"Well done!" Or'do laughed heartily as he dragged himself from the stones, answering the call of my bell. "The first blow has been dealt, let us be swift lest they return it."

I nodded. "I know not the way, yet we can only stumble blind so long before we happen upon the proper course."

"No need." Flaring Cinder, he took one step... and looked disappointed. "Oh yeah."

"Onward?"

"Onward."

We strode on, yet we need not pass from from that gate of fog, before again the servants of darkness were upon us. Thralls of shadow swarmed over flagstones, their blades filling the air with steel's hollow song. I felt myself slip away, felt my consciousness be devoured by the flames of bloodlust, numbing my wounds and quenching the fires of exhaustion that raged in my weary arms.

It seemed not a moment had passed before we stood at the next door of fog, panting and gasping, yet exhilarated. If pressed, I would still be unable to recall our path, only that it ended with us sodden in foul blood, while our own still coursed through our veins, and that when we had arrived, the thrilling fury did not relent. Whether the Cinder fed from our exploits, or damned them, I could not say; only that perhaps this disorienting fixation on the hunt, was inscribed upon our very souls, and whether consciously or not, we yearned for those silent rules' fulfillment.