"Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... I'm so hungry... They never feed me, not enough. Never enough to stop the hunger. Always hungry."

The 'Traitor' muttered endlessly, his golden eyes focusing on nothing as he stared at a singular point on the ground, as he prattled on like a madman. His face was still the only thing visible in the light of the flaming mans fire, and while he could see the vague inky outline of a body hiding within the shadows it simply looked... wrong.

He couldn't pinpoint what was wrong about it, not exactly, but the shape he was seeing just felt like it was too big for this man. His face was gaunt and sickly, looking like he was on the verge of starvation, yet the shadows the flaming man could see were simply too bulbous. He also couldn't make out where his limbs were. The chains rattled with every move he made, but he couldn't see his hands in the dark.

"I thought they were bringing me food... I was hoping for food... They should have been bringing me food! They should have brought food not company! Food! Food! FOOD! FO-... Oooohehehehe.

What if they did~ Maybe they didn't bring me company, maybe they are nice and bring me food. Food that's self cooking!"

The mad traitor lunged forward, baring his rotten teeth like some wild animal, yet his chains immediately drew taut, the sound of them clattering echoed within the dark dungeon. A glint of metal reflected the fire light below his chin, he was wearing a collar, like he truly was nothing but a wild animal.

Even with his leash at it's longest point, he leaned against his restraints, pulling against his chains trying to inch ever closer to his new room mate, gnashing his teeth and chomping at the air like a rabid dog as spittle dripped down his chin.

When it became clear he wasn't going to reach, the Traitor simply went limp, his face smacking down on the cold, hard ground and staying there as he laughed maniacally. A haunting laugh that echoed throughout the darkness, sounding like a cacophony of demons cackling within the depths of hell. The demons this man's head were no doubt filled with.

"Hungry... Hungry... Hungry... I could eat my arm, oh it was so tasty last time~ Hehehehehehe.

What's your name meat? What is the meat called? Tell me, Tell me, TELL ME!"

"B-Byron."

"Byron the meat, Byron the meat~ Hahahaha! Tell me Byron the meat, are you afraid of the dark?"

"N-no..."

"Ooooohhh~ You will be. You will be. HeheheHAHAHA!"

Byron looked at the mad traitor as he writhed on the ground, cackling and laughing as if he had heard the most hilarious joke in the world. The laugh echoed around, burrowing its way into his brain as if it was trying to infect him with the Traitor's madness.

What had he done to deserve this? What had they done to this man to turn him into this? And dear god, what were those shapes lurking in the dark?

He wished his fire was enough to melt the shackles, but they were simply useless. He couldn't melt the shackles, he couldn't light up the room. All he could do was heat the shackles enough that they were starting to sear into his skin, filling the dark basement with the scent of cooking meat that was driving the mad traitor wild.

He had thought that he was getting away. That escaping was the best plan, since his gang members were rapidly being arrested after their massively successful gold heist. The problem was, he just couldn't figure out why they were getting caught, or how.

They had pulled off the heist perfectly, got away without a single witness, so how did they know who was the right guys to arrest? Profiling! That must be it! They were discriminated against, arrested and he fled only to end up here, with this rabid dog, despite having done nothing wrong ever!

As Byron sat there, his own flames being the only light in the dark, his shackles burning into his wrists, a cold shiver still ran down his spine whenever he laid eyes on the mad traitor writhing on the floor. Because even if he didn't want to admit it, he knew deep down, this was a reflection of his own future.

***

Two guards stood outside of the gates of Ravenkeep, alongside an Unkindly Guard, as they gazed out into the dark night air with complete and utter boredom. The humans were bored, that was, the Unkindly Guard didn't get bored.

It didn't breath, it didn't keep conversation, it didn't even more. If it didn't occasionally and very eagerly leap out to kill wandering Blink Rats or stray Shadow Puma's that strayed too close to the gates, the guards would have simply forgot about it and assumed it was a statue.

