The Arrival of Night

As the thought crossed Riley, he heard a crack of lighting strike nearby him. He looked in its direction and saw Jesuh with his backpack on, attempting to catch himself from falling.

"What was that," Riley asked handing Jesuh his hat.

"Too advanced for you to worry about right now. You'll learn in Magic 201. Right now I want you to master regenerating yourself. I was going to have that leech eat you over and over again, but night is on its way."

"What exactly happens at night?"

The two continued to run across the shallow watered marsh. The lighthouse in the distance got closer as silence enveloped the two. "At night, two things happen." Jesuh broke the silence, "Now, remember when I said the Great White Flame was alive. Well everyone needs to sleep eventually, so day occurs when the Great White Flame is awake. Night comes when they're sleeping." Jesuh paused, gulping whatever words he was about to say.

As memories as black as the trees surrounding them came into Jesuh, a sharp inhale of breath reverberated in Riley's ears. With the waves of sound coming from Jesuh, an underlying coldness was felt down Riley's spine.

Riley turned to Jesuh quickly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why would you ask that?"

Riley looked down at his feet splashing on the marsh waters and small patches of dirt, "Nothing, sorry for asking."

"Anyway, sorry about that. During night, since the Great White Flame is sleeping... They sorta kind of can't restore our mana. Nor can they resurrect us at bonfires if we die."

"Wait so, if I run out of mana I'm done for, and if I die I'm done for."

"Yup. Everyone knows this, so Galdrman tend to hunt during the night. Since they all have some kind of night vision, they can easily kill, eat, or whatever the fuck they want to do with you. No matter what you do, you have to survive the night. Get rid of all your morality, and live."

"Have you-" Riley bit his tongue.

"Have I what?"

"Nothing it's insensitive to ask."

"Now how would you know that if you don't fucking ask me."

"Uh- H-have you lost, uh, someone to the night?"

"Yes. Have you Riley?"

Riley became quiet, he was deep in thought, burning away any form of memory of his accident, "Yeah. It was my father, we were on our way home from a concert I wanted to go to, and-"

Riley looked up and noticed the towering lighthouse over his head, he stopped as he came to a realization, "Did I go quiet again?"

"Yeah, I got pretty annoyed, you didn't even hear me," Jesuh slowed down and walked to the base of the lighthouse, there he found a metal door covered in moss. He opened it and revealed a staircase that looked used and worn down over the years. It was surrounded by tight stone walls that oozed with mud that reeked of death.

Riley walked up to it, analyzing the staircase, "It's sorta..."

"Dogshit. Thank you, I've lived here for years. Shut up and climb up," he walked away from the door and went around the base of the lighthouse. Riley instinctively followed him leading him to a garage of sorts on the right side of the lighthouse. His heart dropped for at the center of the garage was an army fitted jeep. Riley turned right back around, and ran to the stairs to wait for Jesuh.

His mind raced, but was quickly stopped by Riley gripping the Jesuh's dagger. He took it and cut the palm of his hand, blood leaked out as he thought, "Don't you dare let that memory leak Riley," he imagined the other worldly being made of white flames touch his hand again. This time he focused less and managed to receive healing for his self-made wound.

Jesuh returned without his backpack. "When day comes we'll take the jeep to the nearest town, and get us some money."

Riley nodded, then smirked as he began walking up the dilapidated stairs, "If I fall through any of these stairs, I'll curse you. Haunt you until I make you shit yourself!" Riley began laughing, "I'll become your shit ghost."

"My shit ghost? You're a comedian Riley!" Jesuh yelled up, as he closed the door and locked it down. He started running up the stairs as Riley reached about halfway. "What happened to that leech!" Riley yelled down.

"I sent him off to his king or whatever to warn him about us."

Riley stopped dashing up the steps, he looked behind him to see Jesuh bumping into him. He stumbled, and pressed his feet against the stone walls. He leaned against it as he tried to catch his fall. Only for him to apply more force to his lifted foot, resulting in a section of the stone wall to be pushed back slightly. Once he got control over himself, he looked at his lifted foot and dropped it back on the stairs. "This place is coming apart," he looked back up to Jesuh who stared at him with eyes that seemed to pierce through his body and judged his soul. "Why did you uh, warn the king about us. What are we even going to be doing?"

"Killing him. Near death experiences breeds opportunity and growth. Now hurry up and go up the steps!"

Riley continued his run up the steps, while they ran they heard the white flame at the top of the lighthouse go out. It sounded as though a howling wind came and snuffed out the small flame personally. Three pulses of flames brushed across the sky, breaching the horizons, leaving behind a trail of darkness that developed Galdorerda. The slightly lit staircase was completely dark. Riley's heart raced as he felt around for anything familiar.

"Jesuh! Where'd you go," he felt nothing but mud greasing his skin, and cold metal stairs freezing his hands. "Settle down Riley. Let me find my torches." Jesuh looked in all of his pockets, while Riley freaked out at the smell that began enveloping the staircase. It filled his nose as fast as the wind that blew out the clock flame. It reminded him of rotten eggs and feces mixed in a vat of unwashed toilet water. He felt the tight walls close in on him as he felt some kind of push, (internal or external he did not know), down the stairs closer to Jesuh.

"Jesuh I think some thing is here."

"Wait, I found my torches." Jesuh grabbed two cigarettes and lit them on fire using magic, the flames flared up, blinding Riley and Jesuh. Once they had their sight regained, they froze. As hundreds of spinning rotating teeth surrounded them, screeching at the sight of the flames.