Samina used a fresh log to scoot the embers of the campfire closer together, before she added the wood to the flames and leaned back. It was a little bit colder these nights than it had been before their stay in the Great City, and nature was beginning to show the first faint signs of autumn.

Like this patch of woods they had set up camp in, for protection from wind and spying eyes. It was mostly made up of dark evergreens, but the occasional birch would carry small spots of gold, and the leaves of the few maples were faintly lined with orange.

She glanced over at the prone form of Steelwing and suppressed a small sigh. The oncoming chill did nothing to discourage the elf, who as usual had unfolded his bedroll outside on the ground, just at the edge of the firelight.

Was that just another way of keeping his distance to the rest of them? Samina frowned absently. He was such a hard man to read� his most superficial expressions would be as subtle as if they were his innermost thoughts � unless he meant for them to be more obvious � and the quick glimpses she might get on what was going on beneath the surface were as few and far between as they were confusing.

But, then again, why bother about it � After all, she knew enough to trust him. Allowing that train of thought to trail off, she gazed off into the night and scanned the soft ripples of high, moonlit grass and softly rustling branches with practised ease. Nothing. No sounds, nor movements out of place.

Not that she expected there to be anything. In these past three nights of sleeping out on the vast Ducarri plain, she hadn�t seen anything more than old, faded tracks of the beasts and large predators that inhabited it. It did indeed seem as though the Healer�s aura worked as well as she had thought.

But now she had come to realise that this tranquillity was actually making her edgy. She wasn�t used to having nothing to keep her eye out for, and the night was just too quiet � she couldn�t help but feel as though it was some kind of build-up, as if a huge, terrible beast waited just beyond her line of vision, crouching, preparing, ready to pounce�

Samina slapped herself lightly to expel those unnerving thoughts. Ugh, I�m getting paranoid! Why, gods curse it, can�t I just enjoy the stillness?

A small voice answered, whispering in the back of her head:

Because you�re out in the wilderness. You know you don�t belong here, city girl - you�re not on top of these predators� and it�s not supposed to feel this safe.

She found herself twiddling with the strap of her morningstar, and snatched her hand away with an annoyed snort. She was not supposed to have such obvious nervous habits, either.

Once again her gaze returned to the sleeping elf, and she watched the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest for a while.

Okay, so I may be getting paranoid, but at least I�m not as far gone as him�

Steelwing slept without a blanket, fully dressed and with his cuirass and helmet close by, ready to be snapped on with a minute�s notice. His twin swords were laying on the ground beside him, one on each side, within easy reach and already loose in their scabbards.

Of course, that�s how he always slept. Always ready for trouble, always ready to spring into action � and she really shouldn�t be calling him paranoid for it, as it had probably saved all of their lives on more than one occasion.

Indeed, danger could come leaping out at any moment - especially at night, outdoors, if you dropped your guard for just a second�

Suddenly her heart jumped. Wait, what was that?

There had been a sound - very faint, but definitely out of place. She looped the morningstar�s strap around her wrist and tightened it while she strained her ears, to try to catch that sound again, and what direction it had come from. Adrenaline began trickling into her system, further sharpening her senses.

There. It was a little bit louder now, a soft, quiet whimper, as if from someone in pain or grief. She looked around, trying to be as subtle as possible about it. The sound was coming from� the tent?

Aahhh� Samina�s shoulders slumped in relief. Someone�s just having a nightmare. She smiled and berated herself for getting so worked up over nothing, then stood and stretched a little.

Oh, well, I suppose I should go and wake him up�

But then the quiet moaning rose to a high, piercing scream, and the adrenaline returned to Samina with a vengeance. She was over by the tent before she even realised that she had begun moving, and tore the flap open with one hand, morningstar held ready in the other.

Two yellow, dimly glowing pairs of dwarven eyes blinked up at her, and in the short moment it took for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the tent, she heard Taskkarr�s gruff, drowsy voice:

�What in Vontar�s name is happening? What�s that smell? Where�s my hammer?�

Then she saw him: Judeau was the one who was screaming, his body convulsively arched up and trembling, fists clenched, face contorted in a mask of agony.

Stunned for a moment, she watched as he fell back down against the bedroll again, gasping for air and writhing in pain.

What the hell is going on?

