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Many years ago a great darkness plagued the lands of Gielinor. Unknown creatures devoured homes and ruined families, igniting farms and polluting waters. Survival became futile, many were hopeless, homeless and afraid. However, a light blossomed within the shadows. A small band of warriors fought back with all their blood and guts. Slaughtering the vile creatures with broken blades, sticks and stones. Several years of hell passed, until their numbers became large enough to end the plague. Homes were rebuilt, crops were regrown, and the waters eventually became pure. In celebration, a large banner was raised in the centre of the capital.
It read:

Mason noticed a dark patch in the distant mass of untouched snow. He ignited the phoenix feather that lay inside his iron lantern, the flame instantly warmed the glass, giving the snow an amber glow. Holding the lantern firmly in one hand and a wooden club in the other, Mason slowly crept forward, being careful to keep his back to a giant slate of rock. Despite the attempt to be silent, his heavy boots made a lot of noise as they acted like shovels, struggling through the deep sheets. He considered turning back as a strong cold wind hit the side of his face, but curiosity lead him forth. As Mason got closer to the sunken snow, he noticed that it was in the shape of a human. With relief, Mason began to walk at a standard pace. The lantern was held high in the air, its glow shone against the body of a naked woman, laid on her side like a fallen snow angel. Her skin was as white as the land around her. Probably dead he thought. Mason crouched and lowered his lantern to the floor, the woman’s skin looked like white leather that had been tightly wrapped around her bones. Resting one hand on his knee, Mason slowly pushed his wooden club against the woman’s hip bone, giving her body a slight nudge. Suddenly, the woman let out a haunting noise as if she had just risen out of deep waters.

‘You’re alive!’ Mason whispered. He rushed over to the woman’s face and turned it over with two hands, her face felt as soft as a cloud, her lips a pale blue. Mason gently brushed off the snow with his dry cotton sleeves.

‘Hey! Can you hear me?’ he whispered into the woman’s ear. Mason slapped the woman’s cheek twice, then laid the side of his head on her chest, her heart slowly thundered through his ear. After clipping the lantern to his belt, Mason shovelled up the lady into both his arms, she was surprisingly light. He began to walk slowly back towards the rocky slate, forgetting to pick up his only tool of defence. The woman’s head dangled off his arm with a wide-open mouth, like a corpse. Her ratted black hair hit against his upper thigh as he took big strides through the deep snow, trying to walk in the already made footsteps. Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive. The phrase repeated in his head as he walked, the rhythm was almost like a song. As soon as Mason reached the tall slate, his back instantly shifted sideways, his outer coat scraped against the rocky edges, often making a shredding sound. Eventually, Mason reached his makeshift home, a dry hole that had naturally been cut through time, a small cave-like area. The fire he ignited before leaving was still blazing, making the small area uncomfortably warm. You would be lucky to fit ten people in such a cramped circular space, but it is the safest place he has found so far. There was a damaged open-top fruit basket sat against one of the smoothed walls, only a few apples and winsberry sat inside. The smell of the fire and the berries conflicted each other, casting a strange aroma within the cave. Mason gently placed the woman on the stone floor, then took off his heavy coats and designed a more comfortable ground whilst wrapping her exposed body. Mason sat against the wall in only his long-sleeved cotton shirt and dark brown woven bottoms, crunching a red apple whilst his eyes became lost and tired within the beauty of the flames. Mason slept for six hours, until a sudden force pressed against his neck, a heavy coat was wrapped around his head and fingers pressed into his skin.

The skeletal woman devoted all her strength into killing this strange man, but with one harsh elbow to the thigh, she keeled to the ground. Without saying a word, Mason stood up and faced down at the woman, he was frozen as she quietly sobbed and begged for mercy, breaking up before she could let out a clear word. Mason knelt and stroked the woman’s hair,

‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ he whispered.

‘I found you in the snow, you w-’ the woman interrupted with a loud cry, tears streamed down her face like a bursting waterfall. Mason quickly pressed his hand firmly against the woman’s blue lips and told her to hush.

‘We must be quiet, they can hear you from a mile away.’ Mason whispered.

