Fog on the streets of Greyhaven grew thicker.
Three new shadows stood behind the first Lament.
They did not move.
Yet their presence alone made the air feel heavy.
Rowan sighed softly.
"Alright."
"Now there are four of them."
He looked at Elias.
"Hope you have a good idea."
Elias did not answer.
His eyes were instead fixed on the old man beside them.
The carpenter still gripped his hammer.
The wooden wall he had created still stood before them.
But more and more cracks appeared on its surface.
The first creature began to push that wall harder.
The old man panted.
"I… can't hold it long."
The light in his hammer began to dim.
Elias understood something.
The power of the Gospel was not just about words.
It was also about enduring faith.
If that hope wavered…
that power would also weaken.
Rowan raised his sword.
"If that wall falls, we have to run."
But Luca suddenly spoke.
"No."
Everyone turned to him.
The boy looked toward another street leading to the city square.
"There's still someone."
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"Another person with a magic hammer?"
Luca shook his head.
"No."
"Fire."
Elias immediately understood his meaning.
There was someone else in this city who still possessed strong enough hope.
And the Gospel might answer them too.
He looked at Rowan.
"We have to find them."
Rowan looked at the four monsters before them.
"We also have to stay alive first."
At that moment—
the wooden wall finally cracked.
The Lament slammed into it once more.
The wood shattered like glass.
Wood splinters scattered into the air.
The tall creature immediately leaped forward.
Rowan moved fast.
His sword slashed through the air.
But when the sword hit the Lament's body—
it felt like cutting through solid fog.
No blood.
No wound.
Only shadow that shifted.
Rowan stepped back one step.
"Yes."
"I already suspected."
The Lament raised its arm.
Its black claw swept toward Rowan.
Rowan managed to dodge.
But the ground where that claw struck immediately froze and cracked.
Elias pulled Luca behind him.
The old man tried to raise his hammer again.
But this time almost no light appeared.
He fell to one knee.
"I… am not strong…"
Elias gripped his shoulder.
"You have done more than enough."
But the situation grew worse.
The other three Laments began walking closer.
Slowly.
But surely.
As if they knew humans could not fight them long.
Rowan turned to Elias.
"Now the plan is really important."
Elias looked at the street toward the city center.
If Luca was right…
then someone there still kept the fire of hope.
And that might be their only way to survive.
He said briefly.
"We retreat."
Rowan did not argue.
He immediately pulled the old man to stand.
"Retreat to the square!"
They began running through the snow-filled street.
The Lament pursued them.
Not fast.
But unstoppable.
Like a nightmare that always walks behind you.
The houses of Greyhaven passed by their sides.
Windows closed.
Lights out.
People hiding inside their homes.
Because they had learned one thing.
When the fog comes…
it's better not to look.
But when they reached the city square—
something was truly different.
In the middle of the square stood a woman.
A large fire burned in front of the blacksmith's forge.
The woman held a large hammer.
But not like the carpenter earlier.
This hammer was a heavy iron hammer.
Her face was full of soot.
Her hands covered with small burn scars.
But her eyes burned.
She looked toward the fog.
As if she had been waiting.
Rowan stopped suddenly.
"Oh."
"I like this person."
The woman spoke without turning.
"You brought them here."
Elias answered honestly.
"They chased us."
The woman raised her iron hammer.
Fire from the forge reflected off the metal hammer.
"I know."
She looked at the shadows emerging from the fog.
Four Laments now entered the square.
Fog flowed around their feet.
The woman spoke softly.
"I've seen them several nights."
"Creatures that devour hope."
She gripped that hammer tight.
"But they chose the wrong city."
Elias felt something.
The fire from the forge moved strangely.
As if waiting.
The woman looked at Elias.
"You carry that book."
Elias nodded.
The woman smiled thinly.
"Good."
"Read something."
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
"That simple?"
The woman answered briefly.
"Yes."
Elias opened his small book.
His hand stopped at one page.
About fire that purifies.
He began to read.
Those words flowed slowly in the cold air.
And when the last word came out—
the fire from the forge suddenly leaped high.
The woman raised her hammer.
The metal hammer turned glowing red.
Orange light radiated from small cracks on its surface.
She raised that hammer toward the Lament.
"Alright."
"Now let's try something new."
And for the first time since they saw that creature—
someone stepped forward to fight it.
Not from despair.
But from hope that burned like fire.