Aliza and Diane stood in front of the fresh grave, close to each other. They listened to the trickling rain and their own thoughts. Three more Sisters were around. Two middle-aged rogues named Blaise and Olena stood under the cemetery tree with crossed arms, looking almost entirely alike – both had shoulder-length dark blonde hair and blue eyes, although Olena's was darker. They were a duo from childhood much like Aliza and Diane… and Elexa.

The captain in the group was Flavie, a stern-faced, pale woman in her thirties. She was standing at the iron fence looking out at the gloomy plains with a frown on her face, her wet auburn hair flat on her head.

Aliza moved closer to Diane and hugged her arm. Her face twisted and tears started running down her already flushed cheeks.

'It's all right, dear,' Diane whispered in her ear. 'You don't have to hide it.'

Then why aren't you crying like me?, thought Aliza.

Blaise and Olena looked up from their quiet conversation, sympathetic expressions on their faces. Blaise sighed audibly, then looked around to see if anyone had heard it. Everyone had, but no one misunderstood.

Flavie turned back from the fence now, running her hand through her wet hair and wiping it on her leather vest which was equally wet. She stepped closer to the others. For a moment she debated if she should speak, concern showing on her face. But then she looked back at the Sun barely visible through the thick clouds.

'We should move on soon. If we want to reach the farm and get back too.'

Aliza, still crying nodded in agreement against Diane's shoulder. Diane met the captain's eye and bowed her head once with closed eyes. The other two rogues gathered themselves and walked to stand beside Flavie.

A rare whiff of wind sneaked through the gravestones, scattering the raindrops for a moment. The open gate creaked once, and then there was silence again. All of the Sisters had a bad feeling, but none of them stated it. Aliza finally managed to stop crying and raised her head. She sighed.

'I'm ready,' she said quietly. Diane looked at Flavie.

'We can go now,' she said just in case the captain didn't hear Aliza. She did, but only now did she nod. She and the other two starting walking towards the gate. Diane waited for Aliza as she looked back once more to Elexa's grave.

'See you soon,' the teary-eyed young rogue whispered into the rain. Then she passed Diane who followed her from behind, both taking a few longer steps to catch up to the others. When all of them were out, Blaise closed the loud gate with a frown on her face.

Kashya knelt beside the creature. It was the size of a large cat with long spikes covering its back. There was an arrow protruding from its snub-nosed, bat-like head. She plucked it out of the small skull, wiped off the blood in the wet grass and put it back in her quiver.

A few steps ahead of her two rogues were doing the same with a dozen of these spike fiends. A little farther to the left a group of six Sisters were chopping up a fleshy nest of blood hawks with their long daggrs, the saggy parts sometimes bursting open with disgusting noises. 'Good Heavens,' moaned one of them. The inhabitants of the nest – winged beasts more like bats than hawks – lay scattered around with their little mouths open showing sharp teeth, each unmoving, some of them with still not reclaimed arrows sticking out of them.

Kashya stood up and walked to a rogue named Meghan sitting on a rock. She was looking at her own right bicep which had a deep, bloody cut on it.

'Are you all right?' asked Kashya. The young woman glanced at her with her dark brown eyes, then poked the cut with her index finger.

'Just a flesh wound, it seems,' she said. 'It doesn't hurt that bad.'

Next to the rock two sharp quills were dropped on the ground. They came from the back of a spike fiend. One grazed Meghan's hand, the other one got stuck in her leather breastplate, almost going through. The hole was visible in the brown armor.

'Bandage it, just in case,' Kashya said, touching Meghan's other shoulder. She turned to see another rogue, a short-haired blonde named Raissa wincing with her hands in the air as another Sister was bandaging her over her pelvis. One of the blood hawks crashed into her and bit her at her side and as she grabbed and pulled the animal away it made a nasty wound.

'Are you all right?' called over Meghan with her own roll of bandages in her hands.

'She lost a lot of blood,' answered the girl aiding Raissa. She had curly black hair and skin a shade darker than the others. 'But she drank a potion, she should be fine.'

'Good to know,' said Raissa with a painful grin. 'Bastard bit a chunk out of me!'

Not all of the rogues had full armor. They wore what was comfortable to them, but now Kashya was worried she didn't order them all to fully gear up.

