The church bell rang once more.
Not because someone pulled its rope.
Night wind made it move slowly.
But the sound felt like a strange call in the middle of a nearly dead city.
Elias stood in front of the inn with Rowan.
Matteo still looked pale, but he did not leave.
Several other residents began to come out of their homes after hearing the story about the figure on the street.
They stood at the edge of the road with tense faces.
No one spoke.
There was only one thing everyone felt.
The same fear.
Rowan broke the silence.
"We cannot let it roam the city."
He looked at Elias.
"Are you coming?"
Elias looked at the small book in his hands.
He did not carry a sword.
Never had.
But he nodded.
"Yes."
Rowan raised the lantern.
Its yellow light cut through the fog in front of them.
Several other men followed walking.
Not many.
Four perhaps.
None were truly certain they could do anything.
But it was still better than just waiting.
Their footsteps sounded heavy on the stone road.
The large tracks in the snow were still clearly visible.
Every step made the tension in their chests grow stronger.
The Greyhaven church stood in the middle of the city like a building that had waited too long for something.
Its stones were old.
Its bell tower slightly leaning.
Its wooden door large and dark.
When they approached, Rowan suddenly stopped.
The lantern in his hand trembled slightly.
Elias followed his gaze.
Someone stood in front of the church door.
Not moving.
Fog slowly revealed its form.
Too tall.
Too thin.
Its body long like a standing shadow.
Its skin pale like ash.
Its arms too long for human proportions.
And its face…
did not truly have a clear shape.
Like a face seen through rippling water.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
The creature also did not move.
It only stood in front of the church door.
Facing the city.
Matteo whispered with a trembling voice.
"That's it…"
Rowan raised the knife in his hand.
That movement made the lantern swing.
Light reflected off the creature's body.
And for the first time…
the creature moved.
Its head slowly turned.
Its movement was too slow.
Too smooth.
As if its body did not fully follow the rules of this world.
Then…
everyone felt something.
A heavy feeling that suddenly pressed on their chests.
As if the air became thicker.
As if their minds were filled with something cold.
Matteo fell to his knees.
"I can't…"
He held his head.
"I can't breathe."
Rowan tried to step forward.
But even he looked struggling.
The creature did not attack.
Did not run.
Did not raise its hand.
Yet its presence alone was enough to shatter the courage of the people before it.
A soft sound came from its body.
Not a mouth sound.
More like a voice that appeared directly in the mind.
"There is no hope."
Rowan gritted his teeth.
"Silence!"
He ran forward with the knife in his hand.
The knife pierced the fog…
and hit the creature's body.
But there was no blood.
No wound.
The knife only passed through its body like piercing a shadow.
Rowan stepped back one step.
His eyes widened.
The creature slowly raised its hand.
Its long arm moved like a dry branch.
Rowan suddenly fell to his knees.
Not from a blow.
But from something that shattered his mind.
"I… am tired…"
He whispered.
"I have tried too long…"
Elias finally stepped forward.
He opened the small book in his hands.
The old pages trembled slightly in the night wind.
He spoke in a calm voice.
"The light shines in the darkness."
The creature stopped moving.
Elias continued.
"And the darkness has not overcome it."
The air around them changed.
Very subtle.
But real.
The fog around Elias moved away slightly.
The creature turned to him.
For the first time…
something like interest appeared in its movement.
Elias looked at it without retreating.
He did not have a sword.
He did not have strength like a soldier.
But he had something the Lament did not have.
Conviction.
And for the first time since appearing in Greyhaven…
the creature stepped back one step.
Not much.
But enough for everyone to see it.
Fog suddenly moved thicker.
And within seconds…
the creature disappeared into it.
The long tracks in the snow ended right in front of the church door.
Rowan still knelt on the ground.
Matteo gasped for breath.
No one spoke.
They all knew one thing now.
The creature was real.
And more frightening…
it was not afraid of human weapons.
Elias slowly closed his book.
But he also understood something important.
The Lament was indeed not afraid of swords.
But it responded to something else.
Something far older than this city.
Something written on the pages of the small book he held.
And if he was right…
then Greyhaven had just seen the beginning of a much greater war.