Two moons hung heavy over Lightless Valley, its citizens passing through the stone paths from building to building, wandering like ghosts. The dread and hostility of a dying city washed over the residents, they were starving.

Lightless Valley and its surrounding areas had a notable lack of both plants and animals, leaving the people without a consistent source of nutrients. Though previous efforts had been made to make the soil more suitable for growing, the land fought back against labor and magic, famishing the locals.

However, Lightless Valley was an important city, the capital of Castesia, and one of the most sacred religious areas in the world. Those in charge, nameless and faceless to the public, took pride in the valley, and did not want to let it fall. An agreement was made with the neighboring nation of Shasinia, in exchange for expertly crafted weapons and armor, Shasinia would provide a caravan to deliver large amounts of food to the city, once every month, when the moons were highest in the sky. The caravan started its procedures nearly a century ago, and the city had flourished under it; never in the hundred years they had been operating, was the caravan ever late.

Needless to say, people weren't too happy when it finally was. It wasn't one or two days late, but eight, nearly one third of a month the city had gone without food. While some were able to ration out their portions, food was spread thin, and it was showing in their moods.

Alari, a young scholar in the valley, was doing her best to resist the hunger. She found herself hunched over a desk, lit by a jar of magically imbued frogs that shined light onto the scattered papers underneath. After staring down a blank sheet of parchment for the better part of a half hour, she let out a sigh and tipped back in her chair. The moons outside the window mocked her, sinking further into the horizon with each passing glance. Starvation may inspire people to be aggressive, violent, and relentless; but it did not have the same effect on essays.

Before she could gear up her focus again, a gentle knock from outside pulled her attention away. For a moment, she wasn't sure if it was an actual knock or if the famish induced hallucinations had finally begun to prey on her. She turned her head to face the noise, regardless. Her soft brown hair draped onto her face as the door inched its way open. In popped a familiar face, one of the others who was studying in the Valley, and more notably, a dwarven astronomer, as oxymoronic as that may sound. The elder man made his presence known before pushing the door open the rest of the way.  

"Alari- good to see your drive for research is still up, even after all this mess," commented the man with a warm, yet uneasy smile. Alari took a few moments to process his words before acknowledging them.

"You as well, Galio- at least...I'd hope," she said, fumbling around her words, "Is there something I can help with?"

"No, not at all. I wanted to inform you that the caravan has finally shown up."

Tunnel vision grasped at the scholar, and she turned around fully in her chair to face the dwarf, "...It has?"

Galio nodded, taking a few paces backwards with his head dipped, "Yes, about an hour ago. I came back to inform everyone who had, erm, not heard," he spoke, "I'd go get something to eat, work can wait."

Alari nodded, standing up and grabbing a large woven satchel that slung snugly over her shoulder. She pressed past Galio, giving him a respectful nod as she shut the door and made her way out. Alari lived on the second floor of a building known as the Focus Observatory- it was the closest thing in the city to a communal center, and where a lot of the residents spent their time. The first floor was recreational, for lack of a better term, people often described 'relaxing' as simply 'not working', so it didn't much matter what someone was doing, if it wasn't study, it was fun. There were chairs, some tables, art that had been created by past residents of the Focus, Alari only found herself dwindling on the first floor if someone flagged her down, which was rare.

The second floor was where people lived; the rooms were incredibly small, but living in the Valley cost nothing, so it was hard to complain. Dozens of rooms were crammed into the circular frame of the building; each had a window, a bed, and a desk, it was quite depressing when thought of like that, it was a common joke that Shasinian prisons were more suited to human life than the Focus.

The third floor was where most of the study took place. Libraries, magic resistant rooms, and a masterfully made telescope for people to do their work.

Alari headed downstairs, the Focus seemed all but empty, she assumed that she was one of the last people told and that everyone else had already made a b-line for the caravans. She didn't worry too much, the caravans always brought more than enough food for everyone and left with extra.

Moonlight shone on her face as she exited the building. Her nose pointed to the sky as she watched the telescope jut out brilliantly from the top floor. Nine years she had lived here, and every time she was astounded by the craftsmanship of the building.

Alari made her way through the streets of the valley, watching people carry as much food as they could handle back with them; some were holding so much that it begun to spill out onto the road. In her state of delirious hunger, Alari almost contemplated grabbing a stray street carrot to snack on as she walked.

