Warning - a little gore and violence in this story

Night Runners

Kahlan awoke with a headache. She didn't feel right...where was she?

Last she remembered was the Twin Gods' hill, but now she was in a dark cave. The sounds of dripping water echoed in the distance, and nearby, she saw other figures laying around.

Surprisingly, her eyesight was very good, even though she could tell she was deep in the cave, where no light seemed to penetrate. The doe looked to the others, curious as to who they were.

"He...hello?", she called to them. Her voice was raspy, but she was able to speak. A few of the other deer awoke and sat up. One of them nearby said to her, "You're up early, young one." He was odd looking - his fur was a dark color, and his eyes seemed to glow.

"Where are we?", Kahlan asked. "You don't remember, do you?", the other deer questioned. The doe shook her head - her memory was still very fuzzy. The deer smiled to her, "You were chosen as a Night Runner. We gave you our curse, but it is as much a gift. We are no longer creatures of the Forest, no longer beings of the daylight, but rather..."

"We're...nocturnal?", Kahlan asked. The other stag smiled, "You catch on quickly. Go, look at yourself in the water. You will not recognize yourself.", he replied.

The doe sat up and walked over to the reflective pool nearby. She peered over, surprised to see a clear image of herself...and shocked that she looked nothing like what she had before.

Her face was longer, with little sharp teeth that poked out of her mouth, and her fur was pitch black. Two glowing green eyes stared back at her...her eyes...

She backed away from the pool, she couldn't believe what she had become. "What did you do to me?", she asked the stag.

He gave a little chuckle before he said, "You were infected by one of our kind. You are one of us now! Do not fear what you saw in the pool - you only see the true, wild you."

The other deer began to rise, yawning and stretching. "The dusk has come.", some of them began to say. "Time to hunt!", others exclaimed happily.

"Come, Kahlan.", the stag said to her. Her blood froze when the deer spoke her name. "Come live your true life."

The other Night Runners began to move down the cavern. Reluctantly, and curiously, Kahlan followed them. She didn't understand very much of this, but she didn't feel like she had a choice.

They soon stepped out of the cavern. The night sky was clear, and a cold breeze rubbed against the creatures' fur. They began to sniff the air for prey, and soon they all were going in different directions.

The stag looked to Kahlan, "Go, look for food. You will know when you have found something for us to eat, and when you do, give a call. We will come." The doe didn't respond before he darted off.

She was alone. Her hooves began to carry her into the forest. The place was eerily silent, and she could even hear the sounds of her own hooves on the ground.

She then felt something odd - her fur began to straighten up, like she had been electrified. There was something nearby...someone...she knew...

Two deer appeared from the trees. They were not Night Runners, but regular deer who roamed the nighttime forest for a drink of water. One of the stags looked to the dark creature staring at them, and at once he said something to her, "...Kahlan?"

"Kylar! I don't know what's going on, I...", Kahlan exclaimed, but she felt utterly ashamed of herself. She had become something terrible.

"Kahlan, it's okay. We can find a way to fix this. I can help.", he began to reply, when Kahlan soon couldn't help herself - she was drooling.

"I...I'm sorry...but I'm not the Kahlan I was.", the doe apologized, then continued, "Kylar, run!"

The Night Runner began to step toward the two regular deer. She had no control of her body - she was starving, and the two deer before her were looking more and more appealing.

"Run!!", she cried again. Kylar heeded the warning and darted away, looking back at her for one last time. The other stag Kylar was with stumbled and began to run when other Night Runners showed up.

"Kahlan found our dinner!", they began to say. The dark creatures surrounded the stag, all of them drooling and licking their lips. The stag's heart rate quickened, and at once he lowered his horns, watching them approach. The first Night Runner attacked, and their antlers connected. The stag threw him down, and then backed up, blocking another attack from the next Night Runner. They kept coming and coming, and with each successful defense he let his guard down enough for one of them to bite his side or scratch him with their own antlers.

The stag was tired, gasping for air while keeping them off of him. He stumbled on his hooves, and the dark creatures found this to be the perfect opportunity, rushing and overwhelming him. He collapsed, opening his body up and crying out as they tore open his body. He closed his eyes and died there, being eaten by corrupted creatures very similar to him.

The Night Runners looked back to Kahlan. "Eat, young one. You deserve to feed, as you found him.", they said. The doe hated what she was about to do, but with each step, she felt more and more hungry, and soon was digging into the stag's belly. The meal was nothing she had ever eaten before, but her body kept telling her that it was delicious. She ate her fill.

Kylar...I hope you got away safely..., she thought.

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The appeased creatures ran toward their cave. The sky was brightening, as the sunlight crept closer and closer. "We must hurry.", the Night Runners kept saying.

"Why? What happens when the Sun comes?", Kahlan asked. The stag that mentored her before stopped and said to her, "We cannot survive in the daylight. Those who have gotten caught in the Sun's rays vanish off of the land."

They made it to the cave, and the creatures went in one by one. Kahlan and the stag were the last two to make it there, and the stag said, "Go in, young one. Quickly!"

"...No...", Kahlan replied.

"Hurry! You'll die out here!", the stag cried at her.

"Thank you, but I cannot live this life. I would have rather died than be something that kills my own kind.", the doe replied.

There was a moment of silence before the Night Runner said to her, "I had high hopes for you. Farewell, foolish child." He darted into the cave, never looking back, abandoning the doe.

Kahlan turned and watched as the sunlight broke the sky. She saw the sunrise in the distance, and the light hit her dark fur. She closed her eyes and let the light take her.

The warmth felt good. She felt the darkness on her lift, the black fur radiated off of her, evaporating into the air. Her eyes changed back to their normal look, and her face shortened, her teeth rounding back to normal.

She was no longer the monster she had been moments ago, and her tired body sat and rested on the soft ground. She curled there and fell asleep.

"Well done, Kahlan. We are so proud of you.", she heard familiar voices say to her. The doe opened her eyes, and found herself somewhere else - a bright plain with shimmering strands. Sitting up, she heard the voices of the Twin Gods speaking to her, but she couldn't seem to see them.

"What were the Night Runners?", she asked them. The voices replied, "That will be answered in due time."

Then she saw two deer before her, but they weren't the deer gods. "Sithrim, and Taliene!", Kahlan called to them.

The two approached her. "Kahlan! You made it!", they said.

The end of this chapter...