Having something that deadly simply looming in the shadows would have been creepy, if it weren't one of the Lord's minions. While it would have made others uncomfortable, to them it was like a beacon of warmth and safety in the cold, dark night. It was how they could have the luxury of being bored.

These two often were on guard duty at the gates, they enjoyed meeting the new people and protecting the city behind them, even in the night. They were still ushering through returning hunting groups or carrying out inspections for survivors who made their way to the city, only to arrive after dark. They couldn't be too careful with Lightbringers cult on the move.

So, it was because they were often on this gate, and took the same positions, they referred to themselves as Lefty and Righty.

"Hey, Did you see that?"

"Huh? See what?"

"There's something out there, I could see it. Something behind the tree line."

Lefty glanced at his friend before looking out over the tree line where he was pointing. It was just beyond the torch lights reach, veiled in shadows. He squinted his eyes, straining to see something, anything, but there was simply nothing.

He scratched the back of his leg with his other foot, rubbing it against the leg hairs that were being tickled by the wind.

"Are you sure, I don't see anything out there dude. If there was something bad, wouldn't the Lord's knight go after it? You've seen how it gets with Blink Rats. The thing's like a bloodhound."

"Yeah... Yeah I guess."

Righty nodded softly, lowering his head in shame, but even as they descended into silence again, he kept nervously glancing out into the darkness. Lefty sighed softly, scratching the back of his leg again as he looked back at the Unkindly Guard.

"He thinks there's something there, would you like to investigate it?"

The Unkindly Guard regarded him silently, tilting its head as it considered the orders, before nodding and trudging off towards the tree line silently. Lefty scratched his leg once more, smiling softly at his friend.

He reached over, patting him softly on the shoulder.

"See? Nothing to worry about. It might just be a survivor who's too scared to come out and that he can lead back. Plus. If it's something bad, the Knight will definitely take care of it. But I'm betting you that there was nothing at a-Ah! AAAAAGGH!"

Lefty lurched backwards, starting to scream at the top of his lungs as he flailed his hand around in the air, dislodging dozens of small, black objects as he did so. They were little balls of wiry black hair and when they hit the ground, eight long, needle-like legs uncurled from the mass of their bodies.

Spiders. Countless spiders crept out from underneath his sleeve, only to be thrown into the air as he flailed his hand.

Lefty stumbled back, a sickening crunch accompanying every step before he slipped and collapsed onto the ground, into a bed of black fur and legs. His panic only intensified as those horrific arachnids began to clamber all over him. Their small, needle legs scuttled quickly as they engulfed him like a blanket.

More of them poured out from within his armour, spilling out of his trousers and creeping up his neck from within his shirt. His screams quickly became more panicked and horrified, only to be muffled soon after, as hundreds of the horrid beasts started to fill his mouth and force themselves down his throat.

His eyes were wide in horror as he felt them scraping up his throat with their wiry fur, forcing themselves into his lungs and his stomach. More of them squeezing into his nose and ears, while one loomed over his face, it's beady black eyes staring into his before it started to pull down his lower eyelid, looking for a way in.

He could only wonder why his friend wasn't helping him, but if his vision was clear and his ears weren't blocked, he would have been able to see the arrow sticking out of his friends throat, and hear him gargling on his own blood on the ground next to him.

A group of figures garbed in dark clothing and flowing cloaks emerged from the tree line, the shadows clinging to them unnaturally even as they entered the light. The figure at the head of this group glanced at the guards with cold, uncaring eyes. One gargling on his own blood, while the other clawed at his own throat and face, his fingernails tearing apart his own flesh as he desperately tried to remove a threat that only he could see.

A sadistic smile spread across the cloaked leaders face as he watched the man squirm in terror, before he finally plunged a dagger through the guards heart. Wiping the bloodied dagger clean with a rag, he tilted his head towards his group.

"What are you waiting for? You all have your targets. Bring proof of completion, and don't disappoint his Divine Greatness. His will be done."

"His will be done."

They echoed in unison, before darting through the open gate and disappearing from sight, each moving in different directions.