‘What is your name?’ there was a long pause as the woman caught her breath, Mason released his hand once her tears slowed and her shoulders stopped violently shaking.

‘El- Ell- Ellia’ sobbed the woman.

‘I am Mason, or Mase.’

‘Sit by the fire, don’t move. I’ll get you some clothes.’ Mason was about to leave the cave when Ellia grabbed him from behind.

‘Please don’t leave me.’ she said.

‘I won’t be long, you will freeze to death.’ Despite the warmth, Ellia was shivering and became short of breath.

‘Do you have any food? Smells like winsberry.’ she said. Mason pointed towards the fruit basket, then gently nudged her towards the fire. He picked up his lantern and as he was about to ignite the phoenix feather,

‘The wood!’ he whispered.

‘What?’ Ellia replied.

‘No, no. My club, my weapon, I left it where I found you.’ Mason placed both of his hands on his head and walked up and down in a frustrated pace.

‘A club?’ Questioned Ellia,

‘Why would you use a bit of wood as a weapon, is someone chasing you?’

‘Ellie, no, there is-’

‘Ellia.’

‘Ellia, there is a lot to explain, I don’t know anything myself. How long were you asleep for?’ Ellia sat with a puzzled look on her face,

‘The last thing I remember was the Sun setting, I was eating an afternoon meal-’

‘Yes. I remember the sun setting too, but that’s the thing, I have slept four times since then and she still hasn’t risen.’ Mason stopped pacing around the cave and sat near Ellia for a moment. Then he stood back up and began to get undressed. Ellia crawled back in a defensive state.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked, covering her body with her arms.

‘You need my clothes. I can’t have you passing out, you’re the first human I’ve found alive.’ Ellia’s face turned even colder with the thought of rotting corpses scattered in the snow, neither of them had any idea what was going on. Mason threw his clothes at Ellia who then got dressed, his stomach was covered in fresh cuts and scratches, above his underwear was a large black bruise.

‘What happened?’ asked Ellia, still shivering. Mason grabbed an apple and pushed it into her mouth.

‘There are these strange creatures out there, they look like… crocodiles, but they are grey, long and scrawny, with large claws and-’

‘Please tell me this is all a nightmare.’ Ellia said to herself.

‘They move like the wind, you can barely make them out in the shadows. Their eyes glow yellow, no pupils. If you see those eyes, hide and don’t make a sound.’ Mason rubbed his hands together near the fire.

‘I am almost out of food and feathers. I haven’t come across a village yet, just a wasteland of darkness and snow, scattered with dead bodies and dying vegetation. As you say, it is like a nightmare. But this is real Ellia, as much as I hate to admit it.’

‘What… what do we do?’ said Ellia.

‘We need to get you fed, hunt something.’ As Mason finished speaking, Ellia let out a small cough and watery bile dripped from her jaw. She wiped her mouth with the coat’s sleeve and apologised, Mason responded with a slanted smile.

‘Don’t worry. Not my coat.’ said Mason. Ellia let out a screech and a little more bile followed, she was thinking about the dead man who wore this coat before her, she imagined him lying in the snow as she once did, his face grey, his body rotting away, being nibbled on by rats, coated in flies. Mason creased his face and apologised for the harsh sense of humour, Ellia shook her head. The wind blew gently as Mason took a few steps out of the lit cave, he looked left, then right, then forward, but all he could see was darkness. A black fog had submerged the entire plains of the world for the past four sleeps, the past four days. Stepping back into the cave, he took a thin strip of firewood and attempted to use it as a torch, but the flame burned at an awkward angle and the wood soon became too hot to hold, Mason hissed and threw the wood into the fire, which was beginning to slowly dim.

‘Two feathers.’ said Mason, pointing at Ellia’s pocket.

‘In there.’ Ellia looked down and reached into the deep pocket of the woven bottoms, she pulled out two golden feathers.

‘We light the lantern and stay together, scavenge the clothes of the first body we find. Find a weapon, any weapon, even a thick stick, even a sharp rock, a sharp rock! Ellia pick up some rocks, large ones, put them in your pockets!’ Mason was pacing around the small area, thinking, getting excited, losing control. As Ellia began to move, a horrifying growl echoed in the cave. Both Ellia and Mason froze and stared towards the entrance where the snow had been clearly trampled. A trail of footprints would give them away.

