Cassian felt his life bleed out as he stared at the glowing eyes of the skull held above him. A skeletal grin gleamed beneath the glow of the magic that filled the room, while a scream tore through Cassian. 

He felt his heart racing in his chest, a wild rhythm that echoed in his ears while his vision darkened along the edges. Before the darkness overtook him, a familiar face—once dear to him—watched with a sort of glee that pierced Cassian’s heart. His life bled out and Cassian found that it didn’t matter anymore. 

Ethelred, he thought, the name a last passing thought filled with grief and a bitter sense of betrayal.

Everything fell away, like death embracing him with arms cloaked in ebony. Cassian willingly let himself be drawn in. It didn’t last. 

He opened his eyes—dark as the night around him—to the familiar sight of his own room with its simple furnishings and carefully crafted talismans. A sliver of light filtering through a gap in the curtains made this obvious to Cassian as he laid in bed, still trying to pull his mind away from the dream that had haunted him for years, pulling from memories he wished could be wiped away. Still sleep addled, he almost didn’t register the dull thud that sounded from somewhere in his home. Somewhere in his empty home. 

At once, Cassian was alert, the remnants of sleep falling away as he sat up slowly. He slipped out of the bed silently, listening for any other sounds. Bare feet moved across the room, the cold wood of the floor an unnoticed discomfort as Cassian paused with his hand on the doorknob, the light of the moon setting his bone-white hair aglow. There was a distant rustling, like cloth shifting amidst the silence of Cassian’s home. A creaking followed—steps that shouldn’t be there. 

With a spell on his lips, Cassian opened the door. 

Before he could speak a single word, there was a flash of silver. Instinct alone drove Cassian to duck in time. The blade cut through the air and was embedded into the wood of the wall where his head had been just seconds ago. Cassian felt his heart racing like it hadn’t done in a long time. He turned back to his attacker—too slow. 

A gloved hand reached out and gripped the knife, pulling it out with ease before slashing at Cassian. He stumbled back on clumsy legs disused to such frantic movements. His mouth opened, words bubbling beneath the surface. Magic gathered at his fingertips. 

His attacker’s leg shot out, catching him in the abdomen. Cassian felt his breath leave him, a pained sound slipping past his lips. He was thrown back, landing with a clatter on the floor, a chair toppling as he fell against it. The pain slowed him enough that, by the time he looked up, his attacker was turning and making for the exit. Heavy, booted steps thundered against the wooden floors before being silenced by the soft grass outside. 

Cassian might not have followed after, if not for the glimpse of ivory he caught. His eyes widened as he watched the sickly white item being tucked away beneath a dark cloak. Like a shadow, the thief slipped out the door and into the night. 

Shooting up to his feet, Cassian rushed after. 

He paid no attention to the racing of his heart nor the chill of the night. With bare feet, Cassian hurried after the figure nearly lost to the shadows of the woods around his home. There was only the light of the moon to help him in his pursuit. Unaccustomed to running, Cassian could feel his lungs burning and his legs aching.

Still, he pushed on, raising an arm as he realized he would lose his quarry if he didn’t do something. Magic glowed as he muttered a simple spell, threads of silver sigils stretching out from his hand and burying themselves into the earth. There was a rumbling sound, the forest floor shaking enough to give the thief pause. 

Cassian heard a startled cry as roots shot out of the earth, twisting in the air as they reached for the thief. He watched as the cloaked figure slipped away, quick and nimble in his movements. That is, until a root caught onto his cloak. He paused long enough to be wrapped up in the roots snaking around him and holding him still as they pressed him against a tree. 

Slowly, Cassian approached, doing his best to catch his breath as the exhaustion brought on by the chase caught up to him. Once he stood before the thief, Cassian took in the face previously hidden beneath the hood of a cloak. It was a man, young and with a wild mess of brown hair framing his face. He glared at Cassian with bright green eyes—sharp and edged with irritation. Perhaps Cassian was being petty, but he couldn’t help but feel a bit better at that. 

“What is a thief doing so far into the woods?” Cassian asked, tilting his head in curiosity. 

It was unexpected to run into anyone so far from the nearest town. The woods around his home were not easy to navigate—one of the reasons he’d settled in the midst of them. The solitude suited him, but the same could not be said for someone searching for riches. 

But it wasn’t gold and jewels he stole, Cassian thought, eyes landing on the staff of ebony and bone tucked into the thief’s belt. 

It was a garish thing, carved from the bone of some magical beast and inscribed with runes that curled around it. Atop it sat a skull, bleached white and with void eyes that Cassian couldn’t bring himself to look into even after so long of hiding the thing in his own home. It was held in place by ebony stones that gleamed beneath the light of the moon.

“A strange choice,” Cassian muttered before meeting the thief’s gaze. He reached for the staff. Loathe as he was to touch it, there was no helping it. Cassian could feel the sigils carved into it as he took a hold of the staff, pulling it free from the thief’s belt. He could feel the magic held within it thrumming beneath his fingers, a sickly feeling that brought forth memories better left buried. “Why did you choose to take this of all things?”

Cassian didn’t really expect an answer. Not from the thief still glaring at him as if he were the guilty party. 

“I don’t question things so long as I get what I was promised,” the thief said, surprising Cassian. 

“So you were hired. By who?”

This time there was no answer, the thief’s lips a tight line. Cassian was almost disappointed. He considered leaving the man there until morning, but the staff in his hand reminded him of the urgent need for answers. After all, there was only one person who would know of the things Cassian hid in his home. Steeling himself, Cassian reached for the dagger strapped to the thief’s side, sliding it out of its sheath and pointing it at its owner. 

“Should I ask again?” his voice was sharp, menacing—as much as he could manage. It was why the grin that split the thief’s face took him aback. 

“Ask all you want. It won’t get you any answers.” He looked at Cassian, eyes sweeping over his admittedly bedraggled appearance—rail thin and tired from having his sleep disrupted. The ensuing fight and chase hadn’t helped matters. “Better hurry and ask before you collapse,” the thief said in a mocking tone. Cassian’s grip on the dagger tightened. 

He might have been a lot more willing to follow the thief’s advice and get it over with. Might have even momentarily forgotten about the answer he so dearly needed. The thief, however, seemed to be luckier than expected. 

Or perhaps it was Cassian who was truly unfortunate. 

“I believe that belongs to me.” 

Cassian felt a chill run down his spine, the deep voice reverberating within his very soul. His grip on the staff and dagger tightened as he turned, tense and willing it all to be a bad dream. He was met with the sight of void eyes staring at him from a skeletal face and almost felt relief at the lack of familiar features. 

The deer skull stood out starkly in the dark of the night, dark antlers stretching out like claws waiting to tear Cassian apart. Pitch black cloth rustled as the cloak that spilled from the morbid headpiece shifted with every minute movement. Cassian wished he didn’t know what lay beneath it all. 

“Ethelred,” he said, the name slipping past his lips in a hushed sort of whisper weighed down with dread. Without his notice, Cassian took a step back. 

“It’s been a long time,” the cloaked man—Ethelred—said in a voice that was sickly sweet. A voice that he’d heard only in his nightmares. 

Unfortunately for Cassian, the sight before him was all too real.