Strength in Weakness.
Tenet of the Cult of the Night.
Codified by the first Cardinal.
"A follower and worshiper of the Night must be well aware of what gives it strength. So ask yourself, what gives the Night its strength? Why are we pulled to it? What power does it posses that causes us to drift towards?
Darkness is the absence of light, night is the absence of day, the void is the absence of anything. Despite being defined by their lack of something, all these things still have power. The Night, an all-encompassing mass of nothing, is suffocating in its endlessness. But how, you may wonder, can something with nothing be endless?
I shall answer your question with one of my own.
Can you ever find the end of something with no beginning?
The truth, as you may have realized, is that there is no power in the night. It comes every day and leaves the majority of us unscathed. But it is with the Night that powers rise. In the absence of anything, something will always fill that space. Therefore it is up to us, the devoted followers and worshipers of the phenomenon we call Night, to give it power – fill the void, so to speak.
This tenet, this philosophy, does not solely apply to the night, an important fact for all to remember. There are times where weakness, or the apparent lack of strength, can be a strength of its own. Remember this teaching and even the lowliest of man can achieve extraordinary might, needless to mention those who are already strong."
***
In the town hall, I approached the attendant at the front desk.
"I need to see the mayor. I need to ask him more about the evacuation order. It's urgent."
"You and everyone else today, it seems," the clerk rubbed her temples, clearly exhausted despite the day only being halfway over, "Everything is urgent and about the evacuation order. I've been instructed to turn away the rabble that do nothing but complain, so you'd better have something interesting to say or I'll call someone to throw you out of here."
"If I had something to say about the boys that ran in this morning, would you take me seriously?"
"If you're here to complain about whether we can trust their testimony or accuse them of playing a joke on all of us, get in line. The mayor believes it, and that's all the authority we need to order you all to leave. I promise he's not just trying to clear out the town to take a few days off. This is truly for your safety."
The speech sounded rehearsed. I can only imagine how many people must've stopped in to complain before they evacuated. Most people only ever saw the before and after of a beast wave, after everything had been taken care of and repairs had started. At the time, I had also never seen such a wave of beasts. Even if I had, I doubt my actions would have been any different. Sometimes, the events that unfold happen regardless of any changes made to the circumstances.
I took a second to compose myself, taking a few deep breaths, and putting on a much more pleasant face.
"I'm not here to complain. I understand the circumstances and the difficulties you must have been through today. But, it is because of how well I understand the circumstances that I am here. I believe you all are missing something incredibly important about the situation that should be brought to the mayor's attention immediately."
She raised a quizzical eyebrow at me, clearly not believing a run-of-the-mill hunter could know anything the mayor himself hadn't realized.
"Well, if it is truly that important, I suppose I could relay a message…" her voice trailed off as her eyes drifted behind me. Before I could turn around, I heard the voice of a jovial old man.
"I'm free now, why don't you tell me yourself. Something even I missed must surely be of the utmost importance. I'd hate to delay such important news."
By the time he had finished, I had turned around, ignoring the obvious sarcasm. Before me stood a short, pot-bellied old man with a pleasant smile and piercing yellow eyes in a black trench coat that reached just barely above the floor. He lent on a cane with his left hand while his right hand held a top hat he presumably had just taken off. A silver monocle rested over his left eye with a chain trailing into his breast pocket which shined nearly as brightly as his bald head. The only visible hair on the man was a great, bushy, white mustache, and thick white eyebrows. He stood barely five feet behind me, but I hadn't heard him approach, nor had I heard the door open either. In hindsight, I don't believe the clerk had seen him either, not until he was ready to speak.
While his sudden appearance was a bit unnerving, I shook it off quickly and began explaining my findings.
"Did you ever see the boys that delivered the message this morning?"
"Yes, in fact, I just returned from the hospital they're recovering at. They were complaining of a strange man who had entered like a fierce wind and left just as quickly. He truly frightened one of the nurses there."
"What would you guess their ages to be?" I asked, ignoring his jab.
"I wouldn't guess any of them much past a decade. It's strange how I don't remember allowing their transfer here, nor their stationing at the fort. I feel like I wouldn't have allowed such young children to be in such a dangerous position, but all the paperwork checks out. Truly unfortunate they had to experience something like this during only their third week here."
"So, you have seen them? Then that makes this easy. Tell me, would a child of that age have the same capabilities as a man? You said they had only been here a few weeks, correct? So would they have the route through the forest memorized?"
"Don't forget that I am the mayor, son. I understand you're worried, but I can only excuse such a tone for so long," he waited until I gestured an apology before continuing, "As for your questions. Respectively, no, and I don't see why they'd have much trouble. There's a clear route cut through it, with a number of side trails that all lead back to it. Even at night, it shouldn't be all that difficult as long as they have working eyes."
"But what if those same children were scared shitless after seeing an entire fort of men, people they had been surrounded by for nearly a month, slaughtered before them? What if they were carrying their dead friend with them? I'm no psychologist, but something tells me they might not be in a very observant mood."
"So what are you trying to say? That those kids got lost in the forest? That hardly seems like something to be concerned over." The pleasant expression had dropped from his face, but I could tell he wasn't annoyed. The dots had started connecting in his head as well.
"Let me add some more information. How long does a trip through the woods take?"
"A bit less than twelve hours, fort to city, give or take."
"And how long would that take if they did just so happen to lose their way?"
"It's impossible to be sure, but it could be anywhere from 18 hours to a full day, if not more if they decided to sleep."
"And they would've left when? Right when the wave started or when they were sure the fort was lost?"
"Sergei would've ordered them to rush here as soon as he was sure the fort was lost. The man has never been one for caution." I assumed that Sergei was the one placed in charge of the fort.
"How long would it take him to know the fort was lost?"
"He would wait until the last second, which means there are too many factors to get an accurate guess."
"What's the worst-case scenario?"
"Worst case?" he thought for a moment before continuing, "The timeline would be as such: the wave attacks first shortly after sunset, the fort holds for a few hours before Sergei realizes it's a lost cause and orders the boys to leave and probably makes final stand, the boys then leave immediately and rush here, and at some point they get lost in the forest. Since we know they arrived this morning, worst case is that they took over a full day to get here. That would mean the attack first happened two days ago. They wouldn't have moved on from the fort until they had wiped out everyone in it, which likely wouldn't take too long, even given how strong Sergei is. But, they wouldn't have left until nightfall and would be slowed by the forest." He was essentially just thinking out loud to see if I could see something he missed.
"So, what does that mean when you put it all together?"
"It means, best case, sometime early tomorrow. And worst case…" he fell silent. In fact both of us had, for something had changed. The silence around us was deafening.
Yes, silence. The rain had stopped.