Snag in the Plans

"Why are we here, again?"

"Alsifar told us to wait here with the ship while he met with the others."

"Oh, yeah...I'm hungry."

"Well, we brought an entire ship full of food, didn't we?"

"Oh yeah...I'll be right back."

A minute later, Jethro returned to his post, his arms laden with various food stuffs.

Logan sighed and resumed his scanning of the surrounding forest, his keen eyes alert for any sign of danger.  He was particularly careful to watch for the enemy Alsifar had told them about before he left; judging by the descriptions he had been told, he had good reason to keep his senses about him.

Beside him, his brother was hungrily wolfing down food with a ravenous fury.  Where he put it all, Logan had no idea, but somehow, Jethro so far has single-handedly eaten half his allotted share of food in the past several hours, and has shown no signs of stopping.

Jethro looked up from his half-eaten loaf of bread and asked, "What are we supposed to be guarding all this stuff from, again?"

Logan looked Jethro in the eye, amazed at his show of utter stupidity.  "From the being Alsifar told us about, remember?  The Umbering."

Jethro looked blankly at Logan for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.  "What's a Lumberding?  Some kind of wood-eating monster?  Why would one of those eat the food in a metal ship?"

"It's the Umbering, you idiot.  A being of immeasurable size, comprised of pure darkness, and seeks only destruction for the sake of destruction."

"Brother, you are hurting my head.  I can't eat right with a headache."

Jethro's whining  was beginning to get on Logan's nerves.  "How can you be eating right now?  We are on duty, protecting this ship and its cargo for those who would use it to defeat the single greatest threat to existence and order in this and every universe, and your only concern is what you can stuff in your mouth?"

"You talk funny, brother," Jethro said through a mouth that was full to the brim with nuts and salted meat.

Logan let it drop.  It wasn't the first time he had chided Jethro for his obvious lack of caring for anything other than food, and it definitely wouldn't be the last time, either.  He wondered how they could be related in any way when they were practically polar opposites.  I guess that's how twins work, Logan thought to himself, They're not normal unless they drive each other crazy.

He leaned back, allowing himself a brief respite to stretch his legs.  Even though this world was inhabited by the Umbering, he still couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was, even at night.  The trees weren't overly ancient, but they were old enough to be tall and noble things of beauty.  He looked up into the sky at the moon, in the height of its arc.  It was full tonight, and cast its light on the world below it.  He marveled how the light would land on those same trees, casting  long shadows toward them and -

Logan jumped up, his hands raised in preparation for battle.  The moon wouldn't be casting long shadows at its point in the sky.  Those shadows were also pointing toward them, due south, which was an impossible direction for the shadows to be pointing, since the moon, being directly above them, would cast shadows pointing either west or east, depending on the time of night.

"Heads up, Jethro.  I don't think we are alone."

For the first time Logan could remember in their entire time together, Jethro didn't respond with an unintelligent remark; he didn't respond at all.

"...Jethro?" Logan asked hesitantly, casting a sideways glance at where his brother was sitting.  What he saw was an empty stool, absent of even the many articles of food which Jethro was gorging on earlier.

In an instant, the darkness overwhelmed him.  Logan thrust his palm and sent a ball of light hurtling toward the mass of shadow, but this was soon quenched, and once again Logan found himself alone in a world where he could not see a foot in front of him.  He could not even see the very solid blade positioning itself behind him, at the base of his skull.  It was only when it thrust forward was he aware of his presence, and by then it was too late.