Both Lukas and Oak turned around to see someone on the edge of their campfire's light, standing like a shadow.
He was about the same height as Lukas but looked much older. As if he had lived twice as much as Lukas. Or been through twice as much.
He was dressed head to toe in thick black garments, the only accents being dark, muted golds or blues. Even his hair and eye colour were pitch black as if he was made of darkness.
He wore fancy glasses that lacked lenses and had one of his eyes closed, with a large scar over it. His hair was layered and long, almost reaching to his middle back.
He was calm and composed, almost friendly. He had no noticeable weapons on him and seemed to carry no supplies with him.
"Might I ask what you two are doing here?"
His voice was deep but gentle, soft, and smooth. It danced around Lukas' ears, and almost allowed him to relax a little.
"We're setting up a small camp for the night since we couldn't make it to Shadecross before the day ran out."
Oak was not as tense as Lukas. But this only made him look like a fool in Lukas' eyes. Why tell a stranger what you're doing?
'At least hold back some information.'
"Let me change my question a little bit; What are two members of the Fortissimo, a special asset and member of Skyla's subdivision, doing here?"
For a moment Lukas could've sworn he saw the shadows flicker out of sync with the crackling fire.
"Who are you?"
The man chuckled.
"My apologies, I am Karve Treath, another member of the Fortissimo."
Lukas sighed.
"We're headed to Snakewell after being called there by a messenger crow."
"So are we, there must be a meeting between the hunters."
Oak and Lukas both had a confused expression.
"Hunters?"
"We?"
Karve took a step forward before sitting down, now fully illuminated.
"Right, there are two of us. He's waiting just out of earshot. But more importantly, where did you two come from? Why is there not a hunter with you?"
Lukas finally relaxed a little, believing that the person in front of him wasn't dangerous.
"We came from Mystic Camp, and what is a hunter? I assume you're not referring to an average hunter."
Karve chuckled.
"Gods no. Hunter is just the classification for a select few of the highest-ranking members of the Fortissimo. Those who have subdivisions, more or less."
He continued to chuckle for a bit before shaking his head.
"By the by, if you came from Mystic Camp, then why is Vesa not with you? Surely she must have been called as well."
Lukas shrugged.
"She was called but didn't come with us. I don't know her exact reason, but she said she had a few things that needed to be done."
Karve stayed silent in contemplation for a few moments.
"I see. Well, allow me to grab our friend and introduce ourselves."
Karve then stood up and fell backwards. But rather than hitting the ground, he seemed to fall into it, or rather into his shadow. Then, he was gone, as if he wasn't even there.
"He seems nice."
'Nice? He seems creepy.'
Lukas sighed.
"Well, what do we do?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do we do; Karve seems fine, but we don't know anything about him. There's another person with him too that we don't know, and both of them are also heading to Snakewell. Do we just go along with them?"
Oak shrugged.
"Sure. He seems experienced, why not trust him?"
Lukas sighed and just sat down in defeat.
But only a few moments went by before Karve returned. Stepping out of the darkness, this time accompanied by another young man. He seemed to be around the same age as, or a little older than Lukas.
He wore an almost identical uniform to Lukas but with a large flowing dark robe over it, its colour was black with muted yellow accents. He was a little taller than Karve, who was about the same height as Lukas. But he was far thinner, whereas Karve was dense and strong.
He bore a resemblance to Karve, but not directly. Perhaps they were related? Or they could just be from the same place.
His hair was the same black, but much shorter. His eyes were a striking grey as if forged from steel. His skin was lighter than Karve's but not as light as Lukas' or Oak's.
His character too, was far different. Karve presented himself as confident, soft, and kind, if a little creepy. But the young man seemed to not approach, staying a comfortable distance from Lukas and Oak.
"This is Axel, a special asset. As I said, we were both called to Snakewell. I hope you do not mind if we accompany you."
Karve stepped forward and took a seat by the fire with a relaxed look on his face. Axel, however, did not follow immediately. He stayed back for a few moments before moving forward with caution in his steps.
When he took a seat, he did not share the same relaxed face as everyone around him. He looked tense and focused on himself. Cleaning the dirt off himself, mending small tears in his clothes, putting his attention solely on himself.
Oak didn't seem to read the air around them. To Lukas, Axel seemed to not want to talk, for one reason or another. But Oak simply turned to Axel like he was any other person.
"How was your training Axel?"
Axel turned to the cheery boy.
"You do not need to know anything beyond my name. Nor do I wish to tell you."
His voice was raspy but soft as if his throat was being strained. But Lukas had heard that type of strained voice before. It was the voice of those suffering from exhaustion or pulling a weight many times more than one could carry.
Unlike Karve, Lukas understood and trusted Axel almost immediately. Axel may not have gone through much but was rather going through his struggles.
'What a pity... to struggle alone.'