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He had come here to see how the woman was doing.  He was sure she had been attacked for a reason, but he had been unable to see any kind of connection.  That realization worried him a great deal.  So far, these creatures of darkness had no motives.  It was hard to fight many, single enemies that acted without cause.  Xan half wished the creatures would unite in a singular cause.  At least then he would know their aims, and he would know what he would have to fight against.  Too often, he felt, he fought what he did because he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  He could hear what Saleena would say to that.

“Nature knows where unnatural things are.  It’s not that I can feel them.  It’s that I can’t.  There is a void where they are.  Through me, you know too.”

He slowly climbed to his feet, brushing the dust from his black cloak.  So far, he had been able to handle almost all the creatures that had emerged.  So far.  They were coming out more frequently now, though.  Even for Xan, an immortal guardian of nature, it was impossible to be at several places at once.  He could move from place to place almost instantly, but he knew there would come a time when there would be multiple attacks.  No matter how fast he moved and fought, he would not be able to stop them all.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crushed packet of cigarettes.  He pulled out the last cigarette which had somehow remained intact.  Looking out over the city washed out from the setting sun, he sighed in despair.  It was starting to seem hopeless.  He flicked the unlit cigarette out into the air.  Instead of watching it drop, he looked into the distance where he could barely make out the large warehouse at the edge of the city.  His home.  It would be warm and inviting with Saleena there.  And everything would make sense again, even if it was just briefly.  He turned quickly, his cloak billowing, and was gone in a smear of grey mist.