The desert was cold and dark, the only sound that from the other camps, and even that eventually diminished, except for a few hardcore partiers, determined to go for as long as possible. Janaxia and Sen were both fast asleep, their breath coming in slow and regular movements. The only light inside the tent was a low red glow, coming from Janaxia’s hair, pulsing in time with her breathing. Even Zarazonnia was slumbering, although with all six hands resting on sword-hilts, her tail flicking about sometimes.

The relative calm of the night was soothing, making it easy for Stathis to slow her thoughts. Janaxia was keeping control of herself, although it was probably a little concerning that she was studying the book. Would it teach her anything weird? Or even more new spells? Well, if she got more powerful, then that would help with Poratia.

The army was more of an immediate concern. Wherever they were going probably wasn’t equipped to protect against a sudden attack, although Stathis still had no idea however they getting to their destination. Ships, maybe, but it would take quite a lot to transport this force, as well as warn anyone that saw them coming. Some mass-scale transportation spell? But that would take a lot of power and skill, and if that could be done, then why hadn’t it been done a long time ago?

Stathis pulled the tent flap aside as quietly as possible, stepping into the dark night. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting her senses drift. She could sense Janaxia just behind her, a throbbing coil of icy darkness. Zarazonnia was less vivid, but could be sensed as a strong scent of cinnamon and a flash of emerald green, and the tang of steel. The sand underfoot felt suddenly warm, a gentle heat washing up from her feet.

When she opened her eyes, she took a step, feeling something underfoot – where she had been standing, there was a thin growth of soft grass, barely rooted into the sand. It added a soft and verdant scent to the dry sand, strands of it coming over her boots. Stepping away without uprooting the thin strands took a few moments. A sudden wind lashed at her, blowing grains of sand everywhere. The grass was plucked from the ground, blowing against her legs for a moment before getting pulled away, vanishing into the night without any sign that it had ever been there.

Stathis stepped back inside the tent, letting the flap fall back into place. Janaxia and Sen were both still asleep, Janaxia’s hair glowing more fitfully now, casting the inside of the tent into shifting shadows, as she tossed and turned.

Janaxia’s hair did little to illuminate the shadows, except to make them appear ominous and thick, metal gleaming as though it were blood-stained. Where they darker than they should be? Or was that just Janaxia being Janaxia?

A whispered murmur came from somewhere, and Stathis moved her hand to her sword. That definitely wasn’t Sen, and she could make out distinct words, so it didn’t seem like Janaxia, even if she somehow was casting spells in her sleep. Shadows darkened even more, the red tint appearing around solid lumps of darkness. A dome of darkness pulled itself upwards, a hand, then an arm stretching upwards from the ground, a shadowy body emerging from nothingness. Where the eyes should be, there was shiny darkness, catching the red light coming from Janaxia.

Fingers stretched out, long and sharp, the shape pulling itself upwards from nothingness. It was spiked and spined, the background chanting soft as it tried to lull Stathis to sleep. She ignored it and drew her sword – steel-brushed sunlight washed out, giving more of a defined edge and shape to the thing. It was humanoid, but covered with spikes and spines, clawed hands stretching out towards Janaxia.

Stathis stepped forward, stabbing with her sword. There was some resistance where she met the shadowy creature, her sword vanishing into the dark body, the blade disappearing from view where it penetrated. She twisted the blade and dragged it out, thin lines of shadow-stuff coming out with it, getting drawn from the main body of the thing.

In the blood-red light shed by Janaxia’s hair as she slumbered, the thing was like a spiked-edged shape of shadows, the only point that showed any distinction the deeper pits of the eyes. It didn’t respond to being attacked, spikes bristling into being along the arms. It took a slow step forward, the red light getting swallowed up.

‘….!’ Stathis tried to shout, to wake Janaxia up, but couldn’t make a noise, a thick and unnatural silence swaddling the inside of the tent. Another patch of shadows started taking shape, another head rising silently up from nothingness, arms reaching out. The first moved forward, an arm extending and curving outwards. Stathis bought her blade down, focusing her will and making sunlight blare out, overpowering Janaxia’s red light for a moment.