She would rather not get a disease, though. The walk was peaceful, if not a bit brisk as occasional gusts of wind rushed over her body, snaking its way under her thin silken cloak, though it was nothing she couldn't handle. It took her around twenty minutes to reach the circle of caravans that had set up near the shore of a lake. People who lived in Lightless Valley were reclusive, only reaching out if they had something to offer or needed something from you; the nights the caravan showed up were a welcome exception.

It was almost a look into a different world, seeing people chat idly while walking, sitting with the caravanners around their bonfire, it was a moment of rest where studying took a backseat to play. Wet grass squished under Alari's boots as she walked, approaching the gathering of people, carts, and horses. A lot of the caravanners had left to assist people in getting their shares of food to their homes, though Alari made eye contact with one person, sitting on the back of a cart, swinging their legs. They looked to be lost in thought, spacing out before the realization hit them that they were staring into Alari's eyes.

They pushed themself off of the caravan, and as they approached, Alari couldn't help but notice how small this person was. Soft white hair, deep brown eyes, and a large, golden shawl draped over his shoulders. At first, Alari assumed him to be dwarven, but he was much too lanky to fit that bill- she could practically fit her hand around the calf of his boot and swing him around. Instead, she cleared her throat, crossed her arms, and waited for him to skip over.

"Evening-" he said in greeting, bowing his head and giving a curtsy. His voice was nasally, though not grating, and the way he spoke almost sounded melodic, "I'm- right, yes, ma'am, I'll help you with your food!"

Alari raised an eyebrow as he clasped his hands together, cracking his fingers. The caravan was expansive, and people who worked on it often came and left as the seasons went on, but this person seemed somewhat out of his element. Alari watched the caravanner as he whirled around to begin picking out some of the nicer looking vegetables. As he turned, She noticed a very prominent tattoo on his upper arm. It was beautiful and intricate, detailing a sun and marking him as a Solsarian, follower of the Sun Goddess, Castora. She said nothing for the moment, looking at the man awkwardly but efficiently load his bag with food. Moving close, Alari rooted around for a nice hunk of meat, shoving it in her own satchel.

The silence was unbearable, so Alari broke it, "You're new," she said.

"I am," he replied.

"...You're late."

"That's...right!"

He paced back, light on his feet and surprisingly springy with what had to have been half a month's worth of food, "My name is Zeph...and.." he stopped midsentence, turning on his heel to face the greater part of the city, "Let's get walking, actually...quite late!"

Alari said nothing, but started walking. As she was leading Zeph along towards the Focus, things were quiet, as usual, though the other could barely wait a minute before he ran up to her side and begun to speak.

"I've...never been this way before. Lightless Valley, I mean. I've been to other parts of Castesia, but never this far south," he explained. Alari nodded her head as an indication that she was listening as the smaller party spoke, "It's weird, to say the least. Probably not for you, though..."

Zeph fell behind a little, Alari was much taller than him, and it was clear that he was having trouble keeping up with such short legs, "...Why do they call it 'Lightless' Valley?"

"Pardon?" she replied.

"It's called 'Lightless'," he said, making quotations with his fingers, "But...I see plenty of lights."

Alari nodded her head, surpressing a sigh, "Well...I don't think anyone could really operate in true, pure darkness. It's called Lightless because it's forbidden to have any stationary outdoor lighting- like lamp posts," she gestured upwards, vaguely, "A lot of the scholars living here study the sky, and a lot of outdoor lighting would make it...difficult."

"Oh- yeah, that makes sense..." he said, staring up towards the stars, "I've seen a lot of skies like this in my travels, yeah. Would love to get a closer look."

Alari acknowledged him with a grunt, and continued walking. It was unusual, Zeph was definitely and markedly a Solsarian, as most people from Shasinia were, but it's as if he was diluted, somewhat.

After the uneventful walk back to the Focus, Alari led Zeph up to her room, where the two of them struggled for several minutes attempting to delicately stack various vegetables on top of each other. After the fifth failed attempt, Zeph threw his hands up with a groan, placing his hands on his face.

"I'm starting to think this trip wasn't at all worth it..." he grumbled.

"This is your job, isn't it...?"

