Chapter 181: Disturbance of Night
Arthur made his way to the roof of the vehicle where there was a simple lawn chair and a pair of binoculars waiting for him. The setup was basic but functional – everything he needed for his watch duty laid out with military precision. He looked at the chair and binoculars with weary eyes, the weight of exhaustion still clinging to his shoulders like a heavy cloak.
Arthur rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, trying to dispel the lingering fatigue that seemed to have settled into his very bones. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he took in his surroundings, the sound barely audible in the vast expanse of night that surrounded them.
He then turned his head to look at the view around him, and despite the dream and lethargy still clinging to him, he couldn’t help but be momentarily struck by the sight. The plains of grass stretched endlessly in all directions, bathed in the luminous glow of moonlight that transformed the landscape into something almost ethereal. The silver light caught the tips of the grass blades, making them shimmer like thousands of tiny stars scattered across the earth.
The moon hung full and bright in the clear night sky, casting long shadows that danced and swayed with each gentle breeze. The air was crisp and clean, carrying with it the fresh scent of growing things and the promise of dew that would come with dawn. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a breathtaking sight – the kind of view that poets wrote about and artists tried desperately to capture on canvas.
But Arthur wasn’t smiling as he looked at the amazing view. Instead, shivers ran down his spine, and not from the cool night air. Something was wrong – fundamentally, deeply wrong – and his body seemed to know it even if his mind couldn’t quite grasp what it was.
The feeling of darkness wrapping around him is usually a source of comfort. It was an integral part of who he was, bringing his powers and body to a different level entirely. The shadows had always been his ally, his strength, his refuge from a world that often felt too bright and too harsh. But for some reason, tonight felt different.
Tonight, he felt disgusted by the sensation. The darkness that usually embraced him like an old friend now felt like it was settling on him like a goopy second skin he couldn’t tear off. It clung to him with an almost physical presence, making his flesh crawl and his stomach turn. The feeling was suffocating, oppressive, as if the very air around him had become thick and poisonous.
And furthermore, the feeling of that pit growing in his head started up again, and now it was notably more intense than it had been back at Port Nova. The sensation was like a dull ache that seemed to pulse in rhythm with his heartbeat, growing stronger with each passing moment. It wasn’t quite painful – not yet – but if it kept growing at this rate, he realized he might prove to be a liability to the team.
The thought sent a chill through him that had nothing to do with the night air. He couldn’t afford to be weak, not now, not when so much was at stake. His teammates were counting on him, and he refused to let them down because of some mysterious ailment he didn’t understand.