It sank into the extended arm, the thing boneless, cutting into shadows and out through the other side. The stretched-out part dropped down, fading into mist before hitting the floor, the stump already starting to grow back. It stepped forward, as the other one continued to rise up out of the ground.

Stathis stepped around it, trying to present herself as a physical barrier. She stabbed and sliced through it again, clean strikes to the torso, feeling a squidgy resistance as she penetrated the body, twisting her sword to make the wound as large as possible. Having the blank, empty eyes stare at her was discomforting, as she tried to shout again, with no more success than before. It seemed at least aware of her presence, slide-stepping to the side.

She changed her angle of attack, angling downwards and chopping into a leg, more sunlight flaring out. The leg was thicker than the arm had been, snagging her blade in the air, forcing her to twist and withdraw without cutting all the way through. The other one was completely formed now, a twin to the first. As it moved forward, the two forms blurred together, their shadowy bodies not solid enough to block each other, legs and arms all flapping around.

Another swing of the sword at a leg, and this time she was able to cut deeper, sawing back and forth before she was able to make it through, the limb getting severed from the torso. One lump of darkness toppled slightly, arms flailing and managing to catch at the other one, slowing them both. The magically enforced silence was heavy in the air – was anyone else under attack, or was it just Janaxia? Stathis lunged, putting her weight behind the thrust, targeting a neck, finding it easier to penetrate than the leg. Not that it seemed to have much effect, beyond slowing them for a moment.

She was forced to take another step backwards, glancing downwards – she was practically right on top of Janaxia, still sleeping, her face slack in her slumbers, hair still glowing red. Even when Stathis took another step backwards, her leg knocking against the bed-frame. Their bodies weren’t tough enough to resist her sword-stabs and slices, but the shadows just reformed each time, without any permanent damage.

Stathis kicked her leg backwards, moving the bedframe, hoping to wake Janaxia. The red light veered as the bed moved, Janaxia’s head rolling on the pillow – she wasn’t normally a heavy sleeper, was she drugged? Or in some kind of enchanted sleep? Even another kick didn’t rouse her, just making the light dance crazily as Janaxia’s head moved.

The bed bumped into something softer, and Sen’s eyes blearily opened, as Stathis kept swinging at the shadows, trying to keep them back. They were inexorable like undead, but weren’t responding to her attacks, simply absorbing the damage! Sunlight blazed, a point in the air suddenly warm and bright, washing away the darkness entirely, overpowering the red haze and the shadows both.

The creatures could be seen more clearly now, starkly defined shapes, lanky and malformed humanoids, covered with spines and spikes, except for the heads, that were perfect replicas of skulls, except for their gleaming darkness. Even the bright light she had conjured up didn’t slow them, but at least it made them easier to see, to identify where their bodies merged into each other, a tangle of limbs surmounted with two heads.

Sen managed to rouse herself, standing up and her mouth moving, looking surprised when no sound came out. She grabbed at Janaxia, pulling at her and dragging her upwards, against the back wall of the tent, putting a little more distance between Janaxia and the attackers. Stathis continued to attack, the two things splitting apart, into two distinct forms, one going left and the other right.

Stathis tried to split her attacks between the two of them, both their healing was too fast for her, the shadows flowing back into an uninjured form. As the two of them split apart, she couldn’t swing at them both, so was forced to focus her attacks on just one. It felt as though it was getting easier to slice, or was that her imagination? But no matter how she cut and sliced at the body, it just kept regenerating!

Sen was holding Janaxia’s body up by the armpits, pulling her backwards, pushing against the tent wall. The other shadow was moving towards her, taking slow and methodical strides. Even when Stathis pivoted and bought her blade down in a killing blow, slicing down the spine, it didn’t pause for more than a second.