She rushed to his side, grabbed him by the arms and began shaking him roughly. �Judeau! Judeau, wake up! Wake up, damnit!�

�Do you smell that?� Taskkarr�s deep voice growled in her ear, at the same time as Thirgynn gasped from further back:

�I can sense magic!�

Samina took a quick sniff of the air, and almost gagged on the smell of burning flesh. She turned to the miracle-worker, keeping a hard grip on the writhing man.

�Thirgynn! Is he under a spell?!�

�I�m not sure yet��

�Well, find out and break it! Now!� She turned back to Judeau and shook him again. �Wake up, Judeau! Can you hear me? Fight it! Wake up!�

He screamed again, and she felt a shiver of fear run down her spine.

Why won�t he wake up? What the HELL is going on?

Her eyes narrowed in a grimly calculating manner and she released her grip on one of his arms, then slapped him soundly across the face. To her relief, his eyes snapped open and he gasped.

He sat up so suddenly that he almost smacked his forehead into hers, and grabbed her forcefully by the arms in a mirror-movement of how she was holding him.

�Griffith�!� He gasped, his eyes wide and wild as they locked onto Samina�s. ��Y-you killed them all�! Demons� blood - everywhere!�

�Judeau!� She met his terrified stare with a serious look, speaking firmly and as calmly as she could. �It�s okay � It�s me, it�s us. You were just having a nightmare. Do you hear me? It was just a nightmare, it�s over now.�

He seemed to focus on her, and some of the tension drained away from the cramped grip on her arms. He blinked.

�M-Miss� Samina?�

�Yeah,� she almost sighed with relief, and smiled. �Yeah, it�s just me. It�s okay.�

But he glanced over her shoulder and all the terror came instantly flooding back. He tried to wrench himself free from her grip, shouting:

�Demons! Behind you!�

She sent a quick look over her own shoulder, not ready to take any chances, and noticed that the dwarves� glowing, yellow night-eyes had been joined by the more greenish glow of Steelwing�s. She turned back to Judeau.

�No, no, no, that�s just Taskkarr, Thirgynn and Steelwing, there are no demons here � trust me, we would have noticed. It was just a nightmare.�

Was it, though? she thought to herself, the magic Thirgynn sensed� the smell of burning flesh� the way he screamed and writhed� could it really have been just a nightmare?

The blond man stared at the glowing eyes behind her for a while before relaxing somewhat again. He sank back against the bedroll, breathing heavily.

�Just a nightmare��

No, definitely not just a nightmare. �Yes, just a nightmare. It�s okay now.�

He looked up at her, his big, brown eyes almost pleading. �Is it�? I-it�s over now� right? It was� so real��

He looked so much like a small boy right then, begging his mother to tell him that there were no monsters under the bed, that she smiled warmly in spite of herself.

I don�t know. �Yeah, it�s over. It�s fine.�

Judeau�s eyes closed and he took a few deep breaths. Behind Samina, Taskkarr huffed:

�Did he call me a demon? Me? Hmpf! I have never heard anything more stupid��

Suddenly Judeau�s hands cramped around her arms again, and his eyes flew open. He sat up, staring down at nothing.

�No,� he whispered. �It�s not over� Oh, god, no� no��

�Judeau?�

He pushed her aside and disentangled himself from his blanket.

��S-�scuse me,� he mumbled and unsteadily rose to his feet before pushing his way out past the elf and the dwarves. Worried, Samina followed him.

~
Stumbling out of the tent, the cold night air hit Judeau like a bucket of cold water after the stuffy warmth inside. He stopped, closed his eyes and focused on the refreshing sensations that the breeze brought to his still trembling body, trying to force the pictures of the horrible dream out of his head for just a brief moment.

�It was so vivid, so real� and my hand�

The breeze made him delightfully aware of every single bead of sweat and chilled his drenched undershirt against his heated skin.

�I was trying to reach them, running over ground covered in faces of the dead� Oh, god, I watched them all die! ...

It made the few loose strands of his hair that weren�t plastered against his face and neck gently whisper across his shoulders. He took a deep breath, revelling in the sensation of cool air in his lungs, trying desperately to ignore the turmoil in his heart and stomach.

