"A day of reckoning is fast approaching, and I'm afraid.:

Marah snorted loudly. "I thought you feared nothing."

Drey turned sharply around and Marah shrunk backwards, heart leaping. A black shadow had manifested on his leader's face and Marah found it difficult to look into his eyes.

"Fear is inherent, it's everywhere. It's what makes us human. Those who proclaim they fear nothing are fooling only themselves."

Attempting to break the tense silence, Marah grinned. "So you are human then? I was never sure."

He was making a joke, but Drey nodded sullenly. "Be sure. I am nothing but human."

Marah scrambled for something to say. To him, silence was an unbearable depression, yet Drey seemed to wallow in it.

"What are we going to do?" Marah asked, simply.

"The only thing we can, we wait."

"Why are you so scared? What is he to you?"

"He is the apocalypse of which I cannot bear."

"He's scary looking." Marah said, his mind harking back to his very brief encounter on the fields of the Marsh. "He's missing an eye."

Drey nodded, but his lips remained sealed.

"Do, do you know how it happened?" The question was akin to a student questioning his teacher, but Marah spoke slowly and with an uncharacteristic caution.

Drey's features were indiscernible and he neither nodded nor shook his head. He looked up at the roof, as if awaiting a sign from the heavens. When no signal came, he turned back round to eye Marah with a jarring hopelessness. "This World is spinning faster, the days are shorter and the nights are longer. When revelation comes, I trust you'll be ready to face it with force. But fear not, I will be there to protect you. No matter what, I won't let you die."

Shaken, Marah watched as Drey strolled passed him and out of the room. In that instance, Marah doubted all of his reNever in his life had he known terror such as that, and he felt nauseous and