Janaxia was still unconscious, body limp in Sen’s arms. The closest shadow reached forward, arm moving towards Janaxia, as Stathis tried to move to get in the way. When she moved through the shadowy arm, then a deathly chill bit into her. It hurt, making her heart ache in her chest, but she couldn’t manage to get her sword up properly, the claws touching against Janaxia’s bare shoulder. The shadow rippled, the dark form spilling over Janaxia’s skin like ink getting spilled, tinting her skin black, before slowly vanishing.

Stathis hacked at the shadow again, it’s movement now entirely still, arm rigid and tense, more darkness flowing over her skin. Her hair started to throb with greater speed, the red getting brighter. Stathis cut through the neck of the creature, again, the skull-head vanishing into a puff of smoke before starting to reform. Janaxia stirred in her sleep, mumbling something under her breath. Her tattoo was getting darker, now a solid black disk on her chest. The shadow suddenly froze, going utterly still, the skull only partially regenerated. Then it imploded, shrinking into a single mote of darkness before vanishing.

Janaxia mumbled something again, tossing in Sen’s arms, looking far too comfortable despite her position. Even when Sen’s grip slipped, and Janaxia fell to the floor, she didn’t wake up! Sen bent over, trying to pick Janaxia up, knocking the bed again. There was a heavy sound as the book fell to the floor. The remaining shadow took another step forward, it’s foot touching the cover.

As it did so, the gemstones on the cover snapped with sudden red light, the shadow freezing for a moment before vanishing.

Stathis cut through the air again a few more times, just in case some element of the creatures was still present. There was still no sound, her blade moving silently, Sen’s lips moving without any words coming out. She moved over to Janaxia, twisting to move the bed out of the way, and then sheathed her sword, before picked Janaxia up. Her body felt normal, despite the darkness around of her tattoo. Stathis shifted her into a comfortable position and pointed at the tent flap, Sen moving to hold it open.

Outside, the air was cool and crisp – nothing else seemed to be on fire, the rest of the camps looking entirely undisturbed. As soon as she was outside, sound rushed back, the spell’s area contained within the tent. There was no sign of any attackers, just a few hard-core revellers still drinking, and the cracking of several bonfires.

Stathis laid Janaxia out onto the ground, checking her over – she didn’t have any wounds, physically at least, and didn’t seem fevered or frozen to the touch. Her tattoo was still solid black, but it wasn’t the first time that it had behaved strangely. Stathis touched it with her own finger, feeling a jolt of icy cold burn up her finger, into her arm, as a mote of light blossomed into existence, shedding a sudden warmth.

Sen moved in close, her clothing ill-suited for the cold desert night, hunching up and trying to get as much warmth as possible from the light.

‘Monsters of pure shadow! My thanks for defeating it – is Lady Janaxia alright?’

‘I think so? Although I think she’s under a sleep spell or something.’ The tattoo looked murkier now, light mixed in with the shadow, brighter dots slowly swirling around. Stathis gave her another prod, this time not near the tattoo, quite hard into a collarbone. ‘Come on, wake up.’ Janaxia didn’t respond, still slack-jawed and asleep, even when Stathis pushed harder, leaving a dent in the flesh.

‘I wonder who sent them? I have heard of such creatures being used as assassins.’

‘I thought it might be from Janaxia’s family. Ghostly shadows seems like the sort of thing that they would do. I hope this isn’t a regular thing, I’d like to get some proper sleep!’ Janaxia wasn’t waking up, no matter how hard Stathis poked at her – if she used any more force, it would be an outright assault. She looked entirely comfortable and at peace, despite her clothing being in disarray and being laid out on the sand, her face in an expression of happy slumber.

‘Sen, do you at least want to get some rest? I’ll keep watch and try and wake Janaxia up when whatever spell she’s under fades away. And then she can do some work herself, for a change.’

‘Thank you, Stathis. I hope there are no further attacks.’

Stathis made herself comfortable on the sand, leaning back on the sand, staring up at the thick streak of stars, occasionally poking at Janaxia to see if the spell had finished yet.