Elexa?' the solemn-faced rogue asked, still trying to find her friends with her gaze.

'No,' said Kashya with knitted brows. 'They haven't returned yet.'

'Are there any more of us out yet?'

'No. Kundri and Viella came back half an hour ago. They reported back.'

Diane tried to mask the worry but she couldn't control her eyes. Kashya pressed her lips together.

'It's not unheard of for some Sisters to arrive after dark,' said Diane, probably just to reassure herself. 'But after this trouble with the villagers… I don't know.'

'I'm sure they are fine,' said Kashya. 'These villagers, I don't think they know what they saw.'

'You mean they're afraid of nothing, and came here for no reason?' asked Diane with a tilted head, her hands on her hips.

'No,' said Kashya pulling the word. 'I mean the danger they think is upon them might not be all that dangerous. Definitely not so dangerous that they had to leave their village. I say it's panic. Akara thinks otherwise. Well, she may agree with me, but she said we need to help these people no matter what.'

'We can't send them back now,' shrugged Diane. 'I assume you'll send out scouts?'

'Yes. Akara is trying to get some facts about what we are dealing with, and tomorrow we'll look into it.'

Diane looked around.

'Can I…'

'You don't have to ask,' interjected Kashya and she let out the first smile in the past half hour. Diane smiled back.

In a quarter of an hour the sleeping hall was empty. Kashya went back to the monastery gate, Diane followed her. The smells of the upcoming supper were starting to get out to the cloisters. The Sun was going down, the sky was turning gray with a touch of orange still remaining.

At the gates they looked for Akara but she wasn't there. The restless villagers started asking questions. The guards looked at Kashya like they didn't know what to do.

'Everyone, calm down,' said Kashya, trying not to sound annoyed. Then she turned to Diane. 'Would you look for Akara? I thought she was here.'

'Of course,' Diane nodded. She went off with determined strides. One of the best rogues, might be made captain soon.

Kashya moved away from the villagers trying to ask her questions. She looked back, waiting. Where was Akara? Why did she leave the people here?

'Excuse us,' a woman held out a hand to have her attention.

'Please,' turned Kashya. 'Akara will come back soon.'

She moved farther inside, arms crossed, annoyed frown on her face. The villagers were talking among themselves wearily, comforting each other, mothers squatting in front of their children, husbands holding their wives, men trying to seem in control with grim faces. Kashya did not look at them.

After a minute she did look though. There was something unusual in the sound of the crowd. Or was it something else…?

She held her head high, trying to hear what her intuition told her she heard. There was too much noise!

'Hey! Be quiet!' she addressed the people. Some of them looked at her and stopped talking, but not all.

'Silence! Quiet!' Kashya flailed with her arms. But she could already hear the thing she wanted to. It came closer.

Screams.

'Help us! Please, help us! Akara! Help!'

Kashya stepped toward the gate, eyes open wide, startled. The villagers looked at her eagerly. Some stepped forward to talk to her. Some heard the screaming though.

'Shut up!' shouted Kashya at the closest villagers. They stopped short in fright.

'Help us!' came the wailing from the gate. Kashya stepped into the crowd, pushing the startled men and women away. The guard rogues were already rounding their eyes and mouths, and a moment later she saw why when she met Aliza.

She was carrying the unconscious body of Elexa on her back. The girl had a bloody wound on her head, her blond hair stuck together with clotting blood. Aliza herself was in panic, face and eyes red with tears, sobbing, screaming for help. She wasn't even surprised because of the villagers.

'Please! Somebody!'

Kashya's hand went to her face in horror.

'Aliza!'

She ran to meet the girl. Aliza looked at her, pleading and fear in her eyes.

'Kashya!'

'Put her down!' Kashya said. She sounded like she was ordering it, but this hardly mattered now. She helped Aliza get Elexa off her back. They laid her gently down on the cold stone. The guards were afraid to step closer and Kashya was grateful for that. The villagers on the other hand gasped, and some of them moved closer. Some farther. Frightened faces, words of worry. Kashya wanted to push them back.

'No, no, no!' Aliza cried now, tears running down her face. Kashya knelt over the unconscious girl, checking her breathing. She was alive, but barely.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Oh, no. Oh, no! Please, please,' whined Aliza. She was in shock.

Kashya reached down and lifted Elexa's head by the back of her neck. She was dying, she needed a bed to recover! But moving her again could be too much for her. Has she made a mistake by putting her down? Oh, my…

'What is going on?' asked Akara, pushing past the startled villagers with Blood Raven and Diane. Finally! Kashya looked up at them, into Akara's troubled eyes.

'Akara! She's barely breathing!'

'Elexa!' gasped Akara. 'Let me see!'

She knelt before the girl too, facing Kashya. She took Elexa's head from the captain. Aliza stood there, still crying. Diane embraced her, her face not showing any emotion over her Sister's trembling shoulder.

'What happened?' asked Blood Raven stepping next to Kashya and kneeling. The villagers came closer to see, ignoring the guards who didn't hold them back anyway.

'Step back!' Kashya yelled at them. They stopped. 'Step back, or I'll…!'

The villagers stepped back now. Akara had her palm on Elexa's forehead. A faint glow was coming from her hand.

'What happened?' asked Raven again, her eyes darting between Kashya and Aliza. Kashya looked back and shrugged, her face saying 'I don't know'. But finally Aliza could manage a few words holding on tight to Diane.

'A wendigo… It attacked us! It hit Elexa. I… I killed it, but she…'

Even Akara looked up for a second.

'A wendigo? A gargantuan?' asked Raven. She did not ask 'Are you sure?' but it was in her voice. Aliza did not reply, she started crying again, burying her face in her friend's shoulder. Diane tried to comfort her, whispered words to her that nobody else heard.

'A wendigo' said Raven. 'Akara, that…'

Wendigos were gentle creatures. They never attacked people. In fact, they mostly stayed away from them, and they were a rare sight. Blood Raven was looking at Akara, her mouth a thin line, her eyes… frightened?

The Sun just went down. Their faces were basked in the white light of a full moon. Elexa was pale, her eyes closed, her face peaceful aside from the trickles of blood. Outside, on the horizon a sinister white mist could be seen.

'I am sorry,' said Akara breaking the silence, her voice barely more than a whisper. 'She is gone.'