By the time Dawn could turn around, Verita had already disappeared into the darkness. “I told you to stay in sight,” she said softly. Her heart felt like it had sunk into her stomach, and panic was rising in her throat. She reached out frantically, her magic racing after the girl until it suddenly scattered like light through a prism.<br/><br/>Dawn ran a hand through her hair. She<i>had</i>to follow Verita. She’d vowed to protect her, and there was<i>something</i>lurking in that unnatural darkness. But, without being able to rely on magic, sound, or barely even sight to search for her, that left stumbling around through the dark and dumb luck. Dawn wasn’t even sure she’d be able to find her way back.<br/><br/>She needed… a lighthouse. A beacon to guide them all back. And she needed to be fast, or it would be too late for all of them.<i>Be safe. I need you to be safe. Be safe until I can find you.</i><br/><br/>“Are you two even worried for her!? Can’t you feel that power… and the unnatural quiet?!” Dawn met Tyora’s glare, her eyes dark with panic, worry, and resolve, but said nothing. The elf’s words stung, but she couldn’t find the words to bite back. She wanted to follow more than anything in the world. Her vision blurred, and she quickly hid her tears in her sleeve.<br/><br/>And then Tyora was gone, like Ashy and Verita before her. Everything… everything was awful.<br/><br/><i>Fire.</i>Foran’s plan wasn’t<i>bad</i>... but would normal fire pierce this darkness? All of the houses seemed to be lit with eerie flames, not even flickering as she moved past. If they were magical, she needed a magical flame of her own. It had to be a flame that could work even through the strange, soundless darkness, even if just for a few moments. But how…?<br/><br/>“Dawn, mind helping me with something?” Foran’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and she blinked in surprise at the man. “Something I wanted to talk to you about.”<br/><br/><i>Now, of all times?</i>she wanted to say. She wanted to yell at him, for him to run off into the black like everyone else had, just so she would have no choice but to follow. It felt like she was abandoning them all, though she knew that wasn’t true. So, putting a hand over her aching heart, she gave Foran a single nod.<br/><br/>She went after him, her mind churning round and round with thoughts and guilt and worries until she wasn’t sure which was which. “You don’t still happen to have any of that magic that druid girl gave you, do you? I’m just worried about that, there is no way someone like her would have that kind of power. I’m still worried about how little we know about her, we just kind of got forced into this whole mess…” At first, his words seemed like nothing more than sounds bouncing around inside of her head. But slowly…<br/><br/><i>‘That druid girl’? <b>‘That druid girl’</b>? Is </i>that<i> what she is to you!? Her name is Verita, and she’s alone out there in that darkness right now!</i>Dawn’s hands curled into such tight fists that her nails bit into her palms. The source of Verita’s power didn’t change who she was, no matter where it had come from. Verita was Verita.<br/><br/>But she only bit her lip and tilted her head at him. He looked terrible, even for a Ramen. It wasn’t like she could blame him. Something horrible had happened to him when night had fallen over the Aviari village. He’d seemed almost innocent before, but now… he was becoming something else, almost a vengeful spirit.<br/><br/>“What I wanted to ask is if you still wanted me around. It seems no one else here does. Blind fold does but she can hardly chose if she wants to kill or bang anyone here...”<br/><br/>She looked at him for a long time, grey eyes watery and resolute and everything in-between. “I’m here because I want to be,” she said at last. “Verita is my friend. The only one I’ve had in a long time. And…” she thought back to what she’d begun to tell Verita in the ship’s cabin and coloured a little. Maybe it was more than that.<br/><br/>This wasn’t coming out the way she wanted it to. And it wasn’t answering anything, really.<br/><br/>“I like you when you’re not hating everyone,” she said. That was close enough to what she meant to say. “When I cut you free from the pixies’ roots, it seemed like you weren’t like some of the other Ramen I’d met. You were shy, and you had people you cared about. You weren’t as bitter, either.” She let out a long breath. “I don’t know which you is real. And I know something horrible must have happened in the Aviari village. And maybe you’ve sort of been swept along with all this against your will, even if I haven’t.”<br/><br/>She turned away slowly, gazing out the window into the shadows. “I can’t make you stay. And you might hurt us more than help us if you stay the way you are now. It’s a call you’ll have to make. But if it means anything, I trust you. And I trust Verita. And I’ll do whatever it takes to find her.”<br/><br/>Dawn opened the door and stepped back into the overpowering darkness, leaving Foran to himself. Somewhere in front of her, she knew the ocean lapped at the black-sand beach, even if she couldn’t see it. She froze. That sand was probably enchanted to muffle sound, just like everything else. If she could release the energy from that spell, maybe it would be enough to disrupt the darkness and let Foran’s fire shine through, even if only for a little while. Maybe it could guide everyone back together.<br/><br/>But to do that, she needed a spell circle. A circle of black sand, to represent the darkness and the quiet, and a circle of… something bright, something loud. She frowned. It would come to her. First, the sand.<br/><br/>Before long, she found herself where they’d began. It was only then that she noticed just how alone she was. She could barely see the lights of the town now; it was like the darkness was closing in for the kill.<br/><br/>Rushing forward, her foot pushed against something nestled in the sand. It was one of the glass orbs she’d dropped earlier. She stared at it for a moment, her fears forgotten. Sand and glass.<i>Sand and glass!</i>Taking a pouch from her robe, she quickly gathered what she thought would be enough for the spell.<br/><br/>By the time she looked up, the town’s lights were gone.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>