The courtyard was full.
Every remaining contestant had gathered under the open sky, the darkness pressing down on the assembled crowd with its usual noncommittal atmosphere. The host stood at the front, looking genuinely pleased with herself in the way that people who enjoyed chaos always looked pleased at the end of a chaotic day.
"What a day," she said, and the satisfaction in her voice was deeply personal. "Eventful doesn't begin to cover it." She let the pause breathe. "Now—gentlemen. To the front, please."
The men moved.
Most of them walked.
Dusk didn't walk.
The darkness around him simply... shifted. Moved with him—or rather, moved ahead of him, the shadows in the courtyard deepening and spreading outward from wherever he stood, trailing him like a wake as he drifted forward.
With the quiet, absolute certainty of something reminding the room it existed. The torchlight nearest him dimmed by a fraction. The air cooled by a degree.