�Corkus, Rickert, Pippin, Gatts� I watched them all die, and I couldn�t do anything to help them, couldn�t do anything to stop it� and demons. Demons tearing, biting, chewing, goring, clawing�

The grass beneath his feet was cold, soft and felt a little wet. It was wonderfully refreshing against his warm, almost swollen feet.

�Too weak to do anything� In the end, I couldn�t even save her� And Griffith�s demonic face, mocking me as he branded her and killed her�

His palm stung, and he forced his hands into even tighter fists.

�As he branded me.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the scene played itself out again inside his eyelids. One simple gesture from the dark, demonic Griffith, and the Brand had burned itself out from underneath the skin of his hand. The agony had been unbelievable.

He shivered, and not because of the breeze. His palm still stung.

Surely it was just some kind of emotional response to the nightmare, a phantom pain, conjured up by his exhausted and admittedly still befuddled mind.

By the almighty God, he hoped so.

�It was so real�

�And the things� Caska said�

No, Judeau! Pull yourself together! He opened his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. Keep it cool, and find out. You have to find out for sure, right now, or you WILL go insane.

With a deep, determined breath, he gathered his courage and purposefully strode up to the fire. An image of Griffith�s new, demonic face with a cold, confident smirk rose into his mind, and he heard the all too familiar voice again, repeating the words it had spoken as the brand sizzled through his skin:

You are mine. Branded as mine. You cannot escape.

He took another deep breath and let it out slowly, focusing on calming his racing heartbeats and to stop himself from trembling.

Keep it cool, Judeau, he admonished himself, then raised his hand up to his face and paused for a short moment before he slowly unclenched his fist and let the flickering light from the fire fall onto his palm.

You cannot escape.

His knees gave out. He vaguely felt them hit the ground.

His head spun.

He felt as though he was going to be sick.

You cannot escape.

It shouldn�t have been. It couldn�t have been� but it was. Somehow, the brand had returned � his nightmare had followed him into the waking world. He began trembling even worse, finding it increasingly harder to breathe.

He stared at the brand on his palm, unable to think a single coherent thought and close to drowning in the flood of memories that came welling up, to mix and blend with images from his suddenly much too real nightmare.

Corkus, his head torn off and his body being devoured by a horde of demons� Rickert, impaled through the abdomen by a demon�s sword-like horn� Pippin, avenging his own death with one last, mighty blow to the demon that had become his bane� Gatts, fighting like a wild beast to guard Caska�s back until his very last breath � then torn apart by the onslaught of demons� Caska� Caska, standing proud like an avenging angel, her short hair falling like a dark halo around her head� beautiful Caska, at once terrifying and desirable, screaming accusations of cowardice and selfishness at him, blinded by her own tears for Gatts� Caska� faithful, beautiful Caska� dead on the ground of faces, naked, humiliated by the one man she would have given everything for, her strong, loyal heart torn from her body and held in the claw-like hand of the new Griffith� her blood pooling out around her, mixing with the blood of all the others�

And Griffith�s calm, sensible, confident voice � the voice he had trusted and followed loyally for most of his life � kept echoing through his mind, taunting and pitying him.

You are mine. Branded as mine. You cannot escape� You all entrusted me with your lives - wouldn�t you have died for me? �Don�t you want to die by your comrades� sides? �Like she did? �Do you miss her? You will see her soon. You cannot escape this fate.

Then a deep, resounding, well-modulated voice worked its way through the terrified haze in his mind, slowly returning him to reality.

��Looks like a magic rune! Let me see that.� He felt two big, strong hands grasp his own in a surprisingly gentle grip, and found himself looking up into Thirgynn�s calm, analytical face. In some way the composed, gentle and� somehow solid presence of the miracle-worker helped Judeau come to his senses.

As much as he presently could, at least.

He rose to his feet, pulling his hand out of Thirgynn�s gentle hold.

�Hm�? Mr Judeau�?� The miracle-worker looked up at him, confused. Judeau shakily ran a hand through his own hair to get it out of his face, and managed to give the dwarf a weak smile.

