“Everyone, lower your weapons! Don’t point them at the shadows and fire them on accident! Curb your fear and let the negotiations between that extra-large shadow and Duchess Lacuna occur without incident!”

Similar shouts like these were echoing through the city wall battlements by the time Claud and Lily reported to the emergency assembly summons, which was a never-ending jangle that stirred the whole city awake. The soldier looked nervous and fearful, a state of mind that Claud hadn’t seen in them before, and then completely sympathised with him when he looked out of the city.

“A mass of writhing shadows.” Lily had an odd look on her face. “And I thought that was a description reserved for novels.”

“Weren’t those fellows burning under the moonlight?” Claud asked. “Why aren’t they affected now?”

“They probably prepared for the moonlight or something,” Lily replied. “The early appearance of the Moons caught them by surprise, but if some light is enough to defeat them, I don’t think they deserve to be a threat. More importantly, they had some time to adjust. It’s been a few days, after all.”

Claud cupped his chin. “True.”

The two of them looked back out at the sea of writhing shadows, shimmering faintly under the three crescent moons. All three Moons had been out in full force for the past few days, a sight that somehow reminded Claud of a restaurant’s chefs not taking any off days to compete with a newly opened competitor. The resulting scene, where tri-coloured light reflected and diffused off the shiny shadows that filled the lands far and wide, was one that seemed to carry an archaic air to it.

Maybe, eons ago, the first battle between the Moons and the Dark looked like this.

A soldier walked up to them, and with a jolt, Claud realised that he was the fellow that had commanded them a few days ago.

“Hmm? Oh, I remember you two,” said the soldier. “The cute couple who just flirted the whole time while firing arrows.”

“I’m quite sure we weren’t flirting then, though,” Claud replied back. “And besides, isn’t this a bit rude?”

“It is?” The soldier pondered for a moment. “I’m just stressed out. All the arrows in the city wouldn’t even get rid of more than a fifth of the shadows here. And we might be asked to fight anyway, despite knowing this fact.”

He looked at the city gates, where a burly shadow was already negotiating with Duchess Lacuna. “Funny how they’re so civilised right now, considering that they wanted nothing more than to rip out our hearts just a few days back.”

“Is it really that bad in Quies?” Claud asked. “I mean, you’re using that as a reference…right?”

“We’re not sure. But I don’t think they’ll kill everyone there on purpose, right?” The soldier took out a knife and fiddled with it. “Maybe they just wanted to secure some land for themselves, and now that they had it, they’re willing to talk it out. But until we know what’s going on in Quies and Voidum…”

“Well, a huge barrier has isolated the Istrel Sovereignty too,” Lily replied.

“Sounds like both sides are more concerned with each other than us, if they’re throwing up huge barriers,” the soldier muttered.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Well, there are more efficient ways of keeping us humans in and out of a place than a giant dome that blots out the sun,” the soldier replied.

For some reason, Claud felt as if someone had insulted the very root of his being, but that ephemeral feeling vanished like the morning dew as the soldier pointed at the shadow negotiating with Duchess Lacuna. “The barriers are guarding against sneak attacks by these special shadows.”

Claud looked at the extra-large shadow talking to the duchess. A good half of its body was dyed in an intense, intense black, a black that far surpassed the darkness of just about any other shadow in attendance. In fact, he even felt that the anomalous shadow was standing out in a way like the Moon Emissary, and—

“The counterpart to the Moon Emissary,” Lily muttered.

“Yeah, I was thinking along these lines too,” said Claud.

“The what?”

“The Moon Emissary,” Claud replied obligingly.

“Uh, the ones that we sometimes talk about? The emissary of the Moons?” The soldier blinked. “I thought that was an urban legend.”

“Didn’t the newspaper say something about the the Quies County being occupied by the Moons?” Claud asked. “Today’s newspaper. There was a mention of the Moon Emissary there.”

“I haven’t read that one yet,” the soldier replied. “So, we’re seeing yet another legend pop up. Wow. We live in wondrous and scary times.”

