The wind outside the church stopped.
Not because the snow subsided.
But because something else was moving.
Fog on the streets of Greyhaven began to swirl slowly.
Like water being sucked into an unseen hole.
Rowan stood near the church door while peeking out.
Then he sighed deeply.
"Yes."
"It's coming."
Elias stood several steps behind him.
The old man still gripped the hammer that had just changed.
The small light from the wood still glowed.
But now that light looked fragile.
Like a small candle in the middle of wind.
Luca whispered softly.
"It's angry."
Rowan turned to the boy.
"That monster can be angry?"
Luca nodded slowly.
"It doesn't like hope."
That sentence hung in the air.
And then…
the shadow appeared at the end of the street.
The tall figure they had seen last night.
Its body long and disproportionate.
Its arms too long.
Its steps too slow.
Like something imitating the way humans walk but never truly understanding it.
Fog followed every step of its way.
And every step made the air colder.
Rowan gripped the handle of his sword.
"We're really going to fight that?"
Elias answered honestly.
"I don't know."
The old man suddenly spoke.
"I will do it."
Everyone turned to him.
His hands still trembled.
But he stepped forward.
"I've lost too much."
He raised his small hammer.
The warm light from the wood slightly dispelled the cold in the air.
Rowan looked at him for a long time.
"You don't even know what will happen."
The old man smiled bitterly.
"No one knows."
"But I know one thing."
He looked at the figure on the street.
"I won't run anymore."
Elias opened the church door.
Cold wind immediately swept in.
Snowflakes flew in the air.
They all stepped out.
Their footsteps left tracks in the still clean snow.
The Lament figure stopped about twenty paces from them.
Now they could see it clearly.
Its face had no eyes.
Only empty black holes.
Its mouth was open too wide.
As if it was always screaming without sound.
Rowan muttered softly.
"Alright."
"I hate everything about that."
The Lament raised its head.
As if smelling something in the air.
The light from the carpenter's hammer.
Hope.
And then—
it moved.
Fast.
Far faster than they had imagined.
Fog exploded in all directions as the tall body lunged forward.
Rowan immediately pulled Elias to the side.
"Down!"
The Lament figure passed them like a living shadow.
Its long hand clawed at the air.
The snow on the ground immediately turned black where its claw touched.
The old man almost fell from shock.
But he remained standing.
The Lament turned slowly.
Its head tilted.
As if studying something new.
The hope shining from that hammer.
Rowan whispered.
"I have a bad feeling."
The Lament moved again.
But this time the target was clear.
The old man.
The creature ran toward him.
The old man raised his hammer with both hands.
He did not look like a warrior.
He was only a carpenter.
But he remembered something.
His child.
Small laughter in their wooden house.
Toys he made every night.
Hope he once had.
And for the first time since that loss—
he felt it again.
The hammer in his hand shone brighter.
The wood cracked.
But not from damage.
The wood transformed.
Its grain extended like tree roots.
Warm light flowed within it.
Elias whispered.
"Creation…"
When the Lament leaped to attack—
the old man swung his hammer.
He did not swing it like a weapon.
He swung it like someone shaping wood in his small workshop.
And something impossible happened.
The air before the hammer hardened.
Wood shavings emerged from the light.
The wood pieces joined together.
In one second—
a large wooden wall appeared between them and the Lament.
The Lament slammed into that wall hard.
The sound of cracking echoed on the street.
But the wall did not immediately break.
Rowan stared with wide eyes.
"What…?"
The old man himself looked shocked.
"I didn't… do that intentionally."
Elias answered softly.
"You created it."
The Lament pushed that wooden wall with brutal force.
The wood began to crack.
But the cracks slowly joined back together.
As if the wood was alive.
The Lament emitted a strange sound.
Not a scream.
More like a deep echo of despair.
It did not understand what was happening.
Because all this time…
humans always ran.
But now—
humans fought.
And that was something that even creatures like the Lament had never truly faced before.
Rowan smiled small.
"Alright."
"I'm starting to like that hammer."
But as that happened—
something worse emerged.
Fog at the end of the street began to move again.
Not one.
Not two.
But three new shadows began to emerge from the fog.
Luca whispered softly.
"It's calling them."
Rowan looked at Elias.
"So… what's the plan now?"
Elias looked at those new shadows.
And for the first time since he arrived in Greyhaven—
he realized something terrifying.
What they faced was not just one monster.
This was a plague of despair.
And Greyhaven may have been infected for too long.
He slowly closed the book in his hands.
"Now…"
he said calmly.
"We find other hope."
Because one thing finally became clear.
If one person could awaken the Gospel…
then there must be others in this city who could too.
And they had to find them.
Before Greyhaven truly sank into the Lament's fog.