1 Tristan

The last moments of his night-watch were the hardest. To Tristan, waiting until dawn felt longer than the night. The stillness in the wind and the silence that trailed overworked his keen senses. He was used to the quiet when he studied or stalked his prey. He even welcomed it. But now it haunted him. It reminded him of the night things changed for his village. He felt that if he missed even the smallest of the movements in any corner of the Temple, things would repeat, or worse.

The sky bled pink as it slowly ushered the sun into the horizon. Tristan left the rope that connected his right hand to the bell on top of the temple, one level above where he had lodged. 'There wouldn't be any need for that until dusk.' He stood up from the watcher's spot, and stretched, cracked his joints, rubbed the sore calves that were stiff from inert sitting. As he gathered his belongings, his eyes stopped at his arms. They looked strange. Color-cast. Nothing like before. He massaged his right shoulder, firm from stillness of holding the rope throughout the night.

'What had happened yesterday?'

Tristan gathered his bow and quiver from the ground, and slung them behind his left shoulder by its old leather strap. The wooden bow had belonged to his father, who had spent most of his life helping his son perfect the art of hunting. Tristan had yet to get accustomed to its size. He could hardly draw an arrow all the way back, but keeping it with him brought him peace. In trouble, the bow wasn't really going to help him.

His spot was on a platform below the tower where the huge copper bell was modeled in its utmost pride. The boy had recently discovered a hidden ladder elongated to the ground, its rungs precisely carved into the wall, only visible to someone specifically looking for it. A month ago, he wouldn't have imagined a way to get to the bell tower. And tonight, he was one of the watchers sitting right underneath the invaluable bell that he could access by his own secret course. He skipped over the broken rungs and jumped down on the ground with a soft thump. He looked up at the vastness of the temple; no one in sight. There was time until others were up.

The events from yesterday hadn't skipped Tristan's mind ever since he had woken up from a long and deep sleep. Unconscious, perhaps. He had been thinking about the strange girl and the gap in his memory after he had met her first in the forest. He wondered if the broken chain of thoughts from yesterday had something to do with the girl's sudden arrival in the village. He being carried by the young stranger had taken everyone by surprise. He had last seen the maid escort Olean- yes that was her name- inside the temple to meet the Elder. Tristan was oblivious to what happened there on. He was taken to his resting spot by a saucier, and passed out the moment his body hit the thin reed mattress on the ground. He was woken up by the same saucier. He had been running late for his night shift. Throughout the watch, he had tried to trace the entire day up until he saw Olean in the thick forest. When he had opened his eyes after a hard jerking, he saw the girl's playful face with a disruptive smirk and the oddest hair he had ever seen. He had no recollection of what he was in the forest for. He knew there was something important he needed to take care of, but every time he tried to recall, the thoughts would swiftly slip his mind.

The oddity of the day however, didn't end there.

A few hours ago, around midnight, Tristan had seen Olean sneaking out of the temple. He had an intense urge to ring the bell and to alarm everyone to stop the girl from her perilous mission. But just then, Olean had turned around and looked up at him, knowing exactly where he was even in the pitch darkness. Her eyes sparkled, bright like starlight, as she moved her index finger onto her puckered lips. Tristan stood there motionless seeing her leap out of the barricade, and disappear into the dark. He couldn't have stopped her even if he woke the whole village up. Nothing could keep up with the girl's agility he had witnessed in the span of two breaths.