As those words left his mouth, the sea of shadows rippled once, and began to turn into black fog. Entire contingents of shadows vanished, each one the size of the waves that had assaulted the county just a few days ago, and the extra-large and extra-dark shadow took a step back. Nodding once in a very human-like fashion, the Dark’s version of the Moon Emissary scattered into fog like its compatriots and vanished.

Within moments, no trace that entire hordes of shadows once stood here existed. The duchess was too far for them to examine her expression properly, but everyone could see her stare into the distance for a moment.

Another silhouette appeared in front of her seconds later.

A silhouette that looked like her. Rippling faintly, the mirage melded into her body, and she shook her head slightly.

“What’s that?” Claud muttered.

“Good question,” Lily replied, before pulling him aside. Tugging his ear close, she whispered, “Don’t you think it looks a bit similar to the Second Shadow? That looked like her, right?”

Claud pondered for a moment. “True. I mean, it is really convenient for administration, right? But it feels different from when we ourselves were using it, though. The mirage is there, but it feels like her mirage is taking independent action or something.”

“Maybe it’s an enhanced version or something,” Lily pondered. “But where did that mirage come from? It appeared out of nowhere, right?”

“Like one of those legendary ghosts,” the soldier replied.

“Don’t mention the word ‘legendary’,” Claud replied.

“Huh?” The soldier stared at him. “Why not? It’s a good term to use, and it sounds awesome, the way it rolls off my tongue.”

“If you haven’t realised, lots of legendary things have been showing up in recent months.” Claud folded his arms. “I’m hoping that there aren’t that many legendary things left, or else things are going to get more and more messy. What if spirits of the dead and gone start showing up?”

Everyone else laughed, and Claud felt a bit annoyed at how even those listening into their conversation weren’t hiding the fact that they were doing so. “Hey, I’m being serious about this! It’ll be bad if more things crop up, alright?”

“There, there.” Lily reached out and patted his head. “It’ll be alright, see?”

Claud grumbled under his breath and decided not to dignify her maternal attempt at comforting him by giving a reply. However, that turned out to be a bad choice, since Lily simply continued to pat his head, prompting everyone watching to turn away or mutter under their breath about how some people should read the mood and get a room.

“Alright, alright. It’ll be fine, okay?” Claud graced her headpats with a reply, and her hands stilled. “Thanks for comforting me.”

Everyone else sniggered, but before Claud could say anything, a bell rang once, and the soldier, who had been watching him with an entertained expression, straightened up. “That’s the assembly bell. Come on, let’s go down. The duchess probably wants to address us and the count.”

Herding them down the city walls, Lily clutched Claud’s hand and placed it on her head.

“What’s that for?” Claud asked, surprised. “You want one too?”

Lily nodded.

“Oh, you…” Claud obliged by patting her head, the same way she had did it to him earlier, and smiled. Now that not many people were looking at him — and also because he was the one being patted earlier — Claud found himself enjoying the process immensely.

Maybe Lily also felt the same kind of enjoyment in rubbing and patting his head too, and as that epiphany struck him, Claud found his resistance to being doted and coddled on ebbing away. The kind-hearted enjoyed doing good deeds because they enjoyed the feeling of being kind; if he applied the same principle here…

“Hmm.”

Lily looked at him, her adorable eyes glittering under the light of the Moons. “Something wrong?”

“Just wondering if you would…never mind. I’ll tell you about it when we get back later.” Claud cut himself off, before he could give her the mistaken impression that he was fine with being patted and spoilt in public.

She tilted her head as the two of them stepped off the staircase and headed towards the city square, where the other volunteers were already gathering at. Duchess Lacuna was floating above the ground majestically, cutting a grand figure as she surveyed the crowd slowly.

The two of them found a less deserted area in the city square and occupied a small spot in it. Pulling out a small strawberry tart from her backpack, Lily broke it into half and passed a piece to Claud. “Here! I made it myself!”

“When did you make it?” Claud asked. “Weren’t we mediating on the bed this entire afternoon?”

“You fell asleep after you were done, remember?”

“Oh…”