There were twelve of them, more than a scouting group. As Akara talked the rumors over with Blood Raven she decided to send a larger party to go to the village where all those people came from. She wanted to send Harrol, the leader of the villagers with them, but Kashya managed to talk her out of it. And what a good call that was. It would be a disaster trying to protect that weak man…

The mission was going to the village and looking into the situation. If animals were this wild, attacking even such a group of armed rogues, they might have to organize something with the local guards. Kashya hoped the soldiers there weren't the kind to get in the way.

As the party got their bearings together they set off again. All had their weapons ready. Three rogues in the front with spears, the rest of them with bows and arrows. Kashya was scanning the land as they went through the wilderness, puddles left half an hour ago by the rain splashing under some careless boots. Not much could be seen through the white fog, but nothing seemed to stir in the scattered patches of shrubbery.

Soon they reached a dirt road with muddy wheel-tracks.

'This must be going to the village,' one rogue stated the obvious. Everyone quickened their pace. They were walking since morning and it was well past midday now. Everyone was looking forward to sitting down, even among distressed villagers.

But when they reached the village, their hope faded.

It was all deserted, not a soul in sight, not a sound made. Kashya lifted her right hand, signaling the group to stop. They listened and scanned the houses they could see. Thatched roofs and wooden fences stood quietly in the gloom. Not even animals could be heard.

'It's deserted,' whispered Meghan.

'Be careful,' said Kashya after a pause. 'Let's go to the center.'

Walking slowly and cautiously now they went between the first two houses, passed along two more hovels and set their eyes on the village square. There were abandoned carts and boxes at the open ground, a small market.

At first they didn't see any threats, but then something stirred behind one of the carriages. A wendigo was rummaging through some boxes of soaked, rotten fruit and vegetables. As it saw the newcomers it stood upright, knocking a basket of apples over. The fruit rolled in the puddles and mud as it charged, wailing at them in its frighteningly loud voice. Five rogues fired, including Kashya. The creature stopped in its tracks as the arrows pelted its torso, then fell back on its back, its huge hands grasping the air. The Sisters watched if it's going to stand, but it only knocked over an empty crate and coughed up two splashes of blood. It died in a minute, and nothing else attacked them while they stood there vigilant.

Kashya moved first, stepping up on a market stand and from there climbing on a cart loaded with boxes, only half of them loaded out. From there she could see the whole square. There was nothing else hiding in the market. There was an inn, a blacksmith's shop and a tailor's facing it. The rest of the buildings were all houses – not more than thirty of them – except the short stone guard tower at the far side of the village visible over the roofs.

'There might be villagers locked in their homes hiding from that beast,' said a rogue named Amplisa. She was the oldest Sister in the group, a touch of grey in her shoulder-length light brown hair. The only reason why she wasn't a captain is because she specifically asked not to be one.

'Yes,' said Kashya. 'That is why we're searching every building. Spread out in threes, search everything. Amplisa, you check the inn. Klaudia, you go through the shops, see if anyone's hiding there. Iantha, you go over there and search the houses. We are going towards the guard tower. We'll all meet back here when we're finished. And watch out for beasts.'

They quickly formed four groups, each consisting of one melee fighter and two archers. Kashya put her bow away on her back and drew a sword – a rare weapon for a Sister – and jumped from her vantage point to the ground to lead Meghan and another young girl named Tylena.

'Let's go,' she said, going towards the first house between them and the guard tower.

The first three houses they searched were empty. There were a few clothes in the rooms, and food in the pantries. After carefully going through the few rooms Meghan shook her head.

'Where did all the people go?'

'Looks like they left in a hurry,' said Kashya. 'They wouldn't have left all this behind.'

Tylena didn't say anything, just swallowed and looked around anxiously, searching the unmoving shadows.

The door of the next house stood open to a crack. Kashya stepped inside, quickly turning around, but the room was empty. The floor creaked under her steps as she passed a small archway to the only other room – a bedroom. When she saw the leg behind the bed, she stopped, and so did the other two.

'Hello?' said Kashya lowering her sword. But the owner of the legs did not move.

She stepped closer to see behind the bed. The man was lying on the floor on his face, a pool of blood mixed with straw from the bed under him.

'He's dead,' whispered Tylena. Kashya remained silent. She leaned over the body and turned the man on his back. It was a middle-aged man, his eyes closed, two wounds on his stomach and three around the heart area, one dead center.

