She sometimes dreamed of daylight.

Mozira Bain remembered the last time she’d seen the sun, but had long ago stopped trying to keep track the number of days it had been. Without it, the days became immeasurable, and if there were no days, then years could pass and what difference did it make?

A breeze whipped her white hair across her face, interfering with her vision; those strands had been black the last time she had seen daylight. 

A lot had changed.

”Are you ready?” Asked Navus. 

Mozira turned her eyes up toward the person beside her. Navus’ eyes glowed a pale blue against their shadowy, shifting skin. With her thoughts buried in the deep past, she briefly wondered how that version of her would have reacted to meeting someone like this. To even being in this place. 

“As always,” Mozira replied.

The gates of the city thudded closed behind them, and the perpetual twilight of the Dusk Thread of the Interweave stretched out as far as either could see. A soft, orange glow beyond the horizon hinted that night would fall, but night had been falling for as long as she had been in this place – and forever before that. 

In the distance, the Windless Heights mountain range stretched across half of that horizon, their destination for this trip. 

Navus took the lead, and Mozira followed him as he began the journey into the wastelands. She looked back over her shoulder briefly, watching the walls of Draemorith rise into the darkness, a soft, blue beacon atop the tower in the centre of the city providing guidance to those beyond its walls, a bastion of safety from the deadly environment beyond.

There were other cities in this realm, or so she had been told. They were so sparsely spread, though, that travelling from one to another was rarely ventured, and even more rarely gained. She had been fortunate that Navus had been the one to find her. 

Even after the immeasurable time spent here, Mozira had still not become accustomed to the way the world seemed to shift beneath her in this place, a single step with a destination in mind and miles could seemingly pass underfoot. Before she knew it, the city of Draemorith was barely visible in the distance behind them, save for the beacon, and the foothills of the Windless Heights mountain range were rising up in front of them. 

“Be on alert,” Navus said.

She had accompanied Navus on so many missions by this point that his automatic warning was something that she barely heard, yet heightened her senses instinctively. Her hand automatically curled around the handle of the whip latched at her hip, the leather unfurling and trailing along the ground behind them. The dark crystal embedded in the hilt glowed a soft, dull orange.

Mozira casts Mage Armour. 

With Navus continuing to lead the way, she followed him along the familiar path that led deeper into the mountains. Each footstep matched the indent in the dusty ground made by the person going before her, her eyes darted left and right, watching around each corner, checking each stony crevice as she remembered it, ears peeled for the sounds of movement, she quickly fell into the habitual, quiet movements.

The ground no longer vanished beneath their feet like it had on the plains, each deft step took them slowly along the path. It had been some time since they had last been through this place, so while the path remained, there were potential new dangers or discoveries to be made.

”There.” Navus said.

Stepping out onto a rocky outcropping that provided views across several of the foothills, Navus pointed to a shadowy shape across a valley. A square, angular shape protruded from the hill, a shape that had not been there on their last journey through here. 

“Looks like some kind of tower,” Mozira said. 

They both mutually shifted their gaze to the valley that stood between them and the discovery. A short cliff face descended into darkness that hindered even their ability to see through the shadows. 

“I’ll go first,” Mozira offered, “You anchor me and I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

Navus nodded his agreement, unhitching a length of rope from his pack and tying it to a stone. He tugged on it firmly, it didn’t move. Mozira tied the other end around her waist and moved to the edge of the cliff, her eyes met Navus’ and a silent trust passed between them as she leaned backward taking her first step down the stone, above her, Navus moved closer to the edge and began to feed the rope through, lowering her slowly into the darkness below. 

As her feet touched the ground, she stopped and gazed into the darkness. Shadows rose around her, shades of grey creating shapes. She held her breath in the silence, listening, watching for movement. After a moment she deemed herself safe from any immediate threats.

“Around 30 feet,” she called up as she untied herself. 

Above her the rope began to dance with Navus’ movements downward. Mozira stepped aside. In this darkness he all but disappeared, save for the light blue glow of his eyes. Nothing but these two glowing eyes in a faint humanoid outline would have been disconcerting for most people.

Navus looped the remaining rope over a rock jutting out just above Mozira’s head height, and the pair turned back toward where the tower now stood out against the sky above them.

A shift in the air was all the warning that either of them had as a blurry outline raced from the darkness. Mozira noticed the Stalker at the last instant, too late to avoid its shadowy form leaping at her, its obsidian-like claws raking across her chest, its weight crashing against her. Mozira crashed to the ground, a rock digging into her kidney as the creature rolled over her and turned sharply, its feline form looking down at her through softly growing eyes, similar to Navus’ own.

Attack roll (Claws): 17+6=23 HIT
Damage: 4+3+3=10 slashing

Strength saving throw: Natural 1+3=4

Attack roll (Bite – Advantage): 17+6=23 HIT
Damage: 6+3=11 piercing

Initiative:
Duskwraith Stalker 14+4=18
Navus 12+3=15
Mozira 8+3=11

 

Mozira twisted away as the creature’s mouth snapped down toward her throat, its jaws locking instead around her shoulder. Crying out, Mozira sucked in a heavy breath, shadows bearing in on the edges of her vision as the pain wracked her body, as nausea washed over her.

