Althea felt, more than saw, the shade moving along her spine, a sticky sweat ran down her back, but she had just one thought on her mind, "It's not that painful, what's wrong?" Her father was trying to reach the shade with his swords, coming around Althea, but the shades were swift, and there were many of them. Althea noticed one touching her father's foot, another – reaching for his arm, and one more bubbling around his neck. She looked around – her father's soldiers each were fighting with two or three shades, getting burned from time to time, and trying to come closer to their leader, alas, they didn't move as quickly as the shades.

Althea let a scream of anger out, as she saw her father's clothes smoking, while he still tried to reach for the shade behind his daughter.

She felt the shade's warm touch on her shoulder, then sliding down to her waist, and further down. It was coiling around her legs and arms, trying to wrap her tighter, down her hands and feet – until it reached her fingers and toes, where it started dripping, turning into a puddle of thick stinking dirt around her.

Althea looked at the puddle surrounding her and jumped out of it, dropping a few of the bottles with potions and ointments on the ground. She looked around – the shades started sliding to the center of the village, leaving behind a trace of their wrath – a sleeve of someone's shirt, still smoking at the edges, and a shoe – seems, it was the bright red shoe of a little girl. Some of the shades slid around Althea's feet, tried to crawl up to her knees – she felt warmth for a moment before the shades seemed to have been pulled to the large cloud. Shrinking in size, they've collected now into one thick cloud, which then began thinning out and disappearing, as if it never was there. Only the smog, the stink, the screams of the wounded ones, and the cries of those who have lost someone to this unknown power, were coming from all sides of the village.

The warm feeling left Althea, giving place to the sudden cold. The girl felt dizzy – the smell was sickeningly sweet, or the stink of the puddle was still following her – she started to shiver and closed her eyes, just for one moment.


The girl opened her eyes to find herself in a room with walls of light wood. Sun rays were falling on the bed where she lay. Althea sat up, looking around – rectangular window, light wood everywhere: a table, a couple of stools and a wardrobe were also rectangular. Some feeling of recognition came over her for a moment, but she brushed it away. It wasn't her Forest home, where nothing was ever built by hands but was grown-up instead, where nothing had sharp edges and the wood bark was never peeled off.

"You are up, finally," she heard someone's voice on her right side, where she saw a young man in grey shirt and pants sitting on the stool with crossed legs in black shoes, leaning on the wall behind him, his deep-brown hair was braided on the right side, leaving the rest of his hair fall on the left side. A few large scars crossed his eyes and nose diagonally from right to left, making him look like he was wearing a mask, and Althea noticed a few similar scars on his hands, too.

The girl quickly pulled the blanket up, looking at the young man.

"Don't worry, I'm blind, you may not pull the blankets up. I'll call the girls to help you. And… I'm sorry that you have to go through it again."

"How do you know I've pulled the blanket?" Althea asked, looking at the man who got up and already crossed the room to the door.

"I'm blind, not deaf," he smiled, which made him look like he was threatening her with something.

"Why did you say you're sorry?" she asked, but he was quick to leave the room, calling for someone.

Then a woman in linen gown and hair tucked in under the grey head shawl with towels and some clothing in her hands came in. She was followed by a girl in a similar dress with a protective embroidery around the neck and the lower hem of her dress, carrying a bucket of hot water. Both of them had large grey eyes and looked scared.

"I'm Molly, and this is my daughter Kate," chattered the woman. "You fell unconscious right before it was over, thank Goddess, they didn't touch you. We were so worried about you! Come, we'll help you…"

"Where is my father?" Althea asked, and the woman stopped talking immediately.

"Kate, put the bucket down, I'll handle myself here," said Molly, making her lips tight.

The girl lowered her glance and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Molly placed the towels and clothes on the bed, pulled closer to the bed the stool which was occupied by the blind young man just a minute ago, and letting a long sigh out, said much slower now, "Your father was hurt by those monsters, there's nothing we could do."

"He must be taken back home, to mom, she will heal him, she can heal everything!" Althea raised her voice, as the woman put her hand on the girls' shoulder.

"Listen, girl, he's too weak to be carried around, and these monsters, they are like poison, they will stay in person until they would destroy one completely."

"Where is he? Is he still alive?" Althea asked, jumping off the bed, The woman nodded, passing to Althea a grey gown, similar to the one Kate was wearing with slightly washed off embroidery and helped her to get into it quickly, then led her to another room across the corridor. Almost all the father's soldiers were there, Althea didn't have to push her way through, as they were stepping aside.

In a room similar to where Althea woke up, there was a bed where she saw her father. Nearby the bed, holding her father's hand, was sitting the youngest of the soldiers, nodding, as the man was whispering something to him. The young soldier's light-brown hair was tied behind, traditionally for the Forest soldiers, but one of the strands was threaded with wooden beads he carved himself as a reminder of a few very special occasions in his life. It was Brian, her brother – he was just two years elder than Althea, but had already participated in several battles with these shades.

Althea came closer to the other side of the bed and held her father's other hand, noticing it turning colder by the minute. The man tried to smile at Althea but was so weak that only moved his lips a little.

"I won't lead the soldiers to fight this evil anymore... I didn't want your mother to heal me… I hope.. you would find someone else… Tell your mother I love her… Stay with her. The evil. Dain-Tar…"

His breath has stopped, and Althea felt his hand disappearing from hers. She looked at it just to see it thinning out – until there was nothing left, but green smoking clothes on the bed.

Her father was there, just a minute ago, and nothing was left anymore. Cold wave covered Althea, as she realized what it meant.

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