'Stabbed to death,' she said examining the body further, tearing the shirt away at the torso. The body was pale and blue veins visible around the wounds, the blood more black than red. Kashya frowned in disgust at the smell. 'He must have been killed more than two days ago.'

'By who?' asked Meghan, half to herself.

'I would guess a dagger,' Kashya said. 'Good question.'

'He's the only body here,' Tylena added, getting a hold on herself.

'There's something very bad going on in this village,' said Meghan.

Kashya rose. She hadn't found any more clues to the death of this man.

'Let's go to the guard tower,' she said, reaching a decision. 'We can come back to the houses if we don't find anyone there.'

'All right,' Meghan nodded.

The two followed Kashya outside and through the dark street going to the tower. The houses seemed eerier now, casting their shadows in the foggy afternoon light. The unnatural silence made Kashya nervous. Tylena seemed sick – she probably haven't seen a dead person before.

When they reached the tower Kashya stood beside the door and called out:

'Is there anyone in there? This is the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye!'

They all listened, but no answer came from inside.

'Abandoned, like the rest,' Meghan said quietly.

'Don't let your guard down though,' Kashya said looking at her. 'I don't say this easily, but we don't know what we're up against.'

She half expected the door to be locked, but it wasn't. The heavy metal creaked on its hinges as the three rogues stepped inside. The interior was dark and damp, and a strange smell hung in the air. They expected the worst, and they found it: in the farthest room there was a guard in chain mail who had hung himself. Tylena stumbled outside to vomit, and Kashya asked Meghan with a glance to follow her. Alone, she examined the body. There were no wounds on this one though, no marks to show anything but suicide. She debated if she should cut the man down, and decided she would wait for some of the stronger Sisters to help her.

She went out to the outer room to meet Tylena who had returned with Meghan at her side comforting her with a hand on her shoulder.

'I'm sorry,' the girl started, but Kashya cut her off with a raised palm.

'Don't worry about it,' she said. Then she looked at the ladder which led to the lookout post. 'I'm going up there.'

'Shall we follow?' Meghan asked.

'No need. I'll be back soon.'

She climbed the ladder alone, opened the hatch outside, and stood above the village in the fresh air. She could see the houses, all as if grown from the fog. Everything was still except a group of three Sisters entering a larger home. The Sun was well behind Kashya and the Moon could be seen too hiding behind the thick veil of clouds. It was getting chilly.

Climbing down she led the others out and started going through the houses. They didn't find anyone else, dead or alive. Every house was in a similar state, food left in the pantries, some clothes lying around, children's toys, tools, all kinds of valuable equipment. The whole village was abandoned, seemingly in a hurry.

After an hour the scouts all met back at the small market. Everyone brought similar news of deserted homes. Two more bodies were found – a man and a woman, probably husband and wife sitting on the floor of the blacksmith's shop with backs to a wall, wrists slit. Suicide.

'I don't like this,' one of the Sisters groaned.

'The inn is empty,' Amplisa said. 'Do you think we should stay here for the night? We won't make it back home by nightfall.'

'Well, what do you think?' Kashya looked around, asking the question from everyone. She saw what they were thinking. Most of them cast worried glances out to the gloom and stood closer to each other than usual. 'All right. We'll stay at the inn for the night and go back home tomorrow. Now, let's talk about guard shifts.'

Five new refugees came in the evening, brought home with Blood Raven and her scouting party. They stood around in the inner cloister waiting for the Sisters to show them where they will be sleeping. A white-bearded man in his sixties fondling a pipe in his hand, a woman in a dirty apron, a balding man holding a little blond girl's hand, and another man, middle-aged, with deep sorrow in his eyes. Akara looked at them and rubbed one of her temples with her fingers.

'Akara,' said Raven gently, touching her arm.

'Yes,' she replied with a nod and turned towards the redheaded rogue. Raven seemed tired. 'Continue. Have you found out anything else?'

'Nothing else. Just the abandoned farms and these people.'

'What they are saying is…' Akara started, then sighed. 'It's similar to what the others told us.'

'I know,' said Raven, almost whispering, her head lowered. One of the refugees, the man with the girl, looked at her, and she turned away slightly so he couldn't see her lips moving. 'I think we should start thinking about defense.'

'I…' started Akara, but she stopped again. She was at a loss at the moment. She looked at Raven who raised her head and looked at her with a worried frown. Before the captain could ask anything she recomposed herself and nodded. She had to be strong. 'I cannot say anything certain until all the scouting parties get back. But we should think about it, yes.'

