| abstract | - Darkness was falling over Burgh de Rott, but Luna was still out, sitting alone and staring into the swamps. There was a light in the distance, it was faint but visible; it was a wisp. It drifted through the tall reeds and floated near Luna for a few moments. As Luna approached it began to drift back out into the swamp, out of sight. "What a beautiful sight," Luna sighed, letting the wisp disappear. Luna stood looking into the swamp, but she could not see a single wisp. "Why do you gaze into the swamp?" Edward asked. "You would not understand, a man such as yourself would have no interest in the beauty of life," Luna answered. "Well hear in the deepest parts of the swamp I cannot see much beauty," Edward said. "If only you had seen them, maybe then you would feel differently, so very differently," Luna said. "Seen what? What have you seen in the swamp?" Edward asked, slightly concerned. "Swamp lights, floating among the reeds," Luna answered. Edward hammered on the Wanderer's door, and he answered immediately. "Why Edward, what brings you to my door?" The Wanderer asked. "Luna has been seeing things in the swamp," Edward answered. "What sort of things?" The Wanderer asked, clearly worried. "Strange lights, she called them swamp lights," Edward answered. "Swamp lights, well I think I know what species it is, and by Saradomin if it is then this is very strange indeed," the Wanderer said as he turned to his shelves of books and retrieved a dusty old tome. "Thank Saradomin I buried all my books deep underground before we went to Meiyerditch, or they all would have been lost forever." "I wonder if it would have been the same for all those who died, if we had buried them maybe they would have survived," Edward said, angered by the Wanderer's ignorance. "Bring Luna to me, I believe I have what it is she has seen! If she recognizes the illustration then it is for sure what I think it is," the Wanderer ordered. "Wanderer? What is it you have found?" Luna asked as she and Edward entered the Wanderer's home. "Is this the creature you viewed in the swamp?" The Wanderer asked, presenting a sketch of a strange glowing thing. "Why yes, yes indeed! That is what I saw," Luna exclaimed pointing at the illustration. "Then you have seen a wisp," the Wanderer said. "What is so special about that Wanderer? Wisps are common in Mort Myre, am I correct?" Edward asked. "Well to an extent you are, but wisps are native to the northern areas of the swamp, near Canifis, never have I ever heard of one to venture so far south," the Wanderer said. "Why, maybe they are merely lost, is this a problem?" Edward asked. "I am not sure, my books have limited information on wisps. Wisps are found in anywhere dark and shadowed, Mort Myre is the best place for them. In times long gone there were people who would try to catch the wisps if I recall correctly, but they never could. Very little is known about them, they might not even be creatures for all I know," the Wanderer said. "So your point is?" Edward asked. "My point is Edward, that we cannot tell what these creatures are like, and they are behaving very unusually," the Wanderer said. Luna stood near the edge of the village expectantly, and then, just as she predicted, a wisp drifted through the reeds towards her. "You're back!" Luna whispered as she held out her hand. The wisp rested from her hand and began to grow brighter. Another wisp appeared and drifted in front of Luna, then the two of them began to float away into the distance. "Oh, come back!" The wisps floated back to Luna and then flashed, and then circled in the air and began to float offwards. "You want me to follow you?" The wisps both flashed brightly. "I shouldn't really leave the village, but I guess nobody will mind if they don't find out," Luna said as she climbed over the village fence and followed the wisps. More wisps appeared and surrounded Luna, they began to circle her. Luna span round trying to keep her eye on them. "What are you doing?" Luna asked. Of course, there was no answer. The wisps began to glow brighter and brighter, then launched themselves at Luna as she screamed; but she was too far away for anyone living to hear. The Wanderer looked up from his book, and exited his home and sprinted towards the rest of the village. He hammered on Luna's door, but there was no answer. He then ran to Edward's home and hammered on the door, and Edward opened with a confused expression resting on his face. "What is it?" Edward asked. "My dear boy, you must tell me where Luna is," the Wanderer answered. "Why I do not know, is there a problem?" Edward asked. "I have been studying my books on the creatures of the swamp and have found information that speaks of wisps attacking people who venture too near, and Luna is not home, so where is she?" The Wanderer asked. "Oh my Saradomin," Edward uttered, "We will have to tell Dirth!" "Must we?" The Wanderer asked. "There is no time for your complaints, we must find Luna," Edward demanded as he marched to Dirth's door and knocked on it. Dirth opened it, he looked very tired. "What do you want Edward? It is night, you should not be outside," Dirth said. "We do not have time for rules and regulations, Luna is missing and we believe she was attacked by wisps!" Edward exclaimed. "Who's we?" Dirth asked. "Me and the Wanderer," Edward said, gesturing at the Wanderer who was looking out into the swamp for any sign of Luna. "Let us go in search for her then," Dirth said. "What about Tamron?" Edward asked. "Go and request he joins us as well, he will be eager to help us as he and Luna are very close," Dirth said. "Yes, I know that all too well," Edward murmured as he dashed off to get Tamron. The Wanderer had already entered the swamp, and was looking through the reeds for Luna while also keeping distance from anything in the swamp. He was about to put his foot on the ground when a large snail slithered past, hissing at the Wanderer as it glimpsed him. "Well you're hardly the social type," the Wanderer murmured before continuing onward. He looked at the ground for any footprints marked into the mud. He then looked up as he saw a