Run, fratello!" Lovina barked, urging her twin to flee faster. There was a large crash behind them as a boulder was shattered into fragments. An ugly black fog curled around their feet, plucked at their cloaks and obscured the dirt path in front of them. Lovina snorted at this cheap trick and shot a white ball of pure, clean magic at the fog; there was a hiss and it disappeared. Behind them came a yell of frustration.

"W-where are we going?" her brother panted. He looked over his shoulder and his face turned pasty white. "Th-they have-" A loud, inhuman roar bellowed up far too close for comfort. Greeeat, they'd found a troll.

Up ahead she could see the road split into two paths. She pointed to the fork. "We have to split up! It'll be harder for them to catch us!"

"Split up?!"

"Yes, find somewhere safe to hide."

"But-"

Lovina grunted with frustration and as they reached the split she shoved him onto the road on the right. "Keep running, Feli! Don't let them catch you!"

Another roar rent the night air.

"You're leaving?!"

Lovina winced at the agast looks on Roderich and Elizaveta's faces. It was late in the evening and all the inn's customers had gone to bed. She'd brought up the painful subject while preparing bread for the morning (it was easier to talk about difficult things if her hands were occupied). Of course, she'd meant for only Elizaveta to hear at first but her husband had walked in at just the wrong time.

"Yes, I'm afraid I'll have to leave soon," she said.

Elizaveta teared up and Roderich spluttered. "I-Is it about money?" he asked anxiously. "Or some other matter I can help with?"

"No Roderich, I couldn't be happier here. It's a family matter though and can't be avoided. I… don't want to leave," she explained gently. It was true, she loved this quiet town, along with the sensible and ernest people that lived in it. Roderich, Elizaveta, and Gilbert were almost like family themselves. Gilbert… Tears came unbidden to her eyes but she blinked them back. "Don't worry, Elizaveta's as good a cook as I am. No one will know the difference when I leave."

"But we will!" Elizaveta exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug. Lovina returned it awkwardly, affection wasn't really her thing. "When are you leaving?" her friend finally asked.

"Tonight, right now. My belongings are all packed." she glanced apologetically at Roderich. "I'm sorry to leave on such short notice. It can't be helped."

The innkeeper nodded curtly. "I'll get your wages."

"You don't have to."

"I insist."

The two women watched him walk out of the kitchen and stood there awkwardly. Elizaveta dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief Lovina had embroidered pink flowers on. Lovina let the dough rest and wiped some flour off her hands. Finally, she asked the fatal question. "...What are you going to tell Gilbert?"

"I… don't know. Would you like to wake him up and say goodbye?"

"No."

A chill wind whipped through the street of the small village, a welcome relief for the few animals standing nearby. They soon became nervous however, as some strange wave of animosity quickly followed it. Horses snorted in fear and dogs growled. A tall figure, cloaked and cowled, appeared at the end of the road. It advanced patiently, slowly, a sickly black fog pooling around him, spreading to the beasts and shutting them up.

The figure paused as the door of the largest building opened… and his prey walked out. The fog was quickly recalled until it hovered, a somber mass of despair, around his ankles. The woman was carrying two bundles, one small and one heavy, as she walked away. Someone called to her from the building and she turned once to give a final goodbye.

Distracted as she was, the figure struck, his fog zooming towards her unprotected back.

"Lovina!"

A man ran out to meet her from a different building. The fog immediately dissipated enough to be invisible to the eye. The figure growled softly and retreated into a shadow, watching the man and his prey. She looked surprised, chagrined. He recalled all of his unearthly mist and it gathered at his ankles. He could wait if he must…

"Lovina!"

Lovina turned and looked unnerved by Antonio's sudden arrival. He had to admit that he was also taken aback by her appearance so late in the evening. Antonio had been sitting at the table of his small house, looking at the stars from his window, when he'd seen Lovina leave the inn. It looked as if she were carrying something cumbersome so of course he'd gone out to help her. As he'd ran to greet her something dark had caught the corner of his eye but a quick glance had dismissed it as a shadow.

"W-what are you doing up this late?" Lovina asked, putting down one of her bundles and brushing some soft, auburn hair from her face. The moonlight made her eyes glow like they had a couple days before, only softer.

Antonio shrugged, a little embarrassed. "I couldn't sleep. I saw you and thought you might need help." He gestured to her bundles and she blushed.

"I'm fine," she answered, picking up the larger object - it looked like a bag really - and hoisting it up to her waist.

"Are you sure? I can carry those bags wherever you need to go," Antonio offered. "Just name the place and I-"

"No, Toni," Lovina replied firmly. "I'm… leaving."

A blow to the chest couldn't have affected Antonio more. It took all of his strength to keep his expression neutral as his heart ached. "Oh! ...You're going on a trip then? When w-will you be back?" He sounded calm except for that annoying crack in his voice.

Lovina looked down, hiding her face. "I'm not coming back, Toni."

Ow, ow, ow.

"It's- you see, my family-..."

It hurt, his heart physically hurt.

"I'll miss you."

The blacksmith's head jerked up, desperate. Lovina eyed him sadly, her posture drooping and forlorn. It seemed as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders, as if she'd had to do this sort of thing before. She blushed again and coughed brusquely. "I-I mean, I'll miss everyone here."

Antonio nodded, his hopes wilting again. "We will all miss you, Lovi." A pregnant pause followed.

"Well… I'd better be going," Lovina finally whispered.

"Yes, goodbye." It hurt, it hurt, it HURT! Antonio backed up a few steps to the edge of the road and prepared to watch his heart walk away. The dark thing from before caught his eyes again and this time, when he turned to look, he saw it.

A black figure surrounded by an eerie fog was walking towards Lovina, their long strides eating up the yards. Without warning the fog rushed forward, like a rolling wave of doom, aiming straight for Lovina. She was distracted with adjusting something in her bag.

"Watch out!" Antonio shouted. Before he knew it he was pushing Lovina out of the way of the fog with no regard for his own escape. He was vaguely aware of something cold and malevolent oozing into his soul before he lost all conscious thought.

Lovina screamed in horror as her friend toppled to the ground. She screamed again, louder this time, when she caught sight of the sable dressed figure approaching rapidly. Noises came from nearby houses and people stirred near their windows, attracted by the commotion. A low chuckle came from the intruder and a blast of mist spread to every nook and cranny of the village. The people soon quieted again as an overpowering urge to sleep claimed them; only Lovina could resist its power, and only because she used her own magic to ward off the spell. She knelt next to Antonio and grabbed his wrist. There was a pulse, faint and weak, beneath his suddenly clammy skin. His eyelids fluttered and his stirred restlessly, caught in a bad dream.

A shadow swept over them and Lovina looked up. Purple eyes glowed, the only source of light from the hooded one less that a foot from them. Lovina gulped as she realized that they had found her again and that she was on her own…

MWAHAHA! Cliffhanger anyone? You've probably guessed this already but I'm gonna make you wait for the Spamano. X3