The night in Greyhaven grew colder.
Fog swallowed almost all of the city streets.
The oil lamps hanging on street poles could only illuminate small circles of flickering light.
Elias still stood in front of the inn with Rowan.
The long tracks in the snow led straight to the city center.
Toward the old church.
"We must follow those tracks," Rowan finally said.
The tone of his voice was heavy, but not hesitant.
Elias nodded.
But before they could step far, the sound of someone running was heard from the end of the street.
His steps were panicked.
A man emerged from the fog.
He almost stumbled when he stopped in front of them.
His face was pale.
His eyes wild like someone who had just seen something that could not be explained.
Rowan immediately recognized him.
"Matteo? What happened?"
The man tried to speak, but his breath was too fast.
"I-I…"
He pointed toward the street leading to the church.
"I saw it."
The air around them felt colder.
Rowan tensed.
"Saw what?"
The man gripped Rowan's coat with trembling hands.
"The creature."
Elias stared at him sharply.
"Tell us."
Matteo swallowed several times before finally speaking.
"I was walking home from the salt warehouse."
"The fog was very thick then."
"I thought I saw someone standing in the middle of the street."
He paused for a moment, trying to remember clearly.
"At first I thought it was an ordinary person."
"But when I approached…"
Matteo closed his eyes.
"…it was too tall."
Night wind whispered along the street.
"How tall?" asked Elias.
Matteo opened his eyes again.
"Three… maybe four meters."
Rowan cursed softly.
Matteo continued in a voice that grew smaller.
"Its body was extremely thin."
"Like a standing shadow."
"And its face…"
He stopped.
"What was wrong with its face?" asked Elias.
Matteo shook his head slowly.
"I couldn't see it clearly."
"But I knew one thing."
He looked at Elias with eyes full of fear.
"It was looking at me."
The room inside the inn became quiet when they entered again.
The innkeeper woman heard the story without saying anything.
Luca sat on the stairs.
When Matteo finished telling his tale, the boy spoke softly.
"It didn't attack you."
Everyone turned to him.
Matteo looked confused.
"No."
"It just stood there."
Luca looked at his drawing paper again.
"It's always like that."
Elias began to understand something.
The Lament did not attack directly.
At least not yet.
The creature only appeared.
Stood.
Observed.
As if waiting for something.
Elias walked to the inn window and looked out.
Fog still shrouded the street.
But he could see the long tracks were still there in the snow.
Leading to the church.
Rowan stood beside him.
"We must kill it."
Elias did not answer immediately.
"We don't even know what it is yet."
Rowan sighed heavily.
"I don't care what it's called."
"If a creature like that is roaming this city…"
He looked toward Luca.
"…then no child will sleep peacefully again."
Elias understood that anger.
But he also knew something Rowan had not yet understood.
The Lament did not only live from bodies.
It lived from something far deeper.
Fear.
Despair.
If that was true…
then killing it might not be as simple as swinging a sword.
Luca suddenly stood from the stairs.
"It's getting closer."
Everyone looked at him.
"What do you mean?" asked the innkeeper woman.
Luca pointed outside the window.
"It's walking to the church."
Elias turned toward the church tower in the distance.
Fog made the building look like a large shadow in the middle of the city.
And for a moment…
he felt he saw something moving near the church door.
Too tall.
Too thin.
Then the fog covered it again.
Rowan gripped the handle of the knife hanging at his waist.
"We cannot wait until tomorrow."
Elias closed the small book in his hands.
Perhaps tonight…
Greyhaven would see what was actually walking among them.
And if the Lament had truly reached the church…
then the place built for human hope would become the first battlefield.