'If it's some form of demonic magic again…' Raven murmured so the people definitely couldn't hear. 'It could be that something remained from Tristram.'

'Let us hope it's nothing of the sort,' said Akara, trying to calm Raven.

'Maybe we should hope that it's nothing worse,' she replied and folded her arms. 'Nothing certain, yes, but if these people really saw Fallen…'

She let the thought hang in the air. Akara bit her lip, then closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, her face was as calm and soothing as ever.

'We should show these people their beds,' she said. 'We can talk after.'

'Maybe I should go back to Tristram,' Raven continued, ignoring the High Priestess' words. 'See if I can find Aidan.'

'Please, Raven,' Akara said with her motherly voice. 'This is not the time for this discussion.'

She pointed towards the refugees with her eyes. Raven reluctantly started nodding.

'Of course, Akara. I understand.'

'Come,' smiled Akara. To her delight, Raven smiled back, even if it was a very small smile.

'There,' Diane said, pointing ahead. The others could see it too: the farmhouse could be seen through the thick veil of fog. They quickened their pace. The evening air was chilly and damp and they couldn't wait to stop for some minutes. They knew the family who lived here, and they would surely welcome them for some tea or soup.

When they got closer they could see two cows lying in the mud in their pen, looking at the newcomers with dreamy gazes. The ever present song of crickets enveloped everything. One of the house's windows was open and the flickering light of a candle escaped into the yard to be swallowed quickly by the darkness and shadows.

'Finally,' Aliza sighed.

'Remember, we shouldn't make them nervous, just ask around if anything unusual happened,' said Flavie, and everyone understood. Then se added: 'Are you all right, Aliza?'

'Yes,' said Aliza. Diane looked at her with a gentle smile.

'Let's go then,' said Flavie and stepped in front of the door. She knocked, and they waited for an answer. When no one came, she knocked again. 'Master Vama, this is Flavie. May we come in for a minute?'

No answer came. Flavie leaned closer, but she couldn't hear anything. Total silence from inside. The room where the candle burned was empty, and no one came from the other rooms to open the door.

'Asleep already?' said the surprised Blaise. Flavie turned back with her eyebrows high up.

'Should I try again?' she asked, confused and embarrassed. Aliza almost smiled at the blush that appeared on her usually stern face.

'Try one more time,' Olena suggested. Flavie did, but the third knock wasn't met by an answer either. The Sisters just stood around outside the house for a moment.

'Maybe they went out somewhere,' Olena shrugged. 'There's a candle lit. They'll be back soon.'

'Is it locked?' Diane asked. Flavie shrugged and tried the door. It opened without resistance.

They peered into the room. There was a table with the candle, four chairs, a cupboard, a fireplace…

'There's Master Vama's coat,' Blaise pointed to one of the chairs. The old brown coat was hanging on the back of it.

'Master Vama?' called out Flavie stepping inside. 'Mistress Dilla?'

When no answer came still, she stepped back and closed the door before any one of them could protest.

'We shouldn't intrude,' she said. 'We should wait for them to come back.'

They waited for half an hour, sitting on the wooden fence in front of the two cows. Nothing seemed to move. They talked about the refugees back at the Monastery, told each other some stories, but they were all tired and the silences were getting longer. The light of the Moon pierced the clouds for some long moments, providing some visibility at times. Other times it was just dark. After a while Diane and Blaise lit their torches.

They waited in the torchlight for another half hour. There was no sign of the family. Moths started gathering around them. Blaise and Olena went around the farm once, just to do something. Aliza was resting her head on Diane's shoulder. Flavie looked like she was very cold, hugging herself.

Finally, Aliza broke the silence.

'I… We should probably head back home.'

Everyone looked at Flavie. She looked back at the house, then in front of herself. After a few long seconds of contemplating, she inhaled and exhaled deeply.

'All right. We've waited enough. Let's go back home.'

'What about them?' Olena asked pointing at the house with her head.

Flavie shrugged and sighed.

'I don't know. We can't set a camp in front of the house though.'

'Let's go home,' Aliza asked, and it wasn't far from pleading. She wasn't feeling well. As they started back the way they came, she glanced at the night around them, and it was as if something was always watching them just out of their eyes' reach, just behind the dark.

They stayed together, and Flavie touched her bow often.