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Two thrust their blades at Arxu to repel him
toward the faceless man with the mace. He swung his blunt weapon at
Arxu with a savage roar.
    The steel tip of a staff immobilized
him as it sheared through his belly. He could not begin to imagine
what had happened next. He was falling toward the ground and he
could hear the cries of his companions. Arxu ducked under swords
and evaded side swings as his staff performed a series of intricate
defensive maneuvers. The same staff suddenly retaliated with
surreal ferocity, moving far too fast for the
highwaymen.
    The last bandit had fallen to the road,
his eyes looking blankly into space. His arm shuddered as what
little remained of his life faded away. Nishka watched Arxu
approach.
    He showed no sign of fear or anxiety
from the battle. Part of Nishka wished she could show similar
resolve during a crisis. However, a concerning thought erased that
desire.
    She feared he may be utterly
desensitized to violence.
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Traces of light lingered vividly on the
horizon, receding beyond the tide of shadows that prefaced night.
The darkness was soothing, a cool tone that lulled the eye. Nishka
felt well rested merely sitting at the campsite. She also felt
differently about her companion after the ambush.
    A strange trust had replaced the
previous suspicion that marked their relationship. She was starting
to believe Arxu posed her no harm; in fact, he would devote himself
to ensuring her safety.
    Nishka thought about what he said when
she first met him. Arxu had asked why she stayed with her father.
The simple question he posed set off an internal dialogue that
could not be hushed. Nishka was quietly coming to terms with the
reality she avoided.
    “I’ve stayed with my father for many
years,” she admitted. Arxu looked up from the campfire embers to
regard her. “I fear for my father. I’m afraid that he might injure
himself while smithing, or he will grow ill and I won’t be there
for him. I’ve stayed behind even though my younger brothers have
left to have their own families.”
    She cast a somber look around her
surroundings. The sky had rendered vistas of violet that
complemented dusk. An evening bird called longingly in the
distance.
    “He has encouraged me to marry and find
my passion in life, but I fear for him... after I lost my mother.”
Her voice drifted to a whisper as she recalled the painful memory.
“One day, she fell gravely ill and she didn’t recover.” Years had
passed since that tragic day, but she keenly remembered the
loss.
    “Have you ever lost anyone?”
    Arxu gazed through her silently. He
looked as though her story had made no impression on him
whatsoever.
    “Have you ever lost anyone?” Nishka
repeated.
    After she had shared something so
personal, he could only glare at her without empathy. Her hand
arced out in a slap before she even realized what she had
done.
    “Say something!” she exclaimed. The
disconnected man didn’t even flinch at the blow. “Why don’t you say
anything?” The Nightwalker turned away.
    “I died a long time ago.” Silence
gripped Nishka and she gawked at the being sitting across from her.
“I was murdered,” Arxu confessed.
    Nishka lost her ability to breathe
suddenly. Her conversation with Arxu had taken a very surreal turn,
one she could not readily process. Arxu lowered his gaze to the
earth.
    “Before I was murdered, part of my soul
was absorbed into a stone—” Nishka’s eyes darted toward the
smoothed stone dangling from the pendant around his neck. Its
luster was barely visible in the dark, as though it was a void into
the night. Arxu lifted his hand and touched the carved
jet.
    “I did not thoroughly examine the
contingency spell I set in place. When I awoke, I was… changed. I
had lost the greater portion of my soul. My body was cold and weak.
I was forced to crawl to safety and remain there until I gathered
enough strength to escape.”
    He faced Nishka and she looked away
uncomfortably. His