Renya took the lead and began making his way through the forest. The dense canopy swallowed most of the pale moonlight, allowing little to reach the ground. For all of Renya’s wondrous abilities, even he couldn’t see in the dark, so he had no choice but to feel his way forward, aided by the tiny amount of light from the orb in his hand. As they advanced, he also had to watch their rear. Needless to say, progress was slow. Perhaps owing to her prior training, Rona proved to be reasonably agile, but Shion was a total amateur at traversing the darkness. The limited vision granted by the dim glow in Shion’s hand wasn’t nearly enough for her to walk properly, and Renya was treated to a string of yelps and moans as she bumped her head and scratched her face on low-hanging branches. Eventually, he grabbed her shoulder.
“Renya…”
“Put your hand on my shoulder. Keep it there. Follow me. And don’t pull on my clothes. It stops me from reacting quickly.”
“Sorry,” whispered Shion as she did as she was told, “and thanks.”
Renya gave her hand a few gentle pats.
“It’s fine. This kind of thing just takes some getting used to.”
“Getting used to, huh…”
“That’s right. After you get the hang of it, people will start asking you how you do it, and you’ll get to tell them to just get a feel for it, too. That’s how skills work,” said Renya before adding in a whimsical tone, “The trick is that nobody actually knows how they do it, and everyone just keeps kicking the ball down the line.”
The statement drew a laugh from Shion. Meanwhile, Rona was eyeing the two of them enviously.
“Renya, I’d like to hold your shoulder as well.”
Rona’s request was pointedly ignored.
“Renya!”
“Oh shut up already. Look, you’re walking fine without help, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but I don’t feel fine.”
“Ugh, I can’t be dragging both of you. I won’t be able to mo— Wait.”
He abruptly stopped talking and gestured at Rona. Not missing a beat, she immediately fell silent and followed his gaze, her prior playfulness gone without a trace. The sudden shift in atmosphere caught Shion completely off guard, and her eyes darted frantically in all directions, unable to figure out what the other two were looking at.
“Something moved… Seemed pretty big.”
Renya peered into the darkness ahead. He couldn’t see clearly, but he noticed movement. Rona appeared to have felt the same.
“I believe I heard metal. A person, perhaps?”
“Huh? What? Where?”
To help the struggling Shion, Renya directed the light in his palm in the direction where he saw something move. Behind him, Rona closed her hand and snuffed out her own light.
“There. Can you see?”
Shion stared for a while before shaking her head.
“…Sorry. I still can’t.”
“Don’t worry. It takes some practice,” said Renya, comforting his disappointed friend.
“Renya, I believe it’s coming toward us.”
“You can tell? Damn. Can you see what it is?”
“Unfortunately… I suspect it’s a person, but I can’t tell much more in this darkness.”
Indecision stuck Renya. He could put out more light and immediately figure out what was ahead. If it was something dangerous, though, he would also be revealing his own position and attracting the thing’s attention. Conversely, he could remain under the cover of darkness and wait for the thing to leave, but there was a chance that it was moving toward them, as well as the possibility that it didn’t rely on sight to sense its environment. In that case, they would be at a terrible disadvantage. While he mulled over his options, the thing had come much closer to them. He could hear it trampling the grass underfoot.
“What should we do, Renya?”
“Let’s light it up. We’ll get a good look at it. If it’s big and ugly, we scream and run for our lives. Good plan?”
“Good plan.” Shion nodded.
“It’s your call,” said Rona. “I’ll leave the timing of the light to you, then?”
“Sure. We don’t want it to get too close either. Makes it harder to get away. I’ll give you a cue.”
After whispering about the plan with the two girls, Renya focused his attention on the darkness ahead. If the thing was too far away, he risked not being able to see it clearly. If the thing was too close, they might not be able to escape. It was a delicate balance. He waited, and waited. Then, feeling like it was time, he spoke to the two behind him.
“Get ready to run if I tell you to. I’m throwing up the lights. Shield your eyes so you’re not looking straight at them. You’ll blind yourself.”
Renya waited until he saw the two girls bring hands over their eyes. Then, he aimed at a branch as far away from them as possible and cast Illuminate on it. Set to normal duration and moderate intensity, the glowing orb washed away the darkness of night and granted vision of the forest.
Something stood in the light. Shion gulped. Rona pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle a scream.
At first, Renya thought it was some sort of undead. Surrounded by the forest’s shadow, its sickly skin seemed all the paler in the bright artificial light. Even from a distance, it looked pallid and deathly, its bloodless white flesh resembling that of a corpse. Yet bloodless it was not. Streaks of liquid red flowed freely down its ashen body — the sign of grave injury. Its chest rose and fell, labored breaths signaling it was yet alive.
An undead’s heart did not beat. It did not bleed, much less breathe. However, despite the multiple signs of life it displayed, Renya was loath to believe they were looking at a living human. He watched as the ghastly figure shambled unsteadily toward them. Its foot caught in the undergrowth and it swayed before leaning on a nearby trunk for support.