A lantern was held up, the flame and enchanted structure supposed to be like a lighthouse in the middle of the night's ocean, it was weak however, illuminating like a most mundane lantern, perhaps even less than that.
Its holder was not alone, torches, candles and other sources of brightness were to be found everywhere one looked, but for those not as fortunate as the one bearing enchanted gear, it was like their light was on the verge of being snuffed out at all times.
All walked around slowly, looking down at the ground, the sensation of rock turning to grass, grass turning to rock, rock turning to wood was the primary compass when one was not daring enough to raise their eyes.
Night was now unending, when one should sleep, awake and work, rest and such was now to be decided purely on instinct until a consensus was eventually reached, but the cycle of night was unchanging, pure darkness was everywhere at all times, the only natural sources of light were to be found underground, in caves filled with crystals, as well as in the very sky above, but one was not to stare upward.
Not only was it a reminder of the impending doom waiting just beyond the reaches of the barrier, it was actually dangerous, ignoring the sound of meteors commonly crashing against the surface of their lifeline, two of the new denizens up there were after their throats at all times.
One constellation forced one's attention to remain upon them, after just a few minutes of staring, none would be able of snapping the victim out of the trance, eventually, they would be hollowed out, turning into a husk of themselves.
And a star of impossible brightness that had a much simpler way of inflicting damage, burning the eyes of those that made the mistake of looking, many people had had their gaze drawn up when something cracked, resulting in countless blinded people, some even dying.
This injury could not be healed by anyone.
Milo sighed, thankfully, he had not been outside when it occurred, otherwise he definitely would have cranked his neck straight up, after eternal night took over, the efforts of the living somehow grew even more desperate, desperate hope grew by leaps and bounds, before, many believed that they would live their whole lives hidden and protected by the barrier, now, it seemed like a pipe dream.
Undead creatures were right outside of the barrier, staring in at every moment, the miasma was as dark as darkness itself now, few could hope to survive in there, much less fight through the endless hordes and legions.
They could only keep on hammering their bodies and minds, or so it had seemed until the two heroes arrived, Maiele Liameilos, the Elven Light and Thanatok Ynigós, The First Death Hunter, they were somewhat aloof, but they represented hope nonetheless.
Neither seemed willing to lend any aid that didn't involve them fighting, frankly, Milo was not a big fan of those two, they felt like an unknown quantity that while was certainly needed for the living, could not be fully relied on as allies either.
Walking through the interior of the palace, he felt his back tingle, looking around he raised his lantern higher, expecting to find someone around, looking around he saw no light in the distance of the hallway, and even when calling out, no one responded.
Getting spooked these days was awfully easy, some of the denizens of the castle moved around without a light, instead keeping one hand against the wall and finding their way by touch and memory, Milo preferred to carry a light, on account that if he bumped into someone unexpected he could very well throw them to the ground due to his stature.
"Oh hello Sir Milo" he jumped up like scared cat, the soft voice beyond unthreatening but surprising nonetheless, he sighed and turned to the person that had approached silently, he had to think for a bit, knowing that voice but not exceptionally familiar with its owner, he shined his light on her, uncovering a petite woman dressed in nearly all white, black hair tied in an athletic ponytail, attire somewhat similar to Antieeld's but a bit puffier, seemingly a bit too large.
Milo did his best to not look too much and reciprocated the greeting.
"Hello to you too, Miss Lunate…" he did not know why she added a sir before his name but he felt compelled to do the same so as to not appear rude.
"Hum, do you often move around with a light?" he asked, noticing that she had shown up directly behind him, in the middle of the hallway, and knowing that her elemental affinity was salt, there was no chance she could just see where she was going.
"The natural mana is turning into the darkness element as though we are in the midst of a zone, I decided to take this opportunity to train my mana sense and outer manipulation, by the way-" she turned her body a bit and moved her arm was though showing something, someone stepping out of the darkness again.
Milo shuddered, he had not been taken aback by this person's arrival this time, but there was something definitely chilling about this woman, whomst he did recognise in any way, although it might be due to the veil she was wearing, only revealing an enchanting smile, the sort of smiles one would see on a kind motherly figure.
Not having any clue what a mother figure was, Milo was a bit taken aback by this expression.
"This is Lady Milanit, she is a refugee from Starkefolten, a practitioner of luck rites, I thought it a good idea to bring her here" Milo had no clue what that meant but he nodded, the more the merrier after all, and at this point, having rocks to throw was a boon.
"By the way…" Lunate's eyes had a glint inside of them "...Would you mind joining me for a spar later today? I have been told that your golden mana is a great sight"
"Sure…" he agreed, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably as Milanit walked past him, her flat palm over her smile, Lunate soon following after nodding at him.
Milo stayed in place for a few moments, the two women not making a single noise as they walked away, he shrugged.
'That was a bit weird… I didn't expect her to know my name' he was not yet very familiar with the elemental champions, they had immediately begun working on their own strengths and teamwork, utterly ashamed to have failed their king, being unable to protect him and help him when only two undeads were their enemies.
Not that anyone could blame them, minor lord or royal courier, it seemed like any titled undead was a pure powerhouse, a calamity.