A noise outside again. Something threatening.

The stones around me heaved, menacingly...

Not again.

~ Wyrio 329

Crying. Gut-wrenching painful sobbing.

Young voices, too young to know what is happening to them.

Make it stop.

~ Wyrio 330

The dark is my only friend. My eternal darkness, all mine.

I can hear the destruction outside.

When will they be at peace and stop this horrible, monotonous fighting?!

They should be thankful. They have the whole world and the light.

Not this dank and sorrowful dark.

~ Wyrio 336

Silence. Blissful quiet.

Nobody around again. Probably all dead.

Again.

~ Wyrio 338

I felt him again today. Older and not as fresh but I know his scent.

He sat in the dark with me today, completely unaware I was there, but...

I heard his sobs, I listened to his heavy heart.

I listened to him speak to the dead, those he'd lost in the last conflict.

I felt his soul break. I sensed him give up.

He was a broken man.

There was nothing I could do... nothing that wouldn't scare him further.

~ Wyrio 339

He spoke to me. He knew I was there.

He told me that he had lost his family and his ... dog.

What is this 'dog'?

He breathed a strange smell. Smoky.

He,.. talked to me for hours.

I yearned to speak back. To hold him.

He was so precious to me. Even though I knew he did not know I was-

***

"Ifera, please guide me to the dark."

How does he know my name?!

"Ifera, please take me into the shadow."

For the first time in many years, my eyes gave me tears.

My visitor in the dark, my friend...? He knew my name!

"Ifera. Ifera.... lead me home!"

Those words. How does he know, those words?

My body gave in and I could not fight the response.

***

My fingers traced his collarbone and I felt him tense up.

Pulling his head back gently, I held him back so he was pressed against my icy skin.

"Ifera. Ifera.... lead me home."

I closed my eyes, tilted his head towards mine and gave into the power over my being.

Placing my lips on his, a deliciously sweet kiss that I had not had the pleasure of for too long.

His mouth was trembling and I tasted tears from his eyes.

Letting go as the spell was lifted, I felt him turn to me and rest his head on my chest.

"Ifera. Thank you."

Blinking heavily, as my own eyes stung from the cold tears, I listened to his breath leave him.

The warmth on my skin, fleeting and then.... Gone.

I held him close and cried as my friend went on ahead.

~ Wyrio 339