Morning fog came later than usual.
Greyhaven felt different after the night before.
No one openly discussed what happened in front of the church.
But everyone knew.
Something had appeared in their city.
Elias stood in front of the old church when the sun began to emerge from behind the sea.
The building looked older in the morning light.
The stones of its walls were cracked.
Its wooden door full of scratches.
The long tracks in the snow they had seen last night were still there.
But now clearer.
Deeper.
Rowan stood beside Elias.
He looked quieter than usual.
The knife he had used last night still hung at his waist.
"My knife did nothing," he finally said.
Elias did not answer.
Rowan continued in a heavy voice.
"I slashed with all my strength."
"Like cutting fog."
He looked at his own hands.
"If that is not a creature… then what is it?"
Elias opened the church door.
Its hinges creaked softly.
The inside of the church was almost empty.
Old wooden benches lined facing a small stone altar.
Thin dust covered the floor.
It seemed this place was rarely used.
Rowan looked around the room.
"You think it came here because this is a church?"
"Perhaps."
Elias walked slowly toward the altar.
On the altar was a very old, large book.
Its cover cracked.
Several pages even beginning to detach.
Rowan observed it.
"That book has been here since I was a child."
"No one really reads it anymore."
Elias opened the book carefully.
The writing inside was almost the same as the small book he carried.
But far more complete.
Older.
He flipped through several pages.
Suddenly something happened.
One page moved on its own.
Wind from the open door should not have been strong enough to do that.
But the page still turned.
Rowan observed it.
"Wind?"
Elias was not sure.
The page stopped at a particular section.
The writing there was different from other pages.
Darker.
As if the ink there was newer.
Elias read slowly.
"The Word became the light of man."
Rowan frowned.
"The sentence you read last night."
Elias nodded slowly.
But there was something different.
The writing on that page slowly emitted a very weak light.
Very small.
Like an ember almost extinguished.
Rowan saw it too.
"You see that?"
Elias did not answer.
He touched the page with his finger.
The small light immediately went out.
But something was felt inside him.
Not great power.
Not a dramatic sensation.
More like a door that had just opened slightly.
Rowan stepped back one step.
"What happened?"
Elias slowly closed the large book.
"I don't know."
But actually he had a guess.
If the Lament was born from human despair…
then perhaps the Gospel had a role greater than mere words.
Rowan walked to the church door and looked out.
The city streets were beginning to get slightly busy.
Several residents walked quickly past the church.
No one wanted to approach.
"You think that creature will return?" asked Rowan.
Elias looked at the church window.
Morning light entered through cracked glass.
"Perhaps."
"And if it returns?"
Elias did not answer immediately.
He looked at the small book in his hands.
If that page had truly reacted…
then perhaps the Gospel was not just stories.
Perhaps it was something that could change the world.
Small footsteps sounded from the church door.
Luca stood there.
The boy looked tired.
As if he hadn't slept all night.
"You shouldn't be here," said Rowan.
Luca did not hear him.
He looked directly at the altar.
Then he said something that made Elias immediately turn.
"It's still in the city."
Rowan frowned.
"How do you know?"
Luca pointed toward the church window.
"Because it's watching us now."
Elias and Rowan immediately turned outward.
Morning fog still hung between the houses.
There was nothing there.
But Luca did not look doubtful.
The boy spoke again in a soft voice.
"It's not afraid of you."
He looked at Elias.
"But it's afraid of those words."
Elias felt something cold on his back.
If Luca was right…
then the Lament might already understand something.
Something about the Gospel.
And perhaps…
it would try to stop it before hope truly ignited in Greyhaven.