Behind it, she watched Navus’ form shifting through the shadows, he moved as silently as the Duskwraith Stalker had moved upon her, and lashed at it with the first of his axes. The blade glanced off the creature’s hindquarter, drawing blood and its attention.

Attack roll: 17+5=22 HIT
Damage: 3+2=5 slashing

 

Unperturbed, Navus spun and lashed out with the axe in his left hand, finding better access as he targeted the wound, the axe dug deep into the creature’s flesh and it snarled, snapping its attention around towared Navus.

Attack roll: 18+5=23 HIT
Damage: 6+1=7 slashing

With the Stalker’s attention off her, Mozira scrambled backward across the rocky ground, creating some distance between the creature and herself before staggering to her feet. Pain washed over her, dizziness threatening to send her back to the ground. She pulled the whip from her hip and channeled the magical essence within herself, a deep purple glow barely emanated from the crystal embedded in the hilt of the whip as she lifted it. It cracked, a sharp, red, fiery bolt streaking along the leather before loosing toward the creature.

Mozira Casts Firebolt
(Quickened Spell Cost: 2 Sorcery Points)

Attack roll: 10+8=18 HIT
Damage: 1+6=7 Fire

“Watch the hide!” Navus said, cautioning her against the fire spell.

“I don’t care,” Mozira replied, belaboured breaths coming as she tried to maintain her composure.

It wasn’t the first time they had fought one of these creatures, but being caught off guard like she had was already filling her with concern. She could feel the blood from her shoulder passing down both her chest and back, soaking into her robes.

The Stalker lashed out at Navus, who, maintaining the consistent movement that he did during these types of moments, easily swung out of the way of the claw. 

Attack roll: 5+6=11 MISS

Shifting his weight low, Navus stepped inside the creature’s claw range, overstepping and suddenly finding himself pressed up against it. 

Attack roll: natural 1 MISS

“Navus!” Mozira cried out.

Navus twisted, swinging down at the back of the creature’s neck with his second axe. It made contact, but his compromised position caused the axe to twist as it made contact.

Attack roll: 14+5=19 HIT
Damage: 3+1=4

 

Mozira took a step closer toward the creature, maintaining enough distance to be out of any immediate threat, she cracked the whip again, targeting the creature’s hind legs in an attempt to pull it back from Navus. 

Attack roll: natural 20 HIT
Damage 2×2+4=8 slashing

Channelling the magical energy inside her again, she once more rushed the casting of a spell toward the creature.

“Sorry but this one’s not coming home with us,” she said.

Attack roll: 12+8=20 HIT
Damage: 8 fire

The Duskwraith Stalker swung around, tripping as the whip wrapped around its legs, stumbling. It looked toward Mozira, then back at Navus, and leapt sideward, out from its cornered position between the two. 

Instinctively, Navus swung his axe toward the retreating form, a half-hearted effort.

Attack of Opportunity
Attack roll: 3+5=8 MISS

Mozira sunk to her knees as the creature bounded away into the darkness, merging with the shadows almost immediately. 

“Mozira,” Navus said, stepping toward her and crouching alongside. 

“Fuck,” she said. “That thing came out of nowhere.” 

“Don’t talk,” Navus said.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. Mozira winced, but quickly the pain was enveloped by a soft golden light that began to spread across her body. The sensation of feeling her skin pulling back together, bones realigning, muscles and tendons repairing was too familiar. 

Navus casts Cure Wounds
(Second Level Spell Slot)
4+4+3+4+5=20 healing
Half effectiveness = 10

“Something’s wrong,” she said, looking up at Navus. His eyes were fixed on her wounded shoulder as it did not repair as wholly as either of them expected. “Why isn’t it working?”

”I don’t know,” Navus replied.

He started casting the spell a second time.

”Don’t,” she said. “Save your energy.”

”I’m not risking you going down if another one of those shows up,” he said. “Or something worse. I’m not carrying your corpse back a second time.”

Navus casts Cure Wounds
(Second Level Spell Slot)
3+3+2+1+5=14
Half effectiveness = 7

Again, the spell didn’t seem to carry the same effectiveness as either of them were used to. Mozira’s shoulder still smarted, but she lifted a hand and grasped his. 

“That’ll keep me going,” she said. “We still have a long way to go, we need to conserve whatever energy we can.”

As she rose to her feet, her eyes drifted toward where the Duskwraith Stalker had vanished. Curling her whip, she returned it to the strap on her waist, the crystal continuing to pulse faintly with the essence of magic that coursed through her.

“Let’s move on – at least make this fucking trip worthwhile,” she said.

The rocky ground crunched underneath her boots as she started toward the tower jutting from the ridge ahead. Other than their footfalls, the air was silent