Lukas went to sleep shortly after interacting with Kai. He didn't finish his drawing, nor did the motivation come back by the morning.
His headache was gone and every part of him felt fresh and energised. Although his task for today was not difficult, he was weary that he would have to fight another ghast. All he had to do was search for ghasts in the forest near Mistfell. If he found one, he didn't have to fight it, he just had to make sure it was killed one way or another.
As he began to leave Mistfell, he found Kai on the edge of town staring into the woods. The wind was blowing into him, and it had a strange smell to it.
"A storm is coming."
Kai only meant to mutter this to himself, but Lukas overheard it.
"Maybe... the wind does seem strong."
Kai glanced over at Lukas before returning his gaze to the forest.
"Skyla said you were exploring this side of the river. She won't let me go across the river, so can I join you?"
Lukas thought about it as he brushed the hair out of his face. He saw no problem with it, especially since Kai was powerful, at least the last time he saw him. But, he wasn't sure how Skyla would feel about it. Kai is her brother after all.
"Sure."
Kai's expression remained unchanged. But he followed Lukas into the forest. At first, the two remained quiet as Lukas searched for evidence of ghasts in the area. Kai, on the other hand, didn't do much of anything. He would fidget with random twigs or climb onto branches.
This didn't mean he did nothing. Occasionally Lukas would ask Kai to search somewhere for him. But he mostly went along with Lukas.
"There are footprints here."
Lukas walked over to Kai, and sure enough, there were crystal clear footprints in the light mud. However, there was a problem with the footprints. They weren't there a few minutes ago.
"Did you hear anything? These weren't here a few minutes ago."
Kai shook his head, much to the disappointment of Lukas. Neither of them had heard whatever made these prints. They could've died if the creature wanted to, seeing as they would have been none the wiser to its existence.
He didn't know exactly what animal would make these prints. They somewhat resembled that of an elk, but the prints themselves were spaced too far apart. Even if it were running as fast as it could, the prints wouldn't line up.
Whatever it was would have to either have freakishly long limbs or be faster than anything Lukas had ever seen. The fact that either of those could pass by the duo without being detected was an incredible feat. One that sent a chill up Lukas' spine.
"Keep your guard up, I don't know what made those prints, but I don't want to find out."
"Do you think it could be a monster?"
"A monster? Do you mean a ghast?"
"No, a monster! Like the ones in fairy tales."
Lukas got a small chuckle out of Kai's imagination before resuming his search. However, within a few hours, the storm Kai had predicted finally hit.
The winds were powerful enough to knock Lukas off balance. The rain was constant and oppressive. And the sky was dark, save for the flash of lightning that tore through the sky like a cracking house.
The wind and rain prevented their lanterns from being lit, leaving them to resort to their eyes alone. But with the wind, rain, and heavily clouded sky, even seeing more than half a dozen metres was a challenge.
Kai seemed relatively unfazed by the storm, but Lukas decided to head back to Mistfell. Although Kai was visibly upset by the end of their "adventure", he still followed Lukas back.
But on their way back, they heard a sound ring out over the howling wind. Someone, relatively close by, blew their whistle as loud as they could. It had to be only a handful of kilometres from them. Yet the direction seemed distorted by the sounds of rain and wind.
Lukas took a second to determine where the sound came from. Kai, however, instantly turned towards the whistle and got down into a runner's start position.
"Kil"
Suddenly, as booming thunder erupted in the sky, Kai's lower body became entirely composed of crackling, electric blue, lightning. As they sparked and arced the ground and trees around them, Kai shifted his position slightly.
*BOOM*
With a clap of thunder, Kai was gone in the blink of an eye. All that was left was charred wood and the smell of burning in the air.