Klaus nodded. “Of course.” His gaze flickered to Aloisia.
“Then you know of our testimonies. I need you to warn the other watchmen to keep an eye on things this night. We have heard these shadow monsters again, in the streets on the outskirts.”
“By the Divines.” He paled. “Are you sure?”
“Quite. Someone needs to warn the magistrate as well.”
“Consider it done. Have you seen these creatures at all?”
“Not yet. But it was just the same as before Brighde died.”
Aloisia looked about them, the shadows pooling like ink spilled on parchment. Her breath quickened as she remembered how the darkness had pressed against her, remembered Brighde’s piercing scream as the world plunged into nothingness. That night blazed against her lids every time she closed her eyes.
“Worry not, brother. I’ll spread the word.” Klaus clapped Tristan on the shoulder before taking off towards the Watchtower.
A flicker of blue light caught Aloisia’s attention. As it vanished down an alleyway, she wrenched her hand from Tristan’s and sprinted after it.
“Lis come back!” He called after her.
But she did not. Onwards she pushed, racing after the wisp, pieces coming together in her mind. Where the Forgotten gods were, the wisps were never far. Likewise, the Forgotten Gods had appeared when the wisps were nearby. What connection did they share? What reason were they always together?
As she followed the wisp through the twisting alley, it shifted into a child-like form, blue flames drifting behind it like a billow of locks. It moved soundlessly upon the cobbles. It disappeared around a sharp bend and Aloisia bolted after it, only to come up short. She threw herself back behind the safety of a wall and peered around the corner.
One of the lumbering creatures marched down the alley, its overly elongated arms dragging across the ground. The wisp had ducked into a doorway, and it held a finger to its lips. Aloisia gave a nod, remaining silent. Tristan and Kaja bounded towards her, and she gestured for them to keep hushed. Though they stayed quiet, Tristan’s eyes screamed his fury.
Aloisia turned back to the narrow alley where the monster still dwelled. Its spindle-like fingers searched along the walls. Perhaps for a way in, for the right target, or anyone at all to take as its next victim.
The wisp shimmered, shifting into a ball of light. As it emerged from where it hid, so did several others Aloisia had not even spotted. They skittered in the air, forming a circle around the shadow creature. It tried to back away, cringing at their light as they surrounded it. The wisps changed forms again, chanting in their crackling voices as they danced around the creature. As the wisps closed in, their flames licking across its skin, the Forgotten God shrank in on itself.
The chanting, foreign to Aloisia’s ears, grew louder as she watched in fascination. A burst of brilliant blue light filled the lane, each of them turning to shield their sight. When the light had faded, and she looked back, the creature was gone. In the blink of an eye, the wisps vanished too, leaving the alley in the ordinary darkness of evening. The air settled into the cool summer night, the chill now gone.
“What did we just witness?” Tristan murmured, his voice too loud in the silence.
“I’m not sure,” Aloisia replied.
Kaja ran a hand down her ashen face. “It was terrifying.” She whirled at Aloisia. “Why in the name of the Divines would you follow them? Have you no thought of your safety? Or ours, for that matter.”
Aloisia had no answer.
“What did you imagine you could do?” Kaja shook her head, her metal beads jangling with the movement. “I can now say these things are real for certain.” She brushed her short golden locks back from her brow. “I cannot very well deny my own eyes.”
“I’m sorry,” Aloisia said, her voice small.
“Save it.” Tristan stormed back the way they had come, Kaja on his heels.
Aloisia stumbled back, as if he had struck her. “Tristan?”
He did not turn back, striding through the alley. Once they were on the main street again, he did not stop, continuing in silence towards the Temple. As they came upon Temple Green, he finally slowed.
Aloisia reached for him. “Tris?”
Tristan tugged his hand from hers. “Don’t.”
Please, she mouthed.
He let out a breath, whistling between his gritted teeth. “Don’t do that. I don’t want to know whatever excuses you have for this, Aloisia.”
“I—”