"Yes? Well, I didn't do this only because I needed money, but I thought it would be easier. You know we were late, right? It's not because any of us were slacking, that's for sure! More trouble than I needed right now..."

Alari sat on her bed, scooting a lone potato out of the way to make room, "Well, then. What exactly caused the delays?"

"It's...weird," Zeph started, rubbing his chin and glaring to the floor, "See...about halfway or so through the trip, we started seeing these large gouges in the ground, fissures, cracks, what have you. They weren't everywhere, but there were enough to cause a problem. The cracks...they couldn't have been more than a meter wide, but that's still too much to get the horses over," Zeph gestured, posing his hands palm up, "So we had to go around. The problem is that...the fissures were a kilometer long or more. We walked as quickly as we could, but they were annoyingly prevalent, with each break in the earth, came at least an extra hour of travel."

Alari listened intently, watching Zeph's lips twist and contort, "Fissures in the ground? These must be recent, right?" she asked.

"Definitely, within the past month or so, since this is the first time to my knowledge our caravan has been...later than usual."

She thought, silent for a few brief moments, before looking outside, "That sounds troubling."

"It is," he sighed in resignation, "I'll be honest I don't think I'll be going back with the Caravan. Something about the situation has got me all," Zeph gave an exaggerated shudder.

Alari remained still, it may have been the hunger, or maybe her insightful nature calling, but she stepped to the door, "If there's anywhere to get information, it's here," she spoke, adjusting her bag, "I have a friend who works here, he may have something to say about it."

Zeph shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather pants, walking towards Alari with a slight hunch and pleading eyes, "...Can I come with?"

"That's why I offered," she said, starting towards the stairs. Zeph closed the door after himself and gave chase.

Alari had known Lucius for a while, very studious, very faithful, and very...passionate. While Alari thought herself well to do and competent, Lucius spent nearly every waking hour on his research, usually bearing few results. She knew he was often on the third floor, fiddling with the telescope or falling asleep on the fifth draft of his manifesto. She walked Zeph towards the observatory, where two heavy, mahogany doors greeted them. Without knocking, and with one hand, Alari shoved one of the doors open.

"Hey, I-"

Her sentence was cut off before it began as Lucius yelped, jerking back, and spinning around in his chair. After collecting himself, he gripped the fabric of his robes and shot a vitriolic scowl at Alari, who stood in confusion.

"I...I've asked you to knock before, you know I scare easy when I'm...focused," Lucius muttered, still reeling from the surprise. He spun back around towards the telescope, taking a quick glance before pulling back, "And you've completely misaligned it..."

Alari walked to the telescope, it looked as if it had only been nudged a centimeter or two, "It's barely moved..."

"Well, Alari...One centimeter might as well be a billion kilometers, it'll take me the better part of an evening to get it straightened again..." the scholar sighed, running a gloved hand through his curled black hair. He took a moment to collect himself before opening his eyes and facing Alari again, "You've come here for a reason. What."

Alari, huffy, took a seat on a chair a few paces from the scope and crossed one ankle over the other, "Well, It's something..." she gave a look to Zeph, "Odd."

Lucius followed Alari's gaze, and landed on Zeph with a blank stare, "You've brought someone," he commented, "Odd? My dealings are often in 'Odd'."

"Which is why I'm coming to you. Zeph here is part of the Caravan-"

"Ah, the tardy Sunkissers, hm?" Lucius quipped, not being able to resist taking a jab at the caravan and their overseers.

"Not incompetence, they were halted by apparent...cracks in the ground, fissures, narrow but long, and relatively plentiful," she was attempting to wrap her head around the explanation that Zeph gave, hunger was really beginning to chew at her, "And they're new, very new."

Lucius took in the information with an air of skepticism, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, "Well...That's certainly unusual, but not my area of expertise. Alari, I spend more time these days looking at the sky than I do the ground."

"Can't you give us anything? You're probably the smartest person in the entire valley."

"And I appreciate that, but I don't know what I don't know," he leaned back, turning, and staring towards the sky, "...Though, I can't say I'm not curious. Zeph, was it? Where's the nearest one of these fissures? Is it far?"

Zeph, who had been previously rocking on his heels and staring at the telescope, clapped his hands when addressed, "Oh! About three kilometers out, sir."

