Neim, relieved that their questions were finally over, and Duis, exhausted, sat in silence. Neim took a deep breath and looked up; it was getting dark. He stood up quickly and spoke aloud:
Neim: "Duis, darkness is coming! Get up, we have to go!"
Duis: "What? What! When did this happen? Let's hurry, or we will be scolded!"
Neim ran and grabbed two of the cans. Duis put his dagger back in his belt and as he stood up his eyes involuntarily fell on the cave. He had seen something he shouldn't have. With a shocked expression and a slight stutter, he called out to Neim:
Duis: "N-Neim... There is something in the cave!"
Neim, who had been preparing to run, turned around and looked into the cave. He too had seen something - something he couldn't understand. The two of them froze for a while in shock. When they finally looked at each other they remembered, but it was too late; darkness had come. Duis grabbed the other two buckets and they tried to run, trying to keep the water from spilling.
Their feet hurt as they ran; they could barely see anything around them. They narrowly avoided crashing into houses. The buckets made everything more difficult. With Duis' guidance, they left the buckets near the administration building and started running towards their own houses. It was clear that focusing only on themselves had made them move faster, but the pain in their feet had not changed. They both reached their own doors at the same time, grasped the doorknobs nervously and pushed them open slowly. But there was no one behind the doors. Luckily everyone seemed to be asleep. Careful not to make any creaking noises, they settled on their floor beds and fell asleep.
The Next Darkness Rising
Hearing the news, the villagers gathered around the wooden statue of the village guardian in the village square. The statue's right hand was pointing upwards, holding a pouch, and the left hand was making a "stop" sign. His hair was shoulder-length and his eyes had a strange look. Moreover, his smile was unnerving. For unknown reasons, the villagers believed that this statue protected the village. That's why it was called the "Village Protector". The reason the villagers gathered around the guardian statue at dawn was because a "Judgment" was about to take place. This meant that someone had committed a crime.
The doors of Neim and Duis' house opened with a force that shook the walls. Before they knew what was happening, they were dragged out of their beds on the floor and taken to the village square. As they walked through the streets, they stopped asking, "What's happening?" - they had already realized that it was because of what had happened the day before. (Neim realized this a little later than Duis.)
As they approached the square, their paths crossed and they began to whisper to each other.
Neim: "They found out, didn't they?"
Duis: "Of course. The buckets we left by the administration house are gone."
Neim: "What? Are they going to show that too?"
Neim shuddered slightly, because this was also considered a crime.
Duis: "The way you say that makes me think this is going to be bad."
Neim: "Let's hope not."
Duis: "Let's hope so."
Neim and Duis were startled when they reached the square. For almost everyone there, this was probably the first trial they had ever witnessed. So the whole village had gathered when they heard the news.
"Did they cause any trouble?" the village head, Fahg, asked the men who had brought Neim and Duis. The escorts shook their heads no and left.
Village Head Fahg and his deputy Hol sat on two chairs and waited. Their chairs were side by side and in front of them were two more chairs, also side by side. Neim and Duis sat in fear.