Syleth had reacted with some amazement to the reading. Truth be told some of her earlier fears seemed to return and it took Malnai quite a while to convince her he hadn't raped her mind and that he wasn't in league with whatever dark force was responsible for the kidnapping of her child. Once he regained her trust she began to fill in some of the details of the story he already knew from what he had gleaned during the reading. She spoke of her brother, of her mother, of her slavery, of her journey and of a man whom she had met only once. Each word seemed to make the darkness creep further across the room and press more heavily on the lone candle which cast their shadows against the wall. The two of them had long ago stopped hearing the sounds of fighting from across the harbour and the light from the burning buildings didn't seem to touch their own personal area of darkness. Syleth's voice became quieter and quieter as the darkness grew closer and the room grew colder. She wrapped the blankets around her and kept talking, relating the journey that herself and her father had taken to Jarros and her interment in the castle. As the story neared its climax Malnai himself began to shiver and he briefly got up to put on his cloak. Even this movement didn't break the mood. Malnai didn't notice the oppressive darkness or the unnatural cold, he merely sat down on the bed again and continued listening to the girl's story.

As Syleth began to tell of the creature which had taken her child Malnai briefly thought he heard voices. They were on the edge of hearing and his rational mind quickly dismissed them as the wind. The candle burned down almost to its end as the story went on. The sounds grew a little louder and Malnai began to feel very tired. The day had been a long one and the reading had taken a lot out of him. All he really wanted to do was to lie down on something soft and fall asleep. He barely noticed Syleth voice wavering as he slumped down onto the bed.

"...the figure... it was horrible... rotting flesh... the smell. It took my child... I was unable to stop him...", her words ended in tears, but Malnai was so close to sleep now that he could barely acknowledge her pain.

It had been, Malnai later reflected, the candle that had saved their lives, or at least their souls. The wax had finally given up and it had over-flowed the top of the holder, simultaneously quenching the flames and dripping hot liquid on to the young man's hand. He woke suddenly and felt the darkness around him, a deeply unnatural darkness considering the city had been lit by flames earlier in the evening. He knew that Syleth and himself were no longer alone in the room, but he could neither see nor hear the girl so he assumed the worst. He had one wish, he wanted light! The dark worried him, it frightened him a little, but most of all it angered him. He felt that there was something moving within it, something that shouldn't be here, something that had once invaded his mind and was now invading his friend's rooms. His anger boiled up within him. Jarros was supposed to be safe, supposed to be a haven away from the dangers of the rumoured undead. By the powers, he wanted light!

His wish was answered, but in a very peculiar way. A bright flash of light pulsed from his hands and then the whole room began to glow as the shadows were pushed back towards the walls. There was a hissing and screeching as they were pushed off Syleth's body and foul steam rose from the places where the light burnt off the dark. Malnai couldn't believe it, but his wish to be safe outweighed any doubts he might have. He was doing this, not some Mage or Cleric. He had no idea how, but that wasn't going to stop him using his powers. He clenched up his fists and spread out his arms as the last few shadows fled the room. Still fuming he walked over to the window and shouted out into the cold night air, "Leave me alone! I do not want your power! I do not want your darkness!" The light slowly faded from his hands as he slumped down onto the sill, "...I just want to be left alone..."

Malnai awoke the next morning with a feeling of being watched. He turned quickly and looked up into Syleth's worried face. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and smiled.

"Good morning."

She smiled back slowly, "Good morning... Last night..."

There were many times that Malnai would have dreaded a start like that but this time he just allowed his smile to widen. "Don't worry about it. It's over now. By the powers, I feel alive." He smiled again. "I don't know what it was last night, but it's gone now, and it won't be back in a hurry."

She didn't seem totally convinced but she did seem to be a little less worried. "What happened? All I felt was cold, then fear, then nothing at all." Her face darkened slightly at the memory.

"I believe it was something akin to what took your child, but it left us be." He didn't really want to admit to having turned into a human torch so he hoped she'd drop the subject. Then he remembered something that she'd mentioned last night, "You were going to show me your tattoo, then we were going to go and talk to a friend of mine. You remember?"

She nodded slowly and pulled her new skirt up her leg. Malnai started to tell her that it was alright, but by that point it was too late. The tattoo was inscribed in brown ink on her right thigh, just below her buttock. It was like a thin crescent whose thinnest points almost touched, giving the impression of a bright sun almost totally eclipsed by a slightly smaller moon. At the thickest point of the crescent, two perpendicular strokes intersected it. These strokes were joined at one end by a third much shorter stroke and at the other end they tapered into points.