�I� I�m sorry, Mr Thirgynn. Can you please� look at it a little later? I� I need to� to be alone for a while� I need to think��

Thirgynn frowned, uncomprehending. �Eh? Come now, Mr Judeau, don�t be difficult. Give me your hand, that rune must be examined.�

The dwarf reached out to grab Judeau�s arm, but the human backed away. He just needed a little time to himself, to come to terms with �everything. To think, to deal... He tried again:

�Please, Mr Thirgynn� not right now. Please. I really must��

But Thirgynn followed him, his frown deepening from concerned confusion to slight annoyance. He interrupted sternly:

�Give me your hand, manling! That rune just appeared out of nowhere and its qualities must be ascertained - It might be dangerous!�

�Thirgynn!� Samina sternly called from over by the tent, but the miracle-worker took no notice of her. Judeau kept backing away, half expecting to run into a tree at any moment.

�Please� not right now� it�s too much� I must have some time to think��

�Then sit down and think while I�m studying it. Now let me see your hand!�

His desire to be left alone was joined by an increasing feeling of entrapment and, combined with the images from his nightmare and the painful memories they brought up, they overruled everything else in his tired, confused mind � And before he could think about it, he had turned on his heel and was running into the forest, ignoring the calls that rose behind him.

~
�Judeau!� Samina shouted after the running man, �Stop! Wait! You can�t just run off! It�s dangerous!�

Then she turned around, startled, as a very pale Shammael staggered out from the tent and fell to his knees beside her, clutching his own head tightly and almost shaking.

�It�s - It�s all my fault, I knew I shouldn�t�ve lied to him, I knew I shouldn�t�ve taken it for granted! �I thought I got it, I really thought I did! �Can you ever forgive me, boy? �It�s my fault �that thing, that horrible, horrible thing � it gnaws at me, it makes me sick� I wanted it gone so badly and I really thought I got it� I�m sorry, I�m sorry, I�m sorry I lied� I shouldn�t�ve��

Samina threw a glance at the retreating scout, then quickly turned back and pointed decisively at the distraught Healer.

�Thirgynn, take care of him and try to get him to make some sense. Taskkarr, Steelwing, stay here and guard the camp � help Thirgynn, I�m going after Judeau.�

As she turned to run, she felt a slim, iron hand grab her arm and she paused, looking back at Steelwing. The Crusader was almost scowling at her.

�You should not run off on your own, either.�

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and began backing away as she replied, �I can take care of this, I�m the expert on people, here, remember? If I go alone, I can make him agree to return � much faster than it would take to chase him down and drag him back. Now, trust me and stay!�

Without stopping to see whether she was obeyed or not, she spun on the spot and was off. Behind her, she heard Taskkarr loudly and amusedly declare:

�She gives orders like a dwarf! Hehe, you�re staying here, pointy-ears.�

Then she focused on the small speck of brightness that was Judeau�s white undershirt, as it darted in and out of sight between the trees.

What is he thinking? Running off in the middle of the night � in the middle of NOWHERE for crying out loud, without weapons, armour � or even boots?

No, no, I know; he�s very upset, and he�s not thinking at all right now� I just wish I knew what the HOPPING HELL is going ON!

He had quite a bit of a lead on her, and the fact that she was wearing her chainmail underneath her jacket wasn�t helping her gain on him. She considered calling out to him, but decided against it � letting him know that he was being followed would most likely be a bad move right now.

No, her best bet was to try to keep up with him and approach him carefully when he eventually stopped.

She hoped that wouldn�t be too long from now.

~
Judeau realised that he was getting very cold, and that he wasn�t running through the woods anymore. He stopped, panting, and looked back. He had an overwhelming feeling of being followed, and shook his head roughly to clear it.

No, Judeau, no� the demons were left behind in the other world, they�re not after you here. Try to pull yourself together. Try to focus�

But that little voice in the back of his mind kept babbling away in cold panic:

The brand came back! The brand came back, right out of the nightmare! Oh god, it was real, then! It was a VISION and not a dream! Oh god, they�re all dead! All dead� and soon the demons will come for me � they could already be here� they�re all dead, all but me. Oh god, oh god�

He shook his head again, when he suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, thought he saw something move in the moonlight. His head snapped up and he fought down another surge of panic.

He had come out on the other side of the forest without even realising it, and he was standing among what appeared to be the old, withered ruins of an abandoned farming-village. Short, uneven stumps of walls were barely visible, peeking out of the high grass, and in the pale, blue light of the two moons he could vaguely see that the vegetation was shorter in certain rectangular areas where the houses had once been standing.

