The darkness subsided, and Silas’s watery eyes met the most beautiful pair of burning embers. They were glaring at him, intense and unrelenting. He could feel, all too distinctly, the press of his bare hand against his lower back — the robe had worn too thin. He squirmed, struggling to break free from the iron grip.

But the stranger only tugged him closer, flattening him against his chest. Silas’s hands were trapped in a merciless crush between their bodies.

"You’re not Erie," the stranger growled, eyes smouldering like live coals. "Where is that traitor hiding?" Silas felt the rumble of it in his chest — but it was the words, more than the tone, that filled him with fear. 

Erie, that foxy older runner, had fallen ill just this morning, tempting him to take his place. Silas, barely a month into his role, was not supposed to be on missions until he had completed at least six months. He was doomed now. Silas's heart pounded so loudly in his ears, he barely heard the man speak.

"Answer me! And don’t you dare lie, you sneaky brat!" he spat.

Silas shook his head frantically, eyes shut tight against the overwhelming fear. It was too much. Too fast.

"I… I don’t know," Silas stammered, his breath coming in short, panicked gasps. "He said he was sick. He asked me to collect… on his behalf. I know nothing else."

"You lying shit!" he snarled slamming him against the wall. Pain shot through his back and all air fled his lungs. His grip tightened mercilessly, around his throat, as though he’d done this a hundred times before.

"Take me to him, or I swear to Zenos, I’ll snap that pretty little neck of yours."

Tears blurred Silas's vision as he clawed at the vice-like hand around his throat. He would never take a Raian to Nimit. Never. Even if they burned him alive.

"I… I don’t have access to the k-key," he wheezed. "Only a few… like Erie… do. He was supposed to p-pick me up… about half a mile from here."

"Liar!" the man — Lennox — sneered.

"You can search me," Silas gasped, his face turning red. "I’m only here because Erie promised… promised me an allowance… for the trip."

"Stop it, Lennox! You’re killing him," another man interjected, voice cracked with urgency. He pulled at Lennox’s arm. "Look at him. He’s just a kid. And I told you that Erie can not be trusted."

"Not now, Leo," Lennox snapped. "Didn’t you hear him back there? He’s Dazai’s boy. They’re all as black as they come."

Silas clawed desperately at the hand choking him while the men argued over his fate. As the air supply to his brain dwindled, staying on his feet became a battle he was fast losing.

Exhaustion weighed him down, and as his knees buckled, the last thing he saw was the starry sky and a hazy moon. Dark spots danced at the edges of his vision, swallowing the stars one by one. Night had finally come — but he wasn’t going home.