"Please don't call me that," Lucius waved a hand and stood, Alari had to stifle a giggle when looking at the two of them, Lucius towered over Zeph, nearly half a meter taller, "Would you be willing to show me one of these fissures? I can't say anything for sure until I've seen one for myself."

Zeph wrung his hands together, "Now? It's real late though isn't it?"

Stillness was the only thing that Zeph received, at least for five very awkward seconds before Lucius made his way towards the heavy wooden door of the observatory entrance, "Well, things tend to work differently here. My work requires me to be awake at the deep hours of the night; I can't exactly see many stars during the day, and the one I can happens to be the one that will blind me."

"And I...well, I sometimes get too far into my work. Many nights I lose track of time, and before I know it, dawn creeps up on me," Alari said, confirming Lucius' statement, "There are some here who stick to a more...I suppose 'regular' schedule, but-"

"Yeah, I got it," Zeph interrupted with a wave of his hand, much to Alari's annoyance, "I'm just not all that fond of night travel, rather be sleeping in a tent that at least somewhat protects me."

Zeph reeled around, scratching the back of his neck as Lucius and Alari exchanged a tense look. Without word, Zeph begun walking. The Focus was an odd building, while the first floor was completely walled in, the second and third had no walls on the inner part of the structure. Alari always described the observatory as three donuts stacked on top of each other. There were railings to stop people from accidentally flinging themselves into the courtyard, though it didn't stop Zeph from approaching a railing and leaning dangerously far onto it. When Alari passed, he chimed in.

"Yeah, don't see buildings like this in the Citadel- they're mostly all square," he commented, "It's a pretty big culture shock, if I'm being honest."

And at that point, Alari found it an appropriate time to point out his tattoo. Beckoning Zeph to follow, she posed her question.

"You are Solsarian, correct? I don't mean to generalize, but in my experience, followers of Castora don't tend to be very interested in the other cultures of The Balance."

Zeph replied with twisted lips and a shrug, "Jeez, what a way to call me a freak. Some people, sure. I've been way up north to Laestrom plenty. Lurinians are weird, but at least they have lives, this just seems like a dismal little prison. You two are the only people I've seen that haven't looked like they're going to kill me- and even then, well, I won't go too far into it...Are all Sterellians like this?"

"The deities simply appeal to different people, many here are happy, whether you want to accept that or not," Lucius interjected, catching up easily to the other two with his long strides, "But they show it in different ways, this is essentially the most polarized city in the world when it comes to The Balance. They're focused; they're dedicated."

The three of them reached the first floor of the Focus, Zeph rushed ahead to cut through the courtyard, "I just can't see someone being happy with studying for their whole lives, especially to a God who..." Zeph turned his head to give a sympathetic nod to them, "Doesn't really care about them..."

Zeph was right about that, at least, partly. The deity that Alari, Lucius, and most people in the Valley worshiped was Lumenihl, an abstract being of knowledge. Lumenihl Itself didn't care for individual people, but for the gaining and preserving of knowledge. The times that the Sterellian deity had reached out to its followers could be counted on one hand. It was something that bothered Alari, though she often shrugged it off; she enjoyed her studies, and saw herself called to a higher purpose, but it would be nice to feel seen and heard for her hard work.

But all Alari could bring herself to say was, "It's not all study...not in the way you think. Some people study an art form, or dedicate their lives to taking care of animals and people, or...exploring. We do have lives. Like Lucius said, you came to the most extreme example of a boring Sterellian stereotype, it's like if I said all Solsarians were outlandish fanatic alcoholics."

"Not too far off there, honestly," Zeph sneered, pushing the last door open, exiting into the atrium before leaving the building. There was something about this Solsarian that motivated Alari to pry, he was cocky, confident, and brash, sure, but he had an air of kindness to him that she didn't see from many westerners.

The three of them made their way back to the caravans, people hadn't calmed down a bit and were having a blast around the bonfire. Alari witnessed one of the newer residents of the Valley sticking a stalk of celery into the fire and pulling it out when it caught a flame.

Zeph guided Lucius and Alari over to one of the carts, where an absolutely enormous horse stood. Seeing Zeph next to Lucius was silly, but next to this gigantic horse was borderline comical. Despite its intimidating size, Zeph approached it calmly, stroking its neck, "This is Chipps."