Syleth dropped her skirt and looked up at Malnai, "I have no idea what it means, I have no idea where my child is or what took him. You said you would help me, now is the time I need that help."

The young man stood up and walked over to the wardrobe. He opened it and took out a cloak and gave it to her, "Here, wear this, keep the hood up and don't attract any attention." He put on his own cloak and held open the door. "I would really like to see what state the city is in first, but I don't think that time is our friend. Just remember what I said. It is most likely both of us are wanted people, so we don't need to be noticed. I am taking you to a friend of mine, she knows a lot of things, and people. She should be able to help you. Now, let's go."

They walked out into the cold winter morning and the first sight that greeted their eyes was the plumes of smoke rising up from the harbour end of the North Market Ward. Malnai wasn't sure what the balance of power in the city was like and that lack of knowledge annoyed him, but there was very little he could do. Thankfully the woman he was looking for lived in the north-western end of the South Market Ward, so they didn't have very far to go. In addition the direction they were taking was away from the chaos of the North Market Ward, a good thing indeed.

The woman he was looking for owned a tavern there. Her name was Ryvena and she... well, she knew people and she was very good at organising things. Herself and Malnai had helped each other on occasion and he was fairly sure that if she didn't owe him one then he would probably be able to pay off any debt without too much trouble. He also felt sure that she would either know something about the tattoo or know someone who did. He desperately hoped that he wouldn't have to let this girl go searching on her own. He was sure that he hadn't seen the last of whatever was around last night and he didn't think she'd be safe if she was alone in the night.

"...Malnai? Did you hear me?" The voice finally penetrated his thoughts.

"What? Sorry, I was just thinking. What's wrong?"

"Well, you stopped..."

Malnai looked around himself and smiled, it always cheered him up when his body navigated around Jarros better than his conscious mind. "I stopped because we're here, now, let's just hope she's awake."

He knocked on the tavern door and waited. Syleth shivered beside him, obviously still not totally healed either from her ordeal in the castle. After the third knock the door was opened. The woman that stood there was probably in her early-forties, or maybe late thirties. Her silver-grey hair reached down to her shoulders and was left loose. Her eyes were dark blue and hadn't lost any colour in all the time Malnai had known her. Her loose clothing could not hide the fact that she kept herself in good shape, something that a few violent men had found out to their cost. A faint smile crossed her face as she saw Malnai and he smiled back.

"What are you doing up and about at this hour of the morning my young friend? And more to the point, who is this young lady?"

Malnai changed his smile into a more serious expression, "The short version is that I think I'm being hunted for the King's murder and this young lady killed her bastard father at the same time, shortly before her child was kidnapped. The longer version would be far better told over a drink and a fire." He shot a worried look back at Syleth who was beginning to shiver.

"Yes, yes, come in. Can I get you a drink, perhaps something herbal?"

Malnai and Syleth sat in front of the fire as the young man recounted the girl's tale. Syleth seemed very unwilling to talk to Ryvena herself and she didn't seem to object to Malnai's version of events. Ryvena just sat there and listened, not saying a word until Malnai stopped speaking. When he did the older woman just reached a hand over and placed it on Syleth's. This at least provoked a reaction. Syleth let the hand lie there for a moment and then she quickly withdrew her own hand back into her cloak. Ryvena then asked about the tattoo. It quickly became obvious that Syleth did not want to expose herself to this stranger so Malnai quickly sketched out the design onto the table with a small piece of chalk. Ryvena frowned briefly as the table was marked and then looked hard at the reproduction.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about it myself, but I think I might know someone who can help you. However I would suggest you remain here until I make sure he'll see you. This place should be safe. From what I hear the Princess is trying to make herself Queen while the League of Bastards has been driven out of the North Harbour Ward. It's been a long couple of days and you do realise that I'm not getting any younger."

Malnai smiled, properly this time, knowing full well that it would take a lot to stop Ryvena. "I'm sure you'll be fine m'lady and if you need to be woken up I can think of a couple of ways..."

Ryvena growled at him and swatted in his direction, "You just don't stop, do you? Well, as I said, you stay here, I'll be back in an hour or so, just don't go getting my tavern raided." She stood up and took a very dark blue cloak out from behind the counter. She put it on and headed towards the door.

Just as her hand was about to turn the key Syleth spoke for the first time since entering the tavern, "Thankyou." With that one word she retreated back inside her cloak, hiding there until the darkness outside would finally go away.