He tried to swallow; his throat was as dry as parchment � partially from the running, partially from fear.

Was it his imagination, or had the air suddenly become much colder? Wasn�t his brand stinging worse than just a few minutes ago? His eyes darted across the ruins and the plain beyond. A sense of dread began seeping into his veins, and it was becoming very difficult to fight off the panic.

�Judeau�?�

His heart leapt and skipped several beats as he spun around, facing the one who had called his name. For a brief moment, he was terrified to realise that he didn�t have any weapons with him, but then he relaxed again as he recognised the voice and the figure that was standing at the end of the �street�: Samina was leaning forward with her hands on her thighs and breathing very heavily. He rubbed his face with both hands in another weak attempt to calm down and sighed shakily.

Oh, yes� explain this, now. Nice way to keep your cool, Judeau � running off in panic. Good move.

He looked back at her again. She was still doubled over, trying to catch her breath and giving him a glare that clearly asked him if she had chased him enough for one night, already. He tried to give her an apologetic smile.

�Miss Samina, I� I�m sor-AH!� his whole arm twitched as the sting of the brand suddenly doubled in intensity.

�flesh�

Both humans� heads snapped up, and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees more.

�warm flesh� warm blood�

Judeau turned around again. He felt as though everything was happening in slow motion � the cold, unearthly whisper seemed to freeze not only the air around them, but also the blood in their veins. As he turned away from her, he briefly saw Samina begin to straighten up with a look of fear and surprise on her face.

�give it to me, I need it� need it�

Behind him, he saw several beings emerge from the tattered ruins of the houses � transparent, vaguely human-shaped entities that glowed a soft, misty blue. One of them rose out of the ground right beneath his feet, and he found himself frozen to the spot. He couldn�t even cry out in horror as the ghost pressed its rotten, decayed remains of a face against his and he felt the icily cold touch of its fingers snake around his neck, spreading a deathly chill through his body.

�so hungry� so hungry�

~
Ghosts! Samina fought desperately against the oppressive, paralysing presence these undead generated, willing herself to move towards Judeau.

One of the ghosts had risen up out of the ground right in front of him, and had grabbed him with a ravenous hunger. She knew what was going to happen next.

�Judeau! Fight it! Break free!� Her legs didn�t want to obey her, but she kept them staggering forward until she finally broke through the barrier of the ghosts� paralysing spell and regained full control of her body.

The ghosts around her were moving in, whispering with dark, grave-cold voices.

�flesh� I need it� so hungry� warm blood� so very hungry� give it to me�

�Back off!� She snarled and swung her morningstar through the nearest of them. It had no effect, but the ghosts halted and pulled back a little, as if confused or uncertain as to what they should do. She glanced over at Judeau.

The ghost that was holding him was beginning lose its shape, tendrils of misty, glowing energy coiling around the both of them, creeping over the man�s skin, searching, binding�

�Judeau!� He was standing perfectly still, the only sign of his resistance being his clenched, trembling fists and the tenseness of his muscles. �Keep fighting! Don�t let him get you! Throw him out!�

�so hungry� warm flesh�

�Shut up!� she yelled. �You�re dead! Go back and be dead!� Another swing, another brief withdrawal.

�Judeau! You must�� Her voice trailed off. Before her eyes, Judeau�s fists gradually relaxed and his body became limp in the ghosts arms. With a sharp, victorious hiss, the creature seeped into him through his nose, mouth, eyes and skin. Samina felt a new kind of numbness fill her.

He stopped struggling? He GAVE UP?

The Judeau-creature turned around to face her, its lips twisting in a disturbing grin, pulling back to reveal glistening, white teeth that suddenly seemed much sharper than before. Judeau�s brown eyes had widened, so much so that Samina half expected them to fall out of their sockets, and a mad, misty blue light shone in the black depths of the pupils.

Judeau, how could you?

The hideously grinning Judeau-creature began moving towards her, staggering, its breath hissing between its teeth. Samina grimly readied herself for battle.

How could you, Judeau?

�Hhhhunnngryyy�� The Judeau-creature hissed, and clumsily reached out for her.