‘Quick, take this.’ Mason quickly scavenged a bundle of rocks and placed them into Ellia’s cupped hands.

‘Sit beside me, against this wall.’ Mason stomped on the fire to extinguish it, then sat shoulder to shoulder with Ellia against the smooth wall that stood opposite the entry hole. Ellia’s entire body shuddered in fright, you could almost hear her bones clattering against themselves. Mason placed his pale lips near Ellia’s left ear and whispered,

‘Breathe. If you see anything approach, anything at all, launch the rocks as hard as you can.’ Ellia began to cry,

‘We can’t see anything!’ she whimpered. Her shaking came to a standstill, as two thin yellow eyes slowly passed the cave. The creature let out a small grunt as the smell of rotting cartilage suddenly filled the cave. The creature pointed its head towards the floor, burying its nose into the footprints left by Mason and Ellia. Ellia’s quiet sobs were muffled by Mason’s palm which pressed firmly against her nose and mouth. The two yellow eyes crept into the cave, eyes the size of apples. Mason held tightly on to a large rock which had a pointed end, gazing into the eyes. The creature stepped on to the recently extinguished fire and let out a deathly howl. It launched towards Mason and Ellia. Mason pierced the rock into its left eye. The creature whimpered, its large jaw hit Ellia across the face as it flinched back. It raised its large claw. Mason used his body to cover Ellia. Two large slashes ripped through his back, Mason screamed in agony. As the creature went to attack again, it’s arm was caught mid-air. Mason was holding it back with both arms as it pressed against his weight. He began to kick the creature’s stomach which felt a lot softer and more exposed then the hard-rugged fur that he was holding back.

‘Ellia. Run!’ He shouted. Ellia remained weeping on the floor, helpless. The creature began snapping its jaw towards Mason, raising on two feet like a lion and trying to attack with its free claw. The creature's long jaw and small arms meant that Mason’s submission was causing it trouble. The creature’s head was now beside Mason’s shoulder with one arm firmly pinned against the wall, it’s large yellow eye was next to Mason’s face. The submission seemed to last hours, despite only seconds passing. The pain from the deep scratch was beginning to catch up with Mason, he could feel the submission weakening. He couldn’t see where Ellia was, nor hear her. The creature was still struggling, it began bashing its jaw off the side of Mason’s head. He screamed. Sweat dripped off his beard. Tears began to fall as the screams turned from anger to fear. Mason gritted his teeth. He looked into the creature’s eye, then roared as he thrust his face forward and took a large bite. The creature howled in pain and backed away, flailing around the cave, swiping at the air and bashing itself against the rocks, stepping on to the warm ashes of the old fire. Mason fell to his knees, the gushy remains of the eyeball slowly slid down his chest with a snail trail of sweat. He somehow managed to rip the entire eye out of the creature’s socket.

‘Mase!’ Ellia screamed.

‘Mase! Can you hear me?’’

‘It’s over! It’s dead!’ She rushed over to Mason’s body as he fell to the ground, his back was covered in blood and gravel. The creature lay just outside the cave with a large piece of wood pierced into its stomach. Ellia used another sharp stick to cut a piece of fabric from her clothing. She spat as much fluid as she could onto Mason’s back, then used the ripped cloth to wipe any dirt away from the wounds. She placed the coat over Mason and leaned down towards his face.

‘It will be okay.’ she said.

‘Everything will be okay.’ Ellia kept repeating, trying hard to convince herself. She ignited one of the two remaining feathers and left the cave. On her way out she double checked that the creature was deceased, then pulled the sharp piece of wood out of its stomach. The cold wind had settled completely, but temperatures were still dangerously low. Ellia had nothing but hope and fear in that moment, she just walked forward, not knowing what else to do. She walked and walked. Waiting to be attacked, waiting to be eaten, wondering if Mason had died yet. There were a few times where she wanted to stop, just lay down in the snow and let nature take her away. Yet she continued, walking forward into the darkness, past dead trees and nothing more. One feather had extinguished, the other began to dim. Without a single sign of life, she began to wonder if she was already dead.