Staring into the cold flame, Alim and his siblings huddled around their last candle. While his little brother Ilom had managed to fall asleep, his sister Alin stared into the Darkness beyond their little hut's window. She knew what awaited them. Alim's heart ached as he thought of the people at the Seeing-Tower, many surely already lost to the Dark. Master Iruntal's vision had come true. All light in the sky had disappeared and Darkness had soon swept across the land, swallowing cities and nations.
Along with obscuring any light, the Darkness had also taken the warmth of fires, so Alim and his siblings had to cover themselves in many blankets against the cold. Their other torches had all already been used up, when he still had the courage to go outside. They had burned up in less than half the time they usually took. They had tried lighting pieces of furniture to use as light, but their flames had been pulled into the Darkness and vanished. Though this last candle had lasted longer than their other light sources, it too would not hold up much longer. Alim dreaded the thought of being powerless to protect his siblings once the candle-
Alin suddenly leapt up. "A light.", she said staring out the window. "What?", Alim asked startled. "There's a light.", she repeated. Alim stood up and looked outside next to her. He had to strain his eyes, but then- there was a light. Faint, but there, shining through the Darkness. "What do we do?", asked Alin, turning to Alim. Should they head for it? Or wait for it? Did it even move? Would it reach them at all? He looked back at what was left of their candle. "We'll try to reach it.", he said resolved.
The candle in his right hand, his brother on his left arm, Alim stood with Alin at their hut's door, "Hold on to my tunic and don't let go.", he told her. Ilom clasped Alim's tunic: "I'm scared.", he said. "It will be alright.", said Alim. It had to be. Alim kicked open the door, turned for the light and - with Alin behind him - started sprinting.
Holding the candle before him like a shield, Alim struggled to keep the light in his sight while weaving through the trees. He could already feel his legs tiring. The time in the hut, without proper food supply, had taken their toll. But they were coming closer! Alim was sure of it. They might make it. They actually might make it.
Someone screamed, and Alim felt Alin's tug on his tunic vanish. He whirled around. Alin had fallen. She was almost out of the candle's light. He thrust the candle towards her, and jumped back to her. "Are you alright?!", he blurted out. Tears ran down her face, but she nodded. Thank the gods. Now they just had to make it to the light, with what remained of the- Alim froze. Barely a puddle of wax remained of the candle. Why had it suddenly burned up so quickly? They should have had at least an hour left! The candle light waned. Alim had to think of something! But they had nothing else to light! And the distant light was still too- The candle went out.
For a moment there was merely no light, but then came the Darkness. A pressure could be felt rushing in, swallowing them. They could not see the trees. They could not see the ground. And they could not see each other. They could feel their senses fade. And they could feel the world slipping away.
Suddenly Warmth exploded around them and the world returned. A golden line of light on the ground beside them basked them in light. Alim turned to where the distant light had been. There, a man in red robes came flying towards them. His staff with glowing gem trailed another line of golden light. As the man landed beside them, he swung his staff in a wide arch, laying the line of light in a circle around them and repelling the Darkness even further.
The man had short brown hair and even though he couldn't have been older than 30, his eyes were like those of Master Iruntal and the oldest and wisest at the Tower.
Turning, the man looked at the three of them and then at Alim: "Are you Alim? Attendant to Iruntal at the night of prophecy?" Surprised, Alim answered: "Y-Yes, but how do you know me? Who are you?". "My name is Emrys.", answered the man, "Our common friend Iruntal told me you left to bring your family to safety shortly before the Darkness struck. He'd seen a vision that you're still alive and asked me to come for you."
Hearing this, all the anxiety and dread within Alim evaporated, and his legs gave out. "Alim!", cried Alin. "I'm alright.", he said, now sitting on the ground. He took Ilom and Alin in a tight embrace and said: "I'm just relieved and exhausted."
"Can you walk?", asked Emrys, "Though the Aember shields us from the Darkness, we shouldn't remain here for long."
"I'll be alright.", said Alim, getting up with Alin's help. "I'll carry Ilom.", she said picking her brother up. "Good.", Emrys turned to where he'd come from, "We can take shelter not far from here. There you will be able to rest."
