<span style="font-style: italic">…</span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">“…Zayn…”</span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">…</span><br/><br/>His eyes opened, slowly and reluctantly. He was inside… no… he was outside but it was dark. The blood red sky stretched out above him, reflecting the setting sun. Nightfall was only a few minutes away.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Where..?</span><br/><br/>Zayn clenched his hand, grabbing a fistful of the long grass he was lying in. He could see the top of a small tree nearby.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">What am I doing… in such a place?</span><br/><br/>His body felt heavy. Nevertheless, he managed to get to his feet, orienting himself in the unfamiliar landscape.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">This place…</span><br/><span style="font-style: italic">…</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">…</span>Was like any other place. It didn't matter to him where it was, or what had brought him here. The past was fixed; he would work with what remained. Zayn shook his head in order to clear his mind.  Everything slowly came back to him, just as it always had. The trail. He was travelling along a small trail towards a city. Zayn peered down to confirm that there was, in fact, a thin dirt trail cutting through the forest. The problem now was that he didn't know which direction he was to be headed.<br/><br/>Almost as an answer to his dilemma, the sound of a horse’s trot pattered its way through the woods. Zayn looked back, spotting a single hooded man atop a black horse, speeding down the trail towards him. The man did not slow down, nor did he say anything. He only rushed straight past Zayn, nearly trampling him in the act. Through the briefest of glances, Zayn saw abject fear in the man’s eyes.<br/><br/>Yes, that was right. There was a plague spreading, Zayn had heard. A great and terrible curse… something that had all the peoples of all the lands in panic. Darkness meant doom.<br/><br/>Zayn grimaced and donned his hood, lighting a torch for vision against the ever-dimming sunlight. Then, he set off in the direction taken by the horse. Somewhere deeper into the woods, the howling of wild wolves could be heard.<br/><br/>Hopefully, the city wasn't too far.