"That's...a lovely name for such an intimidating creature," Alari mumbled. Lucius didn't seem nearly as phased by the horse as she was.

"Are you proposing all three of us ride the horse? This seems a little unsafe, for the horse..."

Zeph gave Chipps a few hardy pats before giving an impressive leap up to saddle the horse. He looked back down on the other two, "Do you see the other mounts here? A normal horse can comfortably hold two normal sized people, this is a war horse, and I count as half a person, if that," Zeph gave his charge a few gentle strokes to the mane, "He'll be fine."

Alari managed to barely scramble onto the horse, while Lucius had relatively little trouble in mounting it. After everyone was situated, Zeph pulled back on the reins to direct the horse. It wasn't as fast paced and horrifying as Alari expected, but she was still firmly holding onto some handles on the saddle...just in case.

"I don't want to push him too hard right now- after that horrid journey from the Citadel," Zeph said, bringing Chipps up to a trot, "If I'm tired, I can't imagine how this guy feels."

Chipps was steadfast and bulky, apparently not even in need of blinders to follow Zeph's gestures. After Alari had gotten over the initial fear of the ride, she found herself staring skywards again- the only other thing to look at was the back of Zeph's head, which wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, though she had noticed a large, curved dagger that hung from his belt.

"So, earlier, you mentioned not liking night travel..." Alari noted, "But you also just joined the Caravan, what did you do before this?"

"Courier work," Zeph answered, "Solo stuff, ran all around Vi'taal. Been to Haven, been to The Silence, been to an odd tavern on the road to O'lalas but I got thrown out after beating the tavern owner in an arm wrestle."

"Seems like you'd want a...maybe less bulky horse for solo travelling?" replied Alari.

"You'd be surprised about how many prying eyes I've deterred with this thing," he gave Chipps another stout pat, "Bandits cant attack if they're suffering internal bleeding from a hoof to the liver."

That got a snort out of Lucius, though Alari wasn't as amused, and made a few silent notes to not be on Zeph's bad side while his horse was alongside him. They spent the rest of the ride in silence, though Alari was becoming more confident in not falling off of Chipps. After about a half hour, Zeph leaned back, giving Alari a gentle nudge with his elbow. She looked past the white haired courier and sure enough, they were approaching a large gash in the earth.

"That's it, there," he said. Alari nodded, keeping her eyes fixated on the fissure. They were still a while out, the fissure was visible, just barely; but the closer they got, the more Alari was filled with a swelling sense of dread. She wasn't sure how to describe it, or explain why it was happening, but with every stride that Chipps made, a feeling of grim unease welled up in her chest. By the time they got close enough for Zeph to halt Chipps, the feeling had turned into a blaring alarm in her mind, every fiber in her body was telling her to run away; she looked to Lucius, then Zeph as he unsaddled. The other two didn't seem upset in the slightest, Zeph even looked casual as he tied Chipps down to a stake in the ground, lazily slinging rope around to make half hearted knots.

Alari was the last to climb off Chipps, and as she did, refused to take her gaze off of the fissure. Zeph turned to look her in the eye, raising a brow.

"Something the matter?" he asked. Alari shook her head, approaching the fissure.

At ten paces, she felt the dread and horror wash out into a wary numbness, her heart was racing, throbbing. At six paces, she slowed down, the fissure looked exactly like Zeph had described- less than a meter wide, but stretched off on either side a distressing amount. At four paces, she saw the roots of a tree jutting out through the hard soil, snapped in half with no effort. 

At two paces, she heard singing.

It had been there the entire time, faltering in her ears, a crying falsetto, trying to get into her head; and all of a sudden, it had. Notes without melody, music without direction, at one pace she stared down the fissure, and for the briefest of moments, she could have sworn something was staring back. It was as if her mind had been put into a state of shock, her body was moving on her own, if Zeph or Lucius were speaking, she couldn't hear. A mortal couldn't comprehend what was down there, she thought, Alari certainly didn't. Her mind melted as she tried to process what she was feeling, what she was seeing, but the moment she fished out a thought of her own in the sea of noise, it was dissipated, forcefully.

She stood on the ledge of the crevice, she stared down infinity, and all she wanted to do was join it. As if her soul was disconnected from her mind, and her mind from her body, she took a step, and felt herself fall.