The stranger stares into the darkness beyond the wall that the torch sits upon. He speaks again, wincing as if chastised.

STRANGER: ...Well, no, there was no guarantee that she'd– But she DID. If she hadn't, I wouldn't be here right now reporting on it, I'd still be after her for proof.

He pauses.

STRANGER: I AM dedicated.

A moment of silence, the focus entirely on the inky abyss beyond the torchlight.

STRANGER: I'll see to it.

With that, he flips his cloak back and retreats. Behind him, the view has pulled back enough to reveal a mural on the same wall as the torch. At first it is blurry, the focus entirely on the stranger as he leaves. In the next panel, with the stranger gone, the mural is now in focus to reveal a woman with animal ears, entangled by a pattern that interlocks across her body. She appears to be crying, arms held out wide in front of a planetary background. Beyond the torch, in the darkness that the stranger was speaking into, there are two sets of glowing eyes, both low to the ground.

End Chapter One