That was when she noticed � its movements were just a little bit too sluggish, its words just a little bit too slurred. She looked up into its mad eyes and saw a small, struggling spark of hope. Deep inside the scout, something was still fighting the possession, still desperately clinging on to life and trying to regain control.

He wasn�t gone yet � there was still hope, but without any magic or magical weapons, and with the ghost already inside him, there was only one thing she could do to save his life� and the mere thought of that turned her stomach into a cold knot.

She hesitated long enough for the creature to grab her by the arm and pull her closer, its white teeth glittering in the moonlight as it leaned in towards her face.

�Hhhhuuunnngrryy��

Damn you, Judeau. And damn me. Damn me for doing this again.

She snarled back at it and, with a fierce resolve, jammed the wrist of her free hand into its mouth.

�Go and be dead, glutton!� she hissed, and at the same time as its teeth pierced her skin, she reached down into the deepest, darkest part of her soul and opened the Void.

In that very instant, the world around and inside her became unhinged. Things that were normally hidden and indiscernible became as clear as day, and details that her sharp eyes easily spotted otherwise turned fuzzy and unclear. She could now see the face of the ghost, superimposed upon Judeau�s, and she could feel not only the icy chill its bite spread through her blood, but also the hazy, tingly feeling of its magical tendrils as they sought out her spirit through the blood it drew. It wanted to drain her energies to strengthen its own unholy hold on the living world.

However, the instant its magic came into contact with her soul, it was helpless to resist the pull of the Void � and she began draining it.

As the dark, whirling madness that was her Birthright began to devour the magic in the ghost with a ferocious and insatiable hunger, Samina wrestled with its pull as well. It tugged at her consciousness, whispering unspoken promises of relief, of release� release from the pain in her wrist, release from the guilt and the anger and the sadness and the memories� all she would have to do was to surrender� it would be so easy� much too easy.

As the ghost was mercilessly pulled out of Judeau�s body, it could not let go of the magic that bound it to the world of the living, the same magic that was rapidly being swallowed by the Void, and Samina�s whole body jerked as the agonised spirit passed through her mind. This was the hard part.

A mad babbling filled her head and flashes of images � old, old, memories, distorted as well as horribly clear � were pounded into her mind�s eye.

�Why why it was such a beautiful day and it was finally over finally over and done and after three years three years of watching my friends die three years in the mud far away from my family I was finally home and it was such a beautiful day and my wife was so happy and little Tialla had grown so much and I didn�t even get one day not even one day with them and why why why I had just gotten home and then everything was burning and they were killing everyone and He came into our house and Rohanna Rohanna my beautiful beautiful Rohanna she tried to save the baby and he oh my gods oh my gods so much blood just like then and he slit her throat and little Tialla no no no why gods why why couldn�t I move why couldn�t I move and He smiled the bastard SMILED and walked over to me and it was such a beautiful day and Rohanna was dead on the floor and the sun was shining and He was smiling smiling smiling and why couldn�t I have had just one day just one day why why why I want to live I don�t want to die I want to live it�s not fair I didn�t even get one day and I don�t want to die I want to live�

The poor, tortured spirit disappeared into the Void with one last, drawn out, ethereal howl, and Samina and Judeau both collapsed to their knees, breathing heavily and holding on to each other. Samina felt sweat run from her brow and forced herself to unclench her aching jaws. She noticed that Judeau�s teeth had let go of her wrist, but couldn�t summon the strength to look up at him right now.

Fuelled by the absorption of the unfortunate soul, the Void had grown significantly in strength, and it took all of her willpower and concentration to keep herself from giving in to its pull. With a monumental effort, she reached in and closed the howling hellhole. The world slipped back into place.

�Why�� she whispered hoarsely to the scout, without looking up. �Why did you make me do that? Why did you give up?�

�I�m sorry�� he breathed. �I�m sorry� that I didn�t die��

In one swift moment of red-hot rage, Samina mercilessly tackled Judeau, knocking him to the ground. As the worst surge of anger dissipated, she found herself perched on top of him with one knee on his chest and both hands dangerously close to his throat, and forced them into the ground on either side of his head instead, growling:

�I just saved your godsdamned life, and you say you�re sorry that you didn�t die? That�s the sort of nonsense bullshit that I don�t want to hear! Do you understand me?!�

Tears were glistening on the blond man�s face, and he stared unfocused up at the moons as he continued whispering,

��Caska� I�m sorry� I�m so sorry that I didn�t die with you� with the others� I�m sorry, everyone� that I wasn�t there� that I left you all to die� Oh, Caska� all I ever wanted� please, forgive me� for being so weak��

Samina squeezed her eyes shut and sighed deeply.