figure materialize into existence. "Wandering man," the Swamp Spirit said. "Spirit of the swamp, I know I visited you not too long ago, and I apologize for disturbing you, but I must inquire into whether or not you have seen a human coming through the swamps tonight," the Wanderer said. "Why, I saw a girl from a distance, and the swamp lights, growing brighter and brighter," the Spirit said. "The wisps! What direction did they travel in?" The Wanderer asked. "They went in the direction of the town of Canifis," the Spirit answered. "You have been most helpful, and now I must pursue these foul creatures," the Wanderer said as he walked over the rotting bridge into the deeper ghast-infested swampland. "Damn him! He had to wander off! He never listens!" Dirth snapped. "Maybe he is near," Edward said. "Of course not, he's probably gone and got himself lost by now and will end up back here pursued by some damned swamp creature," Dirth grumbled. "The shades seem dormant," Tamron noted as he looked around the small town. "That is a good start, but I think our main concern shall be these cursed wisp things," Dirth said as his eyes looked from side to side. There were no signs of wisps or in fact anything else; including Luna. "Suppose the Wanderer is wrong, Luna may have got lost in the swamp or the forest, why should we always follow his ludicrous theories?" Tamron snapped. "I know you are angry and worried Tamron, but he knows more about this than any of us, we have no better source of knowledge. Besides, do you really think Luna would be foolish enough to enter the forest?" Dirth asked. "Well she was stupid enough to follow these damned wisps into this foul swamp, wasn't she? Who knows what lies in here? There's all sorts of things that could kill her! There's that snapping thing, ghasts, acid-spitting snails and even Drakan's children!" Tamron exclaimed. "I'm sure she would not approach anything dangerous-" Dirth was cut off. "She is female, she is weak! She needs to be protected from all this! Somebody such as herself would walk straight into the lair of a Vampyre," Tamron said. "Tamron, for someone who loves Luna so much, you really do not respect her very much, do you? There are plenty of women who are much stronger and braver than me and you," Edward snapped. The Wanderer had already had a ghast brush past him, and now he was being incredibly cautious of anything else in the swamp. As he continued forward he stumbled over a large hollow log, and fell forward on to the dirty swamp floor. As he looked up he saw a group of wisps hovering in front of him. He quickly got to his feet and edged backwards, but more wisps appeared behind him. They floated round, constantly increasing in speed, and then they all launched themselves at the Wanderer who slammed his eyes shut. The Wanderer opened his eyes, he had been unconscious. He felt himself, he was alive. He touched the ground, which was a softer soil than that in the swamp. He looked round and at the other side of the cave, he saw Luna. "Luna!" The Wanderer hissed. "Wanderer, they brought you hear too?" Luna asked. "Yes, but now we need to get out," the Wanderer snapped. "But why? The wisps are my friends, they brought me here to keep me company. They saw I was alone earlier and brought me here," Luna said. "How do you know this?" The Wanderer asked. "They told me," Luna answered. "They told you? But how? They have no form of communication!" The Wanderer asked. "They are telepathic, you must allow them to enter your mind first," Luna answered. "Let them into my mind? Are you insane? They're going to shatter your mind into nothing!" The Wanderer exclaimed. "Not everything is hostile Wanderer, just let them into your mind," Luna said. "You are going to return to the village with me at once!" The Wanderer snapped. As he got to his feet and tried to pull Luna up as well, the wisps drifted towards him, and suddenly he felt his mind loosening. He felt calm, happy, more content then ever before. "Wandering man, do not fear us, we are not hear to harm you," one of the wisps said. "Why have you brought us here?" The Wanderer asked. "We saw you alone out in the swamps, we are lonely, and so were you, there is so much danger in those swamps, we wanted you safe," the wisp answered. "Why are you wisps so far south? I thought you were native to Canifis and its surroundings," the Wanderer asked. "You people move your homes from place to place, and so do we, we only came across your village by chance, and we swear we did not mean to cause such problems," the wisp answered, its voice so very nervous. "I will believe you if you return me and Luna to our village," the Wanderer stated. "As you wish, we will return you to the land under darkness. Oh, such dark times lie ahead, so very dark times, death everywhere," the wisp said. "Drakan?" The Wanderer whispered. "There are far more dangerous things than Drakan, the true darkness lies beyond, there is more though, the burrowing creature, the one you fear! All those memories, all those things, you've seen so much, much more than anybody else," the wisp said. "You are reading my thoughts," the Wanderer said. "We can see your entire mind, every thought mapped out, every idea recorded, but now you must leave," the wisp said. "How do we leave this place?" The Wanderer asked. "Close your eyes, and your mind," the wisp said. The Wanderer awoke, his face lying on the dirt covered ground of Burgh de Rott's surroundings. He rose to his feet, and Dirth ran towards him. "Where have you been?" Dirth asked. "Where is Luna?" The Wanderer asked. "She is safe, we found her lying asleep by the waterfront," Dirth answered. "She must have been here all along, I went looking for her in the swamp-" The Wanderer stopped speaking. Dirth looked straight at him with a stern expression. "Wanderer, your eyes look so very old, as if they have seen a thousand lifetimes," Dirth said, "Why do you keep so much from me?" "The things I have seen Dirth, I cannot speak of, as you'll be in more danger than ever," the Wanderer answered, beginning to head towards his home.
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