The creature lingered some distance from the cave, not moving, not speaking, not making a sound. Its long white robe trailed after it, ending in rags and tatters, but no mark or stain appeared in the folds. As it hovered a foot above the ground, its clothes, as well as its hair, seemed to float upwards, as though it were underwater. Long, lean shadow-creatures swirled where its feet should have been. Despite the figure's ghostly appearance, however, its large, able hands and face were as opaque as anything embodied, though its skin was emaciated and colored an unearthly white.
That face, full-lipped and hardened by long exposure to the elements, now scowled at Lidia and Valygar. The specter's mouth opened, rasped an incomprehensible command and pointed towards the entrance of the cave with a pale finger. The shadows, long and lean like starving things, crawled towards the entrance of the cave.
Lidia reached for Azuredge, brandishing it. The light on the edge of the axe's blade had waxed, bathing the entrance to the cave in a sapphire-colored glow. At the mere sight of the axe the shadows shuddered, and slunk away as though they had been rebuked.
The white-robed creature folded its thin arms, scowling. It turned its back on the cave, raising its arm again and touching one of the branches of the nearby trees, then floating away. The shadow-creatures followed behind. The creature faded out of sight among the trees, but its presence seemed to linger long after it had disappeared.
It was some time before Valygar dared approach the entrance the cave again. He wiped some sweat from his brow, staring into the blackness where the figure had been.
"Gods," he said. "I could have sworn that thing looked like Merella."
Lidia mentally filed through every type of undead she'd could think of, trying to determine which one would wear the body of the missing ranger. Liches were reanimated spellcasters, wraiths and specters had no physical form, ghouls and ghasts had claws and fangs, zombies rotted, and vampires could easily pass for human.
"Maybe she came back as some kind of powerful wight," she finally said, "now that the Shade Lord has infested this place with negative energies. But wights don't go on the hunt like this, nor do they command shadows."
"How is that going to help us?" Valygar asked, sounding somewhat skeptical.
"If she is a wight, she should leave us alone once we move out of her territory. Admittedly, I'm not sure what she's become, but if we can figure it out, we're more likely to find a weakness." she said.
"A decent adage, but I thought your type simply walked up to things and started hacking away," Valygar said.
"I don't if I can help it," she replied, "but I never rule it out."
Lidia called to Aerie — the last member of the Company who was still awake — and asked her to take the watch for a few minutes, while she and Valygar went out to see if the strange creature with Merella's face had left any traces behind.
It might have been her imagination, but she thought that the dark was a little less oppressive than before. Outside, maybe, the world had moved from night to day, the sun beating down on the smothering blanket of shadow that surrounded this place.
Lidia glanced overhead in the vain hope of catching a glimpse of any light above. There was nothing in the sky but deep night.
With a thought, Azuredge began to glow a moonlike cold white, bathing its surroundings in a pale imitation of color. She held the axe up towards the place where she thought the creature had touched one of the stripped branches.
In that spot was a small braid, tied in a loop and left on the branch as it had been at Merella's cabin; it was made of tattered red fabric, a leather lace, and black and silver hair.
"Valygar, what do you make of this?" she asked, pointing towards it but not daring to touch it.
He stared at it for some time, saying nothing.
Finally, he broke the long silence. "So Merella, who may or may not be a wight, shows up with shadows to attack, cowers, departs, and leaves this thing behind, as she did at her own cabin?"
Lidia thought aloud, "Anath lived in this cave for some time, and Azuredge seems to strike fear in undead. Maybe the shadows couldn't attack if they wanted to."
She looked towards the entrance of the cave. The lamplight cast Aerie in a silhouette. Even from here, she could tell that the elf was anxiously pacing.
"It's something of a riddle, but we can't stay here," Lidia said. Gesturing with the illuminated axe, she and Valygar soon returned to their cave and resumed their watch.