Of course he wasn�t talking to me� I should know how disoriented people get after being possessed� and he�s had a nightmare, probably of a magical nature, on top of that. He was confused and upset from the start. I must calm down, I must keep my temper�

�flesh� flesh�

Samina looked up in cold, sudden terror. The rest of the ghosts still hovered in the air around them, pale fingers reaching, rotten faces whispering.

�so hungry� so hungry� give me your flesh� your warm blood� so cold� so hungry�

Why aren�t they leaving? She thought desperately and scrambled to her feet, morningstar held ready. They should all be gone! They�ve seen what I can do to them, I know they have � so why aren�t they leaving? They should be much too afraid to risk anything on their existence� Weak ghosts like these... Why�? What�s going on?

�Go�� she whispered, trying to gather her wits. �Go� Be gone��

They made no sign of leaving, but wouldn�t advance either. It looked almost like something was pushing or pulling the ghosts towards the two of them, but that they were hesitating, unsure - maybe frightened.

�Go!� She said in a much more steady voice. �Isn�t the one thing left in you the urge to live? Go! I can kill you! Kill you for real! Be gone!�

She did feel a little stupid � there had never been any proof that ghosts could hear the living, especially not the ones as weak as these, but she felt she had to do something.

Judeau moaned on the ground behind her, and she turned back to him.

�Judeau�� she leaned down closer to him, at the same time trying to keep an eye on all the ghosts. They weren�t coming closer� yet. �Judeau, can you walk? We have to get out of here and back to the others. Can you walk? Can you hear me?�

�Griffith�� He sobbed. �We trusted you� we trusted you� Why, Griffith? Why?�

Curses! She dipped down and looped his arm around her shoulders, grabbing him firmly around the waist. Gods curse it, but she would carry him if she had to.

�Just try to hold on, okay?�

He mumbled something unintelligible � something about crying a lot � and she took a deep breath and the first, tentative steps towards the wall of ghosts.

�Get out of my way,� she muttered, �or you know what happens.�

The ghosts didn�t move.

�hungry� feed my hunger� give me your flesh� so cold, so very, very cold� warm me in your blood�

Feeling the adrenaline begin to surge again, she reacted instantly when one of the ghosts suddenly decided to attack � She reached inwards and reopened the Void before the glowing apparition even came within grabbing distance.

The effect was immediate. The ring of ghosts expanded around her to about twice its earlier size, and the anguished whispers rose to wordless wails.

Good, good, Samina thought as sweat began trickling off of her temples again �because� if I take just one more� just one� then I�ll lose it. I�ll lose it for sure. The Void hadn�t lost any of its strength in the short time it had been closed, and it was almost too much to resist even now. She gathered her resolve and began moving back towards the camp, the ghosts falling in behind them, still wailing.

In the grip of the Void their rotten faces were disgustingly clear to Samina, and though each face was disturbing in itself, what really frightened her was what she saw on each of them; A mix of unbridled terror and a mad, ravenous hunger � much worse than anything she would have believed such weak ghosts capable of. She could dare a good guess at which one was going to win out in the end.

�Caska�� Judeau mumbled and blearily looked up at her. ��Did I� did I do the wrong thing� when I dragged you away from there? �Was I� just being selfish�? Did you really �rather� want to die with the others?�

�Keep it together, Judeau.�

Keep it together yourself, she thought as another drop of sweat trickled down her cheek. If you lose control now, he�ll be dead. And that would be quite counter-productive at this point, don�t you think?

She glanced behind them. The ghosts were closing in on them again, slowly but surely gaining ground and getting bolder and more eager with every inch. Some whispers could be discerned from the ghastly wailing:

�flesh� hunger� cold� warm bodies, warm blood�

Oh, hell� Dear Any God That Might Be Listening, please, please, PLEASE let us be close enough to camp.

�Thirgynn!� She yelled, on the top of her lungs. �Steelwing! Taskkarr! Heeelp!�

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